Entries Tagged 'Self-Publishing' ↓

At Criminal Brief (The Mystery Short Story Web Log Project), The A.D.D. Detective, Leigh Lunden, observes that

Vanity publishing is like T-ball:

Everyone gets a chance at bat, gets a hit, and takes home a trophy.

But don’t expect anyone other than your mom to applaud.

Crossfire of the Vanities is a brilliant post on the benefits and pitfalls of self-publishing. When does self-publishing work, i.e. when is it an appropriate option for you to consider? And when is it simply an admission that your manuscript is "not quite ready for prime time"? Lunden scores some home-truths and home-runs on the artificially level playing field of vanity publishing.

If I had compiled a sweet social history of my family or community, if I was providing valuable trade instructions, or if I were a touring bush balladeer, then I’d be shopping around for an ethical, professional self-publishing company for sure. Otherwise, I’d bear in mind that ‘neither authors nor readers are well-served by self-published fiction’, and keep putting in the miles; editing my manuscript, attending my crit group, putting my bum on seats at writers events and festivals, and generally serving my apprentice. In honouring the craft, the patient pathway to publication is its own reward.

And, remember, avoid the vampirates at all costs!

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Speakeasy fell in lurve with Alice Pung when we read her post on Becoming a Writer at The Inc. Blot, the blog of Black Inc., independent Melbourne-based publisher of literary non-fiction, fiction and poetry. Unpolished Gem sounds a treasure indeed.

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 Have you seen Inside the Shortlist? It is a guide to the CBCA’s Shortlist Information for teachers from Prep/Kinder through to senior secondary, offering a wealth of ideas for displaying, discussing, and enjoying this year’s best Australian books for young people. Purchasing a copy of this teacher resource keeps the project viable, ensuring young people in Australia continue to have access to locally produced works of art and literature.

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I like my advice like I like my alcohol – disguised by sugar, fruit and other, non-alchoholic beverages. But when I need a strong healthy dose of reality, I visit Editorial Anonymous. With gems like this post, or this one on self-publishing, it’s like a loving slap across the face.
If you have a few spare minutes during your lunch break today, you might like to read Gary Lutz’s article on sentences entitled ‘The Sentence is a Lonely Place’ - ‘The sentence, with its narrow typographical confines, is a lonely place, the loneliest place for a writer, and the temptation for the writer to get out of one sentence as soon as possible and get going on the next sentence is entirely understandable.’
And finally, the folks at HarperStudio have posed the question: Should technology change the way we read? I don’t know about you folks but I think, yes it darn well should. Well, maybe not change how I read text, but certainly I think technology should be allowed to interact with books. 
It’s not always possible to do a literature degree everytime we want to completely understand a text that challenges us. Maybe it’s the Gen-Y in me but I want as much knowledge as I can get when I read – whether it be from other people or techonology. If a book has its own website full of interactive learning modules, facts and games, surely it can only help me understand the text more?
For a great example of technology helping the learning process, visit Dante’s Divine Comedy put together by Classics Professor Guy P. Raffa at the University of Texas in Austin. (Kid’s books are a bit ahead of the game when it comes to combining books and techonology; for an example check out Cathy’s Book for a truly interactive experience.)

Harry Nicolaides has been sentenced to 3 years in a Thai prison for lese majeste (see Pen for where to address your letters of support, and check Facebook for the petition). Nicolaides formerly lived in Thailand, and wrote a fiction novel, self-publishing it to a handful of sales. He is now in prison for it. An extremely disturbing issue regarding self-publishing and censorship, freedom of speech, cultural autonomy, and human rights.

But most important is the urgent issue of an Australian writer’s liberty.

…to an old article someone recommended to me. Just dug it up out of my inbox. Discusses the self-publishing boom from a business perspective, and looks at booksellers’ interaction with self-published stuff.

At The Guardian.

A self-published cookery book by two Queensland women has been the surprise No. 2 to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the 2007 Bestsellers.

4 Ingredients by Kim McCosker and Rachael Bermingham tipped 350,000+ sales and has been a national bestseller since June last year. Plans are currently in place to launch the book in the UK and there are also discussions about a possible television series.

Initially ignored by publishers, McCosker and Bermingham opted to self-publish: producing, distributing and marketing the book themselves. It features 340 simple recipes made using no more than 4 ingredients. Recipes cover the whole spectrum of foody-fare from roasts, to cakes, casseroles and desserts.

Other titles on the bestseller list include Rhonda Bryne’s The Secret (267,000) and Bryce Courtney’s The Persimmon Tree (166,000 since its November launch).

See The Sydney Morning Herald for more…