http://valingstoneways.com/blog Ramblings about Politics, Economics, and Writing Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:09:50 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Boskone this weekend. In Boston, of course. I'm still trying to think of any bad books I love, since mostly I don't ike good books either. Friday 9pm More on the Business of Writing ... http://valingstoneways.com/blog/2010/02/08/preliminary-boskone-schedule/ Boy, do I. Best book I've read in a long time, fiction or non-fiction. Throes of Democracy is the second book in Walter A. McDougall's projected multivolume history of the US. The first, Freedon Just Around the Corner, took us from the European arrival in North America ... http://valingstoneways.com/blog/2010/02/07/sam-who-likes-some-things-throes-of-democracy/ MacMillan's books are still not up at Amazon. http://valingstoneways.com/blog/2010/02/03/i-guess-we-can-add-truthiness-to-their-list-of-crimes/ A friend at one of the other Big Six Publishing Conglomerates says her firm is proposing the same pricing to Amazon and is not sure why MacMillan was singled out. I think more than a few readers are going to take Amazon's side because of the lower pricing Amazon proposed. ... http://valingstoneways.com/blog/2010/02/01/some-final-thoughts-on-amazonfail/ So sad to hear she's gone. Her cleverness, her fluid style, and above all the good humor of her books, will be missed. A wonderful writer. http://valingstoneways.com/blog/2010/01/31/sam-who-likes-some-things-kage-baker/ A theory about AmazonFail. If you examine what Amazon is trying to accomplish from their point of view, why do they even need publishers? Why not just open the Kindle directly to authors - give the authors then entire 30% that Amazon is paying the publishers now. ... http://valingstoneways.com/blog/2010/01/31/who-needs-publishers/ Apparently Amazon and Macmillan are having it out (Tor, my publisher, is a subsidiary of Macmillan) over ebook pricing. Amazon is currently not selling ANY books published by ANY division of Macmillan except through third party sellers. suricattus has a good post about it. Oy. http://valingstoneways.com/blog/2010/01/30/only-a-pawn-in-their-game/ So Obama caved on trying terrorists in NY. Why? Because it was too inconvenient and too expensive. We never are going to achieve anything if that's always our excuse. http://valingstoneways.com/blog/2010/01/30/my-city-is-dead-my-country-is-too/ Why not? They were basically built at the right time (1890-1910). They look like it too, except for the trains. But once upon a time there were wicker seats and leather straps to hang onto (hence the Straphangers organization). An antique. http://valingstoneways.com/blog/2010/01/27/new-york-subways-steampunk/ If you have the stomach for it. http://valingstoneways.com/blog/2010/01/26/rapping-economists/