InterVarsity Press

Self Publish? You Bet.

Do I, as the editorial director for a traditional print publisher, encourage and support self-publishing--even self-ebook publishing? Yes. I do. Here's why.

First, just as I encourage people to read most anything (magazines, blogs, newspapers, websites, books, journals and more), I think it is good for people to write most anything (articles, fiction, nonfiction, letters). Reading stimulates the mind and writing clarifies thought. Writing and reading are foundational to a good society--not only for entertainment but to transfer information and wisdom from one generation to another. So self-publishing? Of course.

Second, there are far more books people want to write than traditional publishers can absorb. The explosion of self-publishing in the last decade has put an exclamation point on that.

Third, successful self-publishing can lead to successful traditional publishing. Consider the case of Amanda Hocking. Fifty literary agents turned down her paranormal romance manuscripts. So she self-published an ebook. She writes fast (finishing a book in about a month) and her ebooks caught on, and now she is $2 million richer. As a result, not surprisingly, a traditional print publisher is now releasing her Trylle series.

Why go to a traditional print publisher when she was doing so fantastically well on her own? Amanda said she did it for a couple reasons: "E-books are taking up more of the market, but it's still somewhere between, like, 10 and 30 percent of the market. But also, I was kind of overwhelmed with the amount of work that I had to do that wasn't writing a book. I was writing more when I worked a day job than when I was writing full time because of how much time I devote to the whole publishing part."

I have friends who are self-publishing biography/memoir. And they are doing the right thing--for now. There may come a time, though, when they need the help of a traditional publisher. If so, I may be able to help them with that too.

The 2012 Andys

What are the winning books from the list of titles I finished this year? Yes, you will get the answer to that pressing question here. In addition you'll find my über-creative categories and the wit-soaked comment of the judge. More than that (yes, it is hard to believe), you also find below what the people demanded-- short summaries of each. So included for the first time is a Synop-Tweet (a tweet-like synopsis) of the winning books. Here they are.

The Nominees for 2012

The nominees are in for 2012. No, I'm not talking about Iowa. I'm talking about nominees for the 2012 Andys, of course. The list of books I read last year seems to have a pretty good variety to me. (What's your opinion?) But certain trends may be discernible. Below you'll find:

Following the Wise Men

Gift giving at Christmas is a wonderful tradition which comes to us from the wise men. They visited Jesus, and gave him gifts that honored and recognized him as king. When we give gifts to show our love and respect for each other, we follow their path.

Yet gift giving can be difficult--and not necessarily because we lack generosity. Sometimes it's simply hard to know what to give. When so many of us are awash in material goods, it is a challenge because it seems everyone has everything.

The Obvious Solution for Publishers

Publishing faces unprecedented challenges these days, with the decline of bookstores and the rise of the Internet and ebooks. The ultimate difficulty may, in fact, be the digital dilemma.

Music, videos and news have been digitized, and which has sent those industries into chaos. And all sorts of other information have been digitized and liberated on the Internet for the greater good of the planet--at the ability of content providers to make a living, which ultimately has a negative effect on new content produced and so a negative effect on the planet. But I digress.

What is a publisher to do?

Mr. Manners Speaks (or Doesn't)

Okay, listen up, people. And I don't just mean you twenty-something-Generation X-Y types either. I'm talking heavy-duty, born in the '40s and '50s Boomer Bambinos too.

You're at a meal with others. Enjoying good food and good conversation. Your cell phone, smart phone, pad, pod or doodad rings, beeps, chimes, vibrates, intones or otherwise comes to life. What do you do?

A. Answer the phone and chat it up while your friends keep eating and talking.

B. Don't answer the phone and let it ring out.

C. Get up from the table, withdraw to a secure location, and answer the phone.

The correct answer is not ever A. I'm talking (well, actually you are the one talking) mega-rudeness, galactic vulgarity, whacked-out boorish behavior.

Answers B and C are completely acceptable. A? Never!

All right. I'm done now with my very polite rant.