Workshop Essay

The Independent Publishing Resource Center

Posted March 22nd, 2008 by CultAdmin

Ron Placone Interviews Justin Hocking, Director of The Independent Publishing Resource Center

In the world of independent publishing, a world wrought with twists, turns, confusion, ambiguity, and uncertainty at EVERY angle, the idea of having some sort of outlet, solid ground, a sanctuary, if you will, is immaculate.

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From the DIY File: Homegrown Venues are Blossoming Everywhere (Even Rural America)

Posted January 25th, 2008 by CultAdmin

Ron Placone Interviews Cameron McGee

There were a total of seven of us, we had a case of beer in the van, and we were still getting over the shock that we actually found this place.  My friend was the drummer, so I asked him if he wanted to go get a drink.  While we all knew that finding civilization was unlikely, we decided to humor ourselves.  We found a bar (after about 40 minutes of wondering around in the dark) and upon walking in we realized this might be the last night of our lives.  Let's just say I was thrilled I wasn't wearing any apparel via Fat Mike that criticized the President.  Surprisingly, a few rounds later we were embraced as locals, and the clientele was thrilled to have a real "band" in the bar.  I learned an old lesson again that night; don't judge a book by its cover.  Anyway, about 9:30 or so my friends had to get back to play.  We returned to the venue, none of us with high expectations, to see a room full of about 200 kids.  "Wow," I thought, "these kids have something very special going on out here."

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The Truth About Vanity Publishing

Posted January 19th, 2008 by CultAdmin

Essay by Ron Placone

When I was 17-years-old I had about 130 pages of poetry and monologues along with a novella on my desk-top.  I had started writing when I was about 15.  I decided I wanted to publish this manuscript (at the time I thought was good.  Looking back, it wasn't too bad, I just keep in mind how old I was when I wrote it).   Anyway, I had no idea how the publishing industry worked, the whole thing was alien to me.  With the help of Google I immediately found tons of P.O.D. vanity publishers on the web.  I went to some of their web-sites and read what vanity publishing was all about, and, quite frankly, it didn't make any sense to me.  At the time, I was heavily involved in the music industry, so using that as a point of reference I came up with the following comparison:

Say you're a band, and a record label decides to sign you and put out your album(similar to how a publisher publishes a book), that label will front all of the money necessary to make the finished product a reality.  This of course includes the following:

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