Ah me! This blogging lark never gets the priority I am told it should. Life throws up more important things, like trying to get New Zealand Indie authors somewhere to showcase their books and sell them.
The Kiwi Readers group from GoodReads have a large contingent of writers who are independently published and want sales. Tui came up with a very nice idea for linking Kiwi Indies up with the various writerly groups and trad publishing groups in New Zealand. We are busy discussing this at LinkedIn but it seems that one good suggestion after another is objected to by one set of opinions or another.
I've tried to suggest to the disparate parties that we look at the most simple version of what we need, which is a website where Indie authors can showcase their books and sell them. The problem is that a large number of us want quality control. But other writers don't want some form of assessment. Goodreads and AwesomeIndies, the Brag medallion, these sites all read and select. Amazon is just the great slush pile. So how do we showcase those Indie writers whose books have been edited, well designed, proof read and are as good as a trad publisher's books?
I wondered if we could simply allow all Indie Kiwi writers to post their covers and blurbs but have two sections. One section called Premier or Selected or some such title where all the books which have been edited, assessed and published like a trad published book can be displayed. Those Indie books which have not been through an editing assessment process by people other than the author go in the second section.
Still I can hear screams of rage from the newbie writers and the lunatic fringe who have yet to learn that their cherished novel's breathless prose is not creative genius but a book in need of editing.
Ah well. I support Tui in what she is doing and hope to goodness that all those differing opinions can get together so we can do something and have a place for Indie Kiwi writers which Kiwi readers can access happy in the knowledge that they will find their own culture's literature and a good read.
