Publishing

Life / Money / Publishing / Writing — 1 Comment
1
Jul 09

Celluloid Cowboy: What Indie Publishing is For

Celluloid CowboyWith the experiences I’ve had so far as an independent author, I’ve come across quite a few like-minded individuals. The problem is that some of them aren’t that great at writing something that grabs me (sorry, but it’s true). Some of them, however, are.  This is where Scott C. Rogers falls with his debut, Celluloid Cowboy.

To be honest, at first I really wasn’t very interested in reading his book. The cover art definitely screamed indie, and the premise seemed a bit cliche (man’s life sucks, is presented with chance to change), and I am also usually pretty wary of author’s soliciting their works to me to read.  (I already have quite a few books on my to-read list.)  But Rogers and I emailed back and forth a few times (full disclosure here) and I told him that if he put it up on Kindle I’d maybe read it.  He did, he emailed me, and I went ahead and read it.

The thing is, this really isn’t my kind of book.  From some of the reviews out there he supposedly has some similarities to Bukowski, who I’ve never really cared enough about to read (and therefore can’t comment as to if he really is like Bukowski).  I will say this though: Celluloid Cowboy is really damn weird. Continue reading →

Publishing / Writing — 3 Comments
15
May 09

A Lot of Self-Published Books Really Suck

I’m a self-published (i.e. “indie”) author, and I’ll be the first to say it: a lot of self-published books really suck.  I mean really.  They’re horrible – filled with typos, grammatical errors, poor storytelling, bad research, and so on. That’s the biggest problem with how easy it is to publish your own book now – these suckfests bring down the name of self-publishing and tarnish anything with “self-published” immediately as being suspect. Continue reading →

Publishing / Technology — 21 Comments
16
Mar 09

Really New Think for Old Publishers

Yesterday afternoon here at South by Southwest (SXSW) I had the chance to sit in on a panel featuring Clay Shirky (author of Here Comes Everybody) and several key members of the traditional book publishing world, including representatives of Penguin and Bloomsbury, titled New Think for Old Publishers.  Unfortunately this panel had very little think involved, as the first half of the panel basically consisted of introductions, descriptions of favorite books recently read and attempts to reinforce the importance of the beaurocratic system traditional publishers work in (and why this model is essential for book readers).  It wasn’t until the second half of the single hour allotted for the conversation that the audience was told the publishers weren’t here with “new think” but instead wanted to get ideas from the audience.  What ensued was quite a show of vitriol from the audience.

Rather than get into the details of the audience discussion (you can get the gist from the Twitter discourse or  can get the overview from MediaLoper), I want to discuss a bit the bigger point the publishing industry doesn’t seem to be getting – they no longer hold the keys to the kingdom. Continue reading →

Publishing / Writing — 2 Comments
19
Feb 09

Next Book: The Unfortunate Expiration of Mr. David S. Sparks

My debut novel, The Trouble With Being God, has been out for a few months now and, while I am spending some of my time promoting it, I’m also busy with writing my next book. The Trouble With Being God was absolutely a great learning experience. In total, it took me nearly eight years to create, from inception to final publication. During that time I learned a lot about people, life, and writing – but in the time since publishing it I’ve learned a lot more about how to write a great book.  Mostly this is due to the feedback I’ve been receiving from readers and fellow authors (in particular, Monica Valentinelli), and although I feel The Trouble With Being God was by no means a bad book, I am absolutely certain I can do better.

This brings us to what I’m doing now. As you may recall, back in November I mentioned that I was working on a book called The Grabbing Hands as a project for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Well, that project has grown a lot from where it originally started, and has since morphed into something I am extremely excited about: The Unfortunate Expiration of Mr. David S. Sparks. This new book is definitely a departure from the dark gore that spattered the pages of TTWBG, but it still very much feels like a “me” kind of story – heavy with philosophical questions (in particular environmental and biological ethics, as well as my usual themes of questions of self, soul and purpose), and in its current state falls quite firmly in the realm of cyberpunk fiction.

Continue reading →

Publishing — 1 Comment
10
Feb 09

The Shack by William P. Young: A Self-Publishing Success Story

The ShackWilliam P. Young’s sensation, ‘The Shack,’ is surely one of the best examples of a self-publishing success story. Originally written as a Christmas gift for his six children, the story was also shared with additional family and friends… who in turn shared the story with their friends, leading to the suggestion that Young publish the book via traditional publishing channels, thereby making it available to the world.

As one can surmise, Young was met with trepidation by the major publishing houses  – both religious and secular. So, Young, along with two business partners (former pastors fom Los Angeles), decided to create their own imprint, Wind Blown Media, and publish the book themselves.

So, how does one go from self-publishing something that no traditional publisher will touch to becoming a New York Times #1 Best Seller for 35 continuous weeks? The answer was not a large advertising spend, as according to sources, only about $300 was spent on promotion of the book through its web site. The answer, as is very often the case in the Internet Age is this: Word-of-Mouth.

Continue reading →

Marketing / Publishing — No Comments
25
Jan 09

Do I Want a Publisher? (Self-Publishing, Part 2)

A question I’m often asked when discussing my novel, The Trouble With Being God, or the book I’m currently working on is: who’s your publisher?” Of course, my answer is that I am my own publisher. Still, it doesn’t mean I never ask myself if I would rather be working with a “traditional” publisher.

So when I pose the question “Do I Want a Publisher?” I’m really asking “Do I want to be published by a traditional publishing house who has multiple clients and an established place in the publishing marketplace?”

My next immediate question, and the question I encourage all authors (or any creator for that matter) is this: “Why would I want a publisher?”

Continue reading →

Publishing — 32 Comments
2
Jan 09

On Self-Publishing: Amazon Createspace vs. Lulu.com

As a self-published, “indie” author, I often receive questions from other writers looking to take a stab at publishing on their own and avoiding the traditional publishing route. The other day I received one such question, from Twitter follower melissaonline. Here’s what she asked:

How did LuLu work for you? Quality, experience, Amazon? Looking for opinions!! Have you tried CreateSpace? Trying to pick!!

Having written her a fairly lengthy response, I felt it might be useful to others as well, and therefore am sharing it here on my site:

To answer your question, I actually publish both through Lulu and Amazon’s Createspace. Each of them serves their own purposes, and I do recommend using both (I’ll get into why in a bit). I also publish through Amazon Kindle and have an e-book download available through Lulu.com. I’m currently working on a podiobook version of my book as well, but I don’t have that done so can’t get you feedback on that channel. Continue reading →

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