Self-Publishing

[Bluebell72]

Reading the Sunday Times magazine yesterday, I was transfixed by an article about a young writer US Amanda Hocking, who began writing fantasy fiction (trolls and magic) as a way of escapism from depression and bullying as a schoolgirl.
She talks of how easy it is to format and upload her work so that e-reader users can buy it.

Apparently you can do the uploading (publishing) for free, it just takes a bit of time and checking so that pages end where they should, chapters don't get chopped etc.

I had a google this morning and there is software you can use, but some costs a fortune.

I write a bit of poetry now and again, fancy to be 'publishd' - have any of you used these package things, and what do you reckon???

 

[Bigsharn]

Never used the hellaexpensive software. I just publish mine to Deviantart on a (GIMP-made) pictorial background

Don't read the poem, it's not my best, it's just a good example of how I publish.

Went down the self-print-publishing route a couple years ago but I couldn't find a stockist for them

 

[ColinJ]

Do it for the Amazon Kindle and get paid for it!

 

[Night Train]

This is interesting.
About 20 years ago I wrote a childrens' story. I printed and bound it into a book with illustrations and then someone I lent it o lost it!
I should dig out the file from my 20 year old laptop and re visit it, maybe write some more.

 

[Bluebell72]

That's great thanks - I will look into this.
How cool would it be to have stuff I've written on Amazon? Even if one person buys it, I'd be doing somersaults!
I need a nom de plume now - someone told me the way to make your Eurovision Contest act name is to use the first holiday destination out of this country as your first name, and for your surname, the street name of your first house.
In using that for a pen name, get ready for the poems of Makarska Flockton!

 

[redcard]

iBooks might be an option for you:

http://www.apple.com/ibooks-author/

 

[Monsieur Remings]

Very interesting stuff. I'd be more interested in this for my own poetry, as opposed fiction. I wrote a novel, now complete and targeting agents at the moment which is a tough slog. The only caution to the wind with the above approach is that without the exposure you're unlikely to sell much and whereas friends and family will spread the word, this in effect, becomes little more than vanity publishing..? Maybe I'm wrong. I, personally, am holding out hope for an agent to have some confidence in what I've written - the novel, given that it took me nigh on two years and I don't want it in cyberspace...yet. Once it's out there, Amazon, Facebook or blog, no publisher will touch it.

Saying that, poetry is so difficult to get published the conventional way - the best way in is to win or do well in the many competitions but you need to be a mindreader in order to know what the judges want. Likewise, unless you're dead or Ted Hughes or the poet laureate, you won't find a publisher for poetry, end of; it's nigh on impossible. So go for it.

Good luck, be interested to hear how you get on.

 

[Bluebell72]

Monsieur Remings, Amanda Hocking, EL James and many others are selling 6000 copies a week without a publisher.

I've got a blog with almost 3000 followers for my poetry, but I have seen some of my stuff copied and on the internet, accredited to others (fume).
This way, I could actually be making some money!

 

[ColinJ]

There is a very interesting option to allow Amazon to 'lend' your eBook to Amazon Prime members free of charge to them, but they will pay a royalty to you which is currently running at about £1 a time! Amazon have a fund of $6,000,000+ for this and pay you in proportion to the total number of times people download your work. All you have to do is to make it appeal to people. They can read the first 10% of your eBook to see if they want to download the whole thing, so make sure that snippet makes them desperate for more.

 

[seashaker]

I got a book made up for my Dad that he wrote from http://www.blurb.com/ , the quality was great, loads of choice on size, and paper type etc. I would not hesitate to use them again if required.