You’ve seen the stats: upwards of 280,000 “self-published” books in 2009, according to Bowker or some big brother agency; with 2010 expected to dwarf those numbers and crush the number of mainstream published books.
We’re all like, “woo hoo.” Kind of.
Because you’ve also seen a lot of shit out there, too: Your twitter buddy [...]

There is a lot of passionate discussion about whether self-publishing is a valid career move. I’ve learned that instead of wasting time trying to win converts, I’ll simply follow what I believe, based on the evidence I have at this point.
To wit:
1) I will make more on my backlist first novel THE RED CHURCH this [...]

So here is the thing…
There is a lot of talk about the “stigma” of self-publishing. But for the most part this stigma is rather contained. For example:
Mainstream Publishers/Agents: They don’t really care whether you self-publish or not. I mean think about this for a moment. If you’re self-publishing, you’re one less manuscript in their slush [...]

I had a conversation today with a copyright lawyer, not about anything to copyright, but we were just chatting in general. She asked how my book signing went last week, and that’s how we got to chatting about books. Her husband is a writer, and she mentioned that he’s frustrated. I reveled in my independence [...]

Self-publishers or traditionally published—what are we really advocates of?
There are those in the traditional world of publishing who believe self-publishing has the potential to tarnish an author’s book. Usually there are a myriad of under-the-surface reasons for this view, but, at least as far as tried and trusted publishing practice is concerned, their valid argument [...]

How’s that for a bombastic title?  Not that self-publishing needs any more defending because it’s here to stay and detractors are gathering cobwebs, but not a lot has been written here about publishing as it relates to the music industry, or about the long-term future of publishing.  One of the mysteries about self-publishing is that [...]

I watched the most godawful movie the other day. It’s my fault, usually my 10-minute rule is pretty good. But somehow this one lasted beyond 10 minutes and we suffered through it. [New York, I Love You] With a cast of people who I generally like, an interesting soundtrack, and pretty good cinematography I had [...]

Steve Almond wrote that after being published many times, he was sick of the whole process. He said he knew the publishing industry wasn’t trying to piss him off, “But it’s awfully hard to remember that when you’re dealing with an agent who says your novel is ‘too literary’ to sell in today’s market.” [...]

This a repost from The New Podler Review of Books, which is back in action. The site has been posting a series of interviews about self-publishing. The full list is below. Here are my answers (the graphic is for a different self-publishing symposium, linked in the image).
How does self-publishing differ from traditional [...]

THE MUSE WAS HERE.
That’s what she would have tattooed across my forehead. In Black Ink, but then deciding to go back and change the font style to something Celtic although I don’t have a drop of Irish blood in me.
She’s forceful and doesn’t give a damn about my personal life, my work life or the [...]