An Author’s thoughts on the Independent Author Conference 2018
I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when I registered for BookBaby’s Independent Author Conference. I had attended author conferences before, but not this one, and not one sponsored by a company I had analyzed and ultimately decided not to utilize when I first started publishing back in 2012. Would it be a valuable investment? A networking event with ancillary educational sessions? Or a weekend of advertisements disguised as a conference? The latter, of course, would not have been a wise use of my limited business funds, and this was what scared me the most about this venture. As a small business owner (a.k.a. Indie Author), I hate wasting money. Almost as much as I hate getting a “hard sell.” Fortunately, I didn’t have to answer “yes” to the last question and the attending vendors offered value. Ultimately, the Indie Author Conference turned out to be a mix of events and skill levels, and worth my time. While many of those attending (or at least those I met) were at the beginning stages of their publishing careers, I made a handful of connections with authors who were not new, like me, but who also didn’t quite have a handle on…
Independent Authors Conference (IAC18)
What we learned: The Beginning (after you write a great book!) Philadelphia 2018 The cover, the title and the blurb are equally as important as a great story if you hope to make sales. Let’s think about your Amazon book page- The cover- needs to be eye-catching AND tell your story. The title- needs to say something about your story The blurb- needs to sell your book! How to do that? The best advice one of the speakers had was to spend hours looking and reading blurbs from other books in your genre that are selling well. Of course, you don’t want to “copy”, but best sellers get attention for a reason. If you have an agent, they are going to tell you to find comps and this means finding books that are similar to your book and see what they are doing. The blurb should be a bit dramatic. Many authors use over the top words because they get attention. “Deadly”, “Terrifying”, “Race against time”.- are attention grabbers. Many mention the name of the main character and another successful trick is to end with a question: “Can Meghan run and hide from the devil himself?” Sub-genre mentions also…
In Praise of indieBRAG – S. R. Zales
Hello indieBRAG, In 2013 I was awarded a Gold Medallion by Indie B.R.A.G. for my Juvenile Book "Jenny and the Hummingbird Faeries". First off I cannot thank your group enough for the honor. I did receive some Medallions and used them on the books I sold. I wanted to let you know that they were a great asset in selling by book. The book has continued to sell in the hundreds and I believe you were instrumental in making that happen. I have a number of venues coming up in the next several weeks and months where I will be selling even more books. The problem is that I have used all, yes all, the Gold Medallions and am desperately asking to purchase from you 200 more. Is that possible? It would be a marvelous if you could send them as soon as you can. Thank you in advance. Keep up the tremendous work you all have been doing. S.R. Zales Jenny and the Hummingbird Faeries Find this award winning book HERE Author S. R. Zales https://www.srzales.com/
Advice from Steena Holmes “Branding with Intent”
Writers: Don’t Give In To The Pressure By Steena Holmes on Apr 05, 2018 02:23 pm If you are a writer, raise your hand if you feel the pressure to rush your process and just get those books out. (my hand is raised and I know yours are too!) There are so many factors to this rush: bills are piling up so many of your writing friends are releasing books in quick succession you keep hearing this is the only way to get noticed (ie. 90 day window) any other number of reasons to feel like you’re missing out Can I say something that might be against the norm? Stop. Slow down. Don’t panic. I know, I know, easy enough to say, but hard to accomplish, right? I’ve been there, in your shoes when I saw my income going down and my bills piling up. When I would hear of others talk about their numbers and stepped back so no one would notice me and ask how I was doing. When I would visit different FB writing groups and the advice was to write/publish/repeat as fast as you can in order to increase your visibility. Every time I would hear…
Lunch with Madame Presidentess.
Foodie Lit Definition: a genre of novels and memoirs filled with stories and recipes A more open community around the table Madame Presidentess by Nicole Evalina The first woman running for president is a tale filled with intrigue, scandal, enemies and lurid newspaper accounts, sexual innuendoes, financial scandals and marital woes. Biographical accounts are often brutal and vindictive. You might think I am writing about Hillary Clinton but she in fact was not the first woman to run for President. Victoria Woodhull ran for the office in 1872 on the Equal Rights Party, supporting women’s and workers rights. Writing about her run for president, Woodhull noted, “The truth is that I am too many years ahead of this age…and the unenlightened mind of the average man.” Nicole Evalina brings us a vivid portrait of Woodhull in her historical novel. She told me, “My portrayal of her comes from how I think she saw herself… I think she believed the ends justified the means.” A constant headline maker in her own time, because of later conflicts with suffragettes, Woodhull became a footnote, mostly written out of their accounts of the decades’ efforts to gain the right to vote for women. Yet…
In Praise of indieBRAG by author Pamela B. Eglinski
" Let me say once again that indieBRAG is a dream to work with. You are head and shoulders above most every other social media site. I'm so pleased to work with you, and you never seem annoyed with my questions and requests! Pam Eglinski The Can-Can Girl Find out more about Pamela B. Eglinski
In Praise of indieBRAG by author Glen Craney
"I learned about indieBRAG from fellow historical fiction authors who are members of Facebook groups. With the emergence of POD and digital publishing, the good news is anyone can now publish a book; the bad news is anyone can now publish a book! The greates challenge indie authors confront is the stigma of inferiority caused by books rushed into the market without professional design and editing. indieBRAG offers an invaluable vetting service to readers who might otherwise she awar from indies. With the rapid changes in the industry, i'm confident the walls between indie and traditional publishing will continue to crumble." Find our more about Glen Craney, multiple B.R.A.G.Medallion Honoree author
What’s in a Media Kit?
A Media Kit can be a useful way to gather all the info about you, as an author, and your book. We asked Marisa to share her terrific MK with us- I’m a self-published debut author and a proud owner of an indieBRAG Medallion Award. My book, GOODBYE To Italia, is a family story, and was published in 2016 but only a year later have I created a Media Kit (MK). An MK is defined as containing information about your business, product or an event. I did have a one-pager that in loose terms met this criteria. But in such a competitive world and a global market, it really is necessary to have a more professional approach. Thanks to my publishing and marketing mentor, Ocean Reeve, he provided me with a couple of examples of what an MK should look like. He also gave me a kind but strong talking to. Duly subdued, I reviewed the relevant documents and sat down one weekend to create my own. Not for me was a 15-page MK although if that’s what you want to do that’s your choice. Instead, I wanted to relay the messages as effectively and succinctly as possible. Not wanting…
Let’s begin a Jolabokaflod!
The small country (329,000 people) of Iceland boasts it has more writers, books published and books read than anywhere else in the world. Can you imagine that? To those of us who are “Book People”, this is astonishing! A tradition we can all be envious of is Jolabokaflod – the “Christmas Book Flood”. Christmas Eve is a time of giving books and stores are sold out long before the special night. Each person receives at least one print books (not ebooks) along with chocolate to enjoy for the rest of the evening when it is tradition to spend the night reading. It wasn’t long ago that all TV stations in Iceland stopped broadcasting from 6pm-10pm because everyone was reading! The book season kicks off in September when each family receives Bokatidindi, a catalog of new publications from the Iceland Publishers Association distributed free to every Icelandic home. By early December book stores are sold out. Because of this amazing tradition, Reyckavik has been named by the United Nations as a “city of Literature” and it host the international children’s literature festival and the international Literary Festival. Icelanders have a grand history of storytelling. The Icelandic Sagas written around the 13th century…
Most Shared Posts
- The Thrill of Mountain Climbing and the Delight of Home Cooking!
- "Reconstructing Jackson"- Heartbreak, Love and good food for Valentine's Day!
- A Novel Conversation with Callie "A Mistake of Consequence
- A Novel Conversation with Dan Foster Principal Officer of Bow Street Magistrates’ Court
- Space in the Heart & Food in the Stomach!
- Audio Books?
- Food Blogger, Wife and Real Life "Nana" in William L. Stuart's Gemstone Chronicles!
- A Book for Christmas and Pasta for a Healthy New Year!
- Record Your Own Audiobook for Audible
- Bookstores are still out there!
- An Author's thoughts on the Independent Author Conference 2018
- The More the Merrier! Crowdfunding your Publication.
- A Foodie Lit Thanksgiving
- A Novel Conversations with King Ludwig of Bavaria!
- indieBRAG @ IAC
- Independent Authors Conference (IAC18)
- A Ghost Story & Pumpkin Soup for Halloween!
- Marketing Strategy!
Most Discussed Posts
- The Thrill of Mountain Climbing and the Delight of Home Cooking!
- "Reconstructing Jackson"- Heartbreak, Love and good food for Valentine's Day!
- A Novel Conversation with Callie "A Mistake of Consequence
- A Novel Conversation with Dan Foster Principal Officer of Bow Street Magistrates’ Court
- Space in the Heart & Food in the Stomach!
- Audio Books?
- Food Blogger, Wife and Real Life "Nana" in William L. Stuart's Gemstone Chronicles!
- A Book for Christmas and Pasta for a Healthy New Year!
- Record Your Own Audiobook for Audible
- Bookstores are still out there!
- An Author's thoughts on the Independent Author Conference 2018
- The More the Merrier! Crowdfunding your Publication.
- A Foodie Lit Thanksgiving
- A Novel Conversations with King Ludwig of Bavaria!
- indieBRAG @ IAC
- Independent Authors Conference (IAC18)
- A Ghost Story & Pumpkin Soup for Halloween!
- Marketing Strategy!
Blog Categories
- Authors' Chat
- award winning books
- Bloggers
- Book Giveaway
- Book Marketing
- Book Spotlight
- Christmas
- Crime and Mystery
- Editing
- Editing by Ellie
- Food for Thought
- Foodie Lit
- from Fact to Fiction!
- genres
- Graphic Design
- Halloween
- In Praise of indieBRAG
- indieBRAG
- indieBRAG 2017 Cover Contest
- indieBRAG Kids
- indieBRAG News!
- Legal Tips from Helen Sedwick
- Marketing an indie Book
- Middle Grade Reader
- Novel Conversations with Helen Hollick
- Readers Thoughts!
- Romance
- Steena Holmes
- teen books
- Teen Week
- Thanksgiving
- The B.R.A.G.Medallion
- The Self-publishing World
- The World of Reading
- Words of Wisdom
- young adult