You've heard of “Name and Shame”? This post is all about “Name and Gain”!
We believe the entire publishing industry gains when author-publishers are accepted as an intrinsic part of the literary and publishing world.
That means good author-published books are sold in bookstores, eligible for competitions and prizes, stocked in libraries and accepted for review on equal terms with good trade-published books.
And author-publishers appear at literary festivals and events on equal terms with their trade-published colleagues.
To that end, the campaign team at ALLi is engaged in an email writing campaign to raise awareness and persuade resistant libraries, bookstores, literary events, book reviewers and prize-givers to open up to indie authors who write great books.
We also have a petition addressing the same issue. Add your signature here.
Being the types that like to focus on the positive, we also want to hear about bookstores, libraries, festivals, organisations who are doing it well, to hold them up as role models to show it can be done – and how everybody benefits when it is.
So if you know about a bookstore, a library, a literary festival or event, appropriately recognising indie authors and books, especially if it's a change of policy, please leave your commendations below.
We'll send them one of our Best For Indie Authors Award badges
.
And don't forget to share this post on social media to help us highlight more examples of best practice!
EASY TWEET
“Help boost the status of self-publishing by joining ALLi's Name & Gain programme: http//www.selfpublishingadvice.org/name-and-gain/”
[…] in your stories of libraries, organisations, associations and even individuals that you feel are making a difference. Simply drop us an email or tell us on Twitter via the tag […]
The Bookseller, for their new preview service for indie books: http://www.thebookseller.com/news/bookseller-preview-indie-titles.html
And from our LInkedIn Group:
Jon Michael Riley
Riley&Riley / Jon Michael Riley / Writer-Photographer, Channey Moran Series Author
Our local and wonderful Indie bookseller is Malaprop’s, which is a landmark in Asheville, NC, USA.
They have slowly accepted that very good books are being produced outside of the major publishers. They typically have set up readings for indie or small publisher authors, but the format is several authors at a time. The first one I attended had 8 authors of varying degrees of interest. My good friend Janna Zonder, whose book Magenta Rave is a total phenomenon, was one of the presenters to a good size audience. Malaprop’s has a large dedicated following here in Western North Carolina.
Phin Hall
Freelance writer / self-publishing consultant
I approached my local library in Alton, Hampshire (UK), to see if they would take a few copies of my children’s book, ‘Montgomery’s Trouble in the Underworld’, for their shelves and they said that, as long as it is read and approved by a couple of staff members, they would add it to the Hampshire Library Catalogue, making it available at all the libraries in the country.
The book has been read and approved by one staff member, who has also put a copy in one of the local school libraries. Just waiting on the second person to approve it now…
Alison Shakspeare
Freelance copy editor, proofreader and researcher. Director, Shakspeare Services Ltd
Please add the Crediton Community Bookshop to the list….
Private Eye Writers of America now include indie books in their annual Shamus awards. I’m beyond thrilled that my third Maggie Sullivan mystery, Don’t Dare a Dame, is one of this year’s finalists.
In light of Joanna Penn’s input on International Thriller Writers, I wonder if the mystery world is somewhat more progressive than other genres.
I’m a Full Member of International Thriller Writers http://thrillerwriters.org/ based on my indie status and sales only. At Thrillerfest in NYC with lots of big name authors, I have only ever felt welcome and accepted there and it’s truly a home for a writer like me! I encourage other indies to join too.
And of course the Polari First Book Prize http://www.polariliterarysalon.co.uk/Polari/Polari_First_Book_Prize.html consistently the most interesting literary prize in the UK
On the Polari Prize, thanks to Debbie Young for this info from The Bookseller today:
The shortlist of five for the Polari First Book Prize, which will for the first time be displayed at WH Smith travel outlets, includes a self-published novel. Vernal W Scott’s God’s Other Children, about about World AIDS Day and the experiences of people affected by HIV and AIDS, and published via Amazon’s KDP and CreateSpace programmes, is among the books vying for the award, which is given for any work of poetry, prose, fiction or non-fiction exploring the lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
The Albion Beatnik in Oxford is a true champion of excellence whatever kind of package it comes in https://www.facebook.com/groups/128240240400/?fref=ts and in terms of festivals, Stoke Newington is the best festival I’ve been to – radical, anarchic, true to its socialist roots and proud to champion the outsider, especially the self-publisher http://www.stokenewingtonliteraryfestival.com/ and Chipping Norton is wonderfully diverse and supportive of self-publishing http://www.chiplitfest.com/
[…] and readers from across the globe. For self-publishers, it may seem daunting, but in keeping with the recent positivity on this blog this year’s Frankfurt also is shaping up to be the most indie-author-friendly to date. With two […]
What a superb idea. I’d like to nominate Robb, Darren, Celise and Andy at Foyles – all of them very supportive of SilverWood Books and its authors. It’s lovely to see our beautiful books on the shelves of bricks and mortar bookshops, and to have Foyles’ encouragement with some of the events we put on to share knowledge with self-publishing and indie authors. Next stop for us is the Writing & Self-Publishing Open Day on 20 Sept: http://www.foyles.co.uk/Public/Events/Detail.aspx?eventId=2324 but Foyles are widely investing in a range of fantastic events to support books in all their glorious forms, and of course the talented people who write them!
Peter Snell of Barton’s Bookshop, Leatherhead (http://www.bartonsbookshop.co.uk/) has been very supportive of indies, as Roz Morris and Jane Davis will agree, I’m sure.
I’d also like to nominate the Cambridge Literary Festival, which invited me to do a double-act with The Literary Consultancy founder Rebecca Swift, to talk about publishing options, trade and indie, at their Spring festival this year . More details about that are on my blog here: http://authordebbieyoung.com/2014/04/13/my-talk-at-the-cambridge-literary-festival/. I was treated every bit as well as the traditionally published authors in the Green Room and paid a reasonable amount for travel costs and my time, and the audience were receptive and supportive. It was a really encouraging event.
The UK’s Romantic Novelists’ Association, while still considering whether to admit indie authors on the same basis as trade-published ones, are definitely moving in the right direction, having included a number of self-published authors in their latest conference programme (including fellow ALLi author Alison Morton and me). More about my experience here: http://authordebbieyoung.com/2014/07/23/romancing-the-romantic-novelists/. This is more of a watch-this-space recommendation.
I would like to commend the lovely Euan Hirst at Blackwell’s book shop in Oxford. He was happy to stock The Chase and I know Dan Holloway and others have also enjoyed Blackwell’s support.
Euan gave me a huge break as an unknown self-published writer, and has continued to support me. A true literary champion
Thank you William, you’re very kind. What we’d love to hear about is bookstores, libraries and literary festivals that are embracing indie authors and books as equals.
Orna Ross