Dan O'Brien is with us today. He has a blog called TheDanO'BrienProject that I really enjoy reading. He has been kind enough to feature me on there and I am now excited to feature him!
Please welcome author and editor Dan O'Brien as he talks about the future of independent publishing.
The
Future of Independent Publishing
The digital
craze that has grasped the minds of potential writers the world over appears to
be something more nuanced, more original than at any other point in publishing
history. That much is not in dispute. What is fascinating about such an idea,
and all ideas that center on what publishing
is going to do next, is something more foundational.
What do we
mean when we say publishing?
Is there an
entity to which we pay homage like the idols of the past (or present)? Or do we
mean what is the normative trend in how writers publish their works at this
given time? If it is the former, I hope that you can see through my thinly
veiled sarcasm and see that it was meant as a jape. I imagine, if I am to
correctly collect the collective consciousness of writers united, that we mean
to work out the trend that currently
afflicts how we seek out the publication of our stories––the great labors of
love into which hours, day, weeks, and years are poured.
I see the
future of our great collected endeavor doing what it has done since the
inception of thought to print: it will continue. There is but a single constant
in this vast universe and that is change. Independent publishing will change;
hark, it has already changed from the black mark of POD and vanity publishing to
something more promising––a participatory jungle of would-be writers swinging
about on vines like Burroughs’ brilliant character before Disney turned him
into a grunting hippie.
Writers in
this climate must examine themselves first: understand what it is about them as
individuals that make them worth listening to. When we have overcome the
suffocating fear of introspection, the deeper examination of what skills we
might deploy to achieve our goals become forefront in our mind. There is much
more, but that is the stuff of another book that a business colleague and I are
writing.
To sum it
up: success comes from within mediated by sound and calculated choices executed
toward a clear end. The fine proprietor of this blog was kind enough to allow
to rant from a spell, and I have done so, albeit briefly. Here are some tidbits
that this writer would like to see you help with:
I have
launched a Kickstarter that at this moment is a far cry from being funded. A
science fiction and fantasy epic with proper illustrations from a frustrated
and brilliant artist is what awaits you, were you of course to extend the most
meager of donations.
With that, I
bid you adieu.
If you wish
to learn more about me and my ramblings, search no more.
About the
author: A psychologist, author, philosopher, freelance editor, and skeptic, Dan
O’Brien has published several novels and currently has many in print,
including: The End of the World Playlist, Bitten, The Journey, The Ocean and
the Hourglass, The Portent, The Path of the Fallen, Book of Seth, and Cerulean
Dreams. Follow him on Twitter (@AuthorDanOBrien) or visit his blog at http://thedanobrienproject.blogspot.com.
He has
recently started a literary and publishing consulting business to help writers
navigate the digital jungle. Find out more about Amalgam: http://www.amalgamconsulting.com/
Thanks, Dan. I appreciate you taking time to guest post on my blog!
No comments:
Post a Comment