By Scott Nicholson Dean Koontz has made the observation that novels are like annuities, earning income for writers over a lifetime. Well, that’s true for Koontz and a handful of writers who manage to keep books in print and on the shelves. Given the constraints of shelf space, the product pipeline that requires a 30-day [...]

Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers. — T.S. Eliot Meh! What’s failed? That’s what I want to know. If you are writing and you love what you write and you love the process, then you are not a failed writer. A failed writer to me is the writer who gives up [...]

A recent comment on the Web Presence Checklist post said this: All good points, but not necessarily formulas for success. I have a web presence everywhere. I’ve done 95% of what you’ve listed above. Google me and you’ll find me listed from page 1-15, Right now my book The Price of Innocence in paperback languishes [...]

This morning, NPR reported that the Wylie Agency, a top literary agency, has teamed with Amazon on a joint venture to electronically publish what’s known as ‘back-list titles,’ best-sellers written long before the age of e-books. The publishing industry wasn’t happy, particularly Random House. In a quintessential display of the kind of pig-headed mentality that [...]

At LJ Sellers’ site, there’s word of a new gatekeeping operation called IndieProse.  From their site: Over 1 million books were published last year, many a result of the explosion of print-on-demand (POD) and electronic books (ebooks). This is great news for readers who can find the gems buried in the mountain of self-published books. [...]

I have been working my way through the Platform/Promo Lessons in Publetariat’s Vault University curriculum  by April Hamilton and Zoe Winters (I was fortunate enough to win access to Vault University as a winner of Publetariat’s First Anniversary Contest.) While I don’t plan on revealing any detail on the excellent material presented in this curriculum (if you are [...]

Everybody knows about Amazon.  Most know about Smashwords and the assorted channels available through their Premium Distribution.  I’m here to tell you about a brand new distribution option for indie authors: SpringBrook Digital.  They’re a new company distributing both ebooks and audiobooks. They not only sell through their own website, but they also have contracts [...]

The big news today is literary agent Andrew Wylie starting a publishing imprint that will publish ebook editions of major authors. Mr. Wylie said his new company would focus on older titles whose digital rights are not owned by traditional publishers. The books will be available exclusively at Amazon’s Kindle store for two years. In [...]

So I finally gave in and bought an iPad – trying it out 3 times in store before finally laying down the $500.  I was reluctant because of the amount of bad press, wondering if I was giving in to a fad, and if buying a first-generation device is truly short-sighted.  But actually I needed [...]

This post about self-publishing is from February, but new to me.  It makes a persuasive case against self-publishing. Professional editors of the level I work with now make money. Grown-up money that I cannot pay them, because I am not a rich person and never will be. Let alone copyediting, typsetting, and cover art (which is [...]