Tools & Tips

 

 

 

Createspace Step-by-step.

 by Bethany Lopez

The first time I used createspace, I was amazed at how user friendly it was. I uploaded my book, followed all of the steps, and poof, my book was ready. When I received my first proof in the mail I realized how wrong I was, after a lot of jumping up and down, of  course.

Five Things Not To Do When You Self Publish

by Laura Howard

How many times have you heard the term self-publishing and twisted your face in disgust? “Oh, that’s not for me,” you think. Because everyone knows that in order to be legitimate in the literaryworld, you have to go through a Big Six publishing house, right?

 

 

 

 

 

Helpful Hints

 by Nancy Straight

When I saw the topic, “Helpful Hints,” I nearly cringed. I am no expert on marketing and I want to preface this post with: these are the five things that have made an impact for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Indie Network

by Frankie Rose

 

Self-publishing is a long, lonely road. Right?
This can be so true. When I first set out to publish my work on my own, I was exactly that: on my own. I had my book, zero patience, and no clue what I was doing. I jumped in with both feet, setting a release date for my Amazon debut, but it was only when I started thinking about sales and how wonderfully I was going to do that I began to panic. There are over 1.5 million books on Amazon. Even in my blissful naivety, one question plagued me: how were people going to even know my book was there? It was around this time that I really picked up on how much work I had ahead of me. I did my research. I needed a book tour and a publicist, or at least some clue about marketing. Did I have a clue about marketing?

 

Backing Up Your Data

by Michelle Muto

 

I come from the IT profession. Twenty-some odd years of it, to be exact. And the one mistake I see people repeatedly make is not backing up their data. The number one excuse? Time. Second? They don't know how, so ignorance is bliss.

 

 

 

 

Swag

by M.R. Polish

 

Swag…. That would can install the deepest excitement, or the most dreaded fear in an author. What Can I possibly do? Should I do it? Do my readers even want it? The answers are YES, you should do swag! There are many possibilities in the swag world.

 

 

 

 

Twitter

by Raine Thomas

 

When I decided to self-publish in 2011, I had no idea what I was doing. Where I should have gotten into social media and befriended other indie authors before I published, I didn’t even think of doing that. In truth, I had no idea how many other indie authors were out there. I knew of big names only, which was how I even thought to self-publish. Sadly, I was way behind the curve.

 

 

 

Audiobooks

by Stacey Wallace Benefiel

 

 

Let’s talk Audiobooks! Since the audiobook of Glimpse came out in August, 2012, I’ve been on a mission to share how easy and cheap it is for indies to create their own using ACX.

 

 

It Takes A Village

by Elizabeth Sharp

 

That old adage It takes a village never applied more than it does in self-publishing. Many people think of writers as solitary beings locked alone in an office huddles over a keyboard. The truth is that while there is definitely some of that, there’s a lot more to it. Thanks to the rise of the ereader, authors no longer have to throw ourselves at the mercy of the big publishing houses and all their teams of editors, cover artists, and the like. So many people are involved in producing one book. Why should self-publishing be any different? 

 

 

 

 

Building Your Platform

by Laura Howard

 

Building your Following Slow and Steady

You can't visit many writing blogs these days without running into the term “Platform”.

Build your platform before you publish.

The bigger your platform, the more people will know about your book.

First, let me say that this isn't necessarily untrue. I just think that maybe the perception of what a

 

platform is has become a bit fuzzy.

 

 

 

 

 

Forget the Filters

by Christie Rich

 

When I read, I want to experience the book, sink right in and become the main character, or at least tag along for a piggy back ride.  As a writer, my greatest wish is that my readers will have the same experience

 

 

KDP Select

by Liz Long

 

Last month, I made GIFTED, A DONOVAN CIRCUS NOVEL, free for 3 days to celebrate my new release WITCH HEARTS. I spent weeks beforehand preparing a strategy, figuring out how to promote it, and goals that would hopefully be achieved during it. The hard work paid off, because I had over 20,000 downloads, stayed at #5 in the Top 100, and even got new reviews out of it.