Christopher Olander (CEO of NovelMaker)

NM: There are hundreds of sites out there for writers, readers, self- publishers, and niche market devotees of writing genres. Why NovelMaker?

CEO: That’s a good question, and the answer goes to the entire raison d’etre for NovelMaker.

Our founders are writers who went through the traditional process: find and sell an agent, hope the agent sells an editor, hope the editor sells the marketing department, etc. It is an exhausting process, even for very talented people. Very few succeed, even if they have great talent.

At the same time, we surveyed the online landscape and were appalled, frankly. Writer sites that charge fees just to expose a writer’s work; so-called self-publishing sites, and vanity presses -- take the writer’s money and offer little in return, or worse, sell these writers a lot of hooey for a lot of money.

We learned that what has slipped between the lip and the cup is what we are creating– a place where people meet, read, share, and discover exciting new things.

NovelMaker wants to democratize the publishing industry. The concept is really quite simple: if you’re an author, you login (for free), upload your works (for free), receive ratings, comments, reviews, and blog postings (for free). If you want to self-publish, you have to order 10 copies of your book (average cost, about $80 – if you want an ISBN number and bar code AT OUR COST, you pay another $75). Then you go into the Amazon and Barnes & Noble catalogues. You also go into the NovelMaker bookstore, and are promoted on our site.

NM: So what do you do to promote these aspiring writers? How do you help them?

CEO: The first thing we do is tell them the truth – without an agent tied-in to a major publisher/editor, it is largely up to them. The other sites offer elegant promises of promotion, but it is all hype, and it frankly angers us. Writers need to be nourished, and helped- along, and encouraged, and above all, told the truth. That’s what we’re about – we are for serious writers and readers, and want to HELP them, not exploit them.

NM: So, what’s next?

CEO: Exciting things. Soon, we will not only promote our self- published authors on our site, and sell their books, we will offer each and every user a “MySpace”-like experience. You login in, you create a page. Your profile is there, your picture is there, a link to your book is there, a personal blog for you and your friends is there, and your readers and friends and other authors can join your page and interact with you – every day and, we hope, many times each day.

A social literary online community. If you’re an aspiring writer, or a serious reader looking for exciting new stuff, or an agent or editor looking for new talent, what could be better than this?

I mean, really….