David Gaughran's Blog, page 30
June 14, 2011
Free As A Sales Tool – Interview with Indie Writer Lizzy Ford
I am always interested in fresh approaches and new ideas. The whole concept of "free as a sales tool" is fascinating to me.
I've seen people use a number of different approaches, but what is most common is to make a short story free, or sometimes the first book in a series free, in the hope that you will lure readers in.
Lizzy Ford has a very different approach, and she kindly agreed to answer my questions. After reading this interview, I'm sure you will have some yourself, and Lizzy has...
June 13, 2011
Indie Publishing For International Writers, Step Ten: What Happens When The Sales Just Stop?
This is the final part of INDIE PUBLISHING FOR INTERNATIONAL WRITERS, a step-by-step guide to getting your stories into (digital) print.
I will be compiling all these steps into a free e-book for my blog-readers when I am done. It's called Let's Get Digital and is penciled in for release at the end of June.
STEP TEN: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE SALES JUST STOP?
All self-publishers experience a dip in sales. Every single one of them. Most will also experience a run where they sell nothing at all. It h...
June 10, 2011
Interview with T.D. Johnston, Founder of Short Story America
I finally managed a cyber sit-down with the incredibly busy and productive T.D. (Tim) Johnston. Aside from being an educator, and an author, Tim is the founder and editor of Short Story America which was recently named by Writer's Digest as one of the Top 50 Online Literary Magazines in the world.
But, as you will see below, Short Story America is far more than a literary magazine. For starters, their first Anthology will be released this month, and they are publishing it under their own...
June 9, 2011
Swimming Lessons & Radium Girls
Before I get to today's blog post, I want to send you somewhere else!
I have spoken about Wicked & Tricksy before. Well, one of the devious minds behind that operation – Claudie A. – has her own excellent blog which deals with the intersection of science and fiction.
Claudie invited me over to her place today to write a guest blog, and I would love if you all you guys went over and had a read, because I really enjoyed writing it.
It's called Science, Fiction & Truth, and I talk about some of my ...
June 8, 2011
An International Challenge to Amazon? From Spain?
Those of us here in Europe have long been puzzled by Amazon's go-slow international policy. I live in Stockholm, a wealthy city with a population that seems to be fond of their gadgets. Fancy laptops are everywhere, iPhones are ubiquitous, and iPads are becoming popular, despite high taxes and relative cost.
I have friends in Amsterdam, Warsaw, Munich, Prague, and Dublin who say the same thing. Only in London have Kindles started to make an appearance.
In Europe, the Kindle has only been...
June 7, 2011
Haiku #11 – A Prayer To Saint Anthony
A farmer's peaked hat.
Wet Tuesday mornings and a
thousand cigarettes.
From the Haikupalooza archives. Do not attempt to drive a car or operate heavy machinery for one hour after ingesting these haikus.
The Kindle Store: The New Slush Pile?
We have spoken on this blog several times about what the future holds for agents in a world where publishers are disintermediated by the dominance of e-books and the marginalisation of bookstores.
Some agents are responding to the fall in advances and the collapse of print by seeking alternative revenue streams: editing services, creative writing classes, and, worst of all, becoming publishers.
However, it's now becoming very clear that some agents have decided that the time spent dealing...
June 6, 2011
Indie Publishing For International Writers, Step 9: Discounts, Competitions & Blog Tours
This is the ninth part of my continuing series INDIE PUBLISHING FOR INTERNATIONAL WRITERS, a step-by-step guide to getting your stories into (digital) print. I'll be doing each step with you, learning as you do, because I've never done this before either. I will be compiling all these steps into a free e-book for my blog-readers when I am done. It's called Let's Get Digital and is penciled in for release at the end of June.
The final steps of this self-publishing guide is going to focus on...
June 4, 2011
More Bad Behaviour From Agents, Publishers & VS Naipaul
It's the hottest day of the year here in Stockholm, so I thought I would give you a quick weekend round-up before heading out to carbonize my skin work on my manuscript.
There are some legal issues discussed below. I should point out that I am not a lawyer and anything below should not be considered legal advice. These are my opinions only. If you are affected by any of this issues, I strongly urge you to seek independent legal advice from an IP lawyer with experience in such matters.
...
June 2, 2011
Sales Figures For May – A Decent Start
I started this blog at the beginning of April at the same time that I made my decision to self-publish. I thought I would document the process of an unknown, unpublished writer as they attempted to get noticed out of the near-million items in the Kindle Store.
People warned me that there was so much crap out there that I would sink to the bottom unnoticed. However, that just strengthened my belief that if you put out a professional product (well-edited, good cover, competitive price, catchy...
