Bob Mayer on Self-Publishing

On May 23, 2012May 23, 2012 By Dan HarrisIn Self-Publishing, WritingLeave a comment

Another quick link – there’s a great guest post from Bob Mayer on Live Write Thrive here.

The key lesson for me, as a writer just getting started:

“The #1 mistake I see new writers making are slapping their first book up on Kindle and then running around trying to promote the hell out of it. No. Write first book. Start writing second book. Finish. Start writing third book. When you have at least three good books, then you can start promoting. It’s a learning curve. Also, how many are willing to put that sweat equity into it? It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

From an ‘author of more than fifty books all available in eBook that have sold over four million copies’, I think I’ll pay attention.

Joe Konrath on Unconscionability

On May 23, 2012May 23, 2012 By Dan HarrisIn Self-Publishing, WritingLeave a comment

A very quick post, just to link to another scathing must-read article from Joe Konrath:

‘What we have here is an entire industry using boilerplate contracts and universally accepted one-sided clauses to exploit an entire segment of people.’

Read the full piece here. If you’re an author or aspiring author, and you aren’t following Joe’s blog, you really should be.

‘Fifty Shades of Grey Banned From Libraries for Being Too Racy and Poorly Written’

On May 22, 2012 By Dan HarrisIn Reading, Self-Publishing, Writing4 Comments

Just a quick one, because I actually laughed out loud at the headline. Article on io9 (again!) here.

The first comment has a brilliant Amazon review:

“Thanks to the many other perturbed readers who have shared their own choices of the most annoyingly overused phrases in this masterpiece. Following up on their suggestions with my ever-useful Kindle search function, I have discovered that Ana says “Jeez” 81 times and “oh my” 72 times. She “blushes” or “flushes” 125 times, including 13 that are “scarlet,” 6 that are “crimson,” and one that is “stars and stripes red.” (I can’t even imagine.) Ana “peeks up” at Christian 13 times, and there are 9 references to Christian’s “hooded eyes” and 7 to his “long index finger.” Characters “murmur” a whopping 199 times (doesn’t anyone just talk?), “clamber” on/in/out of things 21 times, and “smirk” 34 times. Finally, in a remarkable bit of symmetry, our hero and heroine exchange 124 “grins” and 124 “frowns”… which, by the way, seems an awful lot of frowning for a woman who experiences “intense,” “body-shattering,” “delicious,” “violent,” “all-consuming,” “turbulent,” “agonizing” and “exhausting” orgasms on just about every page.”

Pity the author. Without critical acclaim, all E. L. James has are her 250,000+ e-book sales and seven-figure print deal.

Successful Self-Published Sci-Fi and Fantasy Authors

On May 21, 2012 By Dan HarrisIn Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Self-Publishing, Writing4 Comments

More mainstream media analysis of the self-publishing phenomenon from io9 here.

While the headline is the big sellers’ numbers, though vaguely interesting they’re not really relevant. They aren’t what any new author could practically aim for – except maybe “B.V. Larson, who writes both sci-fi and fantasy, has sold some 250,000 copies of his 25 titles“. The key element there being twenty-five titles – if you stick at it, and write that many novels which are that good, you’ll sell a lot of books.

I also take issue with a couple of things in the article. Read more…

On May 19, 2012May 19, 2012 By Dan HarrisIn Self-Publishing, WritingLeave a comment

I know I’ve been abusing the reblog button in the last few days, but this is a very well-thought out piece on how authors really need to consider all of their options.

Mad Genius Club

I asked Sarah if I could have the blog today because, frankly, I’ve been sitting on my hands and biting my tongue most of the week. What started as a simple and heart-felt response on Sarah’s part to a non-fiction author’s blog post turned into a war between fiction and non-fiction with a troll to-boot. The non-fiction author couldn’t understand why Sarah had seen fit to post about what she’d said on her own blog. All she’d done, you see, was lament the state of publishing and how those of us who are predicting the end of the industry just don’t understand what that will mean to non-fiction authors or readers. Okay, I can understand the fear. It’s the same fear many authors on the fiction side of the equation have been feeling. But what this author didn’t get — or wouldn’t get — is that in the process of…

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Understanding Amazon’s New Algorithms Is As Easy As ABC

On May 17, 2012May 17, 2012 By Dan HarrisIn Self-Publishing, WritingLeave a comment

Guest post from Edward W. Robertson via David Gaughran. I’m barely coming to grips with the idea of a Popularity List vs. a Bestseller List, and now there are three?!

Headache.

My New Obsession – Cover Art

On May 17, 2012May 17, 2012 By Dan HarrisIn Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Self-Publishing, Writing3 Comments

My new inclination toward self-publishing has brought with it an unhealthy obsession with book covers. I must have spent over an hour today just flicking through designer’s websites listed on the Writers Café Yellow Pages. There’s also a great cover art category on A Dribble of Ink, which has inspired me.

My novel is (at the moment, at least) called ASCENSION POINT. It’s far-future space opera, fitting neatly alongside Iain M. Banks, Neil Asher, Alastair Reynolds, and the like. As such, when it comes time to publish I’m going to want a proper, space opera cover that fits the genre. Something like these…

More on Self-Publishing versus Legacy Publishing

On May 16, 2012June 11, 2012 By Dan HarrisIn Self-Publishing, Writing8 Comments

I’ve been reading a lot about the pros and cons of self-pub versus traditional (legacy) publishing in the last couple of days. I finished David Gaughran‘s excellent Let’s Get Digital, then ploughed through a couple of hundred articles, trying to find a balance.

And it’s looking like self-publishing might well be the winner for me, folks. But why?

Let’s Get Digital? Quite Possibly…

On May 15, 2012May 15, 2012 By Dan HarrisIn Self-Publishing, Writing2 Comments

I just downloaded Let’s Get Digital by David Gaughran. This week David has made it available for free on both Amazon UK and US, so there’s no excuse not to pick it up. You can also get the PDF version for free on David’s marvellous site here (and in my blogroll on the right).

I’ve just finished reading the first part of the book, which deals with why authors should self-publish. David makes a very compelling case for doing so, and I’m surprised to say that I’ve quickly gone from planning to go the agent-legacy publisher route once my novel is ready to pitch, with self-publishing as a backup if that didn’t work out, to being (almost) completely decided that self-pub is the best primary option.

DAN HARRIS: 10% SCI, 90% FI

Category: Self-Publishing