Indie Life - Tell us your good news!

Welcome to Indie Life! A chance for indie authors to post about indie life, find each other, offer support, encouragement, news, helpful hints, and anything else that makes life as an indie author a little easier.

What is Indie Life?
How: Sign up on the Linky at the bottom of this page
When: Post on the second Wednesday of the month (starting 1/9/2013)
What: Write anything indie related: something that will inspire or help a fellow indie; something that celebrates a release or a milestone; something that talks about the ups and downs, joys and heartaches of Being Indie.
Grab: The banner above to include in your posts!

Because being Indie doesn't have to mean going it alone.

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Hi, Everyone! Laura Pauling here for this month's Indie Life! I wanted to take this month to give all of you a chance to share your good news with us.

Have you signed with agent?

Released a new book?

Finished a first draft?

Nailed down a rocking plot for a new series?

I shared some good news today for Indie Life today on my blog. Check it out here. I'll give you a little hint.

Tell us about your good news or accomplishments in the comments! We want to know.

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INDIE LIFE: Overwhelmed by Marketing and Promotion? I am! (and what to do about it)

INDIE LIFE
by Elle Strauss

You've written a great book, polished it up, got a cool cover.

Now what?

How do you get your baby into the hands of all those zillions of people dying to read it? They can't read something they've never heard about, right? How do you get your book in front of your readers?

I wish I had an easy answer. If you've been in the self-publishing world for any length of time (for me, it's been 1 year and 9 months, an eternity in self-publishing years), you'll know that the rules keep CHANGING. And I mean fast.

What worked last month  doesn't seem to work this month. Just when you think you have a handle on the "how to's" of promotion, it changes. It's enough to drive an indie author mad.

For instance last year I price matched Clockwise free. I let Pixel of Ink know, they picked it up right away, and voila, major sales push on the other Clockwise series books that lasted for months. Great! I thought. I'll I have to do is put the first book free, let POI know, and I'm rockin' it.

Except, it's not that easy to get picked up by POI anymore. In fact, it's quite hard. And you can't buy spots. It's a total crap shoot, now, and you can't count on it.

Also, at that time the Amazon monkeys tallied a free sale with the same weight as a paid sale. They've since changed it to 10 free downloads = one sale, which means it takes far more free downloads to get the same high speed traction as it did a year ago.

Like I said, change.

So, you put your ear to the wind. What is everyone else doing now. The clamor gets loud, quick.

Twitter, Facebook pages, google+, tumbler, pinterest, newsletters, giveaways, blog tours, street teams, paid advertising, teasers, picture teasers,  reviews, reviews, reviews! You must do it ALL!

Join me as I hide under my covers.

Okay, I'm going to give some practical advice.

1. Breathe
2. Give yourself plenty of time. There's a lot of pressure for indie-authors to produce and publish fast.
3. Realize that each book you write is different, and the publishing scene at the time of each release will be different.
4. Understand that some things take time, like building a twitter/facebook following and a newsletter list.
5. Don't panic.
6. Take a step back and make a list of things you feel you could/should do for the title in question and make a marketing/promo list. It will probably be different from the last book you promoted and different from the next one.
7. Work the list.
8. Take another breath and write the next book.

What kinds of things can be on your promo list?

Well, something that gets the word out, right?

1. Find early readers who will leave a review. Sometimes you might want to hire out, ie: a blog tour service, and other times you will want to take the time to contact book reviewers yourself. A good way to find book reviewers is to join a blog hop. Kathy at I Am a Reader, hosts a lot. If you want to hire a blog tour service, Giselle at Xpresso Tours, does a great job at organizing tours and cover reveals at reasonable prices. Reviews are especially important on Amazon.

2. Paid advertising. Lots of authors have had good results with Bookbub (though I've heard it's getting harder to book a spot) and Kindle Nation Daily/BookGodzilla. 
These kind of paid sites can be on the pricey side, plus you usually have to qualify with a certain rating and number of reviews.

A cheaper option is to pay for promotion on Facebook. You don't reach the same kind of numbers, but for the price (5-20.00), it's good exposure.

3. Let your followers know. As long as you mix your tweets, facebook posts, etc, up with other news, it's okay to tell people you have a new book for sale. They are following you (as an author) for a reason, right? Being part of a writing group really helps with this. When you post for each other, your reach grows exponentially. If you can't find one to join, then start one yourself!(link to Galley Cat)

4. Contests. An easy way to start is to offer a book on Goodreads (make sure you list your books there, even if you don't offer a contest). For the price of postage, you are getting word out about your book to a lot of potential new fans. This option is only available for books in print.

Use rafflecopter to offer prizes that will entice potential fans to follow you on twitter, facebook, etc, and sign up for a newsletter. Don't have a newsletter? I recommend Mail Chimp. It's pretty user friendly and free until you reach 2000 sign ups.

Those are the basics.

For more advanced advice on getting your book noticed, I recommend LET'S GET VISIBLE, by David Gaughran.

NEWSFLASH:
INdieReCon Marketing Mania is on right now! IndieReCon brings you a mini-marketing know-how blitz! Featuring articles and workshops from CJ Lyons, Georgia McBride, KP Simmons and Penny Sansevieri. Check it out!





How about you? Have you tried something that really worked for you? Please, do tell!

Elle Strauss writes fun, lower YA fiction (time-travel and fantasy). She's married with four children and divides her time between British Columbia, Canada, and Dresden, Germany. She also writes upper YA (historical and science fiction) as LEE Strauss. To find out more about Elle and her books check out her facebook page, and follow her on twitter. To find out about new releases sign up for her newsletter at www.ellestraussbooks.com .

Check out other Indie Life posts on the list below.

Indie Life- Chanda Hahn

Indie Life is a monthly blog post where we as Indie Authors share a little of our life.

So you want to be an INDIE AUTHOR?

When I typed the very last sentence of my book, I jumped from my computer chair and did a little dance. Yesssss! But now what? I studied the market, found my dream list of agents, wrote personalized query letters for each of them and sat and waited. I queried for a very long time on my first book The Iron Butterfly, but the agents weren't big into YA Epic Fantasy.  I never even dreamed of self publishing until UnEnchanted. 

After I wrote UnEnchanted (which was the third book I wrote total) I was querying to agents and getting manuscript requests. Yesss (Fist pump) but then nothing. Then I noticed there were tv shows that were coming out that were super similar to my idea. Fairy Tales were becoming big. So I self-published just to preserve my copyright. Not to actually become an indie author permanently, but just so I had the copyright. It was cheap and easy.  I still had dreams of getting a publishing deal somewhere. But there was one problem, my book was becoming a success! It was hard after I became Indie to go traditional. I've had agents call me, worked with one even, but by then I was making to much money as an Indie author and the traditional publishing route began to loose it's shine. So now what? Now I have to forge ahead on the route of what it means to be an Indie Author and how it would effect my life. 

So how do I become an Indie author and live this glorious Indie life? I'll try to tell you, I'm not going to tell you how a get rich, become a best selling Indie author overnight, because I can't. Even if you follow every one of the steps below, if you don't have a great book, then you won't sell.  If your book sucks? Well not much I can help you with but if your book has a story, has a voice and has an audience, then I can help you.  But for those that just typed "The End" onto the last page of their book. I may be able to direct you in what steps you need to take. 

I will also encourage any of my fellow Indelibles to open and edit this post and insert their own resources. I don't mind really!

1. Write a GREAT BOOK! Figure that is kinda the point and self explanatory. If your reading this far along in the blog than you probably already wrote one. 

2. Edit your own book. Read your book out load to yourself and try the best you can to catch your own mistakes. Thanks to author Lisa Nowak, I suggest using WORDTALK if you have a PC. And GHOSTREADER if you have a MAC. These program will read your book out loud to you. So you can take notes and make changes on pacing. I tend to skip over my own writing when reading and miss a lot of mistakes.

3. Beta readers- You are not ready for anything until you find beta readers (beta readers are test readers that will read your book and give you their opinion and even help with basic editing). Family and close friends don't count. You can find Beta readers from library groups, writing groups or even a few online. I found my very first Beta Reader Jane Hawkey from Australia. She helped me, a newbie, that had been out of college for 8 years reconnect with basic story telling and editing.  

***(Always research each site yourself before choosing. Some may charge money, some maybe free, some change hands and policies)

Places to find Beta Readers:

PERFECT IMAGINATION (This site keeps going under new management, but I use it)

PASSION & PERFECTION

READ 2 REVIEW

4. Repeat step 2 & 3.

5. Hire an editor. I've been burned by having volunteers/friends edit my book. I've even had fans email volunteering to edit and it doesn't work out. HIRE SOMEONE! (These are editors we've worked with, find the one that works best for you.) It usually runs me around 300-500 to edit my books.

BETHANY KACZMAREK

VICTORY EDITING

INDIE AUTHOR SERVICES

LOOKING GLASS EDITING

6. Hire a graphic designer to make your cover. A cover sells your book. Don't make it yourself. Believe me the readers can always tell. Here are some fab cover artists...in no particular order.

STEVEN NOVAK

ROBIN LUDWIG

MAE I DESIGN

7. Format your ebook, and upload to a publishing platform.   Find the one that is right for you. Each publishing site has different ebook formatting rules and you will have to format your document for each site. They are all listed on the site.

KINDLE DIRECT PUBLISHING  a.k.a. KDP  (Amazon)

PUBIT soon to be NOOK PRESS  (Barnes & Noble)

KOBO This is the BIG Ereader for Canada

ITUNES (Apple) Kind of a pain to upload to, you need a mac.

SMASHWORDS  If you upload to smashwords and get into the premium catalog, they will distribute to Itunes, BN and KOBO for you. 

8. Wait, I'm stuck on formatting my ebook? Hire an Ebook Formatter.

ALI CROSS (Yes our very own Indelible)

LUCINDA CAMBEL

9. Upload your ebook if you haven't already.

10. Format your book for paperback.

You can use an independent print publishing to make your books into paperbacks. Using Print On Demand. It's cheaper than other paperback distributers.

CREATESPACE

LIGHTNING SOURCE

10. Promote Your work doesn't stop. You need to blog, tweet, facebook and promote your own book. Because you are your own agent. You can do BLOG TOURS. BLOG HOPS and do give aways on your own blog using RAFFLECOPTER But I think going into promoting your book is for a different day and post. We could fill up pages and pages on what to do after you publish. But this is what it takes to become an Indie.

So this is what it takes and all the hard work we do for each and every single book we write. This is the true life of an Indie Author.

CHANDA HAHN
Blog Twitter Facebook Goodreads

Chanda Hahn is the author of the popular Unfortunate Fairy Tale Series which includes UnEnchanted and Fairest which have topped the ebook charts in 5 countries. She also has a passion for writing YA epic fantasy. She's been a children's librarian, children's pastor and costume mascot. She lives in the beautiful but rainy northwest that is Portland Oregon with her husband and twin childre

Indie Life: How I keep from going crazy. Uh, crazier.

I'm not gonna lie, the last six months of my life have sucked. 

My dad had a massive heart attack and an emergency quadruple bypass. My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and went through a couple of surgeries and radiation. I'm getting divorced. I owe more taxes than I used to make in a year. My dog Chief, my last pet, is on the verge of dying.

Yeah, I qualify for country song status for sure.

So, why haven't I taken to my bed with a gallon of ice cream and all twenty-seven seasons of Grey's Anatomy?

Four reasons:

1. I have two kids - a six-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl. They need me to do my mom thing. They need me to feed them, and force them to bathe and brush their teeth. They require hugs and kisses, and dance parties, and for me to know what Minecraft and Dog with a Blog are. My kids keep me dependable.

2. My friends, both IRL and on the interwebs, and my family. They've watched my kids, taken me out to the movies, spent hours chatting about nothing on Facebook, helped me do yard work, and above all else, listened to me. My friends and family take my burdens away.

3. Exercise. Author Angela Carlie somehow managed to get me to sign up for a relay team even though I've never run a mile in my life. This summer, I'll run three, six mile legs in a race from Seattle to Whidbey Island. Another friend of mine talked me into joining her CrossFit gym last August just before my life imploded. I cannot tell you the value of lifting heavy things and doing burpees until your mind is blank. Exercise keeps me physically and mentally relaxed.

4. Work. Writing is therapy that I don't have to pay for. FOUND (Penny Black #1) distracted me with the intricacies of building a future world and creating a main character that is very different from myself. The two pen name short stories I wrote were pure fun - decadent writing just to write. CROSSING, the novel I'm working on now, has been an altogether deeper experience. It's semi-autobiographical and it is helping me repair my self-esteem. I've been able to cry and laugh and remember...and move on. Writing gives me whatever I need. 

My wish is that your life is a little less hectic, but if it's right up there with my vida loca, I hope you have some good ways of dealing too. If not, I highly recommend weight lifting and writing romance. :)

                                                                                                                                                                 

Stacey Wallace Benefiel is the author of the Zellie Wells trilogy, FOUND,  the Day of Sacrifice series, the Toilet Business - a collection of humorous essays, the upcoming CROSSING, and multiple short stories. She sometimes goes by S.W. Benefiel or Reina Stowe, but knows she's not foolin' anybody. Stacey lives in an orange house in Beaverton, OR with her kids and her dog and a lot of clean laundry that always needs to be folded and put away.

                               

Indie Life - Join us!

Starting today, the Indelibles will be hosting a monthly feature called INDIE LIFE. Modeled after Alex Cavanaugh's awesome Insecure Writer's Group, this will be a chance for indie authors to post about indie life, find each other, offer support, encouragement, news, helpful hints, and anything else that makes life as an indie author a little easier.

What is Indie Life?
How: Sign up on the Linky at the bottom of this page
When: Post on the second Wednesday of the month (starting TODAY 1/9/2013)
What: Write anything indie related: something that will inspire or help a fellow indie; something that celebrates a release or a milestone; something that talks about the ups and downs, joys and heartaches of Being Indie.
Grab: The banner above to include in your posts!

Because being Indie doesn't have to mean going it alone.

Laura Pauling brings us her first Indie Life post.

With a new year comes the wave of blog posts about resolutions and writing goals. I enjoy reading them. I love seeing what my friends and blogging pals are up to. What insight they have in how to balance their writing and their families.

I don’t love writing resolution posts myself, so I jotted down some confessions. Most erred on the side of humorous and flimsy. But one mentioned how I miss the good ole days of blogging.

Three times a week, I blogged. Three times a week, I read a lot of posts and commented on most of them. But I didn’t mind it. In a phase of writing where I was querying and querying and querying, publishing to my blog and gaining readers brought a feeling of accomplishment.

Over the past year, each month, my Google reader diminished in posts. More writers were taking extended breaks. Eventually, I joined the crowd and dropped to blogging once a week.

But I was writing more, and I was publishing.

Even though I miss those days, I don’t want to go back. I still love keeping up with my friends and meeting new ones, but even more? I love seeing the progress my friends are making.

Some are signing with agents and getting book deals. Some are just jumping into the querying pool or signing with small presses. Others are self-publishing and hitting the best seller lists. More and more writers are making strides with their careers and finding success.

I couldn’t be more proud. I love it.

So yes, I miss the good ole days of blogging, but I love this day and age of blogging even more. Here’s to another fantastic year even with all the highs and the lows that a creative life brings.

Click here to visit Laura's blog.

HOP THROUGH FOR A PEEK INTO THE INDIE LIFE

ADD YOUR NAME TO LIST IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO JOIN US (NEXT POST 2/13/2013)
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