Self-Publishing “Lacks the Cool Factor”? But, Hasn’t Independence Always Been Cool?

Edan Lepucki once again discusses self-publishing in The Millions, and once again, she presents a few ideas that beg to be addressed.

The Cost of Kindle Books – Pay Up or Shut Up

There’s an entire thread on Amazon’s discussion forum dedicated to the “high” cost of Kindle e-books. One commenter, J. Bryan, writes

Former Random House Author Self-Publishes Thriller that Views 9/11 from New Perspective

As self-publishing becomes an increasingly popular option for writers of all kinds (the good and the not so good, those who have tried the agent route and those who haven’t), there are those who continue to cling – and probably will for some time – to the idea that self-publishing is an avenue for the … Read more

Kill the First Novel? Are You Insane?

“Magic 8 Ball,” I asked, “will my first novel be published?” Yes. Definitely. Hm. “Magic 8 Ball, am I a man?” Yes. Definitely. Dammit. ___________ Edan Lepucki, in her recent article in The Millions, briefly plays with the idea of a) showing her cleavage in her author photo

Ain’t We a War Story?

(This entry is cross-posted at LIFT) I wanted to fist-bump First Lady Michelle Obama when I learned that she had asked Hollywood’s writers and directors to “help ‘promote a better understanding and appreciation of the sacrifices made by military personnel and their families’ by integrating their experiences into TV, movie, and digital-media story lines.” This … Read more

From The Daily Show audience to The Colbert Report guest (?) in 1.5 days

Two days after being an audience member at The Daily Show (read about it here), I received an email telling me to contact guest booking at The Colbert Report. (!) You see, my publisher is an independent (and small) press, so – like many authors – I’ve been doing a lot of my own self-promotion. … Read more

These are the people.

You often hear from people who write that writing is an isolated (isolating, even) experience, and this is probably true. But the writing is the only part that is. The rest, the part that involves getting people to read whatever it is you wrote, is a group effort. These are the people involved: The first … Read more

From Self-Pub to Trad-Pub – Indie author R.J. Keller crosses the line

R. J. Keller, author of Waiting for Spring and the forthcoming The Wendy House, my partner in the PaperRats writers’ relief YouTube series Inside the Writers’ Studio, Backword Books member,  and obsessive Star Wars fan, has recently had her independently released novel, Waiting for Spring, picked up by Amazon’s Encore imprint. Here, she answers some … Read more

Moving on.

I’m very excited to announce that a small publisher (with great distribution) will be publishing How to (Not) Have Children and Homefront. (Yay!) The details are still out, but when they’re available, I’ll share them. I’ve removed Homefront from print distribution, so whatever copies are currently at Amazon or other online stores are the only … Read more