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[setulose]

Trace amounts of Monica in my life

[setulose]

A statistically insignificant level of Monica in my life

[setulose]

My life manufactured in a facility that also processes Monica

[deliciousghosts-final]

#mambo number 0.0000000000005

[pangur-and-grim]

I won't publish the ask (they asked me not to), but I thought I'd still answer it publicly!

no, royalties are not a significant source of income for most authors. if you wrote something like Project Hail Mary, then absolutely, the royalties would be substantial! but that's like winning the lottery. Ryan Gosling is not starring in the movie adaption of most books.

when you sell a book to a publisher, you get what's called 'an advance against royalties'. it's usually split into multiple parts, so you might get one third for the initial sale, one third for the final revised manuscript, and one third on the publishing date.

an advance against royalties is the publisher saying "we believe you will eventually make X amount in royalties, so here it is ahead of time." and then you don't actually see any money from royalties until the advance is paid off. most books do not make enough in royalties to pay off the advance (I have two children's books and one fiction book, and have yet to see royalties for any of them).

advances are still great, but you need to make them stretch! for instance, last year my net income was about 30k Canadian (21k USD), which is fantastic when you consider that I mostly made it through writing. but I'm definitely not a millionaire. I can live off my writing (not trying to undersell that!) but I'll probably remain in a low income bracket for the foreseeable future.

this isn't meant to discourage anyone from seeking out writing as a career! however, there is a reason that many authors have alternate jobs with writing on the side. or, you know, rich spouses.

[pangur-and-grim]

this isn't me making a fuss about pirating (I've pirated way too many shows to run my mouth on that lmao), but there IS actually a financial incentive to having people buy your books!

buying books shows the publisher that they can make money off you, which means they're more likely to give you advances for future books. and advances are what authors live off (if they don't have a side job). that's why I always push pre-orders so hard! you have to be a racehorse worth betting on, or else they send you to the glue factory....

if I can offer one alternative to pirating: asking your library to stock the book also helps authors, and doesn't cost anything. the only downside is the patience required.

[pangur-and-grim]

OOPS yes, @stjohnstarling makes a good point! everything I'm saying is from the perspective of traditional publishing, but it's a very different game if you're a self-published author

[gollancz]

I will also add that this is why pre-orders can make a HUGE difference to authors - because if there's enough hype, publishers can pull more levers to build that momentum and reach more readers to help authors earn out their advance faster.

[gudgercollege]

Trad publishing contracts person here to co-sign everything in this post. If you want to support an author you really like but are broke as hell, then you can buy their book when it's discounted, buy it used, borrow it from a friend, or use the library. The first step as an author is to get your book read, not to get it bought. The important thing for you as a reader is to spread the word about how good the book is so the publisher knows the audience is there even if sales aren't spectacular. Piracy of books, especially books from small/indie publishers, means the publisher will print fewer copies of their next book, and sometimes if it's an ongoing series the next books in the series will be canceled, either to be replaced by a book with a different premise or they'll cancel the contract for the next books entirely. The "hack" where you buy the ebook or audiobook and then return it for a credit also takes money directly out of the author's pocket since those payment/royalty systems are set up differently than if you were to buy a book from a bookstore and return it. In that situation the bookstore absorbs that loss, but returning the ebook means the money gets clawed back from the author's advance or royalties and they'll have to earn that back.

Pre-orders and Amazon/Goodreads reviews are used as a gauge by publishers to predict how many copies they are likely to sell and therefore how many copies they want to print. They want to sell most of what they print rather than print too many and end up with a bunch of copies no one wants that they'll have to pay to store or sell at a huge discount or recycle, which is what happens to unsold books. Most publishers have a limited amount of money and manpower to dedicate to any particular book, so if there's a book building up a lot of buzz, that'll give them reason to put their resources towards promoting that book to get a better return on their investment. If the publisher can't make money off a book or author they'll dump them.

Generally, every aspect of the publishing and book industries, including writers, agents, publishing employees, librarians, and booksellers are overworked and underpaid. Unless you're Stephen King or already famous, you don't make money off of books. We do it for sheer love of the game.

Use your library! Publishers have a whole department dedicated to selling their books to libraries and the author gets part of those sales. Increasing circulation of library resources means the libraries can make a better case to get more money from the government to buy more books that you want to read and they're a place to hang out for free. Libraries are the best gift humanity gave itself, use yours as often as possible.

[torpublishinggroup]

[scrolling social media] Who's Jimothy?

[us now] would Jimothy prefer to read T. Kingfisher's books or be in a T. Kingfisher book?

[lazer-exe]

I'm gonna say it, I do think that even the laziest person imaginable should have a roof over their head, food in their stomach, and access to healthcare

[cepheusgalaxy]

"Doomed yaoi" this "doomed yuri" that what about doomed found family. What about finding comfort in these new people after going through so much on your own—a community, a solace, a home to come back to. Caring for them with all you've got, only to realize that it wasn't going to work, ever, no matter what you tried. Only to have it ripped apart, no matter how much you tried to hold them close. Found family that becomes lost family. Found family that takes your heart with it when they go.

[youcannotkillmeiamsubhuman]

Now that Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is out, we can wait for the EPIC: The Musical movie, and then have to deal with people saying "We just got The Odyssey, why are we getting another adaptation?"

And all the people complaining about Lupita Nyong'o playing Helen are gonna have their heads spinning at Puerto Rican Odysseus, Polites wearing glasses, Black Eurylochus, Black Antinous, Black Ares, British Circe, and British Hermes.

And all the people complaining about Robert Pattinson Antinous saying "You're pining for a daddy you didn't even know, like some sniveling bastard" are gonna have to deal with the What Saga and Holy Moly.

Can't wait.

[kdinjenzen]

Why do people want so badly to get into the games industry and keep returning to it with its reputation for abuse and layoffs? It seems self destructive, even by the "starving artist" bar.

The only reason people pay more attention to the game industry or entertainment industry layoffs than other industries is because that’s where they get their “fun” and they think that being part of that would make the job more “fun” to do and less of a job.

The public school system has been hit by countless layoffs and teachers are losing their jobs on the regular because of them.

Meta, Verizon, Google, Amazon, Corus, K&L Gates Lawfirm, Coinbase, Starbucks. American Airlines, Walmart, Atlassian, Citi Bank, EBay, General Motors, Groupon, Kenvue (otc medical company), Nike, Papa John’s, Target, Wix, Workday, Pinterest… and countless more are doing layoffs just as often and just as heavy, people just don’t “notice as much” because they don’t aspire to be part of them as heavily as they do “entertainment brand.”

We’re in a place where these companies, these industries, and “the people in charge” are making more money than ever but the average worker needs multiple jobs to be able to afford to be able to live.

Unemployment is high, pay rates for workers are low, inflation is out of control, media and news outlets are denying that we’re in a recession because “well it’s not technically” - meanwhile the average person is so stressed about “will I be able to live” and worrying about if “they’re next” when it comes to their own safety, security, health, employment, etc.

The only reason anyone knows about the stuff specifically in games or animation or Hollywood or whatever is because the average person uses these forms of entertainment as an escape from their own reality so they expect the work to be as fulfilling and fun as the fantastic tales they spin. When in reality it’s an industry of work just like any other.

All industries of work are filled with worker abusive, have mass layoffs, and prey on the desperation of working class individuals just as much as games/entertainment… you just don’t care as much about those other industries because you don’t idolize them the way you do with the industry I primarily work in.

You think me and my colleagues who have been hit by layoff after layoff after layoff in games and animation don’t look for work outside our own industries?

We do.

The job market is a joke everywhere.

[kat4884]

the gooners

they’re everywhere

[felixcloud6288]

Dat's right boss. Now just tell us what ya need and we'll get it done boss.

[quadtator-lawful-evil]

who needs ta sleep with da fishes boss

[bananapudding752]

sorry bawss, I was too busy searchin up da anime girls boss. real pretty.

[felixcloud6288]

Forget dem anime goils. Dere only temporary. But da boss is forever. Right boss?

[hellsitegenetics]

String identified: t g t’ at' gt . t t at a a ' gt t . ta t a a, a t ac a a g . a tt. gt a g. ta. t a . gt ?

Closest match: Oeneis jutta genome assembly, chromosome: 18 Common name: Jutta Arctic

(image source)

[felixcloud6288]

Da boss got turned into a butterfly!!

[pfaugh]

Wadda bea-utiful transformation, boss. goes to show youse gotta preciate the lil things in life

[hraeiou]

ay boss congrats on da metamoiphosis

[whyenn-reader]

''what if you regret it'' then you will expirience regret - a normal and unavoidable part of the human expirience.

[brainscrewz]

tbh if someone just handed me a pressure washer and set me loose in the streets i would go into a trance and just start hosing shit down indiscriminately. it's not a question of how much i could clean, but how long until i get hit by a car and die

[bodhrancomedy]

Look, it’s a weird hill to die on, especially when I don’t really explain, but children deserve to experience fear, disgust, and discomfort in safe scenarios where they can process those sensations.

Media for children used to be scary and that’s important.

[the-davest-of-uncles]

“Since it is so likely that (children) will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.” ― C.S. Lewis

[grace-in-the-wilderness]

"Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed."

-- G. K. Chesterton

[thesplendidsnout]

I was raised in a "no scary movies! We don't like being scared uwu" household and it made me deeply unprepared for adulthood.

Adulthood is a state in which you need to get comfortable with being scared, because so much of life is scary.

You will not, in your lifetime, watch your horse disappear into the Swamp of Sadness. But you will see someone you love in need of help, and you will have to choose whether or not to provide that help, and you will have to accept when you try your hardest and still fail.

You will not, in your lifetime, be menaced by the Wicked Witch of the West, or No-Face, or Ursula - but you will learn that people in your life can become monstrous and untrustworthy when they don't get their way, and you will need to stand against them.

You will not, in your lifetime, become cursed by the iron-ball rot that drove the boar god Jigo into a frenzy. But you will find out that humanity and nature are one and the same, and that rage can pass between them just as fatally as disease.

Children cannot live wrapped in candy-floss. You need to be afraid of fiction for the same reason you need to be vaccinated: so that you will be better prepared for the real thing.

[andwhatexcellentboiledpotatoes]

Can you believe that there are people who live so close to the ocean that they can just think “hey, I should go to the ocean” and then they just do???

[savethefirecat]

For those who can’t go to the ocean…. 

…I can bring an ocean to you.

[lynati]

thank you

[portraitoftheoddity]

Adding My Ocean:

[motherfucker-somewhat-limited]

have some more

[lyrathian]

[the-descolada]

adding my ocean as well

[abandoned-as-mustard]

Not my ocean but my brother’s:

[otabekisautistic]

adding my ocean

[killerandhealerqueen]

A sunset from my ocean (when I used to live in Hawaii)

[coffeeisfortheresponsible]

here are some florida beach pics from your local ninjago loving floridian :))

i wish you all a very hope you get to see the beach one day

[psychic-waffles]

We're at the "JK Rowling is personally funding litigation to try and destroy AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL" stage of rabid UK terf brain.

Screenshot via Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net on bluesky

Tldr Amnesty International, global human rights organisation, published a report called 'A growing threat: the anti-rights movement in the UK'. In it is detailed, amongst others, a whole bunch of transphobic groups and organisations, including Beira's Place, JK Rowling's trans exclusionary sexual violence support service. JK Rowling threw a shit fit and got Amnesty to take the report down by threatening libel. This was obviously not enough, because you can't appease a fascist, so now she's going to bankroll a bunch of lawsuits anyway through the JK Rowling Women's Fund.*

You can read an archived version of the report here, please save it and share it.

*Not so friendly reminder there is no way to engage in the wizard books without enabling this shit.

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

[sapphling]

let's all have a fun time looking up new words when we encounter them to see what they mean before incorporating them into our vocabularies

[wileycap]

[firagasoap]

Broccoli Knuckle Duster by David Delahunty

[ma-gpie]

[queer-as-city-folk]

5 minutes of research on what American troops did in Vietnam will make you understand why people called them baby killers

[ironmyrmidon]

During the My Lai Massacre, Americans killed over 400 civilians, gang raped children as young as 12, slaughtered livestock, poisoned the wells, burned houses, etc. Total combined punishment of involved military personnel? 3.5 years house arrest.