All Writers Should Read More – Ask Stephen King
All writers should read more. The great man is quite adamant about this.
Stephen King
” If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.
I’m a slow reader, but I usually get through seventy or eighty books a year, mostly fiction.
Every book you pick up has its own lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones.
Reading is the creative center of a writer’s life.
The more you read, the less apt you are to make a fool of yourself with your pen or word processor.”
On Writing by Stephen King
These words were taken from the best book I have ever read on writing, Stephen King’s very own, ‘On Writing’. Whether or not you are a fan of King, or a fan of his specialised genre, ‘horror’, is unimportant. This is a book no aspiring or experienced writer should be without.
But I’d like to refine his advice and apply it to something more specific. Ooooh, look at me, I’m refining Stephen King’s words! I’d like to apply them to the world of self-published Indie books.
If you write, or intend to write, and self-publish your work, you should study as many Indie books as possible. Get a handle on what’s out there. How does the style fit with what you write? Are they good, are they bad, and why?
It’s actually not always that easy to do that,not always easy to locate a collection of Indie eBooks in one place. I found that, having decided that I ought to read as many of these books as possible. The good news was that I could probably buy half a dozen or so for the price of one conventionally published hardback book. The bad news was that I didn’t know where they were all hiding.
So, I set about creating a corner where I could bring Indie authors, Indie books and Indie readers together. If you’re reading this, you’re sitting in that corner right now.It’s called INDIETRIBE.
And that worked pretty well. But what it lacked was a place within that corner for as many Indie books as possible, an ever growing collection, if you like.
So, I’ve created one, the Indie Book Store.
It’s new, it’s developing and growing, but my mission is to make it a one-stop base for all lovers of Indie books. Please give it your support and treat yourself to a browse now.
Then follow Stephen King’s advice. Get reading and hone your writing skills.
I guarantee you’ll have lots of fun along the way.
