It is time, the walrus said, to speak of Pros and amateurs…

I had the unlovely experience last week of being contacted by another author via Facebook chat. Mind you, I didn’t initiate this conversation, and I truly, truly hate being contacted via Chat by someone I don’t know in order to berate me. It seems I had committed the unpardonable crime of deleting the ‘gentleman’s’ – and I use the term loosely – post for a violation of the rules of the Facebook page I administer.  It seems that he has the best book since the invention of the printing press and I was damaging his career by not allowing him to promote on my page in clear violation of the no-promotion rule. Oh dear. He also said unflattering things about my personality and character, but that’s neither here nor there.

There seems to be an odd rash of authors doing that sort of thing lately. Another self-published/Indie author – although apparently he’s FAR too good to be lumped in with the rest of us – went off on a rant in a forum, protesting the fact that his posts kept getting moved to the self-published thread. His books are published by himself under his own imprint. That would seem to make him self-published I would think, but apparently he disagreed. Vehemently. His book, too, was supposed to be the best thing since Gutenberg.  What an amateur.

So, how do you tell a professional Indie writer from an amateur? Continue reading “It is time, the walrus said, to speak of Pros and amateurs…”

All About Indies Unlimited

We are at the beginning of a technological revolution in how books are written, published, marketed, purchased, and read. This site is dedicated to the independent authors, publishers, reviewers and readers who are on the cutting edge of that technological revolution.

A major challenge for any indie author is the lack of established infrastructure in place to market indie books. It can be challenging and time-consuming to get the word out about your book, to find reviewers, and to drive traffic to your website or Facebook page. As a new author, I was delighted to discover a very high level of mutual support and camaraderie in the indie author community. This platform is born from that spirit of mutual aid and support.

Please make Indies Unlimited your home for engagement with others who are interested in the Indie Author Movement. Be sure to “play nice” with others. Write informative, educational, or opinion minded comments, guest posts and other contributions. You can promote your books or yourself by participating in discussions and providing valuable content. Please do not spam us or use this system to send unrequested self-promotion, marketing, or sales materials. Instead, please use this platform to engage, inform, discuss, and build quality relationships.

I hope you will find this site both entertaining and informative and you will make a visit to Indies Unlimited part of your daily routine. You can also find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Be sure to check out our YouTube channel and scope us out on Pinterest.

Sincerely,

 

Stephen Hise
Evil Mastermind
Indies Unlimited

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Writing – The Final Frontier

Please bear with me. I’m in a weird mood this week. Last week I wrote about a long-term outlook on this writing gig. You guys had some great comments on that post. The gist of what you were saying was 1) If I spend so much time getting other to notice me, I won’t have time to write, and 2) Duh, thanks for reminding me, I can’t get rich quick with this thing.

Our Message to Other Worlds

If you’re like me, writing is really important. I want to make a career of writing. I want to leave an imprint with my writing. I want to make people laugh, cry, think and dream. I’m not saying that I do, it’s what I strive to do. This past week I started to think about writing in the grand scheme of things. Get a load of this for a sec:

Continue reading “Writing – The Final Frontier”

Ed’s Casual Friday: After a colon…a hot mess.

And now for something completely different… I’m going to say a few words about grammar, and editors. And colons.

First-things-first for all you authors out there: You need an editor. I don’t even mean at the story/plot/character level, though a good editor is invaluable there, too. For my purposes here I just mean strictly as a proofreader. You may not think you do, but you do, and not because you can-t rite gud English. Continue reading “Ed’s Casual Friday: After a colon…a hot mess.”