Indie Publishing

Being a Better Writer: Finding a Real Publisher

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Welcome back writers! It’s another Monday, and you know what that means. It’s time for more Being a Better Writer!

In more ways than one, actually. See, for those of you that are new, BaBW takes its topics from a variety of souces: Online conversations, writing chats, reader requests, books I’ve read recently, and more. But all of those topics share a commonality: they eventually end up on a physical list of paper that sits on my desk as I go through topics one by one.

That’s right. An actual, physical piece of paper. At some point I started numbering these little sheets, and currently the one sitting before me is #20. Given the size of the notepad, a fairly significant number of topics can fill each one, but there’s always an inevitability.

Eventually, the list runs out. Which is where we are now with Topic List #20. There are only two topics left on the list—including today’s topic—after which Topic List #20 will have nothing left to give us.

In other words it’s time for Topic List #21 to start being populated. Those who have been long-time readers of the site know exactly what this means, but for those who have discovered it in the last few months or only drop by occasionally, this means that I put up a “Topic Call” post asking if there are any topics that anyone wishes to see addressed that we’ve not covered recently or before.

That’s right: A topic call is coming! It’ll drop later this week, so if there’s a burning writing question or curiosity you’ve had blending your brain for a while, now’s the time to post it. Usually about a quarter of each topic list—about five or six out of twenty or so topics per list—ends up being from readers, so there’s usually a good ratio of reader questions to go around.

So, if you’ve got a writing topic/question you’d like to see Being a Better Writer address, get ready to post it. When the topic call shows up later this week, you can drop it in, and I can go ahead and find a spot for it on the list.

Now, speaking of reader request, today’s topic is actually a reader request, one that has a bit of a story attached to it. So lean back, grab your favorite beverage or snack of choice if you so desire, and hit that jump. Let’s talk about finding a real publisher.

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Being a Better Writer: Do You Need a Kickstarter?

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You know, in a way I feel a bit sad that this post is going to be scheduled, and I’ll be “away” when it goes up, because this is a post that I would like to see the reader responses to. There’s no getting around the fact that with a somewhat topical subject like this, however, sooner is better, and so I don’t want to delay this installment of Being a Better Writer to a later time.

Really quick, before that, though, reminder that today is the last day to get a copy of Colony for free! Hit the books page and head on over to Amazon before midnight arrives!

Got it? Good! On with the post! I am going to preamble this a bit: I’ve never run a Kickstarter, even when I’ve had plenty of well-meaning advice from folks to do so. And even with the topical bit of news regarding the recent surge of books on Kickstarter, which we’re going to talk about … I still don’t have plans to run one.

So then, some of you may be asking, what qualifies me to talk about whether or not you need a Kickstarter? Well, not having run one is not the same as “I’ve looked into it, watched it, and seen how it operates, and made a decision based on both observed Kickstarters and conversations with those that have run successful and unsuccessful projects there.”

This is one of those rare BaBW posts that hits on writing related stuff, in this case marketing.

Now, some of you might be a little perplexed by that statement. “Marketing?” you may be saying. “Kickstarter isn’t marketing. It’s selling the book before it’s out!”

Well … sort of. But not really. And ultimately, success of failure with a Kickstarter comes down to one thing above all others: Advertising. Which is marketing.

Alright, let’s step back before we get in too deep and ahead of ourselves. Let’s start with the most basic part of this whole conversation: What is Kickstarter and why are so many in the book sphere talking about it right now?

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Being a Better Writer: The Post Labor Day Grab Bag

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Welcome back readers! To both of us, actually! I am back at my desk again this Monday, returned from Alaska (which you might have noticed if you saw this post).

So then, what’s today’s Being a Better Writer about? Well … It’s a collection, actually. Long story short, this is my first Monday back, and last Monday, which had a post, shouldn’t have. Yeah, it was Labor Day, one of the few holidays I’ve regularly taken on the site. Except that this time I didn’t, as I was absent, and I hadn’t checked ahead with my scheduler to note that it was a holiday.

Now, normally I’d take today completely off to compensate, but I’m not doing that either, because while I was gone and had a bunch of BaBW posts going up via scheduling, they didn’t get nearly as many eyeballs as they normally would have.

Why? Well because I couldn’t schedule the promotions that take place on a lot of other sites for these posts. So those of you that relied on the site feed to see each new post saw it. Those of you that relied on other site feeds to see each new one, well … You didn’t. I can see the numbers, so I know that.

Thing is, all those posts are still there. And now that I’m back, I can put each of them out in those other places for you to peruse.

Which is what we’re going to do today. While I catch up with a few things and get stuff on my end running smoothly once more for next week, this week I’m going to be delivering a summary of everything that went up on remote last week, so that those using other feeds finally get their due.

So enjoy, and hit the jump to see what posts you might have missed!

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Being a Better Writer: Why Indie Isn’t Evil

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Hello readers! I’m actually out of the office today, and this post was written in advance! So while you’re reading this, given the schedule I’m probably pressure-washing the underside of a 48-foot commercial fishing vessel.

Anyway, today’s post is another reader request. Understandably so, too, since the topic of Indie, or independent publishing, has been a hot one across the industry for the last few years. Last decade with some change, really. But the storm surrounding it has continued to swirl and continue to be hotly contested. Hence, why I often get questions about it, and even have talked about it before here on the site.

But this reader wanted it directly addressed as part of Being a Better Writer, not just in an opinion post or as a side piece on the site. So, today we’re going to talk all about independent publishing. More specifically, we’re going to talk about why it isn’t bad, which is what the reader specifically wanted to know.

So settle back, grab a snack, and hit the jump.

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