Interviews | Self-Publishing Review

Interview: Tessa Dick, author of The Owl in Daylight, and widow of Philip K. Dick

An interview with Tessa Dick, last wife of Philip K. Dick, who has reworked the novel he was working on at the time of his death in 1982, The Owl in Daylight – reviewed by SPR. She blogs at It’s a Philip K. Dick World!

Self-Publishing Review: You were married to Philip K. Dick between 1973 and 1977. How did you two meet?

Tessa Dick: Phil’s lady friend at the time, Ginger, was breaking up with him. Phil was clinging to her, so she decided to introduce him to someone else at a beach party on the 4th of […]

Henry Baum2011-10-08T20:44:12+02:00February 12th, 2009|Categories: Interviews, Lead Story|

SPR Interviewed on Tuesday Shorts

I was interviewed by Tuesday Shorts, a great flash fiction (100 words or less) site. I’d like to thank Kristen Tsetsi, one of the site’s editors, for putting this together.

This interview gives me a reason to write about something I’ve wanted to touch on: the idea that self-publishing will hurt your future chances in publishing. Saying that self-publishing will ruin your career prospects is almost like saying that the only reason to write is to make money – i.e. that career is the only worthwhile ambition.

How does this apply to the interview? Because it shows things […]

Henry Baum2011-10-08T19:32:08+02:00February 5th, 2009|Categories: Interviews|

Interview: Eddie Wright, author of Broken Bulbs

Eddie Wright’s excellent Broken Bulbs is a science fictional take on addiction – but what makes the novel so good is that it is not classifiable. Here he talks about writing a hybrid screenplay/novel and the ups and downs of self-publishing.

Self-Publishing Review: How did you come to self-publish? I mention in the review that it would be hard for Broken Bulbs to get published based on its length alone. Did you consider submitting to chapbook publishers?

Eddie Wright: Self-publishing seemed to be the only real option for me because of the length and unorthodox style of Broken Bulbs. […]

Henry Baum2011-10-08T19:32:30+02:00February 5th, 2009|Categories: Interviews, Lead Story|

Interview: Mark Coker, Founder of Smashwords

Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords.com, talks about his ebook directory and the future of ebooks. Check out Self-Publishing Review’s post about places to list an ebook for other ebook sites.

Self-Publishing Review: First, what is Smashwords?

Mark Coker: Smashwords is a digital publishing platform and online bookstore for self-published authors and their readers.

Authors upload their manuscripts as Microsoft Word files and then we automatically convert them into nine different DRM-free ebook formats, ready for immediate sale online. Authors set the price and determine the sampling percentage, and receive 85 percent of the net sales proceeds from their books.

SPR: […]

Henry Baum2011-10-08T20:31:17+02:00February 1st, 2009|Categories: Interviews, Lead Story|

SPR Interviewed by Angela Wilson @ Market My Novel

Thanks go to Angela Wilson for her interview of SPR at Market My Novel. Questions include: “As an author yourself, what do you hope to ultimately do for self published authors through your site?” and “There is a certain stigma still attached to self published works. Why is that? Do you think sites like yours can help improve the image?”

If you don’t know Angela Wilson’s site, check it out. What makes Market My Novel particularly useful is its emphasis on internet marketing, as well as straight book marketing. We’ve covered the similarities between book marketing and search engine optimization […]

Henry Baum2009-12-31T21:10:01+02:00January 23rd, 2009|Categories: Interviews|

Guest Post: On the Cusp of a Shot at a Dream—but how bad do I want it?

This post was submitted by a self-published author who wished to remain anonymous because he/she did not want any information written here to get in the way of negotiations with a literary agent. Yes, agents are that fickle. Part one of a series, the article asks: how many revisions are you willing to make for an agent or editor before you’re compromising your integrity?

The conversation with a prospective literary agency should go something like this:

“Would you like us to sell your book to a major publisher?”

“Yes, please.”

“Are you willing to make a fair number of changes […]

Guest Post2009-12-31T21:26:02+02:00January 10th, 2009|Categories: Interviews|

Interview: Kristen Tsetsi, author of Homefront

Kristen Tsetsi’s Homefront (reviewed by the Self-Publishing Review) is one of the most moving and evocative portratits of people left back at home while their spouses fight overseas. Her own husband was stationed in Iraq. Here Kristen Tsetsi talks about the origins of the novel and her experience with self-publishing.

Self-Publishing Review: How did you come to self-publish? Did you try to get published traditionally?

Kristen Tsetsi: I did try the traditional route. I sent an initial series of queries, the first three of which were (to my great excitement) met with requests for first chapters. Once the first […]

Henry Baum2018-05-15T16:06:12+02:00January 9th, 2009|Categories: Interviews, Lead Story|

Guest Post: The YouWriteOn Story by Pat Jourdan

Pat Jourdan is the author of the novel, Finding Out. Here she describes the opportunity and pitfalls of self-publishing with YouWriteOn, organized by Arts Council England.

Imagine getting an email asking if you’d like your manuscript to be published, just like that. It says that it will be free, if you do not want to purchase an ISBN. Of course, you pay for an ISBN, and for that cost of £39.99 you will be able to be marketed on all online sites. Just forward a completely edited, print-ready book.

We formatted pages, organised chapters, and learned about pdf. This […]

Guest Post2009-12-31T21:27:51+02:00January 9th, 2009|Categories: Interviews|