Yes, Amazon Is the Reader’s Friend

Konrath Turow DebateIt appeared to be a dream-come-true for advocates of indie publishing. Those who follow Joe Konrath’s blog have seen him “fisk” statements from publishing insiders, tearing apart their public statements line by line. A frequent target for Konrath’s fisking has been novelist Scott Turow, until recently the President of the Authors Guild. Usually these were accompanied by an offer for Turow to respond, either on Konrath’s blog or in a public debate. Last Thursday (January 15, 2015) Intelligence Squared U.S. held a debate with Konrath and Turow as two of the four participants. Continue reading “Yes, Amazon Is the Reader’s Friend”

Is Kindle Unlimited Gutting Author Earnings?

KDP Select logoThe indie-author intarwebz have been buzzing this week with the news that Joe Konrath is pulling all of his books out of KDP Select. Konrath mentioned it almost offhandedly in a comment on his own blog post fisking an open letter from MacMillan CEO John Sargent.

I won’t quote Konrath here, because Amazon has so many programs that it’s easy to mix up the acronyms, and I think Konrath himself was writing quickly and not being as careful as he could have been. The gist of it, though, is that Konrath’s titles will all be out of Select when their current enrollment period ends next month. This comes in the wake of complaints by author H.M. Ward and others that Kindle Unlimited borrows are gutting their sales, to the point where it’s affecting their livelihood. Continue reading “Is Kindle Unlimited Gutting Author Earnings?”

So You’ve Decided to Become an Indie Author…

You’re one of those people with a vivid imagination and a way with words. Your friends all tell you you are smart or deep or articulate or funny or witty or creative. You spin stories and people love those stories. They have been telling you for years you should write a book, because they would definitely buy that book.

Maybe you have characters in your head whose stories are demanding to be told, who will not leave you alone until you sit down at a computer and let it flow. Maybe these characters in your head talk to you, and you talk back to them, and the medication doesn’t seem to be helping at all.

So, you’ve decided to become an indie author. Wise choice. Now you’re thinking about:

  • Fame
  • Wealth
  • Critical Acclaim

These are just three of the things that won’t be happening anytime soon. But don’t worry, all is not lost. I’m here with some helpful tips on how to survive on an indie author income of tens of dollars a year. You won’t have to do this for long, of course, because your big break is right around the corner. I can feel it. But, until then, this may be a big adjustment if you’re used to having things like spending money and electricity. Here are 7 suggestions that will help ease the transition: Continue reading “So You’ve Decided to Become an Indie Author…”