-
The New World of Publishing: The Money is All in the Numbers
I have wanted to write about this topic for some time, but just didn’t have enough data to trust my instincts that indie publishing would function as traditional publishing does, but now I do. Summary Statement: To make a living at indie publishing, you must have a decent number of books and stories for sale. Of course, in some cases this isn’t true. In some cases a writer can hit what I call a “home run” and sell a ton of one book or one series quickly and make some nice short-term money. But for the vast majority of indie publishers, that’s not how it will work. Our sales will…
-
The New World of Publishing: Agents and the Future
Okay, time to talk about agents and their future in this changing world. But first folks, read this!! http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2011/the-agents-role-in-todays-digital-book-world/ Mary Kole, who I do not know, and who seems fairly smart, works at Andrea Brown Literary Agency. On the Digital Book World site, she talked about her opinions of what the agent’s role will be going into the future. I read it and shuddered, to be honest. Then I went back and actually tried to figure out why I had such an adverse reaction to some very logical thoughts by this agent. Agent Mary Kole argues that agents will become packagers, doing “editorial work, marketing consultation, design, etc.” She thinks…
-
Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing: Can’t Make Money in Fiction
This myth “You can’t make a living writing fiction” is so clearly hogwash, I shouldn’t have to include it as a chapter in this book. All anyone has to do is look at a certain fantasy writer in England being richer than the Queen. And the number of fiction writers on the Forbes List every year. But, alas, new writers hear this all the time, constantly, from every direction, and sometimes from longer term professional writers. So, it’s worth a long post I guess. It shouldn’t be a myth at all, but it is. First up, where does this myth come from? We have all seen the stupid studies that…