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Navigating the rough terrain of today’s publishing industry shouldn’t be a solo event. This week in Ask the Agent, I’ll explore and dissect three of the industry’s mysteries straight from the shoulder.

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The blank page is terrifying. We all know the feeling. Anxiety is an integral part of writing — there's no getting around it. Healthy ways of dealing with the horror of filling emptiness with words that don't suck include stepping away from the computer and doing crunches, or meditating, or jerking off. But many of us are too fucked up to make these healthy choices, and we respond to the anxiety by pouring a little drink or three. Some of us know when to stop; others don't. Alcoholism is to writing what black lung disease is to coal miners.

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Flash fiction: A style of fictional literature marked by extreme brevity.

Welcome to LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown, a monthly bout of writing prowess. For this edition, we are going to alter the rules a bit to keep it fresh. You now get 25 words and 2 sentences.

How It Works

We give you inspiration in the form of a picture, poem, video, or similar. You write a flash fiction piece, using the inspiration we gave you. Put your entry in the comments section. One winner will be picked and awarded a prize.

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There was an interesting little paragraph buried in an email which Amazon sent to everyone who has an affiliate account last week. In one fell swoop, they eliminated the financial benefit of running a website which caters exclusively to listing free eBooks from Amazon. As you can imagine, this has caused quite a stir in the independent author community. While the full impact isn't yet clear, it is clear that these changes will dramatically alter how many consumers find independent authors' books on Amazon.

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It’s happened to all of us at one time or another, and far too often for some. Maybe I’m just getting old and cranky, but it seems to be occurring with alarming frequency as of late. You know that sinking feeling that sets in after you’ve read a significant portion of a story and come to the sudden realization that not only do you no longer care what happens, but maybe you never did. How could this happen?