Orna Ross, Director of The Alliance of Independent Authors.
When I left my publisher for the creative freedom of going it alone, I was delighted to find a community of likeminded people, who weren’t afraid to take control of their own work and show the rest of the world that there are many pathways to excellence in writing and publishing. ALLi was started in response to that experience and in two years, our organisation has grown into a significant voice in publishing because we are not just one person, we are many.
Still the books infrastructure lags behind the reality that is this vibrant sector of the literary community. Self-publishers regularly find their books excluded from all sorts of opportunities, often on dubious grounds.
ALLi has been busy over the past few months preparing for the launch of our “Opening Up to Indie Authors” campaign and guidebook. The campaign was formed from a belief: that the wider world of books, be it libraries, bookshops, literary festivals, reviewers or professional associations and institutions, can only benefit from including author-publishers.
Which is where you come in.
We recently talked on the Self Publishing Advice blog of how author advocacy can work and why self publishing is so good for literary culture – and as we start sending our message out to the world, we want you to stand with us.
What Can You Do?
You can:
Add your name to our petition and send the link to an indie author friend asking them to do the same. Use the following text: “I just signed The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi)’s petition calling on media, libraries, bookshops, literary festivals, reviewers or professional associations and institutions to Open Up To Indie Authors. They are aiming to get 10,000 to show indie authors care about this. Please sign it too, and spread the word to any other authors you know: http://www.change.org/petitions/open-up-to-indie-authors. It only takes a second and makes a world of difference to writers, readers and literary culture.”
Use the #publishingopenup tag on Twitter and tweet about our goings on.
Come to the launch of the “Opening Up To Indie Authors” guide by Debbie and Dan, if you’re attending The London Book Fair next week.
Join us by co-launching one of your own books together with the guide at a Kobo store near you.
Read the guide (we’ll be email members with their free copy shortly) and pass it on.
Working together we can make a real difference for each other.
Warm regards
Orna
#PublishingOpenUp
[…] Founder Orna Ross writes: […]
Petition signed, message tweeted. SO wish I could be there but life has taken over! Have just sent typescript off and am overwhelmed with ‘stuff’ but sending lots of good wishes for all the events and everyone who’s playing their part to raise awareness of Indie Authors!
thank you Claire. And we will hope to see you next time! This campaign will run and run until we have a level playing field.
Signed. Tweeted. This is important stuff.
It really is, Amira. Important for writers and readers and for everyone who loves books. Thank you for signing and do please carry on spreading the word. This campaign is only starting.
This is an excellent cause I am proud to support. Free societies are inclusive, not exclusive.
And so say all of us! Especially here at ALLi. Thanks Roger!
You have my backing and full support will spread the word too. Good luck and see y’all at LBF!
We have your badge warm and ready, Gill. thank you, as always, for your sterling support
Orna, happy to give support from the other side of the pond to the “Opening Up to Indie Authors†campaign, a cause that lives everywhere indie authors do! Looking forward to seeing you at BEA in May!
thank you Amy! Could we do something on your blog, do you think? I’ll drop you a PM. really looking forward to the launch of Indie Authors Naked at BEA — will be a highlight!
Signed the petition, tweeted and facebooked out the message to others in my network and personally emailed three other self-published authors to request they have a look and think of signing up. This also gave me an opportunity to sing the praises of Alli which is always nice.
That’s so lovely, Francis. Thank you so much for being part of our alliance – and supporting this campaign! 🙂
Definitely spreading the word. I think I signed the petition ages ago!
thanks so much, Roz. We’ve been told by change.org that the best way to spread the word is to email friends and family with the petition! If that’s something you felt you could do, that would be great.
Tweeted – thank you ALLi for spearheading this campaign. There are some wonderful indie authors out there who deserve to be on the shelves in bookstores and libraries, and readers are missing out if they can’t find them. Thanks for being such a forceful advocate for literary culture!
and thank you Jane, for your support! I couldn’t agree more that readers deserve access to the vibrant scene that is indie self-publishing! 🙂
Orna, I’m looking forward to finally meeting you in person at PubSmart and learning more about the campaign. I’ve signed and will continue to share across social media. Many thanks to you and Debbie for working on this worthy cause.
Thank you for all your support, Christine. I can’t wait to finally meet you and so many other members of ALLi in Charleston. IRL, at last 🙂 And thank you so much for your offer to collect me from the airport – that’s really kind. Exciting times!
It has been a privilege to be involved in writing the book, “Opening Up To Indie Authors” – another significant step in what has been an incredibly constructive and forward-looking two years of ALLi’s existence. The Open Up To Indies Campaign can only do good for indie authors everywhere. Exciting times!
And what a fab job you and Dan have done. This book is going to be useful to so many people, both within the trade and of course, so many self-publishing writers. Congratulations both, take a bow!
Spreading the word – this is a crucial initiative and deserves support from all indie authors, everywhere. Looking forward to the launch next week – wish you/us every success!
Thanks Jill. Look forward to seeing you at LBF!
Petition signed, campaign donated to, message tweeted. More power to you. Readers should be able to access all books and it is they who should decide on a book’s worth. The commercial gatekeepers will still have their place, but there should be other points of entry to the marketplace. Readers and authors come in all shapes and sizes. There should be room for us all.
Thanks so much for the support, Anne!