Publishing a Kindle Book

My copy of How To Publish a Kindle Book arrived earlier. And what an attractive volume it is too. If you’re thinking of publishing a book on Amazon’s Kindle then I’d look no further than this – as a resource it is extensive. I don’t think there’s an aspect that’s not covered.

And I’m in there, talking about why eBooks and the Readers need to be cheaper, why there needs to be more choice of what one can download and why I think there should be a subsidised rate for buying electronic versions of books you already own.

John August’s in there too.

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And, talking of publishing for the Kindle – there’s a great post over at BubbleCow on just the very thing.

Name Dropping

Forgive me, but I’m about to name drop. And not just once.

First up, I have contributed to this book: How To Publish a Kindle Book. There are a load of great writers in there too, including someone I believe is a genius: screenwriter, John August. Pretty cool, I can tell you.

You might know John August for writing wonders such as this:

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And second. Last week a number of people got in touch to say that Not So Perfect had been reviewed in Flash Magazine. (The first was the lovely Vanessa Gebbie, who’s in there too.)

The review was brilliant.

My stories explore “the tortuous joys of human relationships”.

I like that.

And some of my endings “charm by their ambiguity”.

I like that too.

I also like that one of my most interesting techniques “is the manipulation of the boundary between the literal and metaphoric.”

Yep, I was thrilled by the review.

And you know what else thrilled me – that Margaret Atwood has stories in the same issue.

That’s right. Me, Margaret Atwood and John August. Who’d have thought it, eh!

I’d strongly advise checking Flash Magazine out – that’s a subscription I’ll definitely be maintaining.

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So that’s enough name dropping for today. Though, did I tell you that one of my stories was used on high school course along with one of Dave Eggers’…?

More on That Book About Publishing For the Kindle

What book would that be, you might ask?

This one, I would tell you.

It’s not out for a little while yet but if you’re interested in publishing for the Kindle or even just how the whole thing works I’d recommend getting a copy. It is thorough and informative and explains (in a way that even I understood) just about every aspect of electronic publishing you could think of.

And I’ve contributed to it.

And so have other good writers.

And so has John August. Yes, I’m in a book with John August. The chap who wrote the screenplays for Big Fish (one of my all time faves – see below), The Corpse Bride (another), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And others.

Didn’t expect that, I can tell you!

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And I’ve just (while I was having my hair cut) been thinking about writing and how much fun it should be. Because we all know how much bloody hard work it is. But it should be fun. We should enjoy it.

And I ended up comparing it to football. It’s fun to kick a ball about with your mates in a park, and it’s fun to write. But writing for publication (without meaning to sound like a big head) is more like playing professionally, I think.

Any thoughts?

Us Jealous Writers

I felt I should post something on this after reading Welshcake’s blog earlier. I don’t know the ins and outs of the situation she’s referring to (and don’t want to either) but here are the basics:

Writer gets fab deal. Fellow writer from one writers’ website or another gets jealous and makes snide comments about said success.

Which is silly really.

Why?

Allow me to put forward my answer.

Writers get jealous. They are naturally envious creatures. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. It is natural. Totally.

I’ve been doing this long enough to be familiar with envy (sometimes called admiration, other times not). I’ve thought, often, they write so much better than I do, I’ll never be that good, wow I wish I was getting that deal, selling that many books, getting my book reviewed there, jetting off here, giving a talk there. Etc. And I’ve thought how come they’ve got a deal etc etc, they’re no better than me! I have.

But I wouldn’t begrudge anyone success. It is an incredibly difficult industry to break in to and to stay in. It’s extremely difficult to earn a decent living from.

So the fact that someone’s good enough and has worked hard enough to get somewhere, I reckon, should be met with professional decency, admiration and respect. Even if what they write, or have written, isn’t your cup of tea. We’re all in similar boats. And if we want to get better or bigger or whatever we just need to work harder and stick at it. That’s a better course of action than looking (and/or being) bitter, is it not?

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And the other point that’s come out of this is the record of what you’ve said. What you put on the web could stay there for years. And it would, naturally, have the potential to come back and bite you on the bottom. So, thinking about what you write, what you’ll put your name to and potentially be associated with for a long, long time, is important I think.

This speech (it’s in PDF doc.) by screenwriter John August is marvellous reading on the subject.