Epub in the News

I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed an increasing number of headlines about authors who find outrageous success in self-publishing,  especially via e-books.

Some of these success stories highlight established authors whose digital book sales are a natural extension of their existing platforms. But the crazy, tempting, irresistible part is that some of these overnight successes are almost complete unknowns. Ordinary people. Like you. Like me.

For authors, these articles can be impossible to ignore.

It’s hard NOT to let your wild, daydreaming, wouldn’t-mind-some-extra-moolah brain think, Man, maybe, it’s time to try e-publishing. Who knows? Maybe that could be me.  

Of course, in the moments we are most in touch with reality, we get that it’s not that simple. That the entire REASON these e-pub stories are in the news to begin with are that they’re sensational. They’re the exception not the rule.

If everyone who tried e-publishing became instant successes, breaking through to the New York Times Bestseller list and the World’s Richest People lists overnight, it wouldn’t be news anymore.

It’s only a headline grabber because it’s so, so (sadly, regretfully) rare.

Epub Experiences

So what exactly is the average person’s experience with self-publishing and e-books?

In an effort to find out, and dig deeper than the media mythology around e-publishing, I’m interviewing a handful of real life authors who have tried their hands at self-publishing. None of them are celebrities or mega-church pastors and none of them are bankrolled by a billion dollar corporation.

They’re all people un-extraordinarily like you and I, who work hard to pay bills, but have learned and created some good content, and are attempting to share it.

I invite you back here Monday for the first post in this series, which will cover everything from which publishers they used, how much it cost, and whether they’d do it again.

Epub Authors

Amy Bennett
Her book: Entangled
Websites: www.EntangledBook.com and www.PermissionToPeruse.com

Brandon Clements
His book: Every Bush Is Burning
Website: www.EveryBush.com and www.BrandonClements.com

Mike Hall
His book: Jigsaw
Website: www.JigsawBook.com and facebook.com/mikeisspeaking

Andy Merritt
His book: Eden
Website: www.EdenTheBook.com

Jimmy Spencer
His book: Love Without an Agenda
Website: www.book.lovewithoutagenda.com

**If you find this series helpful or if you or someone you know has self-publishing or e-publishing experience to share, please leave me a comment. Also, if you’re setting out to write your book, I’ve started a free community to support aspiring authors.**

]]> http://www.sarahcunningham.org/writing-and-speaking/epub-what-the-media-isnt-telling-you/feed 0 http://www.sarahcunningham.org/brotherhood/how-to-get-to-know-people-no-1 http://www.sarahcunningham.org/brotherhood/how-to-get-to-know-people-no-1#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:04:58 +0000 Sarah http://www.sarahcunningham.org/?p=7746

[This blog is about bringing people together around good things. In your life, in my life, and in the world we share. But people won't come together around good things unless they first find a reason to meet each other. Along these lines, this weekly post provides one fun, simple idea for meeting and getting to know the people around you.]

 No. 1 Make an appearance at every event.

You may have friends in sitcom-worthy neighborhoods who host Martha-Stewart caliber block parties. They pile out onto the curb together to watch parades or gather in a clearing to take in the local fireworks.

But maybe the whole time your friends are recounting their love-my-neighbor bliss, you’re struggling to scrape up the name of the guy who has lived next door to you for six years. It’s Hank. Or Hal. Maybe Harold. Definitely one of the three. (You contemplate checking his mail someday when he’s not home, even though this may be a federal offense.)

Or maybe your neighborhood is more the nod-on-the-way-out-the-driveway types. And the last street wide barbecue that graced your parts was the time that lady one street over caught her yard on fire while burning leaves.

If that’s your scenario, then you have to look for simple events.

Really simple, non-invitation events. Non-events.

Like a garage or yard sale sign, a lemonade stand, some furniture or a bike set out by the curb for sale.

These signs are permission-giving. They say “come over and look at our items.” And stopping by, even for a few minutes on the way in from the mailbox, also gives you the chance to introduce yourself and express positive interest in what they’re doing.

And who knows, maybe you’ll find a replica of that 80′s hair band poster you had in the second grade while you’re at it.

I make a rule never to pass the chance to interact with neighbors, especially kids. I might as well own stock in the concept of the lemonade stand. This has earned me many cups of lemonade–of various quality and size–and in one case, a couple stalks of rhubarb (which I hate) from two very determined adolescent entrepreneurs with a megaphone.

[Do you have an idea or suggestion for getting to know your neighbors or other community members in your town? I'd love to hear it in the comment section.]

If you’re looking to get to know your community, as a church or a faith group, I’m developing a book you might want to stay in the loop on. Just leave your name here.

Just to recap, Dream Year is a STORY-family offering that helps people achieve a goal (that book you always wanted to write, that charitable organization you always wanted to start, that company you want to get off the ground and so on) in just twelve months.

While a small number of applicants are accepted into year-round coaching with my friend Ben Arment, there are two alternative ways to access the training through a fast-track bootcamp weekend and/or online subscription (video modules).

Last weekend, a Dream Year Weekend was hosted in Charlotte, North Carolina. For those of you who’ve been curious about the process, who know you have a dream stirring inside you but aren’t sure what to do about it, I thought you might want to read the words (and see some photos) from Dream Year Weekend participant Thea Nelson who captures what a personal and person-able experience it is.

You can learn more about Dream Year here…

I’ve thought quite a few times that being Pro-Life requires far more than promoting alternatives to abortion.

Acting on behalf of life, in favor of life, extends to a lot of other issues.

Extreme poverty. Living wage. Health care. Clean water. Disease prevention.

Sometimes I think “being Pro-Life” even extends further to much more routine actions, tasks a lot closer to home.

To not sleeping enough. To driving recklessly. To putting crap into our bodies. To not wearing seatbelts or adequately scraping our car windows. To not acting in the best interest of or protection of or promotion of … life.

But lately, I’ve been thinking about how there are, similarly, both huge, global ways and small, routine ways of being human, of sharing existence with other people, of striving for the kind of peace the book of Proverbs or the Sermon on the Mount or the disciple John encouraged between people.

There are giant, socially-and-politically-manifested issues like human trafficking, which I’ll be spending this year chipping away at on my blog. (You can join the efforts here.)

And then there are really tiny, ordinary, close to home ways of honoring people and valuing togetherness.

The sorts of pre-requisite behaviors that say–not just in the blogosphere, or twitterverse, or voting booth–that I, as a person, value human relationships.

It’s the way we hold our own needs in relationship to the needs of others.

It’s the way we choose (or don’t choose) to be aware of the impact we have on others.

It’s the way we intentionally look (or don’t look)  to bless and invest in those whose lives are linked to ours.

It’s the tone of voice, the choice of words, the face time, the generosity, the inclusiveness, the partnering vs. competing, the every day honor, loyalty, and gratefulness questions.

It’s the humility a friend recently (and rightly) called me out for failing to show.

This is why, as I venture into the subject of brotherhood and big over-arching issues like Human Trafficking, I know that my biggest responsibility–before and as I examine the world–is to examine my own soul and to reconcile the ways in which I fail to show brotherhood in much less revolutionary and vigilante ways every day.

(This post is the next one in a series previously called Writing Brain Dumps. Each week, it highlights quirky news or unusual facts about the publishing industry.)

• You’ve probably already noticed that some story-tellers are better than others. But would you have attributed it to brain-science? Curious? Check out this neurologist’s take on why writer’s think via story (We learn to invent narrative to fill in memory gaps.)
• Looking for something less heady? Click through these images of street art inspired by literature. Who knew a graffiti artist with a spray paint can could be so well read?
• There are more surprises about who reads and why. If you’ve got time to advance a power point, there’s a report here you might find interesting.
• If you’ve followed anything about book-movement in the last few years, you’ve noticed the rise of a certain powerhouse no doubt. This author suggests Amazon’s predatory streak continues. Libraries, bookstores, publishers … who will be next?
• Or, if you’re looking for something offline, you could browse the 10 most expensive books in the world. (Hint: You can’t get them on Amazon.)
• Not to mention this interesting piece about the inspiration behind some of the most well known children’s books. Hint: In many cases, it’s real life children.
• The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium.  -Norbet Platt

• Life has yet to deliver the day when I don’t want to write–as a craft, as a hobby, as a personal development tool…and yes, sometimes for “work”. Below are some of the projects that represent the many kinds of writings touching my life these days.
• My friend Brad Johnson released the e-book Four Laws of Forgiveness. Brad is a life-long pastor and counselor who has poured his own experiences–both successes and failures–into capturing how forgiveness really works. I had the pleasure to work on the developmental editing behind the book and can tell you it freshly challenged my laziness in the face of opportunity to forgive. People of the Second Chance fans, this is right up your ally.
• Speaking of POTSC, if you read Gracenomics and have the heart to seek second chances group-style, there are Participant Guides and Videos to make grace a community experience.
• On another front, I’m loving curating and editing a book project for Moody press that will bring together many writers and artists from the STORY community. It’s called Inciting Incidents and deals with pivotal moments in life, where the decisions made in crucial moments direct us closer to or away from our best futures. More to come.
• Doing some work on Josh Shipp’s upcoming second book too. I was largely unfamiliar with Josh’s work, outside of knowing his name was somehow attached to “youth speaker”. But after spending some time immersed in his life story and observing where it’s taken him (far beyond “youth speaker”), I’m sold. This guy is an automatic win for a youth/college audience seeking life direction.
• In other news, this week, I have the privilege to help capture the story of a successful anesthesiologist who overcame a life-altering, disabling injury in his late teens. Believe me, half the notes I take will be for my own learning. Determined to let some faith and perseverance rub off on me.
• Still working on a newly contracted book which will resource people of faith and/or church communities who want to intentionally study and get to know the community they serve.  You can get a little taste of the exercises and subscribe to get future exercises and sample chapters here.
• There will also be new free guides coming to the “How to Start a Book” section of this website so make sure to add your name to the 70 people already somewhere on their book-writing journey. (It’s free. Save your pennies.)
• Do you have an opinion on what is the best word to capture the concept of “brotherhood”? I’d love to hear it as I work on the pitch for another book I’m currently working on. Weigh in here.
• As always, if you’re in the beginning stages of writing a book and have questions about the process, please feel free to drop me a line. I try to answer all questions received through emails either personally or via a blog post (if the info would be helpful to many). I’d love to share anything I know which might be of service to you or to help point you in the direction of good information if your question lies outside my expertise. When a good idea advances, we all advance.
• Find a few minutes to sneak away and write this weekend!

Several of my current writing projects touch on a similar theme: brotherhood.

Or at least that is how I, ironically a hyper-skinny, middle class white girl, would term it.

The word “brotherhood” conjures up more than just a dictionary definition … for me.

It provokes a feeling of deep camaraderie, and automatically sets off a daydreamed mashup of real life and movie-esque displays of allegiance (think secret societies, Musketeers, grass roots revolutionaries, disciples).

The term brotherhood, almost by itself, seems to infer something I believe: that people can transcend norms and develop deep and purposeful bonds that stir goodness in the world.

But, there are some downsides to this specific word, which advisers keep alerting me to in hand-scribbled notes in the margins.

Even though I have always read “brotherhood” in a very universal way, seeing myself and other women as easily fitting underneath it’s umbrella, there is probably a better term than would more intentionally include women.

And then there’s the fact that the word brotherhood has been hijacked and pasted on all kinds of social and political movements. Thus, the word may trigger people to think about specific agendas or positions, which my writing is not pushing.

And so people throw out recommendations… synonyms–words like friendship and community–and I struggle over each of them, trying to decide whether it holds the same romance and imagery as knights sworn in allegiance to a king…as people intimately connecting over cause and family.

And I’m having a hard time finding an alternative term that fits as incredibly into the metaphor of spiritual brotherhood that I see in the language of Jesus, the disciple John, or the apostle Paul. Daughter, your faith has made you well. Adopted heirs with Christ. Anyone who hates his brother…

And it leads me to ask this question, what term best inspires you to feelings of brotherhood?

I would love to hear your opinion if you would click the comment link and offer a few ideas.

I’ve been holed away in my office, sipping Keurig Chai, reading books, and mapping out possibility for 2012.

… And traveling.

Outside of Coach Cunningham and the Emperor, my suitcase has been my closest companion the last 30-days. (Don’t fear. It’s a very good suitcase.)

This is part of my hibernation, as a writer and a leader. Part of my yearly rhythm. Akin to a sabbatical or…on my less balanced days,  a self-induced coma.

(Just push something caffeinated into my hand as I stand on the moving sidewalk or slip something chocolate under the office door from time to time, please.)

And it is why–like last year–my blog, Facebook page, and Twitter feeds become nostalgic little ghost towns every end of December. Why the idealistic musings dry up. And the witty twitter jabs freeze over. And I wait until I feel good and ready, fresh and expectant of the months to come, before I join the blogging scene again.

It’s part of my commitment to people, health and the local world real-as-day outside my front door.

This year, my break stretched into an extended couple weeks of sweet traveling-and-writing delirium. Since December 25th, I’ve been to Illinois, Indiana, Florida, Mexico, DC, and North Carolina and, yes, to the small cinnamon colored office where I sheltered in between.

The hibernation has brought many new stirrings. Some expected; some unexpected. Some wanted; some not. Some blow-me-away grateful, some incredibly disappointing. (Life is always a mix of take it or leave its, don’t you think?) But in the end, I arrive here (three-and-a-half-weeks late) to 2012 with a building sense of anticipation growing inside of me.

People don’t climb mountains to hear me weigh in on spiritual discernment, as I’ve never heard God’s audible voice or even–less prestigiously–had the Holy Spirit spell out a next step in my cheerios. But I’ve also never been able to ignore the thick presence of new momentum swirling in and around my life. 

I enter 2012 reflective of how life is always changing, impressed to know God in any and all the ways He is willing to reveal himself to me, and confident that His favor holds good as we seek to serve and live peaceably with all men (and women).

Happy late New Year, my friends. Please stop in for ongoing resources on writing, brotherhood and people coming together to do good things.

***

For some reason, I love the love of the iconic. Here’s to Audrey Hepburn.

Stop. Pause your mind. These are NOT X-rays. Okay. Un-pause. The photographer took these machines apart, photographed each piece of the machine individually, then merged all the photos together. Tricky. (I will not be taking this up as a hobby.)

Since someone somewhere went to the trouble of establishing World Beard & Moustache Championships, I feel obligated to honor them (and their freaskishly great photos). So let it be said, so let it be done.

Abandoned theater photos are like orphaned children images to me. Sad. I want to adopt and redeem them all.

• Some ideas about what you deserve as an author. Hint: Don’t go in entitled.
• And lookie, lookie. Stephen Leather got out of self-publishing after selling half a million e-books. Read on.
• Wanting another reason not to self-publish in 2012? Here. you. go.
• Or this one: When Self Publishing Goes Wrong.
• (My Two Shiny Round Abraham Lincolns on the subject.)
• Just in case you were wondering, hating Amazon is not a strategy. (But don’t tell that to the New York Times art department who created the Monopoly-inspired slap in the face to Amazon above.)
• Even if every single bookstore in your town went out of business this year.
• Yep, it’s sad to be a Jackson-ian.
• On a fun note, David Wisehart is proposing a #SampleSunday tweet. You can spread your writing around via Twitter by tacking on this tag.
• And we’re still building a little community of writers here at sarahcunningham.org. After the new year, I’ll be posting more free pdf guides geared toward helping people FINALLY start that book they’ve been wanting to write. Join here free.