Iain Rob Wright on Making Your Own Dreams

There was a time when self-publishing meant that you were silly enough to pay some company of crooks a load of money to print several dozen poorly constructed copies of your naively written novel and then try to sell them from the boot of your car.  It used to be called Vanity Publishing, and for good reason: the only thing it was good for was stroking a wannabe writer’s ego.  What it did not do was put food on their table or allow them to quit their day job.  Self-publishing used to suck.

Read the rest at Iain's Blog.

First self-publishing MA offers DIY education

I just stumbled across the link to the following article in the Guardian on The Passive Voice and it got me to thinking. If you were going to spend the money for an MA in self-publishing, wouldn't it make more sense to spend that money on an MFA? Or for that matter as a self-publisher, why not spend it on editing services, cover design, or even advertising.


Excerpted from The Guardian:
The University of Central Lancashire has announced the launch of what it describes as the world's first degree in self-publishing.

The MA will begin in September, and course leader Debbie Williams believes it will help "legitimise" self-publishing. "Things have definitely changed. In the last two years, self-publishing has stopped being a dirty word, and is a legitimate option for authors," she said. "Even the biggest authors are looking at it now."

Read the rest at The Guardian

 Do you believe an MA in self-publishing would be beneficial?

Would the possession of an MA in self-publishing set you apart in the readers eyes from other self-publishers?

Would that legitimize your work in the eyes of organizations such as the (HWA) Horror Writers Association?  or perhaps the (SFWA) Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America? Maybe the (MWA)  Mystery Writers of America?

Perhaps permitting you to join as a full voting member?

As self publishing grows, and as I've mentioned in the past, there are myriad organizations and business' that spring up practically overnight with the express purpose of separating the writer from his money.

Is this just the next evolutionary step in that process?

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this. But please, let's be civil.

Servante of Darkness interviews Sara Karloff

Re-blogged from  Servante of Darkness

 

When Bela Lugosi turned down the role of the Monster in FRANKENSTEIN, Boris Karloff accepted the part and became an icon of Horror overnight. We are speaking today with Sara Karloff, daughter of the film, radio, and TV star.

Read the rest of the interview here

Netflix and Google Books Are Blurring the Line Between Past and Present

“The past is a foreign country,” novelist L. P. Hartley wrote. “They do things differ­ently there.” He penned that in 1953, but in the digital era the past is now present and all around us: Millions of out-of-print books and historical videoclips, black-and-white movies, nearly forgotten TV shows and pop songs are all available with a credit card or in many cases for free. It used to be that, for economic and techno­logical reasons, this cultural history was locked away. Libraries and corporate archives kept a small subset of it available, but the rest was in storage, out of reach. The reversal has happened in just the past decade. We are now living in a history glut; the Internet has muddled the line between past and present.

Read the rest at Wired

Authors Supporting Our Troops

Re-blogged from Rymfire Books.

Rymfire author Armand Rosamilia, author of the Dying Days series, has launched the Authors Supporting Our Troops (A.S.O.T) book drive. Rosamilia is reaching out to fellow authors and publishers to seek donations of the authors’ books, signed, for distribution to United State Armed Forces stationed in Kuwait and Afghanistan.  The author book drive for troops is currently underway and runs through April 1^st, 2014 but may be extended due to overwhelming response. 

Read the full story here.