tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post218995868448851613..comments2023-09-25T02:24:22.087-07:00Comments on Anne R. Allen's Blog: Indie or Traditional Publishing? Don’t Take Sides: Take Your TimeAnne R. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-32800292025666729812012-05-26T11:19:04.897-07:002012-05-26T11:19:04.897-07:00Thanks, Mona. I'll check out the Montana Scrib...Thanks, Mona. I'll check out the Montana Scribbler!Anne R. Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-78841486644242532552012-05-24T21:23:23.025-07:002012-05-24T21:23:23.025-07:00Hi Helen,
I am so impressed with your post I will...Hi Helen,<br /><br />I am so impressed with your post I will tout it on my Montana Scribbler website, and include your link.<br />Mona Leeson Vanek,<br />mtscribbler@air-pipe.com<br />Montana Scribbler, http://montanascribbler.com<br />Editor,<br />The North Palouse Washington e-Newscast, www.palousenewscast.com<br />newstnpw@air-pipe.comMona Leeson Vanekhttp://montanascribbler.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-31946490273077769532012-05-22T12:10:39.409-07:002012-05-22T12:10:39.409-07:00Helen--You're so right. A decision to go indie...Helen--You're so right. A decision to go indie is a decision to become a businessperson. That means hiring good people to do the best possible work. I've never seen a book coded as badly as you describe, but it sure would be a nightmare for a reader. Even if it only costs 99 cents, people will be angry. And they'll never buy another book from you.Anne R. Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-18456247152541890332012-05-22T11:47:10.095-07:002012-05-22T11:47:10.095-07:00One rule if you decide to go Indie - do it properl...One rule if you decide to go Indie - do it properly. That means get an editor, have your cover professionally designed and make sure your book is correctly and professionally produced. Books full of typos and technical errors (i.e. too many point of view changes) with a scrappy cover and the text inside set as left justified or double spaced will not show you as a serious author.<br />If you want people to read your books give them the best quality you can.Helen Hollickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04292983846350273039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-49238740660355147852012-05-17T09:26:59.829-07:002012-05-17T09:26:59.829-07:00Nina Badzin left a comment that got eaten by the s...Nina Badzin left a comment that got eaten by the spam elves. <br />"Really, really solid advice that many writers NEED to hear. Off to tweet!" <br /><br />Thanks for the comment and the tweet Nina! And I'm really, really annoyed with the elves. it's not every day we get a comment from a HuffPo writer. How dare they eat your comment! I wish I knew how to make that stop.Anne R. Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-64601552883961060652012-05-17T09:18:41.257-07:002012-05-17T09:18:41.257-07:00Phyllis--Those scene breaks suddenly seem to be a ...Phyllis--Those scene breaks suddenly seem to be a problem. I think they must disappear in ebook formatting or something. But I'm with you: I think they're vital. No page break for a change of POV is just being mean to the reader. I hate fighting with editors who don't keep the reader's needs in mind.Anne R. Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-71525732446151764012012-05-16T18:27:04.261-07:002012-05-16T18:27:04.261-07:00Anne: As usual I loved your post. And congratulati...Anne: As usual I loved your post. And congratulations on the award. Belinda said something I've said to the newbies in my group who refuse to listen: "You don't know what you don't know." After proofreading for a national magazine and 35 years of both trad and self-publishing, I think I may be getting close to being able to self-edit. The copy editor of a well-known publisher, missed three typos and then wanted to eliminate my change-of-viewpoint scene breaks. Yikes.Phyllis Humphreyhttp://phyllishumphrey.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-38268013183176481552012-05-15T18:55:19.242-07:002012-05-15T18:55:19.242-07:00J.S. Thanks a bunch. I look forward to catching yo...J.S. Thanks a bunch. I look forward to catching your blog on Thursday. A lot of career writers have been burned by the Big 6, and self-publishing has been magic for them, but that doesn't mean it's best for everybody--especially newbies. It depends on so many factors. Every writer is different. And not all agents have horns and a tail :-)Anne R. Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-69237312706394906542012-05-15T11:44:40.169-07:002012-05-15T11:44:40.169-07:00This is a brilliant post. I love discussions of se...This is a brilliant post. I love discussions of self-publishing vs. commercial publishing that carefully consider both sides without pointing fingers. <br /><br />I'll be highlighting this on my blog in my Thursday roundup this week. Thank you!Jessica Schleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12295725932463022104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-72283187205836910822012-05-15T09:37:59.569-07:002012-05-15T09:37:59.569-07:00Yumi--Good question. Ten years ago "indie&quo...Yumi--Good question. Ten years ago "indie" did indeed refer to a small press, and still does in certain circles (I got to be in the Indie Chicks, even though I'm with two small presses.) But these days when people say "indie" most of them mean self-publishing. <br /><br />Charmaine--Thanks! You've said it very well: "ebooks thave made reading sexy again". And that's good for everybody!Anne R. Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-22944643977662429322012-05-15T04:05:29.840-07:002012-05-15T04:05:29.840-07:00Great post, you've put a lot of work into this...Great post, you've put a lot of work into this! Congrats on becoming a success story too.<br /><br />I fell in love with Kindles straight away, but since owning one not only do I download an endless number of ebooks, I buy probably ten times as many paper books as I used to. Our house is drowning in them. I think ebooks has made reading sexy again and that's good for the industry.Charmaine Clancyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18059559142070140041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-42372059655351210812012-05-15T00:38:17.373-07:002012-05-15T00:38:17.373-07:00Great post, but doesn't "indie publishing...Great post, but doesn't "indie publishing" mean that a book was published by a small publishing house?Yuminoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-81102199339419873052012-05-14T13:30:53.989-07:002012-05-14T13:30:53.989-07:00William--Unless Amazon has adopted this technology...William--Unless Amazon has adopted this technology in the past few days, they don't do this. You can definitely unpublish a book and edit it and republish (but note that if you use a facilitator like BookBaby this will cost some serious $$.)<br /><br />But you can't change an ebook that has been sold any more than you can change a paper book that's been sold. And as far as I know, Amazon doesn't keep records of who has bought your book.<br /><br />You could gift a copy of the new edition of the book to anybody who asked for one, or make it free, but you have no way of knowing who bought the unedited copies, so the customers would have to come to you. <br /><br />widdershins--Love the quote!Anne R. Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-2207733679664514342012-05-14T12:01:16.585-07:002012-05-14T12:01:16.585-07:00One of my favourite quotes that helps me in this w...One of my favourite quotes that helps me in this writerly business of ours is: 'Never fear going slowly, only fear standing still.'widdershinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04205462833259334647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-76702186995958167332012-05-14T11:57:47.589-07:002012-05-14T11:57:47.589-07:00You say:
But you know what you can't choose? ...You say:<br /><br />But you know what you can't choose? To edit a book that's already on somebody's Kindle.<br /><br /><br />Is that really true? I honestly don't know, but it shouldn't be true. From a technical perspective, Amazon could very easily let authors update books that have already been downloaded on to a Kindle. I'm not a writer, I'm a geek, but I know a few writers of technical books that have adopted lean publishing, which lets you deliver a book like startups deliver software. Maybe not the best strategy for everyone, but one that makes sense in some cases.William Ockhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13795149116565627671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-9755861114042467712012-05-14T10:24:24.559-07:002012-05-14T10:24:24.559-07:00Ranae--You've hit on the thing the battlers do...Ranae--You've hit on the thing the battlers don't seem to get: you can do both! Most successful writers are doing just that these days.<br /><br />Kathleen--Thanks for stopping by! As the author of at least 50 children's books, you speak from real experience. Learning to write well--and fast--is something to do BEFORE we try to become professional.Anne R. Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-76353194419895987232012-05-14T10:11:41.816-07:002012-05-14T10:11:41.816-07:00Denise—All those tedious steps in trad publishing ...Denise—All those tedious steps in trad publishing generally do make a better product. At least for beginning writers. Once you’re a pro with several books out and an established fan base, it often makes more sense to go indie.<br /><br />Stacy—Isn’t Mark Coker amazing? I got to hear him speak at the Central Coast Writers Conference, and he was so impressive: down to earth, friendly and really, really smart.<br /><br />Dean—2500 reviews is truly amazing. Yes, anybody who has that many reviews is bound to have some stinkers. Some people have a compulsion to knock down anybody who’s really successful. The sour grapes syndrome I think. <br /><br />Donna—I love the idea that a writing career can be guided by martial arts discipline. I think there are a lot of similarities there, and it sounds as if your career is off to a great start.<br /><br />Giulie—It really doesn’t have to be scary. Bullies are scary though, so we have to learn to ignore them. <br /><br />Judith—Thanks so much. You're one of the loyal blogfriends who have helped me through this crazy-hectic time.<br /><br />E J—I love contributing to the downfall of the World as We Know It:-) Love this “Some want a paperback in the bathtub. Some want it on an e-reader in their hotel room.” Exactly. And most of us actually want both. <br /><br />Steven—Marketing is a pain, and so much of our hard work doesn’t pay off. I’m not sure anybody knows what works any more. But certainly having more than one book is the number one way to publishing success. All the self-pub gurus like Konrath, DWS, KKR Locke, Hocking, etc, all had huge inventory before they started self-publishing.Anne R. Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-40698926996730245412012-05-14T09:56:21.646-07:002012-05-14T09:56:21.646-07:00Well said! And true. Everything changes. Readers-...Well said! And true. Everything changes. Readers--and writers--have always adapted to new opportunities. First, take time to learn to write well. Take time to inform yourself, too. A rush to publish in any media is rarely a good idea.kathleen dueyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01176852638727278256noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-27682469734269486022012-05-14T09:53:15.654-07:002012-05-14T09:53:15.654-07:00Anne, one of the things that I appreciate about yo...Anne, one of the things that I appreciate about your blog is that it's unbiased. I'm pro-traditional publishing. I'm pro-indie. And I don't like being told that I should take a side. I like enjoying the benefits of being with a publisher (paper copies, travel, signings, etc..), and I like the benefits of being indie (the control, the money). For me, being invested on both sides of the fence is perfect.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01025900107236429624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-91309124823976720262012-05-14T09:01:02.203-07:002012-05-14T09:01:02.203-07:00I was very reluctant to go ahead and release my no...I was very reluctant to go ahead and release my novel as an e-book. For one thing, I really wanted to hold the thing in my hand and turn its pages -- to feel it! But I finally went ahead after getting tired of too many agents saying "This is great but the publishing industry is in such a mess..." or whatever.<br /><br />I don't know what I feel about it now. My book's been well reviewed, which is nice. But getting the word out about it, so readers will take a look at it -- even know that they CAN take a look at it -- that has been an enormous frustration. It's hard to do on your own. At any rate, I haven't successfully figured out how to do it, so the book mostly remains in a sort of black hole.<br /><br />What to do? Write another one, right?Steven J. Wangsnesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14846516529180802046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-66204978086777433682012-05-14T06:58:04.604-07:002012-05-14T06:58:04.604-07:00Anne, this "a moron who's contributing to...Anne, this "a moron who's contributing to the downfall of civilization" had me lolling. :)<br /><br />Your thoughts are very, very astute. Although, I do believe a war is erupting (I blogged about it last week) between Amazon and traditional. I believe the litigation you mentioned has pushed many folks into 'making a final stand' so to speak.<br /><br />However, I agree with you completely on the author's role in all of this: be patient. Don't view anything as all or none, even if 'experts' are telling you it has to be. Try lots of things. So much freedom for the author right now, and it should be leveraged into reaching readers. <br /><br />Every journey is different. Write something awesome THEN figure out where it best fits. <br /><br />The bullying flat out ticks me off. Not so much from agents or editors as I think their stakes are a little different, but the author vs author stuff makes my neck hairs stiffen. I've read some traditional folks who say it has always been there, even in the paper world; a haves vs have nots kind of thing. Still makes me sad.<br /><br />Authors should be battling for the readers who have virtually no say in all of this. Not battling each other. <br /><br />What do readers want? As one, I can tell you: We want stories. Great stories. We want to be able to read them however we want. Some want a paperback in the bathtub. Some want it on an e-reader in their hotel room. Some want it on a phone on the subway. We also want to pay a fair price. No, not free, but fair. So keep making great stories, get them out there in lots of formats, don't make us take out a second mortgage to purchase bits of 'the cloud' and we'll be happy. <br /><br />Great, great post.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00273059558675234923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-21535967318096083052012-05-14T06:30:31.765-07:002012-05-14T06:30:31.765-07:00Thanks. I can always count on you for a sane perpe...Thanks. I can always count on you for a sane perpective and sound advice. Congratulations on being honored.Judith Mercadohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13739476600999112092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-10472945101874573192012-05-14T05:51:33.078-07:002012-05-14T05:51:33.078-07:00What a wonderful post, Anne. You put things in suc...What a wonderful post, Anne. You put things in such great perspective--and I love the "thumb your nose at bullies" attitudes here. Long overdue, in my opinion. To be honest, I haven't given self-publishing much serious consideration, precisely because, as a debut author, I feel I need the "seal of approval" of the traditional industry as witness to the quality of my writing before launching it out there and *then* realizing it wasn't ready. I'm no Zen master of humility, but I do know I'm about halfway through those 10,000 hours, and that means I can't trust my own judgement quite yet :)<br /><br />Still, I love the idea of empowerment this e-book revolution is giving authors everywhere, and especially I love the idea of choice. You've done a great job of explaining it in such a way as to take the terror out of it. EVERYONE needs to read this post!Guilie Castillohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09006999087139126972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-21853795637049583652012-05-14T05:06:57.605-07:002012-05-14T05:06:57.605-07:00I'm one of those "first year" writer...I'm one of those "first year" writers who DID feel at first as if I had been dropped into a whirlwind of controversy and debate over the future of the writing and publishing industry. But the more I read the more I felt I needed to take time to digest all I was reading before making what I hoped would be an informed decision.<br /><br />My patience and self-control for my own writing came from an unexpected source...twelve years of martial arts training. Oh I knew that training served me well in my regular life but I always saw my writing as a personal, creative endeavor that wouldn't necessarily blend with the disciplined structure of TaeKwonDo. <br /><br />I was so wrong as both compliment each other very well (I even wrote a middle grade chapter book with a TaeKwonDo theme to it) and now...a year later...I find that all of this change isn't scary to me...I just have to make sure I keep reading informative blogs like this one and whatever I decide to do for MY writing career in the future will leace me with no regrets as to the path I chose.<br /><br />Thanks for all you do for the writing community!<br /><br />Donna L Martin<br />www.donasdays.blogspot.comDonna L Martinhttp://www.donasdays.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-86370319420769356752012-05-14T00:24:19.124-07:002012-05-14T00:24:19.124-07:00Wonderful post, Anne! I like your snarky side. I&#...Wonderful post, Anne! I like your snarky side. I'm a foot-on-each-sider and truly hate all the nastiness going back and forth. Thanks for doing your part to bring some sanity into the picture.Alicia Streethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04567763218709103021noreply@blogger.com