Having listened to the latest episode of Geek Gab: On the Books, blogger Bradford Walker notes a common theme running through my podcast episodes and blog posts.
If there is one consistent theme to a lot of Brian’s posts at his blog, and his episodes of this podcast, is that the old model that the Big 5 and their London counterparts built into massive corporate empires is not only decaying, it’s collapsing and there is no future in it for most authors- no matter if they have a contract or not.
Furthermore, the attempt by the SJWs dominating SF/F publishing to control the narrative concerning their control through the Hugos is also collapsing. The Dragons’ second year makes it crystal clear that the Hugos are not relevant, do not give voice to the fans, and has no business purporting itself to be a marker of quality. The fans came out big for the Dragons this year, and they will come out even bigger next year. The SJWs can’t get more than half of the votes in a single Dragon’s category to vote at all; they’re done, and the smarter ones know it.
The business is changing, and the fact is now becoming obvious to the unobservant. Time to seize the future for ourselves.
Mr. Walker himself is quite observant. He doesn’t need a weatherman to know there’s a hurricane bearing down on the New York publishing establishment and their pet SJW authors. And Bradford is right that the smarter ones know it. A sympathetic confidante who subscribes to Tor Books’ newsletter has been sending me reports on the contents. No mention of Scalzi in months, but they give plenty of inches to Brandon Sanderson. Not that it will save them.
Speaking of authors actually releasing new books, I’m pleased to report to my reader-employers that work on The Ophian Rising, Soul Cycle Book IV is proceeding well. I’ve spoken to multiple readers who were under the impression that the series was a trilogy. That’s an understandable assumption, given tradpub and Hollywood’s obsession with trilogies. Being an indie author, however, I’m unbound by such constraints. Look for the shocking conclusion to the Soul Cycle this fall.
The Soul Cycle has been in the works for over a decade, and it was always planned as a four-book series. You can read a preview of the fourth and final installment in the back matter of 2017 Dragon Award finalist The Secret Kings.
Finally, many of you have also expressed your desire to write a book. As Bradford said, this it the time. Conditions have never been more favorable to authors in human history. We need each and every one of you to help rebuild the science fiction genre that the CHORFs destroyed–not just for financial gain, but to continue the slow, necessary work of repairing the culture.