Celebrating Independent Authors
A while back, Indies Unlimited ran a post asking readers if there were topics they would like to see discussed here. The one I chose to address comes from Melody Stiles, who asks:
“Why is there still such a stigma, even among writers, about self-publishing?”
I’d figured I would take a stab at this one, as I can admit “self-publishing” does carry a bit of a stigma for me, or at least it does under that name. Continue reading “You Asked for It: Melody Stiles”
I’m sure you have one of those relatives who forwards scary emails to you. Sometimes it’s about how you should always check the back seat of your car when you get in, in case a rapist or murderer is hiding there. Sometimes it’s about how some Internet virus is going to wipe your hard drive and steal your identity and all your hubcaps. It’s frustrating because the warnings are nearly always bogus, and the person who sent the email would have known that if he or she had just bothered to go to Snopes.com before hitting “send.” Which you know because you checked it out at Snopes.com yourself, didn’t you? Continue reading “Do Your Due Diligence”
[John’s on hiatus, so let’s revisit his post which started it all. Enjoy. – The Editors.]
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 – Encore”
On July 26 the Globe and Mail, Canada’s most respected newspaper, devoted two-thirds of the front page and half of the second page of their Globe Arts section to the article. ‘There will be no more professional writers in the future’ (their punctuation) Naturally, I was most interested. It came on the heels of a similar article in the Guardian. Other rags posted on the same topic. I got the impression they all timed their diatribes together for greatest impact. The purpose, as I see it – war on self-publishing and a (futile) reactionary attempt to save the old guard. Continue reading “No More Professional Writers?”