Conversation Between John McClane and Austruck


Showing Comments 5 to 8 of 11
  1. 11-15-14
    Hey, do you frequent any writing form blogs? I've added one or two to my news reader but figured I'd ask you, as well.
  2. 10-26-14
    Ha ha, of course I'll help. And friends get a much reduced rate for actual services. Advice is free... (and worth twice that much).
  3. 10-26-14
    Good to know, and I would agree.

    So when it comes time for me to publish you'll help me out, right? Yes, yes, there would be an exchange of capital for services rendered.
  4. 10-26-14
    I'm sticking with the self-publishing route. I have worked with enough publishers (as a proofreader) to know just how SLOW traditional publishing is. And frankly, these days unless you're Stephen King or John Grisham, you're expected to do as much self-marketing in traditional publishing as you do when self-published.

    I have all the prepress skills I need (as a typesetter and proofreader -- all I need to contract out is the cover design) to get any of my book projects in the black really quickly. And of course, the royalties are higher if you have no publisher middleman to share it with. I have full control over the entire process.

    It would take quite an offer from a publisher to change my mind at this point. Plus, of course, most publishers now insist that authors go through an agent, so the process becomes more protracted. You have to find the agent first, then wait till the agent finds a publisher (which is not a guarantee once you have an agent).

    The last nail in the coffin for me is that publishing companies of any real size are not "getting it" in terms of how self-publishing is affecting their situation. Indie authors no longer have the stigma they once did, and most of us don't have three years to wait to see a book get to print. Publishers still think the industry works the way it did twenty (even ten) years ago.

    I'm just not into polishing the brass on a sinking ship.

    My two cents (and then some).