The Pieces Are Beginning To Fit -- a 5-part series on the new route to publication for writers

March 17, 2009 - PRLog -- Over the past month, there have been a series of major announcements pointing to a bright future for writers seeking publication.  The e-book platform is taking off, with new digital book readers receiving rave reviews -- the Kindle 2, the Sony Reader, the E-Book Reader, the Rex Iliad, and the forthcoming large screen portable reader from Plastic Logic.  Some of the excitement and opportunity arises from new software, often free, such as Stanza, which allows e-book reading on an iPhone or on one's computer.

Print on demand publishing has also matured.  It is no longer seen as a bastard child of the publishing industry.  Writer's Digest even devoted much of a recent issue on the in's and out's of Print-On-Demand.  And even major New York publishing houses are now looking to self-published books for the "next big book."

Writers, however, are often overwhelmed by this confusing array of publication outlets.  Smashwords, a new online publication facility, aims to change that.  Through a simple submission process, writers can easily make their work available across the e-book specturm for free.  And Smashwords is teaming up with POD publisher Wordclay to cover the printed-book arena as well.

With these developments, writers have never had such an easy route to publication.

Blogger Tom Colvin follows all of these developments, as well as issues about productivity for writers, at his two-year-old blog at www.becoming-a-writer-seriously.com.  The first blog in this arena aimed directly at mainstream writers, it has gained a loyal following, attracting 5000 unique visitors a month, and growing.

Over the next week, Colvin will be announcing some major new directions for the blog to help writers cope with the new environment that is so quickly emerging.

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About Words-Sounds-Images:

WSI is a small free-lance operation -- see www.words-sounds-images.com. Tom Colvin blogs at www.becoming-a-writer-seriously.com. He's working on a major book on Spanish history. And he plays blues harmonica -- search for "Lampano Alley" on U-Tube.