Technology, once again, has disrupted another old-school industry where the old way of doing things will have to adapt to both small and massive companies competing for revenue. Luckily there’s room for everyone, which means that it’s never been a better time to write or your memoir or pen that great American novel.
Yesterday, Randi discussed the business of books with authors Joshua Braff, of “The Daddy Diaries”, Jude Angelini, of “Hyena” and Brigid Schulte of “Overwhelmed: How to Work, Love and Play When No One Has Time.”
“Josh was on my birth certificate. I thought that when I published I’d go for something fancier like Joshua.”
“The idea was to get into rooms with established audiences. In the old days it was flying to Borders where no one heard of you.”
“Some authors prefer writing and some prefer selling.”
“It’s a wonderful feeling to walk away from the computer and say ‘I hope that this has meaning to you’.”
“If someone sees something relatable or if they’re touched it makes everything worthwhile.”
“In ’04 I got a ‘yes’ from Algonquin books and they were incredible. They loved my genre—the stuff of short stories.”
“The first book had some success for them to come back and say, ‘Let’s do another one.'”
“There was change going on in the publishing industry in 2010. This was the beginning of not going the traditional route.”
“My wife has been in the digital publishing space for 20 years. We put our heads together and we formed Prince Street Press.”
“I wanted to write short stories. That was my financial goal.”
“It says ‘novel’ on the front of my books. It’s a very freeing form.”
“All writers are observers of life and the human condition.”
“My books take about two years to write.”
“If you feel you have it in you I’d say take a break from life and go at it. You’ll be by yourself so there’s commitment and sacrifice.”
“I found myself in Starbucks because they have great air conditioning.”
“‘The Daddy Diaries’ became a reality because I decided to go our own way. The pitch feeds into the ubiquitous notion of dads at home.”
“Some days it’s not a great day to be in the chair, then get out of the chair and get into your notebook. Just handwrite a full page about the character.”
For more info, go to joshuabraff.com.
“I started off as a white trash dude on trash television and then got a job doing shock jock shit. I was like ‘who gets respect?” Authors. Authors get respect.”
“You can’t teach voice, you have to earn voice day in, day out by speaking your truth.”
“I made myself write everyday. It wasn’t a full time job but always an hour a day.”
“It took me about four years. I didn’t have the confidence to bring it to a big publisher. I was afraid that some suit wouldn’t understand what I was going to say.”
“One of the listeners used to write for ‘Entourage’ and that’s how I got picked up by their producers.”
“I went through CreateSpace, the Amazon model.”
“Releasing an e-book cheapens the writing.”
“I wanted to use the technology of Amazon so people they could order from their phone.”
“When you’re on Amazon you’re competing with a million books being sold 4 different ways.”
“I was Top 300 the whole time on Amazon.”
“The first person who first proofread the book did a terrible job so I took the book down. I changed the color of the spine so the people who bought it first got the first edition.”
“Every couple of weeks I would take it down, change a couple of things and I ended up selling the book 6 times to the same person.”
“When I was self-publishing I couldn’t get my stuff into the bookstores. When Simon & Schuster came I decided to go with them though I don’t know if I’d do that again.”
“I write what I know and what I know is what I did last night.”
“Everyone was selling sneakers now they’re selling apps.”
“I joined Instagram just to sell the book.”
“Backgammon NJ is the best app. The computer plays at a high level.”
For more info, go to Hyena.
“This whole book was a complete accident. I always had a fantasy to write but I never had the time. I got into journalism because it would force me to write.”
“We were looking at the numbers at the ‘Washington Post’ about why less women were reading the paper and we were like ‘Duh, women have no time.”
“The American Time Use survey figures out how we spend our time.”
“The whole first chapter of the book is me saying ‘You’re out of your mind! I don’t have 30 hours of leisure time.”
“My car broke down and I was waiting for a tow truck was considered leisure time.”
“The book became a quest for what happened to leisure time. The US work hours are the longest behind Japan and South Korea.”
“Attack the work culture. There’s really good research about how we work best. You can work long hours for a few weeks but after that you burn out.”
“We celebrate overwork and workaholism. What ever happened to the 40 hour work week?”
“We have to recapture that leisure value. We don’t have any paid vacation policy.”
“I had no idea how to write a book. I didn’t know how to start one so I went the traditional route because I didn’t know any better.”
“I suffer from perfectionism. As long as it was on the page it was just get it done, not get it perfect.”
“Buddhify is like mini-meditations. I suffer from insomnia and so they help.”
“Parkmobile is a great app because I never have change for parking meters.”
For more info go to Brigidschulte.com
Subscribe to the Dot Complicated newsletter and receive a monthly update containing our latest blog posts, events, and more so you can stay informed on digital solutions and tech trends without getting overwhelmed. 
Leave A Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.