Well, I’ve got more to post this week than I have for the past couple. First of all, I’m planning on launching the new book website prior to June 1st if all goes according to schedule. Stay tuned here or follow me on Twitter for the latest updates.

Publishing Renaissance had a great post about how indie authors need to take some cues from the indie music and movie industries, titled Finding Our Defiance. Mentioned in that article is an article by Henry Baum titled The Last Stigmas of Self-Publishing, which I thought deserved it’s own mention here.

Wil Wheaton was featured in an article in The Washington Times on self-publishing, Self-publishing finds commercial niche in digital age. Definitely worth a read.

I had another article on authors who tweet (this time it’s nonfiction authors) go up on Mashable today. Go check it out and please retweet it if you find it interesting.

And, last but not least, Nathan Bransford has his usual roundup of even more publishing news on his blog.

Hope everyone in the U.S. has a great Memorial Day weekend! And I hope everyone not in the U.S. has a wonderful regular weekend!

This is going to be another short one. On a personal note, my freelance writing has really picked up recently, with three new inquiries in the past couple of week and two new regular gigs. Keep an eye on my portfolio page for updates on new articles I’m writing. I’ve also picked up a ton of new Twitter followers (you can follow me @cameron_chapman if you aren’t already).

Dan Holloway wrote a great article on the future of books over at the Streamwriting site (which is run by Hannah Davis). It’s a great article. Dan is really on top of new technology coming out in the publishing world and is taking advantage of a lot of it himself (have you seen the interactive novel he’s writing in a Facebook group?) At some point in the future I’m supposed to have an article going up on the same site. Stay tuned for that.

I am almost finished with the website for the new book. It’s currently in the hands of it’s first beta readers and I’ll be starting some edits this weekend on the first few chapters. I’m forever greatful to those who are taking the time to read it and they’ll all be mentioned in the acknowledgements and possibly get a case of champagne if the book does really well…

Nathan Bransford has his usual excellent round up of other publishing news. My favorite of the stories he mentions is the one from the New York Times addressing piracy concerns over ebooks. Very interesting read.

I make a living writing. It may not be a great living, but then again, I don’t really work that much (less than twenty hours a week on paid work). I’ve been making at least a portion of my monthly writing for almost two years now. Read the rest of this entry »

A bit about myself is probably in order, seeing as this is a completely new blog. I’ve been blogging for about two and a half years now. I started on my own blog, GreenStyle Magazine back in July of 2006. It’s still around, though currently on hiatus right now. In 2007 I started writing semi-regularly for Mashable, the 8th most popular blog out there and the most popular blog focusing on social media. And recently I’ve started writing for Smashing Magazine. You can see more of my writing on my portfolio page.

Photo by Silence Of Night, via Flickr

This blog is going to focus primarily on writing and publishing. I’ve written five novels, all in various stages of rewrites at this point, as well as two screenplays (unsold) and various poetry (really horrible and will never see the light of day). I’m currently working on my first book-length non-fiction project, which I plan to self-publish within the next few months. Details of this project will be forthcoming and progress will be reported regularly. In addition to posting about my own writing trials and tribulations, I’ll be offering up writing prompts and discussions of the craft of writing and the business of publishing.

I plan on posting on a daily basis, with a regular schedule of writing prompts (though these will not be the standard “write about an early childhood experience” or “once upon a time…”). An upcoming post will detail that schedule. You can expect regular progress reports and at least one article on publishing and one on craft each week. On occasion I may also post parts of various works-in-progress for your entertainment (and feedback if you’d like to offer it).

So sit back with some tea (or wine) and put your feet up. Enjoy yourself, offer some feedback, tell me I’m crazy (I probably am), or I’m a hack (also a possibility), and have a good laugh.