This, by far, is the number one criticism I seem to get in my negative book reviews. I never quite know what to think of it. On the one hand, a reader wouldn’t say something like that unless they thought it was good, since if they hated the book completely they would say something like… Continue reading “It was too short.”
Category: Uncategorized
Z is for Slaying the Zombie Memes of Publishing
Being an indie writer is awesome. Without a doubt, self-publishing is one of the best decisions I have ever made, and has enabled me to build exactly the kind of writing career I have always wanted. So it frustrates me to no end when people in the publishing industry try to discourage new writers from… Continue reading Z is for Slaying the Zombie Memes of Publishing
Y is for Yog’s Law
Anyone who was trying to break into publishing before the ebook revolution should be familiar with Yog’s law, which states: Money should always flow toward the writer. The purpose of the law was to keep new writers from falling into one of the many writing scams. Places that charged writers to publish were almost all… Continue reading Y is for Yog’s Law
Next A to Z post tomorrow
Sorry, no A to Z Challenge post today. I moved to a new apartment, and when I wasn’t moving I was spending time with my girlfriend … so yeah, not a great day for productivity. On the plus side, though, Lindsey Stirling’s new album just came out, and it’s pretty dang awesome. Did I mention… Continue reading Next A to Z post tomorrow
V is for Vanity Presses
There is a HUGE, HUGE difference between self-publishing as an indie and publishing through a vanity press. So huge, in fact, that the two are not even comparable. An indie author is a professional and an entrepreneur. A vanity press author is a victim of a scam. A “vanity press” is a publishing company that… Continue reading V is for Vanity Presses
T is for Thousand True Fans
How many fans does an independent artist/creator need in order to make a living? That’s the question that sparked the idea of the Thousand True Fans. As the original blog article mentioned, the basic idea is that a creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author – in other… Continue reading T is for Thousand True Fans
S is for Success
What are the markers for success when you’re an indie author? How do you know when you’ve “made it,” whatever that’s supposed to mean? The implications of this question are more far-reaching than you might think. Just this last week, I visited with Howard Tayler (of the awesome webcomic Schlock Mercenary) up at Salt Lake… Continue reading S is for Success
R is for Reviews
Reviews are for readers, not for writers. That’s my cardinal rule. I know that some readers love interacting with authors on their books’ review pages, and I know that some indies try to make it a point to respond to every review, but I’ve seen that sort of thing blow up so many times that… Continue reading R is for Reviews
Q is for Quitting the Day Job (or never having one to begin with)
Writing is one of those gigs where everyone expects you to have a day job, since common wisdom says that writers don’t make money. In traditional publishing, that may be generally true, but self-publishing is an entirely different game. It isn’t necessarily easy to make a living as an indie writer, but it is possible–much… Continue reading Q is for Quitting the Day Job (or never having one to begin with)
O is for Online Presence
When you’re an indie author, your business exists almost exclusively on the internet. Chances are that ebook sales make up the bulk of your revenue, and those are entirely online. And without the backing of a major publisher, you probably aren’t going to get many books into bookstores (although it is possible). Most of your… Continue reading O is for Online Presence