Black Matrix Publishing v. John Scalzi, or, Five Hundred Words For a Buck
So there's a new publisher called Black Matrix Publishing that's planning four new magazines and two new book lines.

They're offering one-fifth of a cent per word for First Serial Rights.

John Scalzi is not impressed.

Black Matrix whines that they're not really a pro market. (Even if they are set up as an LLC and appear to be a for-profit business.)

Scalzi remains unimpressed.

Some of the responses Scalzi gets in his blog (about how getting into pro markets is haaaaard and everybody has to start somewheeeeere) provoke him to speak further on what he describes as "Aspiring Writer Stockholm Syndrome."

A guest post on SF Signal by one Jennifer Brissett provides a textbook example of such.

There are probably a few more links out there about this debacle, but these are the ones I know of right now. (What can I say, I loves me some Scalzi. One of these days, I might even buy one of his books.)

EDIT: Discussion on Absolute Write forums here. (Thanks to anarchicq for the tip.)

EDIT2: I knew I missed something. This was Scalzi's "presumably final notes" on the matter, though I'll add that this was before Brissett's tantrum was thrown and Scalzi saw fit to respond to it. (Thanks to ladyrogue for pointing it out.)