Features | Self-Publishing Review

Do Publishers Have a Purpose in the Digital Age?

The opening day seminar debate last week at the London Book Fair asked the provocative question: ‘Will publishers in the digital age soon be irrelevant?’ It was always a debate destined to be a little heated. It isn’t just provocative but also suggests there is an alternative destiny for the book publishing industry to the one envisaged by many commercial publishing houses.

The debate was hosted by Susan Danziger, CEO of DailyLit and organizer of the Publishing Point, and moderated by Michael Healy, executive director of the Book Rights Registry. Richard Charkin, executive director of Bloomsbury Publishing and Andrew Franklin, […]

Mick Rooney2011-04-28T10:06:05+02:00April 28th, 2011|Categories: Features, Lead Story|

My First Self-Publishing Experience

To introduce myself, my name is Ashly Lorenzana. I’m twenty-three years old and I live in Portland, OR where I’ve worked as an escort for over five years. Over these last several years, I kept a personal journal/blog about my life in general, both as an escort and a drug addict. I never thought anything of it, until I was contacted by a local published author (who wished to remain anonymous) who asked me if I’d ever considered publishing it. Surprised, I wrote him back and said no, it was just my silly journal. He told me he was even […]

Ashly Lorenzana2011-04-28T10:01:14+02:00April 28th, 2011|Categories: Features, Member Blog|

DRM and the eBook Future

It’s not very cool to argue in favour of DRM (digital rights management – basically systems that attempt to stop you copying digital files). The hip libertarian view is that it is an infringement of human rights, a restriction on the spread of art and ideas, an imposition by corporate culture on the freedom of the individual and the criminalisation of innocent youth. A curious shift in logic marks out what is sometimes called the “freetard” position; because it hard to control (and impossible to eliminate) file sharing, trying to control it is some regressive and oppressive act that contravenes […]

Roland Denning2011-04-28T09:51:58+02:00April 28th, 2011|Categories: Features|

When Does Self-Publishing Becoming Publishing Through an Independent Publisher?

An interesting question came up in discussions we held this weekend with a young writer who has an idea for a book and wanted to hear how we transitioned from our past careers to writing and publishing. We told him our tale of the journey but then drifted off into a more ethereal discussion of when does an author/self publisher cross the threshold to Author/Independent Publisher.

The conversation began with a lighthearted question by me “Would Frank Nelson Doubleday, the founder of Doubleday & Co. (Now an imprint of Random House) be considered self published since he authored and co-authored […]

G. Hugh Bodell2011-04-28T09:57:52+02:00April 28th, 2011|Categories: Features|Tags: Book Distribution|

My Dad Self-Published His Novel

That headline shouldn’t be such a big deal, but if you knew my dad, it would be – and the fact that he self-published is a serious sign of the times. Though he’s been totally supportive of my own self-publishing ventures, the idea was anathema to him for his own books until this point. He was just too much of an old-schooler. And this shows the revolution that Amanda Hocking has unleashed. Not showing to the world that you can make a million dollars self-publishing, because most people realize that’s an aberration, but definitely making it seem like an everyday […]

Henry Baum2011-10-09T20:53:00+02:00April 26th, 2011|Categories: Features|

Waiting for Karl Rove – Self-Publishing Controversial Books

By “controversial” I mean, “books I can’t imagine traditional publishers taking a risk on in this dicey economy.”

Waiting for Karl Rove is one of those books. It’s irreverent satire, chock full of politically incorrect content, and the “characters” (aside from ourselves) are public figures, mainly in the political arena. Not to mention that it’s kind of a lampoon against the publishing industry, as a whole. So, yeah, risky.

We did get some good feedback from a few agents and small publishers, who chuckled at the cheeky query letter, and wished us good luck, Godspeed, and many happy returns (probably […]

Jeni Decker & Kat Nove2011-04-25T14:42:15+02:00April 25th, 2011|Categories: Features, Interviews|

How To Go Bankrupt Thanks to Really Great Reviews

This is a story about book returns. It’s also a story about the bookstore system and what’s not working. You’ll also hear how success can crush the self-publisher.

It’s not my story. I didn’t go bankrupt—but I could have. What I aim to do here is tell you my experience of publishing well-reviewed books and what you might do in this ever-changing publishing world to get ahead.

Here I can’t get into is how to write a really great book. Let’s assume you know what you’re doing, and once you write the great book, you hire a professional editor and […]

Christopher Meeks2011-04-18T16:41:51+02:00April 18th, 2011|Categories: Features, Lead Story|

What indie publishing is like: “I’m a Fool”

No, I am NOT referring to the “fool” part of the title.

I’m no more a fool than anyone pursuing a vocation.

I’m a Fool is a 38-minute film made n 1976 as part of the PBS American Short Story Collection. It dramatizes a short story by Sherwood Anderson. It stars Ron Howard (yes, that Ron Howard) and Amy Irving, and was directed by Noel Black.

Traveling from town to town during the summer of 1919, young Andy (Ron Howard) has left his Ohio home in search of adventure and romance as a horse trainer on the country

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Lindsay Edmunds2011-04-15T20:07:15+02:00April 15th, 2011|Categories: Features, Member Blog|