The greatest asset an author has to help them navigate the unknown waters of self-publishing is the accumulated wisdom of people who’ve been there before. I’ve always been impressed by how friendly the independent book publishing community is. Maybe part of the reason is that books very rarely compete with one another.
As readers know, I’m a big fan of local independent publisher’s groups (check the IBPA directory of affiliate organizations to see if there’s one near you). You’ll meet people of all experience levels only too willing to help out. We have new people every month at our Bay Area Independent Publishers Association meetings.
But there are numerous resources online as well. One of the best sources for information are the many discussion forums where you can register, become a member and participate in conversations, ask questions, and generally gain a lot of good information. You’ll also run into knowledgeable suppliers, industry professionals and lots of other authors.
Here’s a bunch to get you started.
Top 5 Forums for Self-Publishers
Absolute Write Water Cooler
MacAllister Stone’s forum extension of the Absolute Write Blog, this huge community of writers can offer conversation, discussion and enlightenment on many writing-related topics. The link will take you to the Self-Publishing and POD forum, where the discussion mostly involves self-publishers.
There are over 500 threaded conversations in this forum, so searching the archives can often answer your question. Check out the thread on experiences with LuLu, for an example of what you can expect.
Nathan Bransford’s Forum
A relatively new forum attached to the blog of literary agent Nathan Bransford, the All Things Publishing forum is becoming more popular every week. This link is to the part of the forum related to publishing, but other areas offer threads on writing, submissions, and other aspects of the writer’s life.
Currently there are 58 threaded topics with almost 400 posts in this forum, which is only a few months old.
John Kremer’s Book Marketing Network
From indie book-marketing guru John Kremer. This ning community has groups, forums, blogs and other social-media functions. There are active discussions on the What’s Your Biggest Challenge With Your Book and What’s Working For You? forums.
This network has over 5,000 members, and many forums and blogs where you can interact with other authors.
SPANnet
Developed by the Small Publishers Association of North America (SPAN), this new social network has over 300 members and several lively discussion forums. One of the new discussion forums focuses on Books and Blogs, and if it keeps growing, it will be a valuable resource.
Of course, you all know about the great community building up at Self-Publishing Review, where Henry Baum has added lots of social-networking goodies including member blogs, groups, forums, and all the other bells and whistles. In the six weeks since its launch, the membership has increased to over 220 members. Active discussions take place in groups and in comments on the many blog posts on the site.
One unique feature of SPR is the Book Design for Self-Publishers group where I post my Design Reviews of books self-published authors send in, brave souls that they are.
Check out these forums. You’ll find camaraderie, entertainment, and a lot of very knowledgeable people to whom you can put questions. As with any new endeavor, after you register spend some time just listening to get a feel for the general tone of the discussion before diving in. If the forum has an “Introduce yourself” thread, go over there and post about yourself. Set up your forum profile and your signature. These communities can be invaluable as you progress as a self-publisher.
Another great location for publishing discussions is the social networking site LinkedIn, which I’ll be covering in a separate post. Although there are many communities for writers, these are the most active self-publishing forums I’ve found. If you know of others, I’d love to add them to my list. Thanks!
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Litopia.com is another popular one, though there’s some silliness about becoming a “full member” by being vetted by somebody, somewhere, who decides whether you’re a proper author. (The idea was anathema to me as an indie and I went no further.) They do, though, produce the Litopia podcast, which is quite good.
There’s also Inked In, a Facebook-style community built on the Ning engine. It’s a very supportive place, started by the generous and wise couple behind The Burry Man Writers Center (burryman.com):
http://inkedin.ning.com/
It’s great to find community with other like-minded people, and there’s an incredible amount of freely shared knowledge out there. It’s awfully easy, though, to end up in emotion-sucking debates online, or to listen endlessly to people who:
a) are just repeating what you already believe, which is encouraging, but of limited use,
b) say things that violate your principles, which soon is wearing, especially if you can’t muzzle yourself and just leave them to be right or wrong, or
c) spend all their time fighting with people in both A and B.
So I dunno. It’s good to dash in, get the information you need, and dash out. That’s why I keep revisiting this site: it’s steak, not hot dogs.
Ultimately, though, doing the work is ultimately what gets us to our goals, but is easy to avoid with distractions like social media.
Hamish, thanks for the tip. I just joined Inkedin (although I am awaiting approval at the moment) to check it out.
And yes, it’s true that debates often rage in the forums, although some might be drawn to that kind of fun. However, in the interest of full disclosure, there are risks to participating in these forums as well:
1) You can find a lot of information, but there is often misinformation as well. It’s not unknown for people to post about areas they have no great experience in, and on forums we rely on the moderators or other active and more experienced people to bring these errors up. But as will all things internet, caveat emptor (let the buyer beware).
2) Time suck. With so many threaded discussions, back and forth arguments, and vivid personalities, it’s actually pretty easy to find yourself just having wasted a perfectly good hour of productive time on aimless reading.
But I’ll keep serving up the steak, so I recommend a balanced diet. Get the nutrients you need, but add a little spice and expand your circle by learning to navigate the forums as well.
This post is also related to the 3 Indie Publishing Discussion Groups: Getting Your Questions Answered post I did in January. For beginners, finding a way through the confusion is paramount, so I want to make sure readers know as many ways to get information on self-publishing and the book world in general as possible. And Hamish, thanks for your continued contributions.
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