Self-Publishing: Carnival of the Indies Issue #21

POSTED ON Jun 24, 2012

Joel Friedlander

Written by Joel Friedlander

Home > Blog > Self-Publishing, Social Media > Self-Publishing: Carnival of the Indies Issue #21

Welcome to this issue of the Carnival of the Indies blog carnival. This issue is for June, 2012. We welcome your submissions on topics related to writing, self-publishing, book design or marketing books.

A collection of outstanding articles recently posted to blogs, your reading here will be richly rewarded.

See the end of this post for links to submit your blog posts for the next carnival, or for participating Bloggers and Featured Bloggers to grab your sidebar badges. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Featured Posts

Jeff-BenningtonJeff Bennington (@TweetTheBook) presents Common Lies Self-Published Authors Tell Themselves posted at The Writing Bomb, saying, “This was a very popular post. I had 65 comments the last time I checked.”

Cynthia-MorrisCynthia Morris (@originalimpulse) presents How Novelist Cynthia Morris Is Turning A Book Launch Into Art posted at Cynthia Morris, saying, “Hello Joel! I’m very excited about this article on Jonathan Field’s site. It’s a real honor to me how he emphasized the artist in me. I hope this inspires other creative author launches! Thanks, Cynthia”

Laura-Pepper-WuLaura Pepper Wu (@LauraPepWu) presents HOW can I use Twitter to market my book? Twitter for authors who “don’t get it”. posted at 30 Day Books, saying, “Twitter marketing remains a mystery for many people. What do the some know that others don’t? Read on!”

Book design and production

KS “Kaz” Augustin presents Creating an animated #ebook cover with #Gimp posted at Fusion Despatches, saying, “A basic how-to with thoughts on putting an animated ebook cover together. I say to only do it for fun!”

Andy Black presents Brand X posted at Andy’s Words & Pictures, saying, “Brand yourself and your work through consistent design.”

Belinda Kroll presents Haunting Miss Trentwood Audiobook posted at Belinda Kroll, Quirky Victorian Romance, saying, “A quick summary of how I published my book as an audiobook via Amazon’s Audiobook Creation Exchange system. The book gets released to Audible, iTunes, and other distributors.”

David Bergsland presents How your readers see your letters: legibility posted at The Skilled Workman, saying, “Part of my on-going series on basic typography to help indie authors make their work more accessible to their readers. If they have trouble reading it, they won’t bother to try.”

Rebecca Berto presents I want to buy your book but — (Part 1, Covers) posted at Novel Girl, saying, “Let’s face it: many indie authors have crappy book covers. As a writer, editor and reader, I have experience with book covers. I share how to avoid common mistakes here.”

Indie Author

Suzanna Stinnett presents Independent Authors Last Longer than BestSellers posted at Beyond Bestseller , saying, ” Thanks for the opportunity!”

Erin Golding presents My FeedARead Experience posted at Healing Scribe, saying, “My recent experience publishing a paperback with FeedARead, who are an independent print-on-demand publisher funded by the UK Arts Council.”

Jen Smith presents My First Book Reading posted at Jen Smith SICK, saying, “The first time I did a book reading was in an artists group that I knew was a loving and nonjudgmental event yet I unexpectedly cracked and became incredibly emotional.”

Gary Gauthier presents The Unbearable Lightness of Being a Writer posted at Amelia Curzon Blogger, saying, “We may have good reason to distrust the judgment of a skeptical agent. We may also have good reason to question the decisions an aloof publisher. The judgment of the reader, on the other hand, is a different matter altogether. The reader is the ultimate judge of the quality of our work.”

Patty Jansen presents Why No Response Was a Deal-breaker For Me posted at Must Use Bigger Elephants, saying, “This post outlines the main reason why I started self-publishing. My stories were selling, agents and publishers alike were showing interest, asking for the manuscript, and then, there was a silence that lasted a year or more. Sometimes I never heard back at all.”

David Bergsland presents Writing In InDesign is a true reader service posted at The Skilled Workman, saying, “Your page layout and formatting is a true help to your readers and it cannot be done in Word.”

David Bergsland presents You must learn to produce your own book posted at The Skilled Workman, saying, “Book formatting and book design is not something you want to leave to an amateur. You also do not want to avoid being part of the process. Even if you hire professional help, you need to make sure the focus is on your readers.”

Marketing and Selling Your Books

iWriteReadRate.com presents 4 Quick Reasons Why Building Your Indie Writer Platform is Rewarding posted at The iWriteReadRate Blog, saying, “Continuing our “4 Quick…” Series, here’s a short article about why spending time developing your profile and connecting with readers is valuable to all writers, whether you’re aspiring, indie, or published. Read more…”

Dana Lynn Smith presents Author Websites – Getting Search Engine Traffic posted at The Savvy Book Marketer

Randy Ross presents Book Marketing for Nitwits: Keywords posted at The Loneliest Planet, saying, “This is a humorous piece about selecting keywords phrases for book promotion.”

Joanna Penn presents Demonstrate Your Author Brand With A Professional Headshot posted at The Creative Penn, saying, “Being an author in a digital age is truly exciting. But it is also a big responsibility because we have to have a professional online profile. People make impressions based on the first glance of our book covers, our websites and yes, our online images and avatars. They also judge us by what we blog about, our tweets, the photos we share, how we interact in forums. Everything you do that has your name on it relates to your brand.”

Karen Glenn presents Getting Book Reviews on Amazon posted at IndiePubNews, saying, “I really enjoy your blog!”

Toni presents Grow Your Crazy-Dedicated Fanbase through Reader-Centered Book Marketing posted at Duolit, saying, “What do Twilight, Harry Potter, and The Hunger Games have in common? Crazy, rabid fans. These folks will fake engagements to try on Bella’s wedding gown, get a full back tattoo featuring Dumbledore and spend hours creating elaborate signs declaring their love for Peeta. How would you like to have fans like that going nuts over *your* book?”

Laura Pepper Wu presents 6 Ways Authors Can Promote their Books on Pinterest posted at 30 Day Books, saying, “Pinterest isn’t just for making you feel inadequate, hungry and unfashionable! It’s great for networking – you can engage with readers and fellow authors in a different way on this social network. Here are 6 ways to promote your work by getting pinny with it.”

Logan McHenry presents How to Push Products on Google AdWords (final): Synopsis posted at The Pen and the Pint

Clark G. Vanderpool presents Market Like A Gardener posted at Smudged But Legible, saying, “From the perspective of a new indie author, here is a little analogy relating a natural process to the often unnatural feeling of author-driven marketing.”

Alliance of Independent Authors presents Non-US Self-Publishers: How To Reclaim Tax Paid on Author Royalties posted at The Alliance of Independent Authors’ Self-Publishing Advice Blog, saying, “This is a step-by-step how-to article, from The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), telling non-US self-publishers how to reclaim taxed withheld by US IRS. By ALLi Member, Karen Inglis.”

Turndog Millionaire presents Readers Have Not Changed posted at Turndog Millionaire, saying, “How engaging with your reaers is important, and creating a dialogue is key. What would writers of the past do in the current world of Social Media. Would they sit on their hands?”

Patricia de Hemricourt presents Self-Publishing Statistics: Women fare better than men at making money from self-publishing posted at ePublish a Book, saying, “As the publishing landscape keeps changing daily, and statistics are rare, these might not be the best ones but they give an idea as to what is going on.”

Nick Thacker presents Selling Books: The Only Guide You’ll Ever Need posted at LiveHacked.com, saying, “This is a LONG and detailed post about selling books–how to find and win those perfect readers, invite them into your “home,” and then sell them your book!”

Sarah Bolme presents What’s Your Marketing Shtick? posted at Marketing Christian Books

Nick Thacker presents Why Social Media is Only Half the Answer posted at LiveHacked.com, saying, “We all have great, blossoming social media accounts–some of us even use these as our “home base” when it comes to our outreach and marketing efforts. But in this post, I’ll explain why social media is only “half the answer,” when it comes to growing a brand as an author.”

Self-Publishing Success

Nick Daws presents A Fast-Track Route for Non-US Authors to Avoid Paying Tax on US Royalties posted at Nick Daws’ Writing Blog, saying, “Self-publishing authors not in the US should not have American tax deducted from their royalties. Yet this is exactly what can happen with earnings from Kindle, Smashwords, and so on. This article sets out a “fast-track” route that a growing number of non-US indie authors are using to ensure that Uncle Sam doesn’t help himself to money he is not entitled to.”

Ben Galley presents How to get your Self-Published Books into Bookstores posted at How To Successfully Self-Publish – Alliance of Independent Authors Advice Blog

Pavarti K Tyler presents In person promotions and what I learned posted at Fighting Monkey Press

Thomas Burchfield presents Interesting Times posted at Thomas Burchfield: A Curious Man, saying, “”The first person I told, of course, was Elizabeth; then my two sisters-in-law; old friend and colleague John-Ivan Palmer; and later, the quasi-communities on Twitter and Facebook. There remain many more pigeons to send. This is one of them.””

Rebecca Berto presents Interview with Darcie Chan: NYT and USA Today bestselling indie author posted at Novel Girl, saying, “Self-publisher, Darcie Chan has sold 600,000 + copies of her novel, THE MILL RIVER RECLUSE. It’s now been snapped up by a publisher. She shares her marketing advice in this article plus plenty of super info for writers.”

Cynthia Morris presents My Sane Book Launch posted at Chasing Sylvia Beach blog, saying, “Come launch time, there is so much work to do, it’s easy to become a little crazed. Determined to stay sane, Cynthia Morris enjoys her novel launch.”

Lindsay Buroker presents What Does It Take to Become a Full-Time Indie Author? posted at Lindsay Buroker — Fantasy Author, saying, “I’m 18 months into my self-publishing journey, and I’ve been able to quit my day job and am currently making a living as an indie fantasy author. This post shares a lot of what I’ve learned along the way and some insight into my goals and plans for future”

Writing Tools and Tips

Cynthia Morris presents If You’re Consuming Too Much, You’re Creating Too Little posted at Fuel Your Writing, saying, “If you’re not creating as much as you’d like, check your consumption/creation ratio.”

Jeff Callahan presents Top 10 Myths about Writing posted at KindCritic, saying, “Explore the Top 10 Myths about Writing in this informative post by KindCritic.”

Joanna Penn presents 5 Mistakes Of New Fiction Writers posted at The Creative Penn, saying, “However many books on writing we read, and however many novels we have consumed in our genre, there are still things that we get wrong as new novelists.”

Andy Black presents A little Song and Dance posted at Andy’s Words & Pictures, saying, “Keep yourself out of trouble when quoting song lyrics in your novel.”

Alexander M Zoltai presents A Love Affair With Words… posted at Notes from An Alien, saying, “Exploring A Popular Online Dictionary…”

Gordon Burgett presents Rewriting or editing posted at Gordon Burgett’s Blog

Nick Daws presents The Power of Surprise in Fiction Writing posted at Nick Daws’ Writing Blog

Mike Evan presents Write What You Can Know – 10 Internet Sources for Research posted at Pen and Market, saying, “A quick examination of the differences and similarities of book research in the internet era, along with 10 categories of internet sites and tools for the writer to use in their book research.”

Well, that wraps up this issue. I hope you enjoy some of the great articles here, and let other people interested in self-publishing know about the Carnival—Use the share buttons below to Tweet it, Share it on Facebook, Plus-1 it on Google+, Link to it! The next issue is July 29, 2012 and the deadline for submissions will be July 20, 2012. Don’t miss it! Here are all the links you’ll need:

The original announcement post
Carnival of the Indies web page
Submit your article here
Bloggers, grab your official Carnival of the Indies Badges here
Follow Carnival of the Indies on Twitter
Subscribe to The Book Designer Blog

Joel Friedlander

Written by
Joel Friedlander

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