Web Salvation: Running To The Internet Tour 201
Using the Net and the Web, and thanks to Slashdot and its readers, I skirted around the mass-marketing conventional wisdoms of modern publishing with my new book. So the story continues with "Web Salvation: The Running To The Internet" tour. Since it started here, it's only right that it continue here. If you care to, follow along from the inside of a new-media driven, intensely-interactive kind of rolling book tour. You can follow the sked, even e-mail the publicist. Part One:
Washington - I never love the Web more than when I visit its antithesis: this arrogant, top-down, incestuous city. Something in the drinking water here makes people angry, crazy, self-righteous, combative.
Kicking off the "Web Salvation: Running To The Internet Tour" on C-SPAN this week early Monday morning, the callers were all abuzz about yet another hateful D.C. tell-all book, this one by George Stephanopolous about how The President who employed him for year after year is unfit for office.
The first caller on "Washington Journal," from Omaha, asks me about a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world. Years of Web writing have prepared me for this. "It's not really my turf," I say, as the host, Brian Lamb, nods impassively. Interactive TV, which Lam has practiced by taking calls from all over the country on his public service network from the day he started, is much like being on the Web: you get flamed but you shrug and move on. We're on the air for more than an hour.
The second caller, Sean, from New York City, signals me that he's a Slashdot regular by saying he's read my work on the Web and that my writing is "slashing." This is confirmed by Sean's subsequent e-mail. "It was cool seeing you on TV," he wrote. "I've flamed you on Slashdot, but seeing you there, well, it was cool....So I called."
It was cool, like being a member of a secret society. And effective - the Random House publicist calls to say we've shot back up onto the Amazon Top 50.
Three weeks ago, I made minor publishing and Web history by launching my new book "Running to The Mountain" on Slashdot, which excerpted a chapter about spirituality and technology. I've been contributing columns to Slashdot for the past six months, drawn by the site and the free software movement, something I've been waiting for much of my life. But I never imagined my book would debut there.
I'm what publishers call a "mid-list" author. They don't really like writers like me. Nor do they quite know what to do with us, because we rarely sell enough copies to justify their time, especially as they consolidate and get bigger and sell to giant chains. I've published seven previous books, and none has earned much for either the publisher or me. I was getting broker, and they were getting stingier. Something had to give, and the odds were it was going to be me.
At a booksellers' convention in Boston last fall, a Random House sales rep took me aside and let me know, sotto voce, that the sales force "didn't get my book." It was a friendly warning, and a chilling one. And I understood it. My book was weird - part spiritual exploration, part adventure, part memoir, part essay. I didn't have a five-word explanation that somebody could read at a sales conference. And even then, months ago, the business was buzzing about Monica.
The translation: Random House wasn't going to print many copies of my book. Maybe they'd print 5000 or so. The chain stories would each order one or two copies, stick them back in Men's Studies or Memoirs (publishers pay for the displays up front), and that would be the end of it. And that is precisely what happened.
You hear a lot about the sales force in publishing these days. Writers call them SFFH - Sales Forces from Hell. Modern-day avengers, its members hunt down mid-list writers, read through their wretched sales histories, and root them out. We are, like welfare recipients, considered a shiftless and dependent bunch no longer worthy of subsidy. Increasingly, we're also like refugees, fleeing from one publishing house to the next, panicked about our contracts and our prospects. This may be just, and nobody's forcing us to pick this line of work, but the idea is that if we don't figure out how to sell more books, we're done.
So I knew I was running out of time. But for me, the Web is almost a religion, an inevitable place to turn. I fell in love with it the moment I went online eight years ago. I've made my closest friends online, done some of my best writing there, exchanted e-mails with a zillion people, and watched in wonder as the modern equivalent of the discovery of fire erupted under my nose. I decided the Web could save me by allowing me to reach my audience directly. It offered a chance to test the validity of all the BS I've been writing about it for years.
So I gave first serial rights to my book to Slashdot - for free. My publisher chuckled. A site about a computer operating system called Linux inhabited by computer geeks? With a Penguin for a symbol? Cute. Futile. So up it went on Slashdot, home mostly to young programmers, coders, Webheads, Web designers, and OSS and Linux users -- a book about a middle-aged man heading off to a mountaintop with his dogs and a pile of Thomas Merton books, to ponder life after 50.
And guess what? Hundreds of Linux geeks bought it. The book rocketed up Amazon's bestseller list in hours, making it all the way to number 22. My publisher went into shock. A site called what? How many books? The Sales Force was in disarray.
Interestingly, among the book-buyers were many who had been roasting me alive in public forums for being a Linux klutz, a wuss and a Microsoft Word user. (Don't worry, I'll never out you). Some actually read it, some gave it to their parents, and - one or two scanned it, compressed it into e-mail files and gave it away for free. The book went into a second printing and then, this week, a third.
So my faith in the Web is repaid. More importantly, there may be a new way for writers to survive the Sales Forces. Before the publication date, I'd spent weeks e-mailing websites that might conceivably be interested - dog sites (my two yellow Labradors are featured prominently in the book), Thomas Merton sites (the Trappist Monk who inspired my journey) and any other site that might reviewthe book or link to a review or to Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.
Luck helped: I got a great review on USA Today on the very day the excerpt appeared, as well as praise from the LA Times, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Men's Journal, Elle and New Age Journal. (For a negative review, go to Salon.com, where a critic accused me of being an upper middle-class, non-spiritual wuss).
Now I'm heading off on a two-week inter-active book tour. The Barnes and Noble website will link to the tour, and Slashdot will link to Amazon and Barnesandnoble.com. And thanks to the World Wide Web, I'm just where I want to be: on the barricades, a guerrilla writer loose in the wilds of the Net. There's going to be an auction for the paperback rights. The book is selling, so the Sales Force can't make me go away. And the Web has endless possibilities, so maybe I never have to.
Using the Web (Slashdot made it possible), I sold the book around them. My publisher has no clear idea of what's happened, other than to declare it profound. Other writers are calling daily to ask how to do this. Get on the Web, I tell them, and the force will be with you.
But probably not the Sales Force. Bewildered and unsettled, it's making all the right noises, but I can't help getting the sense that it is impatient to get on with the big celebrity books, the kind they do get and print tens of thousands of copies of. If not for the Web, and especially if not for Slashdot, I would have already been long gone.
Instead, I'll be filing book-tour I'm going to filing book- tour reports over the next couple of weeks as I visit Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, New York and other cities to flog "Running to The Mountain." Slashdot readers sure don't need to buy the book - you've already done your much-appreciated part. But if you want a peek at the insides of a modern book tour, then come along. The book's publicist, a champion both of the Web and of "Running to The Mountain" and, now a good friend as well, has graciously agreed to include his e-mail in case anybody has any questions about publishing, how media and books work, or anything else (sure, you can pitch book ideas to him, too, heh-heh). His name is Brian McClendon, and his e-mail is bmclendon@randomhouse.com.
Below is my tour schedule, including print as well as electronic media publicity. This scheduled is only accurate to date, and subject to plenty of change, and probably additional places. If you're in town, please come by, and ID yourself by making a "slash" gesture across your throat. Otherwise, you can catch me on TV and radio, critique my questions and answers, and follow along. jonkatz@slashdot.org
The Running To The Internet Tour:
Author: Jon Katz Title: RUNNING TO THE MOUNTAIN: A JOURNEY OF FAITH AND CHANGE
Pub Date:03/01/99 Price:$20.00 ISBN:0-679-45678-3
03/15/99 Run American Way Magazine National/NATIONAL - Review
03/16/99 Live 10:00AM WBUR-FM/"The Connection" Boston/NEW ENGLAND - Radio
Syndication
>03/22/99 Capitola Book Cafe Capitola/SAN FRANCISCO/NORTHERN
CALIFORNIA - Talk & Signing
03/22/99 Tape 05:00PM ZDTV/"News" National/NATIONAL - TV
03/22/99 04:00PM ZDTV/"Silicon Spin" National/NATIONAL - TV
03/23/99 12:00PM Stacey's
mac or linux? (Score:1)
Katz, it's all very well what we do for you. (Score:1)
What have you done for _us_ lately?
This is one-sided. If you're going to be a leech, go away and leave us alone. If you want to be worth our respect, use that Boomer brain and figure out some way to promote US! We don't care about your success- that's _your_ problem. We don't care about your personal goals- you used to talk about overcoming Linux, and we cared about the Linux, not about your process of overcoming. _Everybody_ struggles with new things and has to make an effort. _Everybody_ cares about something or other (even if it's the act of not caring). It's boring.
Show us what you can damned well _do_. I realise this is harder than self-aggrandizement but it's all that matters.
What, what have you done for us lately? What have you even tried to do? There's no sin in failing to contribute to society. There's no sin in fleeing to a mountain with your dogs and opting out of the many struggles of the present day. People have been doing it since way before the '60s, it was boring then, it was noisy and boring in the '60s and it is boring now. The insult is not in the cowardice of hiding behind the walls of the self and the ego, but in behaving like it's _our_ job to help you further yourself.
You, Jon, need to reconsider what you do with your storyposting access to Slashdot. Granted, many stories are silly or just fun, and there's no crime in that- but it is wrong to use such a gift for self-aggrandizement unless you can also throw in something that helps _us_ in the bargain. So you're doing a book tour- great! I told you myself that you should, that it was a hell of an angle to work: I'm a writer, not as successful (enough to know you're not making piles of cash even now, that argument is silly), and you _should_ hit the talk shows. But once you're there, Jon, what will you do? What will you say? In all your talk of self-discovery, where is the slightest detail that will help the world or us or the damned dogs you took with you or anyone but Jon Katz? You need to find an answer for that.
And I'll tell you why: in self-aggrandizing terms (we are whimsical animals and self-aggrandizing is natural and good). You need to find an answer because having one will make you more famous. Vain writers full of themselves are boring. If you come off boring and pompous you'll never see the talk shows again. On the other hand- if you can work an angle outside the self, make _it_ famous if you understand me, why then, you come along for the ride! Look at ESR, him and his Jedi costume. Imagine how you'd sell if you were _that_ colorful. Now look again- ESR has an _angle_, it's not just a cult of personality. He has a theme, a cause. What is your cause, Jon? The answer to that will make the difference between fame and obscurity- and it all comes down to the simple question: yes, we've done much for you, but what can you do for us? That's the story, that's the angle, that's what could set you apart from a thousand geriatric hippie writers trawling the dregs of the B list. Ponder this well, grasshopper- last time I spoke to you I said to go on talk shows and that's working- so will this work if you are big enough to do it. Hopefully you can pick up a bit of wry affection from this vicious genX 13er hacker writer speaking to you across what sometimes seems an insurmountable gap. _Work_ this one- I won't say 'look deep into yourself' because what will you find there? Nothing more special than any human who cares. Look outside yourself- look to what you do, and ask yourself, what beyond my feelings, my heart and soul, can I give?
Because, Jon, I can tell you from the breakdown lane of the information superhighway and from a spot pulling people out of the gutters of life, that giving the heart and soul just isn't enough. The day ends, and you've done nothing to help anyone- find ways to _try_ and build somebody, something, up, rather than building your heart and soul up to a state of useless radiance and enlightenment. You don't have to succeed, but you do have to try.
I've spent a lot of time writing and writing to try and reach you and cast a light on you. That's my privilege- I could not care, which is also my privilege, I could cut you dead instead of trying to understand or counsel. Instead, I choose to try and reach you, in stark contrast to your usual flamer.
What have you done for _us_ today?
Katz, it's all very well what we do for you. (Score:1)
Why is Katz' success so horrible? (Score:1)
But... upon reflection, that isn't even the issue, is it? Much of this would seem different if Katz submitted articles to editors who then could post them or not, and I think some of his excesses would be minimized. He's basically abusing his editor privileges, if you want to put it that way- there's nothing so intrinsically wrong about his articles besides the occasional MS Word garbled quotes, but hell, not even Sengan would post articles just to sell something... much less use the capacity to put Slashdot articles online, to hype his own product. Editors are for guarding objectivity, and Jon Katz has stumbled badly in this regard. He should have let others post the news of his series of appearances- and, for that matter, the news of his book.
It is possible that those articles would not have seemed on-topic enough to another editor. But Jon, by virtue of trying to get a Linux box, gained write access, and now that he has it, there is no more about his linux box, and he presents infomercials on his book, and speculations about sexbots.
I admit that would sell books and keep his section of Slashdot read, but it would be better if someone else had the decision to post his stuff or not.
Hell, I write, and do essays on Linux and open source, and in fact I have written GPLed software, and you don't see _me_ demanding that I must be allowed to have write access to Slashdot. I'm just suggesting that Jon Katz should _not_. He can't wear a book publicist hat and a Slashdot editor hat at the same time. It just doesn't work- it's wrong- one does not _mix_ roles in that way. I trust CmdrTaco's objectivity- hell, I trust Sengan's objectivity a lot more than Jon Katz's, because although Sengan is very opinionated and has even slanted stories, the stories he posted were not _about_ _him_.
It's not reasonable to expect Katz to be an objective editor about his own stuff, and indeed he's not. He should be allowed to be an editor on stories he finds that are not _about_ _him_, even sexbots- why not? But others should check out the posts about his book and his writing career and speaking engagements. It's just respectable journalism to not put him in that position- he _cannot_ play that role honorably, because it's not for him to play- except that currently, he's the one who plays it, and it is most inappropriate, and hardly fair to Jon, because he gets criticised ruthlessly for being very excited about very selfish things that he has a perfect right to be excited about...
This thread is the dumbest I've ever read (Score:1)
Everyone who contributed to the negative thought density here should be embarressed
Zark of and die... (Score:1)
Yeah, right. You don't have enough time to read, but you do have enough time to sit there reloading
According to O'Henry this next line is the most amazing literary work ever:
Plonk!
What's the matter with Stephanopolus's book? (Score:1)
Nothing wrong with what's-his-name writing about it though.
Personally, I voted for him because he WAS a pot-smoking skirt-chasing draft-dodger. He'd be the last guy to push the big red button because there's always a new waitress at the local donut shop.
mac or linux? (Score:1)
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scott miga
mac or linux? (Score:1)
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scott miga
mac or linux? (Score:1)
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scott miga
mac or linux? (Score:1)
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scott miga
amen. (Score:1)
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scott miga
Online for eight years eh Katz? (Score:1)
This is one of my pet peeves. I hear it all the time that so-and-so web designer (usually the guy who grabs MS Front Page demo and puts up a sign) has been publishing web pages 'for well over ten years now' or that they've been 'online' since 1962 or some such crap. While I do admit that one can be 'online' without being 'on the web' (whereas most AOhell people think that online=web) and that online can even mean, yes, dare I say, NOT on the internet. Wow.. what a revalation... but I digress..
Mr Katz, I'm interested in hearing when you first know about the WWW. Myself, I was learning about 'hypertext' from a fellow student who was doing a paper on the topic back in 1992. I was, at the time, using email, USEnet, IRC and this coolest of cool things, gopher. The WWW as we've come to know it didn't really hit it's stride until 1992, or even 1993, following the release of Mosiac in February 1993. Even still, the web (port 80)was only 1% of all the NSF Backbone traffic by September of that same year.
Mr. Katz, you know better than to try and impress US with numbers and pissing contests. Don't bullshit us. Now I remember why I stopped reading your posts. They don't speak for _me_ or the people I work with. They don't speak for the people I know in this industry.
I would also be VERY careful telling people that the 'secret signal' is also a symbol for you getting your throat slit. That's just plain stupid. I can see where the media would take THAT.
LArry King: So what's with this secret symbol I hear about, all these geeks wanting to kill you?
Katz: Well Larry, I told them to do it and damned if I wasn't surprised when that crazy guy actually came up behind me and slit my own throat, but hell, I don't think the artificial voice box is too bad, do you?
Well... I suppose I should just go back to editing this web page of mine that I've had for ten years now, and maybe I'll call Al Gore to ask for some advice on this routing problem....
Here's your nickel Katz, go get a clue.
compare (Score:1)
Agreed. Katz is taking advantage. (Score:1)
Yeesh!
--
As long as each individual is facing the TV tube alone, formal freedom poses no threat to privilege.
What's the matter with Stephanopolus's book? (Score:1)
Anonymous Cowards on Slashdot... (Score:1)
Online for eight years eh Katz? (Score:1)
ago'. That's pretty cool. How was that NexT box you were using? Because in 1991, the only OS that
had a 'web browser' per se was NexT.
Oh, grow up! Being "online" is not the same thing as the Web. I've been "online" and using Internet for over 15 years. I started when I got a high-speed modem (1200bps) and a serial card for my Apple II. I had an account at a University...
...richie
Why is Katz' success so horrible? (Score:1)
Have you written your own kernel then??? (Score:1)
If you truely think that Rob is getting rich by posting Katz's stuff, then you are an idiot.
Your the one who sounds like a detriment. (Score:1)
My time is way too valuable... (Score:1)
Katz filter not working (Score:1)
Mr. Katz, you have a gift (Score:1)
First, you are an engaging, entertaining writer, and I enjoy reading your contributions to
Second, you have the ability, through your contributions to this site, to spark some of the most heated, polarized "debates" I've seen here. That may not be a talent you treasure, but you sure do possess plenty of it.
I can only hope that you give appropriate weight to the commentary expressed in these forums - which is to say, that you give more weight to the people who are actually willing to sign their names than to the ubiquitous Anonymous Cowards who, either through poor muscle coordination or poor impulse control, seem unable to avoid clicking those links which will take them to stories that they know in advance they will not enjoy.
If only I had the time to read every story that appeared under my mouse...
I am glad that you contribute to
So now you're advertising your tour on here? (Score:1)
I was reading through this to find some sort of meaning and point to all of this.
The only things this long post seemed to say are the following:
1. Thank you Slashdot readers! I was going to be a washed up writer, but I stumbled upon you guys and you gave me a chance!
2. If you see me on TV, let me know you're a slashdot reader, so I can slum with you guys and feel like I belong somewhere.
3. Since some of you bought my book, and the rest of you probably won't, I'll be nice and let you get at the text.
4. If you want to see the real live me in person, come and see me! I love seeing the little people that are my fans.
Maybe I'm just cynical. Shrug.
No offense, Katz, but you seem a little full of yourself.
mac or linux? (Score:1)
What does the operating system have to do with the content of his writing?
Look (Score:1)
In 'doing what he's done', Katz has proven that to sell a book you don't necessarily have to go through the conventional motions. He went against the grain, did something a little unusual, something in fact that nobody has really done before. And sure, the result is a bit of money in his pocket, he bloody well deserves it! He took a risk and it paid off, that's what life's about.
Now that the risk has paid off for someone, others are sure to follow. He's proved that the conventional avenues for book advertising aren't the be all and end all, and that book publishers should open their eyes a little.
So who benefits? Well, potentially thousands of authors and aspiring authors who would have otherwise gone unpublished, or as Katz says himself, who would have been forced out of publication by sales people only choosing to print a few thousand copies. It's possible then that as a result of that, thousands of people across the world will hear about and read a book which they would not have otherwise read, and some might even enjoy them (And here I don't just mean Katz's one!).
Imagine a situation where you find yourself writing a book, wouldn't you find it useful to know that this sort of thing was possible?
Does this sort of thing belong on
You don't even have to like Katz to see the potential knock-on effect this will have. And even if it doesn't, it'll still be interesting to watch.
I couldn't help myself (Score:1)
Touché (Score:1)
Oh well.
I'm sure the Katz flames will continue despite the new filtering features. A certain % of people seem to enjoy it...so they will always read and always complain. Probably best to ignore them.
ahhahehae more katz drivel... (Score:1)
I have years of "Web writing" too! John that makes me a NET.GURU just like you! In fact isn't this your first real taste of net writing. A place where people actually give feedback on an almost instant basis on how annoying your drivel is?
Again this article provides nothing to slashdot except more used disk space. However instead of simply ignoring it as many suggest (including Rob) it is my right and my duty to defend my beliefs. One of those beliefs is that you are a huge detriment to the "slashdot community" and should be firmly cut off before you drag it down anymore.
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Openstep/NeXTSTEP/Solaris/FreeBSD/Linux/ultrix/OS
ahhahehae more juuri drivel... (Score:1)
"it's my belief that you're a pathetic whiny tadmonkey with nothing better todo than batch at 'juuri' *thhhhhbbhhhhhhh*"
sm00ch
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Openstep/NeXTSTEP/Solaris/FreeBSD/Linux/ultrix/OS
you all dorks (Score:1)
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Openstep/NeXTSTEP/Solaris/FreeBSD/Linux/ultrix/OS
i hat you (Score:1)
ur klever trix kant fool me
ps jon is it troo u r a foundin member of MoD?
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Openstep/NeXTSTEP/Solaris/FreeBSD/Linux/ultrix/OS
you (Score:1)
go back to mesopotamia
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Openstep/NeXTSTEP/Solaris/FreeBSD/Linux/ultrix/OS
Narrow-mindedness (Score:1)
"Katz has earned the right to be a respected commentator on digital socio-politics."
Okay. How? What has he done that has "earned" him the right?
I can't believe the "narrow-mindedness" of all these Katz jumping bandwagon fodder. No matter how banal the drivel Katz dishes out these people come to his aide and rescue.
Every argument for Katz centers around the "are you an international known and respected author?" or some other equally invalid critic. Katz isn't a respected author. He is a hack. I swear you people must think USA Today is filled with incredible detailed and accurate reporting.
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Openstep/NeXTSTEP/Solaris/FreeBSD/Linux/ultrix/OS
Why is Katz' success so horrible? (Score:1)
ME TOO!@)#$(*!)@#*%$)!@*#$*!@#$*!@#*
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Openstep/NeXTSTEP/Solaris/FreeBSD/Linux/ultrix/OS
then you haven't been around very long (Score:1)
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Openstep/NeXTSTEP/Solaris/FreeBSD/Linux/ultrix/OS
The Reason I Created Most of This Thread (Score:1)
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Openstep/NeXTSTEP/Solaris/FreeBSD/Linux/ultrix/OS
honk if you love butter (Score:1)
then you haven't been around very long (Score:1)
The thing that's weird about Katz... (Score:1)
I can't remember exactly when it got out of hand (although I suspect it was as a result of the initial "hey! people are flaming me because of what I wrote, and I'm now going to write about how the slings and arrows are all part of this wonderful anarchistic culture that we have, and it doesn't really hurt, but sometimes it does when it's a pointless ad hominem thing), but the levels of nesting have now become totally surreal as far as I'm concerned.
Tip: When some people self-refer (Muhammad Ali, the Muppets, Douglas Hofstadter, Beastie Boys) it's really clever. Others just come off as annoying (Monica Lewinsky, House of Pain, Al Gore, ...). Figure out which side you're going to fall on before you do it.
Damn you, Rob! (Score:1)
/Nick, with tongue firmly in cheek
then you haven't been around very long (Score:1)
I'm glad you've sold your book... (Score:1)
Marco Schramp
Agree (Score:1)
I don't think he's playing unfair.
So now you're advertising your tour on here? (Score:1)
His post is the analogous to the Open Source vs commercial debate. It clearly demonstrates the influence and MARKET power of geeks sites/culture/etc.
A friend of mine had a similar experience as JonK (apart from the
Department spelling conventions. (Score:1)
This-Is-An-Example-Of-Jon-Katz's Dept.
as opposed to:
cmdrtaco-or-sengan-or-hemos-do-it-this-way dept.
In any case, the discussion ensuing this article (which, by the way, was a pretty good article—it's interesting to see Katz's view of the publishing industry) has exceeded that of the recent article we all known and love in terms of pure entertainment quality. If Katz's last article were mental masturbation, then the comments for this article are mental exhibitionism. It's most annoying because this is actually a good article. Granted, it's somewhat offtopic, but what is /. but a place to post offtopic comments and articles?
This is almost as fun as the newsgroup news.admin.net-abuse.email back in the days of the New Jersey Swearing-Harasser, John McGrath, The Church of Forrest Dayton, the Pakistani Spammer, and the girl wanker (AKA Johnboy Junior). <sigh> Those where the days. That was all around the time when we killed Cyberpromo...
Cheers,
Joshua.
My filter isn't working -- index.pl? (Score:1)
God, I never realized how much nicer
Thank you, Cmdr!!!!!
Bravery, Kindness, Clarity, Honesty, Compassion, Generosity
and not one intelligent comment. (Score:1)
but then again i'm not about to volunteer one- my last post involved declaring my feelings for jello. go figure.
yeah--installing redhat over a dialup connection (Score:1)
there's more to life... (Score:1)
It's not a book I would've normally bought, but
i found it pretty interesting. TO KATZ: i'de like to know if you kept the cabin or sold it before the books sales took off.
now to the flamerz: dont like it, dont read it. you waste more time relentlssy ripping on this guy.
-Z
Katz, dont read this! (Score:1)
Besides. Its just like the clipper chip and PIII arguements. If you dont like it, dont use it, so in other words, if you dont like Katz, dont read his posts.
I like what he writes.
-Z
Missing the point (Score:1)
My read (heh...get it?) on this posting is another revelation of the true power of the Internet and of the readers of
But we have the ability to be movers and shakers outside of what others perceive as our isolated world. Amazon.com, publishing and media in this example. That's the point.
Of course I could be way off base, and I'm sometimes a rambler, but it's just my $0.02.
// Flame on
Everyone who bought the book knows that
And bitching cause the 'filters' aren't working. You mean the hyperlinked "Jon Katz" text brandishing the begining of the front page excerpt doesn't tip you off? You clicked to it, read it and posted to it. It's a weak excuse.
// Flame off
FLAMES GO HERE! (Score:1)
MONKEY WARNING (Score:1)
Flames are boring ... (Score:1)
Katz's insights into life and the world ("sexbots"
was a piece of thoughtless drivel), I don't mind
seeing one author's experiences with the
publishing industry. Who knows, maybe it'll
come in useful someday when I write a
book and need to know how to hype it on the
Internet.
This is wonderful news! (Score:1)
It bespeaks of the huge power and force that
While people are free to disagree on what is important or not, it is very powerful that
Sure, hate Katz for what he did, but it means in a concerted effort, we could pick and choose any random work, any random title, any random author, and guarantee them in the top 25 best sellers. Its a sign of the power of
AS
Idiots flame, real men read and learn. (Score:1)
I have something to say to the byte-counting flame idiots out there:
If you haven't purchased the book, you wouldn't know that a number of years ago, Diane Sawyer ranked below Katz in signifance in the national media -- she had to ask HIM for what she wanted. 99.99% of you will never know how difficult it is to get a book published in the first place -- Katz has several. But not only does this guy takes the time to work with Rob here on Slashdot, he answers e-mails to people like me he whom he has never met, and he puts his ideas out in front of us for consideration on a regular basis, only to get trashed for the effort.
I paid $14.95 to Amazon for my copy of the book-- so, figuring that most authors get around 10% royalties on their books, then if Katz sold -- hundreds -- of books to Slashdot readers, he's made a few hundred bucks on us at best. But Slashdot could not buy the kind of notice from the big booksellers that Katz brought here for under (and I'll admit this is a guess) $50K-$60.
So here's what I'd like to say, and I don't care how often I get flamed on this thread for saying it: To all you juvenile delinquents in front of keyboards who have nothing better to do than post (mostly anonymous) coward notes attacking Mr. Katz every time he offers thoughts or commentary on Slashdot, I have one thing to say:
Either get yourselves logins, use the new slashdot features to exclude Katz' articles... or shut up, will ya!
Idiots flame, real men read and learn. (Score:1)
By the way, if you allow your system to receive cookies, you don't have to login. Slashdot is programmed to look for the cookie. A person can always log out and still be AC.
Something like having your cookie or eating it too? (Lame attempt at humor...)
Katz, read this! (Score:1)
Speak for yourself (Score:1)
What has Katz done for us lately? He wrote a book, something which the barely-literate haxors and irc twits would have a difficult time doing. He wrote several books, which contributed to the literary environment of the US in one way or another. He wrote (peripherally, maybe) about technology, and issues surrounding technology, which is a subject rarely broached by anyone who doesn't have SCI-FI stamped on their books. Whether or not you like his writing, I don't see how you can discount the contributions of any writer who will try to publish "geek-friendly" material.
Oh, yeah, and maybe take a little less holier-than-thou attitude in your posts
My filter isn't working!! (Score:1)
ARGH, GO AWAY JON KATZ!
Cry.
This is wonderful news! (Score:1)
Wonderful? This is the message I got:
Mediocre authors, listen up. Need to sell a book, any book, regardless of quality? Just buddy up to a web site with a large following. The site's readers will buy your book just because they recognize your name. Even the ones that think you're a jerk. They may like it, they may not, but at least they're buying!
I'm sorry, but I don't think this is very wonderful. Are we discerning individuals or indiscriminate name whores? I am not commenting on Katz's writing. I haven't read any of his work aside from the few articles I've seen on /. (To be honest, I haven't made it all the way through one of them.) I do know that, if all I have to look forward to from Jon Katz is a sales pitch (followed by a gloat session), I will definitely be filtering his articles. I'd think that someone who loves "the Web" as much as Katz claims to would be more disheartened about its increasing function as the mother of all advertising scams.
Online for eight years eh Katz? (Score:1)
- someone who's been online nearly 20 years.
Jon on C-SPAN and another radio show in real audio (Score:1)
He was also on the Diane Rehm [wamu.org] show the same day and you can listen to it in real audio. It should be permanently archived.
correct links (Score:1)
The C-SPAN link goes to someone from concerned women for america (who was after jon). This is the right link [cspan.org]. And this is the link [wamu.org] to listen to the Rehm show.
FLAMES GO HERE! (Score:1)
He obviously knows that Jon never has and never will write a kernel, along with just about everyone else here.
He/she is simply creating a repository for all the anti-Katz flames, so that he doesn't have to read them scattered throughout the rest of this comment page.
--
- Sean
Touché (Score:1)
Jonkatz' articles are clearly headlined "by Jon Katz" on the main Slashdot page.
Anti-Katz flames, while often are marked as such, sometimes are not. This one in particular wasn't. The subject was just "Time?", and it wasn't obvious before I opened it what it contained, anyway.
--
- Sean
Us, them.. Still this garbage? (Score:1)
Some "Nerds" actually have an IQ bigger than their
shoe size, and care about something more than recompiling a kernel. For that matter, how many people outside of Linus have written a kernel?
Before thrashing his book, maybe you should read it. It's excellent.
As for the book not being relavant to slashdot, clearly that's not the case. According to the data, a lot of slashdotters (including myself) have bought it..
As for Rob making money off the book sales..
That only happens if you click on the Amazon's link from slashdot (it tells you he will make money if you do). You can go to the site directly, if you choose.
Also, Rob and the slashdot crew spend a lot of time and effort to allow us to use this site.
A site that obviously (due to its heavy usage) is greatly valued by many. A site we get to use for free. Why shouldn't he get something back? Particularly if you have the choice to circumvent this? I made a point of ordering the book through the
People, it's time we took a moment to think before we flame people. We wouldn't do it to the person's face, we shouldn't do it while hiding behind an e-mail address! It's just cowardly.
Ryan
Good for him! (Score:1)
I must say that I dont't quite understand the flaming here. No, Katz's book isn't strictly relevant to Linux - but then a lot of other things aren't either. Tunnel vision is a bad thing, I personally like the fact that /. doesn't single-mindedly focus on just the tech stuff. Especially since the new filter stuff allows you to never see the "non-tech" articles if they annoy you.
As for Katz: good for him! I think people read way too few books nowadays, and anything that promotes literacy is Good(tm). With the current emphasis on mass-market "bestsellers" and huge volumes, it's a very healthy sign that "small titles" can also find their niche. Besides, Jon's book actually is relevant to /. in a way, since the way he has handled the publication is a new way for writers to display their books. Sort of like MP3 is circumventing the big record labels, things like this might help non-bestseller authors survive. Or maybe not, but it is an interesting phenomenon.
Jon's book sounded interesting, so I ordered a copy through Amazon (haven't gotten it yet, it's coming in the same batch as Vinge's "A Deepness in the Sky", yum :). It's weird... I love high-tech toys, but on the other hand there is nothing quite like taking a backback and some camping gear and dissappearing into the backcountry for a few days with no high-tech whatsoever. If you've never tried it you should... waking up at 6am and just listening to the wind and the silence is an experience that's easy to scoff at, but quite something else when you're there yourself. I find myself fascinated by the combination of high-tech and outdoor life, and how they could work together - I live in Finland, and just about everyone is "mobile" in the data connection sense, and it's truly weird to sit at a campsite in Lapland and read your email with a Nokia Communicator. We live in a weird world:)
Some rambling thoughts from this part of the world...
How come my Katz block didn't work? (Score:1)
mac or linux? (Score:1)
Perhaps your question is more along the lines of, "do any non-technical professional writers prefer to write their stuff on computers running Linux rather than other media?"
That's not C! (Score:1)
#include "iostream.h"
int main (void) {
cout }
Damn you, Rob! (Score:1)
#include
int main (void) {
printf ("English is too confusing. ");
printf ("Try writing a book in C.\n");
return (0);
}
I'll shut up now (Score:1)
Write in C (Score:1)
mental_space = malloc(sizeof(your_puny_brain));
strcpy(mental_space, "Something intelligent.");
....
Segmentation fault (core dumped).
It's not that (Score:1)
Any real discussion of the merits or flaws in an article would be most welcome, but there's never any point in reading someone's futile attempt to say "I don't like it" in a more creative way. If that's all you have to say, then you have nothing to say.
There is enough of value posted here to make it worth the effort to wade through the garbage. But the garbage does get deep.
Supporting authors is Nerdworthy; Connection info (Score:1)
I don't want to live in a five-second-summary world.
That makes this Nerdworthy.
So here's a little support for a midlist author. The Connection on WBUR [wbur.org] posts RealAudio files of their broadcasts. Shows are posted as soon as the broadcast is finished, and stay up for one week. Katz' interview should go up at 11AM on 3/16/99 and stay until 11AM on 3/23.
( Someone at The Connection must read
I haven't read Katz' book yet (and might not; the Salon review was pretty harsh), but it did lead me to pick up Thomas Merton's own book "Running to the Mountain". Katz has done me the service of pointing out an author I might never have read otherwise.
Why waste your time flaming Katz... (Score:1)
And remember...
Zark off and die... (Score:1)
If you're in .ca and don't want to pay big shippin (Score:1)
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If you're in .ca and don't want to pay big shippin (Score:1)
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