I usually don't link to internet fist fights, but not linking to this one is like not telling y'all that there's free candy and ice cream being given away in the puppy & kitten store down the street. Besides, as someone who's contemplated posting free fiction on my website (and who once posted an entire novel on a f-locked Livejournal), this whole series of arguments is of great interest to me.

SFWA VP Howard V. Hendrix (that's DOCTOR Hendrix to you!) seriously loses his shit, insults most of SFWA's membership, misuses the term "scab".

Nick Mamatas rips him a new one, in the way that only he can do.

John Scalzi at first decides there's not much to comment on...

...but then changes his mind and rips Dr. McScaberson a new one, in the way that only he can do.

Update: Using Gresham's Law, Dr. Hendrix tries, fails to logically explain his use of the term "scab".

For the record: I love Hendrix's fiction, and will keep buying it as long as he keeps writing it. But I disagree with his argument that posting free fiction online prevents "legitimate" writers from earning a living. My little stories and novella excerpts are not stealing the bread from the mouths of writers and their families. The only person it might prevent getting paid for their work is... me, if publishers refuse to buy the work on the grounds that I already "published" it through internet posting. However, John Scalzi's success with his online novel "Agent to the Stars" (and writers who've posted even just a few chapters of WIPs online - such as Cherie Priest, the most famous example) disproves the theory that once online, it can never be sold - so you never know. But I'm not yet as popular or as talented as those writers, so for now, I'll keep online fiction limited to reprints and excerpts only.

Labels: writing gossip