Saturday, June 04, 2011

100 sites for fiction writers: #8 - Publetariat

This is an ongoing series looking at websites that can be of help to fiction writers with their craft and career.

Publetariat

The Indie Author Guide: Self-Publishing Strategies Anyone Can UseIf you have been thinking about becoming a self-published author in today's world of digital publishing, there's no better place than to get started than Publetariat.

Publetariat has one of the strongest online communities for self-published writers, often called indie authors, and helps those writers keep track of the events and news going on in the indie author world. What sets this site apart from many others is that its focus is almost entirely upon the indie author and matters of importance to indie authors.

Who is in charge of Publetariat? April L. Hamilton, author of fiction and non-fiction books alike, including The Indie Author Guide. But April does not work alone on the site. She has picked a number of others to lend a hand and provide information and steering for indie authors.

This website has loads of knowledge for beginning self publishers, including information about writing, book design, selling and more.

One of the great things about Publetariat is that it is a site that focuses upon demystifying and destroying the stigma that used to come along with being a self-published author. That stigma is still strong in some circles, though those circles are growing smaller and smaller all the time, and Publetariat can somewhat help a beginner emotionally deal with that stigma themselves and provide honest answers to those who continue to stand against self publishing. How does Publetariat do this? By being one of the best cheerleading sites around for indie authors.

The site does have a forum, though it is not the most popular feature to be found at Publetariat. What is popular? The scores upon scores of articles and postings from authors, about authors and for authors.

Also popular is the Book Trends section of Publetariat. Written by Bob Spear, an author and musician and bookseller, the Book Trends articles are cross-posted with Bob's blog. In Book Trends, you hear about the world of book publishing from an actual bookseller, someone you could talk with, someone who work on the street-level of book sales.

If you're considering becoming an indie author, check out Publetariat.

2 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

I haven't heard of this site. thanks for the heads up.

April L. Hamilton said...

Thanks for the recommend, Ty. =') When I launched Publetariat it was because I knew there were lots of self-published authors still 'in the closet' about it since they knew they'd be pooh-poohed at best, openly mocked at worst, on all the major online writer communities. I'd find an isolated discussion group now and then, but never a full-featured, one-stop news and community hub for indie authors and very small imprints intended specifically to serve the needs of that group. Things have changed SO much just in the 3 years since Publetariat's launch; now it seems like everyone's jumping on the self-pub bandwagon, and going indie is being viewed as one among many legitimate paths to publication---and very often, as a savvy business move to boot. I don't believe self-pub is right for every author, nor every book. But at long last, it's no less valid a choice than the traditional, mainstream path.


(BTW, according to my Google Alert for Publetariat, this post of yours has been picked up in syndication quite a few places.)