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Why I'm Taking a Principled Stand Against Badness In Publishing

I'm Sebastian, and I've been called a lot of things recently - ranging from 'a literary hero' to crazy. Why? Because I gave up 2/3rds of a $65,000 advance on a nonfiction book from Simon and Schuster by writing an Open Letter to the CEO saying that they don't treat people well enough.

Most people don't understand the decision. Why do that? Why screw up my author's career? Isn't that a lot of money? Isn't it a huge risk?

And the answers are - principles, integrity is more important than money, maybe not, and no.

I'm taking a bit of stand. I'm just one guy, but I think the publishing houses mistreat a lot of people, and it's even hurting their own business. Go talk to editors in the publishing world. They're all buried under paperwork and bureaucracy. The work conditions range from okay to unpleasant. I think people in publishing don't even realize how bad things are, because they've never seen a very healthy hyper-engaged industry.

I'd like things to get better, so I'm taking a stand. Okay, I'm losing out on about $50,000 after I already had a book that was basically done. But what's the point of money? I think it's some mix of doing what's important to you in the world, and being happy and engaged.

Best Review of Ikigai Yet

I'm so grateful for everyone who got a copy of Ikigai, and especially for the reviews. My share goes to charity - the reviews are what I get a big selfish kick out of.

Veronica Sicoe's is my favorite so far. I like it because Veronica isn't a long-term reader of the site. Long-term readers often write about how great it is to have a nice compilation which I super-appreciate, but these don't as much brief someone with "fresh eyes" for the work. Enter, Veronica -

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"Grab life by the balls" by Veronica S.

"Who am I? I'm a little crazy, to tell you the truth. You kind of have to be to get anything done in the world."

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