John Scalzi

John Scalzi

@scalzi.com

I enjoy pie. Social Media FAQ: https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/04/16/the-official-john-scalzi-social-media-faq/

385.6K followers706 following27.2K posts

And now the Denver B-Gates Tattered Cover Bookstore has signed copies of When the Moon Hits Your Eye, Redshirts, and Old Man's War. Go get them!

If you happen to be at Denver's airport anytime soon, there are two signed copies of Kaiju Preservation Society at the C Gates Tattered Cover Bookstore

I've been a subscriber almost as long as I've been on Al Gore's Internet, and you could be too

Drew Curtis@drewcurtis.bsky.social

Hey everyone - Fark’s running an October subscription drive. We’re a bit short of our goal and could use a boost. fark.com/subscribe If you sign up for TotalFark this week you’ll get a special SOON badge. When “It Happens” the “SOON” badge will change to “It Happened!” Here are the two badges:

I'm traveling to Michigan Thursday to sign/personalize a whole bunch of copies of Monsters of Ohio for @subpress.bsky.social. They still have a few copies left, so it's not too late to get one. If you are outside the US, SubPress ships internationally! Hurry! subterraneanpress.com/scalzi-moo-t...

subterraneanpress.comMonsters of Ohio (preorder)Subterranean Press creates readable art, publishing limited editions and groundbreaking original works of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

Happy Monday, everybody! This week, have you considered voting early (if you can) and voting in person (if you can)? It's fun! Try it if you can!

Oh, dear. I had the good fortune to meet him a few times at conventions and had lunch with him once in Australia. Such a lovely fellow and of course an iconic figure in science fiction. RIP.

Jesse Thorn@jessethorn.bsky.social

My pal Danielle Koenig shared that her father Walter Koenig passed away last night at age 90. A performer whose kindness and warmth shone through the screen. He will be well remembered.

I'm in Cincinnati the day before because this is all part of my tour. Texas was added at the last minute.

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We're still mostly alive!

Kingfisher & Wombat@tkingfisher.com

Thank you, @milehicon.bsky.social! Had a great time, really enjoyed meeting some cool new folks, and @scalzi.com didn’t kill each other hardly at ALL.

This may be the best picture of me ever taken

JoCo Cruise@jococruise.bsky.social

Happy #NationalCrocDay to those who partake Photo (of @scalzi.com) from JoCo Cruise 2026 by Robert Burke

Fun fact, the picture of me here was taken during one of those "team-building" offsites where hiking around a mountain was meant to bring you closer to your co-workers, but then I got laid off a month later, so. At least I was able to use the photo for a different gig!

Chris Baker@cbake.bsky.social

They reflect on our killer list of contributers, of course especially calling out @scalzi.com. I still remember @joerybicki.com excitedly recommending him as the guy to do our CD & DVD reviews. He's done OK since then. I never knew Karen, but I still consider Zoe and @paulsemel.bsky.social friends.

If I'm traveling domestic I don't ask for it because it's a waste of money. I'm a short-legged dude who doesn't drink alcohol, I'll be fine in economy plus. All I usually want is to board before the overhead bins fill up.

I'm surprised that your bookings aren't in business/first, honestly. I'm sure that "it varies" is the answer for book tours, but I'd assumed that at the stage in an author's career where you are, it would be the norm.

If I later decide to bump up in class, I'll pay for it myself. It's a tax deductible expense for me and I have status on most domestic carriers anyway

No. My tour is covered by my publisher and most conventions/festivals I go to are as a featured guest, which means my expenses are covered. There are exceptions; I usually pay to go to Worldcon, and sometimes when I travel I pay to upgrade my flight out of economy seating (or to take Krissy).

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I genuinely did not know how much of my life as an author would involve travel. I imagine one day it will stop involving so much travel and then I will wonder what happened.

Sloane of Shadows 🏳️‍⚧️@sloanemactire.bsky.social

Saying this not as a slight but rather as being impressed: I don't know how you or some other authors I follow write as much as you do with the crazy travel schedules.

I have no idea. Maybe a thousand? It's rare I sign more than three or four at a time

K.J@quejay.bsky.social

If you had to guesstimate the number of airport bookshop signed copies you’ve done over the years where would you ballpark it?

When you're working to get chapters to your editor but someone decides that you're done typing for the day (I did some more typing anyway, because clearly I am a monster)

John Scalzi reposted

I am so entirely thrilled to have When the Moon Hits Your Eye as a Thurber Prize for American Humor semi-finalist this year that I find it difficult to form coherent sentences about it, and YET I HAVE, many in fact, over on my site today: whatever.scalzi.com/2026/10/21/w...

whatever.scalzi.comWhen the Moon Hits Your Eye a 2027 Semi-Finalist for the Thurber Prize for American HumorYou may or may not know this about me, but humorist James Thurber is a formative writer for me, along with other of his Algonquin Round Table pals like Dorothy Parker and Robert Benchley. The delig…
Thurber House@thurberhouse.bsky.social

Congrats to the 2027 #Thurber Prize for American #Humor in #Writing semi-finalists! 😮🤩📖🎉 📙 You Can Never Die 📕 Dirtbag Queen 📘 The Road to Tender Hearts 📙 The Impossible Fortune 📕 When the Moon Hits Your Eye 📘 How to Be a Saint Learn more ➡️ thurberhouse.org/thurber-prize-in-writing-semifinalists

To the folks pinging me semi-urgently about the PHP situation: a) Thank you! I appreciate your concern. b) My ISP is dealing with it, and patching my domains (among a whole lot of others) as we speak. My web site may go down briefly when this happens. Don't panic! www.wired.com/story/this-i...

wired.com‘This Is Not a Drill’: Critical PHP Vulnerabilities Are Setting the Internet on FireThe PHP Foundation has revealed two serious vulnerabilities that could impact millions of websites. Security experts warn that failure to quickly patch the flaws could have dire consequences.

If you're in the EU, you have access to both the US and UK versions of the book. There's no material difference to the text in either edition. Pick the one that's the least expensive for you and/or will ship to you the earliest. I will get paid about the same either way.

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WANTON SELF-PROMOTION FOLLOWS Hey! It's only TWO weeks until Monsters of Ohio comes out! Still time to pre-order from your favorite bookseller! And don't forget I'll be going on tour all around the US Midwest, and you can come see me! Dates/places at the link! whatever.scalzi.com/2026/09/17/a...

Because if they're not in compliance with them they are in breach of contract and I get my rights back and they have nothing (or have a stack of books they can no longer sell). I had a foreign publisher who once tried to get around the terms of our contract. It didn't end well for them.

CarpeNoctem1200@carpenoctem1200.bsky.social

Honest question: how do you ensure their compliance with these clauses? Just taking their word for it seems not enough to me...

Writing tie-ins is *a real fucking skill* and anyone who sneers at the people who do it can go piss up a rope. You think it's easy to write an entire novel to very specific order on an almost impossibly tight deadline? And have it be satisfying to read? Motherfucker, *you* try it. See how you do.

Kate Tell-Tale Heartfield@kateheartfield.com

There is a doofus currently arguing here that no "creative talent" would choose to write tie-ins, and since I just did a panel this weekend on why creative talents choose to write IP, here are a few reasons. Non-financial reasons, for fun and because frankly it usually doesn't pay that well.

(reminder not to dump on the person I am responding to, never be an asshole on my behalf, thank you in advance)

Look, we all knew Ramaswamy was a massive piece of shit but apparently he was really worried that we didn't know *just* how massive a piece of shit he was, so, great job, Vivek, you've certainly cleared that one up, haven't you

Pop Base@popbase.tv

Republican Vivek Ramaswamy is facing backlash over an ad featuring his opponent Amy Acton’s estranged mother, urging voters not to elect her. Acton’s mother lost custody of her children after her husband was charged with sexually abusing Acton as a child.

I've mentioned before I've updated my contracts to make sure everything in the production of my books is done by humans and not "AI"; if you're wondering what such a thing looks like, here's a clause covering that from a recent contract.