Linkdump, mostly about indie publishing, SF and climate issues

Over at the Pegasus Pulp blog, I look back on three years of indie publishing and share some metrics. I’ve also got another post listing research resources I used for the Silencer series and New York City’s Finest.

Forbes has a very good article from David Vinjamuri about how indie and maker movements are changing commerce in a variety of fields. When I started self-publishing three years ago, I used to post links to a lot of articles about indie publishing. I’ve largely stopped doing that, because the articles all started to sound the same after a while and the tone became increasingly strident, such as the whole “us vs. them” mentality displayed in the commentary about the current Amazon vs. Hachette conflict. However, I really like this Forbes article, because it looks at indie and DIY movements in a variety of fields such as music, gaming, crafts, film, etc… and doesn’t just focus on publishing.

Regarding the Amazon vs. Hachette conflict, I really like John Scalzi’s rather measured take on the subject, wherein he points out that both Amazon and Hachette are businesses focussed on their own interests and not anybody’s friend. Of course, the more enthusiastic fringe of indie writers begged to disagree, but then they always do.

The winners of the 2014 Locus Awards have been announced and again the slate looks pretty good. I’m particularly happy to see more love for Ancillary Justice.

A blog called Armed and Dangerous (name says it all) offers its definition of “real SF”, i.e. the sort of thing Heinlein used to write and John C. Campbell used to publish in Astounding (found via SF Signal). Anything else is “defective SF, non-SF or anti-SF”. Characterisation? We don’t need no stinking characterisation. It reads very much like yet another example of people yelling at clouds that SF has changed, while the rest of us are over here, doing our own thing.

Arisia Crystal has a helpful post explaining exactly how to vote on future Worldcon locations. Alas, it seems I cannot vote on the 2017 location with my Loncon membership, though I can vote on the 2016 location which is a choice between Beijing and Kansas City.

Spiegel Online has a fascinating article about how a monster drought and record heatwave hit Europe in 1540, resulting in a massive catastrophe and some excellent wine. The article is only available in German, but Pierre Gosselin offers a summary at No Tricks Zone. Australian SFF writer Patty Jansen weighs in as well and points out that weather conditions like in 1540 are quite normal for Australia, but devastating for Europe and even more so in pre-modern times.

The Virtuelles Literaturhaus Bremen profiles my pal Axel Knapp, literary translator and owner of the small press Mocambo Verlag, and recommends Poste restante – Postlagernd, a memoir by Hubert Kerdellant about working in the French and German postal service, translated into German by Axel Knapp.