There is no single right way to write a great book, only an infinite number of wrong ways. Today the same holds true for publishing a great book. Of the countless decisions the modern author must make during the crafting of her book, both creative and practical, tiny and great, perhaps none carry more weight than that of choosing to pursue a traditional print publisher or electing to self-publish. “Publishing” an e-book seems so easy, so fast, so affordable that anybody can do it. And it seems like almost everybody has.
For the traditionally established author with a backlist whose rights have reverted perhaps the choice is obvious. But for the emerging author, unknown in an ever-increasingly competitive marketplace already saturated with titles, the decision often is not. Crafting a great story, writing a great book, is hard enough. Self-publishing a great book, regardless of how well written? Well, more and more writers suffering from premature e-publication are discovering just how hard it is. Next month we’ll deal a lot with the challenges of self-publishing in effort to enable those considering doing so to make an informed decision. After all, as with your craft, you should settle only for excellence in your publication.
New Year, New Site, New Deadlines [WHOOSH!]
The latest iteration of WritersConference.com is here and you’re looking right at it! Faster, more streamlined, easier to navigate on tablets and smartphones, we’d love to get your feedback on what works, what doesn’t, and what more you’d like to see on the site. While there’s still some tweaks to make, one of the coolest additions in functionality has to do with the conference schedule page. There, once the workshops and events are plugged in, you’ll be able to select individual sessions you’re interested in attending and add them to your own, personalized SD28 program for printing prior to the conference. You can thank Jeremy Lee James for that.
Advance Submissions . . . The deadline for getting Advance Submission material to us is January 14. Given the unprecedented ten weeks of technical meltdowns—both main SCWC computers died, total database corruption, answering service inaccessible, email accounts down and most all correspondence from early October to the first week of December lost—please be mindful of the deadline as some of the readers got hit pretty hard without our knowing it.
“Best Foot Forward: Polishing to Impress 1 & 2” . . . Jean Jenkins’ popular genre-crafting workshop is limited to 12 participants only and requires pre-registration, along with written materials, by February 1. Notify the conference by email if you’ve already registered and would like to get in.
Discounted hotel lodging . . . Crowne Plaza San Diego resort is the site of the conference. The deadline for SCWC conferees to receive discounted lodging rates is January 26th. For online hotel booking click here, or call the hotel at (619) 297-1101 (and mention the SCWC).
We still have plenty of workshops to add and the schedule to fill out. Check back regularly for updates, and don’t forget to join the WritersConference.COMmunity discussion on our SCWC Facebook page.
In the meanwhile . . . go forth, write well, and Happy New Year!
Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC
