With the current trend of indie authors heading into self-publishing, there are many “specialists” now jumping on the bandwagon and offering to “convert” your manuscript for not a lot of money.
Because of this, those writers and self-publishers looking to outsource this part of the process should make a point of getting to know what they’re actually paying for. There is a whole world of difference between ebook “conversion” and ebook “formatting”. Continue reading
Just had to take a screenshot of this:
I know, I know, but a bit of self-promotion is allowed occasionally, surely? After all, I am a self-published author. Who else is going to do it?
Here’s my contribution to Chuck Wendig’s ‘flash fiction challenge’. The brief got my writerly juices flowing, it was as follows:
Go to Your Favorite Music Player. Dig out your digital music collection.
Hit SHUFFLE, then “Play.”
Meaning, let a random song come bubbling up out of nothing.
The title to this song is the title to your story.
Use the song for inspiration, too, if you feel so inclined.
Let’s tighten up the word count a little, too –
You only have 500 words this time. Continue reading
For any aspiring authors out there, this blog post by Joe Konrath is a must-read. Forget the traditional route, savvy authors are now going indie. A post that prompts 593 comments (as of 24/04/11) needs to be taken seriously.
Here’s a snippet:
Are you dense? What the hell is wrong with you?
I’m talking to you. The writers who are still thoughtlessly defending legacy publishing. Unless you’re making over a million dollars a year with the Big 6, continuing down the legacy path is a crazy bad idea.
I see the same tired, lame arguments, over and over again. They include: It’s hard to make decent money self-pubbing.
Guess what? It’s even harder to make decent money by legacy publishing…”
Go there now and read the rest of it, you may well get to be the next JK Rowling!
What makes you pick up and buy a novel by an author you’ve never heard of?
As I’m an aspiring novelist – three started, three abandoned, a fourth in gestation – you may find it surprising to learn that I don’t frequent book shops much.
It’s not that I don’t like books, I do, I love them dearly, I love the smell and the feel of them, and the promise that’s held between the covers, it’s just that they’re a bit, how shall I put this? Expensive! Continue reading