So a couple of months ago, Barry Eisler knocked back a $500,000 publishing deal to self-publish instead. In recent weeks, Michael Stackpole has been arguing the case in his blog for the fall of traditional publishing, the rise of ebooks, and the benefits of self-publishing. And here in Australia, a self-published novel by Andrea K Höst has been nominated for the Aurealis award (a major Australian spec fic award).
Today I saw The Lost Thing, Shaun Tan’s Oscar-winning short film. It’s a beautiful, whimsical, wistful piece. If you get a chance to see it, do so. It’s well worth it.
I was given this book by a friend of a friend at Worldcon. It’s a collection of short stories with an alternative-Australian-mythology feel to them. Reading it reminded me of some panels at the con about Australian speculative fiction.