1. How One Chicagoan Keeps Winning the New Yorker Caption Contests
I'm posting this piece for a few reasons. One, go Chicago writers. Two, I love the tweet that alerted me to this Chicago Magazine article...
Annals of punctuation: Man avoids exclamation points. Man wins. Case closed. http://t.co/N9M6hRrhKr
— Henry Fuhrmann (@hfuhrmann) August 17, 2015
2. How much is Amazon paying these days under the new "pay only for pages read" metric?
I've been reading quite a bit lately about this trying to get a handle on it. On it's face, it sounds like such a an incredibly horrible deal. But there are a few pieces out there praising it, including the one I linked. According to this, Amazon pays about 1/2 cent per page view.
3. Should writers respond to negative comments on their articles?
This is a question our authors ask us all the time because most authors also write something else (articles, blogs, etc) and they inevitably get negative comments. Why? The internet is a cruel cesspool of bile. (That's my opinion as a 10-year blog writer). I personally no longer allow comments on my personal blog because I found it's better to simply stay above the fray. Life's too short to argue with trolls. You can never win those arguments anyway and it makes you look thin-skinned and impotent. Other writers disagree with me. Lots of different opinions at the link.
4. Apple's mistake was hooking up with the book-publishing cartel
My condolences to you if you own Apple stock. It's been a rough few weeks. According to this piece in Fortune Magazine, their big mistake was to make a deal with the major book publishers. Read the piece and judge for yourself if you agree or not.
5. Another look at Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken"
The New York Times Book section took a new look at one of the classic American poems, Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken". I'm guessing my fellow writers will find this story as interesting as I did. There's apparently a new middle ground theory about the poem's meaning.
6. Mastering the Radio Interview: 10 Tips for Authors from a Talk Radio Host
As a twenty-year radio veteran and a frequent radio guest for the past ten years, I can tell you that the linked article is the best advice I've ever read for authors who are planning on appearing on a radio show. It gives you tips for how to get booked, what to expect when you're on the air, and what to say or do when you get your chance. All of it is true. Great stuff.
