It takes a village. Getting a glimpse of Author Collectives: Diego Marano

Diego Marano of Kobo Writing Life talks about the benefit for authors of joining forces to maximise their promotion. 

Going self-publishing can be a stark path, especially in the beginning. In most cases you set out for that journey solo and, in a few steps, you come across a steep learning curve. You soon come to realize that, albeit essential, writing is going to be only one of the many items on your agenda.

Book production, distribution, PR, marketing and promotion soon become critical steps you have to deal with and figure out. Doing everything on your own is certainly possible, even if a little unlikely to happen. In most cases independent authors get to the point they realize the need for a professional and trusted help. Such a need has driven the growth of publishing service providers that play a key role in providing independent books with a professional look and feel. Trusted service providers not only help you elevate the quality of your books but also make you gain time to focus on aspects you cannot (or at least you shouldn’t) really outsource: writing and promotion.

If the former looks obvious the latter can be a little less intuitive. To some authors self-promotion can look like a menacing horse to ride and, by all means, it is not the easiest task to deal with. You have to get out of your comfort zone and set foot onto a stage that is already quite crowded. In spite of this, putting yourself on the line doesn’t only help you find new readers, it gives you the opportunity to interact with them, understand what they both like or dislike, appreciate an honest feedback (even if negative), learn from that and look at yourself from a different perspective.

It is not by coincidence that many independent bets selling authors devote a significant deal of time to building a direct and truthful relationship with their readers.

It goes without saying this is a demanding commitment to keep up with, as it requires time, consistency and money. All these items combined can be a challenging testing ground even for the most motivated and enterprising authors. In the light of this more and more independent authors, in recent years, have decided to join forces by constituting authors collectives.

These collectives allow authors to share ideas, experiences and opportunities, learning for each other. Needless to say, the understanding you can find in people who experience similar fears, uncertainties and frustrations is a priceless benefit.

By teaming up authors can also dramatically reduce the costs of running promotional initiatives that otherwise would likely be out of reach.

Last but not the least it comes the opportunity to experinece the self-publishing journey having fun and making new friends with whom to share failings and triumphs.

Last year, at London Book Fair, Kobo Writing Life teamed up with an amazing group of authors for a series of promotional initiatives.

We had a great time during the two days together and we managed to make some interviews we have collected on the videos now available here, at Indie Author Fringe 2016.

Part One with Jillian Dodd, Diane Capri, Ruth Cardello and Melody Anne

Part Two with Raine Miller, H.M. Ward, CC MacKenzie and Steena Holmes

Part Three with Chris Keniston’s, Fabio Bueno, Lee Strauss and Rebecca Donovan

Click here to find out more about Diego Marano

Click here to visit the Kobo Writing Life Sponsor Page

GIVEAWAY

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