Going Indie: 4 Tips Indie Hip-Hop Group Macklemore Can Teach Authors

April 30, 2013 by 6 Comments
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We lurrrrve Macklemore.           In the past six months, indie hip-hop group Macklemore (Ben Haggerty & Ryan Lewis) has become HUGE. Not Harry-Potter-over-two-decades huge, but they’re certainly inching on Hunger-Games-over-five-years huge. “Thrift Shop,” a funky little ear worm that has everyone talking about poppin’ tags, has dominated YouTube waves with nearly 250 million views as of today and has gone platinum. Macklemore is the first indie group (an artist or group without the backing of a major record label) in nearly two decades to top the Billboard charts with “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us”; another hit, “Same Love” celebrates same-sex marriage, becoming a standard protest/civil rights anthem. Another hit on their 2012 album The Heist is a track called “Jimmy Iovine,” based on the legendary… [read more]

Filed Under: Audience, Authorpreneur, Branding, Fun, Indie Publishing, Kickstarter, Literary Trends, Media, Self-publishing, Social Media, Technology, Traditional Publishing, Twitter, YouTube Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Author Interview: Indie Author Genese Davis’s Gamer Fiction, “The Holder’s Dominion”

March 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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This week, we (electronically) sat down with one of our favorite indie authors, Genese Davis, to talk about her journey in indie-publishing!   On March 1, 2013, Davis released her very first novel, The Holder’s Dominion, a new-adult gamer-fiction title. Though Davis never thought she would become a gamer—nevermind a gaming enthusiast—she discovered the world of gaming as an adult through Final Fantasy XI, and has since cracked the top 100 in the world for her class in World of Warcraft. Her experiences in gaming laid the groundwork for The Holder’s Dominion, a book meant to encourage excitement around the gaming world.       Genese, please tell us a little bit about yourself. I grew up in Santa Fe,… [read more]

Filed Under: Author Interview, Authorpreneur, Book Launch, Branding, Indie Publishing, Literary Trends, Publishers Weekly, Self-publishing, Thought Leader Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Top 5 Reasons Traditional Authors Are Going Indie

March 1, 2013 by 16 Comments
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      NDIE!     It’s probably not a surprise–we’re always hearing about authors who have previously published traditionally choosing to go indie.  But what is making them? When they’ve been accepted by the literary elites, and they’ve been given advances and have received the support of a publisher, what motivation could make them switch to publishing independently? The top 5 reasons we see authors going indie:   1. The “support” traditional publishers offer is no longer as relevant or valuable. Traditionally, publishers would give authors a nice, fat advance. Then they’d take the brand-spankin’-new author’s book, publish it, deliver it to the exclusive sales channels (the traditional bookstores, unreachable to anyone but publishers and the ONLY place anyone… [read more]

Filed Under: Indie Publishing, Literary Trends, Pub. Industry, Publishers Weekly, Royalty Publishing, Self-publishing, Traditional Publishing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Viva La Indie! ‘The Indie Author Revolution’ by Dara M. Beevas

September 28, 2012 by 5 Comments
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      It’s not a trend.   It’s not a fad.   It’s not deniable.   It’s the age of the indie author. Above: Dara M. Beevas. Photo by Bridget Marchesi I (Amy) live in a career (yes, that verb choice was intentional—I brainstorm about my authors in my sleep!) where I am constantly surrounded and inspired by creative, innovative, driven people who write books for hundreds of reasons and for innumerable audiences. One of the most inspiring authors I’ve come across? One particular author motivated to write for the audience described above—the audience of creative, innovative, driven people who just need to know how to navigate the crooked, difficult, and infinitely rewarding path of independent authorship. Last night, I… [read more]

Filed Under: Authorpreneur, Book Launch, Indie Publishing, Literary Trends, Motivational, Pub. Industry, Self-publishing, Traditional Publishing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Five Books to Read Before You Publish

September 10, 2012 by 6 Comments
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As you know, and as we love to talk about all the time, the best and worst thing about self-publishing is that the author has all the decision-making power. While this is fantastic for a number of reasons–(e.g. authors get all the profits)–it can be detrimental for other reasons–(e.g. the editor wasn’t properly screened because the author didn’t know the right questions to ask). As we also say all the time, the time has come for authors to stop making mistakes in the publishing process! There are too many beautiful, well-made, movement-making self-published books out there that are still being discredited by the stigma perpetuated by the shortcuts of other authors. It’s time for YOU, the author, to take the… [read more]

Filed Under: Authorpreneur, Book Marketing, Branding, Indie Publishing, Literary Trends, Planning, Self-publishing, Writing, Writing Prompts Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Interview with Indie Author Matthew J. Beier, “The Breeders”

August 31, 2012 by 2 Comments
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With self-publishing, you either pay for quality control, or you do it yourself. This week, Matthew J. Beier, indie author of The Breeders, joined me for some Earl Grey tea and some conversation. Beier has several other books in the works, including a seven-book series that begins with The Confessions of Jonathan Flite, coming  fall of 2013. His July 9, 2012 article in Publishers Weekly titled “Of Decisions and Dream Chasing” explores his decision to self-publish, even though he was getting enough attention from agents to trust that a deal was likely to come through at some point. As it turns out, the self-publishing route allowed The Breeders—which subtly and not-so-subtly deals with many high-profile social justice issues—to come out right at the perfect… [read more]

Filed Under: Agents, Audience, Editing, Indie Publishing, Literary Trends, Pub. Industry, Publishers Weekly, Quotes, Self-publishing, Traditional Publishing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

A Deadline to Publish: Amanda Hocking Doesn’t Let Hundreds of Rejections Stand In Her Way!

August 29, 2012 by 6 Comments
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We love Amanda Hocking. She’s that fabulous success story author who really did know better than the hundreds of agents who rejected her seven novels. But, she had the goal of being a published author by the time she was 26, just like Stephen King, and used it as a “deadline” for herself: If she didn’t get a publishing deal by the age of 26, she’d do it herself. As we know now, she DID do it herself, and it ended up leading to that big publishing deal she had been pushing for for so many years. We know that the biggest (and safest) slush pile out there right now for traditional publishers is self-published authors who are making waves…. [read more]

Filed Under: Agents, Audience, Authorpreneur, eBooks, Indie Publishing, Literary Trends, Pub. Industry, Royalty Publishing, Self-publishing, Traditional Publishing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Well-Rounded Authorpreneur: Be a Thought Leader (Part 1 of 2)

August 15, 2012 by 4 Comments
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In today’s world, there are about as many ways to publish (self-publishing, scholarly publishing, nonprofit publishing, digital publishing, etc.) as there are reasons (fame, passion, creating a movement, legacy, preservation, etc). In any publishing realm not solely for personal/family reasons, every author should be an authorpreneur. An authorpreneur (author + entrepreneur) is an author who recognizes what it takes to be successful as an author in today’s world–not twenty years ago. An authorpreneur takes habits from highly successful entrepreneurs and implements them into selling their book. An authorpreneur isn’t just a writer; an authorpreneur is a speaker, social media strategist, networker, etc. The  authorpreneur recognizes that the book is just a piece of the puzzle, a product that supports and is… [read more]

Filed Under: Audience, Authorpreneur, Book Marketing, Branding, Literary Trends, Motivational, Pub. Industry, Speaking, Storytelling, Thought Leader Tagged With: , , , , ,

Indie versus Traditional: Do Traditionally Published Authors Work Harder?

August 10, 2012 by 11 Comments
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Scrolling down the Twitter timeline this week, we came across a link to an article where bestselling author Sue Grafton had much to say about self-publishing. In response to a question about her advice for writers, here’s what she had to say, Quit worrying about publication and master your craft. If you have a good story to tell and if you write it well, the Universe will come to your aid. Don’t self-publish. That’s as good as admitting you’re too lazy to do the hard work. She goes on to say more, even referring to indies as “wannabes.” This got us thinking. Do indies put in less elbow grease than trads? It would be too easy to write Ms. Grafton… [read more]

Filed Under: Indie Publishing, Literary Trends, Royalty Publishing, Self-publishing, Traditional Publishing Tagged With: ,

3 Excuses Authors Use to Avoid Social Media

June 6, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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Like most citizens of the universe, I have been aware of the explosion social media has created in human communication. I have seen how it has localized communities a world away, and created new communities. I have seen how it has allowed so many of my authors to connect with their readers in a direct way that was never before possible. Yet, for some reason, in this era when social media has progressed so many industries and entrepreneurs, I am still having conversations with some of my authors where I am convincing THEM to engage in social media. Let me repeat: I still sometimes have to convince my indie authors to engage in the platforms that have–for the first time… [read more]

Filed Under: Audience, Book Marketing, Literary Trends, Media, Motivational, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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