Focused Fandom Countdown: 6 Weeks To Go

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My editor has the book and I’m relaxing.

OK, yeah that’s not exactly some kind of useful GUIDE with lots of insights.  But it’s the truth.

The other truth is that, in the middle of making a book, a break like this is welcome.  When you do a book like this you tend to live it.  Considering how fast I did “Cosplay, Costuming, and Careers” I lived that sucker pretty intensely.

I think that if you’re writing, take the editing phase as a time to relax.  Unless you’re really good at pacing yourself (which I’m betting you aren’t), you need it.

Of course when it comes back then it’s a few intense days of integrating content, and THEN on to formatting.  So I’m going to enjoy the break while I can.

– Steven Savage

 

The Phenomena of “Wesley Crusher: Teenage F*** Machine”

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It’s going to be difficult to do a straight-up analysis of this, but as I’m a bit contrarian, it’s not going to be that difficult.  Now, lest the title of the post make you think I’ve gone insane, let’s back up here.

Recently a Kindle book as been igniting the Amazon sales charts, likely due to its subject matter (Star Trek and sex), its title (“Wesley Crusher: Teenage F*** Machine,” only with less asterisks and more other letters), and the fact it’s free to users of Amazon Prime.  I’m not making this up, you can read the extremely NSFW recap here at io9.

(Again that is really NSFW.  You’ve been warned.)

If, of course you wish to read this, you can go here, download the book, and . . . well, hell if I know.  

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3/9/2011: Gambling Isn’t The Solution

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This is more Geekonomic and Economic than anything else, but Salon.com has a great look at why gambling isn’t the solution to economic problems.  There’s a lot to digest here, and some good comments.

If you consider it, gambling really does hollow out an economy.  It attracts money but does not generate wealth, innovation, goods, etc.  It also appears to force local economies into a kind of supportive overspecialization.  It’s not something, no matter your opinons on gambling, that’s a cure-all.

I bring this up because it applies to a number of issues:

  • Places trying to boost their economies with gambling may fail short term and long term – and fail spectacularly.  You may want to remember that if gambling is coming to your area.
  • If you’re relocating, you may want to scope out the gambling scene considering how popular it is – if your future town is looking for a quick fix, you may want to  look for a different future town.
  • This is an excellent, excellent reminder that there are businesses that create and generate and those that just take money in.

– Steven Savage