Day: June 14, 2012

Video Trailer: Mini Skirts and Laughter Lines by Carol Wyer

Amanda Wilson can’t decide between murder, insanity and another glass of red wine. Facing 50 and all that it entails is problematic enough. What’s the point in minking your eyes, when your husband would rather watch ‘Russia Today’ than admire you, strutting in front of the television in only thigh boots and a thong? Her son has managed to perform yet another magical disappearing act. Could he actually be buried under the mountain of festering washing which is strewn on his bedroom floor? He’ll certainly be buried somewhere when she next gets her hands on him. At least her mother knows how to enjoy herself. She’s partying her twilight years away in Cyprus. Queen of the Twister mat, she now has a toy boy in tow. She really shouldn’t have pressed that send button. The past always catches up with you sooner or later. Still, her colourful past is a welcome relief to her monochrome present; especially when it comes in the shape of provocative Todd Bradshaw, her first true love. Soon Mandy has a difficult decision to make; one that will require more than a few glasses of Chianti.

 Mini Skirts and Laughter Lines by Carol Wyer is available from:
Amazon US and Amazon UK.

 

The indiePENdents.org Seal

Jasha Levi

A number of ideas are now floating about the obvious need for a new book-publishing business model, One of them directly addresses both the cause of and the remedy to its problems: The indiePENdents.org

The glut of self-published works on the printed and digital markets is a direct result of the changes in technology. Any computer savvy individual can now publish a manuscript — unfortunately, regardless of its worth. Often, such manuscripts have not been even touched by an editor’s hand. This makes it hard for readers to distinguish the wheat from the chaff. It also makes bookstores and libraries reluctant to carry works which have not been vetted by the traditional industry gatekeepers.

The imbalance between the number of existing mainstream “gatekeepers” and the number of authors seeking to publish their work has already resulted in a flood of titles not vetted by any standard. This harms the reputation of all indie-published books. Continue reading “The indiePENdents.org Seal”

Slow and steady?

For the last four or five days, I have been sick. Really sick. Barely able to breathe sick. The kind of sick where coughing can result in vomiting, passing out, or a mental state very, very close to doing a whippet. I’m quite sure I killed a few brain cells. No matter. They weren’t doing me much good anyway. What I want to share with you is an ongoing epiphany I had last night when I was awake and spinning off too much ephedrine. It is this: ‘don’t quit while you’re ahead’. Not very profound. Bear with me.

Continue reading “Slow and steady?”

Ten Reasons Why I am Self-Publishing (Part 2) by Jordan Dane

Author Jordan Dane

I hope you saved room for a nice juicy steak. Part two of my post will cover the meaty reasons why I am self-publishing and building my virtual shelf. Point #6 deals with publishing industry contractual terms—something I didn’t know before I sold, but am dealing with now years later. Don’t get me started on Rights Reversion language. Oh, wait. That’s exactly where we’ll start. (If you missed Part One, you can read it here.)

6.) Control of Your Book Rights –Subsidiary Rights, Foreign Rights, and Reversion Rights. Retaining control of your digital rights (for e-books) and not have them tied up for years after your book is released is a HUGE benefit. The current contract language for e-books is lumped in with print book definitions. Makes no sense that digital books would have ANYTHING to do with print books, but most publishing contracts have these definitions lumped together in one clause or another (ie. “out of print” definitions and rights reversion language). Some of you may not know this or realize the impact until you try and get your backlist rights back, only to realize your house can keep rolling their rights to your work for years. This can be a nightmare. This is a HUGE reason for an author to self-publish, or at the very least, push to define e-books separately and not link the contractual terms to that of print book definitions. Why can’t e-book rights be limited to 2-3 years and stop? Why must an author ask for permission for rights that should automatically revert back to them and undergo a lengthy process over another 12-18 months where their digital rights are tied to royalty statements and definitions of books in print? Foreign rights can be lucrative too if your agent works this angle and shops them aggressively. Who knows? Maybe you both can shop those foreign rights on your next trip to France. Road trip! Continue reading “Ten Reasons Why I am Self-Publishing (Part 2) by Jordan Dane”