Ed’s Casual Friday: Happy B-Day, IU

In lieu of a full-on post today, I just want to say Happy First Birthday (give or take 24 hours) to the Indies Unlimited site which you find yourself looking at this very moment.

The phenomenon known as “Indie” authorship is, when you get down to it, still in its infancy. The possibilities opened up by e-books are a quantum leap from anything that has ever been available to writers before. It has never been anywhere near this easy for someone to get something they have written in front of a huge readership, in a form that is wholly equivalent to what a massive publishing house can produce. Continue reading “Ed’s Casual Friday: Happy B-Day, IU”

Indie-Only Bookstores?

What if somebody told you that in the future not only would bookstores sell indie work, but there would be entire stores devoted only to books by indie authors? Good idea? Fantasy? Unworkable? What if I told you they are already here?

I’ve been in touch with two new stores, one online and one in the proverbial “brick and mortar”, that do just that. It might be pushing it to call these stores “harbingers”, but I don’t think it’s totally wild-eyed to take them as indicators of some sort, and possibly a major future wave in bringing indie books to the public. Much will depend on how these early pioneers work out. Continue reading “Indie-Only Bookstores?”

I Have a Dream

By the time this post posts, the 2012 Olympics will be only a smattering of sweat, endorsement deals, and a few medals Michael Phelps dropped on the way home. Among the standout performances, two American gymnasts in particular caught my attention. Not for their cute outfits, toothpaste smiles, and medal counts, but for what was (and wasn’t) said about them. Gabby Douglas is African American; Aly Raisman is Jewish. These are facts. Sure, there were a few easy comparisons and benchmarks, as American media likes to put everything in tidy, “newsworthy” categories. But I considered these strong young women as Olympians and stultifyingly talented, well-trained athletes first, before even thinking about their cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

What the heck does this have to do with writing, you might ask? Continue reading “I Have a Dream”

Hop on the Video Trailer

Eddie Izzard Eating Pretend Popcorn
Eddie Izzard Eating Pretend Popcorn at a Boring Movie

Who doesn’t love to have their appetite whetted by a good movie teaser? Break out the popcorn! Well, a good book trailer video can have the same effect. So why not have your book’s video trailer featured here, at Indies Unlimited, for free?

If you’d like to have your trailer featured, please query using the contact form here. Make sure to include a link to the trailer as well as a purchase link to your book on a verified retail site.

The Video Trailer Feature requires a 100 word book description to accompany the video. Include a link to YouTube so we can obtain the necessary HTML code. You can see an example HERE. Authors submitting a Video Trailer will have that book showcased in the IU store for one year. These features require a purchase link for Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble or some other mainstream outlet. Trailers should not have a run time in excess of 1:30 (90 seconds).