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Why I Chose Independent Publishing

PLEASE NOTE: This is posted as part of a blog carnival. Please follow this link to Dun Scaith, the host blog for this carnival.

I’ve said all of this before, but I’ll say it again. And again and again and again, no doubt. I’ll shout it from the rooftops until all the naysayers stop saying

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It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

“Show, don’t tell,” Round N

Over and over and over, you hear people saying that. “Show, don’t tell.” Usually, it’s said by someone who feels they must “be constructive” (ie, say something bad, but say it nicely) or they’re not being helpful. Well, guess what? Words can’t show! They can only tell!

It was a dark and

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Tapping the Sugar Maple

Rule #1: Self-publishing is always a bad idea.
Rule #2: When self-publishing is making money, climb on board.

Those seem to be the rules Harlequin, Thomas Nelson, Hay House, and who knows how many others are playing by now. “Self-publishing is stupid! Self-publishing is evil! Self-publishing is lazy! Self-publishers haven’t paid their dues! Wait, what? Money is

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Writers vs Readers – Part N

I know I’ve covered this before, but I’m too lazy too check.

Hey, I’m getting old. I get to indulge in repetitive blather. And one of the soap boxes I like to climb is that old favorite, “Who am I writing for?” In my Google Reader this morning, I came across New Launch: Peer Critique

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Why John Edgar Wideman Self-Published

Read this:

By self-publishing, I hope to liberate myself from two burdensome responsibilities—recouping the enormous, up-front costs of conventional publication and the necessity of earning large profits if I expect major houses to remain interested in my work. I’m seeking rational alternatives to the conventional routine of book promotion, an uninspired ritual that may garner 30

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Storytelling – It’s NOT All About the Words

Pop quiz:

Question one: What’s this?

Question two: What’s this?

 

The moral of the story? It’s not all about the words.

You know what the top picture is, what it means, where you might encounter it, and what to do with it. The second picture is a lot less meaningful, and yet what is it lacking,

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Arguments Against Self-Publishing, Round N

There’s been another surge in the argument about self-publishing, and whether or not it is something that is worth pursuing. It seems to me that most of the arguments against self-publishing begin at the wrong place and proceed in the wrong direction.

It has become extremely commonplace to hear people say that you just have to

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A Rant on Copyright vs Piracy (wherein I lose my civility)

I’m getting a little tired of hearing all the same old sad, irrelevant arguments brought to bear in the defense of piracy.

Piracy isn’t really stealing, because the so-called victim of the piracy never loses anything.

Piracy isn’t a violation of copyright law, because you’re making a copy for your own personal use, and that’s legal.

Copyright law

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Further Thoughts on Copyright – A Response to Luke Bergeron

This is a portion of a conversation already under way. Please read the following post first:
mispeled.net — What They Steal

And be warned: he’s going to point you to a post or two you should read even before that, so if you haven’t kept up with this conversation, go ahead and get caught up. We’ll

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Is 80,000 Words Really a Short Story?

What do you call a short story, a novella, or a novel?

I had an interesting discussion some time back with another self-publisher. Not a fiction author, to the best of my knowledge; he was writing cookbooks, but that doesn’t really change anything. I told him I had written nine novellas, and that I liked the

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