I Didn't Read a Damn Thing Thursday
Oct. 26th, 2017 12:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydamorehouse I didn't post yesterday, because I don't think I finished reading anything and that sucks.
I'm in the middle of reading Scarlett, a YA that's the sequel to Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I listened to and reviewed the audiobook of Cinder WAY back in 2012. The review still exists out there, much to my surprise: https://sciencefictionmusings.blogspot.com/2012/01/cinder-delightful-mix-of-familiar-and.html. So, if you want to know what I thought of the first book, feel free to check it out.
I apparently managed three reviews for Science Fiction and Other ODDysseys: Cinder's audiobook, Pacific Rim (the movie), and one comic book called Haven. I have no idea why that gig stopped (possibly I just stopped? Maybe I expected to receive more things and didn't pursue my own?), but it appears the blog hasn't been updated since 2014. So, it was only a couple of years later they stopped all together.
Review sites probably don't garner very many click-throughs to be worth the effort. For myself, I just keep MangaKast rolling because I like to keep track of the manga I've read. (I haven't updated that in almost a month, I don't think). I can't imagine doing MangaKast as a for-profit thing or even doing it intentionally, regularly--anything other than for fun, I mean.
I don't remember if I got paid for my work at ODDysseys or not. I think that was volunteer, actually, much like my work for Twin Cities Geeks. Paying review gigs are super hard to come by and they don't seem to last, at least not for me. Maybe my longest run was reviewing movies for focusPOINT? I think I did that for a whole year... probably the interviews I did for Science Fiction Chronicle were the longest running paid gig I had, though, unlike focusPOINT, that was very much a 'whenever you can swing a good one' kind of publication schedule. My earliest review ever, anywhere was for Tangent Online, back in November of 1999. Amazingly, that one also still exists: https://www.tangentonline.com/print-bi-annual-reviewsmenu-262/aurealis-reviewsmenu-99/172-aurealis-december-1999january-2000. I think it was the only review I managed for them, though. I apparently suck at follow-through.
Speaking of review gigs that randomly dried up, I just emailed my editor at Bitter Empire, because they stopped publishing my reviews and never really told me why. I assumed it was because they're very focused on lawyer-y things and my odd little science fiction book reviews weren't exactly a perfect fit. I was more baffled than anything and obviously just moved on to Twin Cities Geeks when I saw the opportunity. The only bummer, of course, is that Bitter Empire paid, and paid fairly well, at that. (I would not at all be upset if the reason they stopped publishing me was because they could no longer afford to pay me. I totally get that. I'm just finally curious enough to ask, I guess. Also? I don't really want to have left there with bad feelings and I suspect just not talking about it, while very Minnesotan, could lead bad feelings later maybe?)
I dunno.
In other news, though I have to skipped my writers' group because I have to work at the library tonight, I got a royalty check, which makes me feel like a writer (even if I haven't been able to write much of ANYTHING this past month or so.)
I'm in the middle of reading Scarlett, a YA that's the sequel to Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I listened to and reviewed the audiobook of Cinder WAY back in 2012. The review still exists out there, much to my surprise: https://sciencefictionmusings.blogspot.com/2012/01/cinder-delightful-mix-of-familiar-and.html. So, if you want to know what I thought of the first book, feel free to check it out.
I apparently managed three reviews for Science Fiction and Other ODDysseys: Cinder's audiobook, Pacific Rim (the movie), and one comic book called Haven. I have no idea why that gig stopped (possibly I just stopped? Maybe I expected to receive more things and didn't pursue my own?), but it appears the blog hasn't been updated since 2014. So, it was only a couple of years later they stopped all together.
Review sites probably don't garner very many click-throughs to be worth the effort. For myself, I just keep MangaKast rolling because I like to keep track of the manga I've read. (I haven't updated that in almost a month, I don't think). I can't imagine doing MangaKast as a for-profit thing or even doing it intentionally, regularly--anything other than for fun, I mean.
I don't remember if I got paid for my work at ODDysseys or not. I think that was volunteer, actually, much like my work for Twin Cities Geeks. Paying review gigs are super hard to come by and they don't seem to last, at least not for me. Maybe my longest run was reviewing movies for focusPOINT? I think I did that for a whole year... probably the interviews I did for Science Fiction Chronicle were the longest running paid gig I had, though, unlike focusPOINT, that was very much a 'whenever you can swing a good one' kind of publication schedule. My earliest review ever, anywhere was for Tangent Online, back in November of 1999. Amazingly, that one also still exists: https://www.tangentonline.com/print-bi-annual-reviewsmenu-262/aurealis-reviewsmenu-99/172-aurealis-december-1999january-2000. I think it was the only review I managed for them, though. I apparently suck at follow-through.
Speaking of review gigs that randomly dried up, I just emailed my editor at Bitter Empire, because they stopped publishing my reviews and never really told me why. I assumed it was because they're very focused on lawyer-y things and my odd little science fiction book reviews weren't exactly a perfect fit. I was more baffled than anything and obviously just moved on to Twin Cities Geeks when I saw the opportunity. The only bummer, of course, is that Bitter Empire paid, and paid fairly well, at that. (I would not at all be upset if the reason they stopped publishing me was because they could no longer afford to pay me. I totally get that. I'm just finally curious enough to ask, I guess. Also? I don't really want to have left there with bad feelings and I suspect just not talking about it, while very Minnesotan, could lead bad feelings later maybe?)
I dunno.
In other news, though I have to skipped my writers' group because I have to work at the library tonight, I got a royalty check, which makes me feel like a writer (even if I haven't been able to write much of ANYTHING this past month or so.)