Don't Live for Your Obituary: Advice, Commentary and Personal Observations on Writing, 2008-2017
by John Scalzi
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
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Pub Date Dec 31 2017 | Archive Date Jan 01 2018
Description
Between 2008 and 2017, author John Scalzi wrote fifteen books, became a New York Times bestselling author, and won numerous awards, including the Hugo, the Locus and the Governor’s Award for the Arts in Ohio. He also had book deals crater, lost more awards than he won, worried about his mortgage and health insurance, flubbed a few deadlines, tried to be a decent parent and husband, and got into some arguments on the Internet, because, after all, that’s what the Internet is for.
Scalzi wrote about it all—the highs and lows in the life of a working writer—and gave his readers, and other writers, a glimpse of the day-to-day business of navigating a writing life in today’s world. Sometimes these essays offered advice. Sometimes they commented on the practical business of publishing and selling books. Sometimes they focused on the writing issues, arguments and personalities of the day. And sometimes, Scalzi reflected on his own writing life and career, and what both meant in the larger scheme of things.
Don’t Live for Your Obituary is a curated selection of that decade of advice, commentary and observations on the writing life, from one of the best-known science fiction authors working today. But more than that, it’s a portrait of an era—ten years of drama, controversy and change in writing, speculative fiction and the world in general—from someone who was there when it happened… and who had opinions about it all.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781596068582 |
| PRICE | $40.00 (USD) |
Featured Reviews
Aysha R, Reviewer
Review of Don't Live for Your Obituary: Advice, Commentary and Personal Observations on Writing, 2008-2017 by John Scalzi
In the interests of full disclosure, I was sent an ARC of this book by the publisher through NetGalley for review purposes. All my reviews, good, bad, or indifferent, are based on my own opinion and from my personal viewpoint. They are also spoiler free.
First things first. This is not a novel. It is a collection of curated posts from John Scalzi’s Whatever blog.
If you have followed his blog since 2008, much of the book will not be new material. There are introductions to many of the posts with additional information and insights, however.
If you, like me, have only read the occasional blog post over the years, or none at all, you will find it at various times informative, educational, opinionated, interesting, not interesting, and sometimes a rant.
It is organized by topic, rather than timeline, which can be entertaining when the technology being discussed changes without warning. Although many of the topics are specifically related to writing and are directed at writers, as long as you are interested in how books come to be it is still definitely worth the time.
John Scalzi’s precise use of language, in and of itself, made this a joy to read.
I give it 4 stars.
Book Review Rating System
1 star Not even worth the $1 at the used bookstore
2 stars Worth the $1
3 stars Worth the time to read
4 stars Good book! Earns bookshelf space
5 stars Great book! Start hunt for more books by this author
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