Episode 29 - Catfights, Causes and Controversies

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ThrillerCast is one year old!

Alan was recently a guest at ConFlux.

David is looking forward to the release of the Quest audiobook.

The strange and cool experience of hearing your characters interpreted by a voice actor.

Writing Fight Scenes Online Master Class- Alan will be leading this class along with Joanna Penn, author of Pentecost and host of The Creative Penn. A few spaces remain. Thursday Oct 20, 2011 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM EDT (9pm GMT). A recording with slides will be available if you can't make the live session.

Registration link:
http://www.alanbaxteronline.com/write-fight-scenes-masterclass

This is the one year anniversary of ThrillerCast! What has changed in publishing in the last year?

Industry growing pains.

Negative reactions to Amazon's publishing imprint. Conflicts over excluse digital rights. Are booksellers making the right decision by refusing to carry print versions of books on which Kindle holds exclusive rights?

Disparate viewpoints on how authors should approach this tumultuous world. Then and now- watchdog organizations and where to get advice.

The Write Agenda
-What exactly is their agenda? We don't quite get it.
-Who are they angry with and why? What did Writer Beware and random SFWA officers ever do to them? We find them confusing.
-Why don't the individuals in the group identify themselves? (Or are we just missing it on their website?)
-Why does their highlighted bestseller list seem to be almost exclusively authors from pay-to-publish businesses? Perhaps there's nothing to it, but it gives a negative impression.
-Perhaps their cause is a good one, but we're having a hard time 'getting it.'

Our advice
- If you don't want to go the traditional publishing route, you are better off avoiding pay-to-publish companies. You can hire people to do the things you can't, and you'll be better off in the long run.
-Connect with the indie community for mutual support and guidance.
-Whether it's a cause like The Write Agenda or an advice site like Writer Beware, always weigh the value of what their saying, then make your own educated decision.