Well, after a rainy weekend spent reading and wandering the Internet, I’ve got another list of interesting links for you to take a look at. As usual lately, the world of self-publishing is a busy place.

• The big buzz is about the news that yet another literary agent intends to become a publisher as well. This raises all kinds of questions regarding conflict of interest and what an agent/publisher’s responsibilities should be when it comes to representing authors. Passive Guy has a comprehensive list of how agents could avoid conflicts of interest. Will agents listen? Follow up with Kris Rusch questioning whether agents are even necessary as the world of publishing changes. Old roles are shifting fast, and you need to pay close attention to ensure you’re getting the best deal possible.

• Lots of authors and publishers worry about the effects of digital piracy on book sales. But Fast Company has the story of a book that went viral in PDF form and shows how that actually improved sales. Funny book, and an interesting story.

• If you’re looking for stories from writers who have self-published, you’ll enjoy Cheryl Bradshaw’s interview with Nancy Johnson, who has self-published since 2007. She talks about both the creative process and her marketing strategies.

• Karly Kirkpatrick has an update on her self-publishing sales and income. I always appreciate authors who provide us with real information on their publishing results. Congrats to Karly for making a decent profit on her work, and finding some steady sales!

• Ebook pricing is always a hot topic in the publishing world. Lots of indies find success at very low price points. But Robin Sullivan points us to Vincent Zandri, who has sold large quantities of his novels at price points up to $4.99. His books have tried various price points, and Robin kindly graphs sales vs. pricing over time to show how Zandri’s books have used pricing to first increase sales, and then increase income. Zandri responds on his own blog, saying:

In other words, since my indie publisher StoneHouse/StoneGate Ink runs their operation on only a fraction of the overhead of that of the big boy legacy pubs in NYC who used to publish both THE INNOCENT and GODCHILD, they are able to liberally play with pricing. In this case, THE INNOCENT was priced at $.99 for about a month allowing it to reach as far as No. 4 in the Top 100. Once that happened, StoneGate then changed the price to $4.99 in order that we might increase our profits for the month of May, which has worked. The risk that can occur from such a dramatic pricing shift is that the novel could be bumped out of the Top 100 in a matter of a couple of days. But INNOCENT has shown some resilience in hanging in there for 13 days now at the new price, or about half the month.

Congrats to both Sullivan and Zandri for their big success as independent publishers!

ETA: TeleRead has a related post, reporting that Diane Duane is selling more books at a $4.99 price point than at $1.99. Interesting and counter-intuitive. Pricing is not all about hitting the lowest rung, or so it seems.