Mark Dawson is one of the most successful and prominent authors in the independent publishing world, and his Self Publishing Formula, which provides a vast amount of information and training on how to get into the business and stay there, has become a must-have resource. One part of the resource is a blog about independent • Read More »
My duties and responsibilities as writer-in-residence at the Blount County Public Library (Maryville, Tennessee) continue to evolve. On the first Saturday of October, I will be offering a half-day workshop on getting started with self-publishing. If you’re in the area and are interested in this topic, sign up here: http://www.blountlibrary.org/FormCenter/Public-Library-9/Introduction-to-SelfPublishing-OCTOBER-6-111 Here’s the description: Introduction to • Read More »
Why do readers buy books? It’s an ancient question with no definitive answer, but fortunately folks keep searching for one. Maggie Lynch, author of numerous books and articles, has a roundup (Opinion: What Makes Readers Buy Books? | Alliance of Independent Authors: Self-Publishing Advice Center) of some of the latest research on the Alliance of Independent Authors • Read More »
Most people who know about Luther understand how important printing — which was still in its fledgling stages — was to the spread of Luther’s ideas. But the relationship of Luther’s ideas and printing is much more than coincidental. It was symbiotic.
Tags: Andrew Pettegree, Martin Luther, printing
A lot of buzzing and scoffing these days in the world of independent publishing about the “fact” that ebook sales are down. Blogger Nate Hoffelder tries to set the facts — the real facts — about ebook sales straight. Source: Damn the Facts: The “Ebook Sales Are Down” Narrative Must be Maintained at All Costs • Read More »
Tags: digital publishing, ebooks, journalists, Nate Hoffelder, The Digital Reader
Fantasy Author Gene Doucette has posted one of the clearest and most lucid account of the “collective insanity” of the publishing industry to date. (Source: The collective insanity of the publishing industry – Gene Doucette) Traditional publishers are desperately fighting to maintain an economic model that in the world of ebooks, digital access and independent • Read More »
Tags: Big 5 publishers, collective insanity, ebooks, Gene Doucette, New York Times, print books, print sales, publishing, reading, self publishing
The good sense — even the morality — of self-publishing is blindingly obvious to some of us. So, doesn’t everyone see it that way. We need to be reminded that, no, everyone doesn’t see it that way. Most the world, including a few intelligent souls, see it otherwise. Self-published author Liz Long has a good • Read More »
Tags: Liz Long, Longwood University
This Bookbub bills itself as the “ultimate guide” for an author or publisher to the practical sites for self-publishing and book distribution, and it pretty much lives up to its name. Concise, organized and to the point. If you want to learn a lot and save a lot of time, read through this fairly carefully. • Read More »
Tags: Amazon, Bookbub.com, CreateSpace, KDP, Kindle, Smashwords
The original post, Can You Afford to Get Published?, by Kate Flora appeared on the Maine Crime Writers website, but I am re-posting this from The Passive Voice because of the many insightful comments that it drew. Author Flora laments the fact that she makes so little money for all of her efforts at writing. • Read More »
Tags: Kate Flora, The Passive Voice
Gene Doucette has a pretty straight-forward defense of self-publishing for those who think that getting a traditional publisher makes your work somehow “better.” Worth the read: The Self-Published Authors Standing On Your Lawn | G. Doucette For reasons I’ve never been entirely clear on, when the newspaper industry began its slow decline, the very best version of • Read More »
Update: Lots more skepticism about Pronoun in the blogosphere. See the comments here at The Passive Voice. (Posted June 19, 2015) … Pronoun, a site and system that helps authors self publish, has announced a new manifesto — How to fix book publishing — and has raised $3.5 million in its efforts to do so. • Read More »
Tags: author, editing, Pronoun, self publishing, TechCrunch.com, The-Digital-Reader.com, ThePassiveVoice.com, Vook, writing a book
Hybrid authors cite good reasons for self-publishing and for sticking with traditional publishers. I am one of those — a hybrid author who has used traditional publishers and self publishing — and the reasons others cite line up with my own,
Tags: Digital Book World, Tennessee Journalism Series, Writer's Digest, Writing for the Mass Media
This says it all. Stephanie Bond: “If I had any qualms about leaving traditional publishing, they were settled last fall: the royalty check I received from my publisher representing six months of sales for over 40 projects was less than I’d made the previous day in KDP royalties for about 12 books.”
Tags: self publishing, Stephanie Bond