Writer Ideas

Writer Ideas

"I've got this great idea for a book. You write it, and we'll split the profits 50/50." Writers get that pitch a lot. And when we do, it's hard not to bust out laughing. Because it immediately gives away that the guy making the pitch has never made art for…
February 8, 20233 Comments
AI Writing

A.I. Writing

The same eggheads who said the internet would end censorship, Bitcoin would end state coercion, and Google thermostats would end global warming have also been telling us the A.I. revolution is 10 years away for 50 years now. But the advent of A.I. drawing algorithms like MidJourney and Stable Diffusion…
October 17, 202211 Comments
oldpub warehouse

Oldpub Cope

A viral tweet that made the rounds over the weekend caused quite a stir in oldpub circles. Family festivities kept me from covering the story yesterday, so we'll dive in now. The background is that two of the big New York publishers are embroiled in antitrust litigation. An oldpub author…
September 6, 20225 Comments
Superhero-Dials

Superhero Dials

The eagerly anticipated follow up to part 3 in Man of the Atom's series on the history and business of comic books has arrived! In this installment, our stalwart chronicler explores the Thor Power Tool case's impact on the industry, shares more story craft wisdom from Jim Shooter, and introduces…
December 15, 20218 Comments

Ideas Are Cheap

"I've got a great story idea. You write it, and we'll split the profits 50/50!" If you're a working writer, chances are you've been approached with an offer like this. Usually it's an earnest and well-meaning layman who makes the pitch. What ordinary folks don't understand is that ideas are…
May 20, 2021

Should Discovery Writers Outline?

Fiction writers can be divided into two broad types: architects who draw up thorough plot outlines before they start writing, and gardeners, or discovery writers, who just dive in and play it by ear. Some writers are natural outliners. Others are natural gardeners. A common complaint of the latter is…
May 20, 2021
Chasing the Puck

Chasing the Puck

Trying to jump on the latest big trend, what folks in showbiz call chasing the puck, is a misguided business strategy that all-too-many authors fall for. And not necessarily for the reasons you think.The conventional oldpub wisdom held that an author simply couldn't get a book to market fast enough…
March 15, 202113 Comments
Pacing Lessons from Fury Road

Pacing Lessons from Fury Road

Many writers labor under a common misconception about what makes a book feel fast-paced. Slamming chapters together with no space in-between doesn't necessarily give readers a sense of speed. In fact, it can do the opposite by bringing on action fatigue. Pacing has less to do with keeping lots of…
March 10, 20216 Comments
Not Visual Media

Not Visual Media

There's an old saying in comics that writers can't draw, and artists can't write. That's an overgeneralization. Sometimes you do get a John Byrne or a Frank Miller, but there is a kernel of truth to the cliche. Because an artist is trained to think in terms of visuals, he…
February 15, 20219 Comments
Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

"Where do you get your ideas?" Writers get this question often. It doesn't lend itself to a simple yes/no answer, so I'm gonna go in-depth with this one. Where ideas come from: Some are lifted from books, movies, TV, etc. and I file the serial numbers off and recombine them.…
January 26, 20213 Comments