Last
night while I sat eating soup in Panera Bread, I spotted a writer pal of
mine. He told me he'd just uploaded his first
ebook to Amazon. Ed has written for
years, but like me, he didn't have much luck with the conventional route of
agents and big publishing houses. But he
kept writing, and taught himself to format his work for ebooks, and now he has
a book out--THE PHANTOM CADET.
I
really admire Ed's determination. It's a
quality you see in creative people who work outside the usual big-business
framework. You see it in musicians,
artists, writers and more. Today at
chimpwithpencil, I'm putting up links for folks who are hard-working
independents.
Do
you like art? Check out Jayson Kretzer's work.
You can see a bunch of samples on his Deviant Art page, plus he has a
web comic, Wannabe Heroes. Also check
out Melike Acar. Like Jayson, she does
some amazing sketch card work. Sketch
cards are small art that pack a big punch!
You're
reading this blog, so I suspect you may like blogging. (Yes, I have Sherlock Holmes-level deductive
powers.) BookedUp is a book blog that features
a lot of self-published novels with thoughtful reviews. For a combo platter of recipes, books and
sewing, visit Milinda Jay's site. If
you're into crime fiction and writing, take a look at AshEdit by writer and
editor, Elaine Ash.
Visit
Meow Press and see what writer/editor Anthony Buoni is up to. I know he's taking submissions for his next
anthology of ghost stories, and he has a new screenplay/novel out titled
CONVERSION PARTY (warning: site contains
stuff not suitable for folks under age 18.)
Delve
into the world of blogger/writer Tony Simmons on his site The Word. I particularly recommend his novel THE BOOKOF GABRIEL. If you want to try some of
what I'd call Southern Gothic literature, see Nick May's novels MEGABELT and
MINUTEMEN. For a taste of the
traditional American South, see THE LADY AND HER PORCH by Carole Bailey.
In
their own way, each of these people is working to put their creative work into
your hands, so help them out.
(I
probably forgot someone, so if I left you out, I apologize. It's hard to keep track of everyone and their
current projects.)
Thanks for the shout out, Mark! And also for the suggestions. I'm checking out the other folks you listed right now.
ReplyDeleteTony, your Book of Gabriel captured my imagination. I tell people about it because I believe in that book.
ReplyDeleteWho do you know that can format for Createspace and Smashwords reasonably?
ReplyDeleteNeed a chapbook, a novel and an anthology done.
Thanks for the email subsription box.
m
Hello May, I do my own formatting, so I haven't ever worked with people or companies that offer format services. I'd recommend checking with local writers groups and asking fellow writers so you can get someone reputable.
DeleteThanks for subscribing!
May, for formatting you might consider contacting Tim Taylor. I haven't worked with Mr. Taylor, but I have used his blog posts as guidelines to format my own work, and they were very helpful.
DeleteHere's the address to his site:
http://timctaylor.wordpress.com/