With the new and exciting world of Kindles and Print-on-Demand (POD), Independent Publishing is becoming an enticing choice and a viable alternative to traditional publishing. The old days of "self-publishing and vanity presses" are over. Indie Authors are giving readers a wide variety of quality reads in all genres. Are you unsure of how to go about it? Do you crave to know the best options? What are the pitfalls? "Are You Still Submitting Your Work to a Traditional Publisher?" provides tips and ideas, set-by-steps and coaching on quality control. In addition to the title article, this work includes three other craft discussions: "Writing Good Stories", "The Novelization Process", and "Revision vs. Re-Vision," an extensive guide to revising a novel. Whether you are new to publishing or an established author, the opinions expressed and experiences shared in this book should stimulate your curiosity and provide answers to questions you might not have asked.
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Edward C. Patterson has been writing novels, short fiction, poetry and drama his entire life, always seeking the emotional core of any story he tells. With his eighth novel, The Jade Owl, he combines an imaginative touch with his life long devotion to China and its history. He has earned an MA in Chinese History from Brooklyn College with further postgraduate work at Columbia University. A native of Brooklyn, NY, he has spent four decades as a soldier in the corporate world gaining insight into the human condition. He won the 2000 New Jersey Minority Achievement Award for his work in corporate diversity. Blending world travel experiences with a passion for story telling, his adventures continue as he works to permeate his reader's souls from an indelible wellspring. Published Novels by Edward C. Patterson include No Irish Need Apply, Bobby's Trace, Cutting the Cheese, Surviving an American Gulag, Turning Idolater and The Jade Owl (Jade Owl Legacy Series Book I). Coming soon: The Third Peregrination (Jade Owl Legacy Series Book II), The Dragon's Pool (Jade Owl Legacy Series Book III), Southern Swallow (Nan Ya), Look Away, Silence, Belmundus, The Road to Grafenwoehr, and Green Folly. Look also for The People's Treasure (Jade Owl Legacy Series Book IV) and In the Shadow of Her Hem (Jade Owl Legacy Series Book V). Poetry books available are The Closet Clandestine: a queer steps out and Come, Wewoka - and - Diary of Medicine Flower.
Edward C. Patterson has been writing novels, short fiction, poetry and drama his entire life, always seeking the emotional core of any story he tells. With his eighth novel, The Jade Owl, he combines an imaginative touch with his life long devotion to China and its history. He has earned an MA in Chinese History from Brooklyn College with further post graduate work at Columbia University. Born in 1947, a native of Brooklyn, NY, he has spent four decades as a soldier in the corporate world gaining insight into the human condition. He won the 1999 New Jersey Minority Achievement Award for his work in corporate diversity. Blending world travel experiences with a passion for story telling, his adventures continue as he works to permeate his reader's souls from an indelible wellspring.
His novel No Irish Need Apply was named Book of the Month for June 2009 by Booz Allen Hamilton's Diversity Reading Organization. His Novel The Jade Owl was a finalist for The 2009 Rainbow Awards.
The 22 published books by Edward C. Patterson include No Irish Need Apply, Bobby's Trace, Cutting the Cheese, Surviving an American Gulag, Turning Idolater, Look Away Silence, The Jade Owl (Jade Owl Legacy Series Book I), The Third Peregrination (Jade Owl Legacy Series Book II), The Dragon's Pool (Jade Owl Legacy Series Book III), The People's Treasure (Jade Owl Legacy Series Book IV), In the Shadow of Her Hem (Jade Owl Legacy Book V), Southern Swallow Series (Book I - The Academician, Book II - The Nan Tu, Book III - Swan Cloud), Oh, Dainty Triolet, The Road to Grafenwöhr, Come, Wewoka, The Closet Clandestine, Are You Still Submitting Your Work to a Traditonal Publisher? and A Reader's Guide to Autor's Jargon and Other Ravings from the Blogoshere, Belmundus (Book I of the Farn Series) and Pacific Crimson - Forget Me Not.
Coming soon: Boots of Montjoy (Book II of the Farn Series), The Adumbration of Zin (Book III of the Farn Series), Southern Swallow Series (Book IV - The House of Green Waters and Book V - Vagrants Hollow), Dearest Flower of My Heart - Mail Call from Two Generations and Green Folly.
Edward C. Patterson is the proud founder of Operation eBook Drop, a member of Kindleboards, Publetariat, The Independant Author's Guild, The Gay & lesbian Writers and Readers Group. He is a Veteran, US Army 1966-68 and a member of Veteran's Historic Archive Roundtable (Lehigh Valley). He has guest blogged extensively and has appeared on the Bobby Ozuna - Soul of Humanity Show.
Edward Patterson has put together an encouraging little guide to getting your novel written and revised. Then he walks you through the necessary steps for getting published on Kindle and CreateSpace, and gives some good advice on promoting your newly-published work.
At least three audiences will enjoy this book: those who have been talking for years about writing that book but need some encouragement to get off their duffs and get it done; those who have recently published and are looking for new ways to promote; and those who want to see what's happening inside an author's head.
I belong to the third category: I met Edward on an Amazon thriller "Shameless self-promtion" discussion thread, and I've had the pleasure of reading many of his little gems of wisdom as they were birthed in discussion posts. This book strings those gems together and presents them, giving us an insight into how Patterson can actually crank out eight novels a year.
Patterson's advice comes sprinkled with personal stories and lessons he learned. He writes directly to you the author, sometimes praising and other times damning you for your writing sins. In all cases, his sense of humor and personal accomplishments shine through.
If you're thinking of writing a book, if you're tired of the traditional publisher slush-piles, if you want to improve your writing or your promotions, or if you want to see how wacky authors think, get this book and learn. You won't be sorry.
Edward Patterson does a truly excellent job of opening up the world of electronic publishing to those who are interested but afraid to stick their toes in the water.
He introduces the concept by showing how and why such publication is not only a valid alternative to the "Dead Tree" publishers, but may even be the preferred medium for certain books. Then, in a very carefully and clearly written style reminiscent of the "Complete Idiots' Guides" he lays out the step-by-step details of how one can dip those toes in and then dive in and swim without fear of drowning. If I had read this book earlier it would have saved me untold hours of Googling and worrying about my first attempts at navigating the intricacies of Amazon's Kindle submission system and would have resulted in a far better setup with regard to such important niceties as using the various search fields to best effect.
I would recommend this book without a moment's hesitation to ANYONE who is new to the field of electronic publication as well as to those who are already in the swim but would like to check to see what they may be missing in the details.
Great advice and step by step instructions for getting a book published without going through traditional publishers' gatekeepers. Edward C. Patterson gives invaluable tips for determining whether a book is actually ready to publish, then he tells exactly how to get the manuscript formatted for ebook and POD. The second half of the book is filled with writing tips that prospective authors can use to polish their work before publishing. You can't go wrong with this book. Buy it today and get your manuscript in print in a matter of weeks, not years.
In "Are You Still Submitting Your Work To a Traditional Publisher?", Edward C. Patterson not only gives us the benefit of his years of experience and the publishing of a dozen (and counting) books, but he outlines specific steps and techniques to take advantage of today's opportunities for self-publishers.
But first, he gives some of the best advice to writers I've ever read, when he gets right to the heart of a problem that threatens all writers: Too many believe their work is golden, that it springs forth from their heads ready for publication, without need of rewriting, editing, or revision.
"In fact", Mr. Patterson says, "most writers think they are perfection - first draft is magic, immaculate - eat your heart out, Stephen King."
The result is that too many books are published before they are ready; contributing to the ever-growing public perception that self-published equals poor quality.
If your work is poor, mediocre, or even just good, don't publish, Mr. Patterson says, because the first readers will proclaim your stuff "crap", and you will have blown your best opportunity. It also hurts all other authors when some think they are ready for prime time when they are not.
Any who doubt the truth of that statement, should take a look at reviews of self-published books right here on Amazon, which, far too often, downgrade, and sometimes even declare a book unreadable, because of errors and poor editing.
If you are about to independently publish, Mr. Patterson says, you should get your mind in order. You will no longer get rejection notices (as with a traditional publisher), but without the proper mindset, you'll still get rejection... public rejection....
It isn't easy, he agrees, to take off your writer's hat and look at your own work objectively, but it must be done. He then proceeds to tell us how to do it... and how to find editors and beta readers to help.
He spells out names and discussion groups, and tells us how and where to get involved to get the help we need.
Some of the editing techniques he describes are things we learned in school - or should have - others are his own, born of his experiences, and others are made possible by today's technology... such as putting your work on a Kindle, looking at it in different type sizes, and having it read your own words back to you.
When we have done all the above, and our work is really and truly ready for publication, he gives names and contacts for several different self-publishing plans and programs, explains their ups and downs, and gives advice on how to decide among them.
He also tells how to write a Press Release and where to get it published, and how to get the best publicity of all... good reviews of our books.
Then we get to real gold... the part that's worth the price of this book many times over even if you are an excellent writer with a flawless manuscript.
That's the PATTERSON Recipe for self-publishing success.
Actually, he didn't say that... He calls it publishing without pain.
I added the last half of that sentence... because that's what I think it is.
Starting with your MS Word manuscript - it's squeaky clean now, remember? - he steps you through publishing for the Kindle; creating an eBook to be published on MobiPocket; and publishing a paperback book on Amazon's CreateSpace.
Along the way, he teaches us how to use the tools at Lulu.com, which must be the world's most efficient publishing program.
I've been around this business a long time; you can believe me when I say that this information can save you hundreds of dollars worth of time.
I liked this book so much that I purchased a second copy... the paperback edition, even though I already had the Kindle edition.
If I had my way, I'd make this book required reading for anyone who wants to self-publish on Amazon.
This is a easily accessible guide for the writer with a project ready to go or close to completion. It's a well written guide put together by someone who knows the turf well, having publishing a mighty number of his own books.
One of the first things I noticed was the intimacy of tone. The writer addresses the reader in a conversational fashion - this is readily acceptable and helps make his advice clear.
The most up to date technology is included, most notably Kindle. As this way of downloading books is daunting to the less technically inclined (such as myself) his step by step approach is practical and takes away the more intimidating aspects technology can bring.
I'm taking a star away because this doesn't look at all the options open to self publishers, but that's a bit of a minor point given that this information is available elsewhere.
