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Is DIY Distribution Best For Self-Publishers?

Self Publish yourself or get somebody to distribute the books for you

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

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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

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Book Publicity Tips for Self-Publishers. Part One: Blogs

Book blog are great publicity for independent authorsGUEST POST: By Ben Cameron of Smith Publicity.

For publicity purposes, there are essentially two kinds of blogs, those that are an offshoot of another form of media, such as a newspaper, magazine or radio show; and those that are independent stand-alones. Either way, they are usually written by a single individual or a small group and have a very personal feel to them.

Like people, blogs can be quirky, opinionated and prejudiced. You are off to a great start if you think if them as people – as funny as your Aunt Bessie or grumpy as your old Uncle Carl.

1)  Blogs Are Not an Afterthought

When it comes to media, some rank contacts in order of ‘importance’, with television being the golden ticket and blogs being something you try once other

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An Indie Author Is Not An Island

International rights agent for self-publishersOur decision here at The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) to hire a rights agent to represent our members' books in translation markets has raised the hackles of those who think an indie author is not allowed to make publishing partnerships.

Snarky comments emerging across the Internet, of the indies-admit-they-are-not-so-indie-after-all variety, show that there is still fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to be an indie author or self-publisher.

Here at ALLi, our definition of an indie is one who recognises the writer as the primary driver of the book, not just in getting it written but also in

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Guest Post: Independent Authors and Visibility by Linda Gillard

Linda knows how to be seen!

 

In an over-crowded marketplace, we assume it’s reviews that sell books and, predictably, it’s now possible to buy “honest reviews”. Could paid-for reviews be a good investment? Possibly, but I think we should be asking ourselves a different question—how do books find their readers? Or, to put it another way, what makes a book visible in the marketplace?

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International Rights Agent To Work With Alliance of Independent Authors

Jennifer Custer, International Rights Director, AM Heath

We’re delighted to announce that we have secured the services of Jennifer Custer, Rights Director at AM Heath, to represent those of our members who have suitable books in translation markets.

Founded in 1919, AM Heath has always been one of the UK's leading literary agencies and has represented some of the iconic writers of the 20th Century. The agency currently represents a broad range of best-selling and award-winning authors, including novelists, historians, biographers, and children's authors — and has a reputation for successfully launching talented newcomers.

The agency offers representation in all markets and all languages throughout the world and Jennifer Custer heads up the international rights department. “We have huge successes,” says Custer. “Many of our authors, Hilary Mantel, Conn Iggulden, and

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Self-Publishers Promote Each Other

We value each other's work

We've been having a debate about self-promotion on our Alliance of Independent Authors' member-only Facebook group.  And one of our members, Richard Bunning, came up with a great idea to get around this  perennial problem for self-publishers and the forums they hang out on.

Like most great ideas, it's simple. Naturally, as writers, we want to share news of our books and other writings but

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