Oh dear. Panic abounds on indie authors’ forums and blogs.

Don’t panic, dear author. Amazon isn’t taking the bread out of your mouth… Kindle owners can only borrow ONE book a month, so who cares?

You shouldn’t.

I heartily second this blog post. Scott Nicholson:

“Every single move Amazon has made resulted in MORE money for all participating writers, MORE ebooks for all readers, and MORE opportunity instead of a monopoly (if you follow me at all, you know I’m a contrarian and I see huge, huge opportunity in the other markets now, which of course will have to do something to counter Amazon’s big move.)”

No one is twisting any author’s arm to take part, are they? And as Scott says, without Amazon, indie authors would be using manuscript pages for origami.

Amazon’s just giving authors more opportunity. If you’re not interested, don’t take part.

Readers are right. Everyone else is WRONG. In this blog post,, I said:

* Sometimes editors are wrong

* Sometimes literary agents are wrong

* Often ALL buyers of your writing are WRONG. (By which I meant buyer of your writing services, rather than readers.)

Anyone who stands between you and your readers can be wrong, and can steer you in the wrong direction. Only your readers are right.

Readers are what writing is all about, and when you have direct contact with readers, your writing will take off.

As proof, we have this blog post, How I Became a Best-Selling Author – Yahoo! Finance, about Darcie Chan’s rejected novel which gained 400,000 readers very quickly:

“This past May, Ms. Chan decided to digitally publish it herself, hoping to gain a few readers and some feedback. She bought some ads on Web sites targeting e-book readers, paid for a review from Kirkus Reviews, and strategically priced her book at 99 cents to encourage readers to try it. She’s now attracting bids from foreign imprints, movie studios and audio-book publishers, without selling a single copy in print.”

You’ll notice that Darcie Chan’s novel has only been selling online since May, 2011. That’s 400K copies in seven months.

Since there’s no shelf life for digital books, the novel will snowball. Judging by the publicity Ms Chan’s getting, I predict she’ll hit a million copies sold sometime next year. If I were a betting person (I’m not) I’d bet on the second quarter of 2012.

Nervous about self-publishing? Many writers aren’t and that’s ideal. Kindle publishing is laughably simple.

That said, many writers would rather do their own dentistry than format and upload their self-published books. If you feel this way, respected publisher Penguin can help.

Publishers Lunch (subscription required), Book Country Launches Self-Publishing Platform reports:

“Book Country is offering three publishing packages to authors who wish to self-publish within the genres of romance, mystery/thriller, and science fiction & fantasy: a digital book with user-formatting based on a Microsoft Word file for $99…”

I’m not familiar with Book Country at all, but it looks like a great community. I’ll be joining myself.

You’ll need to decide whether their packages work for you. Be aware that you’re giving up some control, and money, too. Before you sign up with any packager, make sure you read and understand the fine print.

Kindle Publishing Is Hot: Want to generate cash from your kitchen table and quit your day job?

Others are making money from Kindle publishing. The lucky few are making millions. Some are making great money — and that money increases each month.

What about you?

Imagine generating cash from your kitchen table. You can let Amazon do all the heavy lifting. Amazon’s got a proven publishing system, after all — discover Fast and Easy Kindle Publisher: Turn Free Stuff Into Kindle Cash, and discover four different ways to turn free stuff into Kindle cash.

This post, A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing: Guest Post by David Gaughran, makes the valid point (emphasis mine):

“Of the many memes being parroted by writers, one of the most destructive is “Most self-pubbed ebooks don’t sell.”

When you are arguing a point involving a new technology, such as ebooks, it is essential to make sure your argument also encompasses the older technology. The fact is, most legacy-pubbed books don’t sell.“

Too true.

Read the entire post. David Gaughran says, “I can’t afford to take a publishing deal.”

Again, too true.

That’s the case for many — I’d say MOST authors.

I’ve been the traditional publishing route many times. I’ve had two New York agents. New authors tend to think that having an agent and a publishing contract from a publisher solves problems.

Here’s the truth — it increases your problems, because more people are involved, and you have little control over what they do.

Your agent has other clients. Your editor has other books. Neither your agent nor your editor cares about you and your career as much as you do. They’ll give you advice, and taking bad advice can stymie you for years. Only you know what’s best for you.

If you’re a new author, you’ll think that everyone knows more than you. A trip down the traditional publishing path will soon disabuse you of that idea, I promise you. To repeat, only you know what’s best for you.

I’ve been writing for over 30 years. There’s never been a better time to write your own books and sell them — there have never been more opportunities.

If you want to go the traditional publishing route, and think that this is the short path to bestsellerdom, remember: as Joe Konrath says “most legacy-pubbed books don’t sell”.

There are many reasons for that. Mostly, they’re out of authors’ control.

Self-publishing gives YOU control. Write a good book, whack it up on Amazon. Or, go the trad publishing route… and give up control. Your choice.

Content Is King Online: Develop a Six-Figure Income from Your Content

Creating better content faster is your secret to online riches. There’s a huge demand for content online. You can develop a six-figure income not only by getting writing jobs, but also by creating content for websites, blogs and ebooks.

60-Second Content Power: Create Better Content Faster shows you how to create content FAST.

One writer said: “Working from home was just a dream for me. I thought writers starved. Angela shared the 60-second process in her coaching class a year ago. Last week, I signed a contract to create eight Kindle ebooks for a client in the next six months. It’s a BIG contract. Made my partner smile, and kids create shopping lists. I’ll always be an Angela Booth fan.”

Today, writers are in a powerful position. Content is king online. Take advantage of the unlimited opportunities, with 60-Second Content Power.

Self-publishing is much more accepted and these days, much more sensible.

Two reasons:

* You get your book out faster, and can start earning immediately (no more waiting for royalty statements, hurrah!)

* You’ll probably make more money, if you’re a little smart about what you’re doing.

As this writer says, in Midlist Becomes the E-List – A Writer’s Life:

“It’s no wonder that more and more midlist authors like me are opting to self-publish — which can be far more lucrative, and far less risky, that a publishing contract, especially if you can get back the rights to your backlist.”

Tip: Build Your Platform as You Write

As I said in this post, it’s essential to build your platform as you write: “Nowadays, you’re expected to have a platform, before you approach a publisher. Therefore, in addition to writing a book, you’ve got to build a your platform…”

Building your platform is even more vital if you’re self-publishing. Ideally, you’ll have a flock of eager readers waiting for your self-published book to launch.

The easiest way to build your platform is to start creating a blog to give readers a taste of your offering. Yes, now, today.

With a platform, you’ll have money coming in, and you chart your own destiny as an author… what’s not to like?