Being an indie writer is awesome. Without a doubt, self-publishing is one of the best decisions I have ever made, and has enabled me to build exactly the kind of writing career I have always wanted. So it frustrates me to no end when people in the publishing industry try to discourage new writers from… Continue reading Z is for Slaying the Zombie Memes of Publishing
Tag: ebook revolution
Y is for Yog’s Law
Anyone who was trying to break into publishing before the ebook revolution should be familiar with Yog’s law, which states: Money should always flow toward the writer. The purpose of the law was to keep new writers from falling into one of the many writing scams. Places that charged writers to publish were almost all… Continue reading Y is for Yog’s Law
N is for Noise
With all the millions of books out there, and more coming out each year, is it getting harder for authors to market their books? Since anyone can publish a book now, is all that noise drowning out new voices? It’s tempting to think that way, especially when you’re just starting out as an indie author.… Continue reading N is for Noise
I is for Indie
I first started self-publishing in 2011, when “self-published” was still a dirty word. Back then, we called ourselves indies in order to escape the stigma–or mitigate it, at least. And that led to a war between us and the publishing establishment over the meaning of the term “indie.” If it sounds dumb, that’s because it… Continue reading I is for Indie
G is for Genre
Are there certain genres that indie writers should write in if they want to be successful? Are there other genres that they should avoid? This is one of those pieces of common wisdom that really irks me, and not just because I write in a genre (science fiction) that isn’t as mainstream or popular as… Continue reading G is for Genre
LTUE 2014
Without a doubt, my favorite sci-fi convention / writing conference / symposium is LTUE. I say this every year, but this year’s symposium was one of the best! Orson Scott Card and Brandon Sanderson were both there, along with a whole bunch of other authors and artists, local and otherwise. It drew a huge crowd,… Continue reading LTUE 2014
Z is for Zenith
Has space opera passed its zenith? Sometimes, it certainly looks that way. All the major stuff seems to be reprints of past series and reboots of decades-old franchises. Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate, Battlestar Galactica, Ender’s Game, Dune, Babylon 5–all the big names seem to have had their start at least a generation ago. At… Continue reading Z is for Zenith
Why I am not afraid of the Noise part III
These days, it seems as if everyone is terrified by the fact that anyone can publish a book. Indies, self-published writers, authors with traditional book contracts–it doesn’t matter. Everyone is mortified by the sheer volume of crap books coming out nowadays, as if Sturgeon’s Law is a new thing. The assumption is that all this… Continue reading Why I am not afraid of the Noise part III
LTUE 2013
Man, LTUE 2013 was this weekend, and it was AWESOME. One of the best conventions I’ve ever attended. I spoke on my first panel, attended my first book signing event as an author, and got to meet up with some old friends, as well as some amazing new people. Since I live tweeted most of… Continue reading LTUE 2013
A Letter From My 2013 Self
So shortly after writing up my last blog post, I got an email from myself marked December 27, 2013. How freaky is that?I don’t know if it’s a glitch or a feature, but apparently in 2013, you can use gmail to send messages back in time. In any case, the letter is pretty interesting, so… Continue reading A Letter From My 2013 Self