WHY INDIE AUTHORS MATTER

Indie authors are helping to change the publishing industry. Just as net neutrality levels the playing field so that everyone may participate, self-publishing platforms like Amazon allow the same. There's no down side to it. Amateur writers can publish their works at no cost and, if anyone buys those works, both the author and Amazon benefit, not to mention the readers who enjoy it. Unlike traditional publishing where the process from acceptance to distribution can take years, self-publishing is instant and immediate, in keeping with the speed of the world today. Most importantly, self-publishing brings opportunity for new voices, voices that might not otherwise be heard.

I'm not saying that the next J.K. Rowling will emerge from the rank of indie authors, but when you consider just how many publishers rejected her work (12), it wouldn't surprise me. Had Rowling been writing today instead of 20 years ago, she might have considered going the indie route out of sheer frustration with a publishing industry that had so much trouble recognizing a masterpiece. 

Nowhere to Hide

It started with an ad for Depends that was popping up everywhere and following me all over the internet. Personally, I rarely notice advertising, whether it dances on the edge of my news articles, or wedges itself boldly between the paragraphs, or even when it hijacks the entire page and forces me to click on the 'x' to close it, but this one caught my eye. I couldn't decide if I was annoyed or amused, but I was definitely curious.

What kind of demented algorithm had determined I was a candidate for Depends?

While I was pondering that question, ads for single men in their 50's started popping up. Yes, I am in my fifties (which isn't hard to figure out, since my state sells my voting information and my birthdate is right out there in plain sight), but I'm happily married and have never given anyone cause to suspect otherwise. It made me wonder if my husband was being bombarded with ads for single women in their fifties or worse yet, given society's double standards, single women in their thirties. But when the ads for 'plus-size flirty dresses' came along, I got mad. Look, I could stand to lose ten or twelve pounds but, seriously, this was too much.

Still, I knew it wasn't personal--how could it be? After I'd researched boarding schools for a story I was writing, I was bombarded with ads asking, "Do you have a troubled teen?", and offering suggestions for where to send my problem child. And when I visited the website of a pool builder, let's call it 'Joe's Pools', ads began to pop up so frequently that I finally called them and begged them to stop hounding me. The owner was quite apologetic and explained that he had paid someone a lot of money to 'get his name out there', but that it wasn't his intention to "haunt people's dreams" as I’d put it.

I know that everyone has overhead and that advertising pays the bills, but let's get one thing straight; my biggest purchases involve buying books and dining out. In other words, you guys are wasting your valuable advertising dollars on the likes of me. I remember reading George Orwell's "1984" in middle school and cringing at the idea of advertising so ubiquitous that there was no escaping it—even your pillowcase would flash toothpaste ads. Well, I'm ready for that pillowcase now. And once I post this essay online, I'm sure ads will pop up for pillowcases, linens, comforters and mattresses, in every size, color, and price range imaginable. I can hardly wait.

Since I can’t do anything to stop the deluge, I will do my best to ignore it. I am still optimistic that one day an ad will pop up for a product or service I actually need; I don’t want to be a freeloader, getting my news for free and not buying a damn thing. When that happens, I promise you I will order whatever it is immediately and without hesitation. But honestly, I hope it's not Depends…

Thought for the day...

A reviewer said that one of my books made for good bathroom reading. While I didn’t plan to write bathroom books, now I’m determined to write the best bathroom book ever. And if I can’t be number one, I’ll settle for number two.

"Peril in the Park" is on free promotion through June 21st!

My new e-book, "Peril in the Park," the third in the Jamie Quinn mystery series, is on free promotion on Amazon through June 21st! Check it out. :-)

Description:

There's big trouble in the park system. Someone is making life difficult for Jamie Quinn's boyfriend, Kip Simons, the new director of Broward County parks. Was it the angry supervisor passed over for promotion? The disgruntled employee Kip recently fired? Or someone with a bigger ax to grind? If Jamie can't figure it out soon, she may be looking for a new boyfriend because there’s a dead guy in the park and Kip has gone missing! With the help of her favorite P.I., Duke Broussard, Jamie must race the clock to find Kip before it’s too late.

Coming in July "The Case of the Killer Divorce" (A Jamie Quinn Mystery) on audiobook!

Indie Book of the Day!

I'm very happy to say that my book, "I'm Not Talking About You, Of Course" won the "Indie Book of the Day" award for June 7, 2014. How cool is that?

The New Jamie Quinn Mystery is out! Check out "Peril in the Park"

Available on Amazon now for 99 cents introductory price, the 3rd book in the Jamie Quinn series, "Peril in the Park"

There's big trouble in the park system. Someone is making life difficult for Jamie Quinn's boyfriend, Kip Simons, the new director of Broward County parks. Was it the angry supervisor passed over for promotion? The disgruntled employee Kip recently fired? Or someone with a bigger ax to grind? If Jamie can't figure it out soon, she may be looking for a new boyfriend because there’s a dead guy in the park and Kip has gone missing! With the help of her favorite P.I., Duke Broussard, Jamie must race the clock to find Kip before it’s too late.



http://www.amazon.com/Peril-Park-Jamie-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00KRQ0E1M/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1401971299&sr=8-6&keywords=barbara+venkataraman