Worderella Writes

Lightening Source Publishing

Just for the record, I’m switching my posting schedule to once every two weeks. Hopefully I can keep up with this schedule once school starts again.

I’m getting into the self-publishing gig again, and I’m liking it. Last week, Zoe wrote an article about Lightening Source, which is the best-kept secret in the self-publishing industry, methinks. Zoe has written about this before, but in case you know nothing about Lightening Source, read the article linked at the beginning of this paragraph.

The main points are as follows…

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Indie-Publishing Extravaganza

I am a fan of the indie-publisher in the same way that I’m a fan of a lot of indie musicians. It’s a scary thing to put your work out there for others to judge. And as there will always be artists that maybe shouldn’t have released their work, there are authors that shouldn’t release theirs.

But that goes vice-versa, too. There are indie artists who are so good at what they do that they gain fans, word-of-mouth publicity, and possibly even a big label contract, which may or may not be their end goal. Lucky for us, the same thing goes for authors… except there is still a stigma behind “self-publishing.”

Today, I’m listing some useful websites that will help you decide if you want to take that leap into the unknown and become an independently published author.

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The Benefits of Free

I’ve been reading a lot, recently, about how authors are trying to to convert those “early adopters” over to their writing. Early adopters, if you don’t recognize the term, comes from the early adopters of software. That is, software users who grab the newest version first, decide if they like it, and then tell everyone else how great the software is. Early adopters have a lot of clout in their circles. Get an early adopter on your side, and they will do the majority of your word-of-mouth marketing for you.

As authors, we should aim for the early adopters. But how do we do that?

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To Self-Publish or Not

The other day, I indulged during my break time and did some reading on self-publishing. This is self-publishing in the literal sense, meaning that I would handle the interior and exterior layout design, select the printer for the book, obtain my own ISBN, set up a business account, find the printer, and handle distribution.

In other words, to self-publish, I would be a micro press, a.k.a. small business owner. I’m not sure people realize that, in order to be a true self-publisher, you are effectively going into business. This is very different from publishing through Aventine Press, for instance (their services are excellent, but have high retail prices).

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Share and Share Alike

Writers are sharing a lot with each other this week. There are great things happening and I want you to be a part of it. In this post I’ll talk about J.A. Konrath’s free e-book that guides newbie authors on publishing, remind you about a great forum to reference when looking for agents and publishers, and advertise Lynn Viehl’s workshop where fellow authors and writers offer their knowledge in a week-long online convention.

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Self-Publishers in the wilds of Amazon

I was going to post a Thursday Thirteen on graduating with my bachelors of science in computer science and engineering. Note the past tense. Instead, I’m going to weigh in on this ongoing hooplah about Amazon.com making a business decision that no small or self-publisher wants to hear: that print-on-demand books sold through Amazon must use Amazon’s subsidiary, BookSurge, rather than relying on the industry standard, Lightening Source.

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31 Questions when Choosing an Agent

Agents, it seems, are the way to break into the traditional publishing field for authors. But how do you find an agent? More importantly, once you find an agent, how do you know they are a good one? This is not a decision for the faint of heart, as Susan Kearney points out at Plot Monkeys.

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Self-Published Authors and Taxes

It turns out that if you’re self-published, you’re considered self-employed. If you’re self-employed, you need to report your income if you accept more than $400 a year for your services (as seen on the form, here).

So for you writers that are either self-published or vanity-published, here are some tax forms you might want to take a look at.

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An Update

So. How is the WIP going? Fairly well, I would say. It’s a new month, which means I’ve printed out the previous month’s (incomplete) draft, kissed it, set it aside, and convinced my mind that I’m starting this month with a new inspired view of the WIP. I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it seems to work for me. I’m 29% complete with this draft that I call The Rewrite of Novel # 2 ™. …

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Happy New Year, Get Studying

Happy New Year everyone! May your muse shine brightly this year.

Now to some business: for those of you who are interested in taking graduate-level courses, check out the following programs. Some of them are only a week long, but cram enough information to cover a year-long publishing internship/entry-level job. I suggest looking these over, especially if you’re thinking of self-publishing and doing it properly and well. Also, it looks great on your resume, and, I think, looks even better than saying you have a graduate degree in Creative Writing. The thing is, a creative writing degree is hard to sell unless you came from a prestigious school or had a well-known writer as your lecturer. Even so, having the degree only means you know the tricks–it says nothing about whether you can apply them or not. With a publishing degree, it shows you take the process of writing a book seriously. Your publishing house/agent/whomever knows that you understand the process and therefore know that even though they’re publishing the book, your marketing skills are absolutely key.

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