Features

This a repost from The New Podler Review of Books, which is back in action. The site has been posting a series of interviews about self-publishing. The full list is below. Here are my answers (the graphic is for a different self-publishing symposium, linked in the image).

How does self-publishing differ from traditional publishing?

Limited distribution.  Other than that – nothing.  Yes, a publisher offers a design team, marketing team, and editorial guidance, but a writer can do those things alone.  The one thing a writer cannot do (unless he or she has a gigantic marketing budget or money […]

THE MUSE WAS HERE.

That’s what she would have tattooed across my forehead. In Black Ink, but then deciding to go back and change the font style to something Celtic although I don’t have a drop of Irish blood in me.

She’s forceful and doesn’t give a damn about my personal life, my work life or the fact that the holidays were just around the corner and I had shopping, cleaning and list making to do. I guess she’s a bitch. And she always gets her way.

RJ Keller once described her writing technique as physically disturbing: painfully typing […]

Herewith, I present an updated and amended cross-posting of my blog post on the Amazon v. Macmillan affair. Let me state up front, I do not agree with Amazon’s strongarm tactics, and it is not my intention to defend those actions in this post. Rather, I’m puzzled by authors’ nearly universal lack of criticism for Macmillan’s part in the matter. I can’t help wondering, if Amazon had quietly agreed to Macmillan’s requested terms, thereby depriving authors of an easy target and distraction, might they have reacted differently to Macmillan’s move?

But it is about a writer, and writers like stories about writers, right? Particularly when the writers is J.D. Salinger. (Even if you’re not a fan of his, surely you’re curious about him…? No…?)

*The following originally posted at my old blogsite in June of ‘09.  After reading the many articles today about Salinger’s death, I was reminded of this account of a meeting (but not really a meeting) between my uncle and Mr. Salinger.

My uncle, who I’ll call Harry, lives about twenty minutes from Cornish, NH. Says a lot of famous people – oddly – come […]

[…] allows the publishing of written depictions of sexually explicit scenes, but we do not allow pornographic images within the books, and we do not allow erotica that depicts minors engaged (willingly or unwillingly) in sexual acts with adults. Fictional scenes of rape, sadism or pedophilia are strongly discouraged, and they’re strictly prohibited if their purpose in the book is to arouse the reader. — Smashwords

I received an email from an author last week wanting my take on the above quote from the Smashwords Q&A section for publishers. My thoughts on it led to a lengthy email discussion […]

As a self-published author, I have read opponent comments that one of the downsides to choosing the “vanity” route is being unable to obtain professional reviews. Though I have found it difficult, it is not impossible.

The question I ponder regarding the review process, however, is how beneficial are professional reviews for authors?  Do they really increase book sales for the average author? I wish I had numbers. For a writer such as myself, who is not a household name or an industry legend, I’m not sure how much a review will plummet me into the spotlight or success.

If […]