Jane Friedman’s blog There Are No Rules is one of the best blogs on self-publishing out there, and I’d suggest any interested in self-publishing — or hell, publishing — check in regularly (after you read the Revolution, of course). One of the cool things I’ve discovered is that Jane will post promising articles and conversations about self-publishing and compile them into neat lists like this one. Here are three from this batch that I found particularly enlightening.
We Who Are About to Die: Is the future of book publishing the same as the future of reading and writing?
This is the million-dollar question, to be sure, relevant to publishers, writers, and self-published writers. Particularly germaine to the latter because, after all, you get to help settle the question for good. The question is asked just so author Daniel Nester can shout “NO!” but his logic is powerful and its implications positive for those of us not shackled to literary nostalgia.
A Newbies Guide to Publishing: Guest Post by Guido Henkel
Philosophical discussions about technology and publishing have to be big picture. Pragmatic discussions about technology, publishing, and marketing, can be more bare-knuckled: Joe Konrath posts, analyzes, and builds upon an already-thorough/imaginative/aggressive marketing strategy by Guido Henkel. I like this not only because you see two astute minds working to promote a self-published series, but because the give-and-take really shows how this business is governed by trial-and-error. As a self-publisher, your strategies will evolve. Nothing is static. And also: How persistence is necessary, even if it isn’t enough on its own.
Problogger: Don’t Go It Alone: Relationship-building for Bloggers
Tip No. 4 should be friendly urls for copying-and-pasting. This piece by Jane Sheeba is fairly straightforward, but the suggestions here are still things we tend to overlook. If you’re an effective self-publisher you’re probably a blogger as well. Take a look at this entry for some tips on how to maintain and expand you following, and to make your connections deeper and more effective.
Tomorrow, I’ll have to post something about my own efforts, but these articles were too absorbing and insightful to go unmentioned. Props having been given, I hope you take a look at some of these writers.