I remember talking to publishers just two or three years ago about e-books and digital downloads, and I was surprised how little excitement there was, as though all that was happening in another universe. Perhaps this is the reason – ebooks are bypassing publishers. I'm not quite sure why, but over the past few days there has been a lot of coverage of Kindle Millionaires like Amanda Hocking. Here's a nice interview with her by Ed Pilkington (who I used to work with at The Guardian) and it contains lots of lovely links to other blogs and sites. Including that of Joe Konrath, another Kindle millionaire. I recommend his blog, which at points made me laugh out loud. Read these carefully, and you'll see why Amanda Hocking made it, and why Joe Konrath made it. I haven't read any of the books they've written, and they don't pretend to be great literature. But it's clear that both these writers are seriously committed to the craft and the business of turning out books. These aren't featherlights who happened to get lucky, they work hard and they think hard, and in the case of Joe Konrath you can see he's someone who delights in challenging the status quo. Anyone who's a writer should read this stuff and think about it, and notice that the advice Joe Konrath has for writers who want to self publish is pretty much the same for writers who want to publish in the traditional way: work hard, don't whine, read what other people write, think about what you're doing. Oh… and by the way (this is me, not him), Happy New Year!