“The great self-publishing purge of 2015” and Other Stuff happening around the neighborhood

Posted on by writerchick

Scribd Starts to Banish Indie Authors from its Catalog by Michael Kozlowski. Who knows what this will mean for indie authors – but the ‘great self-publishing purge of 2015’ may be something we talk about for years to come. Or not.

Amazon Review Policy Under Fire: Indie Authors Call For Change In ‘Big Brother’ Policing. Looks like some authors/readers are fighting back and petitioning Amazon to change it’s policy on reviews. I hope they do.

Estate Planning Basics for the Self-Published Writer by Kathryn Goldman
Very straightforward and sound advice on how to handle your intellectual property as part of your estate.

Why Readers, Scientifically, Are the Best People to Fall in Love With by Lauren Martin. When I first saw this title I thought it was probably a silly, funny post but in reading it I actually saw it made some good points. Oddly, as a writer I never put ‘reader’ in the list of attributes I might want in a mate. How different things might have been if I had.

Everything is awful and I’m not okay: Questions to ask before giving up. This was posted by a friend in my Facebook feed. It’s a printable PDF file with a list of questions you might want to ask yourself if you’re feeling blue. Very common sense and it’s worth a look.

Have a great week everybody.

Writer Chick

8 thoughts on ““The great self-publishing purge of 2015” and Other Stuff happening around the neighborhood”

  1. Great info. I’m an Indie author. First and foremost I’m a reader. As a reader I want quality. A part of me understands this self-published book purge business. My blog focus’ on promoting indie authors, I want them to be heard. I do believe that if you feel a story inside you, you’re meant to write it. I also believe we’re mean to write quality. Lack of talent isn’t the issue in the self-publishing world, it’s impatience. Perhaps showcasing our wares should no longer be the retailers privilege, but ours. Perhaps it should be earned.

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    1. I think most authors are readers (at least I’d hope so) and yeah, absolutely, quality is key.

      And as a self employed person, I understand about purges – you have to make decisions about your business to not just survive but to succeed. My instinct is that this is what the purge is about – for whatever reason the majority of the self-published titles on their list aren’t selling or generating enough revenue for them, except in the romance category. Hence the purge. And it may be no more complicated than that.

      I’m also an indie author and I too want indies to be heard and read. And you make a good point about talent vs impatience. But I also believe that indie authorship is in its infancy – at least in its current incarnation. Self-publishing is not new and has been around for a long time. What’s different now is that many indies don’t want to go with traditional publishers and prefer to go it on their own. And I think ultimately that will mean that readers have more selection and more interesting choices. I think you could realistically compare indie publishing to the independent film evolution. Initially maybe the films weren’t as good and lacked the production values but as indies learned and evolved those films became better and more popular and now no one is surprised when they win awards, make good box office, etc. I believe the same will happen with indie books/authors/publishers.

      In terms of retailers – I think we have to recognize that that is all they are. A distribution channel. Amazon is the biggest among them. Although they are dipping their toes into the waters of publishing, their strength is in distribution. And while they’ve created incredible opportunities for authors their purpose is in succeeding in their business model – not in contributing to the literary world or promoting good authors. And if you understand that going in you are less likely to take their business decisions less personally.

      Honestly, I don’t know if what Scribd is doing is really going to hurt anyone in the long run. If you’re determined to bring your wares to market, you will find a way. Right?

      Thanks for the thoughtful comments.

      Annie

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    1. I did too. I thought it was a very interesting qualification for a mate. Even stranger was I realized every man I ever dated was not a reader. That explained a few things. 😀

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