Best Links of the Week

The Business Rusch: A Tale of Two Royalty Statements  (Lots of good info on accounting of royalties)

Writer Unboxed » Social Media Suicide  (Many great points here for new writers, and experienced ones, too. It's just so easy to overdue the self promotion…)

Steven Pressfield Lighten The Load  (LOVE this concept of minimalism for writers. Less is definitely more)

The Kill Zone “I” is for Integrity: Sue Grafton and the Self-Publishing Blowback (Classy response from a classy chick)

Book Reviewers for Hire Meet a Demand for Online Raves (Paying for reviews is cheating, plain and simple. UGH!)

Fake book reviews are rife on internet, authors warn - Telegraph  (Bravo to those who uncovered & condemned!)

And to end on a happier note: Love Scrabble or Words with Friends? Check this out! Reflections on the Winning Board of the 2012 Scrabble Nationals 

Best Links of the Week

Speeches, Events, and Overheard at RWA from Smart Bitches, Trashy Books - This needed to be said. I still believe in publishing. I don't find my team simply transmitters. A lot of the technical side of this is true--it's easier than ever to get good books in the hands of readers--but that doesn't mean we need to jettison the people who got us here in the first place. There's room for everyone on this train.

Stephanie Laurens Keynote - Beacuse we're fair and balanced here at the Tao. You make up your own mind on this one. Would love to hear what you think.

Just because the author does a lot of marketing doesn't mean the publisher can't help - The Shatzkin Files - I think the trick these days is finding the right balance between what the house does and what you do. We're writers, after all, not marketing companies.

Why social media isn't the magic bullet for self-epublished authors | Books | guardian.co.uk - Another furor. But there is a LOT of truth in this article. Must read.

Writing Wednesdays from Steve Pressfield: The “A” Story and the “B” Story - Great analysis for story lines.

4 Best Writer's Block Infographics | Tech18 - Some very cool ways to look at the beast. Writer's Block isn't real though. It's just your story telling you you're going in the wrong direction.

Best Links of the Week

A gathering of the most interesting stories and essays of the week.

Lessons from Sherlock Holmes: How do you kill your hero? | Literally Psyched, Scientific American Blog Network 

What It Takes: Art and Polarity -Why it's OK to make, and believe, judgments about people. You must do so for your art.

5 Writing Tips from Tana French  (Great tips from a superb writer)

Nominalizations Are Zombie Nouns  (Such a fabulous article - simple, direct, plain language is always best.)

Confessions of a Hypochondriac: The New Yorker (Hurrah! Hypochondriacs unite!)

Best Links of the Week

New segment for the blog - a gathering of the most interesting stories and essays of the week.

Fast writing refresher course, I love her method! "How I Went From Writing 2k to 10k Words a Day"  

The Business Rusch: Writers & Business Kristine Rusch is right, for a writing CAREER, you have to know the business too 

Letter from the Pulitzer Fiction Jury: What Really Happened This Year : The New Yorker 

Letter from the Pulitzer Fiction Jury, Part II: How To Define Greatness? 

Conference season and the pitch (super advice for newbies pitching agents) 

The Role of Corporate Sponsorship and Language in Dystopian Fiction: The New Yorker  (a fascinating thought)