ISBW Special #36: AISFP #56- Mary Anne Mohanraj
Clarion is currently underway in California, and Shaun Farrell of Adventures in SciFi Publishing is getting interviews with the instructors. (I’m not jealous). But Shaun did allow me to put these amazing interviews in my feed, because I know you’ll get a lot out of it.
From AISFP
Mary Anne Mohanraj joins us in our third Clarion special show to discuss MFA work, writing grants, how to write the Other, Strange Horizons, and more. Then we present the first Publishing Key in our contest, and Tobias S. Buckell addresses POV in Ask a Writer.
Show Notes
I start this episode off by reading an article concerning the latest ploy by Amazon.com to wrestle rights and profits away from publishers and writers. I am deeply concerned by a series of events committed by Amazon, each depicting a steady move toward monopolizing the book world. I’m concerned enough that I’m considering eliminating this podcast’s association with them. What are your thoughts on the matter? I could use some feedback, and a healthy conversation would go a long way.
Mary Anne Mohanraj joins us from the Clarion Workshop. She and I discuss her background, her Clarion West experiences, grant money for writers, writing the Other, her current work, problems with the writing of inexperienced writers, Strange Horizons, and more.
Then Tobias Buckell presents the First Publishing Key in our summer contest, sponsored by Tor and Pyr SF. Toby also brings us another segment of Ask a Writer, this time addressing Jonathan’s question about POV.
We’ll see you next week with Neil Gaiman!
Promos: The Keys to Publishing Contest; Staked, by Jeremy F. Lewis
Links:
Times Online article about Amazon
Turkey City Lexicon
Strange Horizons
The Speculative Literature Foundation
The Carl Brandon Society
About the Author: I am a writer and podcast producer, writing for magazines and RPGs. I am a wanna-be fiction writer with several short fiction, comic scripts, and one novel sale. Playing For Keeps will be out August, '08.
Anne Lyle | Aug 17, 2008 | Reply
I’m with you on the Amazon boycott, Mur - I’ve taken all the affiliate links off my site since I heard about their latest shenanigans here in the UK (dropping the “Buy Now” buttons on certain bestselling authors’ listings in order to try and blackmail one of the UK’s biggest publishers into giving bigger discounts). I’ve also stopped buying new books directly from Amazon, though I still pick up the occasional out-of-print book from Amazon Marketplace. My main use for Amazon nowadays is as a source of reader reviews of books I’m thinking of buying - which I then purchase elsewhere
It’s bad enough that online selling has been the final nail in the coffin of independent book shops, but when they start trying to gouge ever more money out of the people actually producing the goods (i.e. publishers and authors), it’s time to call a halt. Maybe we need a Fairtrade mark for booksellers!
Moritz | Aug 19, 2008 | Reply
Great interview. Unfortunately, most links in the show notes only lead to thte strange horizons website.