Self-Publishing: Carnival of the Indies Issue #22

POSTED ON Jul 29, 2012

Joel Friedlander

Written by Joel Friedlander

Home > Blog > Self-Publishing, Social Media > Self-Publishing: Carnival of the Indies Issue #22

Welcome to this issue of the Carnival of the Indies blog carnival. This issue is for July, 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

blogs for self-publishersJaye Manus presents Source Files Update posted at Jw Manus, saying, “One of the problems for writers today is that the tools we use–namely word processors–are superb for producing printed documents, but frustrating, maddening and over-powered when creating electronic files. Whether for e-queries and e-submissions, or for self-publishing, it’s time for writers to stop thinking “documents” and start thinking “files.””

blogs for self-publishersLinda Gillard presents Independent Authors and Visibility posted at The Alliance of Independent Authors Advice Blog. “In an over-crowded marketplace, we assume it’s reviews that sell books and, predictably, it’s now possible to buy “honest reviews”. Could paid-for reviews be a good investment? Possibly, but I think we should be asking ourselves a different question—how do books find their readers? Or, to put it another way, what makes a book visible in the marketplace?”

blogs for self-publishersToni @ Duolit presents How Much Does Self-Publishing Cost? The Ultimate Guide posted at Duolit, saying, “Our (surprisingly controversial) guide to the *possible* costs of each phase of the self-publishing process. Use it to create a ‘shopping list’ for your publishing journey, so you don’t make unplanned purchases (like how you go into Walmart intending to buy socks and Pop-Tarts and walk out with an HDTV)!”

Book Design and Production

Paul Salvette presents EPUB and KindleGen Tutorial posted at BB eBooks, saying, “Why use complicated and expensive software to create your eBooks when you can learn how to build a professional eBook from the ground up. Learn about making eBooks in the EPUB fprmat and MOBI/KF8 format for Kindle at BB eBooks.”

David Bergsland presents Kindle Export Plug-in for InDEsign CS6 Released posted at The Skilled Workman

JW Manus presents Producing A Kindle Ebook: Design Choices posted at JW Manus, saying, “I’ve been calling dedicated ereaders, like the Kindle, print books’ “ugly cousins.” Turns out, with some thought and awareness of how readers read, an ebook can be designed and produced so that the medium is worthy of the message. And it doesn’t take expensive programs or extensive computer coding knowledge to do it.”

David Bergsland presents The use of small caps is required posted at The Skilled Workman

David Bergsland presents What is on-demand publishing? posted at The Skilled Workman, saying, “People remain confused about the differences between on-demand and self-publishing. This article simply defines the process of on-demand publishing.”

Indie Author

Laura Pepper Wu presents Could this be the next Amanda Hocking? Meet indie author rockstar Colleen Hoover posted at 30 Day Books, saying, “A crazy beautiful story of how writing, indie publishing, and Amazon have dramatically turned someone’s life around. With many lessons we can all learn from Colleen Hoover and her indie publishing fairytale.”

Gary Gauthier presents In Defense of Indie Writers posted at Literary Snippets, saying, “Blanket statements about the value of indie publishing won’t work to the extent they don’t acknowledge that there are different types of writers who are at different points in their careers.”

Jen Smith presents Learning the Ropes as a New Indie Author posted at Jen Smith SICK, saying, “Learning the ropes as a new Indie author is not easy. There is endless information on the web to sort through and countless people and companies offering a wide variety of services for a broad range of prices.”

Jeff Bennington presents Lessons in Publishing From WWII posted at The Writing Bomb

Yesenia Vargas presents Should Writers Blog About Writing? posted at Yesenia Vargas, saying, “If we are told to build our platform for our target readers, why are so many writers blogging for other writers?”

Patty Jansen presents The “I made it” syndrome posted at Must Use Bigger Elephants, saying, “On the erratic nature of sales and need to be constantly trying new avenues.”

Turndog Millionaire presents Why Knowing Thy Reader Is Important posted at Turndog Millionaire

Marketing and Selling Your Books

Bob Baker presents How to Get Paid More as a Public Speaker posted at Bob Baker’s Book Promotion Blog, saying, “If you’re an author, there’s a good chance you’re also a public speaker. Sometimes you speak for free, but other times people will be willing to pay you to speak. Here’s a great tip to keep in mind when those paying gig opportunities come along …”

Sarah Bolme presents Marketing Gimmicks posted at Marketing Christian Books

Dana Lynn Smith presents Plan a Book Launch Party for an Ebook posted at The Savvy Book Marketer

Laura Pepper Wu presents This is an indie author’s biggest asset. Make sure you have one! posted at 30 Day Books, saying, “If you never listen to anything I say ever again, please just take this one piece of advice on board! I wish I had realized it earlier on. – Laura”

Cathi Stevenson presents What Do Their Books Have That Mine Do Not? posted at bookcoverexpress.com

David Bergsland presents You need your own publishing house posted at The Skilled Workman

Self-Publishing Success

Mark Coker presents Author R. L. Mathewson On the Secrets to Her Success posted at Smashwords Blog, saying, “This author’s book was selling a respectable 5 or 6 copies a day at the Apple iBookstore, and then a single update of her cover image sparked an explosive increase in sales, topping out at over 1,500 copies a day. Includes a daily sales chart chronicling her rise. The interview underscores the opportunity for indie authors to breathe new life into their books simply by making incremental improvements to cover images, or the editing. It also speaks to the importance of quality writing, because without passionate readers, the catalyst of a new cover image won’t spark an explosion.”

Max Hawker presents Self-Publishing Audio Books: Is It Worth It? posted at How To Successfully Self-Publish, saying, “Audiobook sales are growing. Should you be translating your efforts to the audio market too?”

Judith Briles presents What Should I Do? posted at Author U Blog

Nick Thacker presents Why Social Media is Only Half the Answer posted at LiveHacked.com, saying, “If you’ve been struggling to figure out the “how” of social media, this post is for you!”

Writing Tools and Tips

Thomas Burchfield presents One Special Eye: The Necessary Uses of Copyeditors posted at Thomas Burchfield: A Curious Man, saying, “When your book is finished, you should be sure to hire a copyeditor. Here’s some of the reasons why.”
Yesenia Vargas presents How to Take the Plunge and Be a Writer (Part 1) and (Part 2) posted at Yesenia Vargas, saying, “We have three choices as writers. We can want to write, make a measly start, or finally take writing seriously. What choice will you make? If you finally took the plunge, it can be hard to be a writer every day. Where do you even start? Here are some practical and useful tips for doing just that.”

Nick Daws presents Seven Tips for Finding Writing Inspiration posted at Nick Daws’ Writing Blog, saying, “An excellent guest post on my blog by Matt Keegan.”

Alexander M Zoltai presents Watching The Cycles ~ The Trends In Life… posted at Notes from An Alien

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 August 26, 2012 and the deadline for submissions will be August 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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