Tag Archives | Indie Life

Indie Life – We all need encouragement!

By on September 11, 2013 in guest posts

Welcome to Indie Life, a blog hop, started by the Indelibles where Indie authors share a bit on the life of being a self published author!

It doesn’t matter what road to publishing you travel or how you decide to publish. All authors and writers are in this together. We all want to feel encouraged during the down times, to keep pushing through and writing regardless of bad news. We all need to stay realistic even after we’ve reached our goals. In a total contradictory way, we need to keep dreaming and putting out hearts into our stories. We need to love writing and continue to with every story premise we decide to write.

My short and simple message is – be encouraged! Wherever you are on the journey, you can do this!

On that note: Indiestructable is a compilation of essays from Indie authors, sharing their tips, their thoughts and their encouragement. All the profits go to the charity, Build On.

Here’s a guest post by Jessica Bell, the editor.

The day I realized I’d been obsessing over my sales figures way too much was the day I closed my eyes and tried to think about the real reason I am an indie author.

Is my primary goal to make money? No. So why do I keep obsessing over my sales stats? I realized it’s because more sales means more people reading my work. What I really really want is to be read. I want to share the one thing in this world I would cut my fingers off for. I know. If I didn’t have any fingers, I wouldn’t be able to physically write, but you know what I mean.

My passion for writing comes with a perpetual replacement button, attached to my side seam, just in case it becomes unraveled, and falls off, after a day gallivanting through the publishing jungle. It can be tough in there, but in the end, being an indie author is OH SO WORTH IT.

This made me wonder …  what’s everybody else’s story?

Then Indiestructible was born.

 

This is not a how-to guide. This is the best of the indie tradition of experienced authors paying forward what they’ve learned, giving you information to help you on your journey. The personal essays in this book will leave you itching to get your work into the hands of readers and experience, first-hand, all the rewards indie publishing has to offer.

Not only is this anthology packed full of interesting, unique, and genuinely helpful information, and totally worth the 99c (only 99c!!!), 100% of proceeds will be donated to BUILDON.org, a movement which breaks the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations through service and education.

Pretty amazing, huh?

What are you waiting for?

Buy Indiestructible—support the indie author and an amazing charity—TODAY!

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE INDIESTRUCTIBLE

 Thanks everyone! Click back to the Indelibles blog for more Indie Life posts!

 

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Indie Life – Self publishing middle grade.

By on July 10, 2013 in publishing industry

Welcome to Indie Life, sponsored by the Indelibles. This is a monthly blog hop where participants focus on anything and everything to do with self publishing.

Join in the fun!

 

Have you wondered about self-publishing middle grade?

I have. A lot.

My first love is a great story – for any age.

But I love reading and writing middle grade. I’ll be honest. I’ve been a little hesitant about self publishing middle grade. It does seem to be tougher…but not impossible. And let’s face it. Any kind of publishing is hard work.

There are many middle grade writers though who have self published their middle grade works. Some have found great success. Melanie Marks and The Slumber Party Wars. Sybil Nelson and Priscilla the Great. Marcus Emerson and Diary of a Sixth Grade Ninja. Just to name a few.

My friend and critique partner, Ansha Kotyk self published her middle grade novel, Gangsterland about a boy falling into a comic book set in the 1920s. Pretty cool stuff.

Recently, a group of self-published upper middle grade or tween authors formed a group similar to the Indelibles. They call their blog Emblazon. Their blog launches today and I believe they’re running a huge giveaway. You might want to check them out.

As for me and middle grade? I’m still debating. Maybe someday.

So what say you about self-publishing middle grade? Have any good book recommendations?

Head back to the Indelibles to find the links to all the posts!

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Indie Life – Taking advantage of the impulse purchase.

By on June 12, 2013 in publishing industry, Writing

Welcome to Indie Life. This monthly theme is a creation of the Indelibles. Click on over for the complete linky list to read up on everything Indie.

Yes, I’m a writer, but this is coming purely from a reader’s perspective.

I’ve always loved browsing in bookstores, but these days, more often than not, I browse on Amazon. Lately, I’ve found very specific reasons on why I click on a book and then why I purchase it.

1. Cover

Definitely at the top. But not even close to why I actually purchase a book. So if you want people to at least click on your book to give it a try, then go for an appealing cover that represents your story.

2. Blurb

Even if you have a great cover, I won’t click on the Look Inside feature, if I’m not crazy about the premise. This is very subjective. So hook your reader by being concise and getting to the heart of your story.

3. Rank and Reviews

After the cover, after the blurb, I check out the rank. Is the book selling? I also check out the reviews.

4. First page

I have very specific tastes. Voice, tone/mood, the writing – all comes into play. I know almost right away within the first page, the first paragraph, if I want to buy it.

5. Price

What turns this whole process into a purchase is the price. If I’ve loved everything so far, and the book is on sale for 99 cents, then it’s usually a definite impulse purchase.

If the book is 2.99/3.99, I wait and think about it. If I keep thinking about it, then eventually I’ll buy it and read it.

Final conclusion: Even though the cover, blurb, rank, and price play a role, the first page is most important. Because even at free or 99 cents I won’t buy a book unless I really want to read it.

What was your last impulse purchase? And why?

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Indie Life – Be encouraged!

By on May 8, 2013 in publishing industry

Indie Life was started and is hosted by the Indelibles. This is a chance to talk about any aspect of publishing or writing you want: to encourage, share news, offer tips. It takes place the second Wednesday of every month. Feel free to join us!

Indie Life

I want to talk about the hedges in the front of my house because they take some major abuse over the winter.

The hedges lie not only underneath my roof but next to the driveway where my hubbie snow blows. These hedges are piled with heaping mounds of snow every year.

Plus, these hedges are shielded from the sun by a small screened in porch, so quite often, the snow turns hard and icy.

Company often comments that these hedges are just going to shrivel up and die one of these years…and I wouldn’t be surprised.

But they don’t. Year after year, they spring back to form, the perfectly trimmed square hedges they should be (almost always perfectly trimmed.)

Right now, gazing out my window, they look great. It didn’t happen right away, but it happened.

Never let the ups and downs of the publishing industry keep you down for long. Be patient. Give yourself time. Just like my hedges.

On a side note, this Saturday I’ll be at the Cape May Author Fest from 2-5 p.m. selling and signing A Spy Like Me and Heart of an Assassin! If you live in the area come by and visit! There will be close to thirty fantastic authors of picture books, middle grade, and young adult.

Visit the Indelibles blog for another Indie Life post and the list of links! A great chance to meet new people!

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Indie Life – publishing will look different, possibly forever.

By on April 10, 2013 in publishing industry, Writing

 

Though I’d share a couple links for Indie Life today.

In the future, will everyone be a publisher? by Nathan Bransford

Go ahead and read it.

Interesting, huh?

This quote jumped out at me.

 For now, publishers can still rely on those services and their print distribution to attract authors. In the future, they won’t have that. And as those services become the central differentiator, you have to wonder if the adversarial approach publishers occasionally take with authors (slow payments, lack of transparency) will give way to a true service-oriented approach.

What about you? Can you already see the industry changing and not being quite what it used to be? I look at all the digitals imprint and contracts being offered that are ebook only until the sales warrant a print version.

I hope big publishing, self publishing and everything in between sticks around for a while. But there’s no arguing the publishing world will look different, possibly forever.

For further reading, here’s a Hugh Howey post that should be a must read for any writer. (If you haven’t already read it.)

Click back to the Indelibles blog for a list of all the links!

 

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