APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur or APE: How to Self-Publish, by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch. I received an e-copy of this book, probably more than a year ago, for some sort of promotion. This book took me forever to read, for two reasons. First, it is an e-book, and I hardly ever pick up my…
In anticipation of the publication of my second novel, I have retired the book website for Benevolent, and launched a website for Devon Trevarrow Flaherty books (in general). Yeah, yeah. I know I already have a blog, but The Starving Artist is for platform building and for getting readers and writers and publishers to engage…
I have to admit, I sort of annoy myself sometimes with all this hyphenate self-indie-artisanal publishing thing. I mean, which is it? Of course, the main problem here is that that the publishing world is quickly shifting, and that lots of this is new. So one person might call something one thing, and another, another.…
I have had many conversations with people attempting to inform the public about the vast changes that have happened (and continue to happen) in the writing and publishing world. I know the average Joe isn’t going to tolerate too much info or too specific news, but the field is just not what most people think…
I know that many of the people who follow my blog are not writers or publishers. I also know that, as a writer, I often get in a discussion (about being a writer) with people who have a very hard time understanding what I am talking about. This is because of the revolution you didn’t…
Secrets of Ebook Publishing Success and Smashwords Book Marketing Guide, by Mark Coker. Both of these are free ebooks. Mark Coker is the founder and current head guy at Smashwords. He started Smashwords when he and his wife had written the book Boob Tube, but–despite obvious promise–could not get an editor interested enough to publish…
Owning a teeny-tiny publishing company, I have to wear many hats. One of my most favorite hats of all is design. Now, many indie-published authors should consider hiring someone to design the cover (and possibly publicity material), just like they should hire an editor. Lucky for me, I not only have a professional editor in…
Let’s just say you have a burgeoning career as an artist and a blogger and you get sick. Or your kids get sick. Or you and your kids get sick right before an intense vacation. We all know that one of the cardinal rules for successful blogging and successful book sales is to remain engaged…
Well, I suppose that I knew it was coming. Or, in other words, you can’t win them all. As part of my marketing and publicity strategy (I am very new to this), I am entering Benevolent into various book competitions throughout the year and even around the globe. It is the single-most expensive part of…
the starving artist 