Ø7: The Golden Age Of Self-Publishing?
Øutput 7
Another morning and I’m still alive!
Always worth celebrating.
Last night we were interviewing Jon Lock from Big Punch Studios for our podcast and I had this strange little question bouncing around in my head, echoing and slamming in the upstairs grey-matter.
A question that had me look to the ceiling, grab my chin, purse my lips, and burst out an almighty ‘hmmnn’.
“Is this the golden age of self-publishing?"
In all honesty, I dunno.
But the evidence would certainly suggest so.
The tools are there to write, draw, film, edit, and even to promote.
I think I proved to the world (and to myself) that you didn’t need money to make a half-decent film.
And then there’s the marketplaces.
We can publish our ebooks on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Gumroad.
We can publish our print books through CreateSpace and Ingram Spark.
We can publish our comics through Comixology, tapastic, or Comicsy.
We can publish our films to Vimeo or Youtube.
We can publish our podcasts through iTunes and Stitcher.
… and then there’s Steemit.
We can also raise money upfront via Kickstarter and Indiegogo and get our projects off the ground.
And we can build our own audiences, our own brands, our own communities, our own fans.
And hell, we can make money doing it too.
So yeah, I fully believe that we are in the golden age of self-publishing.
But …
We’re also in the golden age of entitlement.
The age where people have a new dream career every ten minutes. Where people smell hard work and melt into a tasteless paste. Where the first sign of disappointment sends people to the hills in search of their ‘true’ calling. Whatever the hell that is.
It took Stephen Pressfield 10 years of writing novels before he turned to Screenwriting and made his first slice of money.
In today’s world, with all these tools available to us, what could you do in 10 years of concentrated effort?
What I'm reading
Big Punch Magazine Issue 7 by Big Punch Studios.
Another example of a small press making the most of what's available to them. A wonderful ongoing comic-magazine from an incredibly talented and passionate bunch of folks.
Subscribe here
In other news ...
Two days left to finish this first draft of the novel! I honestly have no idea how this is going to work. As I'm also a little behind on a short story I owe for The Other Stories.
PROJECT365
A new story idea every single day.
Check out the previous ideas here
IDEA 109: The Search For The Weatherman
A weatherman has a meltdown on live TV. Does a David Icke and claims he can see the truth now.
Of course, he’s fired.
So he starts a Youtube channel where he gives weather reports of the ‘real’ world. He talks about the lizard people living within the hollow Earth. He talks about how we’re controlled by a ruling family of aliens. And it all sounds like nonsense.
Until he goes missing.
And the little kid he hired to film his Youtube videos and handle his Social Media is suddenly left with a choice.
Continue the channel and document his search for the weatherman or forget all about it.
But the Weatherman’s giant internet following is too tempting.
So he continues the channel. It takes him on a journey which will lead him through a world of lizard people, clones, and into the centre of the Earth.
Profits made from this blog will go right into my ramen fund. Any more will go right into any future storytelling projects.
Oo oo ... go grab a free book!
I was unaware of Big Punch. That looks very cool.
Yeah I'm loving them. Let me now what you think!
If David Icke goes missing on his current world tour, I'm going to be looking suspiciously at you now. What does Luke of Konder know?
lol I'll blame the lizards!