Breaking the Rules Part One: Nothing is Beautiful From Every Point of View

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This post is the first in a series about writing rules and how authors can break them effectively

 
"Nothing is beautiful from every point of view" – Horace (translated from Latin)
 
Most authors of fiction are familiar with the term "point of view" as it relates to writing. In this post, I’ll be using the abbreviation "POV" to mean point of view. POV essentially means the point of view that a story is told from. We are told not switch POV too often, and to firmly ground each section/chapter in a POV. This is good advice, but we’ve all read great books that violated this rule. So when can we get away with violating it and how can we best do so?

Before I start, I want to give a quick link to author L.J. Sellers’ recent blog post about POV. I already had the notion to write this blog post, but reading her blog a couple days ago shook me out of my lethargy. That and the inspiration from my fellow authors over at The Creative Alliance.
 
First, let me quickly outline some of the rules you generally hear about POV. This is not a comprehensive list, nor is it universally accepted, but it will serve as a general summary:
  • Don’t use omniscient POV. Omniscient POV means that you are telling the reader things that none of the characters in the scene know. It’s also been called a "God’s-eye view". One example is spending a couple of pages describing past events that no one in the current time of the story knows about. Here’s a link to a Wikipedia Article with more details.
     
  • Don’t tell anything that the POV character doesn’t know. You can have other characters explain things of course, but if your POV character in a car chase scene doesn’t know that the bad guys he’s chasing have a rocket launcher, you can’t have him worry about it until he actually sees it or learns of its existence. A corollary of this rule is don’t kill off your POV character at the end of a scene.
     
  • Don’t switch POV in the middle of a scene. This is the biggest no-no. People also call it head-hopping. You’re going along telling the story from the POV of Jack the male nurse and suddenly you add something about how Judie the undersexed hospital administrator feels flush when Jack sits down next to her. Usually, such shifts interrupt the flow of the story and lessen the connection between the reader and the character. This obviously violates the previous rule as well.
     
  • Firmly ground each scene in a POV. You may have avoided the first three problems, but still have writing that could be made more compelling by addressing POV. It’s easy enough to write a scene that doesn’t include anything that the main character in the scene doesn’t know. But often you will want to actually show that main character’s reactions to what is going on, including inner dialogue. That is firmly grounding the POV, as the way the scene unfolds completely relies on the main character’s interpretation of it. When done well, that can really suck the reader in.
So if you follow all these rules, will you have good writing? You might, but as I mentioned, all of these rules can be broken. The first rule is the most obvious one. In certain types of writing, it is very important to tell things from character POV, but in work with a lot of action or with a sweeping or legendary story, you can break out of it pretty easily. One situation is when you are setting the scene for action, where you lay the groundwork with things the characters may not know, so the readers can more easily picture it. A purist would say that there are alternative ways to do the same thing; there may be, but often the omniscient POV is in fact the best way (IMNSHO-YMMV).
 
You can also use the omniscient POV when giving history. You have to be very careful with this, and usually it should be at the beginning of a whole section of your story so it doesn’t interrupt the flow. Frederick Forsyth does this very well in a number of his thrillers. In "The Afghan," he spends several pages on the history of Afghanistan, and it is so well-written that you can’t put it down, even though most of it doesn’t directly relate to the story.
 
Another great example of the omniscient POV is in Scott Sigler’s horror thriller "Infected." He sprinkles a page or two here and there with stuff that only the omniscient POV knows, and it blends perfectly with the story. In Chapter Three, he shows us some sort of seeds traveling through space, and it helps set the suspense for just what those seeds will do when they get to earth.
 
With switching POV and telling things the POV character doesn’t know, there is no hard-and-fast explanation of when you can violate the rules. I recently read "Shogun" by James Clavell, and sometimes he switches POV multiple times within the same page. Sometimes I think he would have been better off doing it differently, but other times it works very well. A lot of scenes contain characters from very different cultures, but it is critical that they not show their reactions to certain things. Yet it is very effective for the reader to know how those characters are feeling, right when something occurs. Clavell could have done something like show the POV character’s thoughts, knowing how the others probably were reacting. In my opinion that would have worked less well than the way he did it in most cases.
 
The key question you have to ask yourself when considering breaking this rule is how it impacts the flow and the reader’s connection to characters. You don’t want to do it in a scene that is primarily focused on one character’s reactions – switching would be too jarring. As I mentioned, there’s no easy answers, just the need to ask the hard questions about whether violating the rule really improves the story.
 
With the rule about firmly grounding the scene, you have the most flexibility. This is a rule that I have come to appreciate more over the years. Scenes are often better when the reader identifies with one character for the whole scene. The problem that I see – especially in the thriller genre that I read a lot of – is overdoing it. It’s easy for an author to spend too much time in the character’s head and not enough in the story. That’s not strictly a POV problem, but attempting to highlight a character’s POV all the time can result in it.
 
The key thing here is to ask yourself what the "story" is for any given scene. The more a scene needs to be about what happens as opposed to a character’s reactions, the less you want to anchor yourself in point of view. This is one that’s hard to give examples of, because it’s a range, not an either/or. Most writers of fiction today err on the side of too much, in my opinion. Readers obviously are buying it, so I’m not about to tell them to stop! Tom Clancy is one writer I can think of who used to do a good job balancing when to go deep into point of view and when not to. At least, in some of his books.
 
That concludes my initial thoughts on the subject. Above all, if you intend to break the rules, do it consciously. Look at the scene and the characters and decide that it works better without following them. Most of the time, you’ll find you need to follow the rules, but if you choose the right places to break them, that can sometimes be the extra spark a story needs to become really good. So let me know what you think: as a writer or a reader, how do you feel about POV?

This is a cross-posting from the Edward G. Talbot site.

Marketing to Indie Bookstores

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The following are some considerations when developing a marketing plan for independent bookstores. The primary questions are surprising: “Do you really want to?” and. “If so, how should I do it?”

Do You Really Want To?

The most important question is, “If I sell books to independent bookstores, will I get paid?” The answer is probably, but very slowly. Why? Indy bookstores are fighting for survival against the big box stores and the online retailers. Cashflow and dependable suppliers are very important. When it comes time to pay the bills, many stores will prioritize where their bill-paying money goes. Usually they will pay their primary suppliers first: Ingram and Baker and Taylor Distributors and perhaps a regional distributor. These book sources are their lifeblood. They must make sure they keep them happy, especially because these sources are very hard-nosed about keeping current and have the collection resources to back it up. Lower on the priority list are the major publishers and then finally small/self-publishers. 
 
Understanding this reality necessarily should drive your policies of doing business with the bookselling community. Yes, you should seek their business, but understanding the above realities will help you to develop these. 
  • First, it is imperative that you get accepted by the major distributors so Indy bookstores can easily order your books in whatever quantity they need without having to pay heavy shipping and handling charges. Ordering convenience is paramount to them. One stop shopping is also important—only one bill at the end of the month to keep track of and pay. You can expect to give these distributors a 55 to 65% discount. They, in turn, will sell your books to the bookstores at a 38 to 42% discount.
     
  • If a bookseller orders from you directly, make it easy, fair, and smart. Some small publishers have sell-defeating discount policies. They may have a structure such as this: 1 book= no discount, 2 to 9 books= 20% discount, 10 or more= 40% discount. This is absolutely insane. You may think this will urge booksellers to order more books from you. It really has the opposite effect. Bookstores must be very careful about their inventory. Their display space is limited and valuable. They would rather depend on just in time inventory replenishment than on carrying unnecessary multiple copies. Regardless of how many books an Indy orders, give it the standard 40% discount. Make the process as easy and fair as you can.
     
  • Understanding bookstores’ bill paying priorities makes it imperative that you urge on the spot credit card payments. This makes much more sense than trying to urge multiple copy buying with an unrealistic and restrictive discount schedule. If you want to extend billing privileges after they have gone through a credit application process, you can take your chances with their payment priorities. You also are going to have to establish a collection process. Will it be worth it?
     
  • Offer an additional 5% discount for non-returnable purchases. This makes far more sense than a complex copy vs. discount plateaus such as above. Again, make it easy for the bookseller while protecting your cashflow.
     
  • Match your marketing campaign to the above realities. First priority is to the distributors in terms of announcing new titles and any marketing aids that will make their job easier and more effective to their bookseller community. If you want to conduct a postcard or email campaign to booksellers, stress your books are available through the distributors.

Some effective marketing strategies you might want to consider: 

  • Direct mail to booksellers with postcards
     
  • Emails to booksellers
     
  • ABA (American Booksellers Association) white box program (monthly package sent to 1,200 Indy bookstores with sample books and marketing materials) guaranteed to get you in front of the book buyers.
     
  • Indy regional booksellers marketing email blasts. See my blog post Getting the Attention of IndieBookstores by Bob Spear 
Pot Sweeteners
 
Here are a few marketing aids you might consider using:
  • Bookmarks
     
  • Sell sheets
     
  • Some bookstores have reading groups or support local reading and education groups. Provide a downloadable reading guide or a teacher’s guide for children’s books.
     
  • Indy bookstores are always looking for excuses to have events as a way of standing out from the big box stores and making their store a destination. Provide an event kit upon request, if that is appropriate. That will be more likely for children’s books, but maybe it will work for specialty niches. If you have a touching story about a pet, for instance, maybe you can think of some fun activities that would involve customers bringing in the their pets of at least having a pet themed party about similar pets. If you have a book about dating, provide a speed dating event kit. Your imagination is your only limitation.
In summary, use your head. Make doing business with you as convenient and fair as possible. Support your channels. Provide marketing materials that make sense and set you apart as someone with marketing expertise.

This is a cross-posting from Bob Spear‘s Book Trends blog.

Lessons Learned From National Speakers Association Convention 2010

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This year, I have committed to become a Member of National Speaker’s Association, which means I have to do a certain number of paid speaking engagements and also receive a number of testimonials. I believe that being able to speak publicly is a key skill for successful authors so focusing on improving speaking skills is high on my list of goals.

Last weekend, I went to the National Speaker’s Association Australia Convention on the Gold Coast. Here are some of the highlights from the lessons I learnt and also some of the people I met along the way. National Speaker’s is packed full of amazing and inspirational people, and you can learn a hell of a lot about business and marketing, as well as speaking skills. I highly recommend the organisation which has chapters all over the world.

(<– At left: Joanna Penn with Dan Poynter, from Para Publishing, self-publishing guru)

  • From Mike Rayburn, virtuoso guitarist and humorist speaker. “Set goals that don’t exist. Don’t start with what’s possible. Start with what’s cool.” Mike played a lot of very cool guitar but also inspired with his talk about huge dreams and big goals. Ask ‘what if?’ and then give it a go and see what the Universe has in store for you. You don’t need to know the first step, or the next step – just shoot for the stars. Mike had a goal to have his own show in Vegas, which he now has. What are your big goals? I want to be the world’s #1 female thriller writer, selling more than Dan Brown in my niche. What about you? Check out videos of Mike here.

(At right: Rachael Bermingham, self-published author of over 3 million books—>)

 

Rachael Bermingham from ‘4 Ingredients’ talked about her journey from being rejected by every publishing house in Australia to selling over 3 million self-published books. Rachael’s key tip is: “80% of the business is marketing”. She basically hustled the same message through all the  Aussie media aiming at Mums who wanted to cook easy, fresh recipes for their families. She wrote the marketing plan, and stuck to it, cold calling multiple times a day to media outlets all over Australia. From this basic premise, she and co-author Kim McCosker now have 3 books (with more coming), cookware products, a TV show, an iPhone app and more. Major publishers have been chasing the pair for several years now, and they continue to self-publish in order to control the product and the income stream. You can listen to a podcast interview with Rachael here. Her message on the podcast is basically what she spoke about, even using the same words. She is a testament to the power of repeating a message to get it to a target market.

 

  • Janet Lapp, keynote on tips for public speaking. This was one of my favorite sessions because Janet came across as amazingly authentic and her message resonated with me. So often, the big speakers are larger than life, rock-star types who I could never be like (and I don’t want to be like). But Janet was not a performer so much as a confidante and friend who just had some lessons to share. I felt her style was what I would like to model. I want to speak authentically and with real heart. However, she is also a professional speaker and shared her tips. As a flight instructor she talked about “Plan the flight and fly the plan” as a rule for speaking. Know what you are doing, prepare and practice so you control the situation. Be skilled enough to manage if things go wrong, but if you are that well prepared, the plan can be executed and your talk will go swimmingly. Your talk is not about you, it’s about the audience. So forget about focussing on you or your achievements, and get your message across to help them. However, you also need to “get out and live a little, so that it shows on stage” – you still need to be an interesting person! Combine the science of speaking (technical skills, presentation, handouts, products) with the art of speaking to create a beautiful but effective message.

From Matt Church (pictured at left), I learnt about the different personas that we all need in our repertoire in order to perform in different ways. He gave examples to do with speaking, but it also rings true for authors these days. You need to be “Lonesome Writer” sitting alone at your computer, creating and writing, communing with the muse. You need to be “Author Entrepreneur” and make a business plan if you are actually to make a living as a writer. You need to be “Marketing Guru” to get the word out about your book.  You also need to be “Author Speaker” to perform at festivals, events and book groups as well as give webinars, interviews and do TV/radio, plus “Geek Author” in order to cope with the technology these days – ebooks, blogs, podcasts, youtube… and the rest! Matt also focused on authenticity, calling it “exposing your jiggly bits to the audience”. You need to be real to connect these days. These personas are all valid sides of ourselves that we can use to express facets of our personalities and also use practically to get into state quickly. Matt’s site is  ThoughtLeadersCentral.com

 

I learned so much over the 3 days of the conference and will continue to share ideas from it in coming weeks. I would encourage you to check out your local National Speaker’s Association if you are at all interested in the speaking profession. They are an inspiring bunch of people!

National Speaker’s Association USA

National Speaker’s Association Australia

 

 

This is a reprint from Joanna Penn‘s The Creative Penn.

From The Kindle Nation Daily Mailbag…

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Don’t Cry for Me, La Agencia! Making a Silk Purse Out of the Sow’s Ear Fact That You Can’t Resell eBooks After You Read Them 

Thanks to Kindle Nation Citizen Western Reader for this comment on an earlier Kindle Nation Daily post:

Item for Wishful Thinking Department: Wouldn’t it be nice if one could sell one’s "used" Kindle books? Ah, but how could one legally and/or ethically sell a book that was acquired at no cost in the first place? There are probably too many hurdles to even begin the journey. That’s why this idea is classified as wishful.

Well, @WR, you are correct that it’s unlikely you would ever be able to resell your license to your gently read Kindle books, but there’s more than one way to look at this. And, no surprise here: I prefer mine, which is based on the following notions:

Turn the concept inside out and what do we get? The fact that ebooks cannot be resold, compared with the fact that most print books will bring 30% to 50% of what you paid for them if resold in "very good" to "like new" condition through Amazon Marketplace, is a powerful value argument that aligns well with various cost arguments (most notably the lack of publisher costs for production, storage & warehousing, fulfillment, and returns) in favor of significantly lower suggested retail list prices for ebooks. It’s not how the publishing world or the executives of Steve Jobs’ collusive Agency Price-Fixing Model (SCAP-M) are seeing the world today, but the economics are straightforward and the logic is compelling, so it is just a matter of time.

This is a reprint from Stephen Windwalker’s Kindle Nation Daily blog.

The Print-On-Demand Molehill

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One of the best things about being part of a community is that the whole has the potential for being self-correcting. It’s not a sure thing, as any example of mob rule or cultural intolerance can attest, but there is at least the potential for a group to help individuals overcome blind spots or obstacles.

Individuals who do not belong to a group, or who do not have access to collective wisdom, may be doomed to reinvent the wheel or to repeatedly fail because of their own tendencies and shortcomings.

I’m not a big joiner. I just threw Facebook in the junk pile because the price of belonging to that group is self-deception, and like Sam Spade I’m not willing to be somebody’s sap.* More than wearing a team blazer or adopting a popular philosophy or expressing loyalty to a particular trendy brand, I value belonging to a community of ideas. This has always led to involvement with smaller groups of people who share my interests, but the benefit to me is that these more issue-oriented groups can both augment and check my own thoughts.

I order to derive such benefits, however, it’s not simply enough to belong to a group. Approaching someone to suggest that they may be incorrect about something is fraught with risk, and presumes that the individual is open to such communications. As we all learn at a very young age, this is usually not the case. Most people would rather feel right than be right, even at the expense of their own well being. There is also a tendency for people to be more interested in telling others how wrong than they are in hearing the same thing themselves, and this tendency is often (if not commonly) greater in people who are ignorant or uninformed than it is in people who are knowledgeable. As a result, even if we are open to hearing about our mistakes, the number of reliable advisers that anyone might hope to hear from is usually small.  

To expand on the thesis above, if the size of any group interested in ideas is generally small, the size of a group of people who are interested in ideas above ego is exponentially smaller. I tend to form and hold firm opinions. I do this not as an aspect of ego, but as an extension of the process by which I analyze issues and form conclusions. I try to be rigorous and I try to drill down to bedrock, and I’m seldom if ever interested in fleeting trends. As a result, it is particularly important that others catch me when I get something wrong because I am used to trusting my own conclusions.

I mention all this because last week I wrote a post expressing frustration about the print-on-demand (POD) options available to me for The Year of the Elm, a collection of short stories I recently published on Smashwords. My main complaint was that the cost of printing a physical copy of my book seemed prohibitive, and that the potential providers of such services seemed determined to fleece me.

In subsequent comments to that post, and in private messages on the subject, I was pointed to more information, offered assistance, and encouraged to take another look at the question. And I can’t tell you how happy I was to have that kind of response and support. In that post my conclusions were hasty and I allowed my frustrations (and general fatigue) to get the better of me. Rather than simply ignore my post, however, people took the time to help me get my bearings, and that’s exactly the kind of group to which I want (and need) to belong.

After another week of reading and studying the POD question, I think I see a way to move forward with my collection. Lulu is clearly a mess, and as far as I am concerned it’s out of the running in almost every way.

LightningSource seems to have a solid set of services and options, but it also seems to be geared to people who want to pursue the production of books on a larger scale — even if that’s only 100 books at a time. As noted previously, I’m not interested in becoming my own brick-and-mortar publisher, or in trying to move quantities of books around myself. I’m trying to find a way to give readers the option of ordering a physical copy of any content I publish, and I prefer to have as little to do with the production, shipping and handling of that copy as possible.

Taking another look at CreateSpace has provided me with the answers I’ve been looking for. The sole remaining sticking point for me is the degree to which shipping costs seem both inflated and obscured, but that kind of deception is as old as the hills. The company does have the pared-back services I’m looking for, it seems healthy and focused, and in fairly short order I was able to answer most of my questions using either the site’s own FAQ or posts from community members.

I still have a lot to learn about POD. I still need to focus my goals. I still need to talk with others who are doing the same thing. Along those lines, Catherine, Caffeinated has an excellent and current CS timeline. Joel Friedlander pointed to a great post about publishing costs for self-published writers. And for a comparison of Lulu and CreateSpace that still resonates (and has proven quite prescient), see this post by April L. Hamilton. (Also see this post by April before you decide to pull the trigger on any publishing order.)

What I’m most thankful for, however, is that people simply took the time to urge me to take another look at the issue, and in so doing offered me their support. There’s no better feeling than knowing that someone has your back, even when you’re making an idiot out of yourself. That’s what a real community is supposed to be about. There will always be large social circles in which everyone validates everyone else as a means of ensuring their own validation, but I have never had an interest in that kind of society. I’m looking for people who are interested in working through ideas even at the expense of their own ego, and in living up to that standard myself.

* There are valid reasons for remaining active on Facebook even as Facebook clearly intends to profit from disclosing and selling your content and user data. Each user will have to make a value judgment, including risk over time, in order to know if Facebook is worth using. What is not in dispute, however, is that Facebook is lying to all of its users in order to increase the likelihood that users will make such judgments in Facebook’s favor.

This is a reprint from Mark Barrett‘s Ditchwalk.

26 Ways To Win At Self-Publishing

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I visit a lot of blogs about publishing, writing and related topics. There’s a huge interest in self-publishing, and it seems that many developments in the publishing world are helping to stimulate that interest. New technologies, new devices, new formats are making it easier and easier for authors to get their work out into the world by making an end run around the gates that the gatekeepers are so fervently guarding.

Balancing the interest and opportunities is the drumbeat of warnings, prejudice and downright threats that seek to discourage people from diving into the independent publishing pool. “You’ll ruin your career.” “My friend spent $10,000 and all he has is a garage full of books.” “We’ll be buried in an avalanche of crappy books.”

It seems pointless sometimes to engage with these attitudes, since there often seems to be a fixed idea behind them: self-publishing is for losers, people who couldn’t get published any other way. And nothing you can say will change this view. It’s my opinion that this attitude arises from some need for personal validation, but hey, that’s just me.
 

This Is For The Winners

Many people “win” at self-publishing. That’s because there are lots of reasons why authors decide to publish their own books. Some self-published books aren’t even meant for sale, and will never change hands for money. Some are published for reasons that have nothing to do with monetary reward, career advancement, or ego gratification.

People are funny. Given the chance, tens of thousands of ordinary people have decided to publish their own books over the last few years, and more are certainly on the way. I applaud every one of these authors for taking their destiny into their own hands, for turning a deaf ear to the people who said “You can’t do it,” or “You’ll look a fool.” They accomplished something. They expressed themselves in the world—these are not small things.

So I’ve put together this list of ways that you can “win” at self-publishing. In this context, “winning” can be a moment of tremendous personal satisfaction. It can be accolades from your peers. It can be the joy of accomplishment. If you’re reading this, you’re probably a writer. What would “winning” be for you? Here’s my list:

26 Ways to Win at Self-Publishing

  1. You finally get the book finished, printed and in your hand: you win
     
  2. At last you have a chance to fully explain the ideas you’ve been thinking and talking about for years: you win
     
  3. You get an interview in the local paper as a “published author”: you win
     
  4. You send a copy of your book to your ex mother-in-law: you win
     
  5. You get interviewed by a local radio show and people actually call in to ask questions: you win
     
  6. You’re invited to write an article on your specialty in a trade magazine, and they actually publish it, referring to you as the author of…: you win
     
  7. You create a course based on your book and sell it to the local adult education center: you win
     
  8. You speak at the Lions or Elks or other fraternal club on the subject of your book: you win
     
  9. The local bookstore lets you have a book launch party for your book, and everyone shows up: you win
     
  10. You wander into an indie bookstore in another town, and find your book on their shelf: you win
     
  11. You gift wrap a copy and hand it to your mother, watching her unwrap it: you win
     
  12. You send an autographed copy to your 8th grade English teacher: you win
     
  13. You take a table at a street fair and sell your book, encountering people who just want to talk about your subject: you win
     
  14. You overhear coworkers talking, and one mentions that you’ve published a book: you win
     
  15. Every one of the people you care about tell you how much they love your book: you win
     
  16. You give a talk to a local writers’ group about self-publishing and find yourself answering many questions: you win
     
  17. Your dad pulls you aside at the next family gathering and tells you how proud he is that you dedicated the book to him: you win
     
  18. Your alumni news writes you up with a picture of your book cover and some nice blurbs: you win
     
  19. You send an advance copy to someone you’ve never met, but who you respect, and they send you a glowing endorsement to use: you win
     
  20. Readers keep asking you when the next book in the series will be out, and you know they mean it: you win
     
  21. You realize you’ve sold enough books to pay your printing bill, that all the rest are profit: you win
     
  22. You receive a request from someone you don’t know for permission to quote from your book: you win
     
  23. You open your mail and find a check from your distributor that you didn’t expect: you win
     
  24. A friend at a party asks if you’re still looking for an agent, and for a moment you don’t understand the question: you win
     
  25. Your local library buys two copies of your book: you win
     
  26. You start to think about other books you’ve always wanted to write and can now publish: you win

The secret is this: when you publish your own book, you get to decide what winning looks like, how success feels. You’ve taken back control of your writing destiny. You know winning comes in many ways, in many small moments, and you can finally relax and savor them.

Takeaway: When you self-publish, you get to define success, to set goals for your own publication. In a way, you’ve already won.

This is a reprint from Joel Friedlander‘s The Book Designer.

Something To Be Said…Again

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If you work at something long enough, eventually you’ll find a work around [for] what “can’t be done.” Today I challenged myself to finding a solution to the Gravatar image problem I’ve had. The problem: keep the Gravatar image of my book cover while adding a photo of me to my blog.

[Editor’s note: Gravatar is a free service that allows users to set up a single avatar, or user icon, and use that one icon on multiple sites all over the web]

Why, you may ask, would I want to bother doing that? For two simple reasons: 1) I like using the book cover as a Gravatar because it’s great marketing on Facebook when I link my blog post to my “thought”, and 2) it’s super important to put a face with a blog (and everything else) for a writer.

After a lot of hunting (and a major headache :P ) I finally had a solution. Get a Flickr account, upload my author photo to it, link it to my sidebar Flickr widget and — voila! — instant author photo for my blog. In the future I may have to rethink this approach, but by then I hope to have a better web presence.

All that work is just another way to show just how creative Independent Authors can be on The Road to Writing.

Update: You have to make sure to choose the image you want displayed before you post your “thought” on Facebook.
 

This is a reprint from Virginia Ripple‘s The Road to Writing blog.

How NOT To Win Friends On Social Networks

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Social networking is a wonderful way to meet people who share your interests, develop relationships and ultimately increase your book sales. But spamming people in your network isn’t likely to win you many friends. Here are some examples:

• On LinkedIn, someone in a group that I belong to has sent me two sales pitches for her products in the past couple of weeks, by direct message. I’ve never heard of this woman and she’s not on my list of connections.

• On Facebook, the use of direct messages to send promotional pitches has become so prevalent that many people simply tune out their messages.

• On Twitter, people I don’t know send me @reply messages asking me to buy their product.

• On Facebook, some people leave frequent promotional posts on group walls or post promotional messages on their friend’s walls.

Yes, you can promote yourself and your book on social networks, but be subtle about it. Most of your communications should be about developing relationships, getting to know people, sharing information and resources, helping others, and being a member of the community. I recommend that no more than 10% to 20% of your status updates and tweets be promotional or self-serving.

Be cautious about using direct messages for promotional purposes. For example, a direct message to announce an event (like your book launch) or a message that contains tips and resources will probably be more acceptable to people than a sales pitch. Just don’t overdo it.

Remember the golden rule of social networking: treat others as you would like to be treated. 
 

This is a reprint from Dana Lynn Smith‘s The Savvy Book Marketer.

Western Book Fan Gave Me A Story Idea – Sort Of

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I’ve noticed over the last couple of years there are several people in my acquaintance that have active imaginations when it comes to a story line for a book, but not the inclination to write the book themselves. They seek me out to tell me about their idea and suggest I should write the story for them.

That’s how my soon to be 18th book was started. This one has been three years in the writing so that’s why this book will seemed to be coming so close behind the last one I published. The genre is western. My second one. It so happens that I worked with one of the few readers of my first western. I can count on one hand the number of people I know that are as fond of reading westerns as I am. My coworker is one of them. I wrote the last western for the fun of it, because my parents loved westerns. Since that was the type of books laying around the house, that was what I read while I was growing up so I’m comfortable with old west tales from Zane Gray and Louis L’amour.

Of course, I’ve put my own spin on my character, a lackadaisical sheriff in small town Montana named Stringbean Hooper. This man is not at all like one of Louis L’amour’s tough, fearless Sackett brothers but more like Bret Maverick from the television series. However, when the man is forced to show what he’s made of while he’s trying to solve the town doctor’s wife’s disappearance he turns out to be more trust worthy than first thought.

A Stringbean Hooper book – The Dark Wind Howls Over Mary – (ISBN 1438221576) became such a favorite with my coworker, she asked me to write another western about him. I said I didn’t have any ideas what he should do next. The woman said she had it all thought out. She wanted him and his new wife to take a trip to California, camping out in the rugged elements. This woman is a fan of Lonesome Dove. I’m sure she was thinking of that book and movie. No way was I going to come up with a story written as well and with so much rugged authenticity as Larry McMurtry puts into his great stories.

However, I began to think I should give the story a try as a challenge for myself. I set to work researching to figure out what each state was like in the late 1800’s. I read about what was happening in history at that time in the west. With all my facts at hand, I wrote most of the first draft. Then came my retirement. Just before I stopped working, I told my western fan coworker that I wouldn’t forget her when the book was done. One day, she would find a package in her mailbox from me. Outside of her, one uncle and my older brother, no one else will want to read this western book. Those three will receive a complementary copy, and I’ll move on to the next Amish story.

A year ago during a snowstorm, I brought the manuscript up on my computer. Over the years, I’d gotten Stringbean and his bride through the pass into California, but I didn’t have a clue why they wanted to make such an arduous trip when they had a prosperous cattle ranch to work in Montana. The last time I talked to my western fan, I reminded her this story line was her idea. I asked her how I was suppose to end the story. She didn’t have a clue. I said I didn’t either. She told me coming up with an ending was my job. I’m the writer. Besides if she knew what was going to happen at the end, it would take all the fun out of reading the book. It would appear her imagination isn’t fool proof when it comes to book beginnings, middles and endings. She left me hanging high and dry so to speak.

Finally, while I was working on what I did have I was struck with the idea for the ending like a bolt of lightning had hit me (funny how that happens to me). I knew why the couple had to get to California, and I’ve ended the story in Stringbean Hooper style. Now I’m working on my last draft so I can send it to my editor. Some time in June when the book is published I’ll see if I can get my three readers to give me their reviews to use on a blog post.

Get a Free Book!

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During the months of May and June 2010, buy a copy of my story collection, The Principle of Ultimate Indivisibility (print version only: $14.95) from Lulu.com and Bliss Plot Press will send you a free copy of The Other Face: Experiencing the Mask, a fascinating anthology of writings about the mystery of masks (an $8.00 value).

Get more information about both books at BlissPlotPress.com.

When your purchase at Lulu is complete, you’ll get an e-mail receipt. Just forward that receipt to Bliss Plot Press, along with your shipping address, and they’ll put The Other Face in media mail at no cost to you. Send the receipt to: order [at] blissplotpress [dot] com .

Two good books for the price of one!

Podcast: Crime Writer Seth Harwood On New Publishing Paradigms And Author Marketing

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It’s great to have crime novelist Seth Harwood on the show talking about the new publishing paradigm for his latest novel, Young Junius available for special edition pre-order on May 5th.

Seth Harwood is the author of several crime novels including ‘Jake Wakes Up‘ published last year and his latest book, ‘Young Junius‘ . Seth is also a podcaster, writing teach and co-creator of the Author Bootcamp program.

In this podcast you will learn:

  • The publishing world does not quickly recognise new novelists, so Seth used podcasting to build an audience for his crime novels.
     
  • Pre-release of ‘Young Junius’ is inspired by Scott Sigler’s self-publishing run of ‘The Rookie’ and now ‘The Starter‘ which his publisher didn’t want to publish as it didn’t fit the genre. Seth has partnered with a small press, Tyrus Books to organise a special edition that is only pre-sold on the internet with tons of special extras, photos, cover art, embossed and more. People pre-order on Amazon so why not skip them as the middleman and do this directly.
     
  • The possibility of mainstream authors doing this is out there i.e. avoid the middleman and publish straight to the market. We will likely see more authors using this model for publishing.
  • ‘Young Junius’ is a crime novel, fans of ‘The Wire’, ‘Dexter’, ‘Law & Order’ and authors Richard Price, David Simon, Michael Connelly will enjoy it. It’s available for pre-order on May5th – Cinco de Junius! If you use promo code ‘PENN’, you’ll get $3 off. Go to SethHarwood.com on May 5th.
  • How podcasting can still benefit new authors by getting your work out there to new fans. You need to have a presence where people can find out about you, and podcasting is ideal as you can podcast your actual work and people can listen when they are doing other things. [Seth has an online workshop with Writer’s Digest, a webinar on podcasting, coming up if you want to know more]. The podcast version of ‘Young Junius’ is here.
     
  • Don’t worry about your voice! Fans like to hear the author’s voice reading the book.
  • How to balance your time between writing, marketing, revisions, online promotion. It varies depending on the phase you are in for your book. But it is definitely tricky!
     
  • It’s important to write well but also sell a lot of books. Write what you love to read and create, not something that is ‘literary’ if that is not the genre you love.

You can order ‘Young Junius’ special edition at SethHarwood.com on May 5th. You can connect with Seth on twitter @sethharwood

 

 

Click here to download, or listen to, the podcast on Joanna Penn’s site.

 

 

This is a cross-posting from Joanna Penn‘s The Creative Penn site.

When Editing & Critiquing, Check Your Personal Opinions At The Door

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I’ve been editing a provocative nonfiction manuscript that contains some ideas with which I agree, some with which I disagree, and some with which I disagree strongly. The author has expressed concern that in the process of editing his work, I may inadvertently or purposely alter his meaning due to its controversial content. This is a reasonable worry for any author to have when handing his manuscript over for edit or critique.

I’ve been on the receiving end of revisionist edits and notes which were based entirely in matters of the reader’s personal sensibilities, and it’s an experience that’s annoying at best, downright offensive at worst. Imagine having your independent, feminist protagonist watered down by a reader who feels such traits are unattractive in a woman. Or getting the note that there are too many references to liquor and bars from a reader who happens to be a recovering alcoholic. Such notes aren’t helpful, because while they demonstrate very clearly how to alter the manuscript to better suit one specific reader’s tastes, they don’t offer any guidance on how to improve the manuscript in a way that will make it more appealing to the general public.

Editing and critiquing demand judgment calls from the reader, but it’s a very narrow kind of judgment which should be based only in matters of linguistics and literary form. For example, it’s fine to suggest the author eliminate a lengthy passage of navel-gazing on the part of the indecisive protagonist because it brings the story’s pace to a crawl, but it’s not okay for the editor to make the same suggestion merely because she has no tolerance for indecisive people in real life.

It can be a very fine line to walk, because the nattering observations of an indecisive person truly will seem to bring the story to a crawl for a reader with no patience for such people. But it doesn’t mean a reader who doesn’t share that particular pet peeve would suggest the same change. This is one of the many reasons why authors should seek out multiple reads from different people, and one of the many reasons why those readers should approach their task with self-awareness and humility.

In the end, matters not specifically pertaining to rules of grammar, spelling and proper usage are all matters of opinion, and this is something authors, editors and critiquers alike should never forget. What one reader finds distasteful, another will find fascinating. What one finds boring, another will find lyrical.

For authors, the trick is to work toward some kind of majority consensus. For editors and critiquers, the trick is to remember that their proper role is merely to bring the author’s vision of his ideal manuscript into sharper focus, not to alter it, editorialize on it, or make it more closely resemble whatever vision the editor or critiquer may have in his own life or philosophy.

So, while I may not agree with an author who says [insert viewpoint to which you are strongly opposed here], it’s still my job as editor to ensure his message is communicated as clearly and forcefully as possible. If I’ve done my job well, by the time I’m finished I will have helped the author win some converts to his cause—just as I’ve been won over to various causes by well-written treatises. And if I have a problem with that, I shouldn’t be editing his manuscript in the first place.
 

This is a cross-posting from April L. Hamilton‘s Indie Author blog.

iPad's epub: the "Book" of the Future?

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A few weeks ago Smashwords made it possible to get self-published books into Apple’s iBookstore for sale on the iPad, and from what I read there are already several thousand Smashwords titles in the iBookstore.

Some of Apple’s approved content aggregators have also put out mechanisms for making contact with content creators and rights holders. Both Libre Digital and Bibliocore will take your information and have someone get in touch with you if you want to talk

Bibliocore, “… was launched by the same team that created TuneCore, the largest distributor of music, artists and labels in the world. We believe that all writers, artists and musicians should have equal access to the channels of distribution without having to give up rights or revenue.”

LibreDigital ” … has already delivered thousands of e-books to the iBookstore on behalf of some of the largest book publishers in the world.”

Bibliocore also states they take no commission on sales, that you will receive 100% of payments from Apple. They do this by charging fees upfront. LibreDigital, on the other hand, seems to have the opposite model. They announce no fees up front, and a “transparent” pricing model.

Constellation, from Perseus Books, is another Apple Approved EBook Aggregator. Perseus is ” … the largest distributor of independent publishers in North America, with more than 300 publisher clients.” Their focus is on independent publishers, and providing complete, end-to-end services not just for iPad but—ambitiously—for all types of digital distribution.

I haven’t explored these companies in detail, but I think it’s fascinating how many options are starting to open up with the rapid sales of the iPad. Many of the ads for content creators mention “over 300,000 iPads sold” and the expectation that Apple may sell as many as 3-5 million iPads this year alone.

Here Comes the DIY Option

According to an article by Dan Moren in Macworld the Storyist software—an intriguing hybrid word processor specifically designed to format and organize writing projects of all kinds—will now come with a direct to ePub export feature. You can create a book, add a cover, and upload it to your own iPad to sit on the iBook shelf alongside all your favorite authors.

Increased support for ePub conversion is also built into the new Adobe InDesign CS5, and you can see why. The demand from publishers of all sizes has increased exponentially over just the last four months. Even in my own design practice, every author now wants to include ebook conversions in their project right from the start. This week I received the first inquiry from a prospective self-publisher about whether it was still necessary to get the print book ready at all.

Over at Foodsville, Hewlett-Packard is showing one example of their new BookPrep system, which pretty much allows you to scan old books directly to ePub files, suitable for … well, you know.

More and more programs will likely come with the epub export option, and why not? It is the typesetting of the future.

Mixed Feelings

I assured the author I was talking to that it would be best to do the print book first if he had any plans to publish at all. Although a lot of the formatting will be lost in the conversion to epub, it will be maintained in the “original” book.

But I really started to wonder how long we’ll be referring to the print books as the “originals” or the “best edition” in the language of the Copyright Office. More and more it feels like the pace of the transition to digital books has picked up. Things are moving faster. As the beautiful full-page iPad ads continue to spread over the countryside, more and more people get accustomed to the idea of reading on tablets, phones, screens of all kinds.

Soon the word “book” will be like the word “leading” is now; a convenient descriptor that some people will remember actually existed in the real world at one time, but is only remembered now because of its name. Digital “books” are unlikely to resemble printed books for very long, and that is as it should be. Digital works—text and a host of other media and capabilities—are entirely different from printed books. Why should they continue to slavishly imitate a 500-year old form?

Typography will retreat, maybe completely out of the mass-reading space. Watching text reflow in your choice of fonts and sizes is pretty much the death of typography until someone comes up with a format that can be both designed and extensible. The implied elasticity of that future typography is dizzying to someone who is used to fixed forms on paper. How will they do that?

It’s questions like that that keep this revolution interesting. And this: What will happen next? Stay tuned.

Takeaway: We can watch as the epub format for ebooks and iBooks begins to assert itself as the foundation for the “book of the future.”

This is a cross-posting from Joel Friedlander‘s The Book Designer site.

Getting The Attention of Indie Bookstores

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Small presses and self publishers usually have a difficult time getting positive attention from Independent (Indie) bookstores. I’m going to let you in on a dirty little secret today that will help immensely.

You may know that the American Booksellers Association looks out for the interests of Indie bookstores; however, were you aware there are nine regional bookseller associations that do even more for them? For instance, my bookstore is served by the Midwest Booksellers Association (MBA). I know you’re probably wondering why I mention these. It’s because they have a marketing opportunity program that reaches all the Indie stores that are members of their respective regional organizations and get emails.

The following is a quote from an email I received from the MBA yesterday: 

Reach thousands of booksellers. The Regional Bookseller Trade Associations are combining efforts to get your promotional materials, ideas, and gift items into the hands of our nearly 3,000 independent bookstore members. Entries cost $100. Each participating regional will send an email alert to our members.  Payment must be made before the alert is sent.  You can pay with a credit card or a check.  For credit card payments call 800.331.9617, or mail your check to SIBA, 3806 Yale Ave., Columbia, SC 29205

New! Reserve your listing online: Click Here!

Email your entry to: alert@sibaweb.com exactly as you’d like it described in the alert.

Along with bookmarks & posters, there are other materials that our booksellers would like to know about, such as contests, event kits, authorless events, and other creative materials that you spend dollars on developing and shipping.  This would be a Call to Action to Booksellers to request the materials that they believe will be most valuable to them.  Booksellers will email you directly to request the items allowing you to capture the emails of the stores that are most interested in the materials.  All requests should include any parameters you choose.

Submission guidelines are below.

See a sample Creative Advertising & Promo Alert here!

This is a great opportunity for greeting card companies and other sidelines vendors to connect with independents and to get a sample of your wares into their hands.


Here is a quote from an email to member bookstores so you can see how they are contacted:


 

Dear Booksellers,

Here is the latest installment of the Creative Advertising and Promo Alert, sponsored by your regional trade associations. In this email you will find a list of promotional offers from publishers, wholesalers, sideline companies and other vendors who have developed a variety of marketing tools and pieces designed to help you sell more stuff; specifically, more of their stuff!

Offers are arranged alphabetically by vendor name, but we have included a summary at the top of each listing to show the company name, the category their products fall under, and a list of the items/promotional pieces that are being offered. These are great items, not just for your own in store use, but also to give to teachers, educators and librarians.

PLEASE READ EACH LISTING CAREFULLY. They each contain specific instructions. If you are interested in a particular item, please follow the directions in the listing to request an item. DO NOT simply reply to this email, as we can not guarantee that your request will get forwarded to the proper person in time.

We hope this Creative Advertising & Promotional Alert will be useful to you, by bringing together into one place many of the resources publishers and vendors create to help encourage sales.

Yours truly,

Your Regional Booksellers Trade Association

Here is contact information for all the regionals:

Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association

Jim Dana (Executive Director)
208 Franklin St.
P.O. Box 901
Grand Haven, MI 49417
(800) 745-2460, (616) 847-2460
Fax: (616) 842-0051
E-Mail: glba@books-glba.org

 

Midwest Booksellers Association

Susan Walker (Executive Director)
Kati Gallagher (Assistant Director)
3407 W. 44th St.
Minneapolis, MN 55410
(800) 784-7522, (612) 926-5868
Fax: (612) 926-6657
E-Mail:  susan@midwestbooksellers.org
kati@midwestbooksellers.org

 

Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association

Lisa Knudsen (Executive Director)
19 Old Town Square, Suite 238
Fort Collins, CO 80524
(970) 484-5856
Fax: (970) 407-1479
E-Mail: lisa@mountainsplains.org

 

New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association

Eileen Dengler (Executive Director)
2667 Hyacinth St.
Westbury, NY 11590
(516) 333-0681
Fax: (516) 333-0689
E-Mail: info@naiba.com

 

New England Independent Booksellers Association

 

Steve Fischer (Executive Director)
297 Broadway, #212
Arlington, MA 02474
(781) 316-8894
Fax: (781) 316-2605
E-Mail: steve@neba.org

 

New Orleans-Gulf South Booksellers Association

Britton Trice (Chair)
Garden District Bookshop
2727 Prytania St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 895-2266
Fax: (504) 895-0111
E-Mail: betbooks@aol.com

 

Northern California Independent Booksellers Association

Hut Landon (Executive Director)
The Presidio
P.O. Box 29169 (mail)
37 Graham St. (delivery)
San Francisco, CA 94129
(415) 561-7686
Fax: (415) 561-7685
E-Mail: office@nciba.com

 

Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association

 

Thom Chambliss (Executive Director)
214 East 12th Ave.
Eugene, OR 97401-3245
(541) 683-4363
Fax: (541) 683-3910
E-Mail: info@pnba.org

 

Southern California Independent Booksellers Association

Jennifer Bigelow (Executive Director)
959 E. Walnut St., Suite 220
Pasadena, CA 91106
(626) 793-7403
Fax: (626) 792-1402
E-Mail: office@scibabooks.org

 

Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance

 

Wanda Jewell (Executive Director)
Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance
3806 Yale Ave.
Columbia, SC 29205
(803) 994-9530
Fax: (803) 779-0113
E-Mail: info@sibaweb.com


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This is a reprint from Bob Spear‘s Book Trends blog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time We All Took The Self From Self-Publishing

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Last year I wrote an article about Lulu and in the title for that article I suggested; 2010 May Be The Time For Lulu To Drop The Self From Self-Publishing. At the end of that article I wrote the following as an explanation as to what I meant. On reflection, and in light of the following Lulu Forum posting by author Julie Ann Dawson, which today was cross-posted by Emily Veinglory on POD People, I would like to expand on that original article I posted here in January.

Having re-read the post again today, I think there is a danger in believing I was being somehow entirely supportive of the direction Lulu where taking their marketplace and business as a whole. If anything, I have subsequently being calling for Lulu to get back to the core values of what they are; a DIY self-publishing services company – at least that is how I still see them – but their recent attempt at diving into the Canadian stock market in an effort to raise investment finance may suggest something quite different.

Here is what I wrote at the end of my article in January:

Indeed, and that movement and protection under the umbrella of publishing is what Lulu is quickly trying to embrace by expanding their marketplace to include mainstream books for purchase, as well as recently trumpeting the arrival of John Edgar Wideman, presented as the exasperated renegade from the traditional world of publishing. It is this fairytale renegade story of disillusioned author that Lulu wants to sell us. Wideman is among the self-publishing masses – equal in our kindship of self-publishing and its empowerment. For the most part, Lulu still remain in the business of selling self-publishing services, but authors crossing over the self-publishing/publishing divide are what helps Lulu sell their services to the ordinary masses.

Let us pause for a moment and consider what Julie Ann Dawson has cited for her decision to remove her books from Lulu. Incidentally, there is not one thing which follows I do not disagree with…
 
Julie Ann Dawson on the Lulu Forum:

Referencing The Last Song for points:

Preferential pricing: This is a 413 page book, selling for $10.94. Do you know what my cost to print a 413 page book is? $12.76! It costs me almost $2 more to print than this book sells for! And if I went through retail with the book, with NO ROYALTY the book would sell for $19.52. WTF!!!???

Preferential tools: Notice that this book has a “retail” price and a sale price? Well, I have been asking for this FOR YEARS for US, and Lulu has systematically refused, claiming that they couldn’t let us sell the books on Lulu for less than what the book retails for due to contractual agreements with Amazon and other vendors. I think this proves beyond a shadow of a doubt Lulu was LYING."

Dawson refers to traditionally published authors getting preferential treatment from Lulu, and that rules and limitations imposed on self-published authors, which Lulu previously advised could not be broken, are now being freely broken to woo (my hypothesis) authors with books printed and published by mainstream publishers over to Lulu’s marketplace. This flirtation also extends to wooing experienced authors with a mainstream publishing background to move their latest books to Lulu’s new VIP publishing service.

The example Dawson gives in her forum posting on Lulu is Nicholas Sparks’ The Last Song. Dawson comments; ‘How the books get printed is of no concern to me.’ Well, actually, it should, because it would explain why your 413 page book retails at $19.52 and Sparks’ book retails at $10.94. Lulu have a deal with Ingram as their ‘available’ distributor for POD books, but The Last Song is published by mainstream publisher Grand Central Publishing, and you can bet your bottom dollar it ain’t being printed POD, but rather sourced from printed stock Ingram hold in a warehouse for Grand Central. And that will be likewise for all books from mainstream publishers Lulu has in its marketplace. So, yes,  we can go on comparing apples with oranges, but they will always be uniquely apples and oranges.

Looking at the deal John Edgar Wideman did with Lulu; if any author believes, like the multitude of authors who sign up with Lulu each day, that Wideman somehow decided one evening over a coffee, ‘ah fuck it, I’ll sign up with Lulu and self-publish my next book’, they are being naive, deeply naive. Wideman was negotiating with Lulu and using their VIP services. From an article I wrote on Wideman’s publication with Lulu:

All authors are equal, just some are more equal than others!
 

If you think Lulu see all their authors in the same light; think again. This is akin to DellArte Press authors (Harlequin’s self-publishing service) thinking they are operating in the same field of publishing dreams as all of Harlequin’s traditionally contracted authors. The Lulu VIP program offers everything to try and lure an established author to the lulu brand, every turn of the drive shaft and spark from the Lulu engine—pre-production and post-publication—is being directed towards the sale of the author’s book. It is notable that the press release to go with the book was not released by Wideman, but Lulu themselves. While Lulu right now needs Wideman more than he needs them, there is no doubt in my mind; the experimental nature of Wideman’s Briefs made it a difficult sell to Houghton Mifflin, and as the author freely points out, he is no writer of literary blockbusters."

There is a dichotomy at the heart of this discussion, and it can lead us to make an inaccurate assumption about self-publishing and mainstream publishing. Lulu has taken a step closer to the traditional world of publishing by taking on the wider marketplace, and the traditional world of publishing has begun to re-evaluate its own publishing models and taken a step closer to embracing some of the components of the self-publishing fraternity. Some might say never the twain shall meet, but it is discussions like this which come from the inevitable collision and consummation of all publishing into one entity. We are seeing the Lulu marketplace as a platform where self-published author collides with traditional author. The glare of the headlights shows us that an author is an author and a published book is a published book. It is just that some authors and their books are more equal than others. There is nothing new in this – it has being going on in the traditional world of publishing for decades.  

This is also one of the reasons why I believe self-published authors should be careful not to be so quick to adopt labels like ‘indie author’ or ‘indie publishing’ when so many authors happily label themselves with these convenient monikers as badges of honor when actually they have little experience or knowledge of what it is they perceive themselves to be independent of; in abhorrence of; or dislike. I have pointed out before the label of ‘indie’ is a complete misnomer, Faber and Canongate are strictly ‘indies’, but they punch way above their weight in the publishing industry.
 
It seems to me that what this whole discussion is simply here to remind us of the fact that self-publishing is still publishing a book in essence, and now that self-publishing is broadly accepted as it is; it is still reluctantly part of the whole publishing industry. Self-published authors must realize and accept that they shelter under the same umbrella of the book buyer, book reader and industry. They must accept that in any form of aspiration, commerce or even faith, there comes an ordained hierarchy whether it is perceived or imposed.

No publisher or agent, in their heart of hearts, believes all their authors are equal. They may humanly treat them as equals, but as business people they will not act equally and accordingly.

Whether the above is accepted or not, self-publishing affords the author the latitude of not accepting any compromise – that is – total control, but that comes at a price, and a greater price than the ones Lulu or CreateSpace charge if self-publishing is truly to be executed properly. More importantly, it also comes with a responsibility and presents the author with The Publishing Road Less Traveled. Complain as we may, we are all in this together.

It is time we all took the self from self-publishing.

How many are really up for that journey?

 

This is a cross-posting from Mick Rooney‘s POD, Self Publishing and Independent Publishing blog.