Tag: indie publishing

What’s Under That Rock?

We’re not quite sure how we missed it back in March (although it might have been that one night when Rich Meyer spiked the gruel). But it came to our attention this week that Lulu, the print-on-demand company that many indies use instead of CreateSpace for their hard-copy books, began offering bundles of book publishing and marketing services a few months ago. Ranging in price from $999 to $3,199, the packages include such services as a custom cover, interior layout and design, e-book formatting, and an ISBN. At the $1,999 level, your book receives an “editorial review” and a “cover copy polish.” At the $2,999 level, you also get a website.

I bet you hadn’t noticed yet that you can get all this stuff on your own for significantly less – and in many cases, for free. So it probably won’t surprise you to learn that Lulu has contracted out these services to our old friend Author Solutions.

You remember Author Solutions, right? The vanity publisher that’s now calling itself “the world leader in indie book publishing”? The company that Random Penguin bought last year?

Why is it that every time you kick over a rock in the indie publishing world these days, Author Solutions comes crawling out from under it? Continue reading “What’s Under That Rock?”

As the Stigma Fades

Some people think indies stink. That’s a strange kind of bigotry in a culture that reveres artisan workmanship and reviles mass-produced cookie-cutter goods of every other sort.

Indies are innovative and original. We are the cutting edge. It’s the big publishing houses that produce the bland sameness: the one-size-fits-all content.

If you saw someone making jewelry that looked interesting, would you ask them if it was available at Wal-Mart then decide if it’s not good enough for Wal-Mart, it’s not good enough for you? Yet it seems to me that is just how some people regard indie books. If it’s not available on the shelves of Barnes & Noble (or whoever else is left in the brick and mortar book business) it must be because it’s no good. Continue reading “As the Stigma Fades”

We’re Here For a Reason

Shout it from the Mountaintop

This past week I attended the biggest healthcare finance management conference in the United States. Yeah, I have a real job (sort of.) I know, B-O-R-I-N-G, is what you’re saying. I’ve attended this meeting for the past four or five years. Matter of fact, I presented at this same conference last year.

Here’s where it gets interesting. You see, we (indie authors, publishers, and readers) create a lot of noise about what we do—we reach out to help each other, we post best practices, and we even buy each others books!

For as big as the Indie revolution is, we are actually a small, tight knit group. The reality is, Indies Unlimited has grown dramatically over the past year and a half, yet, how big of a group do we really touch? Continue reading “We’re Here For a Reason”

LynneQuisition: David Gaughran

My LynneQuisition victim – er, guest – this month is David Gaughran. David probably needs no introduction to this crowd. He’s the author of a couple of novels and a short story collection, as well as the bestselling Let’s Get Digital about the nuts and bolts of indie publishing (which, as it happens, is 99 cents at Amazon this weekend). His new book, Let’s Get Visible, is all about marketing, which the gods know I need help with.

Buy Let’s Get Digital from Amazon US or Amazon UK. Buy Let’s get Visible from Amazon US or Amazon UK.

So David, thanks very much for writing this. Nearly all of the “how to” books about making money at Amazon are from the P.A.C. (Pre-Algorithm Change) era. I get the sense that you still think Select is worthwhile — at least for some authors, or for authors in some genres.

Continue reading “LynneQuisition: David Gaughran”