News

The self-publishing blogosphere just got a lot more slick and professional.  The Lulu Book Review is now the LL Book Review – offering reviews of books on CreateSpace and Wordclay, as well as Lulu, with a totally revamped design.  This is great news as self-publishing becomes more legitimized and a part of the overall dialogue.

In editor Shannon Yarbrough’s own words:

For over a year, the Lulu Book Review has been offering Lulu authors a chance to shine.  With some exciting new changes, the site will now reach out to more indie authors and do it in style.  In March

Publisher’s Weekly reports that publication of on demand titles surged past those released by traditional publishers in 2008 – a pretty clear signal that self-publishing is gaining as an outlet, as the publishing industry becomes narrower and narrower in their criteria for traditionally published books.  However, this could also be a case of more people learning about self-publishing options, not just about the submissions process for traditional publishers.  The fact that self-publishing is gaining credibility is also a factor, as is the publishing industry’s lack of resources for publishing new work.  The PW article has this mysterious quote:

Kelly Gallagher,

The new publishing paradigm continues to grow.  Smashwords, which is one of the best places for self-publishers to sell ebooks – as well as convert an ebook to a number of different formats – now has a platform for publishers with multiple titles.

Smashwords helps book publishers make the transition to ebooks, and offers an attractive alternative to traditional online retail outlets because it pays publishers 85 percent the net proceeds from sales of their titles. Ebooks are sold to customers DRM-free and multi-format, making them readable on any e-reading device…

The Smashwords service is free to publishers. Each publisher

The IPPY Awards are in and a number of self-published titles have been included:

5. Popular Fiction
Gold (tie): The Dyodyne Experiment, by James Doulgeris and V. Michael Santoro (Synergy Books – A Book Pros imprint that costs $8000 to publish with advanced PR and distribution) and Peak Experience, by Bud Connell (ARC Publishers – the writer’s imprint, not ARC Publications out of the UK)
Silver (tie): A Plague of Scoundrels, by Jon Cory (Komenar Publishing – not s-p) and Do The Math: A Novel of the Inevitable, by Philip B. Persinger (iUniverse)

9. Juvenile/Young […]

Christopher Meeks most recent short story collection, Months and Seasons, is up for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. It’s a prize from Ireland, the most lucrative short story award around, which Jumpra Lahiri won last year for Unaccustomed Earth.  American nominees include:

Eleanor Bluestein, Tea and Other Ayama Na Tales, BkMk Press (University of
Missouri-Kansas City)

Bonnie Jo Cambell, American Salvage,Wayne State University Press

Dennis Cooper, Ugly Man: Stories, Harper Perennial

David Eagleman, Sum, Pantheon Books (Random House)

Mary Gaitskill, Don’t Cry, Pantheon Books (Random […]

I’m going to be on The Publishing Insiders on Blog Talk Radio tomorrow afternoon:

This week we welcome Henry Baum, author of the novels The Golden Calf and North of Sunset, listed as the #1 self-published novel in Entertainment Weekly and winner of the Hollywood Book Festival Grand Prize. His new novel, The American Book of the Dead will soon be released. He’s published both traditionally and via self-publishing and runs the website Self-Publishing Review.

Packed with insider scoop on everything publishing, host Penny C. Sansevieri discusses tips and strategies on topics ranging from marketing to promotion and

Here’s an inspirational story.  Via Teleread comes the story of Jason A. Spencer-Edwards who sold his young adult novel, Jiggy, to the New York City school system.

Mr. Spencer-Edwards, a self-published author who lives in Laurelton, Queens, does not show up in the canon of young-adult literature. But with a combination of viral marketing and community service — he convinced the city’s Department of Education to approve his books for reading lists, then barnstormed schools around the city, dropping off sample books and offering to speak to classes — he has built enough of a market to quit

Although my husband, Ian (the soldier featured in the video writing a letter in his tent), is no longer in the Army and is therefore no longer in danger of being deployed, many, in all branches, are.

Soldiers’ Angels (.org) is a non-profit organization comprised of more than 30 teams who work to support wounded and deployed troops, as well as their families.

Since my novel Homefront is about a young woman whose love deploys to Iraq, it seems a fitting thing to offer as an auction item in an effort to raise money for Soldiers’ Angels.

I’m using eBay […]