russeldmclean.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

Surely @societyofauthors.bsky.social @writersguildgb.bsky.social or other orgs can lobby for better protections for writers in these situations which are outside their control. With Freight, I remember some authors were unable to take their books anywhere else when it folded which just seemed mad.

submitted 8 hours ago • 1 comment

This is heartless & awful. No protection for authors in this situation (reminds me of when Freight - where I freelanced for a bit - went belly up... I was owed a small amount never paid, but some authors owed loads) which is insane. (Side note: I did some freelance editing for Unbound, too)

submitted 8 hours ago • 0 comments

Secrets of Blythswood Square in Amazon's big sale right now. £3 in paperback. Just saying. The Fair Botanists is also half price. Stunning offer if you're looking for a summer read. Buy here: amazon.co.uk/Secrets-Blyt...

submitted 2 days ago • 3 comments

Just popped back to Twitter to see what was happening these days and... every fourth post was the same phishing ad from AI accounts about a guy from Dragon's Den "accidentally" giving away secrets or something... while top trending posts are all about Reform. Glad I don't go there any more.

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

And now #thefridaygirl has cracked the top 100 overall! Can we keep it going? Come on, folks! Let's go! #booksky #scottishcrime @bwpublishing.bsky.social #kindledailydeal

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

Looks like THE FRIDAY GIRL'S a DAILY DEAL, so folks, if you have a Kindle, looks like you have until the end of the day to pick up THE FRIDAY GIRL at this BARGAIN of a price! Go on, get to it (and if you like it, do please leave a review, too!) #booksky #scottishcrime #crimefiction #kindledailydeal

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

Any editor worth their salt would have questioned this-- the constant repetition of key phrases is bad enough but the weird para about the daughter "not taking sweets to school" but instead taking "food from the pantry" is a dead giveaway no humans were involved at any stage in this drivel.

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

A cracking book at a bargain price and now an official bestseller! Grab a copy right damn now!

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

This is an excellent book and thoroughly deserving of its number one ranking. And it's cheap! Fill yer boots!

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

An essential bargain for the Kindle readers out there 📚

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

And in a very weird update, a refresh of the page gives us a new #1 badge... in Werewolves and Shifters Suspense... even when there are no werewolves in the books (although Lon Chaney gets a mention and the serial killer is nicknamed The Werewolf Killer at one point...) #thefridaygirl #booksky

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

No idea what's happening but THE FRIDAY GIRL has a #scottishcrime no. 1 bestseller tag on Kindle! Also, weirdly, its down to 99p. How long will that last? No idea but BUY A COPY & SPREAD THE WORK and let's see if we can get a Dundee Thriller To No. 1 overall! #booksky #tartannoir #thefridaygirl

submitted 5 days ago • 3 comments

This is not a drill! From tomorrow until our full programme launch on 12th June we will be announcing a string of Early Release events as we tease you with some of the fabulous lineup of authors we have in store for 2025...

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

Let’s go, Millennials, we’ve been training for this our whole lives.

submitted 6 days ago • 6 comments

Repeat after me, Nick: Intellectual property is still property. Theft is still theft. A business that can't succeed without theft? That's called a criminal enterprise. Also: get ****ed, you techbro quisling.

submitted 6 days ago • 12 comments

🚨BIG BOOK NEWS🚨 AN EMPTY HELL, my favorite book of mine, is on sale for $1.99! A twisty, dark thriller that introduces Jackson Donne to Matt Herrick--it's a great jumping on point! Thanks to Open Road Media for the discount so you can all check it out! openroadmedia.com/ebook/an-emp...

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

Good morning, Bluesky. I think a big part of the problem with those who want to use AI for writing is a willful misunderstanding of the old saw: “Don’t like to write, but like having written.” (Frank Norris)* *The history of the quote is fascinating quoteinvestigator.com/2014/10/18/o...

submitted 8 days ago • 5 comments

The thing is, that joy or passion communicates to readers. When you're not into it, that is also communicated. Readers respond to writers' enthusiasm. It's contagious. (and to go back to @lauralippman.bsky.social's original post -- generative AI cannot communicate this no matter how "good" it is)

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

For some unfathomable reason my US self-published eBook sales on kindle have been on an upward trend of late. No idea why, but thank you all my 'murcan chums for taking a chance on this odd Scottish author. www.amazon.com/dp/B0DXQV9XGX

submitted 12 days ago • 3 comments

"It just really comes as a shock that such accomplished intellectuals, who’ve spent their entire careers pushing the upper bounds of human achievement, could be judgy about a machine that runs the entirety of human imagination through a shredder and glues together what comes out."

submitted 9 days ago • 13 comments

I saw someone say AI is useful because it generates ideas. My dude, I'm full of ideas. I have docs and docs marked under 'ideas.' I have outlines and fragments of stuff I might work on. Trunked stories galore. Even if I continue to write a novel a year for the next 40 years I won't run out of ideas.

submitted 9 days ago • 86 comments

New blog post: On Tour With #TheFridayGirl: russeldmcleanbooks.com/2025/05/20/o... #booksky #scottish #crimefiction

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

Don't know if this Onion list of bestselling books is a super fast response to the Chicago Sun-Times list of made-up summer reads, or just a coincidence, but it's funny anyway.

submitted 10 days ago • 1 comment

You are all gonnae LOVE this book -- and the Glasgow launch will be SUPERB!

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

All the people I see promoting AI seem to say something along the lines of how it makes things easier, eliminates the need to double check sources etc. Except it seems like to ensure genuine accuracy you still have to do the fact checking work etc so... is it me, or is "AI" the new pig in a poke...?

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

New blog post: On Tour With #TheFridayGirl: russeldmcleanbooks.com/2025/05/20/o... #booksky #scottish #crimefiction

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

After holiday (& 24 hours on return where we didn't have electricity thanks to a botched wiring job no one knew about for decades in this building) am finally back to work. Today: 2 pitches away for projects, & an editorial report on a superb Scottish crime novel from one of my authors.

submitted 11 days ago • 0 comments

Not that I'm a pessimist or anything, but this feels a little like something could go very wrong... (actually, it can't make things worse -- let's steal/drop the anti matter and see what happens... it might actually warp our reality and make it better...)

submitted 11 days ago • 0 comments

Dundee Book Festival 12–15 June Tickets are now available for the brand-new Dundee Book Festival, a celebration of books & writers taking place in June in venues across the city dundeebookfestival.com

submitted 11 days ago • 1 comment

What the hell are this government even thinking when it comes to AI? (I mean other than about appeasing people who have all the power and money) www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

submitted 15 days ago • 1 comment

That @sirbenfro.bsky.social has international reach!

submitted 22 days ago • 1 comment