They have to keep inventing sites for stupid Facebookers.

Oh wait, no, it’s just I Can Has Cheezburger ripping off someone else’s idea again.

March 3 2010
Post has 57 notes

The editors of “Coming and Crying” both like agents, okay?

Melissa Gira Grant:

The email is from someone who I think very fairly assessed the potential of a blog-to-book deal that consists largely of already-published material still available online. So please — no imagined h8. That C&C came to be in this particular way is a direct result of it not being a blog-to-book. And it is much stronger for it. […]

When we each have a project that suits a traditional publishing mechanism, we’ll both seek that out. And I’ll (being fucking honest here) totally take up the agent in question on her offer to circle back around with another book idea. No matter how it looks from a blog away, we all left that conversation happy to have had it.

This (plus the bits I left out) is all excellent news, and what I hoped/expected Melissa and Meaghan to say. I figured the commenters/rebloggers who wanted them to “stick it to the man” and send a Kickstarter screencap to the agent weren’t sharing the editors’ feelings.

This is a good project without being some Answer to All Publishing Questions. It’s already a good answer to one question: Can intelligent authors make a successful project and reach a good audience without the help of a publisher? Yes, as this, Robin Sloan’s Annabelle Scheme and many other Kickstarter projects show – and as thousands of other online projects show. Beyond that, it can be judged simply on its merits, and I expect this will be a good book, which matters most.

YOU FUCKING STOLE MY CLOUDSONG!

(via lamebook)

"The greatest trick the robots ever pulled was convincing us they couldn’t solve captchas."

— TheGallopingGhost, Reddit

A stunning presentation (after the first three skippable minutes) about how the power of triggering certain psychological reactions earned billions of dollars for Facebook game makers.

The last few minutes are a little story of Future You, who will get points for brushing your teeth, points for your kid doing well in school, points for taking public transit and points for paying attention to ads.

Basically this game designer gets us halfway to Cory Doctorow’s concept of whuffie.

DICE 2010: “Design Outside the Box” Presentation Videos - G4tv.com

"There are a lot of things that give me pleasure, but nothing gives me more pleasure than participating in a really heated argument. That’s the most pleasurable thing for me. So sure I could just sit at home and masturbate all day, but it wouldn’t be as much fun as masturbating in front of other people."

— Playwright Bruce Norris, interviewed (as delightfully typed to me by Rachel)

video killed the redneck star: Country singer Craig Morgan over an MGMT video.

Susie Cagle is a genius.

March 2 2010
Post has 19 notes

hellaposer:

topherchris:

Roger Ebert debuts his new “voice” on Oprah

The inevitable yet insensitive parody.

(I’ve enjoyed Roger Ebert’s work for years and years, and I mean no disrespect. All in good fun. This hellaposer guy did this after I told him the idea, so blame him too.)

OMG, it sounds just like he used to!

All of the above.

"We have 651 backers contributing over 17 thousand dollars in 45 days for a book that doesn’t exist yet."

—

Meaghan

This is another really important point. You made more than (I’m guessing) the median first-deal author for far fewer copies (Rach, who worked in publishing, says the median’s higher for all but the small presses, since major publishers plan only for runs of thousands of copies) – partly because you’re not sharing the revenue with a publisher, and partly because you’re selling special events and services alongside the book. (Granted, you’re also spending a few thousand on making and shipping the book.)

But you’re also doing a better marketing job than your hypothetical publisher could have. What advantages does a publisher have for a book like this? They probably couldn’t land you much better interviews than you could yourselves. They wouldn’t give an erotica collection a cardboard stand at Borders. Literary erotica is a niche market.

Why the above doesn’t apply for “I Can Has Cheezburger” (six-figure advance, bestseller, double that advance paid for the sequel) is an exercise left to the reader.

"You also, hey-oh, usually get more money, though probably not as much as most people think."

— Meaghan O’Connell sums up all old-school media.

MacGyver of the Day: Limor "Ladyada" Fried - Lifehacker

I hung out with Limor at SXSW in 2007. She’s great, really nuts.

And she totally used to date Phil Torrone, the author.

Inside gossip!

"

Yes, it WAS a pain to make and was filmed over 3 days and took 60+ takes to finally work….

Planning + building took about 6 months. They actually had to make another video because the ‘machine’ wasn’t going to be ready in time once the single was released.

"

— Redditor “basenji” says his sister helped make the OK Go Rube Goldberg video.

March 2 2010
Post has 57 notes

"Someone should create a blip.tv for books…"

—

Evan’s Blog. Meh.

We already have the first one, and it’s Kickstarter.

March 2 2010
Post has 57 notes

Meaghano's "told ya so" to her agent

This is great that the project did so well. It’s a fantastic example of the new opportunities available if you trade in the traditional way of publishing books and consider how your project is more than a book.

But the agent wasn’t wrong. The book sold 651 copies. It is hard to sell material already published online unless you load the book with new stuff. (Trust me.) It’s hard to reach publishers’ sales targets without something special. Agents and publishers know that most books lose money. And right now (for better or worse) they’re trying to focus on sure things.

Meaghan probably isn’t really saying the agent is wrong, but I just wanted to point this out, because it’s very freeing for artists.

It means a book can get a lot of attention and love without also shooting for a 10,000-copy release. It means a project can just aim at the true fans, because the model no longer needs loads of casual readers to support the core audience. It’s just a different game than traditional publishing. We need both.

"It saddens me to see all that wasted potential energy."

— Wittiest commenter on OK Go, “This Too Shall Pass” | The Awl