AFP, ROW80, and J. K. Rowling

espite my love of music and bands, and being wed to a musician, I know next to nothing about the business aspects of music. I've made it my business to learn as much as I can about self-publishing, and about how books are created after they leave the writer's hands (if they're lucky/savvy enough to launch), but music?

Er, you put a song on the net, right?

However, just as I've got authors I turn to for guidance in the traditional scheme of things (hi, Barbara Rogan!) and self-published authors I follow who are paving the way (hi, Kait Nolan!), if I ever needed to know about music and how to do things right, I would turn to Amanda Palmer [NeilcoughGaiman].

Here's Amanda's post about her new Kickstarter project, which is how she's raising money for her next album and tour (and oh so much more - would you like a party at your house?). She's doing everything right - and it's taking hours and hours of work.

Which leads me to today's ROW80 update. The editing is progressing at its usually rate - slow, but steady. But from now on I resolve to stop comparing myself to anyone else.

It took a year and a half to write, edit, beta and re-edit Out of the Water, and so far I've queried ten agents in five months. That's my pace, it seems, so fine. By that light, the fact that I've only been working on Rome, Rhymes and Risk since the last NaNo is - peanuts! I've got months and months to whip the story into shape; why am I aiming to send it to betas by the end of the summer?

Meanwhile, chiming in on the state of publishing as it continues to evolve, here's an essay by the ever-erudite Marilynne Robinson: The Situation in American Writing.

And I've got a handful more photos! This was in Edinburgh...

Cowgate

The Elephant House, where Rowling used to write

Waterstone's bookstore window
(the smaller poster to the right was for the Stratford-upon-Avon literary festival)

Have you made any writing resolutions lately?