If you’re reading these words, there’s a very good chance that you’re a writer. In these days of PoD, digital publishing, and free and instantly-available blogs, there’s also a good chance that you’re published in some form or another. Do you, like most writers, assert your copyright? Or do you distribute your works under the… Continue reading Blogs, Copyright, and Keeping your Nose Clean
I’m currently in the process of giving my books a facelift. I’m not reworking the actual contents (apart from clearing up a few minor typos and formatting problems), just trying to make them look more attractive and professional. The process so far has given me a thumping headache, and a renewed respect for publishers. Getting… Continue reading Front to Back
One of the good things about living in Italy is the general consensus that, from June onward, the weather is much too hot and sticky to keep students locked in school. By now, then, school is well and truly out, and the once-crowded school corridors are a spectral place of lone cleaners mopping the floor… Continue reading The Living is Easy
Well, quite a lot, it would seem… I was recently talking to a self-published author who said that she didn’t like the term “self-published”. To her, it reeked of the snobbery and disparagement that has often accompanied any debate about – er – self-publishing, and which accompanies it still. She’d heard it used as a… Continue reading What’s in a Name?
The short story – unless the author is a bestseller, or famous – is something of a neglected form. The big publishers often steer clear of it for the simple reason that it isn’t considered much of a money-spinner. (Self-publishers, sadly, often tend to stay away from it for much the same reason.) The trend,… Continue reading Short but Sweet…
First of all, may I wish anyone who happens to be reading this a very happy 2015! I’m not a great one for celebrating New Year, but it seems as good an opportunity as any to spread a little goodwill around. And now, with that little courtesy taken care of, let’s get down to business…
A little while ago, author Jane Steen wrote about the much-neglected question of author ethics. Events since then have proved that this vexed issue is one we all need to think about. From one author who published an account (in a national broadsheet, no less) of how she stalked an unimpressed reviewer, to another who allegedly physically… Continue reading That Thorny Question of Ethics: Part 2
Historical novelist Jane Steen recently wrote this piece about the troubling question of ethics in the self-publishing arena. It’s a question that seems to me to get not nearly enough attention, and I’m glad that Steen has finally shone a light into some of self-publishing’s murkier corners. It’s about time.
I’m beginning to feel that perhaps I was a tad harsh on publishers in Part 1 of this post. Publishers have to turn a profit, after all, so who can blame them for opting for the known and the safe? They aren’t psychic, and successes can be difficult to predict – who, ten years ago,… Continue reading Whatever Happened to the Mid-list?: Part 2
During a recent trip to the supermarket, I stopped to glance at the book aisle. I do, sometimes; what better or more enjoyable way to improve my Italian than with some relatively undemanding fiction? The selection, however, was not exactly inspiring. Dan Brown’s latest opus was much in evidence, as were books by Grisham, King,… Continue reading Whatever Happened to the Mid-list?: Part 1
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