Indie Authors: Jack of all Trades But Master of None? By Sue Millard
An interesting thread came up recently on the ALLi Member-Only Facebook page. Authors going down the self publishing route have…
Indie Authors ALLi Watchdog Warning: Archway Publishing
The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) is concerned about the email approach being made by Archway Publishing to a…
January 2013 Newsletter
The latest ALLi newsletter has details of the Alliance's upcoming publications and campaigns, including our "Open Up To Indies" Campaign.…
50 Ways To Reach Your Reader #6: Newsletters & Mailing Lists for Indie Authors
Indie authors often don't think about building a good e-mail database when they consider their book marketing plans. But the…
Vantage Press Suspends Operations
The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) is concerned about reported happenings at Vantage Press, a US-based self-publishing service which also…
Why 2013 Will Be A Great Year For Indie Authors
1. Ebooks. Recent research from Pew Research Center found that the number of Americans aged 16 and over who have…
Happy New Year Indie Authors
Thanks to the joys of self-publishing, and of working for The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), 2012 has been an amazing year…
Happy Holidays!
Wishing you and yours a very special, happy time this holiday season from all at The Alliance of Independent Authors…
Innovative Book Promotion for Indie Authors
How To Be Truly New & Uniquely You. By Natalie Buske Thomas. You're an indie, right? So are you blazing…
Translation Rights for Indie Authors – Update for ALLi Members from Jennifer Custer
Dear ALLi Members It's been some months since we set out to explore translation rights for self-publishers together and I…
Tips on Effectively Conveying Character Emotion
All successful novels, no matter what genre, have one thing in common: emotion, writes Bella Puglisi one half of The Bookshelf Muse blogging duo, and co-author of The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression.
It lies at the core of every character’s decision, action, and word, all of which drive the story. Without emotion, a character’s personal journey is pointless. Stakes cease to exist. The plot line becomes a dry riverbed of meaningless events that no reader will take time to read. Why? Because above all else, readers pick up a book to have an emotional experience. They read to connect with characters who provide entertainment and whose trials may add meaning to their own life journeys.
It is easy to see the power of emotion and how it connects a reader to the story and characters. The difficulty comes in writing it well. Each scene must achieve a balance between showing too little feeling and showing too much. Above all, the emotional description needs to be fresh and engaging. This is a tall order for writers who tend to reuse the same emotional indicators over and over.
Book Reviewing Ethics and Etiquette for Self-Publishers
Where do Indie authors draw their lines?
Linda Gillard asks ALLi Members Where They Draw Their Lines
On Wednesday last author Joni Rodgers took Amazon to task for what she sees as their high-handed treatment of author-reviewers. Some believe the new policy amounts to censorship, but Amazon needed to respond to the many bogus reviews posted by authors – some well-known – who thought disparaging rival books with fake reviews or penning their own eulogies was all in a day’s work.
Such practices are indisputably unethical, but many think Amazon over-reacted. So what is acceptable when promoting your book? Where should we draw the line? Talking to a group of ALLi authors, I found the boundaries of their moral comfort zone varied. Authors are also readers and reviewers but, disappointed and frustrated, some have now given up posting on Amazon and have decamped to GoodReads.
When posting their reviews, do ALLi author-reviewers use a pseudonym? And do they post honest reviews? Richard Bunning rejected pseudonyms. “I really feel that authors need to be seen to be squeaky clean. Full disclosure and honesty demand the use of author name.”