Our intrepid Hosts/Authors Steve Diamond and Larry Correia return this week to discuss a foolish tweet and explain why writing is NOT a zero sum game.
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Nicely done! And yes, there ‘are’ some authors that, shall we say, go over the top with their bitching…
I’m not really sure these brat deserve to be called “writers”
Also: Was this recorded two years ago or something? Recently lots of people have been waking up to bank accounts filled with magical money (that isn’t worth anything).
Believe me, I know what inflation is, but I’ve got zero idea what your point is about that in relation to the contents of this episode.
It’s a joke about Steve’s comment at 32:21 that these “writers” think they’ll wake up to their bank accounts being filled with magical money.
IMO Steve Diamond needs to dial his volume down 10%.
When I was down, the tracks were merged- if I turn Steve down you can’t hear Larry.
We’ll get back to separate tracks very soon- hang in there
How are you feeling, Jack? I know that a lot of people seem to be really tired for a long time, even after being “better”.
Keep getting enough rest and eat good food. And have a wonderful Christmas. 🙂
awww. Thank you so much for asking, J! We’re recovering and just plugging away- no time to let exhaustion slow us down 😀 Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
Listening to the ‘cast right now. By no means would I ever consider myself cognizant of the publishing domain. But I DO see the bitching about everyone else all around me all the time. And I see it in society generally… ALL THE TIME.
“Oh… Why is Fred so much more successful than me?” Yes, Fred has an Engineering degree and has made a career of successfully solving hard problems. Meanwhile complainer has a degree from . Sorry to tell you dude. Society doesn’t owe you crap. It is NOT my duty to reward mediocrity! Welcome to real life where you’re either the predator or you’re the prey.
I liked Steve’s axioms toward the end. They’re common sense, but it’s nice to actually hear you articulate them.
At least in the self-pub side of books, that “success” can be an illusion. There are authors that love to boast about the money they’re making – but if you finally get them to admit how much they spend on ads every month, the net they’re keeping is way lower than many authors not doing the same thing!
In a similar hidden cost issue, a lot of self-pub authors seem like they’re in a great position – until you get them to tell you that they work at least 12 hours a day, rarely take weekends off, almost never take vacations, and leave their spouse to raise their kids. Those kids aren’t going to say thanks for they money, Mom, one day. They’re only going to remember Mom was never there for all the little and big important moments that you want to remember when your parents are gone. Quality time matters.
So never envy someone’s public numbers. They never tell the whole story.
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
“When you comin’ home, Dad?”
“I don’t know when
But we’ll get together then
You know we’ll have a good time then”
Sorry just seemed like what you were going for Vivian. I’m also reminded of the gambler who always tells you the story about that ONE time they won $8,000 bucks never mentioning the $30,000 in debt they are from other gambling.
Humans tend to love looking at those big numbers where they lose track of the many small numbers than add up. Larry had said on this podcast and in other interviews a large part of his income doesn’t come from big advance checks it from smaller checks he gets from the 20+ books he has pushed over the last almost 15 years.
That is part of why you don’t quit the day job it takes a while to build up a library.
Absolutely. Backlist is king!
Oh man, this must mean we get Larry’s Twitter Voice. Looking forward to listening as soon as I get back from LMCS.
Larry and Steve
A great episode. Yeah I don’t get that attitude of how self published authours steal fromothersc. I look at it as fulfilling niches. Somevtraditionally published authors assume they’re entitled to audience but without putting the work.
That’s not how life works
xavier
Great podcast as usual! And my big-brain hot-take on the original Tweet: if some lowly little indy writer can “take the bread from the mouth” of a professional writer, that’s a far more damning indictment of the pro than it is of the indy.
As Heinlein said, you’re competing for people’s beer money. May the best writer win!
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Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!!
I take it that Fatrik Tomlinson almost sells as many copies as you have listeners now.
Spreading that Christmas cheer! 🙂
I’ve been involved with Science Fiction fandom since the 1980s. I think everyone in fandom who regularly attends conventions has met at least one “author” such as Larry describes. Since the age of APAs (Amateur Press Associations), and fanzines, there have always been people publishing bad fanfic and not understanding how bad it really is. I have more than once had to hastily change the subject when someone started talking jealously about published authors. Conventions are fun, but not without hazards.
+1 on getting Larry his own microphone, Steve was up close and rounded but Larry was a lot further away with thinner sound.
I already addressed this above; he has his own- while I was down with the Rona, tracks got merged.
Still catching up, so don’t know is this is already in the queue or not but:
How does one find advance readers/ good critiquer when one is just starting out/in the fanfic/writing stuff you’re somewhat embarrassed about stage?
Thank you,
Harry Voyager
We just recorded one like that. That’s going to (probably) air in January in season 2.
Very cool. Looking forward to it.