LA2 conferee John Rosenberg, winner of our Outstanding Fiction award for his then novel-in-progress Monday in the Tropics, is about to make his book debut. A non-fiction title, also evolving from an SCWC nudge, The Healthy Edit: Creative Editing Techniques for Perfecting Your Movie is out December from Focal Press. Way to finish, John!
New World Library editorial director Georgia Hughes is accepting a limited number of advance submissions in the areas of spirituality, personal growth, inspirational and sustainable business, nature and animals, women’s issues, parenting, and alternative health. Given the amount of material along these lines coming in at the moment, it’s likely she’ll fill up fast. Other readers now getting close to maxing out include Denise Dumars, Mollie Glick, and Taylor Martindale.
As posted in last week’s update, the Age of the Entreprenurial Author is here. But now that Dorchester has joined Medallion in announcing plans to cut its mass market paperback line to focus on ebooks, and given that authors who elect simply to bypass the house and sell their ebooks directly through Amazon’s Kindle service can earn as much as 70% for each sold, versus a mere 8% to 12% on hard copies sold through traditional publishers (at least those fortunate to sell enough books to cover any advance granted), what we’re really discovering is that it’s the Era of Author Autonomy that has arrived.
Even name authors long published by established or independent houses are beginning to recognize it. Many of the most successful have always been entreprenurial in devising fresh ways of finding an audience, selling their books, and building their brand. Thing is, will you jump aboard? Should you? Is it true that traditional publishers are only interested in preventing authors from making as much money from their work as they do?
Fact is, it’s a brand new paradigm. How to survive and flourish in it is what we’ll be addressing a lot at both September’s and February’s SCWC events. No doubt we’ll be addressing it for many other conferences to follow.
The official LA8 schedule is nearly dialed in and should be posted this week. In the meantime, there’s plenty of room at the conference regardless of where you’re at as a writer. Need ideas, feedback, advice, information–or just want to break free of writing in isolation? Join our .COMmunity and come to Newport Beach. You’ve earned it. Discounted Early “Bard” Registration expires Sept. 1.
And for those following Neva, Penny and Russell’s writers’ conference adventures, here’s episode six of Writer Replay.
