Of the many issues highlighted by the recent launch of pay-to-publish divisions by two major commercial publishers (Harlequin Enterprises’ DellArte Press–nee Harlequin Horizons–and Thomas Nelson’s West Bow Press), one of the most interesting, to me, is how blurred the distinction between self-publishing and vanity publishing has become.
So what is Pragmatics? Basically, it deals with those areas of meaning which aren’t really meaning. What does that mean? It deals with implications (in the lingo, “implicature”), and with presuppositions, and with using language to do things rather than just send messages.
One of the most common pieces of advice for new writers is “Keep your seat in the chair.” The downside is that it becomes all too easy to sit at the desk for hours without moving. This can lead to stiffness and circulation issues even with an ergonomically correct desk and chair. Ergocise.com is a program which pops up a reminder to stretch at pre-set intervals.
Robert Holdstock
1949-2009
This morning, SFWA member Jay Lake went in for an operation to remove a growth from his lung. For those of you who have not been following on Twitter, the word is that the surgery went well and that they closing now. We are very happy to hear this and wish him the best.
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware True to its promise, Harlequin has ditched the Harlequin Horizons name. It’s now DellArte Press.
Our sister site, NebulaAwards.com has an essay by Larry Nolan on “International SF” and Problems of Identity
…heeeeere’s Tweetbookz!
Tweetbookz will turn your tweets–those 140-character electronic messages about what you had for breakfast this morning or maybe something more interesting or important, but either way, quickly written and just as quickly forgotten–into Real Paper Books. That’s right. Your evanescent 140-character pearls of prose (or not) can be enshrined for the ages in softcover or hardcover.
Last week, RWA, MWA, and SFWA all issued official statements condemning Harlequin Enterprises’ new self-publishing division, Harlequin Horizons. Now Novelists Inc. has weighed in, with a position statement on vanity publishing and the risks that arise when brand name publishers add vanity publishing divisions.
A good article about the difference between self-publishing & vanity imprints. Plus, Paolo Bacigalupi’s novel Windup Girl was just named in Library Journal’s Best Books of 2009!
“In the sequel to The Brass Queen, the vivid worldbuilding and delightful characters create an epic setting. Chatsworth pushes the dialogue and banter to extremes, leading to a fast-paced and humorous steampunk tale.” – LIBRARY JOURNAL
Nicholas Tana is a Los Angeles-based writer, director, producer, and musician. He is the creator of the graphic novel Hell’s Kitty, and his sci-fi noir graphic novel, eJUNKY, is being published September 18, 2023 by Simon and Schuster.
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