CD Covington
@exaggerated.bsky.social
Writer, linguist, Germanist. Roller derby official in Berlin, Germany.
Freelance copy editor always looking for work. (rates on website)
web: www.cdcovington.com
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Freelance copy editor always looking for work. (rates on website)
web: www.cdcovington.com
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Reposted by CD Covington
almost every novelist you read who's not from the airport fiction or bestseller sections is working a full on day job, including multi-award winners and absolute legends, or they have a spouse or trust that supports them. virtually across the board. just normalize in your mind that's how it works.
I know we know this, but authors need to get better at talking about how they actually make their money. Stop pretending it's from the books.
November 25, 2025 at 10:35 PM
almost every novelist you read who's not from the airport fiction or bestseller sections is working a full on day job, including multi-award winners and absolute legends, or they have a spouse or trust that supports them. virtually across the board. just normalize in your mind that's how it works.
This may be different in your area, but libraries are still great.
My library costs 10€ a year, and there are fees for various things (like borrowing the Bollerwagen), and there seems to be a limit on how many books a person can request to buy in a lifetime. And it has a makerspace!
My library costs 10€ a year, and there are fees for various things (like borrowing the Bollerwagen), and there seems to be a limit on how many books a person can request to buy in a lifetime. And it has a makerspace!
Libraries are free for you to use, serve the public good, are great, support creators financially and, I cannot be clear enough about this-- ARE FREE FOR YOU TO USE-- so pirating books makes you kind of an asshole, not some Marxist revolutionary.
If the book you want isn't there *request it.*
If the book you want isn't there *request it.*
November 26, 2025 at 5:17 AM
This may be different in your area, but libraries are still great.
My library costs 10€ a year, and there are fees for various things (like borrowing the Bollerwagen), and there seems to be a limit on how many books a person can request to buy in a lifetime. And it has a makerspace!
My library costs 10€ a year, and there are fees for various things (like borrowing the Bollerwagen), and there seems to be a limit on how many books a person can request to buy in a lifetime. And it has a makerspace!
Reposted by CD Covington
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
Reposted by CD Covington
My microwave sings a little song when my Hot Pocket is done. Should it have the right to vote?
November 25, 2025 at 8:44 PM
My microwave sings a little song when my Hot Pocket is done. Should it have the right to vote?
Reposted by CD Covington
As a neuroscientist I agree with this 100% - but *also*, there's evidence that language contributes to some specific mental functions: regulation and executive function. Telling yourself a story is one way you shape & organize your brain's operations.
I’ve been running around asking tech execs and academics if language was the same as intelligence for over a year now - and, well, it isn’t. @benjaminjriley.bsky.social explains how the bubble is built on ignoring cutting-edge research into the science of thought www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
November 25, 2025 at 6:31 PM
As a neuroscientist I agree with this 100% - but *also*, there's evidence that language contributes to some specific mental functions: regulation and executive function. Telling yourself a story is one way you shape & organize your brain's operations.
Reposted by CD Covington
Anyway, if you're saying it's fine to steal from people because you don't want to pay them, that's not Marxism or Communism. That's just capitalism.
November 25, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Anyway, if you're saying it's fine to steal from people because you don't want to pay them, that's not Marxism or Communism. That's just capitalism.
Reposted by CD Covington
Pretty sure Marx did not say "steal from artists so that you're directly exploiting labor for your own selfish gain" because that would not in fact be anti-capitalist.
We’re not small business owners, ffs - we’re independent contractors, and we are routinely robbed by the world’s dumbest dingbats.
![A quote-tweet with the profile blocked out because I won’t be accused of sending flying monkeys at this digital turd.
counterpoint: pirate everything all the time. pirate a sandwich. download a car. abscond from from small business owner mindset with your brain
[High Priestess, Low Patie... • @cherie... • 14h
Re: previous post - People who steal art of any kind are assholes, full stop. If *you* deserve to be paid for your labor, so do I - and so does everybody else; this means writers, visual artists, musicians, and every other category of People Who Make Things.]
• • •
every time vulgar leftism pipes in from the sidelines of petit bourgeoisdom i am forced to become 8.75% more marxist](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:x2ssvkga34xug334b66hvrje/bafkreigp2f33rtfu62kqjygnsxhg3jxxs6udwuyisipmyqrh5ew4c6kbyi@jpeg)
November 25, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Pretty sure Marx did not say "steal from artists so that you're directly exploiting labor for your own selfish gain" because that would not in fact be anti-capitalist.
Reposted by CD Covington
It’s very disconcerting, as a lesbian writing sapphic romances, to realize that a large swath of readers and writers basically treat you like a ghost. Or worse, they don’t treat you like anything because they don’t know or care that you exist.
November 25, 2025 at 8:11 PM
It’s very disconcerting, as a lesbian writing sapphic romances, to realize that a large swath of readers and writers basically treat you like a ghost. Or worse, they don’t treat you like anything because they don’t know or care that you exist.
Reposted by CD Covington
"leftism is when other people's labor is less valuable than my disposable income" is a rotted take and people should be shamed for having it
REMINDER: if you think your right-on lefty/socialist/communist/etc. politics justifies pirating books, well guess what? Most writers don't make a living wage from their books or writing work, and stealing from them makes you a class traitor.
November 25, 2025 at 8:27 PM
"leftism is when other people's labor is less valuable than my disposable income" is a rotted take and people should be shamed for having it
Reposted by CD Covington
If you’re a writer who thinks that it would be cool to have romances with people of different sexualities and genders and so you write a book with an m/m romance but your next book will be f/f
I’m not saying don’t do that
I’m saying go read the reviews for stormsong on GR from oldest to newest
I’m not saying don’t do that
I’m saying go read the reviews for stormsong on GR from oldest to newest
November 25, 2025 at 8:30 PM
If you’re a writer who thinks that it would be cool to have romances with people of different sexualities and genders and so you write a book with an m/m romance but your next book will be f/f
I’m not saying don’t do that
I’m saying go read the reviews for stormsong on GR from oldest to newest
I’m not saying don’t do that
I’m saying go read the reviews for stormsong on GR from oldest to newest
Reposted by CD Covington
stupid young people, stop buying a new phone every year if you don't want to be broke. wait no, not like that.
November 25, 2025 at 5:51 PM
stupid young people, stop buying a new phone every year if you don't want to be broke. wait no, not like that.
Reposted by CD Covington
If you're new to cooking or don't trust yourself to recognize a bad AI recipe, for the love on god, do not just use random recipes from random profiles. Find trustworthy sites and creators (Serious Eats, NYT Cooking, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, Alton Brown) and search their archives for what you need.
NEW: AI “recipe slop” is overrunning search and social. Food creators say Google’s AI Overviews and glossy fake food pics are drowning out real, tested recipes — collapsing traffic and setting home cooks up for disaster, especially this Thanksgiving.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
AI Slop Recipes Are Taking Over the Internet -- And Thanksgiving Dinner
Food bloggers see traffic dip as home cooks turn to AI, inspired by impossible pictures
www.bloomberg.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:37 PM
If you're new to cooking or don't trust yourself to recognize a bad AI recipe, for the love on god, do not just use random recipes from random profiles. Find trustworthy sites and creators (Serious Eats, NYT Cooking, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, Alton Brown) and search their archives for what you need.
Reposted by CD Covington
A reminder that @henrylienauthor.bsky.social released this book in 2025 and it's a much needed read about exploring other structures for fiction. It's eligible as Best Related Work for the Hugos and Best Non-Fiction for the Locus.
Highly recommend @henrylienauthor.bsky.social's book about Kishōtenketsu (the Japanese name for the classic 4 Act Eastern story structure).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kish%C5...
Henry's slim book is concise & entertaining.
Should be in every writer's toolkit!
#writing
bookshop.org/a/102876/978...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kish%C5...
Henry's slim book is concise & entertaining.
Should be in every writer's toolkit!
#writing
bookshop.org/a/102876/978...
November 25, 2025 at 12:50 PM
A reminder that @henrylienauthor.bsky.social released this book in 2025 and it's a much needed read about exploring other structures for fiction. It's eligible as Best Related Work for the Hugos and Best Non-Fiction for the Locus.
Reposted by CD Covington
I miss when Twitter was truly great like the time a guy got upset at someone calling out a cricket team and started explaining how bowling worked and at the end OP was like "thanks for explaining btw I hold the world record for most career outs in cricket history"
November 25, 2025 at 1:36 PM
I miss when Twitter was truly great like the time a guy got upset at someone calling out a cricket team and started explaining how bowling worked and at the end OP was like "thanks for explaining btw I hold the world record for most career outs in cricket history"
Reposted by CD Covington
Awesome, awesome. Another Historical Event(TM) en route.
(ObReminder that Millennials aren't the only ones who keep living through these. GenXers have done a fair amount of it ourselves. Like. I was born just before the moon landing. My earliest media memory is Nixon's resignation.)
(ObReminder that Millennials aren't the only ones who keep living through these. GenXers have done a fair amount of it ourselves. Like. I was born just before the moon landing. My earliest media memory is Nixon's resignation.)
Albert Edwards gets the @fortune.com treatment:
“.. It will end in tears, that much I’m sure of.”
fortune.com/2025/11/23/i...
“.. It will end in tears, that much I’m sure of.”
fortune.com/2025/11/23/i...
November 25, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Awesome, awesome. Another Historical Event(TM) en route.
(ObReminder that Millennials aren't the only ones who keep living through these. GenXers have done a fair amount of it ourselves. Like. I was born just before the moon landing. My earliest media memory is Nixon's resignation.)
(ObReminder that Millennials aren't the only ones who keep living through these. GenXers have done a fair amount of it ourselves. Like. I was born just before the moon landing. My earliest media memory is Nixon's resignation.)
Reposted by CD Covington
In an ideal world i would absolutely support AD, but our world is not there yet.
Nothing has radicalised me more on this issue than listening to Disabled Canadians recounting their experiences
Nothing has radicalised me more on this issue than listening to Disabled Canadians recounting their experiences
I will be the first to admit I couldn’t understand why anyone would oppose Assisted Dying… and then I became disabled and had it “offered” to me.
It’s not compassionate when there’s coercion.
It’s not dignified when it’s offered in lieu of care.
Listen to disabled people.
It’s not compassionate when there’s coercion.
It’s not dignified when it’s offered in lieu of care.
Listen to disabled people.
November 25, 2025 at 9:14 AM
In an ideal world i would absolutely support AD, but our world is not there yet.
Nothing has radicalised me more on this issue than listening to Disabled Canadians recounting their experiences
Nothing has radicalised me more on this issue than listening to Disabled Canadians recounting their experiences
Reposted by CD Covington
I can’t wait for PEN to comment on the Israeli intelligence forces storming the Palestinian National Theatre in Jerusalem and threatening the whole cast of the children’s performance and the audience if they didn’t leave in five minutes.
Because they won’t.
Because they won’t.
November 24, 2025 at 4:55 PM
I can’t wait for PEN to comment on the Israeli intelligence forces storming the Palestinian National Theatre in Jerusalem and threatening the whole cast of the children’s performance and the audience if they didn’t leave in five minutes.
Because they won’t.
Because they won’t.
Reposted by CD Covington
The path from “Just follow the orders” to “I was just following orders” is exactly one step long
BLITZER: I want to be precise. Should members of the US military obey clearly illegal orders?
McCLAIN: You're asking an enlisted person for their opinion on what they think is legal. That's a pretty slippery slope. Follow your commander in chief. That's the oath that you took
(Not a no!)
McCLAIN: You're asking an enlisted person for their opinion on what they think is legal. That's a pretty slippery slope. Follow your commander in chief. That's the oath that you took
(Not a no!)
November 24, 2025 at 3:37 PM
The path from “Just follow the orders” to “I was just following orders” is exactly one step long
Reposted by CD Covington
Incidentally, theft like this is why there won’t be a second Steelflower trilogy, why the Bannon & Clare series was canceled by the publisher, and why I will never do another collected SquirrelTerror book.
I did a thread a few weeks ago of "authors link your stuff" & one of my author friends who is one emergency away from being homeless had a massive spike in downloads on Anna's Archive from people *who follow me* complaining about how they are poor & should be allowed to steal from other poor people
November 24, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Incidentally, theft like this is why there won’t be a second Steelflower trilogy, why the Bannon & Clare series was canceled by the publisher, and why I will never do another collected SquirrelTerror book.
Reposted by CD Covington
We need it. Not only are the classes full, but also concert halls, libraries - we've gone to a bunch of classical concerts this year as an antidote to despair and guess what - they are full. They were not as full before, but they are now.
"Humanities are shrinking" is artificially imposed top down.
"Humanities are shrinking" is artificially imposed top down.
"While other universities report that the humanities are shrinking, at Berkeley, the opposite is true. The music major is the fastest-growing major on campus. We are finding bigger classrooms because film is exploding. English is back to the numbers we saw 15 years ago. We are hiring" bit.ly/4ohKuOe
"The humanities really are a resource — a confidence for living in our times.” Dean Sara Guyer on the modern utility of humanities degrees
This interview originally appeared on the Division of Arts
bit.ly
November 23, 2025 at 7:36 PM
We need it. Not only are the classes full, but also concert halls, libraries - we've gone to a bunch of classical concerts this year as an antidote to despair and guess what - they are full. They were not as full before, but they are now.
"Humanities are shrinking" is artificially imposed top down.
"Humanities are shrinking" is artificially imposed top down.
The leftism leaving people's bodies like cartoon ghosts when people say "artists need to be paid" and "don't steal books."
i have never wanted to make a YouTube video before, but now i want to make one that's basically: Books Are Not Free Content For You, Stop Stealing From Authors, You Scabs.
we are not the enemy.
every dollar folks think they're taking from Amazon, they're taking from authors more.
we are not the enemy.
every dollar folks think they're taking from Amazon, they're taking from authors more.
November 24, 2025 at 6:10 AM
The leftism leaving people's bodies like cartoon ghosts when people say "artists need to be paid" and "don't steal books."
Reposted by CD Covington
I'd never heard of this site until tonight. Both my books are on there. Did you know my publisher offers one of three lowest royalty rates in the entire industry? And that I didn't get an advance? Literally all I make is from royalties. Royalties I don't earn when you pirate my book.
I posted a buy link here to "A Magical Inheritance" a few days ago, and 24 of you immediately went to Anna's Archives and fucking stole it from me.
Yes, stole it.
I do not get paid for your download there because YOU ARE STEALING FROM ME.
🖕
Yes, stole it.
I do not get paid for your download there because YOU ARE STEALING FROM ME.
🖕
November 24, 2025 at 5:07 AM
I'd never heard of this site until tonight. Both my books are on there. Did you know my publisher offers one of three lowest royalty rates in the entire industry? And that I didn't get an advance? Literally all I make is from royalties. Royalties I don't earn when you pirate my book.
Reposted by CD Covington
"Fuck Amazon, it's not like they aren't screwing over authors!!"
Amazon pays me 70% royalties on ebooks. You downloading my shit from Anna's pays me *nothing* you dumbass little shit.
"I'm so poor" - And? A bunch of you are steal from my poor friends who are struggling to buy groceries, too.
Amazon pays me 70% royalties on ebooks. You downloading my shit from Anna's pays me *nothing* you dumbass little shit.
"I'm so poor" - And? A bunch of you are steal from my poor friends who are struggling to buy groceries, too.
November 24, 2025 at 4:23 AM
"Fuck Amazon, it's not like they aren't screwing over authors!!"
Amazon pays me 70% royalties on ebooks. You downloading my shit from Anna's pays me *nothing* you dumbass little shit.
"I'm so poor" - And? A bunch of you are steal from my poor friends who are struggling to buy groceries, too.
Amazon pays me 70% royalties on ebooks. You downloading my shit from Anna's pays me *nothing* you dumbass little shit.
"I'm so poor" - And? A bunch of you are steal from my poor friends who are struggling to buy groceries, too.
Reposted by CD Covington
I posted a buy link here to "A Magical Inheritance" a few days ago, and 24 of you immediately went to Anna's Archives and fucking stole it from me.
Yes, stole it.
I do not get paid for your download there because YOU ARE STEALING FROM ME.
🖕
Yes, stole it.
I do not get paid for your download there because YOU ARE STEALING FROM ME.
🖕
November 24, 2025 at 4:04 AM
I posted a buy link here to "A Magical Inheritance" a few days ago, and 24 of you immediately went to Anna's Archives and fucking stole it from me.
Yes, stole it.
I do not get paid for your download there because YOU ARE STEALING FROM ME.
🖕
Yes, stole it.
I do not get paid for your download there because YOU ARE STEALING FROM ME.
🖕
Reposted by CD Covington
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 22, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪