"Everyone's Afraid of Amazon"

Hey authors:
Jeff Bezos has a fistful of book-dollars.

If you missed this morning's New York Times article, click here to read about how Amazon is set to shake up the publishing industry. Remember, oh, a decade or so ago, how music execs were throwing hissyfits over downloadable songs? Predicting the end of the world as we knew it? Something similar is happening in publishing: Amazon is now signing fiction and nonfiction authors directly -- bypassing agents and publishing houses. And thereby putting itself in direct competition with the the same booksellers it's promoting. Authors who've been dissed by New York publishing houses are now invited to show the established industry their hiney.

The Times article left some unanswered questions.

UPDATED: Paradoxy Wins Two Bloggy Awards!

Thanks to generous fellow blogger and writer Cortney Pearson, who was kind enough to recognize my new blog, just under a month old, with a Versatile and a Sweet award. By accepting these awards I agree to:

1. Thank and link to the person who nominated me. Check
2. Share 7 random facts about myself. -- I've previously posted 10, click here to see them
3. Pass the award to 5 blogger friends. Will do Done.
4. Contact and congratulate the nominated blogs. Will do Done.


I'm formatting a scintillating interview with sci-fi author Louis Lowy today, and hope to have it posted soon. And I'm thinking about a post on self-publishing: pros, cons, and the changing consensus (or lack of it) on the topic. There's a tremendous amount of buzz on the net about self-publishing lately, including from respected agents. Anybody who's had experience with self-publishing, please email me or comment, because I'd love to pick your brain. 

Check back tomorrow to see who I passed these lovely awards to! 


And The Award Winners Are: