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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 7h

I find it a bit hit and miss on there, but definitely gets more views per book than the same listings on eBay.

I tend to list on both sites and see what sells first.

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 8h

*coughs*

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 8h

Oh, that's very interesting, thank you. I've never really considered that. I'm one of those weird people who uses Apple for desktop and laptop but refuses to use them for phones or tablets.

Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 9h

One advantage of that could be that when someone links to an article here on Bluesky, I, as a subscriber, could click through to any of them and actually read the piece, as opposed to what happens at the moment where 50% or more of them are behind a paywall.

Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 9h

Fortunately, I sort of get that through my local library by their subscription to PressReader, which allows me to access a range of newspapers and magazines not just from the UK but around the world.

But I'd be happy to pay a sub for direct access to a decent array of print and digital media.

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 9h

If I were offered a monthly or annual subscription that would get me access to a broad range of newspapers and magazines, with the subscription money being shared amongst them, then I'd almost certainly sign up.

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 9h

I wouldn't dream of subscribing to the Telegraph, for example, because it's a fucking embarrassment of a publication and can no longer be regarded as a serious newspaper. But I do accept that there might occasionally be an article or review there that I would like to read.

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 9h

An excellent point here from Nick on paywalls (later in the thread).

People should pay for journalism, especially if they read it regularly. But at the moment, it's a separate paywall for each publication. Readers have to decide which, if any, they want to subscribe to at the expense of others.

Nick Harkaway @nickharkaway.com · 9h

There was some quite interesting discussion on bsky recently about costs of various things going up partly because employers now have to pay a fair wage, and how people sometimes respond negatively without thinking of the implications of something being super cheap...

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Reposted by Scott Pack

Anna F. Walker @spyglassart.bsky.social · 23h

Oh it’s #portfolioday!

Hi there 👋

I’m an Edinburgh-based illustrator. I love nautical themes, birds and bookish things. I work in Procreate but love a textured analogue feel.

Here’s my website with more info and prints available for purchase spyglassillustration.com

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 23h

Struck me as quite an interesting approach to operating banking facilities these days.

I live in Windsor where every single high street bank has closed with the exception of Nationwide.

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 23h

Walking through Oxford, I noticed Santander are turning their branch into a cafe, free co-working space with bookable meeting rooms, plus banking facilities. When I checked online, hot drinks are 30% off if you're paying with a Santander card but you don't need to be a customer to use the space.

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 1d

Mission accomplished.

My hand holding an ice cream cone. It is a waffle cone with a scoop of stracciatella (vanilla ice cream with dark chocolate shards) and a circular wafer stuck in the top.

A chicken shawarma fatayer. Flatbread curled at the edges into a boat shape. In the hollow is chicken pieces, rocket and sauces. Some pink pickles are on the side.

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 1d

I will happily take either.

I'm very lucky that this is really just a side gig for me.

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 1d

Fortunately, I've always treated this as sort of a bonus job. Something that pays for me to have some nice days out in Oxford. Today I will be enjoying a stracciatella ice cream cone from iScream in the Covered Market and then a chicken shawarma fatayer from Za'atar Bake on the Cowley Road.

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 1d

Off to teach at Oxford Brookes this afternoon. I'm an associate lecturer on their Publishing MA. To give you an idea as to how university finances are going: a few years ago I did 36 hours of teaching on this module, this year I'm doing 6.

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 1d

I read bits of this when it was a work-in-progress, and think it's fab.

Lucy Andrew @lucyvandrew.bsky.social · 1d

Good News! A Very Vexing Murder, my cosy crime retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma, is in the @waterstones.bsky.social 25% off pre-order deal! Order from
the Waterstones website between 14th and 17th October with the code OCTOBER25. Order here: www.waterstones.com/book/a-very-...

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 1d

Many happy returns!

48 happy returns, I guess.

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, the editor in me is always going to pick out a few things here and there that I would have suggested addressing, but a really great read from start to finish for me.

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 1d

Great atmosphere, splendid characterisation, compelling plot with a little bit of a twist, but it's not a story that depends on the twist. I've had a relatively disappointing reading year so far, if I'm being completely honest, and this has restored my faith in my ability to pick a decent book.

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 1d

Anyway, she was a wonderful speaker, her book sounded fascinating, the interview was first-rate, and I added the novel to my to-be-read list. A couple of months later, I finally got round to it and devoured it in three or four sittings, and it's not a particularly short book.

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 1d

I must confess I wasn't familiar with The Safekeep and had no idea it had won the Women's Prize for Fiction before I heard the author interviewed on Australian radio programme, The Book Show. I guess I've just not been following the literary world all that closely of late.

Yael van der Wouden on sex, history and an incredible year - ABC listen

Fresh off her 2025 Women’s Prize win, Yael van der Wouden talks The Safekeep—the novel that’s got everyone buzzing. It caps a stellar run for Yael, who also made the Booker shortlist last year with he...

www.abc.net.au

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 1d

And just to be clear, I don't take on all of those jobs. I'm fortunate in that I can pick and choose which manuscripts I work on. And I only take on AI-themed fiction if the sample I read suggests it's very good indeed, and even then I do so with the above caveat.

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 1d

And if that's how many I'm getting, you can bet literary agents are receiving ten times as many, possibly more.

I can only assume that the market is already saturated.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but at best you're writing into what is already a very crowded market.

Just saying.

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 1d

If you're an unpublished author and your WIP is speculative or dystopian fiction in which AI becomes sentient, takes over the world, controls our lives or something like that – then you need to know that, as a freelance editor, I am approached with four or five similar novels every month.

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Scott Pack @meandmybigmouth.bsky.social · 1d

Which is why BookTok, Bookstagram, YouTube and social media in general have overtaken traditional books media in terms of influence on the reading public.

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