It’s not news that the publishing industry has undergone huge changes since Amazon deluged the market with it’s Kindle eReader a few short years ago and ebooks finally blew the book market apart. They’d been threatening to take off for a decade, fuelled by the availability of the Sony Nook among other eReaders, but a Kindle linked to an Amazon account (and who doesn’t have an Amazon account) was a match made in heaven. With one click Amazon customers could download a book, often at half the price of the paperback.

Suddenly, self-published authors weren’t being sidelined at writing conferences and being called vanity published behind their back, because you can’t argue with money. Prolific published print authors were getting the rights to their backlist and self-publishing them in e-bookstores like Amazon, iTunes, Kobo and Smashwords, and often making more from those ebooks in royalties than they were from their new releases with big name print publishers.

That’s not to say it’s all success.  The writers who’ve done the best out of self-publishing are those who already had an audience. I’ve met many first-time novelists who’ve self-published and sold ten copies in a year.  I also met a multi-published print author recently who self-published a book on Amazon that Harlequin Mills & Boon had rejected and she made $40,000 on it in two months.

This was food for thought! I had a backlist of three out-of-print romances sitting around doing nothing so thought, why don’t I self publish them?  They were already edited. I had the rights back from the publishers. I just needed covers and the know-how, so I called on experts: Daryl of R&D Studios took the pictures I’d bought from iStock and my rough cover ideas and turned them into killer covers, then self-publishing expert Patrick O’Duffy told me how to upload them at Amazon, and with much less time and effort than I’d imagined, I had my Hapless Heroes quirky romance series up and ready for purchase.

Being part of the Amazon KDP program for self-published authors allows me 5 days of free promotion over 90 days for each book, so that’s going to allow me to have one of the books free almost every weekend (which will hopefully drive sales to the other two). I’ve already got a very active Facebook, Twitter, blogging network of contacts, so I’m currently slotting in #free #kindle #book promotions alongside all my usual chat. It’s not hard. In two weeks of promotion I’ve given away 520 free books which is a pretty cool way to start. Sales aren’t anywhere near that, but getting your name out there and your books climbing the Amazon charts is the name of the game, so I’ll be looking to build on that.

And that’s the difference between the two formats of publishing.  With print books you look to make the majority of your sales in the first six months – or the first month in the case of Harlequin romance novels.  e-Publishing is a long term project that translates into a passive income stream once the books are charting, because it costs you nothing further. You simply sit back and enjoy the royalties, the reviews and the pleasure of having new readers for stories that deserve to stay in ‘print’.

BIO:

Louise is an International award winning fantasy author whose best-selling Shadow through Time trilogy with Simon & Schuster Australia was selected by the Doubleday book club as their ‘Editors Choice’.  In Feb 2012 it was released digitally by Pan Macmillan’s ebook imprint Momentum Books.

In 2006 Louise travelled to New York to present the Queensland government’s Queensland Writing Showcase to speculative fiction agents and publishers, introducing them to the work of emerging Queensland authors.  In 2009 she was invited to attended the prestigious Crossover multi-media think tank in Adelaide sponsored by the South Australian Film Commission.

A writing tutor for over ten years, Louise has run her own business Writers: Working with Louise Cusack for the past five years and has completed 160 manuscript assessments, tutored over 80 writing workshops and mentored over 300 hours with more than 50 clients.  She has also led 12 writing retreats with various writing groups and been a Writer in Residence with QWC, Logan City Council, Redlands City Council and Gold Coast City Council, helping develop writing programs for regional writers.

Those of you following my FB and Twitter feeds know that I had a really enjoyable time in Cairns. I was kindly picked up at the airport by Hettie Ashwin and taken to Rydges Tradewinds.

Friday night was the launch cocktail party where I met some of the Tropical Writers, and then headed off to dinner with my friend Bernadette who I haven’t seen in five or so years. Hip little cafe and good food.

Saturday was a very full day; a three hour workshop (and they were an interesting, lively bunch), a panel on writing for young adults and children, launching Hettie’s book The Mask of Deceit and attending the literary dinner. Matt Reilly made a great keynote speech about retaining passion for what you do and afterwards I stumbled into bed.

Sunday was less hectic. The Big Book Club panel was very stimulating – we discussed Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward, Cold Grave by Kathryn Fox and Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Green. I have to say that Salvage the Bones was like reading something by Margo Lanagan – the use of language and the deeply personal insights. A truly splendid book. We also agreed that Kathryn Fox was doing a great job raising awareness of social issues and that Green’s novel will make a touching movie.

Collins booksellers did a fab job (had all my books) and all the organising committee were very helpful throughout.

Once my offical duties were finished I got to sit and talk stories, TV, comedy and the revolution with Tim Ferguson – definitely one of the weekend’s highlights for me. Hettie then deposited me back at the airport (thanks Hettie!), and I got to watch five epsidoes of Big Bang Theory on the flight home on the swishy new Qantas jet.

Thanks for having me Tropical Writers!

Reviewed by Joelene Pynnonen

Finding a more proudly Australian film than Mental in 2012 will be a challenge. Writer and director, PJ Hogan, of Muriel’s Wedding fame has once again delivered with his darkly comic new film. Mental is what he likes to think of as a ‘whole-meal comedy’ rather than one of the all too common ‘dessert comedies’ floating around Hollywood at the moment. Had I not seen this irreverent film before Hogan spoke to us about it, I probably would not have understood the sentiments he was expressing. The description is apt though, Mental is a message told through the medium of comedy rather than a comedy existing for entertainment value alone.

The Moochmore household is fraying; each of the seven members holding on to sanity and each other by a tenuous thread. Barry Moochmore has not had dinner with his family since his eldest daughter, Coral, tried to kill herself. His wife, Shirley, is struggling with the responsibility of looking after their five daughters and, wishing that her life was happier, she finds comfort in The Sound of Music. Living with a mother who thinks she’s in a musical and a father who can’t tell his children apart, the five Moochmore girls self-diagnose mental illnesses because ‘if they’re not mental then they’re just unpopular’.

When Shirley suffers a breakdown that even Barry cannot ignore, he checks her into a mental institution. Unable to cope with the children he barely knows, he comes across Shaz, a hitchhiker who agrees to nanny the girls.

Every aspect of Mental pulls together near perfectly to make it a comedy with emotional and spiritual integrity. While the laughs come thick and fast, the themes of sanity, insanity and family add depth. As entertaining as Mental is, it opens up the ideas of mental health, leaving audiences with a wealth of subjects to consider and discuss. It doesn’t confine itself to the light fun bits of life either, instead balancing precariously on the fine line between tragedy and comedy.

Though comedy serves this film so strongly in many ways, it also weakens some of the moments that could have delivered much more of an emotional punch. Looking at something as frightening and lonely as mental illness with humour succeeds in pushing an issue that is all too often disregarded into the spotlight. Through most of the film and with most of the characters it works. Some scenes, however, do suffer because of previous humorous treatment. Because Malorie O’Neill’s character, Michelle’s, schizophrenia is regarded in a humorous way through the film; it becomes difficult to reconcile with the stark reality of her illness when it surfaces.

The cast work brilliantly together. They play genuinely flawed, sympathetic and believable characters, all of whom are very different. Despite the diversity, the chemistry between the actors is perfect. Toni Collette’s performance is especially good. As always she raises the bar for all everyone else, and they rise to the challenge magnificently. Four of the five girls playing the Moochmore children are new to acting but, from their performances, which four is anyone’s guess.

There is a strongly Australian feel to Mental. In many ways it could be considered a companion piece to Muriel’s Wedding. Both revolve around music, there is the same sense of small-minded, small-town community and no shortage of whacky characters with their own goals and insecurities. While Muriel’s Wedding suited the strong friendship focus of the mid-nineties however, Mental is thoroughly modern. The connection between family members is stronger and, while there is still emphasis on the importance of self-confidence, the characters have more support whilst finding themselves.

This is a fresh, fun take on a serious issue that affects far too many people. It unapologetically broaches subjects that are still taboo, utilising humour to keep it from getting too heavy. It’s for everyone who has never quite fitted in. And for everyone who has ever been embarrassed by their family; or worse, been the embarrassment, this is the movie for you.