Welcome to AskALLi, the self-publishing advice podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. This week it's our monthly beginners' self-publishing salon with advice, tips, and tools for indie authors just starting out.
Topics discussed this week include:
- Writing nonfiction – Jyotsna recommends writing something related to your profession as your very first book. Above all, though, be clear about the reason you're writing the book.
- Writing fiction – Iain says the first book should be your passion project (and he's on a “career high” this month, selling more books than in previous past years, mainly due to Facebook advertising).
- The need to work at your craft – not even Stephen King was born to be Stephen King; he worked hard at it.
- The aspiration to make a good living writing books – odds are, you won't win the lottery like Stephen King or JK Rowling, but it's possible to earn a living.
- The process from idea to book – Jyotsna describes her path.
- The discipline of writing a book – Iain shares his top tips.
- An ideal program for book writing – Iain provides an introduction to Scrivener.
- How to avoid distractions while you're writing – switch off your WiFi and don't get lost in Google!
- The difference between writing mode and editing mode – and how to just write your first draft without switching into editing mode. Just keep writing!
- Using an “accountability partner” while you're writing – Jyotsna recommends this approach to give you a “nice kick in the butt”!
Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Author Advice Center, https://selfpublishingadvice.org.
And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org.
Now, go write and publish!
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About the Hosts
Jyotsna Ramachandran is the founder of Happy Self Publishing and author of the international bestseller Job Escape Plan.
Iain Rob Wright has written over a dozen novels. He’s an active member of the Horror Writers Association and has also written a free self-publishing course for authors.
True words here. My first book, a nonfiction, was on a topic in my profession and this made it quite easy to write.
Now, while I have changed niches completely since then, writing that first book broke whatever anxiety and fear most new authors experience publishing their first book.
I have completed my first novel and have been approached by three ‘vanity’ publishers, I thought perhaps it may be OK to publish that way but have changed my mind after researching them.
I would like to self-publish but it’s very confusing, I’m 74 and find the online world a little daunting…