Worderella Writes

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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Exciting New Links!

Bloomsbury, an independent publisher whose home is the UK, has a wonderful Writer’s Area with articles about how to submit materials, approach a publisher, what you can expect an agent to do for you, and even lists agents from the US and UK/Ireland. I spent quite a bit of time here. They also have a Research Center, which I haven’t played around with yet, but they claim to have over 17,000 cross-referenced, free entries that you can utilize for your writing. I’m just itching to try it out! (And yes, this is the publisher that found J.K.Rowling.)

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We Have the Power!

Any publisher, whether they are a self-publisher, vanity publisher, or traditional publisher, have to buy ISBNs (International Standard Book Number) in blocks of ten. I don’t know why, that’s just how the industry set it up. I believe it’s to make the ISBN cheaper since you’re buying in bulk, but in the long run it makes much more expensive to self-publish one book because you have to buy that block of ten. Anyway, this ISBN is one major key to getting your book published. If you don’t have an ISBN, it won’t matter how great or cheap your book is, no bookstore will ever carry it. Nor will any online store (such as Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Borders, etc) carry it. …

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Self-Publishing Experiences

When people ask me about my book, I tell them I self-published it. This is true and untrue. I paid to have the book printed, I bought a set of the book and sold it to my family and friends, and was interviewed by my local television station about it. Mainly because I was a senior in high school and it was my senior thesis. But if I had gone the actual self-publication route, I would have found a printer, custom designed my cover and interior, and kept all the profits for myself. What I did in reality was go through a print-on-demand company, Aventine Press….

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Self-Publishing

Ah, the woes of being a writer in today’s world. It is hard to break into publishing, especially with the big names. Even small press publishers are closing their doors to unsolicited manuscripts, meaning if you don’t have an agent who is willing to back your work (which is sometimes a trial in and of itself, finding an agent that you get along with and is willing to work for you), you’re a little out of luck. And that’s why I turned to self-publishing for my first novel.

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