Guest Post from Tricia Lorntson: How to NOT Skyrocket from Nobody to Somebody as an Indie Author

May 10, 2013 by 2 Comments
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My name is Tricia Lorntson and I’m an egoholic. Crowd: Hi, Tricia! This is a public service announcement and a cautionary tale for struggling writers everywhere. Your odds of becoming instafamous are only marginally higher than your chances of winning the PowerBall. You? Are not special. Don’t believe your mother—she has to tell you that. Let me give it to you straight, and in third person for dramatic effect:   Once upon a time in 2011, a girl named Tricia was writing a book and had what she believed to be enough of a budget to release this book into the wild where it would surely draw international fame and fortune. She met with the owner of a local collaborative… [read more]

Filed Under: Authorpreneur, Blogging, eBooks, Editing, Guest Post, Indie Publishing, Self-publishing, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

More E-book Drama! Amazon and the Big 6 (3?) Sued by Indie Bookstores over E-book Sales

February 22, 2013 by 1 Comment
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                      Yesterday, it was announced that three independent bookstores–Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Fiction Addiction, and Posman Books–filed a suit against Amazon and the “Big 6” (3?) publishers (Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin, Random House, and Simon & Schuster) over Amazon’s monopoly over e-book sales due to DRM. These publishers have made agreements with Amazon to allow Amazon the advantage in selling their e-books. DRM, or “digital rights management,” prevents the transfer of e-book files from one device to another. For example, if you purchase an e-book on Amazon, that file can’t be transferred to a non-Amazon-friendly device (nook, for example) if you choose to change devices. Last year, J.K. Rowling historically… [read more]

Filed Under: Bookstores, eBooks, Pub. Industry, Technology Tagged With: , , , , , ,

E-books: Why Self-Publishing Will Be Preferred by Readers

January 11, 2013 by 9 Comments
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If you are an avid reader of Wise Ink, you know that we live and breathe  indie publishing. We couldn’t be more in awe of the self-sufficient, self-starting, inspirational, educational, entertaining, thought-leading, movement-making indie authors we work with. You make us strive to be as awesome as you! Indie love! We’re also realists; we realize there are STILL (still? Yep.) plenty of nay-sayers out there trying to keep self-publishing authors down. Certain booksellers and reviewers refuse to even look at self-published books because “it’s their policy.” Indies move around them–directly to their audiences. Tons of other experts (Wise Ink included) believe that indie publishing is THE BIGGEST thing happening in publishing right now. Nothing in publishing has affected the industry… [read more]

Filed Under: eBooks, Indie Publishing, Pub. Industry, Royalty Publishing, Self-publishing, Technology, Traditional Publishing Tagged With: , , , ,

4 Fresh Tools for E-Book Authors in 2013

January 8, 2013 by 4 Comments
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Your e-book is out and you need to spread the word? How do you do it? Now that e-book publishing is easier than ever, you’re up against expanding competition and a saturated market. But, never fear. New and innovative tools are being created as we speak. All you need is a thorough and realistic understanding of your audience, a well-written book, and the patience to market your e-book consistently. Here’s a recap on our e-book philosophy: Quality is just as important with e-books as a printed book E-books are just as important to market as printed books Live events to promote your e-book are essential (create an account on Authorgraph to allow you to sign e-books for your readers) Invest… [read more]

Filed Under: eBooks, Indie Publishing Tagged With: , , , , ,

How to Creatively Market Your E-Book: An Interview with Author Julia Tagliere

December 10, 2012 by 3 Comments
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Today we’re excited to share an interview with author Julia Tagliere. Her book Widow Woman was just released as an e-book and we were thrilled when she recently shared with us some of her marketing strategies.   We’ve always had the belief that e-book authors should be as zealous with marketing as “tree book” authors. Julia is a wonderful example of an author who has done it right. Her marketing plans are just as agressive, thoughtful, and consistent as they would be with a printed book. In the video we discuss how: Social media is a key tool for marketing your e-book. Julia uses Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Goodreads, her blog, and because her book audience is primarily female, also uses Pinterest…. [read more]

Filed Under: Author Interview, Book Launch, eBooks, Self-publishing Tagged With: , , , ,

A Deadline to Publish: Amanda Hocking Doesn’t Let Hundreds of Rejections Stand In Her Way!

August 29, 2012 by 6 Comments
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We love Amanda Hocking. She’s that fabulous success story author who really did know better than the hundreds of agents who rejected her seven novels. But, she had the goal of being a published author by the time she was 26, just like Stephen King, and used it as a “deadline” for herself: If she didn’t get a publishing deal by the age of 26, she’d do it herself. As we know now, she DID do it herself, and it ended up leading to that big publishing deal she had been pushing for for so many years. We know that the biggest (and safest) slush pile out there right now for traditional publishers is self-published authors who are making waves…. [read more]

Filed Under: Agents, Audience, Authorpreneur, eBooks, Indie Publishing, Literary Trends, Pub. Industry, Royalty Publishing, Self-publishing, Traditional Publishing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Provocative Questions Indie Authors Never Ask

June 4, 2012 by 4 Comments
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As you decided to publish your book, you probably went online. You researched resources and terms. Perhaps you asked around and made friends who also churned their masterpieces into indie publishing gold. You’re all geared up and ready to go. You probably pondered the costs to publish and determined the avenues you’ll pursue to make it happen.   Here’s what, have you asked these questions few indie authors know to ask:   1. What’s the difference between proofreading and editing?   Indie authors who don’t know that editing and proofreading are not the same end up with typos in their book. Editing is intense polishing of content. Proofreading only corrects mistakes, typos, and incorrect grammar. An editor will prompt you… [read more]

Filed Under: Audience, Book Marketing, eBooks, Indie Publishing Tagged With: , , , ,

The Fifty Shades of Grey Effect: The Guilty-Pleasure Novel

May 4, 2012 by 5 Comments
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In looking at some of the most popular books in the past few years, most have clearly not been NGANs (“next great American novels”). In fact, some of them were so far  off the “literary” mark that they barely had any discernible qualities that made them obviously worthwhile (let’s just say that a particular example rhymes with “Flylight”). These guilty-pleasure books—mostly targeted to female audiences—have plenty of qualities that, on paper, make them decidedly NOT worthwhile: they often portray flat, archetype characters; they have repetitive asinine phrases and clichés that clutter the dialogue; the characters are barely likeable, and if you “like” a character, you aren’t even sure why; the plots are predictable; they reflect a negative, regressive societal role… [read more]

Filed Under: Audience, eBooks, Pub. Industry, Storytelling Tagged With: , , , ,

World Book Night – What Can an Indie Author Do?

May 2, 2012 by 3 Comments
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This guest post is by Clare Wilson, author of The Long Staff   As a small-fry author with an independent publisher, you need to be creative when it comes to book promotion. Let’s face it; there are plenty of tiny fish in this very over-populated pond!   While you can’t be in with the establishment for all the major events and book festivals, you can, especially when grouping together, create fringe events and use the internet to create your own home-grown promotions.   It’s important to keep your ear to the ground on sites like Twitter, to keep an eye on what’s happening around the world. Last year, World Book Night passed me by and I vowed to myself that… [read more]

Filed Under: Book Launch, Book Marketing, eBooks, Guest Post Tagged With: , , ,

5 Ways to Save Money in Self-Publishing (and NOT Compromise Quality!)

April 13, 2012 by 5 Comments
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Becoming an indie author is a big investment. We understand—we help indie authors manage their publishing budgets every day. While the general rule of “you get what you pay for” is definitely true when it comes to indie publishing/self publishing, there are some tricks that indie publishers know that can help you save money. 1. Hire a editor to write a critique before a full edit. A seasoned and fastidious editor will be able to spend a few hours to read through your manuscript and write a thorough critique of the strengths and weaknesses. If you effectively use this criticism and apply it to your manuscript throughout, you will have saved many hours (and dollars) in the editor’s job of… [read more]

Filed Under: Book Marketing, Design, eBooks, Editing, Planning, Revising, Self-publishing, Social Media, Writing Tagged With: , ,
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