rainy day reading

Everyone knows there's a lot of information on the Web about writing -- both craft and business. Lately (well, okay, starting at the end of last year -- I can be slow to post), I've noticed that there are a few different books being blogged that are well worth following.

Dean Wesley Smith: Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing --- DWS is a lot of the inspiration for me to actually get moving on my submissions this year. If I hadn't been reading his blog (including his set of posts on motivations at the end of last year*), I probably wouldn't have submitted the two books I have this year.

Kristine Kathryn Rusch: Freelancer's Survival Guide --- Very long (almost 60 entries right now), covering everything from negotiating to networks to vacations.

Tobias Buckell: It's All Just a Draft --- Basics, short stories, workshops . . . each installment available as a downloadable RTF.

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Not a book, but a series of posts that might be worth your time to look at are Stroppy Writer's looks at a publishing contract (Anne Rooney, in the U.K.). Currently, a dozen posts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. Note that not all of these posts have the tag "publishing contract" on them, so you can't just click the tag to get the entire group.

An older set of posts on reading a contract were posted back in 2004 by Michelle Sagara West. I found them well worth reading at the time. Although I haven't gone back to them recently, I can't imagine that that has changed.

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So, there you are. Lots of reading for a rainy day. Have fun!


* Motivation posts: 1 (motivation and year end goals), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (fear), and 10 (extra help). The early posts talk a lot about Heinlein's rules and how DWS has implemented them. Later, he gets into five-year plans and how to set your goals based on your dreams.