A wall of water rose up and came crashing into literary bay, knocking publishers for a loop and offering the most boss waves ever for amateur writers everywhere. Suddenly anyone. ANYONE could get published. Pay for a cover. Pay for formatting. Or do both yourself. Upload it, and ZAM, you're on Amazon. This is quite possibly the greatest thing ever to happen to writers, but might also be somewhat of a stifling puzzle for readers. You're sitting there with a brand new Kindle and go to browse for books. SMACK, wave after wave after wave of potential titles knock you on your electronic keister. (see the pic above) YIKE How do you know what books to get? How do you know which unknown author to trust? For Christian readers, the issue is compounded. How do I know I'm getting a story that I won't feel dirty while I'm reading it?
A user-friendly rating system will let readers know the kind of content they can expect. Easy to browse listings and reader reviews--even an interactive forum will allow the most important people: THE READERS to help other readers find something they'll like. Come visit the Spearhead website. Take a look around. This is the kickoff, and there's much, much more to come.
P.S.
I didn't want to take any spotlight from the Spearhead announcement, but thought some of you might want to see the cover for The Errant King, book 2 of the Dark Sea Annals. What do you think?
23 comments:
I have been working on a book for several years and I have only now gotten the first chapter near completion. However, I am determined to get it finished and published sooner or later. The potential of ebooks is very exciting, and when I get my book finished I will defiantly be eager to show it to you and possibly have it published by Spearhead Books. It sounds like something I wish I had created.
While I'm not a huge fan of e-books myself, I must say that this is a phenomenal idea and I am very excited about it. I pray that the Lord blesses your efforts and this project. I've linked to the Spearhead website from my blog (http://enterthewriterslair.blogspot.com) to help spread the word about it. Congratulations on a fantastic idea, and God bless!
~Mary
Wow! That sounds like a super idea. I know I have been very picky about the books my kids read and buy. This will certainly be a great help in knowing ahead of time what is potentially good and what is not. I usually go by good recommendations, but some books I just buy on a whim hoping they will be ok. This will be great. I also love the new cover for Errant King.
The Errant King cover = epicness.
And I've already posted about Spearhead Books myself, telling all my followers about it. There's a lot of potential, and I can't wait to see what comes of it. :)
Oh my goodness! I'm nearly breathless! This is such an awesome idea. I've been thinking very seriously about this issue lately... I've been pondering: when I finish the book I'm writing, and when I try to publish it, where do I go? I heard a recent seminar that convinced me I'm probably NOT going to go the traditional publishing route. But, I don't want to go all-out digital, either. I know there are some companies that will publish your books digitally AND do print-on-demand services, and that's probably where I'd want to go. I'm not sure, though. I'm still thinking.
But anyway, the Spearhead Books idea solves a lot of problems that exist in the eBook world right now. This is excellent. Thank you so much for doing this!
I do have a question, though: What if a writer wants to publish a book digitally, AND through print-on-demand? How would Spearhead fit into this? Would such a writer be able to "publish" a digital book through Spearhead, and then publish the same book through another company's POD services (like Lulu, CreateSpace, or Lightning Source)?
Now I need to go check out Spearhead's website... :-)
God bless!
Brianna
I'm getting rather confused about the Spearhead books thing. First I thought it was a paper-book company, then I read here that it's an e-book company; which is it? Whichever it is, I think it sounds cool. That I do know.
As for the cover, it's too epic, cool, and amazing for mere words to say. That lady on the bottom, though, is creepy-looking. Guy on the top looks rather like Aragorn . . . hmm.
It's great!
It's great!
THANK YOU! Although not a eBook fan - I have picked up books in a store and attempted to skim them for content. Purchased them and began reading only to have to literally toss them into the garbage due to offending content. Sometimes I have even sent a book to a fiery death or to the shredded.
I applaud all of you for putting together an "eBook plat form" for avid readers to refer to when searching for just the right book to read. I also appreciate the attention to all the details that make a book outstanding; spell check, grammar, consistency in characters, etc. Not everyone is capable of writing a book and not everyone is capable of editing one either.
Thank you for listening to the prompting of the Spirit.
Great cover! I can't wait to read the book -- the first one was so good! (Book 1 was very different than I expected it to be, by the way; I was expecting the typical teenage main character and found Alistair to be a refreshingly different choice.)
This is awesome news, Wayne, and an awesome cover to boot!
Spearhead Books is PERFECT. Plain and simple. And, as much as I'd like for you guys to be the only ones in the business with anything like this out there business-wise, it would be best if lots more companies like this pop up. Therefore, a better quality control could be found through companies that do things like this.
Extremely excellent.
-
I only just finished Sword in the Stars a couple weeks ago, but I'm already excited and--that cover is amazing.
However, I do ask why the guy on top looks so much like Aragorn. Is that Alastair? And... if that girl on bottom is Abbagael Rivynfleur... ...
...
It just better not be. :P
I hope because of eBooks real books don't disappear! I like to be able to hold a book and feel it (very important for me). eBooks would be very handy if you travel a lot though.
If you'd dig readin' about a real mystery, visit my blog - July 3, 2011 post.
Thank you so much, i've been kind of daunted by the idea of ebooks and being able to buy a book like you can a song, it just seems weird because a book seems like such a bigger commitment to spend money on. I'd be more worried about buying a bad book than buying a bad song, so I really wasn't looking forward to trying to figure out this whole ebook business. I think and hope that Spearhead books will make this adjustment a lot easier for me and other readers.
Great idea!! I'll be checking SB often!
And I LOVE the cover!!! It looks so amazing.... And the guy on the front does look a little like Aragorn. : ) The cover, plus the AWESOME first couple of chapters I got a sneek peek of, makes me really excited!! I've already bought my copy! : )
daughteroflight
Ooh! Awesome book cover! :D (I'm so deep and insightful :P)
~Thel
The cover looks awesome, and Spearhead Books - SOUNDS awesome! I can't wait to see what happens with it!
Goodnes! Those WHITE LION CHRONICLE books are getting re-published?
do you ever post dude?
The cover's awesome, Wayne!
And Spearhead sounds like a just the right thing for the times.
I agree,
The guy on the front really does look like Aragorn. Lol.
And spearhead sounds awesome!
I checked it out and it looks great!
i agree with everyone else who commented. spearhead sounds AWESOME, and the cover of the errant king is AWESOME, and the guy on there does look alot like aragorn :)
I wanted to thank you for this great blog! I really enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.
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