“Although few have reached the flabbergasting success of “Fifty Shades” author E.L. James, a former fan fiction writer whose net worth now totals more than $58 million, I found that the median income for romance authors has tripled in the e-book era. And more and more are earning a six-figure income. This uptick occurred as other types of writing became less profitable. During the same period, a survey of 1,095 Authors Guild members found that their median income from writing fell by at least 30 percent.”
Blog
Poet Attacks Young Social Media Poets In Scathing Essay That Divides Poetry World
Poet Rebecca Watts took to the pages of PN Review to lay out her disdain for “the cult of the noble amateur”, and her despair at the effect of social media on poetry. Highlighting the work of poets such as Kaur (whose debut collection Milk and Honey has sold more than 1m copies worldwide), Tempest and, in particular, McNish, Watts attacks the “cohort of young female poets who are currently being lauded by the poetic establishment for their ‘honesty’ and ‘accessibility’”.
Why Has A Once Obscure Canadian Psychology Professor Become So “Dangerous”?
“There have been several calls for his ouster from the University of Toronto — where he’s tenured — including a recent open letter to the dean of the faculty of arts and science signed by hundreds, including many of his fellow professors. Friends refuse to comment on him lest they be associated with his image. Critics hesitate, too, for fear that his supporters will unleash their online wrath. A graduate student at another Canadian university was reprimanded for showing a short video clip of Peterson to a group of undergraduates. One of the professors taking her to task likened Peterson to Hitler.”
We All Believe In Truth, Right? (Are You Sure?)
“We argue for our positions, and get annoyed if they are challenged. Why do we do this? The obvious answer is that we believe the views we express (ie, we think they are true), and we want to get others to believe them too, becausethey are true. We want the truth to prevail. That’s how it seems. But do we really believe everything we say? Are you always trying to establish the truth when you argue, or might there be other motives at work?”
Douglas Coupland: Are Books About To Be Superseded By VR?
“Maybe books are overrated. Maybe they are an interim technology on the way to VR and we can now get rid of our books.”
The Cleveland Orchestra Is 100 Years Old. Is It America’s Best?
Skeptics say that touring orchestras are steeled and on their mettle when they visit Carnegie Hall, adding, “They don’t play that way every week at home.” The Cleveland Orchestra, as I learned during a season (1988-89) spent as its program annotator and editor, plays that way every week, no matter what or where.
Writers Love Routines. So I Followed Famous Writers’ Routines. It Wasn’t Pretty
“For one week, I would spend each day following a different writer’s routine. Now, I know that in changing it up every day I would no longer be participating in a routine, per se, but my rationalization was that this would be akin to a workout schedule, where you do different exercises each day—getting a little stronger, faster, and more flexible with each session. Even if none of these became my permanent routine, I’d still have a solid week’s worth of writing to show for it. At least, that’s what I thought.”
The Leonardo Exception
Leonardo da Vinci was not a consummate painter. He was first and foremost a scientist, inventor and experimenter, with an excess of artistic talent to help pay the rent and a trove of notebooks to document his true obsessions. What I admire and envy about him is that thirst and drive to know everything, and his inventive imagination. I’d prefer to curl up with his codices, which is how I’d probably feel most at ease with him.
How USC’s Film School Handled It When A $5 Million Gift From Harvey Weinstein Became Radioactive
Last year, Weinstein announced that he would donate $5 million to USC’s School of Cinematic Arts to endow scholarships for female filmmaking students. When his years of sexual misconduct became public, the gift became a problem; one USC student said in a petition, “We don’t need this money. What we need is some damn principles.” Mike Scutari looks at how the school responded and the implications of its decision.
Jack Whitten, Abstract Painter And Sculptor Discovered Late In Life, Dead At 78
“As with many painters whose style matured during the late 1960s and early ’70s, Whitten’s career wasn’t widely recognized until the past few years. But today, when Whitten’s visually seductive paintings appear in major museum shows, it has become difficult to imagine a history of abstract painting without his work.”