Dzanc Books and 826michigan founder Steven Gillis talks about the “rogue warrior” Renaissance in indie publishing and his new collection, The Law of Strings .

Everyone thinks it’s like this:
But Weldon Owen has an infographic with the real process of how a book is born. Click on over to laugh—and cry. (One key step: “Everyone who approved design decides they actually hate it.”)

Further Reading:

Okay, fine. This is really how a book is made.
Or maybe this is more [...]

via Mashable.
There’s a new route to publishing your book: find the audience first. You’ve heard of Kickstarter, yes? Well, take that model, apply it to your unpublished manuscript, add in a dash of philanthropic good-will you’ve got a potentially game-changing new company: Pubslush. Been trying to find an agent, publisher, anyone to take your manuscript [...]

Remember that old Sesame Street video that shows how a steel factory makes an I-beam? I love that. I also love the crayon factory. This book-making video is a gorgeous descendent. I have no idea how many places still make books this way, but I hope some always do. Enlarge so it fills your screen—it’s [...]

Editor’s note: At AWP 2012, which just wrapped up in Chicago, we were thrilled to hear this wonderful story from one of our contributors, Sarah Van Arsdale, and are delighted to share it with you. It’s a reminder of what conferences are really about: fostering community to buoy a writer’s spirit, helping you hang [...]

Sorry. As a fellow dorky, Asian Harvard grad, I may have gotten swept up in the adoration of Jeremy Lin that’s sweeping the nation world. And, um, the puns—at least the ones that aren’t ethnic slurs. (Don’t get me started on that one, please.)
Anyway. Thanks to his underdog-made-good story, Jeremy [...]

You’ve probably read about Amazon’s most recent promotion–they encouraged customers to use their price-check app in stores, scan an item, and then get an extra 5% discount for buying that item on Amazon instead. This promotion occasioned much ranting, including a piece by Richard Russo in the Times, and then a rant from an opposing [...]

We don’t need writers. Here’s the proof, via web comic xkcd:

The traditional model of publishing–for books, at least–has become a large(ish) upfront advance, followed by royalties: a small percent of the book’s sale, once the book has earned enough to pay off the advance. Here’s a counteroffer: as an author, would you trade a larger advance for a smaller payment upfront PLUS a bigger [...]