Why did you pursue independent publishing? We could surely all answer differently. In my case, I knew traditional publishing could be a long and taxing process. I knew the book I wanted to write was in a niche genre and therefore would be harder to sell to an agent, even if I also knew it […]
What Indie Authors Should Know to Ensure Their Posts Are Seen Until the late twentieth century, town criers were used to spread the word about local happenings. They stood in front of crowds, disseminating crucial information. Each author must now take up that role, but luckily, thanks to the internet, we don’t have to yell, […]
To anyone who thought the discussions around AI might be quieting down, let this past month be an assurance: among authors, at least, the debate rages on. On August 7, author and industry expert Jane Friedman wrote a blog post expressing frustration with Amazon and Goodreads after she discovered a series of nonfiction books, which […]
Michael Evans’s Creator Economy for Authors delves into the significant shifts occurring in the publishing world. Highlighting the movement from traditional platforms to communities spearheaded by authors, the book explores the potential of limitless creation and its implications. Drawing from Evan’s experiences as a novelist and co-founder of a publishing platform, the work underscores the […]
Ad platforms like Facebook and Amazon may be a great option for making money as an author, but they’re far from the only ones. With the right strategy, paid promotions can lead to impressive sales as well. If you’re not sure what I am talking about, paid promotion differs from advertising on platforms such as […]
In the ever-evolving world of literature, the Romance genre stands as a juggernaut, captivating readers with tales of love, passion, and connection. The 2023 Romance Writers of Australia (RWAus) annual conference marked a pivotal moment in the association’s thirty-two-year history, ushering in a new era of growth and collaboration. With sponsors like Harlequin, Draft2Digital (D2D), […]
How Romance Author Jillian Dodd Makes Her Dreams Come True The plot for Jillian Dodd’s first novel came to her in a dream. Well, in three dreams, actually. Over the course of a couple of weeks, the author dreamt of the characters at different periods of their lives. When she woke up, she needed to […]
Personally, I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for Powers, Blaylock and myself. Something based on the appropriate technology of the era; like “steampunks,” perhaps. —K. W. Jeter, in a 1987 letter to the science fiction magazine Locus […]
Dear Indie Annie, I can’t seem to figure out a social media strategy that works! I never know what to post, and I have to manage accounts for two pen names, so it feels like a lot to balance. Any advice for tapping into that “influencer” mindset? Struggling with Socials Dear Struggling, My dear, social […]
Remember how you went from grade school to middle school to high school and then to college? How you started a new job, then moved on to another new job? Starting over is a gift. It’s a new chance to do what you couldn’t before. Maybe you were a big fish, but it was a […]
For Creatives, Doing ‘Nothing’ Can Be Essential to the Process Can you tell the difference between wasting time and giving an idea space to develop? Creativity coach and poet Mark McGuinness has a simple rule of thumb. “Procrastination happens before hard work,” he writes in his book Productivity for Creative People, and “incubation happens after […]
Raise your hand—heck, raise both of them—if you’d rather do almost anything else than hang out on social media. Keep them in the air if, when you go to make good use of the platforms we love to hate, you end up spending way too much time yet not doing much of anything productive. Yup. […]
Authors Can Still Clock Huge Sales Thanks to TikTok’s Reader Community In the past three years, TikTok, the wildly popular short-form video sharing platform, has become a powerful tool for authors to connect with bookish communities and establish their brand. Just as the platform itself has seen its popularity grow since the app became available […]
Visual storytelling is arguably the most powerful medium used by creators on social media today. It has gained immense popularity in recent years due to its opportunities for enhanced engagement, audience building, brand building, and content versatility, and nearly every social media platform has taken advantage. YouTube Shorts, Facebook and Instagram Reels, and TikTok videos […]
Words may be most authors’ medium of choice, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t also testing our skills as visual artists from time to time. Whether it’s book covers or cover mock-ups, marketing material, giveaways, social media posts, or ads, authors—and indie authors especially—do a lot of graphic design. It’s not a problem for those […]
Can Authors Leverage Generative AI for Their Social Media Strategy? Social media, in all its guises, is a fabulous way for authors to showcase their wares. We can promote our work and potentially attract a dedicated audience who will derive ongoing value from our writing and hopefully provide an income through future sales. However, for […]
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