Self-Publishing Resources and Websites

[Gymjunkie]

Interesting read.. Short story renaissance?

http://jodierennerediting.blogspot.ie/2014/10/short-is-new-long-article-by-anne-r.html

Looks like it...

 

[Gymjunkie]

Ebook Publishing Gets More Difficult - Smashword blog post about slowing of the market, what to expect and what to do to grow your career in future!

http://blog.smashwords.com/2014/11/ebook-publishing-gets-more-difficult.html

NOT a sky-falling-down post, but a great realistic look at market!

 

[Gymjunkie]

Empirical proof that Indies earn more on average than the Trad. published authors (midlist):

http://bookmarketingtools.com/blog/author-earnings-the-real-story/

Interview with Hugh Howey...

 

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[Mattie]

@goodjunkie thanks for sharing these sites, appreciate it!

 

[Gymjunkie]

Good read. I am leaning towards optimism here, and I think, and perhaps @ChickenHawk can chime in, that the odds of a new "pretty good" writers are maybe 85% as good as a year ago? Would you guys put that number higher or lower?

Great thread GJ, keep up the good work!

Cheers. Good to see people enjoying these.

I do think it's lower than 85%, it was way easier 3 years ago, it was a gold rush. Not meaning it in any negative way, just supply/demand thing for ebook changed(new devices, need more ebooks) and now it changed again (so many writers, growth for devices stopped for now, so content overload). I don't think it's even 70% as easy. Depends on which year we compare it too.

That's for now until we see more from Kindle Unlimited and can it make some noise..

 

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[Mattie]

Really I think the key is just writing more an more books as famous authors I've seen usually have a selection of them and of course always improving skills and strengthen your writing skills. Really you have to look at is anything in life. Everything will constantly change. You just have keep up to date, and upgrade with the times. Adjust and find new ways to be creative. There's competition in everything in life. So, you just have to be doing what everyone else isn't doing or trying.

Anne Rice seems to be sticking up for authors and I've been following her and listening to what she's been saying for over a year. I think I've already noticed you have to find the authors that are standing up for the community and speaking their voice. I like how she's asking writers to get involved and how to change things. You really have to stand together as a community. I learned this in Hubpages as well. Writers that stand together get a lot further together.

 

[Gymjunkie]

Superb article with great insight - 6 Mistakes That Can Sidetrack Writers:

http://annerallen.blogspot.ie/2015/01/6-mistakes-that-can-sidetrack-new.html?spref=tw

Feels like the author went for the real stuff, not some superficial cliche stuff.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Random character / setting generators:

RanGen

Springhole

Self-Publishing Team

Writing Exercises

Seventh Sanctum


Tons more out there. These are a few good ones I came across today.

 

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[Gymjunkie]

Update to the story of how Lyndsay Buroker launched a new pen name and how it's doing after 10 weeks:

http://www.lindsayburoker.com/amazon-kindle-sales/pen-name-update-at-10-weeks/

Really good! 12k! She did find a good niche to write in1

 

[Rawr]

For fiction, probably a good idea to have every book on this page.


http://writershelpingwriters.net/bookstore/

 

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[Supercar Ace]

A very recent, success story about how indie author made about $500k in her first 3 years of self publishing.

http://thisblogisaploy.blogspot.ie/2015/08/lets-talk-someone-elses-numbers-is.html?

Nice read. Thanks for sharing!

 

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[Gymjunkie]

How adding images to author's updates on social media increased the sales - good case study:

http://buildbookbuzz.com/social-media-images/

Don't sleep on them!

 

[Gymjunkie]

Good to know. I feel quite foolish now, lol. Well, guess I'll stick to stalking their social platforms to see how many likes, retweets, etc. their posts get.

Don't be. It's good that you question things and look for tools and use them. Keep doing that. Just don't make these kind of sites the main thing in judging if it works. It's a piece of it.

 

[Nily]

Thought I'd share some useful sites for self-pubbing folks!

Kristine Kathryn Rusch - hands down, BEST blog for writers about writing and writing business from bestselling author, read The Business Rush section. Amazing insight because she writes, has run a Publishing company, Distribution company and has most understanding about these thing as a writer. No one comes close probably..

A Blog Pertaining to Health | My Health Blog - great site for marketing advice, podcast and video interviews too.

KBoards - Index - very good forum for writers. Ton of pretty successful authors hang out there.

Rocking Self Publishing | Weekly interviews with self-published authors - audio interviews with successful indie authors with tips and advice (all authors make over $1k a month from books alone). Disclaimer: I'm working on it behind the scenes and am interviewed there.

Bestseller Labs - very good resource for book marketing

Jane Friedman: Writing, Reading, and Publishing in the Digital Age - probably 2nd best site here. Jane Friedman is a big name in publishing industry and has a lot of insight.

Hope this is helpful, share your favorites!

Thanks for sharing the list Gymjunkie.

Kristine's blog is incredible. Within 30 minutes I've plowed through six blog posts.

Her INSIDERS view of the publishing industry alone is unparallel to anything I have read so far.

Keep rocking bro.

 

[Gymjunkie]

Haven't posted in a while but here is another good resource - an article about Kindle Unlimited and it's impact. Talks about KU subscribers, do they buy books, how much they read etc. Good article for general understanding of how things work. Good website in general too read, plenty of otehr good articles:

https://www.writtenwordmedia.com/2017/04/13/kindle-unlimited-subscribers/

 

[Gymjunkie]

No problems. Hopefully I will add more in the future!

Another great resource is the best site for book advertising, it's been producing great results if book gets approved for it:

BookBub: Free and Bargain Kindle Books, Nook Books, and more

Not cheap, but worth it!

 

[Hicks]

Excellent thread.

Where does everyone get the legal disclaimers that they post at the beginning of their book....I have had a search but can't find anything useful.

 

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[Gymjunkie]

Try doing a search on KBoards.com for it. Or post a thread if nothing found.

 

[Gymjunkie]

Here are few more advertising options, cheaper than BookBub.com. Some results posted too:

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,164573.0.html

 

[McNandez]

BookBub.com looks awesome! But, the 50k word minimum will keep a few of us out, at least for a little while. I'm looking forward to trying with them when the time comes.

I've only started looking into resources for independent authors, so I don't have much to contribute as yet, but I'll be sure and post some when I find them. Thanks for the helpful thread!

 

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[Breaking Free]

How to NOT sell the books:

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,164628.0.html

Awesome post by someone very successful. Good kick in the pants. Avoid if you just want writing to be hobbie.

Dang, some of the production numbers in this thread made me a little queasy. I couldn't imagine paying that much to polish one of my books. Sure, I may think differently one day, but still...

 

[Thriftypreneur]

How to NOT sell the books:

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,164628.0.html

Awesome post by someone very successful. Good kick in the pants. Avoid if you just want writing to be hobbie.

I saw that thread. Sure, there's some good advice scattered around in there. But the most of it just seemed to be holier-than-thou drivel to piss on up-and-coming self-publishers who don't have a large budget. Typical, "you're not a real writer unless..." type stuff. No thanks.

 

[Breaking Free]

I see your point too, but that's a bit of a limiting belief. But one day you will get there for sure, don't think it will take super long either. There's ways to make money off of writing, not just by writing books too.

True, and I do see your point. I would invest more if I was writing 500 page novels, but not 50 page novellas. Also if I knew every book would earn back that investment, then yeah, that's another story. But I'm sure Dean and Kris don't invest much in their short works, and a 20,000 word story is much easier to handle than a 100,000 word story from an individual standpoint.

 

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[Gymjunkie]

True, and I do see your point. I would invest more if I was writing 500 page novels, but not 50 page novellas. Also if I knew every book would earn back that investment, then yeah, that's another story. But I'm sure Dean and Kris don't invest much in their short works, and a 20,000 word story is much easier to handle than a 100,000 word story from an individual standpoint.

Short stories are different. That discussion and my comments are about normal books.

 

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[Gymjunkie]

$1-2k per book is a lot more than probably 99% of self-publishers are able to invest. I think that's a safe assumption.

I'm not "bemoaning" anything, or "wishing things were cheaper." (not entirely sure how my writing budget even came up in this). I only made the comment I did because I find the whole "You're not a real writer unless..." thing pretty pathetic.

I understand this guy is a client of yours, GymJunkie, but my disagreeing with his wording isn't a personal attack on him, or you. So let's keep that clear.

From the very first line of his post "I'd provide a quick sheet on how to practically guarantee you won't have a literary career of any sort, other than a failed one."

Then, he and others proceed to list of a slew of things that a lot of the readers of that forum (and this one) do for every book. Things like proofreading and editing themselves. Wording it like that, it's only natural that you're going to get people who take it as a "You're not a real writer unless..." piece. Which, just from skimming the now 9 pages that thread has become, and seeing multiple posts where the OP is defending himself (and outright insulting others), it's pretty clear I wasn't the only one who got that vibe from that thread.

Look, Millionaire Fastlane is full of this type of attitude. It has two chapters that can be seen as insults to people because they are not 'Fastlaners'.. so it's OK for MJ to write that book, but it's not OK for R. Blake to write a forum post? It's the same thing essentially, take responsibility, take your business seriously and invest while working hard. MJ lays out criteria for successful business, Blake lays out those for successful writing business. And Blake is not the first guy to advocate this advice of spending money on books. 2k on a book is pretty normal.

Both guys have a No-BS attitude. You accept one, but not the other. So is it R.Blake who's arrogant, or he just poked your hot-button and you're being defensive?

 

[Gymjunkie]

This piece of writing advice from Chuck Palahniuk made me feel COMPLETELY inadequate as a writer. lol. But I feel like it will also be amazingly helpful as well.

http://mamaliciousnoire.tumblr.com/post/56924563660/writing-advice-by-chuck-palahniuk-in-six

Another example of friendly as.s-kicking. Accept it and you'll be better, even if it hurts..

 

[Gymjunkie]

I have no problem with the advice he gives, in fact, I think it's very good advice for people who are trying to turn writing into a fastlane type business. I even prefaced my original reply by stating there was solid advice being given.

The only thing I spoke up about was the fact that, as a writer, he could have worded his original post and replies in a hundred different ways, but he chose the one where he basically insults a large portion of aspiring self-published authors. And, he didn't differentiate between any of them. From the DIY'er who is looking to build up capital to reinvest in professional services, to the DIY'ers who think they can do a better job than the professionals, he equally verbally dumped on all them (and outright insulted a couple of them) when he didn't have to. MJ's work is equally "in your face," but I really don't recall him outright insulting aspiring entrepreneurs. I don't see him posting in bootstrapping threads, implying that the posters are failures because they lack start-up capital.

I contribute and share with the writing community here because that type of elitism and looking-down-their-nose behavior isn't prevalent here. In my experience, it's just the opposite - "get it done however you can and keep busting your a$$" is the fastlane mantra I get from this forum.

By RB's own words, pretty much all the writers who are sharing their progress here are complete and utter failures who don't deserve the publishing button they've been pushing. So forgive me if I decide to speak up when that stuff is posted on this forum, on behalf of those people who I support and who have supported me during our journeys.

MJ is not offending aspiring entrepreneurs, that is who the book is for, other people (those who don't have aspirations) can easily think that they are being called stupid for following a bad life script. There is a lot of ''Us vs Them'' mentality in the book.

I still think you took it way too much into your heart and it really pushed on an insecurity somewhere.. Guy doesn't mince words, yeah, but again, those who accept criticism don't get very offended by advice, it hurts, but you know that it's meant to be constructive. Even if someone says your product/website/book/cover design etc sucks.

 

[Breaking Free]

This piece of writing advice from Chuck Palahniuk made me feel COMPLETELY inadequate as a writer. lol. But I feel like it will also be amazingly helpful as well.

http://mamaliciousnoire.tumblr.com/post/56924563660/writing-advice-by-chuck-palahniuk-in-six

What's funny is I started doing this in my latest work. It's kinda neat to see it put to words, and verify what I'm doing as right.

 

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[McNandez]

For anyone working to build their book descriptions, I think this site is a helpful little idea-template. It gets right to the point:

http://marilynnbyerly.com/blurb.html#Condensingblurb

I don't know about anyone else, but I've always had trouble with things like loglines and blurbs.

 

[Breaking Free]

Got a question, and I think it fits this thread. If I change the price of a book on amazon, how do I get it to show the original price, then the new/discounted price? Or, is that only if I force price matching from another site, or have a physical copy of the book?