Event! Event! The RMFW Indie-Pub Extravaganza!

Are you a Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers member who has recently self published a work of novel-length commercial fiction? Would you like to share your experiences with other writers who are interested in exploring self-publishing options? Then please consider participating in this exciting program!

RMFW is looking for panelists/speakers as well as other self-published authors who want to be on hand to promote their work by chatting with attendees and signing postcards, bookmarks, or other promotional materials. Panelists will be chosen on the basis of indie-pubbing experience, and seats at signing tables are limited.

When and where:

Saturday, April 27
1:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Belmar Public Library
555 S. Allison Parkway
Lakewood, CO 80226

Whatever your level of interest, you must RSVP to programs@rmfw.org to reserve your spot. This program will be free and open to the public; attendees do not need to RSVP.

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Janet Fogg

Janet is the author of Soliloquy, an award-winning historical romance, and co-author of the military history best seller, Fogg in the Cockpit.

Is Micro-publishing The Game Changer?

From the wandering mind of Tamela Buhrke.

“Having worked with several micro-publishers this past year, I have noticed that personal empowerment earned via micro-publishing is powerful. It’s like a gateway drug to authorhood.” Christina Katz

It’s like she read my mind... but wrote it better.

Last week I wrote about the changes in the publishing industry and how those changes have given authors more control over their lives. I suggested that these new options provide authors with the power to choose their own publishing route. Then yesterday, Christina Katz (the woman who literally wrote the book on author platforms) wrote a blog post about that very thing.

In fact, she suggests that we no longer look at independent publishers and traditional publishers as an “Us vs. Them,” but as a spectrum of opportunity. Opportunity that comes from getting our hands dirty in the world of publishing and marketing books.

In the post Stop, Drop, and Micro-publish, Katz writes: “Doesn’t it make a lot more sense to try and do everything publishing-wise you can in your lifetime?”

Instead of sending queries and waiting for someone else to decide our fate, this new publishing era has provided us with an unprecedented opportunity to grow and experiment. We can decide the best publishing model for our current book project. Then we might use a very different model on our next project.

Now isn’t that better than just waiting for someone else to hand you your author career?

Katz even suggests that we ditch calling it indie publishing, and switch to micro-publishing. That’s because “indie” suggests that they are different or apart from traditional publishers. In truth, most are doing nearly everything that the big publishing houses do, just on a smaller scale. Calling them micro-publishers acknowledges that a self-published author actually has a greater understanding of the entire publishing process.

Micro-publishers learn fast that they are selling a product. It's an artistic product, but still a product. It needs to be a good product—also known as good writing. But it also has to be a sellable product. That means it needs to find a market. And for those that worry this will stifle creativity, think again. Creative micro-publishers are learning how to find the niche that will buy their type of writing; usually in markets that have been under represented by traditional publishing.

All of this leads to authors who are more confident. They aren’t lined up against the gymnasium wall, terrified that they won’t get picked for the team. They are out there, creating their own game. Finding their own niche and building themselves an author business.

So are micros done with traditional publishing? Heck no! Time and again, we see micro-publishers getting contracts with publishing houses. Some of them are small houses and some large. But savvy micros are choosing them.

Choosing them!

How’s that for a game changer?

Micro-publishers actively create their own publishing options. They build an author platform. Find their markets and build their brand. Then when their books reach a point where further distribution is necessary, they approach publishing houses with all the pieces in place. They go into negotiations with an understanding of how the industry works, where they are in the process, and what they need from a publisher.

Even better, the publisher benefits from this arrangement. They no longer have to take a risk on an author that isn’t tested by the market. They get an author who understands the industry from the inside out. Plus, they can easily build a successful campaign because the author has already laid the marketing groundwork.

And for those who’s micro-publishing ventures didn’t succeed?

They still come out of it with a greater understanding of the market and the publishing process. They see the author experience a lot more clearly. They understand the difficulties and the rewards. Then most of them roll up their sleeves, take what they’ve learned and apply it to their next book publishing adventure.

So what about you? Are you ready to go micro in 2012?

New Year, New Publishing Possibilities

From the wandering mind of Tamela Buhrke

Happy New Year! As 2012 gets underway, I've been thinking back on all the new opportunities for authors that 2011 made possible. There used to be just one path to publishing. Now there are a plethora (my favorite word) of options.

Let's take a look at how this wonderful new world of publishing sprang to life.

The Era of One Path

For as long as there has been a publishing industry, the fate of an author has been at the mercy of that machine. That process. It cultivated a mindset of having no control over your own career. Authors felt like employees of chaotic companies. Their futures, their incomes at the whim of an editor or a marketing person. Having their books stranded when their editors were fired or transferred. Sometimes having no input over simple things like the cover of their own books.

But then something happened that changed everything...

Amazon: The Dawn of Two Paths

With the advent of the self publishing revolution, aspiring authors ran to Amazon. This was the answer to an aspiring author's dreams. They could snub their noses at the agents and big publishing houses (and often used social networks to do it publicly). Authors could take back their power. They could forge their own destiny.

At the same time, traditionalists argued against self publishing. It lacked the quality of the big houses. It lacked the distribution channels. Don't do it! You'll ruin your career.

For almost a year there were blog wars waged over which path was best. Camp Traditional vs. Camp Indie. Who would win? Then the Indie camp won a few large battles with successes like Amanda Hocking and J. A. Konrath. The tides seemingly turned back toward Traditional when Ms Hocking accepted a traditional publishing contract. But in a surprise move, traditionally published authors like Barry Eisler started turning down contracts and moving into camp Indie.

Then J.K. Rowling snubbed them all to start her own ebook publishing & retail site—Pottermore.

Self publishing and self distribution?!

Madness.

What will these authors want next? Full control of their entire project?

Yes, please.

Multiple Paths

Though not all of us have the resources of a J.K. Rowling, we do have much greater control over our author path. Unfortunately, the options available can be overwhelming. To combat this overwhelm, a cottage industry of publishing services are springing up like t-shirt vendors at a Justin Bieber concert.

Now you have multiple paths to publishing and multiple options within those paths:

• Traditional: Large houses, medium houses, small press, imprints
• Self publishing: epub, traditional print, POD, Amazon, Smashwords, iPad, Nook etc.
• Independent publishing (yes, that's different from self publishing)
• ePublishing houses
• Book packagers
• Vanity press (still evil)
• Combinations of above

Each has their benefits and drawbacks. However, now you can choose different options for each of your books. This gives you the flexibility of using a publishing option that fits a particular books needs, instead of trying to fit all your books into one system.

So for the next few weeks, I plan to explore all the various publishing options. We'll delve into the possibilities and help you make decisions about what path is right for you.

Writers Over The Edge: Rage Review

A humorous short by Tamela Buhrke

“Welcome back to the Indie Publishing Talk Network. I’m your host, Joe Wilson. Today I’ll be interviewing a young woman who has caused quite a stir in the writing community. That’s right folks, Jezebel Hewett is in our studios. She had the audacity to do what no author, indie or otherwise, has done before -- she argued with a book reviewer on his own blog. She didn’t like what he had to say. She fought back. Now she’s here to tell us about it. Jezebel, great to have you here.”

“Great to be here, Joe,” Jezebel yelled into the screeching mic. “I think it’s about time someone listened to my side of the story.”

Joe gestured at Jody in the control room to lower the volume on Jezebel’s mic.

“So let’s dive right in! You wrote a novel and decided to publish it independently. Why is that?”

“The publishing industry is *bleep*ed up, Joe,” Jezebel said with a confident nod. “They don’t know their *bleep* from a hole in the ground, now do they?”

"I’m sorry Jezebel, we can’t use that kind of language on the air.”

“What? Why? Is it because I’m English?”

“No, it’s just that we can’t use profanity on air. So let’s get back to your book. You self-published and then you sent your novel out to the review blogs...”

“Bad decision on my part.”

Joe leaned back in his seating, feeling like he’d finally gotten control of this interview. “Why is that?

“Review bloggers are worse than the agents and publishers, aren’t they? They are more worried about grammar and spelling than about the book itself. That don’t make sense!”

Joe frowned. “Uh, isn’t grammar and spelling important?”

“My writing is just fine!” Jezebel glared at him.

“That doesn’t really answer the question.”

“*Bleep* off!”

“Okaaay,” Joe paused to give her a moment to explain, but she just scowled at him. “Well, hmm... let’s see what our listeners have to say. Jody, my lovely assistant, are there any callers on the line?”

Jody’s eyes sparkled as she opened the line to talk on air. “Joe, we have Big Jake on line two. He’s the blogger who negatively reviewed Jezebel’s book.”

Joe gave her two big thumbs up and punched line two. “Big Jake, welcome to the show!”

“Thank you Joe. Can I just take a moment to make something very clear?”

“Fire away, Big Jake.”

“I want everyone listening to know that most of the indie books that I review are very well written and enjoyable. I don’t want people to think that this woman represents the independent book market in any way.”

Jezebel leaned into her mic. “Well, for once in your *bleep*ing life, you got something right Big Jake! You snake! You are just like the rest of the reviewers in your snake pit. So I’m not going to join your little group, am I? I’m not going to be an indie author anymore. I’m starting a new style of publishing.”

“Wow, listeners, you’ve heard it here first. Jezebel what new style of publishing is that?”

“Cobra Venom.”

Jake looked up at Jezebel in confusion. “I’m sorry? Did you say ‘Cobra Venom?’”

“Charlie Sheen may have Tiger’s Blood in his veins, but I have Cobra Venom spitting through my teeth.”

Jezebel pulled a cigarette out of the pocket of her shirt and placed it between her lips.

“I, uh, I’m not sure I know what you mean.” Joe said, shaking his head and waving a finger at her cigarette.

“Well, if the publishing industry is going to be a bunch of *bleep* and the reviewers for indie books are stupid *bleep*ing snakes in a pit,” Jezebel said with the cigarette balancing on the edge of her lip, “then I say I should fight fire with fire. I’m going to start an independent movement that’s independent of the indie movement.”

“Independent of the independents?” Joe asked, grimacing at the lighter Jezebel pulled out of her pocket.

“That’s right! I’m calling it Cobra Venom. Like the bleeding snake that got out of the New York Zoo.” She lit the cigarette and sucked in, ignoring Joe’s glare. “I’m freeing writers every where from the tyranny of publishers and book reviews.”

“But aren’t book reviews important for book sales?”

Jezebel blew smoke out her nostrils.

“Book reviewers, pshah!” she said with sneer. “Who are they anyway? We won’t join their little group. Instead we’ll write our own way. If we have grammar errors, then I see nothing wrong with it. If reviewers don’t like our work, I say we’ll just inject them with our venom. We are Cobra Venom!”

Jezebel arced her fingers in front of her mouth in the universal sign for fangs. Jody threw her head down on the console. Her shoulders moved up and down rhythmically. Joe had to look away from both of them.

“Well, listeners, you heard it. Today, a new style of writing has been born. It’s called Cobra Venom.”

“Sssssst.”

“What was that?” Joe asked.

“That was me being a *bleep*ing cobra.”

Joe glanced over at the shaking Jody, who was now slapping the desk with one hand.

“Um. Well folks, that’s all we have time for today. Join us tomorrow on Indie Publishing Talk Network when we’ll be interviewing three indie authors who claim to know Amanda Hocking. Good night Indie land!”