Amazon’s Earnings Plummet; Save a Tree: Rent a Utahn
in 
Amazon.com’s 2011 4th-quarter earnings dropped 57%. In related news, my belief that there might be a God rose 57%. Here, Dennis Johnson does a pretty good job of concealing his glee.
A better job, in fact, than he does here, commenting on the announcement that Barnes & Noble will not sell Amazon’s publishing imprint’s books. The closing line of a statement from a B&N rep to reporter Brad Stone goes like this: “We don’t get many requests for Amazon titles, but if customers wish to buy Amazon titles from us, we will make them available only online at bn.com.” I don’t get the chance to say this very often: Well done, Barnes & Noble.
And here’s Laura Miller at Salon on how to boycott Amazon in 2012. Yes, I’ve mentioned this piece before. And yes, I will again. Many, many times.
(Note how I’m acting as if it hasn’t been nine months since I last birthed a Friday links post.)
Righties, Lefties & Social Consciousness in the Novelist
by Martin Barkley
For five years I’ve been doing research on the history of political and corporate corruption in America for a novel I’m writing. Not just the bare historical facts, but how corruption happens, the nexus of it and the human players, large and small, behind it. It makes for disheartening reading, and sometimes, quite honestly, I get stumped on the big picture. That is, the big human picture. How can people, I ask myself, do such things? That’s the essence of what stumps me. Not too complicated, I know, but it is the kind of question that novelists, at least some them, tend to explore. It’s not an easy question to answer, either, and at times I don’t even want to write a novel that looks closely at what makes human beings commit lasting acts that are hurtful to the public good.
I won’t finger-point—not just yet—by invoking political labels, but whether they’re duped authorities or outright bamboozlers, those making the list historically for “Atrocities Committed” do seem to demonstrate a nexus. Here is my annotated short-list:
Ulysses S. Grant (duped authority), William Tecumseh Sherman (lying genocidist), George Armstrong Custer (lying, duped genocidist), read more
Whatcha Readin’?
In light of next month’s book club read, I have to put down my newest fix. Neal Stephenson’s latest novel Reamde is a smart tech thriller about…well, at this point (page two hundred-something out of a thousand or so), the Russian mafia, a virus called Reamde that infects one of their files, and an MMORPG called T’Rain where the virus originated. read more
Pym, Volume #4
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the final installment of the WBN online book club’s discussion of Pym. It’s been a wild ride. We laughed, we cried, we witnessed not one but two civilizations crumble. Not bad in a month’s time.
If you’re just now joining us, don’t forget to check out our discussions of Volume I, Volume II, and Volume III. Note: Our Volume III post is feeling seriously neglected, so if the spirit moves you, do share your thoughts there before you do so here. read more
Print vs. Online
Well, usually I’m writing here from the point of view of an editor of Anomalous Press, but I recently started submitting my own work again after a bit of a break working on a long project. And I found that the first few places that occurred to me to submit my work were print journals. I was surprised at myself–there are a lot of online journals I read regularly, subscribe to, and thoroughly love. But without even really considering it, I sent my work to a wonderful print journal I’ve read for years, and was really thrilled to have it accepted there.
Then I got to thinking. Who was going to read this work? And when? And for how long? read more
Deadliners Club
On Tuesday a couple dozen Austinites forewent the State of the Union to come to WBN for a panel discussion on the state of tyranny against photojournalists. “No Photography: Dealing With Obstruction” was the first in the new Deadliners Club, an occasional journalism discussion series presented by WBN and PWA, and moderated by writer Alex Hannaford.
The event was well-covered by our friends over at CultureMap Austin. You can also watch a recording of the discussion in its entirety over at USStream (the panel begins at the 18-minute mark).
Future Deadliners topics will include read more
The Words We Choose
One of my favorite writing exercises is also one of the simplest. It consists of picking ten words and using those words to create a plot synopsis, description, or a bit of dialogue–whatever feels “right.” This exercise is great because it increases vocabulary recall, encourages you to engage with words on multiple levels, and can prompt a new story or poem. It’s focused stream-of-consciousness writing, and that balance can optimize creativity. Sometimes I pick from a dictionary if I’m hankering for new words, and other times I intentionally choose words with the same root language or theme. You can easily tailor this exercise to your own needs.
This exercise, which I’ll call “Take Ten,” is great for writer’s block. For example, I’m in a major funk right now. read more
