Ten Years Gone-Guest by Jason Korolenko

 I am thrilled to have Jason Korolenko, author of THE DAY I LEFT on my blog today. I finished the book a week ago, and it is still on my mind. That is exactly what I want from a novel. Jason is not only an extremely talented writer, he is also one of the nicest people on the planet. So if you don't know him, here's your chance to get acquainted.---and you really should check out THE DAY I LEFT. I promise you won't be disappointed. 

  

Awesome book cover

For a long time I resisted writing about why I chose to go indie. These days, I think, most people don't really care which company publishes a novel. They care about cover art. They care about clean editing. Mostly, they care whether or not an author can pull them into another world and give them a story full of conflict and emotion and interesting characters that demand sympathy. I can't remember the last time I picked up a book published by (insert Big 6 name here) and thought, "Wow, if they published it, it must be good."

I can't remember because it has never happened.

Let me be clear: this is not a post intended to glorify the indie process and demonize the traditional publishing industry, nor is it a quaint, bullet-point list of pros and cons of either approach. It's not a sermon as to why you should choose one path or the other. It is simply a post about my reasons, about why I chose to go indie.

I hear you asking, "Who the hell are you, anyway?"

I’m a fiction writer—mostly the dark stuff that keeps you awake at night—who has been gaming the traditional publishing system for over ten years, with a handful of published stories, three unpublished novels, and a co-writing credit on an indie film. I also have an MFA in Creative Writing, and now, a self-published novel titled THE DAY I LEFT, which I wrote while in the aforementioned program.

Now that that's out of the way, you may be wondering, "What kind of person pursues an MFA only to self-publish?"

Jason Korolenko

Let’s break this down into two questions.

Q1: What kind of person pursues an MFA?

A1: The kind who wants to learn directly from professional writers and editors. In other words, I wanted to learn from people who knew their shit.

Q2: What kind of person self-publishes?

A2: The kind who doesn't want to wait two to four years before seeing his book—a book he already worked two years on—go to print. Think about that for a second. Two to four years before it goes to print.

I graduated with my completed manuscript (yes, that includes edits and spit-shines) in June of 2012. I contacted my cover artist, and learned all about formatting for ebooks and print (thanks to the godly wonders of Scrivener) in July. At the end of August, I released THE DAY I LEFT for Kindle, Nook, and all other digital formats, and in September, I'll release the paperback edition. Two months to digital, three months to print. Not bad.

For me, it all comes down to the marriage of quality and quantity. If I wanted to be a chef, I'd go to culinary school. If I wanted to be a doctor, I'd go to medical school. I wanted to be a writer, so I went to writer school. I also write a lot, and I write fast. I don't want people to have to wait two years—or even a year—for my next book.

The more stories I can give you during the course of my life, without sacrificing quality, the better off we'll both be.

 Click here to buy THE DAY I LEFT at Amazon

Click here to buy THE DAY I LEFT at Barnes & Noble

Click here to buy THE DAY I LEFT Kobo edition

And here for all other ebook formats through Smashwords 

Stalk Jason on Twitter @jasonkorolenko

Check out his amazing website at www.jasonkorolenko.com   


And check out this amazing YouTube video of Jason!