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Evolution of an Indie: Sell Everything

Evolution of an IndieEntering my third year as an indie, it is my responsibility to impart sage wisdom to the world. (Don’t blink, or you might miss it.) See the series introduction post for more on my saga. But for now, lesson #10 for 2012:

Publish and sell everything you write.

This is one I’m still trying to figure out. But it connects with the last lesson on being professional. Everything you write should be written at a professional level. If it is written at a professional level, monetize it. If you can’t monetize it, you might be wasting your time and or talent. (It’s hard to believe I’m even typing this! I suppose I need to explain myself a bit further.

I firmly believe that a sale for $0.00 is still a sale.

Sometimes it is neccessary to sell your work for zero profit in order to increase profitable sales. So in my mind, sales and profit are two separate things. [Read more...]

Wear a Loincloth. Save Your Brains.

Loincloth posterAt the risk of breaking some unspoken taboo around saying the word loincloth too frequently for modern society, I’m coming forward with the end all solution to air travel security.

I mean, am I the only one freaking out over the rash (two) of contrived UEDs (undergarment explosive devices)? How can this stand? And what sort of security molestation will we be subject to next?

All travelers upon commercial airlines should be required to wear a standard uniform–the loincloth.

But never fear. There is a simple solution. [Read more...]

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Del Rio “Chancho” Villarreal

Del Rio “Chancho” Villarreal

Twitch and Die! is coming soon…

Evolution of an Indie: Be Professional

Evolution of an IndieEntering my third year as an indie, it is my responsibility to impart sage wisdom to the world. (Don’t blink, or you might miss it.) See the series introduction post for more on my saga. But for now, lesson #9 for 2012:

Put professional effort into everything you do, or don’t do it.

Being professional is about doing whatever it is you do for others rather than yourself. A writer can write for him or herself. A professional writer must (to an extent) write for the reader. That is what it means to be professional. I can build myself a house and therefore be a builder. But if I build you a house, I damn well better be a professional. (Unless you’re okay with things like load-bearing posters and remembering to walk around certain spots in the floor.)

No matter how small the job, a builder’s career can be on the hook if he/she slops the hogs instead of feeding the chicks. Indie writers should live by the same rule. [Read more...]

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International Dieselpunk Day!

Dieselpunk Encyclopedia

Now presenting the first all-encompassing, one-stop dieselpunk wiki! For all your dieselpunk curiosities and addictions. The Dieselpunk Encyclopedia has come.

Letter by Lipatov

The curators are two of the most venerable dieselpunks on the planet (this reality or any alternately dieselishly one you can come up with): Lord K and Larry Amyett (of Texas!) From subculture to fashion to literature to cinema to DIY to the tenets of dieselpunk, the DP Encyclopedia has it all.

“Rather than sealing oneself in the dusty coffins of a long dead past, a dieselpunk should adopt the orphan zeitgeist of earlier days and raise it in the modern age. By fusing the past with today, he builds something new that would be unexpected in any age.”

If the great war had lasted longer

 

“Dieselpunks are not stagnant consumers. The dieselpunk mentality demands dynamism in thinking and expression. It is not enough to consume the fruits of our father’s labor and suckle the milk of our corporate mothers. In order to grow in mind and spirit, dieselpunks and their communities must strive to create a vision of the future using whatever tools they are armed with: the brush, the pen, the camera, or the wrench.”

dieselpunk bike by bighit

“Dieselpunk is a sub-genre of the pop surrealist art movement and a budding sub-culture that combines the aesthetics of the interbellum period through World War II, and ending before or at the early 1950s, with postmodern technology and sensibilities. According to the article “Discovering Dieselpunk” the word “Dieselpunk” was coined in 2001 as a marketing term by game designer Lewis Pollak to describe his role-playing game Children of the Sun, dieselpunk has grown to describe a distinct style of visual art, music, motion pictures, fiction, and engineering.”

So, still wondering what dieselpunk really is? Well, that’s part of the whole experience. Jump on board and you can contribute to the definition as it evolves along with our future! You’ll find you are along for the ride with a great group of people.

RRS Roundup: Free Books on Writing

This week on Read it! Review it! Share it! I’m going all practical! I’m still a crazy rebel indie-style something wicked bad. But everyone needs a couple of free resources for juicing their creative endeavors every now and then. So have at ‘em.

Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success (Smashwords Guides)

Secrets to Ebook Publishing SuccessThis is the latest by Mark Coker. If you just woke up from a pre-ebook coma then I should tell you that Coker is pretty much the founder of the indie ebook publishing revolution (if any one person could be dubbed this). He is behind Smashwords.com where you can also go and get Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success for free.

This book goes well beyond Smashwords to include all the basics you need to know and be reminded of as an indie author trying to spread the word on your genius far and wide. Readily digestible and full of best practices, this is a must reference to have on hand. And it’s free! (*0.99 at Kindle store) Read it! Review it! Share it!

Write Good or Die

Write Good or DieThis free writing advice book takes the approach that all writing advise sucks. Well, sorta. Rather the editor, Scott Nicholson, acknowledges that there are so many individual approaches to being a successful/career writer today that no single writer’s advice can be completely applicable to any other writer.

So, Nicholson put together a diverse lineup of career writers from all sorts of backgrounds to each share their best stuff. The result is a worthy, inspirational read for the sort of indie writer willing to think outside the box and push the limits in order to succeed. Write Good or Die! Read it! Review it! Share it!