It's an unfortunate truth about books that it's never simply been about being a good writer, but as literal thousands of new books are published every month, marketability is arguably more important — and harder to define — than it's ever been.
I don't usually buy into "blame the user" for most problems, but our collective addiction to vanity metrics ruined everything, and even those who didn't buy into them have suffered the consequences. The problem exists between keyboard and chair.
"I'd pay good money to hear the whisper networks' take on that." Five things for November 30, 2023.
Much like the lack of flying cars and personal jetpacks, the internet in 2023 is a major disappointment.
"Be the change you want to see." Five things for April 27, 2023. That's it! That's the excerpt.
Whether it's the outright banning of individual journalists he doesn't like, or the recent mis-labeling of NPR's account, Twitter has become an even more dangerous platform for spreading misinformation under Musk — a comically dystopian combination of The New York Times and Truth Social.
I was tickled when I saw how Microcosm titled our conversation about my career path in the industry, and listening to it for the first time, it's another reminder that my path was a relatively unusual one, difficult and unlikely to be replicated in the structure of the current industry. That said, I do think there's still an opportunity (and more importantly, a need) for people to be more outspoken about the various challenges the industry is dealing with, dismantling whisper networks to level the playing field for those coming from non-traditional backgrounds.