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| (Most of) The first batch of Author At Once participants, ever. Yay! |
For over two years now, I've been talking to people about how I've gone "indie" and published some of my books, making them available in ebook and paperback, in the Philippines and around the world. I've done it through this blog, and coffee shops, and classrooms. But all of that's been informal, casual "Hey, how did you do that?" "Well like this..." conversations, nothing really structured.
On May 5, we gave it some structure -- and opened it up for everyone. Author At Once, an indie publishing workshop by Bronze Age Media, featured me as the main speaker, and it was an afternoon of spilling "secrets" about publishing independently. From how to sell ebooks to getting an affordable print version out. And a bunch of other stuff in between.
A TV appearance on ANC's Future Perfect seemed to have been well-received, and we were nearly overwhelmed by the emails and calls from people who wanted to be part of AAO. And on the day itself? It was, as we in Bronze Age Media have been saying, our best workshop ever. (We've organized a bunch, none of them like AAO though.)
99% of why it was the best ever was because of you, the people who chose to show up. I personally loved your questions, your energy, your interest in everything, the fact that you took notes! and mingled among yourselves, made friends, and laughed at some of my jokes. (Maybe you shouldn't encourage me!)
We (at Bronze Age Media) are still regrouping and doing some post-workshop documentation and stuff, but we're already planning the next one. There will be an Author At Once repeat in June, for the people who weren't able to make it. And a Chapter 2 for those who have attended soon after. Because we talked about what's next, and it's a lot of work -- but all fun and exciting.
We will be in touch about the future plans, but don't hesitate to poke us if you haven't heard from us yet. Thank you and yay everyone!
The seminar was indeed fun, and thank you to Mina and company. In most things, "fun" trivializes things - after all, how can something fun be serious or important, and the seminar was important for me. Yet, it was fun, too. Go figure...
ReplyDeleteYou know how, in seminars, it is de riguer that all participants are required to introduce themselves? When it was my turn, I tried to make a witty quip about having delusions of literary abilities. But it is indeed true, as far as that goes, so I took to heart Mina's war stories about being an indie writer-slash-publisher, and I fully intend to use the information from the seminar in getting published, too.
I guess I feel a little old that, being an indie something-or-other isn't as cool as it sounds to young whippersnappers (ye gods, did I really say "whippersnapper?" Heheh...) but the opportunities to get published in the country for drystarters are sooo very... unlikely. However, as with the music industry, the nextgen for the print-and-publishing industry, its business models and writing paradigms are a-changing. "Indie," in the context of what the seminar is about, is a misnomer - being an ewriter with a kindle book out is actually not indie anymore but its mainstream. Perhaps, for the ones who want to ride the cool wave of being a rebel indie-type, being part of the mainstream is uncool - but that's not what the seminar was about. But that's just my opnion...
I think the seminar was all about the possibility of being published: of taking the mechanics of getting one's art out there out of the equation, and making writing all about writing. That writing is now not about writing-then-editing-then-getting-isbn-numbers-then-looking-for-an-agent-then-being-discovered-then-being-published... Now it's just about the writing - that, with the tools the seminar provided, publishing is now just mechanics. To me, that was what the seminar was about. It was about separating publishing from the writing.
And because of that, I say thanks to Mina and Co. Hope to see everyone during the next event.
Btw, I'm the guy in the yellow t-shirt...
It was a pleasure meeting you, Burt! :) Thank you for sharing this. We did intend to make writers feel that they should focus on writing (and not worry about editing and finding a publisher -- or maybe worry about it later rather than sooner). Looking forward to reading something from you soon!
DeleteI'm an American guy teaching and living in Taiwan and last November, I took part in the Pinoy NaNoWriMo hoopla, coming up with a decent# of words!
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to discover your "Author At Once" writer-empowerment workshop. I've been teaching a similar workshop named "Write Like a Lover!" and I'd love to join your next gathering.
Best of luck!
Tad Wojnicki
Tad, it would be cool to see you at the next one! We were planning for June 9, but will announce when it's all set.
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