News & views
After quite a long gap, I’ve decided to self-publish a few books. I thought it might be interesting to write up my journey, because perhaps the research I undertake will be beneficial to others.
One of the things I’ve learnt over the years is that if my antivirus program tells me there is a new version that I need to install, I always create a system restore point (I’m using a PC). Why? Because on almost every occasion something doesn’t work afterwards.
After quite a long gap, I’ve decided to self-publish a few books. I thought it might be interesting to write up my journey, because perhaps the research I undertake will be beneficial to others.
Today I’m looking at whether or not you should choose Digital Rights Management, or DRM, as a way of preventing your ebooks being illegally copied.
After quite a long gap, I’ve decided to self-publish a few books. I thought it might be interesting to write up my journey, because perhaps the research I undertake will be beneficial to others.
Today I’m looking at why have I chosen self-publishing rather than traditional publishing.
After quite a long gap, I’ve decided to self-publish a few books. I thought it might be interesting to write up my journey, because perhaps the research I undertake will be beneficial to others.
Today, I’m clarifying what the term self-publishing means because, unfortunately, it’s not as obvious as you might think.
Starting tomorrow, a new series of occasional posts about my research into self-publishing.
The first two articles are:
Like many people I suppose, when I have written about the effects of the new rule on value-added tax, I’ve done so from the point of view of myself, as a seller of ebooks. But what of the costs to readers?I would love to be able to write blog posts or conduct my social media affairs in such a way that I became an overnight sensation, as verified by an astronomical rise in my bank balance.
That’s why I tend to read a lot of adverts that say things like “How I turned my blog into a licence to print money in just three months!”
Victorian humour? A contradiction in terms, surely? Not according to Bob Nicholson, a lecturer in history who is on a mission to make Victorian jokes funny again (which presupposes they were funny in the first place, of course, but one assumes they were!).
Now, you may think this has nothing to do with writing, but it has. Bob is using a computing technique known as “text mining” to trawl through loads of Victorian publications held by the British Library, and extract jokes.
I think this notice about parking illustrates why it’s not a good idea to rely solely on yourself when it comes to proofreading and editing. The notice contains two errors that could, and should, have been avoided.
Many moons ago I took up amateur dramatics for a while. That may seem a bit odd for someone who likes to keep himself to himself, but someone invited me to see a play he was in, and I thought it looked like fun.
I have to say that the thought of going on stage was a terrifying experience. Note that I said the thought of it, not the experience itself. I’ll try to explain.
“There’s Terry, always with his head in a book or a comic.” My mother’s gentle admonishment was a constant feature of our household. But it wasn’t an admonishment against reading, which my parents actively encouraged (books were revered in our home because they were books, almost regardless of the content). Rather, it was a cry of frustration over the fact that once I was engrossed in a book or a comic, anything she said to me literally fell on deaf ears.
In the article 3 reasons that non-fiction authors should speak, I suggested why public speaking can be important to an author. But the question arises: should that be at any price?
My natural inclination, my default position if you will, is that if you’re good enough to be asked to give a talk, do a presentation or run a workshop, then you deserve to be paid for it. As my wife so succinctly put it to me: “Nothing doesn’t buy anything.”.
However, situations, like people, are different from one another. At the end of the day, if you are asked to give a talk without payment, your decision of whether or not to accept is one that involves weighing up the (perceived) costs and benefits. Here are the considerations you might wish to take into account.
One of the things that authors are expected to do is public speaking. Even if you hate the idea, it’s a good thing to do for three reasons.
I love second-hand bookshops. Whenever I go on holiday, one of the first things I do is go to the nearest Tourism Information outlet and get a list of the local used bookshops.
So, what do I like about them, and what does this have to do with ebooks?
The only thing wrong with Spark London is that it is confined to London, which is only to be expected of course! However, the good news for people who like the idea of story-telling as a way to improve their writing (see 4 ways that Spark London is good for writers) is that there are story-telling clubs and events all over Britain.
