Presenting ‘The Ethical Author Code’ — for writers of all stripes. Among Big Idea proposals in The FutureBook’s (#FutureBook14) final session of the day on Friday in London, Orna Ross’ presentation of the “Ethical Author” programme is the one that may trigger the most controversy among writers. Offered as “an author programme facilitated by the Alliance… Read More
At Frankfurt Book Fair: Between creativity and commerce
Books are a business. Books are an art. And we’re all caught in the middle. Developing a creative relationship with money will make you more aware of that underlying pattern and will also surface your values, what’s most important to you in life. Surely, you’d say, this is the writing of one of our many… Read More
Independent Author Previews and a 'tide turning'
The Bookseller’s announcement that it will begin next month previewing self-published work from the Nook Press platform prompted our #FutureChat focus on efforts to “open up to indies,” as the Alliance of Independent Authors’ campaign (ALLi) has it. While most of the reception of the news has seemed positive, the new programme’s outlines are still coming… Read More
Can we float more indie boats?
With news of The Bookseller’s Independent Author Previews — an arrangement with the Barnes & Noble self-publishing platform Nook Press — self-publishing authors gain a store window on a long, virtual high street that’s swarming with competition. For those books and authors chosen to be featured, Independent Author Previews has the potential to be a game-changer. The new programme will see an average… Read More
Libiro, PODG, And A Flash Of Green
“The Libiro Platform Is Serving A Niche Market” It’s like the fabled “flash of green” said to be spotted at times just as the setting sun slips below the sea’s horizon: you’re never quite sure you’ve glimpsed the “indie-only audience.” You read mildly feverish references to these quicksilver consumers in blog comments, of course. Allusions… Read More
Eight Issues in Author Ethics
As Self-Publishing Matures… Well, I’ve never purchased or read a self-pubbed book and have no plans to do so, in part because they’re generally unedited and of poor quality and in part because you can’t trust the reviews. I think most of us know that if an indie book has all glowing reviews, they’re either… Read More
London Book Fair to PubSmart: Are Publishers & Authors Getting Closer?
The non-aligned author corps these days is replete with people whose idea of value in literature seems to revolve around what Dan Holloway terms “the wild, the brilliant, the flamboyant, and the flawed.” And some of these folk seem determined to reject any chance that such edifying material might find its way to market through… Read More
More Gatekeeping? Sisyphus Could Relate
What happens when self-pubishers, themselves, begin creating awards and accolades for each other’s (self-published) work? Have self-publishing authors at that point not begun to reflect some patterns of quality-delineation, selectivity…gatekeeping? Read More
Oil, Water, Publishers, Self-Publishers
While many legacy publishers may not like to think about how large the self-publishing movement is (Smashwords alone, has announced that writers have self-published more than 250,000 books on its platform), it appears that making money off self-publishing authors is just fine by the traditional houses. And that is, at the least, an unattractive reality. Read More
FutureBook: Orna Ross, the Pudding Would Like a Word
By Porter Anderson | @Porter_Anderson The FutureBook: Orna Ross, the Pudding Would Like a Word At The FutureBook: What’s important is for all of us to remember that our words, our expressions of opinion, can be hurtful, wrong, unfair, damaging. It’s incumbent upon us to be careful. A tip from the long-lost arts of journalism:… Read More