As an indie author/authorpreneur, there are a lot of things to keep in mind in order to successfully run your business. Here are some resources that address various aspects of being an indiepreneur: "9 Inexpensive Revenue Streams for Broke or Struggling Authors" on The Book Designers: Includes selling special reports, templates, subscription newsletters, classes, private … [Read more...] about Resources for Indie Authorpreneurs
Getting Into the Audio Market
Audio is becoming a bigger and bigger part of digital publishing. According to GoodeReader, the "format saw a 22.7% increase in sales and generated over $2.5 billion dollars in the United States alone." But audio doesn't mean just audiobooks. It can also mean voice apps, podcasts, and more. Audiobooks Indie authors can sell audiobooks, via ACX, Smashwords, iTunes, and Libro. … [Read more...] about Getting Into the Audio Market
Focusing on Wins, Big and Small
There are many ways to define success. Lately, I've been focusing on emphasizing my wins, big and small. It's a good way to stay motivated, and to not also succumb to the endless to-dos and feeling like nothing gets accomplished. With that in mind, here are some recent wins related to digital publishing: More than 1 million books were self-published in 2017, according … [Read more...] about Focusing on Wins, Big and Small
Novelists Turned TV and Movie Writers
Writing can take on a variety of forms, and some authors are able to turn their books into movies or TV shows. If you do end up having a really popular story or book, keep ALLi's three guiding principles for selling rights in mind: understand the contract, capitalize on rights, and limit the terms. Now that's out of the way, here are some author success stories, who broke … [Read more...] about Novelists Turned TV and Movie Writers
Learning to Code
Digital publishing can encompass more than making ebooks. Lately, I've been learning how to code, because it opens up a lot of possibilities, like building apps or interactive websites, or even Alexa skills. Although I know HTML and CSS, there's still a lot to learn. But it's been a lot of fun so far! In case you're interested in learning how to program, here are some of … [Read more...] about Learning to Code
Photography as a Revenue Stream
When it comes to being an indie author, it's good to think about having multiple revenue streams. Sometimes revenue streams can be related to digital content, but not necessarily writing. The Book Designer recently shared a post about making and selling your own photos. The article goes over the camera you can use (your smartphone is often good enough), processing your … [Read more...] about Photography as a Revenue Stream
Cool People, Cool Projects
People make amazing things. That's probably why I spend so much time online—I often go down the rabbit hole of reading about people's cool projects. Speaking of, here are some I've heard about recently: "This Book Is A Planetarium" on Hyperallergic: "Defying every expectation of what a book can be, this pop-up extravaganza transforms into six fully functional tools: a real … [Read more...] about Cool People, Cool Projects
Keeping Up To Date With Social Media Platforms
We all know every social media platform is different, and as indie authors you should have different approaches for each. Each platform is constantly updating and evolving. Here's the latest on some of them. Twitter Some people use Twitter to tweet novels, one line at a time. People also use Twitter to share news and stay in touch. People also build bots and in some cases, … [Read more...] about Keeping Up To Date With Social Media Platforms
Tips and Tricks for Being More Productive
It's hard to be an indie author. There's always so much to do: writing, editing, marketing, and all the things that go with running a business. On top of that, a lot of people write as a side gig. With that in mind, here are some productivity tips to help you get the most out of your day, in no particular order. "How To Boost Your Creativity The Einstein Way—With … [Read more...] about Tips and Tricks for Being More Productive
20 Stories Related To Writing and Publishing
Sometimes I read stories, and just have to share them. Here's a list of recent interesting stuff (in no particular order): "13 Writers Who Grew To Hate Their Own Books" on Literary Hub: List includes Ian Fleming (The Spy Who Loved Me), Anthony Burgess (A Clockwork Orange), and Leo Tolstoy (War and Peace). "8 Notable Attempts to Hack the New York Times Bestseller List" … [Read more...] about 20 Stories Related To Writing and Publishing
Technology and Publishing
Tech, including tools and developments in machine learning, have become more prevalent, leading to a lot of interesting experiments and projects. One that caught my eye recently is a neural network that wrote a novel about its own cross-country road trip. Ross Goodwin took a road trip from Brooklyn to New Orleans, and hooked up a GPS, microphone, laptop, and printer to the … [Read more...] about Technology and Publishing
Two Indie Author Choices: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Although Amazon works with a wide variety of industries now, it originated in books. And it still dominates the book industry. The Wall Street Journal recently wrote about how Amazon "commands an unrivaled customer base for the books, e-books and audiobooks it publishes." Part of what helped Amazon with ebooks is KDP, the platform where indie authors can upload and sell … [Read more...] about Two Indie Author Choices: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
An Update on Amazon
It seems Amazon is always in the news, and that makes sense. It's a giant company with a huge reach. For this post, I'm going to focus on the non-book items of Amazon. Some of it is related to indie publishing, and some of it is just plain interesting. First up, a writer on Gizmodo tried to block Amazon from here life, and found it was impossible. This is because in addition … [Read more...] about An Update on Amazon
Editing in the Writing Process
Editing is an important part of the writing process. But sometimes, it's easy to get so excited about having a first draft, it's hard to take things to the next level. Publisher's Weekly has a post about how every writer needs an editor, even if the writer is an editor. In brief, it takes a lot of courage and perseverance. These worries can go both ways. The Write Life also … [Read more...] about Editing in the Writing Process
Pitching a Book
For writers who want to go the traditionally published route, there's a process. It usually involves pitching to agents, then having your agent pitch your book to publishers. A lot of people are working on their novels, so you want to make sure that yours stands out. With that in mind, Electric Lit shares 10 novels that agents have already seen. They include having a … [Read more...] about Pitching a Book
