Believable to the million or so who have bought his books. Comparing academic history with fiction is like comparing apples and oranges- they are different businesses altogether. Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2011 11:28:54 -0800 From: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] New issue Metaverse Creativity To: [log in to unmask] Believable to whom? No one who has actually lived in Rome or Paris could find any of his geography or plot timelines even remotely believable – I mean, think of the traffic! Sabina From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Mattichak Sent: Tuesday, November 08, 2011 1:08 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] New issue Metaverse Creativity And that's why Dan Brown makes the big bucks- his fiction is believable. That's a talent. It's just a different talent to writing formal history. If I could write fiction like that I would too. Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2011 20:05:28 +1100 From: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] New issue Metaverse Creativity To: [log in to unmask] Well their readers think they are history. From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Mattichak Sent: Tuesday, 8 November 2011 8:04 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] New issue Metaverse Creativity But they specifically write them as fiction- for entertainment. It is completely different to writing anything remotely resembling an academic history. Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2011 20:02:31 +1100 From: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] New issue Metaverse Creativity To: [log in to unmask] Yes, but those authors I mentioned below write fake histories. Specifically. From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Mattichak Sent: Tuesday, 8 November 2011 8:02 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] New issue Metaverse Creativity That is a very narrow view of popular authors- that they write fake histories. They write fiction and sell it to make a living. If they make money it is because they worked for it. It is hard work writing for a living- that is why I wondered about academic writing. Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2011 19:58:16 +1100 From: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] New issue Metaverse Creativity To: [log in to unmask] They get paid in other ways. Like as lecturers. Or whatever their university job entails. I don’t know what the deal is with academic presses in regards to books… but really, only people who write fake history and stuff – like Lynne Picknett and Clive Prince – or say, Dan Brown – are going to be wealthy from their writing. From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Mattichak Sent: Tuesday, 8 November 2011 6:48 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] New issue Metaverse Creativity Then it is a bad deal. Even academics have to eat- why don't they get paid? Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2011 17:56:24 +1100 From: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] New issue Metaverse Creativity To: [log in to unmask] Academic journals don’t pay for articles at all, as far as I know.