Her poetry has appeared in literary journals such as Nimrod,
Journal of New Jersey Poets, Paterson Literary Review, Wilderness
House Literary Review, Writer's Bloc, Resurgence (UK),
HerCircleEzine and Aesthetica Annual. She was
the recipient of the Spire Press Poetry Prize (2003), was a 2000 and
2003 Pushcart Prize nominee, and a 2004 Nimrod/Pablo Neruda Poetry
Prize finalist. In 2003, Spire Press published her first collection
of poetry Flamenco
Sketches, which explored the relationship between love and
jazz.
Her second collection of poetry, The Dark Cave Between My
Ribs, is due to release with Winter Goose Publishing in March
2014. She is currently working on a New Adult romance, This Way to
Forever.
Amy Holman
Edelman launched IndieReader, the essential consumer guide
to self-published books and the people who write them, way back in
2007. Since then, indie authors have stormed the
bestseller lists, been courted by trad publishers and (after all
that), finally gained a modicum of respect.
Amy self-published her first
book, The Fashion Resource Directory, back in the 80s, long
before POD and Amazon and e-readers roamed the land. Her second
and third books (The Little Black Dress and Manless in
Montclair), were traditionally published (by Simon & Schuster
and Shaye Areheart Books, an imprint of Crown).
As an author and a publicist with
over 20 years' experience, Amy's goal for IndieReader
is no less than to make indie a respected and desirable
category within the publishing world. This book is just one step
in that direction.
Author Links:.
Loren Kleinman
IndieReader:
Book Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: IndieReader
Publishing
Release Date: January
15, 2014
Buy Link(s): TBA
Book Description:
Indie Authors Naked explores
and defines the world of independent publishing.
Comprised of a
series of essays and interviews by indie authors, booksellers
and publishers, readers will get a look at the many aspects of the
indie community, where publishing professionals of all types
come together with the simple goal of creating something unique;
something that speaks directly to the reader, no middleman
necessary.
Contributors
include: James Franco, Hugh Howey, McNally Jackson Books,
Sarah Gerard, OHWOW Books, Raine Miller, David Vinjamuri, Toby Neal,
Rachel Thompson, Eden Baylee, Christoph Paul, Jessica Redmerski, and
more.
Excerpt:
From the Introduction of Indie
Authors Naked by Amy Edelman:
IndieReader was launched in '07, otherwise
known as the dark days of self-publishing. Back then, every book was
considered a vanity publication, every author a failed writer. Denial
ran so high that when the self-pubbed book, Her
Last Letter by
Nancy C.
Johnson hit The New
York Times bestseller
list, the good folks at the NYT were
still saying that they'd never include one! And then there was The
Shack, another indie that snuck
through the gauntlet to appear on the NYTimes list
for an astounding 172 weeks between June
2008 to early 2010 (52 of those weeks at #1).
Flash forward to 2012-2013. With the advent of
ebooks, the publishing landscape has completely and irrevocably
changed. Bowker, the ISBN people, recently reported that the number
of self-published books in 2012 rose 59% over 2011, growing to over
391,000 titles in 2012. That's a lot of
indie.
But it's not just availability that has
changed the notion of what a self-pubbed book can be. Either the
whole "vanity" thing was propaganda on the part of trad
publishing-after all, Virginia Woolf famously did it with Hogarth
Press-or publishing ebooks makes it easier for talented writers to
get their work seen. Either way, over the last couple of
years-beginning with the high-profile snagging of Amanda Hocking-at
least 50 indie authors (many of them interviewed in this very book)
have been courted and won by traditional publishers.
Did these authors' books change from when
they were self-pubbed to when they became trads? Or did their
appearance on the bonafide bestseller lists (The
New York Times, USA Today) just make
it easier for the Big 5 to spot them? Not that getting picked up by a
traditional publisher is always an indie author's end-game. In
fact, a recent survey conducted by The Bookseller noted that only
about one-third of the self-published authors surveyed stated that
they would consider a traditional book deal. That's a lot of
authors who aren't willing to trade the freedom of creation for the
chance to have their works packaged by committee.
So whether an author decides to sell their work
to a trad publisher or not-it is clear that indies are here to
stay. Their books resonate with readers who really couldn't give a
damn if they came through the hallowed halls of a traditional
publisher or just via their ereaders. The indie writing
community is strong and getting stronger, as are the options for
placing their books (been to your local bookstore lately? You
may be surprised at the titles you find on the shelves).
Yes, dear readers, this time-thanks to
technology and changing perceptions-self-publishing is clearly here
to stay. And via interviews and essays, Indie
Authors Naked aims
to highlight the best of the best.
1 comments:
Great Post! -Pit Crew
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