Tag Archive: Writing

Authors don’t make a lot of money

April 24, 2009 7 Comments

People have the impression that writing a book = making money. That by writing a book you’ll suddenly be rolling in dough. Advances! Royalties! Cash! But it just doesn’t work like that. Not only is this an absurd notion for a little book like mine — I’ll be happy if it covers the expenses we incurred while writing it — it doesn’t even hold true for New York Times bestsellers, as author Lynn Viehl outlines in this blog post. Her bottom line is simple: Despite a $50,000 advance, selling about 73,000 copies and hitting #19 on the New York Times bestsellers list, you’d make more money stocking shelves at the local supermarket than she did on book sales for this book. It’s important to know…
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Writing

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Step by step, it comes together

April 23, 2009 0 Comments

I think I’m close to ready to begin pitching my next book. This one is a middle grade adventure novel in the spirit of Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles. You might remember them from when you were a kid. Earlier this week I finished the umpteenth or so draft of my query letter (I talk more about queries here), and last night I think I nailed down a pretty solid synopsis. They’re both essential ingredients in getting the attention of an agent. Nailing them is vital. Of course, the best query in the world doesn’t mean squat if your book has glaring flaws. That means I have to give the first three chapters one last pass to ensure I’m not missing something that will trip up…
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Writing

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Halo Wars

April 21, 2009 0 Comments

As mentioned in a previous post, I recently had the chance to do some video game reviews for Havoc PC. The last of my initial three reviews is live. Take a look if you’re so inclined. Here’s a preview: Halo Wars Despite there being just one on the Xbox 360 console and only three previous games in the series overall, the Halo franchise is a juggernaut of epic proportions, the kind of money-maker video game execs would sell their children to have. The Halo brand is a record breaker. A system seller. A guaranteed payday. So it comes as no surprise that we’re beginning to see the start of what will presumably be a whole roster of games expanding on the Halo universe — and…
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Geek Stuff, Works by Eric

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Tomb Raider: Underworld

April 19, 2009 1 Comment

The second of my video game reviews for Havoc PC has gone live. Check out this preview; link to the full at the bottom: Tomb Raider: Underworld To say that Tomb Raider has been the most consistently mediocre long-running franchise in video gaming history would certainly be an overstatement, though many critics would tell you exactly that. The first game dropped in 1996, and eight unchanging games have followed since. New games in the series are routinely criticized for being more of the same, which is true enough, but “the same” is pretty fun. The iconic Lara Croft is slammed as being an unrealistic fanboy fantasy. Also true enough, but it’s hard to argue with such an instantly recognizable image. The truth is this: While…
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Geek Stuff, Works by Eric

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