writing biz
Dear New Indie Author…
This is a real note I just sent to a new author of a software-development book: I’m an independent author and software developer. I saw your posting on G+, and it sounded potentially interesting. I signed up for the email to download the ebook, thinking I could review it on my SD blog. However, by […]
Self-Publishing for Fun and Profit
In yesterday’s post, I distinguished between the “indie author” and the “self-published author.” A reader named Wendy commented, with a question. This is a distinction that I originally got from Bob Baker, author of 55 Ways to Promote & Sell Your Book on the Internet. Bob got his self-publishing start with a book about indie […]
What the End of Borders Means for Authors
First of all, a clarification: when right-wingers talk about “closing the borders,” this isn’t what they mean. The big news over the past week is that Borders Books is officially going out of business. Book lovers have expressed grief and dismay. One Borders fan called it “a case of internet outsourcing.” He’s not too far […]
More about Book Covers
Related to last week’s extensive post on book-cover design for indie authors and publishers, Roger C. Parker posted over the weekend a few more tips for better book covers. He also linked to a page of interactive book-cover makeovers at Dunn+Associates Design’s web site. For a kick, check out a few, and think about how […]
How to Design Your Book Cover
As an indie author, you probably need to understand book-cover design. Traditionally published authors have their publishers’ experts to design their covers (whether or not those experts are worthy of the designation). Self-published authors, just printing up a few copies for family and friends, will probably be satisfied with the très kewl cover design tools […]
The Novelist’s New Clothes?
They say that novelists write millions of manuscripts each year. I’m not sure what the exact number is. But I might believe any number between 1,000,000 and 25,000,000. Of these millions, less than 100,000 will make it to print. That’s when the real fun starts. Of those, only a fraction will end up on the […]
Getting Published Ain’t So Great, Either
As if to balance my post earlier this week about indie author pains, Mary DeMuth writes about 7 publishing myths on Novel Journey. She includes such myths as: You’ll get rich. (Most published authors earn little from sale of their books.) Rejection stops with a book contract. (Actually, it gets worse.) The publisher will market […]
Fired Up over Short Fiction
Camille LaGuire, the Daring Novelist, yesterday talked about her dare to publish short-fiction ebooks. She talks about novelettes that she had written, which no one wanted to publish because they were too long for magazines and too thin as hardcovers. But in today’s market, she can publish these as cheap, short ebooks. She also talks […]
Are You Really Ready to Indie Publish?
Agent Kristin of the Pub Rants blog posted some of her comments on how hard it is to be self-published. Those are my words. She put it differently: Regardless of whether an author self-publishes or pursues traditional publishing, some writers just win the publishing lottery and their books become major successes. Kristin points out how […]
Not Taking Criticism So Seriously
The stories we write are part of us. Like children, we nurture them and raise them. We identify with them. Then we push them out into the world and hope that they make a good name for us. This, I’m sure, is why some reviewers refuse to rate books that they can’t give at least […]