Thank you once again, James, for sharing some valuable information. Thanks also for your kind comments on my trailer. I’m glad you liked “the sound of arrows whizzing through the air.” I have to confess I had my […]

In any case where “publishing is 90% marketing, 10% writing,” I’m quite certain the writer-publisher hasn’t produced anything I’d want to read. I agree with John H. Carroll and a heavy emphasis on “learn as you […]

No need to apologize, P. D. You can always say there’s at least one self-publishing person more clueless than you. That’s me. I should wait for James, the expert, to answer your questions. But I can offer this. […]

James, this post is so right. I’ll give you a good example. I recently bought and read an ebook I found delightful. I’ve written a glowing 5-star review of it and wish to post it on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & […]

James, I’m late to another conversation, but once again you’ve provided a lot of useful information. I think you’re too hard on yourself. The Stephen King thing was just bad luck. I think your descriptions of the […]

James, I’m sorry I missed this post until now. For me, as a reader, the quality of the review is most important. I pass right by the two-or-three sentence review beginning “Wow, what an awesome book!” and ending […]

I can’t help but agree with you both, Dan and Henry. I suspect Dan’s readership might be the same as yours and mine, Henry: readers who are willing to think. Fake reviews may have more of an impact on readers […]

Henry, I’m very glad to know you like self-publishing again. I agree with the comments above. I pay no attention to the endless bragging of those few writers who hit the jackpot (or claim to). I’ll never write […]

James, this post was quoted in The Passive Voice (http://www.thepassivevoice.com/) in its updates today, Sept. 10, 2012. Congratulations!

You always include useful information in your posts, James. I hadn’t given a thought to asking in my ebooks for a review, and providing the reader a link to a place where the review can be posted. Of course, some […]

Louis, your understanding is the same as mine. For most indie authors now, I think the routes are through Amazon (KDP and CreateSpace) and Smashwords, and after that call it a day. And never worry about fixing a […]

Once again, Henry, I agree.

Henry, thank you for this post. As I always do, I find myself agreeing with you completely. There is absolutely nothing wrong with authors paying for honest reviews. It isn’t impossible to find out which is an […]

I see your well-taken point, James. I’m only two years into the self-publishing world and have only published two novels, both of which have remained the same insofar as the content is concerned, although I have […]

James, this post is filled with valuable information, as all your posts are. It raises an important question for me, though. I’m a former lawyer who never practiced in the intellectual property area. But I’ve […]

Atonus, there’s nothing wrong with that. We all do it.

Thank you for this list, Lela. I’m sure I’ll use it in the future. Everybody says the cover of a book is so important to the success of a book, and yet so many covers turn me off entirely. Also, the artist needs […]

I agree with you, RD Meyer. Finding authors who get what you’re doing, even as you get what they’re doing, and having that result in favorable reviews, is heaven. But, as you say, “it’s certainly not expected.”

I network with “fellow indie authors” not to sell my books to them but to find out what I might be doing better. But I agree the long and tedious “publishing wars” arguments are mostly a waste of time.

I agree.