Decisions, Decisions: Three Paths to Publication

Three debut authors compare notes about everything from working with an editor to choosing a cover.
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Three debut authors compare notes about everything from working with an editor to choosing a cover.
Thanks to the accessibility of new digital tools offered by booksellers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble, self-publishing is loosing its stigma and holds new promise for writers venturing out on their own.
The Chicago Police Department has begun a voluntary writing workshop for officers; Melissa Febos interviews poet and professional dog trainer Susie DeFord about the pros and cons of self-publishing; ten suggested pairings of local craft beers with independent bookshops; and other news.
Geoffrey Bartholomew, poet and head bartender at McSorley’s Old Ale House, New York City’s famous saloon, reveals how he sold five thousand copies of his self-published poetry collection while pushing pints from behind the bar.
Novelist Keith Gessen details his two days held in New York City's infamous jail the Tombs; a new literary feud has developed between Niall Ferguson and Pankaj Mishra; poet John Ashbery speaks with Time; and other news.
In this regular feature, we offer a few suggestions for podcasts, smartphone apps, Web tools, newsletters, museum shows, and gallery openings: a medley of literary curiosities that you might enjoy.
Nearly two thousand publishers are heading to Mexico this month for what organizers say is the world’s largest Spanish-language book fair; a prequel is in the works for the late Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot novels; Scholastic has pulled a title from its elementary school book fairs after the author refused to rewrite a same-sex couple as heterosexual; and other news.
A month after signing a distribution deal with the Barnes & Noble eBookstore, online publishing platform Smashwords announced on Tuesday that it has reached a similar arrangement with Sony. Authors who upload their work to Smashwords through Sony’s new “Publisher Portal” can expect to see it added to the Sony e-book catalogue in as little as ten days, the company said.
There was a slight decline in traditional book production last year, but the number of print-on-demand books more than doubled, reported Bowker, the agency that publishes the Books In Print database and assigns ISBNs.