Features

Articles, how-to’s, opinion and tips and tricks in the self-publishing arena

Author vs. Publisher: It’s a Revolution

A couple of weeks ago, I was cornered by a publisher after an appearance. The point of her rant was how much she could do for me as a publisher. She made her point while poking me in the chest saying, “You should be writing. You shouldn’t be publishing. You should be writing.”

Well, that was what I started out wanting to do. I’ve always wanted to be a writer. From the beginning, I dreamed of making it to the point in my career where I could stay home all day in my writer’s studio and do nothing but think […]

2020-02-21T03:55:49+02:00November 28th, 2011|Categories: Features|Tags: |

Ebook Opportunities Redux

On October 12, 2010, I posted Ebook Opportunities to discuss my take on the major established and upcoming ebook sales venues. This is an update. It will repeat last year’s data on a venue-by-venue basis, then update each in boldface.

I’ve wanted for some time to report my experiences with pretty much every serious player in the ebook sales arena, but I’ve held off to see if B&N’s PubIt program ever went live. It has, I’ve uploaded 42 titles, and I’m ready to go.

KINDLE: This is the daddy of the ebook opportunities. I don’t think I need to say […]

2011-11-23T13:39:02+02:00November 23rd, 2011|Categories: Features|

Wooing The Muse

Writing should be easy now, right? I have Creative Writing BA from Eastern Washington University, I got a research/writing heavy MA from the Vancouver School of Theology in Vancouver, BC. And now I live in Portland, Or home Powells, The Attic: A Haven for Writers and more writers than you can shake a stick at.

And besides my book – The Boston 395 – is out now as ebook. Started for the dot.bust and completed in response to the economic downturn.

Writing SHOULD be easy.

But two years of writers block tells me otherwise. Two years of economic downturn, no-to-little […]

2011-11-22T14:16:15+02:00November 22nd, 2011|Categories: Features, Member Blog|

Do Self-Publishers Need to Lighten Up? [Updated]

First off, I didn’t wade into the Penguin self-publishing controversy because I took some  days off work to work on my novel and I was keeping to that.  I agree that it’s a rip-off as illustrated by David Gaughran:

Book Country offer a range of options to self-publish your work, all vastly over-priced.

The premium package costs a whopping $549. To be clear: there is no editing or cover design included in this package (the two biggest expenses for self-publishers). There is also no marketing or promotion included in this package, aside from a “Publishing Kit” with “tips” and

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2011-11-23T11:39:17+02:00November 22nd, 2011|Categories: Features|

Beware of Free

There’s a really interesting note in a post about Kindle sales on the Self-Published Author’s Lounge:

First of all, free does attract a lot of negative reviews.  I’m not the only author who’s noticed it and neither is this author.  I have another author friend who is shying away from putting anything else out for free because she doesn’t want to get the negative reviews.  Free does attract a heavy dose of criticism.  I still use free, though, because my skin really has gotten thick enough where I honestly don’t care anymore (this takes time to develop) and because

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2011-11-14T12:41:33+02:00November 14th, 2011|Categories: Features|

Self-Publishing & Luck

I’ve had my problems with JA Konrath in the past (in the comments of that post). His position used to be that writers needed to be traditionally published in order to prove their mettle – the measure of a writer was if publishing professionals were willing to invest some money in a book. He’s obviously had a change of heart because now he advocates for self-publishing daily – also because of money changing hands: self-publishing is legit because writers can turn a profit. To be honest, I don’t find this the greatest endorsement either because it’s still saying money is […]

2011-11-14T13:03:14+02:00November 14th, 2011|Categories: Features|

Self-Publishers are Dorky

Really interesting post in The Millions about self-publishing – which to me is kind of watershed compared to yet another post about self-publishing in the Washington Post or New York Times. The Millions is an established litblog on the high-brow edge – the kind of site that might have never given self-publishing a second look 5 years ago, but now is finally seeing self-publishing as increasingly necessary for an increasing number of writers.

It also falls in line with the discussion we’ve been having about “indie” credibility. Self-publishing has already cemented its commercial credibility, but it has yet to […]

2011-11-10T10:49:11+02:00November 9th, 2011|Categories: Features|

Why Good Writing Always Enhances Good SEO

Everyone that has a website knows that they are in a sea of hundreds of millions of other websites.  Even if you are in a unique niche or category, you still have hundreds of thousands of competing sites.  This is not always a bad situation, however, you need to let people, that need your products or services, know that you are on the internet.

There are hundreds of thousands of sites that have products and services to enhance your SEO (search engine optimization), in the attempt to make you more noticeable in your particular area of expertise.  Some of these […]

2011-11-08T13:10:50+02:00November 8th, 2011|Categories: Features, Member Blog|
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