Michael A. Stackpole
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Michael A. Stackpole is a New York Times bestselling author of over forty fantasy and science fiction novels. His best known books were written in the Star Wars® universe, including I, Jedi and Rogue Squadron. He's written in a diverse number of area, and has won awards for his editing, novels, graphic novels, game designs, computer game designs, screenwriting and podcasting. In the summer of 2008 he was the first author to have work for sale in Apple's Appstore, and he's been an advocate for authors taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by the digital revolution.

Michael graduated from the University of Vermont in 1979 with a degree in History. His first game design had been published a year earlier, so he moved to Arizona and began a career as a game designer with Flying Buffalo Inc.. His freelance work in the gaming industry had him working for most of the major companies, like TSR, Game Designers Workshop, Mayfair Games, Steve Jackson Games, Wizards of the Coast, Wizkids, FASA and Catalyst Game Labs. He went full time freelance in 1986 while working on the computer game WASTELAND, which was Computer Gaming World's Adventure Game of the Year for 1988. 1988 also saw the publication of his first two novels, Warrior: En Garde and Warrior: Riposte.

Michael currently serves as the Executive Director of the Phoenix Skeptics and as a Director Emeritus of the Game Manufacturers' Association. He regularly tours the country attending conventions, giving writing workshops and lecturing on writing careers in the post-paper era. In his spare time he enjoys swing dancing and playing indoor soccer. He lives in Scottsdale, Arizona and his website is www.stormwolf.com.

Blog Entries by Michael A. Stackpole

Borders Get Published: Vampirizing the Dreams of Would-be Authors

Posted February 16, 2011 | 16:40:48 (EST)

Borders revealed their ebook self-publishing platform, Borders Get Published, powered by BookBrewer, touting it as the place where authors can get started in this world of digital publishing. Aside from the company's serious financial trouble casting into doubt whether or not anyone would actually ever see royalty payments...

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Ebooks: Why Go Digital-Original?

Posted February 8, 2011 | 18:58:25 (EST)

I read with great interest Jason Pinter's essay about why he chose to do his novel, Faking Life, as a Digital-Original. The book sounds very entertaining, and well worth the read.

And I recognize the story surrounding it and his choice to go Digital-Original.

Back in 2006 I...

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Dispatch From the Police State

Posted April 28, 2010 | 15:26:39 (EST)

Dear World,

You've discovered Arizona is a police state. What took you so long?

We've had Joe Arpaio here for over a dozen years. He's been setting up chain gangs, raiding the wrong houses, killing prisoners, treating dogs better than prisoners he hasn't killed and turning the Maricopa...

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Publishing Crashes in 2012

Posted April 10, 2010 | 09:21:54 (EST)

Michael Shatzkin, a book industry consultant who is widely read and respected, weighed in with an interesting article about how soon the publishing crash could come. His analysis is fairly solid and he sees a "serious disruption" in book distribution as early as November, 2012.

His thinking runs...

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Who Benefits From High Ebook Prices?

Posted April 1, 2010 | 16:34:44 (EST)

The recent Amazon/MacMillan ebook pricing flap, and the brewing battle over ebook prices with other major publishers, has generated a lot of words, many by authors, protesting Amazon's attempt to dictate terms to the big publishers. Many of these authors have applauded the publishers for winning the right...

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Will Ebooks Kill The Joy of Reading?

Posted March 16, 2010 | 16:43:28 (EST)

The most often heard complaint about ebooks runs like this: "There is no way I will ever cuddle up in bed with some machine to read. I like my books." The body language and tone accompanying the comment is that generally reserved for someone in mourning. As far as...

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