But Brad Torgerson (whose conservative views on specfic I’ve blogged about before) apparently believes it does: “the vast majorify of SFWA members are not professionals, meaning they don’t publish much, or even at all, and they certainly don’t make a full-time living from their fiction sales.” (It’s not a direct link but you can click through). So when I wasn’t making a full-time living from writing, I wasn’t a pro. And I still don’t make a full-time living from fiction, so he wouldn’t consider me a professional specfic writer.
Codswallop, dude. I put in 12 hours a week writing for years after my day job was done. I completed and submitted novels (admittedly unsold), occasionally sold short stories, and a boatload of magazine articles. And I’m not unique. Lots of top SF writers have had day jobs; Fritz Leiber worked for 10 years as an editor at Science Digest. Some SF writers have been retirees. As of Torgerson’s post (not a direct link) is on how snobbish taste-makers in SFWA use the Nebulas to promote what they think is good art and politically acceptable (which is pretty much how any creative awards work), I suspect the subtext is that most of the SFWA members aren’t real writers like he is, so his views are superior (as a post from Black Gate shows, no they’re not).
But apparently this is a new thing in the right-wing zeitgeist because another writer’s expressed similar views. For the record I’m not sure what the standard for “professional” is or should be, but this ain’t it.
In other writing links:
Yes, it is perfectly justifiable to criticize errors in translated literature.
There’s an old joke that the most creative people in Hollywood are the accountants. Case in point, an arbitrator ruled Fox Broadcasting, cheated the stars, the executive producer and novelist Kathy Reichs (her books were the inspiration for the show) out of their share of profits by tricks such as giving Hulu (Fox is a co-owner) a sweetheart deal on streaming fees. The penalty: $179 million.
A publisher says Amazon is not only selling pirated copies of his book, they’re printing the copies.
Thoughts on the boundaries of cultural appropriation, and how it applies to Bruno Mars and Ariana Grande.
Lauren Harris on how to turn on her writing mind.
A look at some of the censorship and obscenity cases the Comic Book Legal Defense group has taken on.
#SFWApro
