Every author needs to read this book! There are some really great tips and tricks to help an author manage writing and the business aspects of publication. The insight is eye-opening and incredibly well written. An author giving authors advice is one of the best things I've read this year. I will be reading more by this author.

John Scalzi es un escritor prolífico que tiene las cosas muy claras y así las expone en su blog. Este libro consta de artículos seleccionados de esta publicación, por lo tanto si lees Whatever con cierta constancia te encontrarás cosas que recuerdas.

Don't Live for your Obituary tiene todo lo bueno de los post de un blog exitoso. Los artículos que lo componen son directos, cortos y van muy al grano, lo cual es de agradecer. La brevedad y la concisión son aspectos importantes a la hora de escribir online, donde nuestra capacidad de atención se diluye a los pocos párrafos. Scalzi lo consigue de un modo directamente heredado de su pasado como periodista.

Existe cierta repetición en los temas tratados, como las polémicas con los Puppies, pero de forma general es una lectura muy ágil. Para evitar esta reiteración, también se puede optar por intercalar cada artículo con otro tipo de lecturas. El formato en el que se presenta se da mucho a ello, incitanto a la lectura de algunos artículos y pudiendo dejar los demás para después.

El libro está enfocado principalmente a una persona que quiera desarrollar una carrera como escritor, así que muchos de los consejos tienen en mente un autor, pero lo cierto es que la mayoría de los temas financieros de los que habla el autor son de sentido común (no gastes más de lo que tienes, ojo con las tarjetas de crédito, el dinero que no has recibido todavía no es tuyo...). Algunos son de un obvio que sorprende, pero también es verdad que por lo general no tenemos la cultura financiera que necesitaríamos (me incluyo en el conjunto).

Para mí, los artículos más interesantes son los referidos al mundo de la publicación en sí. La relación con los editores, la gestión de los contratos, las posibilidades de vender los derechos para producciones audiovisuales... es un tema del que no se habla apenas pero que a mí me resulta fascinante. Me temo que no es extrapolable al mundo editorial español, por pura economía de escala, pero no deja de ser culturizante.

También hay alguna que otra referencia al ego y la riqueza de Scalzi, que sin ser un potentado económico si que tiene una situación desahogada, ganada a base de teclear. Leyendo sus escritos la idea general es que Scalzi es un tipo majo, pero precisamente hay un artículo sobre la persona que proyecta y la persona que es en realidad, así que...

En general la lectura es amena de interés variable. Entiendo que su público objetivo principal pueden ser escritores o aspirantes a serlo, pero creo que cualquiera con interés en el mundo editorial y en el género fantástico en particular puede disfrutar de Don't Live for your Obituary.

John Scalzi's writing style is very catchy. You won't be bored with it.

Considering that this book was written by John Scalzi, I’m honestly not surprised that I liked it. I’ve been following Scalzi since I read his book, Old Man’s War, in 2015. I was late to the series, but nevertheless, I enjoyed it. So, I was excited when I first learned that he would be releasing a book on writing, mostly comprised of posts that have appeared on his blog between 2008 and 2017.

I liked Don’t Live For Your Obituary partly because I don’t have to go back through all of Scalzi’s blog posts to find the ones included in the book, and he has a lot of insightful commentary on his experience as a published author and on publishing in general. This book covered a myriad of topics. There was one topic I particularly liked and that was the focus on the business side of publishing—including taxes, money, and day jobs—which is something I often look for in writing books but never usually get.

Don’t Live For Your Obituary is a good book to read if you’re thinking about getting involved in anything publishing related, or are just looking for something interesting to read. It doesn’t sugarcoat or feed into lofty expectations, and often focuses on the reality of publishing. So, if you’re a fan of Scalzi then I recommend this book. And, if you’ve read the vast majority of the blog posts on his blog, Whatever, then, I still recommend Don’t Live For Your Obituary.

Disclaimer: This copy of the book was provided Subterranean Press via Netgalley for this review.

It happens, from time to time, that I read from Scalzi's blog, so some of this entries were not unknown to me, but mostly were. Things I appreciated more were the discussions about being a writer, ebooks, publishers and so on, but I found also very interesting the thing he wrote about some fellow writer, where I learned about a Duran Duran book written by Neil Gaiman and the clear difference between Douglas Adams and Scalzi himself, in his own opinion anyway. Interesting way to explore the world of science fiction from a different point of view.

Mi era capitato in passato di leggere il blog di Scalzi, ma la maggior parte di questo libro che raccoglie i post del blog mi era sconosciuto.La parte che piú mi ha interessato è quella in cui l'autore discetta di libri, ebook e case editrici, ma le entries piú interessanti sono quelle che mi hanno permesso di scoprire che nei primi anni '80 Neil Gaiman scrisse una fanzine sui Duran Duran e quali sono le differenze fondamentali tra Douglas Adams e lo stesso Scalzi, secondo lui. Questo libro non é per tutti, ma per chi ama la fantascienza é un punto di vista diverso sull'argomento.

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

This collection of essays and blog posts from John Scalzi is a lot of fun for anyone who enjoys Scalzi, and especially valuable for the writing advice. I think it’d be great to own a real copy and read sections at a time.

John Scalzi's Don't Live for Your Obituary is a collection of essays--blog entries really--formed into the loose structure of a book. If you're familiar with his Whatever blog, you'll probably recognize a lot of material. I'm not going to go into a lot of details on individual pieces. Scalzi is a great writer, and he, um, knows how to write.

The real question is: should you buy this book?

If you consider yourself a rabid Scalzi fan, then you've probably already bought the special edition of the book and made a place for it on your shrine next to your scrap of Hawaiian print fabric and your complete archive of John Scalzi film reviews from the Fresno Bee.

*slowly backs away*

The book is a treasure for writers. Scalzi has a strong background in financial advice, and he applies that advice to writing as a career. Yes, he makes way, WAY more than most writers will ever make, but he got there by starting with a strong understanding of money. In particular, he teaches the good lesson of valuing your work, and that's something early-career writers absolutely need to hear.

This book also collects quite a few essays regarding the publishing industry. As a writer it's fascinating to see how all the various gears fit together (or don't) in publishing. That stuff will always be interesting to me, and Don't Live for Your Obituary does a fantastic job of shining a light on those dark corners we don't normally get to see and oh my god it's dusty back there when was the last time anyone cleaned?

*ahem*

Part of the book is about various interactions with other authors and famous people. It's fine. If you're into that kind of thing, these stories are just as entertaining as you'd expect Scalzi's stories to be. It's not my thing, but if it's yours, then I think you'll be happy.

Full review here: https://anthonyeichenlaub.com/book-review-dont-live-obituary/

I read a free copy of Don't Live for Your Obituary from NetGalley.

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

Nice selection of writing and writing tips that I, as an author, found very helpful. Enjoyable read, and recommended for just about anyone.

I'm a fan of John Scalzi, read the whole Old Man's War series, The Collapsing Empire, Miniatures, Redshirts... I also enjoyed "About Writing" from Stephen King and my expectation was a similar book from Scalzi.

But it's not a "book" in the traditional meaning of the word, but a copied series of his blog entries without any deeper meaning or thoughts. The problem is with the style: Scalzi has a really good style in his novels, smooth action, good conversations. But his Whatever blog is usually full of his ego and cliches, and the actual thoughts are framed by much of meaningless banality. It's OK for a daily blog, but it's exhausting for hundreds of pages of a book. For example:

"For all that, some people kvetched about me and others writing about these horrible contracts and warning people off them, and this piece is about that."

"Either you want to write or you don't, and thinking that you want to write really doesn't mean anything."

Obviously his thoughts about writing and publishing would be interesting. But in a format of a book, the chapters should be edited much more thoroughly than in a daily, sketchy, conversational-style blog. A book should be shorter, deeper and more serious. When he was angry at someone because of saying something about the risks of publishing, and he sweared him and sweared again, and again, I sadly closed this book. I would be interested in his thoughts, but absolutely not in his personal, daily nervousness.

It's OK, the cover said that it's his blog, but I didn't think that it's nothing else, nothing more. Maybe it's my mistake, but in this form I wouldn't suggest it to my readers.

An expansive memoir taken from John Scalzi's blog, which spans a number of years. This is a useful guide for writers who are less interested in the touchy-feely aspects of writing, such as inspiration, and more interested in the business side of writing. Scalzi has many actionable, useful tips about things like establishing a will or not quitting your day job or putting aside money for taxes. He talks about the unglamorous things that really do make a big difference in the lives of writers. I would recommend this book to working writers, writers to-be, or anyone that wants an inside look at what the writing life really looks like.

This book is most valuable to aspiring writers. Most of the content, as you might expect from the title, involves Scalzi sharing advice on writing based on his own experiences over the years. He covers a wide range of topics, from time management, the business/financial side of things, and relationships with other writers. He also discusses various controversies in the SF genre and common questions people have for writers. Of course, all of this is done in his trademark honest, quippy style. It's relatable, and funny, and it makes a book of advice and commentary much more interesting to read than perhaps the average book of advice for writers. This is not a particularly detailed book of advice; if you want something exhaustive in its minutiae, you'll want to look elsewhere. This is Scalzi sharing about his life as a writer, I think hoping to be entertaining and helpful and encouraging. I enjoyed this, and I think others will too.

The content of this book is taken from his blog posts from the last 10 years. If you're a frequent visitor to his blog, I imagine some of this might be familiar.