Tag Archives: self-publishing

Dead Tree Books, eBook

Self-Publishers Should Not Be Called Authors

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

…and other stupid blog post titles.

To say that the landscape of publishing has dramatically changed over the last five years is an idiotic statement.  The landscape of publishing has been dramatically changing since it’s inception.  Just because someone finally noticed — after the printing press dramatically changed the landscape; after offset printing dramatically changed the landscape; after the computer dramatically changed the landscape; after the desktop computer dramatically changed the landscape; after Amazon dramatically changed the landscape; after Mobi dramatically changed the landscape; the Kindle dramatically changed the landscape; etc. — that there are no longer any walls stopping a writer from becoming a published author and that the gatekeeper concept is passe, it doesn’t mean the landscape has ‘dramatically changed.’

It just means that they’re not particularly observant.

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Inspiration, Success Stories, Writer Reference

J.A. Konrath: Fisking Donald Maass

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Oh. My. Goodness.

My favorite author has just spanked the Emerald City Doorman hard enough that it’s going to leave a mark.  And Mr. Maass is going to have a severe limp for quite awhile!

It’s no secret that I am an indie-publishing heretic, posting often and everywhere about how every author should look into getting themselves published without getting ridden hard and put away wet by a legacy publishing dinosaur (that’ll give you a limp for sure!).  But no one – NO ONE – takes the publishing industry or their flan-boys to task better, cleaner, and more beautifully than Mr. Konrath.

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Success Stories

Self-Publishing and The Power of Creative Intention

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Orna Ross recently posted a wonderful blog entry about creative intention over at the ALLi Self Publishing Advice website.  From the article:

Planning to write 1000 words a day through 2014? Resolving to definitely get that title that’s been hanging around forever up and out there?

Oh yes, it’s that time of year when indie authors make our resolutions about the books we are going to write (and sell and publish) over the coming months.

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Writer Reference

AuthorsReading.com Will Offer Expedited Book Reviews Starting on January 1st 2014

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

AuthorReading.com will start offering expedited reviews to better serve the literary community. This year, small press and self-publishing has blossomed as never before, with self-publishing now very much a legitimate publishing option for authors. Today much of the literary community has shed its bias against those who have chosen to self-publish. Authors Reading welcomes this change and hopes it can be instrumental in helping those Indie authors in their uphill battle to promote and sell their books. As authors quickly learn, once a book is finished, tapping into a receptive audience is a formidable task. In the book publishing world, that is known as “discoverability.”

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Success Stories

Indie Success Story: Maya Cross’s Intimate Connection with Readers

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Alex Palmer has posted an article over at Publishers Weekly about the success Maya Cross is having reaching her readers.

From the article:

Among self-published authors’ major advantages over published big-names is often a more personal connection with readers. Whether exchanging comments on Twitter, posting updates to their blog, or taking other steps, these writers tend to ingratiate themselves with readers in a more direct way than a formal marketing blitz it likely to accomplish.

That has been part of the reason that Australian author Maya Cross has seen each installment of her three-part erotic romance Alpha Series become a bestseller. But while an unimpeded connection with readers has been key to Cross’s success, also important has been maintaining a certain privacy.

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