First Ever Net Neutrality Legislation has Passed

Today, I watched the FCC hearing on Net Neutrality before they took their vote. I listened to speeches, both for and against the order, and I heard the vote.

I still don’t know what to make of this, especially after hearing Commissioner Baker say that the order was drastically changed yesterday and delivered to her at 11:30 p.m. last night. What’s more, is that this order might not stick:

The net neutrality measure is the federal government’s first move to regulate broadband access. Questions remain, however, over whether the agency has the legal right to serve as the nation’s watchdog over Internet access. Last spring, a federal appeals court said the FCC overstepped its authority by sanctioning Comcast for blocking access to users of BitTorrent’s peer-to-peer sharing application. — SOURCE: FCC passes first net neutrality rules

Already, both sides of the fence are reacting. FCC Breaks Obama’s Promise is just one of many articles on the subject.

So, my answer is: too early to tell, especially since this order excludes mobile. Once this gets caught up with legal, it could be months or years before this gets sorted out.

Alternate Cover for THE QUEEN OF CROWS

Just how important is a book’s cover? Well, I’m going to find out. After a tip from Lori Devoti, I decided to try a different cover for the Kindle and Nook editions of THE QUEEN OF CROWS. I was going to add a starburst that read “bonus content included” but going to try this first.

The Queen of Crows e-Book | Alternate Cover

My Guest Article at BookLife.com: Rolling the Dice in Freelancing

The Bones | To help promote THE BONES, a collection of essays about dice, Jeremy Jones is running a series over at BookLife.com about rolling the dice in freelancing. Jeremy is an excellent interviewer who writes “the best” introductions about people. Just recently, he talked about how Matt Forbeck was his hero in If You Play It Safe: Matt Forbeck on Taking Risks In Writing. (Mine, too.) After reading what he said about me, I was thinking about paying him to write my bio for me. Sheesh.

I first met Valentinelli at GenCon three years ago. I was immediately struck with her ability to distill a complex project down to its core elements and by her seemingly undying enthusiasm for whichever creative project she was working on.

Both as a gamer and as a freelancer, Valentinelli has rolled a lot of dice. Here’s what she had to say about the importance of taking risks in writing and freelancing. — SOURCE: Always Rolling the Dice: Monica Valentinelli on Taking Risks in Writing

To read what my responses were, be sure to check out Always Rolling the Dice: Monica Valentinelli on Taking Risks in Writing.

Not sure who else is slated for this series, but BookLife always has some great career advice for you to read. So don’t be shy and check the site out!

Leafy Links for Mon, Dec 13: Writing, Blogging and Publishing

Thought I’d pop in and offer you some reading material. This is a mix of links about query letters, publishing, blogging and writing. A virtual link salad filled with leafy goodness to feed your head.

  • Why You Can’t Make Money Blogging from Copyblogger.com – I stumbled upon this late yesterday, and I absolutely have to put this one at the top of the list. The message of the article really resonates with my own observations about being online. To quote the article: “If you don’t offer customers something they dearly want, whether it’s to gain some great pleasure or escape some great pain, you’re not going to make any money.” Amen.
  • Seth Godin’s Domino Project – Hot off the heels from the PR frenzy that this marketing guru left his publisher, Amazon.com is now backing a new publishing venture. Why am I watching this? For two reasons: one, Godin is a brilliant marketer and strategist. Two, I’m more interested to see how other people will react and whether or not someone will apply this to fiction. To be clear: The Domino Project will be run by a small press comprised of hand-picked people specifically for non-fiction.
  • 10 Tips for Writing Flash Fiction from Bethestory.com – Flash fiction is extremely popular right now. Writer’s Digest featured a ton of markets you can sell your flash fiction story earlier this year. More and more—this format is turning into a great way to offer a free sample of your own writing. These 10 tips are a great wrap-up for helping you shore up this fun format. I love writing flash!
  • How to Write a Query Letter from Writer Beware – Victoria Strauss is one of my virtual heroines. If you haven’t checked out Writer Beware, then you’re doing yourself a disservice. In this post, she gives a step-by-step process for writing a query letter
  • Top 10 Query Mistakes from Rachelle Gardner – This article is written from a literary agent’s perspective and gives you the skinny on what mistakes to avoid. Be sure to check out the comments, too, for more information.
  • Write and Wrong from Ari Marmell on Suvudu.com – I’ve known Ari for a while via the gaming industry. He’s a really personable guy who has managed to expand his publications to include his original work. In his article this week on Suvudu.com, he talks about why you should be cautious when reading books giving advice on writing. If you’re interested in learning more about Ari’s work, be sure to check out his preview of THE CONQUEROR’S SHADOW on FlamesRising.com.
  • Daily Blog Tips – There’s quite a few sites and personalities out there that talk about blogging, but I was impressed with this one because of articles like How to Build Your Credibility as an Expert While Blogging and 30 Traffic Generating Tips, which was written by several, different contributors. And, they have a whole category devoted to “Strategy.” A site after my own heart!
  • Writing Conferences for January to March 2011 from the How To Write Shop – I don’t know about you, but I hate having to hunt down news about writing conferences, conventions and events. This is a list compiled by my friend Lori Devoti covering writing conferences that are going on around the U.S.
  • Galley Cat on Mediabistro.com – You may already read publishing news from Publisher’s Weekly; keep up-to-date with Galley Cat and I guarantee you’ll be well-versed in industry news. I’ve backed off from reading industry news unless it comes sprawling in my lap, just because I want to pay attention to what’s relevant to what I’m pitching or doing now. News about bankruptcies, the changing market, etc. can really get depressing, but I’m a long ways away from being affected by the flux.

  • Hope you enjoy your link salad!

    [Video] Why We Don’t Put Up a Tree

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