50 Ways To Reach Your Reader #1 Introduction
REMINDER: Don't forget our Shindig later today (3pm EST): How to Choose A Self-Publishing Partner. Your questions about self-publishing services answered…
Why Indie (For Me) Means NOT Having A Publisher
Steena Holmes recently wrote a post for this blog explaining how the great thing about being indie, for her, was having the freedom to have it both ways: to self-publish or trade publish, as it suits her. Here Dan Holloway explains why the step into trade publishing is one he won't be taking — ever.
We are increasingly hearing about the hybrid model, with authors deciding for which books and in what ways to engage publishers and/or agents, who then become partners, singing to the author’s tune.
Whilst I have to say a part of me wonders if there aren’t some elements of utopianism creeping in, it is certainly true that many agents and publishers are starting to change the way they view their relationships with authors. And I certainly think what writers are doing, taking the reins – or at least setting out to – in these relationships, is fabulous, and definitely in the indie spirit.
I Have A Publisher Now But I’m Still Indie
Our book of the month for October is Finding Emma by Steena Holmes, recently picked up for an Amazon promotion…
How To Put Your Alliance of Independent Authors Membership Badge on Your Blog
When you join the Alliance of Independent Authors, we send you a snippet of code to put on your website, so you…
Self-Publishing in Australia
It’s still a rarity to see someone on a bus in Australia with an e-reader, even an iPad, says ALLi…
Amazon Pen Name or Real Name?
What is an Amazon Pen Name? Your Amazon Pen Name is the public name associated with contributions to the Amazon…
How To Get Book Reviews
Trying to get readers to write a review is like getting your two-year-old child to take a horrible-tasting medicine, says ALLi member and regular contributor, Giacomo (Jim) Giammatteo. But it is possible and it is worth it. In the first of a three-part series on reviews, he explains how he gets more than twenty reviews a month.
The Process of Getting Reviews
I launched my book in mid April 2012. Since then I have managed to get seven editorial reviews, 77 reviews on Amazon, and another 44 reviews on Goodreads. No matter how you look at it, that’s a lot of reviews (more than 20 per month) so how do you get that many reviews?
I can tell you it’s not by having a big family. I didn't have my wife write one (mostly for fear of what she'd say) and I didn't have either of my sons write a review. A few family members did write reviews—the ones who read the kind of books I write. And guess what, one of those reviews was not a five star. (Yeah, I know. Tough family)
For what it’s worth, here’s the secret—work your
Superb Self Publishing – the Motherlode for Overgrounding
Self publishing is at the cutting edge of the most interesting, radical and provocative writing that's happening right now. Dan…
Self-Publishing and The Midlist.
Guest Post by By Catherine Czerkawska
There has been a great deal of talk in publishing circles about the ‘midlist slump’. A couple of years ago, I even read reports confidently predicting the ‘death of the midlist’. With the rise in indie publishing, these appear to have been exaggerated.
If I were to define midlist, I suppose it would be that huge, fertile, centre ground of well-written fiction which doesn’t slot neatly into any particular genre. It might be written by authors who like to experiment with crossing the boundaries and don’t see why they should always have to change their names to do so, especially when the ‘voice’ remains much the same.
I write historical and contemporary fiction, but the style is undoubtedly mine. Midlist readers are often, but by no means exclusively, female, often middle aged or older. They seem to be voracious readers.
The midlist used to be the seed bed from which the occasional (almost always unpredictable) blockbuster would spring. Screenwriter William Goldman’s much quoted dictum that ‘nobody knows anything’ applies just as much to fiction as to film. If the publisher got lucky, it might be an author's first or second book that made the breakthrough. More frequently it would be their fifth, sixth or seventh book. And if a book did become a bestseller or spawn a number of sequels, some of those profits would be ploughed back into nurturing other seedlings. Broadly speaking, that’s how it used to be, before the big corporations ate the smaller companies and changed the whole ethos of publishing in the process.
How Indie Authors Can Work With Trade Publishers
Jackie Collins now successfully combining self-publishing and trade-publishing
Today, in the fifth and final part of our ‘Which Distributor’ series, Orna Ross explains how independent authors can successfully work with trade publishers to distribute some of their books.
At a writers conference, an agent and writer are putting out tentative feelers towards each other. The agent is from a venerable company, with a long list of illustrious clients. The writer is an independent author, who has earned her indie spurs by successfully self-publishing two ebook thriller titles (with more on the way) and building a vibrant and growing fanbase, both for her books and her writing advice website.
The agent wants to sign this author, who is young, hardworking, full of ideas, with many books ahead of her. The author is actively seeking a trade publisher, because she wants a third party to handle print. For her, print takes too long and requires the sort of activities that don't interest her. It's the one thing trade publishing can do better than she can do for herself, she believes.
The two talk, they seem to understand each other. Back home, the agent sends over an Author Representation Agreement but before she's read too far, the writer is concerned. A clause states that the agent will
Is DIY Distribution Best For Self-Publishers?
Today, in the fourth part of our ‘Which Distributor’ series where Alliance members share the experiences, Elizabeth Lorraine, vampire lover, TwiMom, avid gardener, world traveler and author of the Royal Blood Chronicles explains why she prefers to go direct to retailers.
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For me, even though it takes a little time, I prefer to go to each site and upload my books myself, rather than use a middlman service. I have three main reasons for this:
- I like being able to track daily sales.
- It makes it easier for marketing, since I can tell if something is working right away and act accordingly.
- I get paid monthly.
I started out on Create Space, Amazon’s self publishing engine for print, in the fall of 2009. Those first years they didn’t make it easy for you to get the formatting right. I had to
Lightning Source Best for Self-Publishers?
Ben Galley
Today, in the third part of our ‘Which Distributor' series where Alliance members share the experiences they've enjoyed with distributors, author Ben Galley gives us his take on Print on Demand (POD) company Lightning Source:
If your book were a delicious pie, distributors would be the ones who put it in the hands of the supermarkets.
It's a very simple analogy, but it rings true. Distribution is the supply link between our printers and the bookstores, and without it, our books would simply never reach our readers' hands. That's a painful vision. And to me, so is keeping a veritable mountain of books in your garage, shipping one at a time, staring at the big hole in your bank account.
No, thank you, I want a different road.
With the advent of the digital revolution came Print on Demand, and with it came distribution relationships. Now, POD companies have forged relationships with the wholesaler distributors to allow us indies access to