Founded 1983: Liberal Mindset; Conservative Morality

January 9, 2026

Stop Paying Rent on Your Own Words!

Stop paying rent on your own words. For decades, writers were taught that “real” authors have representation, an agent, sometimes even a manager, as if legitimacy were a credential issued by an industry gatekeeper. That belief was formed in an older media economy: fewer publishers, fewer channels, slower production cycles, and a cultural aura around scarcity. In 2026, the belief is not merely old fashioned. It is often financially irrational, and for many authors it is the single most reliable way to give away a permanent slice of income that should remain theirs.

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January 29, 2013January 29, 2013

Self-Publish and Prosper or Mainstream Publish and Perish?

Getting your writing published in book form has long been the penultimate goal of authors across the world. I’ve made my fair share of money in the publishing marketplace and one thing I can confirm is how much the industry has changed over the last 20 years.

Fifteen years or so ago, you could easily get a $15,000.00USD book royalty advance from a major computer book publisher. You knew going into the job that, at the end of 90 days, you’d be fifteen large richer. It was a great way to earn a quick living. Once you had a book or two, the major computer magazine publishers would come calling, and you could write a 10,000 word essay and make $5,000.00USD for that weekend effort. It was a rich and rewarding life, but then the chain came off the sprocket with the rise of the interwebs, the internets, the web. Many book publishers were consolidated with other houses, or entirely demolished in bankruptcy, and all the great computer magazines are as dead now as the tree pulp they were printed on.