colinismyname

Biological War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen (released at the end of July) is a worthwhile read on this topic. Just as chilling as her book on nuclear war, in some ways, which is saying something.

Seconded. They've added a lot of nice (and unobtrusive) features over the last year, too.

Missoula is actually relatively temperate compared to the surrounding area — it's encircled by mountains, which helps quite a bit.

I also kind of dig the clean, chilly weather they get during the winter, so I'm a bit biased on this question. I don't know that it gets as cold as someplace like, NYC or Chicago, though, which is something :)

I just spoke at a conference in Des Moines, and there seems to be a real groundswell of support and enthusiasm for entrepreneurship in the state. Great to see. Lots of good people.

It's such a remote place (literally and perception-wise) that I get that a lot :)

It is the kind of city that turns everyone into a walking advertisement — even the folks who eventually leave tend to come back to retire.

You might look into companies like Submittable (who are based out of the area) if you're looking for programming gigs. They're working hard (with what seems to be a very collaborative and willing government) to flesh out the area's tech infrastructure, so keep your eyes open for more opportunities thereabouts over the next year or two.

And happy to introduce you to some wonderful folks in the city if you're ever stopping through and want to make some friends!

Missoula technically has an international airport, but that's only because it flies up to Canada :)

Closest airport that I would consider 'major' is Seattle, which is a solid day's drive (about 7 hours). You can get anywhere from Missoula's airport, but you'll have to stop through Minnesota, Seattle, Denver, or some other major hub. Adds a little cost, which is a bummer, but still possible, and even for someone who travels all the time like I do, it's not a deal-breaker-level inconvenience.

Amazon-wise, it's just as fast as anywhere else I've ever lived. I have a Prime account, and often receive my packages the next day.

I'll also add that the internet is some of the fastest and cheapest I've found outside of areas that already have gigabit up and running.

Missoula, MT.

Recently started up a non-standard publishing company there, and the culture is stellar, it's a college town (full of culture and young people doing fun stuff), very low cost of living (rented a massive house with a bar/cafe in the basement for about $1400/month), and zero sales tax.

Quality of life is best I've found anywhere in the US (and I've been to all contiguous 48 states several times, looking for places to set up offices and live when I'm not overseas). It's incredibly walkable, has a nice downtown, very active, athletics residents, and folks care about their health (which is manifested in both their activities and the local produce/restaurant/food culture).

Happy to answer any other questions anyone might have about the area, and to introduce you around if you end up moving thereabouts :)

Just bought it — decent with HTML/CSS/PHP, looking forward to checking out Rails at long last :)

You can start making moves at even 100, so long as the people on the list are into you and what you're doing (rather than fly-by-night joiners, or people bribed into joining your list).

But 500 is great (with that same kind of audience), and by the time you get up to a few thousand really engaged, interested readers, you're set. You may not make a livable wage right away, but you'll be making SOMETHING, and from there all you have to do is keep doing good work and publishing it (and as you build a back catalog, each new release can lead to a big boost in sales of your past work, as well).

I've published 11 books, and that's actually how I make my living these days. My older books are on entrepreneurship and related topics, while my later work is narrative nonfiction (travel-based tales from my lifestyle on the road) and, more recently, speculative science fiction.

I've played in the completely self-controlled arena and more mainstream platforms (Amazon, Kobo, etc), and am happy to answer any questions you might have :)

Broad advice: Think very carefully about what you hope to achieve with your book. If you want to build a brand/platform/business/audience long-term, put out some free work to start, and show people what you're capable of. If you're looking to make a living from this book, publish some smaller works (blogs or short ebooks) first, to give people that sample, and build up a small list.

Treat your readers with respect, but don't take all advice given (filter!). Don't over-advertise. Do your best to incentivize sharing of your message and work without straying into over-marketing territory.

Recognize that you'll make a lot more money publishing yourself (through something like Gumroad or e-junkie), but you can get more organic traffic through a platform like Amazon (and there are MANY pros and cons to both paths). Also recognize that you can play in both arenas: use Amazon to gain new readers, and have other work available outside their ecosystem.

Remember, too, that there are still things that Big Six publishers (and their smaller, traditional publishing counterparts) do really well, and ideally indie authors don't see the publishing world as 'us' and 'them' — just two sides of the same coin. You can build up a library of work that you indie publish, and then seek a traditional contract and have more control over the process (having an existing audience to leverage), and the negotiations (they provide prestige that can get you in places that are otherwise difficult to get your book, like airport bookstores, and PR materials that can help you get on talk shows and such — some people still won't consider you a pro author until you've got a Penguin or HarperCollins logo on the spine of something you've written).

(Also: Consider the phrase 'indie published' over 'self published,' as the latter tends to imply the equivalent of a garage band, while the former implies something more akin to indie films or indie music — personal preference, but something to note when you're telling people how your book is published).

Again, happy to expand on any of this if you want to reply here, or shoot me an email — colin at exilelifestyle dot com

Best of luck whichever path you end up taking!