Last week I wrote about a practice I learned from Improv Theatre people – the principle of “Yes…and” – when collaborating with a writing party. The basic idea is that instead of going head-to-head with differences you can use both ideas or come up with a new idea to keep creative work going. This morning I realized we can use that same principle with publishing, and with the new practices and opportunities for writers with self-publishing and releasing their work online as ebooks.
A good place to start is with Writers’ Digest, May/June 2012, focusing on publishing today, including two important and informative artless on self-publishing. (See “The Basics of DIY E-Book Publishing” by Jane Friedman http://janefriedman.com and “Today’s Best Strategies for Savvy Self-Publishers”, by Joel Frielander www.thebookdesigner.com.) Leading off the conversation a literary agent, April Aberhardt www.aprileberhardt.com/, who explores non-traditional publishing including self-publishing in “The New Era of Publishing: Making it Work for you” and concludes:
“While traditional publishers will continue to mediate between many authors and their readers f or some time to come, I see much excitement and success in authors’ ability to find their own readers more quickly, engaging them in dialogue and discussion, playing off of their dreams and desires in order to create new kinds of work they’ll find appealing, and doing so in a rapid, free-flowing, satisfying and – day I say it? – profitable way. Are you ready for the adventure?”
Yes… and…!