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: , , , , , , , , ,

Going Indie: 4 Tips Indie Hip-Hop Group Macklemore Can Teach Authors

April 30, 2013 by 6 Comments
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We lurrrrve Macklemore.           In the past six months, indie hip-hop group Macklemore (Ben Haggerty & Ryan Lewis) has become HUGE. Not Harry-Potter-over-two-decades huge, but they’re certainly inching on Hunger-Games-over-five-years huge. “Thrift Shop,” a funky little ear worm that has everyone talking about poppin’ tags, has dominated YouTube waves with nearly 250 million views as of today and has gone platinum. Macklemore is the first indie group (an artist or group without the backing of a major record label) in nearly two decades to top the Billboard charts with “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us”; another hit, “Same Love” celebrates same-sex marriage, becoming a standard protest/civil rights anthem. Another hit on their 2012 album The Heist is a track called “Jimmy Iovine,” based on the legendary… [read more]

Filed Under: Audience, Authorpreneur, Branding, Fun, Indie Publishing, Kickstarter, Literary Trends, Media, Self-publishing, Social Media, Technology, Traditional Publishing, Twitter, YouTube Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Don’t Compete, Cooperate [Guest Post from writer Dimitri Halkidis]

April 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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Today’s guest post is from Dimitri Halkidis, an aspiring indie author with two books in the works. Follow Dimitri on Twitter to track his publishing progress.  It’s 1am, and my eyes hate me. They flicker from side to side, following that little mouse icon as it clicks on ‘just one more’ link and catapults me through interspace to another indie author’s little corner of the world wide web. I read the post. It’s the author’s affirmation that they are going to maintain this blog, that their dream of becoming a published author shall not be denied. I check the date. Last update: 20th July, 2011. It’s just one of countless millions of derelict, defunct, destitute blogs that litter the internet, a tiny… [read more]

Filed Under: Guest Post, Indie Publishing Tagged With: , ,

Making Time for a Dream: Interview with Mystery Author Deborah K. Jensen

April 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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never did I think that I wanted to or could write a novel. But the gift of a dream was given to me… This week, we were fortunate enough to sit down with Deborah K. Jensen, an inspiring indie author with a killer book called Beyond Escape, an exciting new novel based on a true story with family secrets, betrayal, murder, and lust. She shared with us how she melded this true story with one of fiction, and how she found time to make her dream a reality.   1) You’ve been writing for many years. Did you always want to write mysteries? When I was a young girl, I fell in love with the idea of writing and told my… [read more]

Filed Under: Author Interview, Authorpreneur, Book Marketing, Indie Publishing, Motivational, Self-publishing, Social Media, Twitter, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

How To Target Beta Readers, Reviewers, and Bloggers [Sample Letters Included]

March 22, 2013 by 9 Comments
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Wise Ink is still a baby blog. We’re not the rockstars in the indie publishing world…yet. Needless to say when we get approached by folks who want us to review their books or post guest blogs, we’re still somewhat shocked. It’s humbling. We love to support our indies so if you would like us to interview you about your book or you have a great post for our audience (bloggers, writers, authors), shoot us an email. We’re not terribly picky. We get how hard it is to reach out to strangers and hope someone answers you back. But here’s some advice: put your best foot forward.  Bloggers, even newer ones like Wise Ink, get spammed a lot. And here’s how… [read more]

Filed Under: Book Marketing, Guest Post, Indie Publishing Tagged With: , , , , ,

Author Interview: Indie Author Genese Davis’s Gamer Fiction, “The Holder’s Dominion”

March 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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This week, we (electronically) sat down with one of our favorite indie authors, Genese Davis, to talk about her journey in indie-publishing!   On March 1, 2013, Davis released her very first novel, The Holder’s Dominion, a new-adult gamer-fiction title. Though Davis never thought she would become a gamer—nevermind a gaming enthusiast—she discovered the world of gaming as an adult through Final Fantasy XI, and has since cracked the top 100 in the world for her class in World of Warcraft. Her experiences in gaming laid the groundwork for The Holder’s Dominion, a book meant to encourage excitement around the gaming world.       Genese, please tell us a little bit about yourself. I grew up in Santa Fe,… [read more]

Filed Under: Author Interview, Authorpreneur, Book Launch, Branding, Indie Publishing, Literary Trends, Publishers Weekly, Self-publishing, Thought Leader Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Top 5 Reasons Traditional Authors Are Going Indie

March 1, 2013 by 16 Comments
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      NDIE!     It’s probably not a surprise–we’re always hearing about authors who have previously published traditionally choosing to go indie.  But what is making them? When they’ve been accepted by the literary elites, and they’ve been given advances and have received the support of a publisher, what motivation could make them switch to publishing independently? The top 5 reasons we see authors going indie:   1. The “support” traditional publishers offer is no longer as relevant or valuable. Traditionally, publishers would give authors a nice, fat advance. Then they’d take the brand-spankin’-new author’s book, publish it, deliver it to the exclusive sales channels (the traditional bookstores, unreachable to anyone but publishers and the ONLY place anyone… [read more]

Filed Under: Indie Publishing, Literary Trends, Pub. Industry, Publishers Weekly, Royalty Publishing, Self-publishing, Traditional Publishing 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: , , , , ,

12 Lessons We Learned Coaching Indie Authors in 2012

December 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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As we reflected on the things that made 2012 memorable, the list became obnoxiously long. We launched Wise Ink, Dara published a book, Amy is nearing the completion of her English Master’s program, and we helped some pretty darn amazing authors publish their books. Did we mention we’re exhausted? For the purpose of this post, we narrowed our lessons learned down to twelve. You might disagree with a few of them, but we call it like we see it. So here goes: Most books should have an e-book version The authors with e-books in 2012 reached more readers, younger readers, and could compete with their competition. Some books should only be published as an e-book This year marked the year… [read more]

Filed Under: Indie Publishing, Self-publishing Tagged With: , , , ,
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