Arun Kohli, indie author with a trade contract
Non-fiction author Arun Kohli's testimony about how joining ALLi helped him refine his offer to a trade publishing firm demonstrates the blurring of the line between traditional and self-publishing – and that being an indie author is about attitude, rather than how you are published.
On 7th November last year, without expecting much, I attended the Self-Publishing in the Digital Age 2015 conference organised by Writers & Artists in London. I went with an open mind thinking “let us see what they offer”.
At that point, I did not know the Alliance of Independent Authors or what they could do for an aspiring author. My book was already in discussion with Springer Verlag, one of the major publishers in Germany and elsewhere.
As soon as I heard Roz Morris and other authors who spoke at this event, I realised that I was just not aware of many important things to give a proper final shape to my book.
If I had not visited this conference, I would have walked from manuscript to straight to proof reading, convinced that I had done everything that needed to be done, and that would have been a disaster.
Arun Kohli's book has now been published by a major trade publishing company, Springer
Soon after the event, I became an author member of ALLi and received access to many resources.
- I met my editor Janette Currie through the ALLi database. Without her, I would have delivered a book not worth publishing.
- I met other competent, very reasonable people for services that almost every author needs, for example Cathy Helms and Jessica Bell for website and cover design.
- Being a member of ALLi there was also a sense of security that I was amongst people who are known to other like-minded members.
I am very happy that there exists a community called ALLi that helps authors and service providers get together, and all that hassle free.
My book, Effective Coaching, and the Fallacy of Sustainable Change, is now being published by Springer Verlag, so I do not need to self-publish this book, but if I do in future, I will know what to do at each step because of my membership with ALLi.
OVER TO YOU If you've been to any self-publishing or writing conferences that have had a major impact on your success as an indie author, we'd love to hear about your experience.
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