Speaking of Steve Clackson, as we were earlier this morning, it turns out that he's added a new wrinkle to his efforts to get the espionage thriller Sand Storm published—he's not even trying to sell it anymore. Instead, he'll let some house have it for nothing: No advance, no royalties. The catch? The acquiring publisher will be required to donate $1 for every copy sold to the International Red Cross or to libraries for U.S. military troops. And he wants foreign rights deals to work on the same terms for the armed forces in those territories.

The offer is sparking a mini-debate in his comments section; the $1 rate is actually a second draft after folks told him his initial demand for $5 was too high. Other people suggest he should simply self-publish, and one fellow says (how seriously we're not sure), "Your offer is imaginative but you're setting a terrible example for the rest of us submitting work in the hopes of getting paid."