In May 2009, I released a micro-collection of poetry to Kindle. Five poems. Just pulled them off my hard drive, put them in .rtf format, paid someone $10 to design a cover and uploaded it as a collection. It was totally fun to see them in that format. Of course, I immediately bought my own. So I kept doing it with other old poems and two short stories. They're all things that were written ten or more years ago that would otherwise be languishing unseen on my hard drive.
When I gave away the color NOOK on my review blog, the publicist suggested I try out NOOK's self-publishing platform, PubIt. I hadn't done it before because I want to say you had to have a publisher initially, though I could be wrong. Over the past month, I've been stealth uploading the exact same micro-collections for the NOOK to PubIt.
So, anyway, three years ago I wrote:
It's hard to find a platform for the short form, whether it be short stories or poetry, but sometimes, short form totally rocks. I would love to see my fellow bloggers' short stories and poetry. It's always interesting to watch someone's voice develop. Finally, I think Kindle has yet to hit its stride -- but it will. And when it does, I'll be there.
Ereaders are indeed hitting their stride, and it's so interesting to be in the middle of it. While I don't think anyone will start making play lists of Finnegan's Wake, I could see people utilizing ereaders a lot for short form fiction, poetry, individual articles, what have you. Micropayments rock -- it's a great way to sample a writer's work. And for the writer -- the barrier to entry is ridiculously low. And now that Droid and iPhone have apps for Kindle and NOOK and you can read them on your computer, you don't actually even have to have an ereader to get ebooks. BRAVE NEW WORLD.
I haven't made a mint from Kindle, but I've received a few royalty payments already. Considering how little I make from each book, it's cool. The coolest part, though, is getting words out into the world that would've otherwise just sat in darkness.
If you're interested in my micro-collections and short stories or want to get Sleep Is for the Weak that way, check my left sidebar or the Books and Kindle tab. (Which needs to be changed but I don't know how to change it, so there).
BRAVE NEW WORLD.
Speaking of books -- I just gave away a copy of Let's Panic About Babies on Surrender, Dorothy: Reviews!