Summer. The time of year many will agree that very little gets done in the publishing world. But times have changed. Summer is now the new Spring. Or the old Fall. Or maybe from here on out it’s simply the season of “E,” as has every other season necessarily become because of the inestimable impact of the internet, and the interminable beck & call of cell phone bondage and instant text messages which, arguably, enable nearly everyone to facilitate action from almost anywhere at anytime. Decisions get made and things get done rather quickly in the World of E. In fact, we are the e-World. The odds of your book getting into the hands of that cherished, anonymous reader on the other side of the page are almost utterly dependent on some aspect of the “E” — author website, blog, social media, SEO strategies, book trailers, podcast, you name it.
An overwhelming majority of writers have requested we help filter through the noise, histrionics, disinformation and plain nonsense about e-books, self-publishing, DIY, the end of the Big Six, boutique presses, and all the other distraction being hyped by so many who generally aren’t qualified to proclaim anything definitively for any one author.
Bottom line is that there is no single right route to successful publication, only an infinite number or wrong ones. While the tools available to bolster a book’s potential success have greatly expanded, those same tools are only as effective as those plying them.
What, genuinely, can one author do to leverage her odds for success in the World of E? Recognizing what she can’t, or is ill-prepared or unwilling to do, is where we’ll start in Newport Beach. Identifying and determining legitimate, real-world solutions is where we’ll finish, with a number of sessions devoted to just that.
Speaking of the real world — brick & mortar and all that “so yester-year” reality — LA8/SD25 conferee Jennifer Word posted on the SCWC Facebook page only yesterday this most exceptional bit of good muse: “I learned SO MUCH from you. The workshops, the fellow writers, the guest speakers, the shared dreams. Today I received news that my trilogy will be picked up by Stony Meadow Publishing, book one to be tentatively released November/December 2011. This book is better than it was, because I attended the SCWC, and made changes and improvements based on the incredible workshops I attended. Anyone who hasn’t attended an SCWC should do so. SCWC played a part in helping me achieve my dreams.”
Dreams. The stuff reality is made of. Thank you and congratulations, Jennifer. (Now, how cool would it have been if your parents named you “Paige!”)
Been a lot of schedule-fussing going on, as well as staff additions. Remember that the $50 Early “Bard” Discount expires August 1st. Register today to keep somebody else from doing so.
And remember… Spite. Perhaps the best reason to write!
More soon.
