Category: Staff Articles

Writing advice and insights from the staff of Indies Unlimited.

Trad. vs Indie, a Personal View by John Barlow

Author John Barlow
Author John Barlow

I’ve been lucky as an author. Without ever making it onto the bestseller lists, I’ve managed to keep going as a free-lance writer since I quit my day job in 2004. Work as a journalist and ghost-writer has helped to make ends meet, but writing books for traditional publishers has been the main focus of my energy.

However, I recently began to ask myself whether it still made sense for a mid-lister like me to keep chasing traditional book deals as part of the professional mix of a free-lancer? As the indie revolution gains momentum, more and more writers are thinking of jumping ship. Last year I indie-published a humorous novel to test the water, using a pseudonym. The experience was strangely enjoyable, so with my latest serious work of fiction, a crime mystery, I’ve gone totally Kindle (and Kobo etc.). Here are a few thoughts on my experiences on my trad-to-indie switch. Continue reading “Trad. vs Indie, a Personal View by John Barlow”

A Reader’s POV – It’s All In The Name

Reviewer Cathy Speight

I often wonder when I am reading a book what you, the authors, consider might be going through my mind as I am reading your masterpieces. I’m guessing that it’s – I hope the reader is captivated, enthralled, riveted, will review my work and give it 5 stars and help me on the way to Rowling success and wealth. Most of the time I am and I do. However, I’m also one of those people who doesn’t always keep her eyes on the road ahead, and I often find myself equally interested in the side roads off the main highway. I’m the type of person who catches the continuity girl out on TV shows – I’ll spot that the microwave’s moved, that the window was shut when it was open in the scene just before, or that a mirror has changed to a painting. I would have made a good continuity girl.  It’s detail, I like detail. Continue reading “A Reader’s POV – It’s All In The Name”

Ed’s Casual Friday: Everyone is a (one) Star.

Bad ReviewAs I’m sure many of my fellow writers have noticed at the various and sundry virtual watering holes around which we are wont to gather, one of the more common posts (right after “Buy my book!”) goes something like “I just got an awful review!” usually expressed with varying degrees of “How could this have possibly happened?”

How could it not have happened? My advice on such occasions is always to pick one of your favorite books of all time, something you think of as an absolute, perfect gem. Then go to any review site and page through the one-star reviews, of which there will likely be hundreds. Continue reading “Ed’s Casual Friday: Everyone is a (one) Star.”

Rejection is Your Friend!

Rejection is a bitch, and it can come in many forms. Most writers probably feel the bitter sting of rejection for the first time when they decide to share something they wrote and get a lukewarm reaction. What? Your genius is not appreciated? Mom didn’t immediately call the local paper?

Then there is a new level of rejection once you start submitting work. When you start getting those tiny slips of paper in the mail and you think, “they couldn’t even use a whole sheet of paper? They rejected eight writers with one piece!” The self addressed stamped envelope (SASE) is a tough one, too. You get the letter. It weighs nothing so you know it’s a rejection and, to add insult to injury, the letter was addressed by your own hand. Continue reading “Rejection is Your Friend!”