The Costs of Publishing (as an indie writer)

There are many costs in producing a book whether you are a big press or a self-publishing independent. Some of them are obvious and some much less so, especially if you don’t live in the United States. For example, to produce a professional-quality book (note, I didn’t say, “bestseller” or “best-written”) there are several things you need to have and do. The one cost I don’t talk about is the cost of time. That’s a given. To produce anything worthwhile will take time. You’ve got to be prepared to invest that. Editing There are two main types of editing that I’m talking about here: developmental and line. You need both. Some editors do one kind, some the other. Occasionally you […]

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Get Published Episode 97 – Mark Leslie, Book Nerd with Many Hats

For those of you who have the joy of Black Friday, I hope you survived the mayhem unscathed.  Rather than going shopping, I went out with my Scouts to do our Survival Shelter Camp. There was lots of snow and lots of hunters around, but I’m pleased to report that everyone who went came back intact. Still, I’m undecided whether the camp or Black Friday shopping would have been the easier choice. On today’s show I speak to Mark Leslie Lefebvre. Mark is a writer, editor and he recently became the Director of Self-Publishing & Author Relations at Kobo. Mark is also President of the Canadian Booksellers Association. We had a great conversation talking about self-publishing, Kobo Writing Life, and […]

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Get Published Episode 72 – Michael Stackpole Talks Digital Media

When I went to World Fantasy Convention in October, one of my goals was to line up some guests for the show. I didn’t really expect to get too many in person interviews because the convention is pretty busy and everyone is trying to get as much in as they can. I did manage two in person interviews. The first, which I’m going to share with you today, is with Michael Stackpole. Mike is one of the big e-vangelists in the industry for self e-publishing. He has a ton of great things to say. Unfortunately, there weren’t many quiet places to comfortably talk at. In this case, we had some construction across the street so you get a lot of […]

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Things, they are a-changin’

Things have certainly changed since I started podcasting. Even more since I started blogging. For example, when I first started podcasting, the phrase “Self Publishing” carried a terrible odour. People who claimed to be self-published were held akin to vanity presses. Authors with true aspirations of writing full-time wouldn’t tread anywhere near the idea. That has changed a great deal. I know many authors who regularly use services like Smashwords to publish their work and make it available for sale. I have also seen and heard rumblings from several people (including both successful writers and publishers) that the major changes we have seen within the publishing industry are only the tip of the iceberg. I’m still trying to wrap my […]

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