Dorothea Lynne's Blog
August 23, 2019
What Your Indie Author Friend Needs From You
What is an indie author? Being a self-published/indie author means you keep the rights to your book and publish it yourself using distributors like Amazon. A big part of choosing to be an independent author is wanting to have creative control over your books. It also means that you are you a publishing house, a marketing director, a social media manager, etc. Honestly the list goes on and on.
Amazon, with all its pros and cons, is a necessary vehicle for indie authors. Millions of readers purchase books on the site. The key for an author is being able to reach those readers amongst the vast ocean of offerings available to them on Amazon. An author working independently has the daunting task of getting their books into the hands of the readers who enjoy their particular genre and style. Just typing ‘romance’ in Amazon’s search will give you well over 100,000 books.
The more sales an author’s book has on Amazon, the higher it moves up on that long list. Positive reviews are equally important. Potential buyers will check out the reviews and not only will positive reviews potentially convince them they should make the purchase, but a larger number of ratings will make the book appear more popular.
Do you have a friend or family member who has written and self-published a book? Here’s some simple ways you can help them out.
First off, purchase their book/s. Take a moment to think about how many hours they put into writing that book. Next, think about the courage it took for them to put their creation out into the world for people to read…and judge.
Now that you’ve purchased the book, what did you think? Honestly, as a writer, of course we want everyone to love our creation, but that’s not realistic. Readers have different tastes and that’s okay. What the indie author needs from you is a positive review left on Amazon. Let’s say your friend wrote a steamy romance that left you blushing, or they wrote a fantasy featuring creatures you’ve never heard of…it’s alright if you aren’t into that, but you can still write a positive review in support of your friend. Who knows, maybe that glowing review you write for their book will be the one that inspires many others to purchase it. Guess what…you just became an integral part in helping that author’s dream come true.
Word of mouth can be extremely helpful as well. Share with your co-workers about the great book you read. Rave about it to the person who asks you what you’re reading. And of course, social media is a wonderful way to gush about how proud you are of your friend, the author.
Here are some important sites that you can leave reviews on.
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2BVmACR
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com
BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/launch
Just search the title and/or author name of your friend’s book. If you can’t find it, just ask them, they’ll be more than happy to help you.
One final thought, think about how you would want to be supported in your own dream (whatever it may be) and let that lead your way in support of your favorite indie author.
By Dorothea Lynne
Author of Hall Pass For Life and A Welcome Guest
Both available on Amazon https://amzn.to/2NRyTUG
Amazon, with all its pros and cons, is a necessary vehicle for indie authors. Millions of readers purchase books on the site. The key for an author is being able to reach those readers amongst the vast ocean of offerings available to them on Amazon. An author working independently has the daunting task of getting their books into the hands of the readers who enjoy their particular genre and style. Just typing ‘romance’ in Amazon’s search will give you well over 100,000 books.
The more sales an author’s book has on Amazon, the higher it moves up on that long list. Positive reviews are equally important. Potential buyers will check out the reviews and not only will positive reviews potentially convince them they should make the purchase, but a larger number of ratings will make the book appear more popular.
Do you have a friend or family member who has written and self-published a book? Here’s some simple ways you can help them out.
First off, purchase their book/s. Take a moment to think about how many hours they put into writing that book. Next, think about the courage it took for them to put their creation out into the world for people to read…and judge.
Now that you’ve purchased the book, what did you think? Honestly, as a writer, of course we want everyone to love our creation, but that’s not realistic. Readers have different tastes and that’s okay. What the indie author needs from you is a positive review left on Amazon. Let’s say your friend wrote a steamy romance that left you blushing, or they wrote a fantasy featuring creatures you’ve never heard of…it’s alright if you aren’t into that, but you can still write a positive review in support of your friend. Who knows, maybe that glowing review you write for their book will be the one that inspires many others to purchase it. Guess what…you just became an integral part in helping that author’s dream come true.
Word of mouth can be extremely helpful as well. Share with your co-workers about the great book you read. Rave about it to the person who asks you what you’re reading. And of course, social media is a wonderful way to gush about how proud you are of your friend, the author.
Here are some important sites that you can leave reviews on.
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2BVmACR
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com
BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/launch
Just search the title and/or author name of your friend’s book. If you can’t find it, just ask them, they’ll be more than happy to help you.
One final thought, think about how you would want to be supported in your own dream (whatever it may be) and let that lead your way in support of your favorite indie author.
By Dorothea Lynne
Author of Hall Pass For Life and A Welcome Guest
Both available on Amazon https://amzn.to/2NRyTUG
August 22, 2019
A Dream
Hall Pass For Life
“Breathing dreams like air.”
– F. Scott Fitzgerald
A dream is defined by Merriam-Webster as: a strongly desired goal or purpose.
I couldn’t agree more. I’ve always loved to write. Many times over the last twenty years, as I was raising my daughters, I would pick up my pen and think, ‘Today is the day I will begin to write.’ However, inevitably, the many tasks required of a mom/wife would intervene. I would tell myself that I just didn’t have the time to write. For years I chose to put the needs of others before my own dream.
During those years, I would read countless books and think, ‘I could do that. I could write a book.’ I’ve always had a vivid imagination. Ideas for stories would be brewing in my mind constantly. Unfortunately they would remain there, never to be transcribed onto a page. That is, until my oldest daughter encouraged me to write. I guess in my mind I felt like I could finally give myself permission to do something for myself. So with my family’s support, I began to write. I experienced a high that no drug in the world could match. When I wrote, I felt complete. Like I was doing what I was meant to do. Stress would melt away as the ink filled the page.
Flash-forward a few years to today and I have self published two books with a third in the works. Do I still tend to put others needs before my own? Yep. Do I still feel guilty about the time I spend writing? Sometimes. Does writing still make me happy? Absolutely. Am I a New York Times best selling author? Not yet, but whenever the little voice in my head tells me I should give up…I dismiss it. There is a large part of me that won’t allow me to give up on my dream. Is it because there is a best seller in my future? Is it because it makes me happy? Is it because I want to be an inspiration to my daughters to not give up on their dreams? Hopefully all of the above.
We all have dreams. They don’t all look the same, but they are all equally important. Whatever your dream may be…Don’t Give Up! Even when it’s not easy…Don’t Give Up!
“Breathing dreams like air.”
– F. Scott Fitzgerald
A dream is defined by Merriam-Webster as: a strongly desired goal or purpose.
I couldn’t agree more. I’ve always loved to write. Many times over the last twenty years, as I was raising my daughters, I would pick up my pen and think, ‘Today is the day I will begin to write.’ However, inevitably, the many tasks required of a mom/wife would intervene. I would tell myself that I just didn’t have the time to write. For years I chose to put the needs of others before my own dream.
During those years, I would read countless books and think, ‘I could do that. I could write a book.’ I’ve always had a vivid imagination. Ideas for stories would be brewing in my mind constantly. Unfortunately they would remain there, never to be transcribed onto a page. That is, until my oldest daughter encouraged me to write. I guess in my mind I felt like I could finally give myself permission to do something for myself. So with my family’s support, I began to write. I experienced a high that no drug in the world could match. When I wrote, I felt complete. Like I was doing what I was meant to do. Stress would melt away as the ink filled the page.
Flash-forward a few years to today and I have self published two books with a third in the works. Do I still tend to put others needs before my own? Yep. Do I still feel guilty about the time I spend writing? Sometimes. Does writing still make me happy? Absolutely. Am I a New York Times best selling author? Not yet, but whenever the little voice in my head tells me I should give up…I dismiss it. There is a large part of me that won’t allow me to give up on my dream. Is it because there is a best seller in my future? Is it because it makes me happy? Is it because I want to be an inspiration to my daughters to not give up on their dreams? Hopefully all of the above.
We all have dreams. They don’t all look the same, but they are all equally important. Whatever your dream may be…Don’t Give Up! Even when it’s not easy…Don’t Give Up!
