Showcase for indie writers

[moz]

FWIW I'm a member of a photography forum that does that - there's a corner of the front page with a few specials on it that links to a bigger price list. Buying from the site is mostly cheaper than ebay and simpler, plus of course the seller is guaranteed. The site gets a small cut and everyone is happy. People still discuss other sellers and so on, it doesn't seem to have had any chilling effect.

The other thing about www.dslrusers.com is that it has an image critique section that actually works. People give honest, constructive feedback and there are relatively few ego posts (because, well, if you whine about getting critiques people laugh at you)

[Gudy]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

1. You must write.

2. You must finish what you write.

3. You must submit what you have written to an editor who might buy it.

4. You must continue submitting until the work either sells or is bounced by every conceivable market.

5. You must not make changes in what you write unless an editor commits to buy the work with those changes.

Hmm, 1, 2, and 5 strike me as eminently reasonable, but I don't quite see how 3 and 4 necessarily obtain if your plan, e.g. is to go it alone and without whatever benefits editors and publishers might get you in exchange for what looks like large amounts of money and frustration.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Gudy

Hmm, 1, 2, and 5 strike me as eminently reasonable, but I don't quite see how 3 and 4 necessarily obtain if your plan, e.g. is to go it alone and without whatever benefits editors and publishers might get you in exchange for what looks like large amounts of money and frustration.

Heinlein was specifically addressing the case where you intended to sell what you wrote to a publisher that bought such things. It does not cover the current possibility of selling directly to readers. The question there is whether you can do that and make a living at it.
______
Dennis

[Richard Herley]

I have set up the blog mooted at the beginning of this thread. Readers may like to bookmark the URL in case something comes of it; writers may like to look over it and think about making an entry.

http://independent-authors.blogspot.com/

Thanks.

[carandol]

Thanks for putting that site up, Richard. Hope it works! I've given it a plug my LiveJournal, which I know is read by quite a few writer friends; hopefully the word will spread. Getting the first author to post is going to be the difficult bit - everyone's going to be a bit shy and waiting for someone else to post first

[Richard Herley]

Thanks, carandol, it's much appreciated. I have been mailing a few chums but I hope (for the site's sake and not theirs) that they're all hung over. It seems odd to me that there's nowhere else like that; if there is, I certainly haven't heard of it.

If any shy authors are reading this: don't be backward in coming forward!

And I also very much appreciate the interest I've had from MobileRead members, and of course the indulgence of MobileRead in allowing me this help. I've given MR a link on the blog and on my own site, FWIW.

[carandol]

I wouldn't worry too much if uptake isn't immediate. Unless a writer already has a site where they're selling their work, they're probably going to want to get one set up before they start publicising it.

[Richard Herley]

Also, they'll be fearful about lending their name to a site populated by (shall we say) less than Nobel prizewinners. Still, the blog format does let an author remotely delete his/her entry.

I do believe a site like this is necessary for self-published authors. If not this one, then one like it. We'll have to wait and see.

[Jeff Duntemann]

Nice work, Richard. I just posted over there, and hope you can get some momentum with it. Good luck and persevere--this part of the business is still in its infancy, and I don't think any of us went into writing expecting to get rich!

[Richard Herley]

Jeff, thanks for your contribution. Did you post in a category yet? The "recent comments" widget doesn't seem to be working so I may have to fix it.

You're right, no one in his/her right mind would write solely from a financial motive.

(To all writers: come along, what's your problem with free publicity? As I've already said, you can delete your entry remotely if you're not happy with the way the site develops.)

[April Hamilton]

I've now got 7 free IndieAuthor how-to Guides on my site. Most recently, I posted the 55pp IndieAuthor Guide to Promotion.

I will now turn my attention to combining all the Guides into a single volume, adding additional illustrations, additional chapters and supplemental material, and finally, publishing the whole thing as a book for sale. However, even after the book is out I'll keep the individual, free Guides on my site.