Blake Dowling
The origins of printing and publishing go back to 1450 A.D. when Johannes Gutenberg perfected his Gutenberg Press. Even earlier was the oldest known printed text — a Buddhist book called the “Diamond Sutra.” The Chinese printed that in 868 A.D.
Fast forward to 1605, and the world had its first newspaper. Called “Relation,” it was distributed all over Europe.
The power of publishing now, unlike then, is right at our fingertips (literally) and we have come a long way since making our own ink and cranking the hand press like Johannes. Or rolling out the hand-carved woodblock letters as in those early Chinese works.
Are you ready to write and print your own book? No reverse metal blocks required.
If you have the time, anything is possible.
Here in the Sunshine State, there is the Florida Writers Association which each year brings our state’s writers together under one roof to discuss their works, network and fine-tune their craft.
The Association’s annual conference is coming up this fall and it looks pretty awesome. Executive Vice President Arielle Haughee (Hoy) also runs a small independent press and is working on some really cool projects. You can check them out here.
Many Florida writers have risen from local self-published authors to become writing stars; Tawdra Kandle (romance), Ben Hale and Nathan Van Coops (both sci-fi) are just a couple at the top of that list Arielle shared with me.
I checked in with Nathan to get his opinion on the writing scene and what he had to add to the chat.
“It’s an incredible time to be an indie writer. I’ve learned from an open and generous community of authors who continue to encourage and inspire one another. Whether indie or traditional, the same tenets hold true: read extensively in your chosen genre, write to that market, work with quality editors and designers, and build a loyal following with your readers.
Indie or traditional, it’s still hard work, but I believe the rewards primarily go to the publisher so it’s a good time to be your own.”
You can check out Nathan’s books here.
This year, I threw my hat into the self-published ring and put out my own book, “Professionally Distanced.”
Taking some of my Tallahassee Democrat and FloridaPolitics.com columns, I compiled them, adding a fresh introduction to each piece.
We then added a forward by Florida rock and roller Ken Block, the lead singer of the band Sister Hazel; plus some photos and other tidbits to round it out.
The book is available at Amazon, and our good friends at Midtown Reader in Tallahassee are hosting a launch party on August 19 at 7 p.m. if you find yourself in the Capital City.
You can also pick up a copy of the book on Amazon.
The ability to create, document, brand, share, tell a story, or give perspective is the name of the game.
Who knows how long we all have in our journey? We might as well put something down in writing that will be around for a while. The technology is certainly there to make it easy for you. (Maybe not exactly “easy” as Nathan said, bookmaking is time-intensive for sure. For me, it was six months from start to finish.)
Not predicting Professionally Distanced will be around for as long as the Diamond Sutra, but at least I gave it a shot — sharing my experiences of the bizarre year of 2020.
It would not have happened without the folks at Revell Media, Target Print and Mail and Rowland Publishing, so my sincere thanks to you.
Thanks for reading. Cheers and get back to the Olympics. GO USA!
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Blake Dowling is the host of the Biz & Tech podcast, author of Professionally Distanced and CEO of Aegis Business Technologies. He also writes for several organizations. Blake can be reached at [email protected].
