Authors Electric

If you've been following my monthly ramblings on here (I've been around since the start of Authors Electric, so I'm part of the furniture - probably that creaky old wardrobe in the corner of the attic with the door that doesn't shut properly ...), you'll know that I write the occasional mostly-tongue-in-cheek advice column. It may be written with an irreverent approach, but much of the advice therein is worth looking at, if only to discard or laugh at! So now I want to talk about how advice can do more than get you off to a bad start - it can land you with huge bills and/or get you into serious trouble with the authorities! The trouble is, advice is one of those things that is often asked for but never actually wanted once you've got it. And everybody has an opinion. On everything . I should know - I'm one of those annoying people who happily delivers unasked-for opinions in clothes shop changing-rooms. But telling somebody they look lovely in a dress i...

2014 was a defining year for independent publishing. If we can’t see this yet, I’m sure we will be saying it a few years down the line – those people that are still involved that is. I predict that 2015 will be the year that the scales stop tipping, that more indies will try to move back to more traditional methods, or simply give up altogether. Why do I say that? My ear is always to the ground. There are links I find on facebook and elsewhere. I often retweet these (@debjbennett), if I think they will interest others. Amazon Kindle Unlimited Kindle Unlimited is surely the biggest game-changer since KDP Select. Pay a monthly subscription and you can read/borrow as many books as you like. This follows the rest of the media industry; KU is to books what Spotify is to music and Netflix is to film. BUT – and it’s a big but – KU doesn’t treat independent publishers the same way as it treats traditional publishers. For the trads (and a few selected special indies), it’s an...