Martin Ott

Father, veteran, writing SFF | Author 11 books | Shadow Dance @RegalHouse1 | Winner Sandeen Prize @UNDPress | Dream State @castlebridgemed

[Lincoln Michel @TheLincoln]

Happy Halloween, everyone. And, uh, some spooky personal news: 👀👻🏚️😱

Very excited to be working with the brilliant @DeloneSean and @AtriaBooks again. Many thanks to the great @gelrdrgz and @WMEBooks!

[BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking]

Author M John Harrison wins Booker Prize 2026, becoming oldest recipient of award aged 81 https://t.co/r5kpuaq9vj

[Martin Ott @ottpops]

A reminder big studios are not friends of writers. Splinter of the Mind’s Eye would have been better than every Disney Star Wars movie.

[Gekko @realgekkox]

Disney paid $4 billion for Star Wars. Then the man who wrote the very first Star Wars book says the royalty checks stopped.

His name is Alan Dean Foster.

In 1976 he ghostwrote the novel of the first Star Wars film. George Lucas's name went on the cover. Foster also wrote the books for Alien, Aliens and Alien 3.

For years, the royalties came in.

Then Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012 for about $4 billion. In 2019 it bought Fox for $71.3 billion.

Foster says the royalties on all five books stopped. Even the sales reports stopped. He didn't know how his own books were selling.

Then Disney wanted him to sign an NDA before it would even talk.

In the video below, watch Foster explain why he refused to sign. Then listen to what SFWA says a Disney lawyer wrote about his royalties.

His agent asked. Then the writers' group SFWA asked. SFWA says Disney's answer was that it bought the rights, but not the obligations.

In November 2020 he went public with a letter called "Dear Mickey."

"My wife has serious medical issues and in 2016 I was diagnosed with an advanced form of cancer. We could use the money. Not charity: just what I'm owed."

The case for Disney: a spokesperson said it was "carefully reviewing whether any royalty payments may have been missed as a result of acquisition integration." A source close to Disney told IndieWire the NDA was standard practice.

By May 2021, Foster said the issue had been resolved.

But it took a public fight to get there.

I post one story like this every day.

Was this an honest mistake after a giant merger, or a bet that one writer would give up?

[mark @midsommark]

This will be the sixth time we have destroyed the DC cinematic universe, and we have become exceedingly efficient at it.

[Pix🔎 @PixBuilds]

How To Tell If Your Girlfriend Is A Spy:

[Martin Ott @ottpops]

I think everyone saw this coming.

[DiscussingFilm @DiscussingFilm]

James Gunn and Peter Safran will no longer run DC Studios.

Jeremy Latcham, who previously served as a producer at Marvel Studios, is taking over DC.

(Source: https://t.co/hpjOIGUTvx)

[Polymarket @Polymarket]

BREAKING: Peruvian airport authorities seize 3,000 tarantula spiders hidden inside passengers' luggage on a flight bound for Germany.

[Martin Ott @ottpops]

@Alex_Panetta Doing the same with coffee in Lisbon. Most of our expats here will be celebrating.

[Martin Ott @ottpops]

@SaffronAsteria Keep on! :)

[Martin Ott @ottpops]

Hahaha

[Publishers Weekly @PublishersWkly]

Milkweed Editions has tapped publishing veteran Erika Stevens for the newly created role of senior editor. https://t.co/RaZjyCEWM7

[Martin Ott @ottpops]

@JaceyCockrobin @CLASHBooks Right on!

[Robin Hobb @robinhobb]

So. Anthropic stole my books. Then it got caught. It didn't say sorry. It was ordered to pay for what it stole. Then it said, well, the writers have to tell us what we stole.

[Martin Ott @ottpops]

@tlkncrt Yeah I liked it too

[Publishers Weekly @PublishersWkly]

It’s still unclear who is buying the independent publisher Catapult’s assets, which include 16 frontlist titles across its four imprints that are slated for spring 2027. https://t.co/DAJvDVtJ5J

[SambhavāmiYugeYuge - Healthmaxxing🌞 @Windsofchange72]

So this is why Soviets used a Bollywood song to catch spies...

[Steve Kopack @SteveKopack]

(It’s mile 7.)

[bint ♨️🐧 @NBinted]

You think it peaked and then he fucking samples Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da

[Lord Bebo @MyLordBebo]

🇺🇸 When AI become sentient and kill bots will run around … this guy will be the first on their list for revenge

Lmao

[West Jefferson Hills SD @wjhsd]

TJHS HAS GONE VIRAL! 🐾

3.1 MILLION VIEWS AND COUNTING!

TJHS senior Layla Clark and the TJHS Marching Band are taking the internet by storm! What an incredible spotlight on our Jaguars!

Watch the viral performance!