“Reject the tyranny of picked. Pick yourself.” ― Seth Godin, Poke the Box
This is a video I made yesterday, which is when I usually make videos. Anyhow, it’s about my continuing battle with clutter and piles of old books attempts to organize my office and save my heirs a shit ton of work when I’m no longer around.
Hi everyone. Well, I just finished How to Resist Amazon and Why by Danny Caine. Read it on my Kobo, of course. I wasn’t going to read it on a Kindle, was I? Yeah, this is an excellent book and everybody owes it to themselves to read this. It gives you the bookseller perspective on all of this. And it’s high time somebody wrote something like this. Let me just quote you a little part.
You know, sometimes words just fail me. But then someone else comes along and has the perfect ones.
Okay, let’s just get to the story. Right!
So, once upon a time, I used to sell lots of ebooks online, but then Amazon offered a bit of chump change an ethical bribe monetary incentives for indie authors to become wholly dependent on exclusive to Amazon. Only three months at a time. Which, frankly, doesn’t amount to much.
For anyone who’s ever considered writing a graphic novel. Here are a few words of encouragement from Macmillan.
Publishing Graphic Novels Means Taking Chances: PW Talks with Mark Siegel.
Although there are no guarantees of success in publishing graphic novels, some companies are more willing to take risks than others.
This appears to be the case with Macmillan. And why is that? Here’s what Mark Siegel had to say about it.
Macmillan is privately owned, which makes its culture unique among the Big Five. We wouldn’t have been able to break through if we were under the quarterly pressure to make short term profits. You don’t just drum up a 250-page graphic novel for next season. But if you have patience, the numbers get there. Broadly speaking, there are two approaches to launching an imprint or publishing program. One is to look at the marketplace and build on what works already. That’s looking backward. The other approach is a little scary if you’re trying to minimize risk. But it stems from a belief in art, and in the creative spirit of people. If you’re into that, then you’re going to take crazy chances. You’ve got to, when they’re too good to pass up.
So … it’s not owned by a high-tech corporate greedhead! Of any name. 🙂
There’s wisdom for indie authors/publishers in the above quoted paragraph.