Unprintable: The LitReactor Podcast Episode 4 - Should You Write For Free? (Guest: Craig Clevenger)

Every month, Unprintable will take an irreverent look at books, the publishing industry, reading, writing, and more; featuring the know-it-all geekery of LitReactor columnist Cath Murphy, Education Director Rob W. Hart, and Managing Editor Joshua Chaplinsky.


Episode 4 - Should You Write For Free? (Guest: Craig Clevenger)

You read right. Unprintable has scored its very first guest host. You may know him as the velvety author of The Contortionist's Handbook and Dermaphoria; a man who needs no introduction but is getting one anyway because Cath had no idea who he was; your friend and mine, the one... the only... rabbit-sitter extraordinaire... Craig Clevenger!

Craig was kind enough to join us for a virtual jaw session, and even though we promised not to make it all about him, the first thing we did was put the screws to him. Sucker! Eventually we let him off the hot seat and turned our discussion to the news. E.L. James was named the Publishers Weekly person of the year. Say what? And speaking of sexy, we talk about unsexy sex scenes and how not to write them. (Basically, never compare a woman's netherly fragrance to an almond loaf.)

This week in reads: Josh is still talking about Book of the New Sun, but is also rereading the Phineas Poe trilogy by Velvet compatriot Will Christopher Baer. Cath gives up on A Visit From the Goon Squad and moves on to the opium infused Narcopolis. Rob is reading a crazy, Russian sci-fi novel (is there any other kind?) called Roadside Picnic, as well as his own shit. Craig recently finished Danielewski's quotable fable, The Fifty Year Sword, and is chowing down on David Foster Wallace's non-fic collection, Both Flesh and Not.

Eventually we get around to discussing the all important topic of the episode: Should you write for free? Short answer: Maybe. Long answer: You'll have to listen to the podcast. It's complicated.

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As always, if you enjoy the episode, please rate us on iTunes, and if you're feeling extra specially generous, write us a short review. The few we've gotten so far have been great. We'll see you for episode 5, for which we have no idea what the topic will be.

Any questions? Comments? Criticisms? Suggestions? Help us help you. Email them to podcast@litreactor.com.


Your Hosts

Cath Murphy writes for a bunch of literary and film websites (where “bunch” isn’t quite as many as it sounds), offering unwanted opinions on anything that appears in her crosshairs. She is a cohost of Unprintable: The Official Podcast of LitReactor.com, and along with the fabulous Eve Harvey she also podcasts very rude stuff on Sluttylemon.

Rob W. Hart is the website and social media administrator for MysteriousPress.com. His short stories have appeared in Dogmatika, Needle: A Magazine of Noir and Shotgun Honey, and he is the author of The Last Safe Place: A Zombie Novella. He lives in New York City. You can find him on the interwebz at www.robwhart.com.

Joshua Chaplinsky is the Managing Editor of LitReactor. He also writes for Twitch and has written for ChuckPalahniuk.net. He might still be a guitarist in the band SpeedSpeedSpeed and is the poison pen behind thejamminjabber, although he's not so sure he should admit it.


Special Thanks to Gordon Highland for the intro and musical cues. Visit him at gordonhighland.com.

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