Publishing Archives - One Honest Indie

Something You Should Know About Macmillan

02/04/2025 by Debbi

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.

You know things are bad …

01/07/2025 by Debbi

It’s pretty bad out there when Jane Friedman goes off on GoodReads and Amazon.

I Would Rather See My Books Get Pirated Than This (Or: Why Goodreads and Amazon Are Becoming Dumpster Fires).

Quoting the article:

There’s not much that makes me angry these days about writing and publishing. I’ve seen it all. I know what to expect from Amazon and Goodreads. Meaning: I don’t expect much, and I assume I will be continually disappointed. Nor do I have the power to change how they operate. My energy-saving strategy: move on and focus on what you can control.

That’s going to become much harder to do if Amazon and Goodreads don’t start defending against the absolute garbage now being spread across their sites.

I know my work gets pirated and frankly I don’t care. (I’m not saying other authors shouldn’t care, but that’s not a battle worth my time today.)

And that’s exactly what Amazon is counting on. They want you to feel powerless and like you must subject yourself to their arbitrary and unreasonable rules.

To read the rest, click here for the “secret draft link”! 🙂

Readings from an article about the New York Times bestseller list

12/05/2023 by Debbi

Here’s a brief AI-generated summary:

The speaker discusses an article about the New York Times bestseller list, highlighting how one author, Sy Montgomery, self-funded a book tour and made it onto the list. The speaker notes that the list is a cultural signifier and can help authors secure future publishing deals. They also mention their own struggles with self-management and their aspirations to make a movie next year. Despite feeling overwhelmed by the pace of the world and technology, the speaker expresses a genuine interest in the people they interview and a desire to share their insights.

Publisher or Producer?

10/10/2023 by Debbi

A bit of zen wisdom for you!

I definitely had to slow down in order to get anything done. I had to slow down or I’d have burnt out entirely.

But I ran across some reading on Substack that really spoke to me that I thought I’d share.

I also made a video, which you can see here. In a week, unless you become a paid subscriber, in which case you can watch it now.

I have it up on Substack on audio only. Is it a podcast or just me talking about shit? Who knows? We’ll see.

Here’s the summary generated by Rev.com.

Speaker 1 [Me] discusses a piece they read on Substack called Poetic Outlaws, “The Solitary Art of Self-Creation” and reflects on their own life and accomplishments. They express pride in their work as an author and their journey in self-publishing, despite the challenges. They also mention a book called “The Top Five Regrets of the Dying” by Bronnie Ware, which they found impactful. The speaker shares the five regrets listed in the book and relates them to their own life experiences, including their career changes, expressing feelings, and maintaining friendships. They also mention a short film they created called “Dimed and Nickeled”.

Not perfect, but close enough. 🙂

And thanks for the plug for the movie, Rev.com. You’re awesome! 🙂

The movie will be available to free subscribers next week. So consider this a teaser, I guess!

So … do I sign up for this? 🙂

Honest to God …!