Support for Indie Authors discussion

Just trying to take and consolidate some of the older posts that have to do with Author resources. The first part of this was written by our very own Virginia McClain
Hey Folks,

After a few questions that were raised in the introductions thread I thought it might be useful to start a thread that puts all of our knowledge and experience with Indie Publishing (and marketing and publicity) into one convenient location.

To make things easy to find we should perhaps follow a format, so I've arbitrarily decided on the following (please let me know if you think it could be improved).

-name of resource -underlined- (please include a link if you can)
-brief description
-cost (if any)
-whether or not you've used it personally
-results if you have, and source of recommendation if you haven't (please include both positive and negative results)

To demonstrate what I mean I'll include a few resources that I've come across lately that I think are useful.

Goodreads Giveaways
Goodreads Giveaways allow you to offer up free copies of your book in exchange for an honest review. In addition, being listed on the giveaways page gains you quite a bit of visibility with readers.
-Listing a giveaway is free, however you are responsible for the costs of sending copies of your book to winners of the giveaway
- Yes, I've used it myself.
- I just started my first giveaway on Jan. 26th, but 175 people have already entered for a chance to win it, and as a consequence over 100 people have added it to their Goodreads bookshelves. I've only offered 3 free copies, so costs should be relatively low. In fact, if just two people buy the book in any format because of the giveaway it will have paid for itself. The only downside I can think of is that if no one buys a copy as a consequence of the giveaway I'll have spent about 30 bucks for "nothing," but worst case scenario I think that would just equate to "associated costs" of getting the book reviewed by the winners of the giveaway.

Facebook Author Page
Facebook author pages are free to create. They provide an easy platform for people on Facebook to "like,"share, and help spread the word about you and your work, and can be easier to manage than a website if you struggle with that kind of thing. You can even add an app that connects readers straight to your goodreads author profile.
- It's free to set up an author page, but there are ways to advertise and boost your posts that cost money.
- Yes, I've used it.
- I started my author page back in June of 2014 and it has been exceedingly useful in spreading the word about my books and events. It has also made it much easier to create facebook ads which have led directly to sales and awareness of my new book. The only downside I've encountered so far is that people who are already connected to you personally, and who like your author page, may get repeat content from you if you post in both accounts.

Facebook Ads
Facebook ads are small advertisements that appear in the ads column and in people's news feeds as "sponsored posts." They can reach millions of potential customers and are highly customizable.
-They cost as much as you are willing to budget. You choose your budget, the length of your campaign, your targeting, and your marketing goal, and Facebook serves your ad accordingly. The cost per click varies according to how many people actually click on your ad over the length of your campaign.
- Yes, I have used facebook ads.
- My initial experience with Facebook ads wasn't great, and it has taken some time to sort out what ads are the most effective use of budget. I ran one campaign that wound up charging me $13 per click because it only earned a single click over the life of the two week campaign. My other campaign, which is still running costs about $0.02 per click because it's getting thousands of clicks over its month long campaign with a maximum budget of $50. In other words: your milage may vary. ;-)

Blogger
Blogger is a free blog creation and management site provided by google. It is user friendly, and allows you to produce a crisp professional looking blog in minutes.
- FREE
- Yes, I have used it.
- I've been using blogger for years now and it has come a long way since its roots. Big plusses are: it provides you with a customized url (for example: virginiamcclain.blogpsot.com), but it also allows you to use a url that you have purchased for yourself (for example: virginiamcclain.com). Also, it's easy to manage and easy to link to social media. Downsides: currently there is no way to easily add an online store to sell merchandise directly from your website, however, you can link to any other page, so you can link to a different webstore if you have one. Also, it's only as customizable as the templates allow (which is quite a lot if you're good with basic html), but not as completely customizable as some other platforms.

Next is a listing of some review resources for those looking for an honest review of their work, these people reserve the right to refuse to read your work! If you need more people, Google free honest book reviews, and thousands of sites will pop up. Remember, half the work of an author is writing the book, the other half is promoting and getting people to read it! PLEASE PUT REQUEST FOR REVIEW IN THE SUBJECT! Less likely to be thought of as spam that way. (Unfortunately most of these are resources for fantasy authors, if you know other resources PLEASE list them here to #SupportIndieAuthors.)

Alysiaur26@yahoo.com

annliviandrews@gmail.com

Rileyamosreviews@gmail.com

http://www.cywyss.com/review-policy/ Cy from the board here.

And last, a couple resources for you to get author interviews or list your book for free. PLEASE READ THEIR GUIDELINES BEFORE SUBMITTING!

Larissa

Penny

Philip

For Sci-fi/Fantasy writers- Betty

Most of these resources are already listed on my blog: Riley Amos Westbrook Author Page. These are awesome FREE resources to those just starting out and looking for more exposure, USE IT! And keep an eye on my blog. Though you can definitely tell it's run by a man with ADD, it does hold the occasional pearl of wisdom.

And last but not least....if you are an author looking to get out there and known, you have to realize you are going to have to do a lot of work.

Don't forget to find books on the board that seem interesting and ask the authors for an honest review swap! You never know the resources you find once you start to ask questions.

Anytime V.M. I have a couple books on the pile, but I can't wait to see your next piece.

Thanks Riley!

Yes, thanks so much, Riley.

As my book is scheduled to launch in less than two weeks, I am madly in the process of social media hopping. I have used all of the sites you listed, along with contacting a few reviewers on Amazon for reviews (have not heard back from them yet). I also have a Twitter account and hope to put some memes about my book out after its release. There were ten winners in my GR give away, but it only ended earlier this month, so no reviews yet (waiting patiently? no, chomping at the bit for their reviews!). I have not done a facebook ad, but I do have a fb author page (Dianne Kozdrey Bunnell, Author) and I'm slowly building a following. I also have a blog: Literal Lessons of Life.

But don't forget the Kindle Board's author's cafe, which has all kinds of advice from successful authors. One that I was particularly impacted by wrote a piece called "How I Earned 40k in 10 Days."

Best of luck to everyone!

Can you post a link to the board Diane? I didn't know about that one, but I'll be more than happy to add it to the list.

Dianne wrote: "Yes, thanks so much, Riley.

As my book is scheduled to launch in less than two weeks, I am madly in the process of social media hopping. I have used all of the sites you listed, along with contact..."

Here's the link for Kboards:

www.kboards.com

Be prepared to have your head fully loaded with all the information you'll find on this site.

-- Dianne

Wow! this is great - thanks for putting all of this information in one place - fantastic idea!

So I'm finding a few advantages to being with a publisher. First and foremost is the other authors willing to help others. One of them, one Tawn Krakowski, has offered these up in support of other authors looking for ideas on how to get started. These short little pamphlets about being an author hold a lot of information! You can find them here.

great information - thank you!

Wow, thanks Riley.

No problem, when I first started, a lot of this information was the hardest part to find, so I wanted to make it easier for those that follow!

I'm really glad I join this group! I'm seeing great information. Just to let you know a little about my experiences advertising my book:
Goodreads Giveaway - I did it. I mailed off 6 books to the winners and received only three reviews in return. Goodreads Ad Campaign - I did it (twice). It is an excellent way to get exposure. I had many clicks and book adds, but I truly didn't see an increase in sells because of it. I've been using an author email and Twitter. I'm still looking for other avenues to promote and you guys have been awesome! --THANK YOU--

Just had amazing results- so I want to share:

https://www.fiverr.com/bknights/promo...

His own description: I will promote and Market Your Self Published Kindle Book To 4800+ Active Kindle Readers On My Facebook Page During Your Promo Or Marketing Period for $5"

it was 5 dollars

I did use it personally.

Results: So far I have used this service for my free days. I am also going to use it for my 99 cent launch and then my regular price launch as well.

For my free launch: the day before this gig I had 80 downloads -the day of this gig I had almost 400! the day after 170. For my small category this is very good. I was able to hit #1 in three categories and make it to top 500 of all free downloads on amazon.

I guess I cant add images to these posts? I have the screenshots etc but you get the idea!

I thought it was awesome and the best results Ive gotten wth any service- and I started poking around- it seems he is popping up in alot of threads over the internet and people get good results with his gig.

is this something we can do while involved with the KDP time limit?

Susan wrote: "is this something we can do while involved with the KDP time limit?"

Yes, you can just tell them what day you need it done and he can do it that day. He told me not to worry about the time constraints that fiverr has listed on their page. You can message them (there is a contact place on the right mid area)and ask just to make sure they can do it by a certain day. But, I think anything, besides that day- they can promise.

I'm signed up for Fiverr in another week to promote my freebies -- can't wait! Thanks for sharing your experience.

Those of you that signed up with fiverr.com - did you do the basic $5.00 offer or did you add on some of the other offers?

Thanks for the info Elizabeth - I may have to give this a try - keep me posted if you don't mind - I'm kind of curious.....

RE: An author resource for finding editors

The Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA). There are editors listed who specialize in many areas, and many genres.

www.the-efa.org

Isabelle wrote: "Just had amazing results- so I want to share:

https://www.fiverr.com/bknights/promo......"

Thanks for the tip Isabelle. I checked it out and have used fiverr to do my book cover. Question is what is included in the FB post? Is it just a cover picture with link to Amazon or does it also include a synopsis?

Maurice

Thanks Elizabeth, I guess a little bump is worth $5 :)
good luck in the future!

Elizabeth wrote: "Isabelle wrote: "Just had amazing results- so I want to share:

https://www.fiverr.com/bknights/promo...-..."

Thanks. I'll give this a try. It's always good to hear from someone who has actually done it instead of flying blind.

Potential market to get your book into libraries . I have no idea how it will work...but I know the small press that is doing Everyone Dies At The End is trying to get their library onto it.

Here's a great blog post by JA Konrath on getting indie eBooks into libraries. Check out his other stuff as well for great views on the industry. I call him the "Godfather of Self Publishing" :)

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2015/03...

Most local libraries are very supportive it seems of local authors. I walked into mine and told them I had written and published and they were interested right away in promoting and shelving my work. All I need to do is meet with the director and set up, I have plans to do so. Perhaps just a walk in and meet face to face with your local library would be of benefit?

Maurice - this was a very interesting article by JA Konrath - thanks for sharing!

V.M. wrote: "Great article Maurice. I signed up, but here's an important statistic they leave out. They require your backlist to have more than 100 reviews and to have sold over 1000 copies.

If you meet that ..."

Right...but I guess they have to draw a line somewhere in determining what content would be attractive and worthwhile for libraries to carry. I don't think these thresholds are too outrageous.

If you have the time, definitely check out some of his archived posts. This guy has it all going on when it comes to self publishing, truly an industry expert.

Between him and Joanna Penn http://www.thecreativepenn.com/ their blogs contain enough info to provide an education equivalent to a Masters Degree in self publishing LOL :)

I had the pleasure of having dinner with Joanna at the Pub Sense Summit in Charleston, SC a few weeks back. She is very forward thinking and actively looking into the next big technology that will effect the industry and how books are sold, Virtual Reality (VR). Probably at least three years down the road, it is something worth watching. She has a great blog post on this if interested.

Thanks for the SFA badge creation it looks awesome. I have published my website http://www.mauricegmiller.com/ but am still tweaking the content and have not done any promotion. keeping it quiet until finished. The only social media link that works on the site right now is Pinterest and I have to finish the email list signup page. I put a few shut outs to our group on my "Publishing" page and my self pub blog and I can now change these links and put our "badge of honor" in their place :) The site should be completed by the beginning of next week.

V.M. wrote: "Absolutely Maurice, huge fans of Joanna and JA for a couple of years now.

It's all a matter of finding the right voices to listen to. I recommend Dean Wesley Smith as well: http://www.deanwesleys..."

Wow...lots of stuff on this site. I can't wait to get my act together and find time to dig into some of this.

BB. wrote: "Congratulations on the publication of your website, Maurice :) :)"

Thanks BB...still some work to do but almost there, just like everything else hehehe!!

Great looking website Maurice!!

Ann wrote: "Great looking website Maurice!!"

Thanks Ann...I went for the "cozy library" look :) Now if I could only figure out how to dispense wine from my web site, I'd be rich LOL.

I'm def gonna use the new SIA badge to replace the links though.

Um, I'd stop visiting my own website and would just visit yours!!!

I've noticed some comments above about websites, but has anyone clued the masses in on just how to build one (I'm new here, so if it's in another location, feel free to correct me) for FREE?

About a year ago I was looking to build and maintain my own website on the typical Indie Authors budget of exactly zip. That's when I stumbled upon http://www.wix.com.

Here you can select from hundreds of templates and easily tweak and add apps to your hearts content (i.e.: Author's Bio, book descriptions, pics, blogs, links to where your books are available for sale, etc.) all for FREE. And, if you do have a small budget (say under $200) you can even build in an ecommerce site with all the associated links to PayPal, credit cards, etc., purchase your own domain name, and sell your titles directly from your site.

It's VERY user friendly. I went into this knowing next to nothing about website development and had the initial version of my site up and running in under three days. I've added and tweaked from there. I've even helped a couple of others set up their own sites.

Mine is here: www.tjosephbrowder.com. Take a look around and, if you don't already have a site, I'm sure you'll want to take advantage of the service. You can even message me here on Goodreads (or through the site itself under the Contact page) for help if you want it. I'm always happy to lend a hand!

Thanks everyone for some of the really great resource info in this thread!

Is anyone working on their own book covers? I've been working with an online photo editor iPiccy which is free. I like it because you don't download it onto your computer, but just work with it online. It does take a little while to figure out, but learning curve is comparatively fast.

Secondly, I found an Amazing Free, and Attribution-Free (yes!) high-res photo site called http://pixabay.com/en/ and am so thrilled to have found great images to create my own cover on iPiccy for upcoming novella, the Iron Web. This site has lots of people pictures which is incredible because of all the issues around that.

So, thanks all! I didn't know about kboards and am checking that out next :)

TJoseph wrote: "I've noticed some comments above about websites, but has anyone clued the masses in on just how to build one (I'm new here, so if it's in another location, feel free to correct me) for FREE?

About..."

I also used Wix it is very intuitive, I got my own domain though. www.mauricegmiller.com

Wow Maurice that's an impressive site!

Victoria wrote: "I am using Wix, but I can't figure out how to add an ask the author section. anyone know how,"

Open the app market at the left of the screen and look for the 'comments' app. You should be able to tweak that to fit your needs.