The Big Picture is Worth a Thousand Blogs – Darwin and the Evolution of Publishing

January is a great time to read the blogs. All the Chicken Littles scampering around telling us which part of the sky will be falling on our heads this year. The laws of natural selection being what they are, most of these disasters will turn out to be minor, something unheralded will throw it all off kilter, and we will all go on existing as we have for the last several millennia. Which is not to say that we shouldn’t take an interest in evolution.

The publishing business at the moment is in a state that Charles Darwin would have found interesting, and his principles are going to dictate what happens next. It might be a good idea to settle down, take a sip of relaxing herbal tea (or something stronger if it suits) and look at this year’s Big Three predictions in the broader perspective: Continue reading “The Big Picture is Worth a Thousand Blogs – Darwin and the Evolution of Publishing”

What’s the Big Deal About a Writer’s Convention?

Guest post
by Gordon A. Long

I’ve been in this self-publishing game for a couple of very informative years now, and tried out a lot of the stuff the marketing gurus suggest: Twitter, Facebook, webpage, blog. I’ve had varying degrees of success so far, and it’s been a steep learning curve. With “Why Are People So Stupid?” coming out before Christmas, I’m on a big push, so I thought I’d make a new attempt at slalom. I decided to attend a writer’s convention.

Was it useful? Well, like everything else, the answer is Yes and No. Continue reading “What’s the Big Deal About a Writer’s Convention?”