Features | Self-Publishing Review

Thank God for Humor

Where would we be if we couldn’t laugh in this world that is frequently too serious for its own good? One of the greatest gifts I’ve come to discover is how to laugh at and with myself. I’ve spent most of my life taking myself and things way too seriously. It’s wonderful to have a sensitive heart, but it’s so important to shield it from unnecessary pain. That’s where a good dose of humor serves the spirit and leads us all to let go through wonderfully releasing belly laughs. One thing is certain. Humor not only helps us, it heals.[…]

David Cowdery2014-05-11T22:12:21+02:00March 13th, 2011|Categories: Features, Member Blog|Tags: Satire|

Self-publishing is a source of innovative thinking

Presentation: Self-publishing – a source of innovative thinking and how to benefit from it.

The presentation the link to which you see above was prepared for Ebook Lab Italia conference. I wanted to highlight a prevailing characteristic of self-publishers, yet not discovered and fully utilized by publishers and readers. It’s the innovative thinking.

In digital times, times of over-content, the front line is the attention of a reader. Technology leads to equal chances. Both big publishers and self-publishers use the same on-line tools and services to find the reader and convince him to buy the book. But obviously there […]

Piotr Kowalczyk2020-02-21T07:48:46+02:00March 11th, 2011|Categories: Features|

IndiePub ~ Amanda Hocking Just Might Not Be a Pioneer

I’m going to buck the trend in this blog entry by not rehashing Amanda Hockings’ impressive rocket success on the ePub scene. One might inadvertently take Ms. Hocking for a pioneer on the IndiePub scene, maybe look upon her story as the exception, a first, or a singular phenom. Make no mistake about it – the numbers are a knock-down, but let’s take a look at some of the pioneer IndieAuthors who just might have inspired this spunky little punk.

I learned of Boyd Morrison’s story at the 2010 Pacific Northwest Writers Association Summer Conference. Morrison has described the journey […]

Emily Hill2017-03-24T09:27:58+02:00March 10th, 2011|Categories: Features, Member Blog|Tags: Zoe Winters|

Review: Lightworker: The Unique Souls Who Have Come to Heal the Planet

I feel I must preface this review by offering full disclosure: Until now, I have never reviewed a work of non-fiction, nor a work which falls into the Spiritual or Self-Help genres. Naturally, what follows in this review is entirely my opinion, and I’ll do my best to cover what I think are its high and low points.

As I mentioned before, Lightworker by Sahvanna Arienta is what you would consider a Spiritual book, one written to help others find an understanding of their place in the world. The book revolves around a number of statements about the balance […]

Todd Keisling2014-06-19T12:25:45+02:00March 9th, 2011|Categories: Book Reviews, Features|Tags: Book Reviews, Self-Help|

Mark Coker on the Downfall of Big Publishing

This week, Mark Coker posted a new entry to the Smashwords blog detailing the rise of self-publishing and discussing the broken model upon which big publishing is built. From the article:

If authors – the beating heart powering Big Publishing – lose faith in Big Publishing, then big publishing as we know it will die. By “Big Publishing,” I’m referring to the old, pre-self-publishing system embodied by the Big 6 New York publishers, in which the publisher serves as the author’s judge, jury, gatekeeper and executioner.

If Big Publishing approves of your book, they acquire it. Post-acquisition, an author can

[…]

Todd Keisling2011-03-05T11:12:08+02:00March 5th, 2011|Categories: Features, Lead Story, News|Tags: Smashwords|

The Writing Process

One of the things I love best about DVDs are the special features. I love learning how and why a movie was made as much as (and maybe more than) the the movie itself. The same goes for books. I love learning about the process that went on from conception to publication and all the steps and changes that happened along. So in that spirit, I thought I’d share my own writing process for those who are curious about where my stories come from.

First I don’t sit down and say to myself, “Self, you must come up with an […]

Jeff Thomason2011-03-03T15:26:28+02:00March 3rd, 2011|Categories: Features, Member Blog|Tags: Book Editing, Writing|

Help Shaina quit her day job. Please. Please?

So, why do free eBooks exist? Why would any person go to the trouble of typing so many words on a page, then spend money to create a cover for that electronic book, only to give it away to people with no expectation of a monetary reward?

It’s because we need reviews.

Reviews of our free books help to perpetuate sales of our books that are not free. In addition, free eBooks generate interest and publicity by getting our work into the e-reading devices of a lot of people. And a LOT of people love free stuff. Hopefully if they […]

Shaina Richmond2011-03-03T15:26:09+02:00March 3rd, 2011|Categories: Features, Member Blog|Tags: Smashwords|

The Dark Side of Reviews

In the past, I’ve blogged my thoughts about the review process, and I’m at it again. It’s the wonderful experience when publishing a book. Every author, whether self-published or traditional, has a star-filled future from one to five.

After being in the public eye since 2008, I’ve come to one conclusion. The entire review process is so – what’s the word I want to use here – LAME! Why lame? Because frankly, folks, it’s a broken process limping along that has little value, if any, these days.

Why do I say that? Recently, I’ve discovered a very disturbing trend […]