X Marks The Spot (The book Henry Root would have written if hed thought of it first!)

She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. Her name is Celaena Sardothien. The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. And it all started with one family—the Fears. Go back to how it all began and discover the dark family secrets buried underneath years of terror, from who sentenced an innocent woman to burn at the stake, to why the Fear mansion caught on fire, and how forbidden love, a bloody feud, and dark magic unleashed the curse that has lasted for far too long. In this riveting middle-grade adventure, the son of a Mississippi policeman finds a boy living on his own in the wilderness.

Twelve-year-old Sam has been given a fishing boat by his father, but he hates fishing. Instead he uses the boat to disappear for hours at a time, exploring the forbidden swampy surroundings of his bayou home. Then he discovers a strange kid named Davey, mysteriously alone, repairing an abandoned cabin deep in the woods. But this leads him to telling small lies that only get bigger as the danger increases for both boys and hidden truths become harder to conceal.

When an educational safari goes wrong, five teens find themselves stranded in the Kalahari Desert without a guide. Battling dehydration, starvation and the pangs of first love, she does her best to hold it together, even as their circumstances grow increasingly desperate. A silver lion, as though made of mercury, makes a vicious, unprovoked attack on the group.

All his life, Call has been warned by his father to stay away from magic. If he succeeds at the Iron Trial and is admitted into the Magisterium, he is sure it can only mean bad things for him. Now the Magisterium awaits him. Are you made fainthearted by death? Does fire unnerve you? Is a villain something that might crop up in future nightmares of yours? Are you thrilled by nefarious plots? Is cold porridge upsetting to you? It is likely that your answers will reveal A Series of Unfortunate Events to be ill-suited for your personal use.

A librarian, bookseller, or acquaintance should be able to suggest books more appropriate for your fragile temperament. They rarely find themselves in the same room at the same time, and it often seems that the only thing they can count on are notes to each other on the refrigerator door. When home is threatened by a crisis, their relationship experiences a momentous change. Forced to reevaluate the delicate balance between their personal lives and their bond as mother and daughter, Claire and her mother find new love and devotion for one another deeper than anything they had ever imagined.

Heartfelt, touching, and unforgettable, Life on the Refrigerator Door is a glimpse into the lives of mothers and daughters everywhere. In this deeply touching novel told through a series of notes written from a loving mother and her devoted fifteen-year-old daughter, debut author Alice Kuipers deftly captures the impenetrable fabric that connects mothers and daughters throughout the world. Moving and rich with emotion, Life on the Refrigerator Door delivers universal lessons about love in a wonderfully simple and poignant narrative.

Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. A bag of chips. But how can you stay still when someone is pounding your face into the concrete pavement? Soon the beating is all over the news and Paul is getting threatened with accusations of prejudice and racial brutality.

Quinn refuses to believe that the man who has basically been his savior could possibly be guilty. But then Rashad is absent. As does the school. Simmering tensions threaten to explode as Rashad and Quinn are forced to face decisions and consequences they had never considered before. Booked by Kwame Alexander. Helping him along are his best friend and sometimes teammate Coby, and The Mac, a rapping librarian who gives Nick inspiring books to read.

Eleven by Tom Rogers. Alex Douglas always wanted to be a hero. But nothing heroic ever happened to Alex. Nothing, that is, until his eleventh birthday. Radar, his new dog, pretty much feels the same way. But this day has bigger things in store for both of them. This is a story about bullies and heroes. About tragedy and hope. About enemies with two legs and friends with four, and pesky little sisters and cranky old men, and an unexpected lesson in kindness delivered with a slice of pizza. Illuminae by Amie Kaufan and Jay Kristoff. This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

Now with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to evacuate with a hostile warship in hot pursuit. But their problems are just getting started. Legend by Marie Lu. What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

But in truth, Michael is extremely special—he has electric powers. Michael thinks he is unique until he discovers that a cheerleader named Taylor has the same mysterious powers. A communications blackout with Earth hits, and all of Perses is on its own for three months. But they never prepared for an attack. Landers, as the attackers are called, obliterate the colony to steal the metal and raw ore.

Now in a race against time, Christopher, along with a small group of survivors, are forced into the maze of mining tunnels. But can they survive? Need by Joelle Charbonneau. The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan. They have always scared him in the past—the Rangers, with their dark cloaks and shadowy ways. The villagers believe the Rangers practice magic that makes them invisible to ordinary people. Highly trained in the skills of battle and surveillance, they fight the battles before the battles reach the people.

And as Will is about to learn, there is a large battle brewing. The exiled Morgarath, Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night, is gathering his forces for an attack on the kingdom. This time, he will not be denied. Twelve-year-old Fern feels invisible. It seems as though everyone in her family has better things to do than pay attention to her: But then tragedy strikes- and Fern feels not only more alone than ever, but also responsible for the accident that has wrenched her family apart. All will not be well.

Or at least all will never be the same. The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. Stop all that quivering. Eragon by Christoper Paolini. Fifteen-year-old Eragon believes that he is merely a poor farm boy—until his destiny as a Dragon Rider is revealed. Gifted with only an ancient sword, a loyal dragon, and sage advice from an old storyteller, Eragon is soon swept into a dangerous tapestry of magic, glory, and power. Now his choices could save—or destroy—the Empire. The Maze Runner by James Dashner. When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name.

Self-Publishers Should Not Be Called Authors

Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade. Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. Everything is going to change. Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying. Two brothers will need all their wilderness skills to survive when they set off into the woods of Wyoming in search of their absent father. Jake and Taylor Wilder have been taking care of themselves for a long time. Their father abandoned the family years ago, and their mother is too busy working and running interference between the boys and her boyfriend, Bull, to spend a lot of time with them.

Thirteen-year-old Jake spends most of his time reading. Eleven-year-old Taylor likes to be outside playing with their dog, Cody, or joking around with the other kids in the neighborhood. But one night everything changes. The boys discover a dangerous secret that Bull is hiding. And the next day, they come home from school to find their mother unconscious in an ambulance. Knowing they are no longer safe and with nowhere else to go, the Wilder Boys head off in search of their father.

They only have his old letters and journal to help them, but they have to make it. To everyone who knows him, West Ashby has always been that guy: So she stayed quiet, keeping her sorrow and her fractured heart hidden away. Sylvie and Jules, Jules and Sylvie.

Jules is devastated, but she refuses to believe what all the others believe, that—like their mother—her sister is gone forever. At the very same time, in the shadow world, a shadow fox is born—half of the spirit world, half of the animal world. She too is fast—faster than fast—and she senses danger. And when Jules believes one last wish rock for Sylvie needs to be thrown into the river, the human and shadow worlds collide. If you want to know how to make extra money, search for: Thank you so much!

I am curious how you built a culture that has kids reading and thinking at this level. It is definitely a year long adventure as well as one built upon the hard work of the teachers that come before me. I wrote extensively about how we do it both on this blog and in my book Passionate Readers. These where a great books and a great prefrence to read. I pinned half of these to my Pinterest reading list and bookmarked your blog. Thank you for sharing. Is there anyway for me to recommend a book? This was from my own students so no vote, just what they declared.

Which book would you recommend? I want to read Wonder because last time in 5th grade my teacher read it and it was fun and interesting. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account.

Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. Skip to content May 13, May 15, Pernille Ripp. Girl gets boy back… …sort of. But from the start, everything goes wrong. When Amanda turns in for the night, glad to have her birthday behind her, she wakes up happy for a new day. Her birthday seems to be repeating itself. What is going on?! And how can she fix it? Only time, friendship, and a little luck will tell.

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. The monster in his backyard is different. And it wants something from Conor.

Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd— whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself— Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined. For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind? Into the Wild Warriors: And that she must run. In the year , reality is an ugly place. But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize.

Whether in the treetops of Central Park or in the bowels of the Manhattan subway system, Max and her adopted family take the ride of their lives. Along the way Max discovers from her old friend and father-figure Jeb—now her betrayed and greatest enemy—that her purpose is to save the world—but can she? Cinder by Marissa Meyer. Twins, Connor and Grace, never dreamed that there was any truth to the Vampirate shanty their father sang to them before he died, but that was before the two were shipwrecked and separated from each other.

What will it take for them to find each other? This moving and beautifully crafted story teaches us that love never dies, that our true friends are always with us, and that every creature on earth is born with a purpose. Wait Till Helen Comes: Twelve-year-old Molly and her ten-year-old brother, Michael, have never liked their seven-year-old stepsister, Heather. Now their parents have moved them all to the country to live in a house that used to be a church, with a cemetery in the backyard. Molly feels certain Heather is in some kind of danger, but every time she tries to help, Heather twists things around to get her into trouble.

World War II is raging. Like the other boys in his school, Michael is a member of the Hitler Youth. But Michael has a secret. He and his parents are spies. Michael despises everything the Nazis stand for. Including… his own life. Some choices change everything. Scarlett chose to run. And the consequences will be deadly.

Stolen from her family as a young girl, Scarlett was lucky enough to eventually escape her captor. There are cute boys, new friends, and the chance to finally have a normal life. Her first day on the job, Scarlett is shocked to discover that a girl from the park has gone missing. Old memories come rushing back. And now as she meets her new coworkers, one of the girls seems strangely familiar. When Scarlett chose to run all those years ago, what did she set into motion? And when push comes to shove, how far will she go to uncover the truth. Thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson is on his way to visit his father when the single-engine plane in which he is flying crashes.

But now Brian has no time for anger, self-pity, or despair—it will take all his know-how and determination, and more courage than he knew he possessed, to survive. She wants to be a cheerleader, too, and go to the seventh-grade mixer to hear Buddy Brader play his drums. Instead, Deenie is diagnosed with scoliosis. Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in fragile bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the thinnest. Believe is the profoundly moving story of Eric LeGrand, the former defensive tackle for the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights football team, who suffered a severe spinal cord injury and was left paralyzed by a crushing on-field tackle during a heated game with Army.

A Long Walk to Water: The New York Times bestseller A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about two eleven-year-olds in Sudan, a girl in and a boy in Pedru longs to kill the lion that mauled him and strengthens himself to be ready for the hunt. But when the opportunity arises, will Pedru have the strength to turn his back on revenge? Tia lives with her mom in a high-risk neighborhood in New Orleans and loves singing gospel in the Rainbow Choir with Keisha, her boisterous and assertive best friend. The loss prompts her to start asking the people in her community hard questions—questions everyone has always been too afraid to ask.

The only way to learn the secret. Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker—his classmate and crush—who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Clay is one of them. Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. Once upon a time, two best friends created a princess together.

Libby drew the pictures, May wrote the tales, and their heroine, Princess X, slayed all the dragons and scaled all the mountains their imaginations could conjure. Once upon a few years later, Libby was in the car with her mom, driving across the Ballard Bridge on a rainy night. When the car went over the side, Libby passed away, and Princess X died with her.

Some time in the next few months my income from writing is going to surpass my income behind the wheel. The only people who hold these insane views are those who have been published traditionally and they are jaded at the fact that self-published authors are having major success without having jumped through the same hoops as they did. THREE words for you buddy. Author is defined as someone who has written a book or several; also one that originates or creates. Then you may criticise. I have a distinct taste of sour grapes here.

Oh yes, I like this. And learn some grammar. This is pretty funny coming from a self-published blogger. Well Michael, seems you opened a real can of worms here — and not gotten a lot of support for your theory. In our experience, we find that very few readers ever bother to check who published a book. They care about content, editing and even the cover, but not the publisher.

I bet to the vast majority of readers, the words writer and author are interchangeable. All of her stuff is self-published. Awkward mechanics and inflammatory invective aside, your post is useless at best, and profoundly so. So you would call a celebrity who for no reason other than having been in a soap opera, and thus able to get a book published tradionally,an author? I see no reason to distinguish between the different types of authors other than to describe some as good and others not so good!

Unless of course you are trying to be controversial because you write a blog and need attention! Do you not think self-published authors earn money from their writing? Do you not realize how many of them make enough to write full-time? It IS Big 5. It was the Big 6 until Penguin and Random House merged. A legit indie publisher would know that. This article is confusing. Same with an author. It was a choice I made because it was the best choice for my career. We can listen to our readers and our instinct and write a book that sells to actual consumers and not to print houses that will take most of the royalty anyway.

You are welcome to your opinion. The majority disagrees with you. You pissed off a lot of people writing that. On Demand, self directed, micro gigs — all the ingredients are there. So laugh, but you are not a gatekeeper, nor the anointer of authors. Edits of your first two paragraphs. Words in [[brackets]] are deletions. These are suggested changes. In the past, if you wanted to publish a book you had to [[do it from]] pay a vanity press or land a deal with a traditional publisher. Now anyone can write a book and submit it to Smashwords, Kindle, Kobo or Nook for free. So the question is, should we [[quantify]] qualify a distinction between [[an]] a writer and an [[professional]] author?

I think a line needs to be drawn in the sand so that we know who [[is]] the real deal is. Similarly, t here is a stark contrast between being a writer and being a professional author. Many indie writers who publish a title or two on Amazon or Smashwords [[normally]] think otherwise. Yes indeed, an author who publishes their HARD WORK either through a publisher or the ones that go it alone, wear that title as a badge of honor, and quite right too!

They have put in all that time and effort into writing their novel and I, for one, have found many self published AUTHORS that have been overall better than many traditionally published authors. Having the ability to pay some high fee does not guaranty a quality author. If you take a look at human history, the majority of timeless artists were in fact poor. I understand that change is scary but it is inevitable.

So stop spouting silly hate and get over it. What was the purpose of this article? May I suggest an editor, sir? This article makes me wonder if he signed with a small publishing house and is not selling many books or is upset that an indie AUTHOR has sold more than him. I commend you for generating page views by creating what amounts to a meaningless controversy. Talk to me when YOU write a book that takes your blood, sweat, tears, heart, soul, and everything within you.

Talk to me when YOU connect with a reader that tells you that your book changed their life in some way, shape, or form. Talk to me when YOU have a passion that is difficult to send out into the world because you know the bullies like you! I am an author! A self-published author, and damn proud of it!

Because the big 5 publishing houses never put out a book where they saw dollar signs, and the content was of dubious quality. My first five books were traditionally published, my sixth was too controversial for my publishers so I self-published it. Does this make me not an author again? Maybe the solution is that everyone who writes a book can call themselves an author, or a writer. After all, just the act of completing 80, coherent words is worthy of recognition. Whether or not they can call themselves a good author, a professional author or a successful author remains to be seen.

No, you are a mere writer of that document. Writers, write for the love of writing. Authors have had their books at least read a few times, and professional authors make their living from the process of writing. I just wrapped it up in a nice little package for you. If your primarily source of revenue derives from the written word, you are a professional author.

If you publish a book yourself, or through a real publisher, you are an amateur, until you can make your living from it. We need new terminology in a world where someone can take this blog post, and all of its comments and make an eBook out of it. That process would be called writing, it would not make me an author, because I never wrote it all. I would not be deemed a professional unless my livelihood stemmed from my words. I have no problem with self-publishers. I do when they call themselves authors at a diner party, when they only sold under books and still is are waitress or rock cleaner, or ditch digger.

Quality is meaningless in the self-publishing world. Its a matter of, did your book sell? Do you make your living from writing? If you make your living from your craft you are a professional. If you write a book, you are a writer. Unless you make your living from the process of writing, you are a professional author. This concept is not hard to understand.

If you are not making your living from the written word, you are a writer, this concept should not be hard to understand. Whether or not you are trade published is not relevant. Which is why lots of authors end up doing both, self-publishing and publishing under a contract. They enjoy more flexibility because this is their vocation, their craft, they make their living from writing. You have to live off of the money you make from writing as a primary revenue stream. If you can, congrats, you are a professional writer. There is no distinction really anymore between publishing yourself or with an established company.

Unputdownable: 17 books I read in 24 hours or less (because they were just that good)

All of the money you make goes to the same bank account. If you can make your living from writing, you are a professional. There is limited shelf space, so not all traditionally published books are going to be put in bookstores. I just wish it were as big as Amazon, especially because you give authors a bigger cut. Thank you for that. This is true, its really up to Ingram and other distributors on what they want to highlight for the stores to buy. The stores themselves or someone who handles the buying for an entire region makes the call.

Who gives a shit. Looks like you have pissed a lot of people. Why does the label matter so much to you anyway? You are misinformed about professional authors. Which are contentious to the membership. But in your comments, you talk about making a living from the process of your writing. How much money is making a living? RWA does not specify how long you have to make that amount of money. Primarily because of the copious amount of publishing terminology out there. Self-Publisher, Author, Writer,hybrid author, trad author, indie, etc etc. We need to simplify the quantification.

You should not have to force the readers to determine that. That is the blame game, its not my problem its yours. Writers and Professional Authors bear the burden of guilt, like a crown of thorns. You know what this makes me think? That you are a JERK with nothing to do other than bash on the people who have spent hours and hours into work that they ended up self-publishing.

Some self-published authors spend more time on a book than some traditionally published authors and they end up making more money too. I know at least two authors that self-published books and had so much success that publishing companies ended up asking them to start publishing with them. Were they not real authors before they were picked up traditionally?

What was the difference between them and other traditionally published authors? They both were able to sell their books as eBook and hard copies if they chose to, they both made lots of money off of their books, and they both were seen as authors by the people that bought their books. I even know an author who was traditionally published and then wrote a book which her publisher refused to publish so she decided to self publish.

Take yourself down a notch and stop putting people down. So please, stop putting people down and trying reading a self-published book, you might even end up enjoying it-A LOT. I am not bashing anyone. My suggestion is much more elegant. If you make your living from writing words, you are a professional author. You sir are delusional. Why do you think bookstores are the last salvation of quality literature? Because the indies have not taken it over yet with their pointless drivel. See, here is where I disagree with you.

Redefining either of those words will not solve the problems you lament in your post. See how easy it is? Feel free to use those, by the way. Bookstores hold those same books that used to be self-published but are now traditionally published. I can tell you that bookstores hold tons of literature that are crap and full of BS. Who are you to say what is quality literature? They are a lot better than some of the writing that is traditionally published. Just accept that your views could be a little hurtful to people who put a lot of effort into what they do.

They certainly put a lot more effort into their writing than you did in this article. You sir should really proofread what you publish. Self-publishers have been quietly making a living for as long as publishing has been around. Not all of them, of course, but some. There have always been options to vanity presses, and to the new euphemism: You DO need to learn a lot more than most people think you need to know, and you need to work extremely hard.

There are NO shortcuts to publishing success, no matter which options you choose. But the word author DOES have a meaning, and that meaning includes making money, meaningful amounts of money, from your work. How many books have you published, either traditionally or self-pub? My guess is zero. The editing of this article alone is enough for me to not take you seriously, ever. I cringed reading that. I wonder, are the writers of these research papers you mention, authors?

Next time you decide to take on a group of people who are passionate about their work, you should consider two things: Have factual, objective evidence to back your opinion, otherwise it is only an opinion; a crappy, biased one. Second, hire an editor. Because words in and of themselves have no intrinsic value. It is what you use them to say that matters. The stories you tell with them, the pictures you paint with them, the truths you illuminate with them, that count. Because, you know, a good, solid cover is really what makes an author, right?

I have checked multiple websites book sellers and review sites and cannot find even a dozen reviews of your work. Clearly, you have no audience. I have several friends who are self-published authors. Their books are read, discussed, and promoted well. And yet… they still seem to outsell you! Can I just say how much I love you write now?

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So he tweeted at a favorite author of mine that being an author means that you can live off of your work. He should just stick to one view because he keeps changing his opinion…. You seem to consider yourself an author but what you need is an editor: I have read indie authors who shine and trad authors who should be locked in a box as far from a pc as they can get to save us all from more torture. Again here you deviate from your own stated definitions. Here, you imply that a writer becomes an author when people read their work. Therefore, any Indie AUTHOR who has sold even one book is, by your admission here contrary to what you state in the article , an author and no longer a writer due to having met the wicket of having their work read by people.

So, as you state in this reply, those writers who have put their work on Kindle which then is read by an arbitrary number of people, are now authors. You, sir, are waffling. Or if he used the word primary in the comment above instead of primarily, as it is currently incorrect. And plainly, I could do everything they could do, some of it better, and make all the profit. One of my many editors from traditional publishing edits my self-pubbed work and my covers are made by an industry professional.

But there are some traditionally published books out there that should never have seen the light of day. Yeah, you made a fool of yourself with this blog post. Hugh Howey and about other successful self-published authors should be a wake up call for the publishing industry including agents on the future of their industry. Right now, you have the credibility of a garden variety troll. And before you pull the "Well I never heard of you". It's only been licensed for two months.. Everyone starts out small.. It takes hard work and determination to make it big..

So trash me all you'd like, I'll be the one laughing when my label makes it big. Michael, if I understand you correctly, you equate being a professional author with making enough money to live off published books. I hire a team of professionals for edits and a cover. Readers buy my books and think of me as the author of those books. Nobody gives it to you, you earn it by writing a story, a novel, or even a blog post.

Furthermore, when our second book hit the NYT our advance was only fifteen grand. Under your criteria, even though, we had earned NYT and USAT bestseller status, we would not be considered authors, because the majority of our income came from 9 to 5 jobs. The purpose is to drive traffic without which blogs wither and fade away. The only way to generate that traffic is by being outrageous and controversial or silly. The validity of the argument becomes irrelevant. Indie books are all over bookstore shelves today.

I do know a lot of indie writers go the indie route for the simple fact of having more control over their books and making more money through this route. Does that mean they all are actually good authors?

They took that chance of opening up their mind and then showing it to others. You can hate their books and you can not buy their books. Most of the time if you want to join a club, you generally have to be approved by those who are already in it. In one corner of the ring, we have Michael Kozlowski, whom Goodreads lists as an author with five distinct works. In the other corner of the ring we have indie, self-pubbed authors. Goodreads lists me as an author of 25 distinct works with a 4.

On Amazon, my last book has a 4. I will be looking forward to reading more of her work. Another favourite author added to my list.

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Like studio executives, publishers gamble and hedge their bets on what might be commercial enough to sell enough books to make them a profit. Is this a thing? While traditional publishers are locking said gates and gouging prices of ebooks, readers all over the world are embracing new work from new writers at a fraction of the cost. As it is wont to do with exploration and experimentation, the cream ultimately rises to the top, allowing both aspiring and seasoned writers alike to write their own paycheck.

Even dirty birdies like me get to live my dream and yes, even make a living with what I write. Stephen Kings of the future are no longer nailing rejection letters to a spike on their wall, waiting for their big break. Thanks to the digital revolution — which pretty much pays your bills as an editor for an online magazine devoted to such — these brave folks are connecting with readers who simply want a great story. Even you, who wrote this incendiary blog to drive up hits to your website, can be considered a writer by these standards.

The only person wasting time is the one who runs around the mountain, telling everyone that his or her path is wrong. Then who are they being written by? Casper the Friendly Ghost? Grow up, get a life. An Author is one who writes — period. I suggest your snobbery and superiority complex is going to bring you a lot more pain than you realise…. As you said for scientists, In the science world, things are very different.

If an Indie writer puts only one work out and sells 10 copies a year I can see your point of view, but Indie authors sells 10 copies every hour, and if readers buy their books and enjoy reading them, those Indies ARE authors, whatever you can think otherwise. Besides, who told you that your definition of Professional Authors do actually make a living out of their writing?

You have a very simplistic view of the publishing industry and believe in lots of myths. Are you going to extend the same logic to those people who advertise on, and thereby presumably pay for, this site? Will you tell, for example http: There are also several instances of flawed logic in your argument. An author is someone who has written a book!

I have written six books, including five novels and I consider myself an author. I may self-publish and be a published author or I may not. I may be accepted by a publisher and be a published author or I may not. I write poetry and consider myself a poet as well as an author and writer and for that matter, also a journalist. These are just names we give to certain actions or professions, whether those professions pay or not, or are accorded recognition by others. If I garden I can call myself a gardener! If I cook I can call myself a cook! If I paint I can call myself an artist! So, if I write books I can call myself an author.

Michael, you are a controversialist born and bred. Simply flip your OED open to the page where author is defined and save yourself the trouble of making a blog post that uses your own insecurities to put other people down. By definition, someone is a professional when they are being paid money to provide a product or service. And by definition, once someone has written a story, poem, play, or other work, they are the author of that work.

Writer — Someone who writes stuff. Author — A writer that creates a finished work. Professional Author — An author that makes a living off of finished works. The person that wrote it is the author of the work. A Professional Author simply gets paid for his work, i. Mike, the entire article in this post should be amended. I guess they laugh instead each time they receive a 5 digit royalty check from Amazon every month. Your objection seems to be centered on the fact that some indie authors write crap.

Well if that is the problem look to the major houses too, they have filled bookstores with crap since before I was born and judging by your photo I am old enough to be your dad. In fact entire houses like Harlequin are devoted to vomiting up crap. Worry about your own life,not what others do. Ok so lets look to all those get rich quick, and self help authors who have gone through publishing houses.

Last week, I had lunch with a traditionally published author who is under contract with Penguin. She is looking for a full-time job because she cannot make any money off of her books. Or worse, Virginia Woolf because she self-published. So, by your definition Snookie is a real author and Hugh Howey is not because you stated one must make a living off of their work, but clarified that Indie or Self-published writers should never call themselves authors, while those who are traditionally published may.

I find your argument flawed. I suppose a self-published writer who makes a living from their self-published works would just make the world implode from illogic, then? Or at least as much of a living as any author can, since many people have pointed out that authors who make enough to quit their dayjobs are few and far between.

How about the cases of those who have self-published their works and then those very same works were picked up by a traditional publishing house? Were they not authors before they were signed by a big name? It would be far more productive to discuss how we can all do better in a rapidly changing industry than to quibble over definitions and decide who can and cannot be members of the club.

You sir, are an idiot. Go get a life. As somebody who writes books and sells them to readers on line I will call myself whatever my customers would call me. And believe it or not, what they call me is an Author. In fact as a customer, I loathe stupid titles that just obfuscate what it is a person really does. A housewife is not a domestic engineer, not if she wants anyone else to know what the heck she does.

Why are independent musicians and film makers and visual artists never denigrated in this manner? But that is rapidly changing, and this article is an example of that kind of vanity-press thinking gasping its death throes. You got your fifteen minutes of fame. What about the Oxford comma? The ability to make a living does not equal the primary source of revenue. Maybe not until the third book of his deal — or even worse. This whole paragraph is crap: Intent informs the designations; Auntie Jane who takes pics of the baby is not a photographer, but if Auntie Jane starts to study angles and lighting, and tries to make of the photo something more than just a picture of a baby, she has become a photographer.

Someone who comments on blog posts and writes letters to the editor is not a writer, of course, but as soon as that fellow or gal decides to make an effort to learn how to construct a sentence and write a complete piece that has cohesion and meaning to a reader, they are — ta da and voila! If they decide to put it in book format, they are an author. Finding a publishing house to take you on as part of the definition… really? So for all the years that Jane Austen toiled to write her books before finding a publisher, she was not an author?

Yes, the definitions are frustratingly vague, but this is human endeavor, not calculus. Why do we need a distinction? Who benefits from these distinctions? The readers, who get a vast verity of books to choose from for a reasonable cost? The writers, who get to pursue their dreams or a few nervous, old school throwbacks, who desperately want things to remain the same in order to keep their fragile egos intact?

The publishers who see authors reclaiming their rights to go Indie and earn more in a month than what they got twice a year from their publishers, and Indie authors who refuse with a laugh their crappy contracts. This just reads as all the sour grapes and knee jerk reaction you can find in many desperate comments around trying to keep alive a dying publishing business model that have no more legs to stand on.

I have backers from eight different countries. This article reads like it was written by some jaded writer who has never produced anything of note, and probably never will. Wow, do you think self-published writers are not of sufficient quality? Maybe there are lots of typos and grammatical errors in their work, right? Like in this article? I agree with all of the many people who disagree, and for this reason: I know and have known many people who have written really great works. I know poets and songwriters and novelists, all of whom keep their stuff in boxes and folders and no one gets to read them but their friends.

I love how easy it is to self-publish nowadays, and I think that everyone who takes the time to write a novel and publish it be proud to call him or herself an author! By your standard, John Keats should not have been allowed to consider himself a poet during his lifetime, since his only publication was a limited run that sold copies. It does imply that. It only implies that you have written a book. If you do not make a living from your writing, you are a writer.

So my point still stands. There you go, trying to pawn the blame to the readers again. You indie writers really make me laugh. You guys always try and shift the blame to the readers. The Readers will determine a good book, the readers will determine good editing, the readers will make the cream rise to the top. Stop trying to make the readers do all of your work. So here we go again, you are clearly unable to find a fault with my core points and start bullying me.

So until that point, for every trad published book 10, indie books will be submitted, 9, will suck,. So if i call you a hack, that is what you are? Sounds like you are devoid of personality and a soul and let other people define you. Sounds like a blank template to me and as such, your opinion is irrelevant. I thought Snookie had a ghost writer? Her book sold because the vast majority of America liked her TV show and she is famous. The only reason people know about him is because of his non-stop promotion, i thought the Silo books were actually terrible!

I would say, its more like a lifetime of fame, whereas you Gin, should be sold as bio-fuel. Michael, those are not Indie writers. You put everything and everyone in one basket. Then yes, the slush pile exists and everyone can write words in a week, let grandma read once and click the publish button. That because the slush pile is today self-publishing itself, every single Indie Author is de facto part of the slush pile?

Besides, it is delusional to think that just because something is printed by a publisher it is of good quality. It is not at all weird that Indie writers those who do write well have better ratings in Amazon than traditional published authors. They opened the gates so that everyone can publish, even kids can do that, sure, but believing that everything that comes out from a publishing house is de facto better is as delusional as saying that Indie writers cannot call themselves Authors.

Some do, i was looking at many sites that sell indie titles and its all 0 downloads 0 sales. I think indie writers just have a super high opinion of themselves because they think what Hugh Howey and Mark Coker say is true. No, you are a writer, seriously, stop with the all high-and-mighty act. If you derive your primary income from writing, you are a professional author. The only thing we did as a company was put out a few buyers guides a few years ago and promptly forgot about them. There is not 1, successful self-published authors.

The only reason you hear about him is because he sleeps ontop of his soapbox. By your definition, being able to make a living with your writing, there are many traditionally published authors that would not be considered an author. Not every author that signs with the Big Boys gets an advance. They got a break. Much harder, because you have to prove yourself more than a traditionally published author. However, being indie is more rewarding. The author loved it. Being indie, you have the final say on everything. You also take the most risk. Most of traditionally published authors cannot live only off their books, just as most Indies.

As a matter of fact, an Indie writer has more chance to live off his writing alone than a mid-list traditionally published author. Ah, but some just need to look at the 4 figures of their monthly Amazon royalty.

And keep in mind the warehouse full of returned, unsold traditionally published books. Again, it is common to both Indies and authors with contracts with a publishing house. I wondered how Michael Kozlowski would handle detractors. Look out Guy Kawasaki — here comes Michael Kozlowski! There are many indie authors that have been discovered by readers that otherwise would not have.

Traditional publishers thought they knew what readers wanted.

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So yes, anyone should be able to publish and try to reach their dream. And yes, no one should decide what constitutes a good book or a bad book, except for the reader… and that will vary by reader. What one reader loves, another might not. But it should be their decision on what they want to read. My question would be, why do you think that you or anyone else has the right to decide who can and cannot be an author? You are right in that there are a lot of bad indie books out there, but I also think there are a lot of bad trad books out there… some of which are indie publishers that got picked up by trad publishers because readers loved the books.

Everyone has a dream and I am glad there are places like Amazon and Smashwords that make it possible to make that dream a reality. Why do you need this line in the sand so badly? But the energy needed to either ignite the human body or to dehydrate it first for later ignition seems to be a net loss. Or were you suggesting some type of electro-chemical reaction — perhaps bombarding the bodies of your enemies a growing horde, btw with Official Author Protean judgement Waves?

The writing, and sentence structure, was absolute rubbish. Just stand up and be proud. The ones really damaging the reputation of self-published books are self-publishers themselves — not Michael Kozlowski. Who, by the way, if you could read through the veil of tears, makes some valid points. Yes, there are some great authors out there who self-publish, or bounce back and forth between traditional and self-publishing.

The very hard work of getting it right. And they understand publishing. They understand marketing and editing and advertising and how the industry works. They know their own strengths and weaknesses. They know when to delegate, when to make a stand and when to give in. Unfortunately, far too many self-published books that I see as a reviewer and editor, I see a lot of them simply would never ever be published by anyone BUT the author. The biggest shame, though, is that with a little more effort, so many of these books could have worked. Many of them have great ideas, compelling characters, clever plotting.

They could hav e been much better books. You decide to self-publish your masterpiece, go for it. But make it the best damn book it can be. And yet Snooki is getting all the credit as the author. How she got the sales or the contract are moot points. She got them, and according to your definition, she is an author and Hugh Howey is not. The reason people know about him is because he writes books they like. And there are more than documented indie authors earning a living or better with their books.

I am currently working on writing my third novel. Call me what you like but in the meantime check out my latest book, Take Me Home and decide for yourself. I am a avid reader and have been for most of my 64 years. I am NOT an author, Indie or otherwise. I read fiction for pleasure. Is there any other reason? Also have found many not so good works from both.

So, feel free to ignore the opinion of a mere reader, and I will continue to read what I want without your approval, and I suspect many other readers will do the same. Thanks for taking the time to make such a polite and well punctuated reply. I had no idea my original argument was so cogent but if you have to get personal then it appears you have no answer to logic.

I have a friend who is a keen cyclist, by your logic, because he is an amateur athlete he must call himself an velocopedist until somebody sponsors or pays him. It just seems a bit… weird. Ah yes, right back atcha then.. You know, starting sent. That sort of ignorant derision speaks volumes. The writing in this article is absolutely terrible. And you know what? I think people can call themselves whatever they want to.

Pick up a dictionary and review the definition for author. In order for the industry to better write about self-publishing standardizing the terminology is essential. No, you have to be humble, hone your craft and write a few hours everyday. I wrote my response here: Kind of makes me wonder if his account has been hacked. I knew nothing about Hugh Howey. And discovered there was more because I came to Wool late in the game, and so I found the entire Wool Omnibus was already out and Hugh Howey was already hard at work on the Shift series.

He is another Indie self promoter that you probably hate. Thing is, I read and enjoyed The Dig before I knew anything about its author. Rowling had just now written her first Harry Potter book, would she have considered the self publishing route? Considering what I have read about her difficulties in first getting published, she may well have tried self publishing if that option had been open to her at the time. Publishing as a business is relatively new as far as the history of writing is concerned. Self-publishing has been the primary mode of publication throughout history with the exception of the last two centuries give or take.

With the advent of technology and self-publishing initiatives publishing has been freed from the constraints of business models that drive certain genres and content ahem…Twilight… while other genres languish poetry. An author is a writer and not simply someone who has had their work recognized as that which will best drive a business model.

All I can see here is overwhelming arrogance. Consider the possibility, at least. It is a known phenomenon to Howey and others that his SF appeals more, by far, to those who are not that into SF and less so to those who are. What a moronic screed against nothing. Some of us prefer going indie or small press because that is where most of the innovative writing is taking place these days, whereas the Big Houses publish CRAP a lot of the time.

And then you get hostile and nasty toward those who are taking you to task…. This elitist bull is getting old really fast. I have sold foreign rights to my indie published books. I have turned down publishing contracts here in the US. True, but it is out there and has a chance to be read by someone.

I will admit, I am not making a living, as you put it, but I do know that my sales have gone up since I first started a few years ago. And this goes for both indie and traditional authors. One guy used to get to me. He used to on a weekly basis complain about all the indie authors that were ruining his career.

Then someone sent me his book. I believe that if a book is well written and an author continues to do their best, then it will pay off. They know there is crap out there. They also sing the praises of the authors that they love and warn you of the ones they hate. I think self publishing allows a lot of people to publish quickly without the preparedness that is forced upon them through going theough a publishing house. I understand that, I understand that people, especially with their first novel, can be excited and over quick to publish when perhaps they are not ready.

There are people who have paid editors and proofreaders, who work hard on advertising their work, who understand that the quality of their work should not have to suffer just because they can publish more quickly. A lot of people I have spoken to have felt uncomfortable with the lack of control over their own novels that traditional publishing provokes. I entirely understand why in this day and age, when authors do not have to relinquish control of their own work, they would pick the self publishing option.

I was debating you. Your definition is so narrow that you make what is otherwise a perfectly functional dictionary definition meaningless. If you can earn your living from your writing, you are a professional author. Otherwise, instead of conveying clarity of meaning, which is what you appear to want, you are advocating some kind of linguistic penalty for not reaching an arbitary standard you set, which is, well, you figure it out.

Again, adjectives are wonderful things …. How lucky for you to know all those great unheralded and unpublished and unnamed poets and songwriters and novelists. Feel free to put up your own money and publish them. Have you ever worked for a publisher, or gone through a slush pile? Seen the quality of unsolicited manuscripts? Those books mostly are awful. Although slush may be too kind a word. For an Editor in Chief, your skills are lacking.

Unable to find a fault with your core points? There are so many faults with your core points. Those are just the first things that pop into my head. Perhaps more people would take you seriously if you actually took the time to do what you claim as your job title, namely edit. I like how you indies always have to reference some great writers of yore.

Yet, try and name 10 awesome indie writers from ? I find it laughable that you guys even put Dickens in the same sentence as your lowly eBook. Its not elitist, its stimulating a proper discussion on a better classification system for authors. Real Authors are ones that make money from their books, anyone can submit a word doc, a real author lives from their book sales.

The account is not hacked. I need to take a stand, and not get hurt by your pitchforks or flaming torches. Which is having the opposite effect of pushing formerly trade published authors to exclusively self publish instead of be hybrids. Meanwhile instead of raising royalties or writing up more fair contracts, publishers are holding internet crowd sourcing, reality TV type contests, and college contests to try to find young less savvy authors.

Snooki sells books based on her name, i congratulate her on releasing a book people want to read. Here is some advice, read her book. Maybe you will like this post — http: Publishing companies offer more value than you think. They have editors, PR, copywriters, cover artists and more. The rest of the indie writers? They only dream of it. Emily Dickinson published one 1 poem in her lifetime, therefore she is not an author. Not that she was ever an author; she was a poet. But someone like George Gissing is not? Best of luck to you as you dodge the pitchfork wielding masses.

How typical of someone so ignorant and high off their own opinion, that instead of engaging in an actual debate on the subject, you respond by calling me an idiot. You can nitpick and try to say that an author is someone who is represented by a house, who makes X amount of money etc. But then I could also nitpick and once again tell you to pull out a dictionary and reacquaint yourself with the definition of that word. I am aghast that you are resorting to name-calling. You, sir, just lost the debate. Just like anyone who makes clothes or jewelry that sell on Etsy or their own personal websites should not be allowed to be called seamstresses, costumers, or jewelry makers.

All of it is totally illegitimate and worthless. Definitely not real cooks, servers, or managers working there. We all know that every independent restaurant puts out poor quality food, too. Why do they even open their doors in the first place, really? And artists, too, how could we forget? Get a real job and stop polluting the market with your trash where REAL artists are trying to make their millions. Are you a mechanic who opened up his own garage or works to refurbish old cars to sell to the public and make a profit at it?

The Best Books for Middle School According to My Students – – Pernille Ripp

Your album makes a ton of money and you have scores of fans? Maybe next time, champ. Makes perfect sense to me. The amount of ire Mr. Kozlowski is unleashing on indie authors makes him sound like a very frustrated, frightened and jealous little child. I cannot believe how venomously he attacked Tom simply for stating that he would decide what he likes to read himself.

Well… not so much anymore. Hi Michael, thanks for your reply. That said, as stated above I can entirely understand the choice of many people to go into self publishing. I am in the last year of my degree and also suffering from health problems so the only time I have for reading is reading for university. Please let me know.

My point is merely that great gems can be hidden in strange, unlikely places and formats. As I said originally, I by no means think this is the Norma, I believe that ebooks lend themselves to authors who may be ill prepared or ill edited and yet take the plunge anyway so I understand your point of view entirely. Also, how many independently published books have you actually read? What are you even basing this argument off of? This is petulant and misinformed at best. Truly a man we should look up to and whose opinion we should value. Have done everything myself.

No one has heard of my real name. I meant that in a good way… 8. Why do you feel the need to add a class system to something that is relatively simple? How the book is distributed has no weight on the term author.