Tag: publishing

Indie News Beat with Chris James

IU Ace Reporter Chris James

The big publishing story over the last few weeks has undoubtedly been the sock-puppet scandal. First broken by the New York Times, suddenly we were drowning in stories, articles and opinions from it seemed everyone in publishing. But just as suddenly as the elephant in the room was acknowledged, so it disappeared.

The general outrage that a few bad apples in the Indie movement would actually pay for multiple, glowing reviews on Amazon, soon diffused when stories appeared reporting that some mainstream authors were also not averse to puffing their own work, while sticking the knife into their competitors. Likely the mainstream authors will suffer more in the short term, given their higher profile, but all this summer flurry really did was draw more attention to the intense competition on Amazon, and the shortfalls of its rating and review system. Continue reading “Indie News Beat with Chris James”

Gilligan’s Island -the Missing Episodes

In 1965, halfway through the second season of prime time television favourite, Gilligan’s Island, there was a two week break. Do you remember that happening? I was two, so I’ve only seen the show in reruns, but I’ve heard about the famous gap.

This is how it played out. In between the first and second part of season two, something happened. When the stranded islanders came back there was a difference. The captain and Mr Howell weren’t getting along, and Mrs Howell kept sending sideways glances at the captain while waving her little white-gloved hand at him. The professor seemed like he was hammered all the time and Gilligan had become sullen, and was always off by himself. Something happened in those two missing weeks. There were episodes; real things that happened that were never explained to us. Continue reading “Gilligan’s Island -the Missing Episodes”

Western Maryland Independent Lit Festival

The Sixth Annual Western Maryland Independent Lit Festival will be hosted at various venues around downtown Frostburg, Maryland. Editors, publishers, writers, and educators of the local literary community will be participating. Journals and presses will display books, submission guidelines, and other promotional materials inside the Lyric Theater. Panel discussions and roundtable sessions include topics on writing and getting published, teachers and students, blogging and new media publishing, using social media for promotion, and craft discussions. The Press Festival is an excellent opportunity for members of the local literary community to meet directly with editors and publishers and learn about writing and publishing.

Dates: Saturday, October 13th from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm

Entry Fee: Free Admission

For more information, please visit their website.

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Indies Unlimited is pleased to provide this conference information for the convenience of our readers. We do not, however, endorse this or any contest/competition/conference. Participants should always research a conference prior to attending.

Indie News Beat with Chris James

NEWS FLASH: Mainstream Publisher opens its doors to Independent Authors

In what is believed to be a first, on 1 October a mainstream publisher will open its doors, for a limited period of two weeks, to unsolicited submissions of full-length manuscripts, including self-published novels.

This represents remarkable admission by a mainstream publisher that Independent Authors have something to offer. Voyager, which is the Science Fiction imprint of HaperCollins, is looking for “10 to 12 new authors”, one of which it will publish monthly over the course of next year. Continue reading “Indie News Beat with Chris James”