The Writers' Lounge

I know of a few fantasy articles who have, with the help of a good beta reader or editor, been able to publish their own works vie ePublishing. I am sort of surprised no one else has mentioned the incredible disparity between what legacy and other publishing houses pay vs. the absolute game changer, Amazon, paying authors 70% of list price for titles priced between 2099 and 9.99. Legacy publishers, you are lucky if you 1) get published at all 2) get an advance for more then $1,500 and 3) get more than between 17.5% - 25% (if you are very lucky. And if you get all those things, you still have to pay back that advance - which in previous years was much higher, but hey, the industry is hurting. Rare is the author that will get more than that unless they have a proven track record.

I am going to suggest three blogs to be read if you are serious about being published.

http://www.thepassivevoice.com - this guy is an attorney turned full time author. I read him every morning and every day I learn something new.

http://www.deanwesleysmith.com - Dean Wesley Smith is an action / mystery writer that is able to support himself with his writng. He is fairly prolific and has a lot of good info, too.

http://www.kriswrites.com - This is Dean's wifw, Kristine Kathryn Rusch. She writse fantasy books and she is also self supporting with her own work.

The world of writing and publishing has changed and there is no reason whatsoever that writers need to subject themselves to abuse and rates of return that does not respect their craft. All you need to do is make the effort. You learn along the way and you are looking after your own best interest in a way that no publisher, editor or agent ever could.