What I'm Wearing to WisCon...

Besides my new sundresses, that is.

This is a button that I designed online. In case you're wondering, "fungible" means "interchangeable." A recent letter from Simon Lipskar, head of  Writers House, to the Department of Justice suggests that the agency model of book pricing doesn't harm consumers because although the price of best-selling books went up, other book prices went down. Joe Konrath deconstructed Lipskar's letter here (Konrath was the one to use the word "fungible", BTW), and he pointed out that Lipskar assumed that readers would be just as happy with one book as another. In effect, he was treating books like interchangeable widgets.

As a reader and a writer, I most certainly do not feel books are widgets. It doesn't matter who publishes them; what matters is the story inside and what craft the writer brings to the story. If I'm in the mood for a certain type of book or an author's voice, something else will not substitute for it. I read and write because I value these stories. I search out specific authors and series because I care for them.

No matter if you're a reader or a writer, no matter how you pursue your path to publication, I hope you will show support for authors and the unique stories they create.