Should Indie Authors Care about Making Money?

May 22, 2013 by 9 Comments
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Hey there, indie author! Raise your hand if you’re jealous of one of the following authors: Amanda Hocking J.A. Konrath EL James Bella Andre Hugh Howey Rachel Van Dyken J. Lynn etc. . . . These are all self-publishing authors who have done exceptionally well, to the point that it might seem that their novels simply exploded on the scene. The reality: These authors are the exception—the exceptionally small, minuscule margin of authors who have had a tremendous amount of success with a simple recipe of being at the right place at the right time and pure, dumb luck. You’re the rule. Repeat after me: I. Am. The. Rule. You can’t count on fortune and fame any more than you… [read more]

Filed Under: Audience, Indie Publishing, Motivational, Self-publishing, Thought Leader 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: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Is Your Book a Magic Wand?

February 11, 2013 by 1 Comment
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If your book was a magic wand, what would it do when you waved it? Maybe you have great culinary abilities AND you’re a super-cool nerd. So you went to culinary school and used that knowledge to develop a cookbook for all the other Trekkies of the world. Maybe that cookbook got you a table at Comic-Con, where you made connections that led to an introduction to Peter Jackson, who hired you to become his live-in chef.  Maybe you’ve written a book on time management (be sure to send me a copy!) that led you to giving speeches to college students, corporations, and entrepreneurs on how to manage time to optimize success. You created the world’s best time-management program and… [read more]

Filed Under: Authorpreneur, Motivational, Planning, Self-publishing, Thought Leader

Writers: Live In Your Potential

January 25, 2013 by 5 Comments
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You are smarter, braver, and more capable than you know. The best advice I’ve (Amy) ever gotten. This very simple statement allows us to leave the space where we only measure ourselves by our proven skills, and move INTO a space where we are fully aware that there are heights and depths and mountains and canyons that we CAN reach. While the rest of the world might measure you by your proven achievements, YOU must measure yourself by the achievements yet to be had. Without living in the presence of your full potential, you won’t seek to reach it. You won’t even know it’s there! What frightens you about becoming an author? Is it the work that you’ll have to… [read more]

Filed Under: Authorpreneur, Motivational, Thought Leader, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Well-Rounded Authorpreneur: Make Your Content an Experience (Part 2 of 2)

August 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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In being a well-rounded authorpreneur (an author who recognizes what it takes to be successful as an author in today’s world), we know that authors have to think of themselves as thought leaders. With that mindset supporting your book marketing endeavors, the horizon is much more expansive. An author’s goal is to sell books; a thought leader’s goal is to sell an experience. This brings us to the second piece of being a well-rounded authorpreneur:   Make your CONTENT an EXPERIENCE.   So what does that mean, exactly? Of course, we all put out content whether we know it or not. A text message is “content,” even though it’s probably only seen by one person. A book is made of content. A… [read more]

Filed Under: Audience, Authorpreneur, Content, Pub. Industry, Self-publishing, Thought Leader

The Well-Rounded Authorpreneur: Be a Thought Leader (Part 1 of 2)

August 15, 2012 by 4 Comments
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In today’s world, there are about as many ways to publish (self-publishing, scholarly publishing, nonprofit publishing, digital publishing, etc.) as there are reasons (fame, passion, creating a movement, legacy, preservation, etc). In any publishing realm not solely for personal/family reasons, every author should be an authorpreneur. An authorpreneur (author + entrepreneur) is an author who recognizes what it takes to be successful as an author in today’s world–not twenty years ago. An authorpreneur takes habits from highly successful entrepreneurs and implements them into selling their book. An authorpreneur isn’t just a writer; an authorpreneur is a speaker, social media strategist, networker, etc. The  authorpreneur recognizes that the book is just a piece of the puzzle, a product that supports and is… [read more]

Filed Under: Audience, Authorpreneur, Book Marketing, Branding, Literary Trends, Motivational, Pub. Industry, Speaking, Storytelling, Thought Leader Tagged With: , , , , ,