The Trials And Tribulations Of The Modern Day Writer I’m not here to predict the future for you penmonkeys. Were I to predict such a future, I would suggest that in the next 10 years, we will all be hunted down by self-aware Verbo-Bots and Publispiders, crass automatons who seek to harvest our brains for the words they contain. The Publispiders pin us to the wall while the Verbo-Bots stomp up and trepan our skulls with a whirring drill. We smell our hair and bone burning. You can see why I’m not allowed to predict the future. What I can do, however, is ruminate frothily on the rigors of the present, which is exactly what I’ll do now. Let us then examine the state of affairs for the Penmonkeys Of Today. Write More, Word Slave *crack of lash* Gone are the days when the writer could focus on her novel career and put out one book every year — at least, gone are those days for writers who want to accept “writer” as the day job. Advances are down. This makes the writer both honeybee and Great White Shark. Agreed? (Mmm. Writers must produce. Yeah.
Edição do autor (e-ink only) Lembro da primeira vez que li o termo “edição do autor” e de como demorei, então, pra entender que não se tratava de um nome de editora (descolé). Isso, claro, foi lá na época que os livros eram de papel e tinham cheiros e texturas únicas. Faz pouco tempo, mas se auto-publicar (free hífen) deixou de ter a gloriosa vibe pós-hippie de autores desconhecidos e suas poesias revolucionárias. Ou um estilo J.Borges wannabe. Quer ver? Todos os textos que li sobre edições do autor em ebook falam da Amanda Hocking, uma escritora de 27 anos que publica romances paranormais e se tornou milionária seguindo essa corrente de independência em e-paper. Mas, ih, ela nem é a única. O primeiro milionário de edições caseiras de e-book é o John Locke (não esse. nem esse.). Pro Ewan, que já foi convidado para dar palestras e ganhou mais dinheiro falando sobre o assunto que com seus livros em si, isso pode gerar ainda mais danos que a especulação imobiliária: Mais que isso.
Let’s talk: Agents as Publishers. – Laura Pauling The purpose of these posts is not to advise writers whether to go traditional or indie. I am for writers being informed. We can’t afford to hide our heads in the publishing sands and expect to make decisions on our career. Some facts: If you keep the rights then you are self published.If your agent keeps the rights then your agent is your publisher.If your agent helps you self publish, do you trust him/her to always put your interests and career first? Be informed. So let’s look at what different industry professionals have to say about this. Mary Kole wrote about The Agent’s Role in Today’s Digital Book World at the digital book world blog. In response, Dean Wesley Smith posted: The New World of Publishing: Agents and The Future. And my response to these articles is to point you in this direction. And here’s Agent Scott Eagan with his post: I heard agents are no longer needed. And if you’re interested here are a few other posts: So, that’s a lot to think about. What do you think?
How to Create an eBook the Open Source Way By Bryan Behrenshausen Astute readers will have noticed that we’ve begun publishing our "Open Voices" eBooks in the ePub format. Now, some of our best essays and interviews are available as lightweight and portable files, and can be read on any electronic reading device that supports this open standard. And who better to undertake the task of converting our library than your friendly opensource.com intern? Our task This guide explains one method for creating electronic books ("eBooks") in the ePub format using open source tools available on most popular computing platforms. ePub is the International Digital Publishing Forum's open standard for digital book publishing, and most major electronic reading devices support it (except for the Kindle—sorry, Amazon fans!). The method I outline here reflects two desires: to create open eBooks in open formats using open tools, and to avoid unnecessary complication by involving as few of these tools as possible. You will need Alright. Applying styles
21, Ernest Hemingway Ernest Hemingway, ca. 1939. Photograph by Lloyd Arnold You go to the races? Yes, occasionally. Then you read the Racing Form ... There you have the true art of fiction. —Conversation in a Madrid café, May 1954 Ernest Hemingway writes in the bedroom of his house in the Havana suburb of San Francisco de Paula. The bedroom is on the ground floor and connects with the main room of the house. The room is divided into two alcoves by a pair of chest-high bookcases that stand out into the room at right angles from opposite walls. It is on the top of one of these cluttered bookcases—the one against the wall by the east window and three feet or so from his bed—that Hemingway has his “work desk”—a square foot of cramped area hemmed in by books on one side and on the other by a newspaper-covered heap of papers, manuscripts, and pamphlets. A working habit he has had from the beginning, Hemingway stands when he writes. Are these hours during the actual process of writing pleasurable? Very. Of course. No.
To Self-Publish or Not to Self-Publish Ever have that feeling that somewhere inside you is a great book, just waiting to happen? Well, this is one of those “good news, bad news” situations. On the good end of things, it has never been easier to publish; on the bad side, you might be foolish enough to go it on your own. Yes, You Can Write a Book I share the following suggestions with you, for whatever they’re worth, while recognizing that my approach to this process is likely different from than the one you’ll take. After writing a book, I’ve come to feel that doing so is somewhat like running a marathon, and that it maintains a special kind of status in our society. That, in my mind, is the entire challenge with a book. In spite of such observations (which are probably quite accurate) many still want to give it a whirl. About 35 Blog Posts (not) I always expected that there was a trick to writing a book: some spark of magic, a bolt of inspiration, or, a moment of great insight. Why I Wrote and Self-Published My Book
Moving on Linchpin will be the last book I publish in a traditional way. One of the poxes on an author's otherwise blessed life is people who ask, "what's your next book," even if some of them haven't read the last one. (Jeff did, of course). To answer your question, this book is my next book. I think the ideas in Linchpin are my life's work, and I'm going to figure out the best way to spread those ideas, in whatever form they take. I also have some new, smaller projects in the works, and no doubt some bigger ones around the corner. A little background: For ten years or so, beginning in 1986, I was a book packager. It took a year or so, but I finally figured out that my customer wasn't the reader or the book buyer, it was the publisher. When I decided to become focused on being an author, the logical thing to do was to sell to that same group of people. Authors need publishers because they need a customer. The thing is--now I know who my readers are.
Mastering Film » Jazz, Interviews, and Penmanship: Five Tips for Successful Interviews Photo by Marc Fuyà I’ve talked a lot about questions in both of my previous posts: the last (and most important) question you should ask in an interview, and the ongoing questions that should be with you throughout the development, production, and post of the work you’re making. Now, it’s time to talk a bit about answers. Here are the five key principles that guide me through the interview process, be it a five-minute interview, or a five-day one. 1.) It’s ludicrous to try to convince your interview subject that the camera isn’t there. When I published the Multi-Hyphenate blogazine last year, I was fortunate enough to have the incredible Frederick Marx (maker of “Hoop Dreams” and the astonishing “Journey From Zanskar”) pen numerous posts for me. You’d do well to remember this. 2.) I was lucky in my musical training – I went to Berklee, and had a healthy heaping of jazz theory on top of my classical training. Your prepared questions are merely your notes and chord diagrams. 3.) 4.) 5.)
E-book Endeavors » Blog Archive » Pros and Cons of Writing a Series Posted by Lindsay | Posted in E-publishing | Posted on 18-07-2011 If you’re an author and you started out thinking you’d publish traditionally (i.e. find an agent who would then find you a huge multi-book contract with a major publisher, thus ensuring you could quit your day job and write full time for the rest of your life), you probably heard it was a bad idea to write a series. Because, the conventional wisdom goes, if you don’t sell the first one, how on earth are you going to sell the second, third, etc.? Well, you aren’t. If you’ve decided to forgo the traditional publishing route, however, there’s no reason to worry about what agents and publishers might want. So, should you write a series? Pros & Cons of Publishing a Series Pros Readers may be more likely to buy the sequels — Lots of people get attached to characters, so, if they like yours, it may be a no brainer to purchase more books in the series (I know I’m like that when I read!). Cons Related Posts: