This Week in the Blogs, October 29 – November 4, 2016

POSTED ON Nov 6, 2016

Shelley Sturgeon

Written by Shelley Sturgeon

Home > Blog > Social Media, Self-Publishing > This Week in the Blogs, October 29 – November 4, 2016

Lots of information and tips for indie authors here in today’s post. Be sure to check it all out!

Nina Amir on How to Blog a Book
How to Enter Blogger’s Paradise
“You started a blog, and thought that would send you to blogger’s paradise. You imagined that blogging would quickly help you earn an income, create visibility for yourself and your work, and even attract an agent and a book deal.”

Shari Stauch on Where Writers Win
Help Readers Find You with 12 Book Discovery Tools
“In a digital world gone mad, book discovery tools are all the rage, sites and apps that bring readers to your book who may have not yet found you from your website or social media platforms. There are many tools out there; finding the right one(s) for your book can be a bit of trial and error.”

Anna Elliott on Writer Unboxed
Audiobooks 101: a Beginner’s Look at the Process of Getting an Audiobook Made
“If you’ve published an indie novel or are planning on publishing one– or like some authors I know, retain the audio rights on a traditionally published book– you have the option to have your book made into an audiobook and sell that, too.”

D’vorah Lansky on Build Book Buzz
Favorite ways to promote a virtual book tour
“Over the years, and during the course of my previous six virtual book tours, I’ve promoted my virtual book tour in a variety of ways. In this post, I’ll share my five favorite virtual book tour promotion strategies.”

Tim Grahl on Tim Grahl
How to Automate Your Book Marketing
“In this magical time of advancing technology, the most amazing tools available are the ones that you set up once and let run, so that they continue working automatically on your behalf.”

Self-Publishing News You Can Use

By Amy Collins

Patreon Crowdfunding Platform Growing Author Base

With the death of Pubslush last year and the crowding on Kickstarter, authors have had trouble finding a reliable and sustainable crowdfunding option for their ongoing projects.

Enter Patreon. Patreon has been growing its author base over the last year and has recently started reporting 5 figure monthly incomes for some of their authors.

Monthly support for authors does not just mean for writing. Horror novelist, Aaron Mahnke, has 2,204 patrons on his Patreon page, earning a total of $11,167 per month to make his popular podcast.

Links of Interest

https://www.adweek.com/galleycat/what-writers-need-to-know-about-patreon/126596
https://www.patreon.com/
https://www.inc.com/jill-krasny/35-under-35-patreon-crowdfunding-for-long-haul.html
https://patreon.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/204606315-What-is-Patreon-


All the World’s a Book Fair (or Writer’s Conference) Calendar


Sharjah International Book Fair (November 2–12)

Sharjah, U.A.E.

This book fair gets a personal blessing from “His Highness” Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi. The guy’s a writer and seems to believe in the power of books, so lucky Sharjahnites! Book fairs such as this are part of the reason Sharjah is called “The Smiling Emirate.”
This fair seems to focus on schoolboys and schoolgirls (coming on different days, natch) and industry professionals. There will be a cookery corner featuring cooking with chefs. Smile!

Third Annual Festival Albertine (November 2–6)

Albertine store on Fifth Avenue at 79th Street New York, NY

Curated by the so-hot-right-now author of Between the World and Me , Ta-Nehisi Coates, this festival pairs US authors, artists, dancers and filmmakers with their French counterparts.

Kentucky Book Fair (November 5)

Frankfort Convention Center, Frankfort, Kentucky

This fair has Pulitzer Prize winner Maria Henson, YA author Sarah Combs, and Former U.S. Representative Barney Frank.

Texas Book Festival (Nov. 5 -6)

State Capitol, Austin, Texas and surrounding grounds

Founded in 1995 by First Lady Laura Bush, this is one of the largest and most prestigious literary festivals in the country. The annual Texas Book Festival features 250+ nationally and critically recognized authors, 20+ venues including the State Capitol, 80+ exhibitors, live music, local food trucks, family activities, and countless opportunities to meet authors and fellow book lovers.
See the nominees for the prestigious and lucrative Kirkus prize talk about their most recent work. Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will discuss his book, True Faith and Allegiance: A Story of Service and Sacrifice in War and Peace. That’s pretty much three titles in one book! T. C. Boyle and Nick Offerman make appearances.

Basel Book Fair (November 10–13)

Basel, Switzerland

The program for this fair is dense with international luminaries of writing. Their website is a grid of intense faces promising to discuss amazing things in the world of ideas and literature. A lot of the descriptions are in white text over white images. It’s a bit hard to grasp.
There are five authors who are up for the Swiss Book Prize, so maybe go hear them read. Some of panelist whose topics I liked were Terézia Mora, “The Love Among Aliens”; Ingrid Noll and Esmahan Aykol, “Crime Evening”; and Laura de Weck, “Policy and Make Love.” I wonder if that last one is a bad translation, but I hope not.

Dublin Book Festival (November 10–13)

Dublin Ireland

This one looks to be a lot of fun, with segments with titles such as “Re-Writing History”; “Adventurama”; “Danger Is Everywhere”; “Slake Your Thirst”; and ‘The Pursuit of Awesomeness.” They have some famous authors and an indoor winter garden!

Istanbul Book Fair (November 12–20)

Istanbul, Turkey

This fair is thirty-five years old and seems to be quite massive. This year the writer of honor is Ioanna Kuçuradi. She is a founding member and eventual president of the Philosophical Society of Turkey and the World Philosophical Federation, which has to be a lot like the Justice League. She has received numerous international awards for her writing on human rights, human philosophy, and ethics. There’s also an event titled “The Road to Bibliodiversity—Independent Publishing.”

Miami Book Fair International (November 13–20)

Miami, Florida

Trevor Noah. Bernie Sanders. Jorge Ramos. A coloring wall. “Silent Poetry Disco.” Alan Cummings. This one is not fooling around. Claims to be the biggest and the best in the U.S. Hard to argue.

Guadalajara International Book Fair (November 26–December 4)

Guadalajara, Mexico

It’s the FIL! The Feria Internacional del Libro’ 30th anniversary book fair. It’s a professional and cultural mixing of the publishing industry with the greater public. This year this international event brings the focus back to Latin America as its region of honor. There will be a tribute for publishing merit, to a bibliophile (the multifaceted academic, author, publisher and essayist Federico Reyes Heroles, whom my page translator listed as “Federico Reyes Heroics”), to the Librarian, a literary prize to Juana Inés de la Cruz, the seventeenth-century Baroque poet best known for her poem “The Dream.” There will also be a tribute to Maria Vargos Llosa.

International Fair of Intellectual Literature (November 30–December 4)

Moscow, Russia

“We kindly ask all participants and guests to refrain from any statements and declarations, which, due to the worsening socio-political situation in the world, may cause negative public assessment.” Well, that’s a statement in itself!
There’s a playground dedicated to children’s publishing. Collectors of old books will love the Antique book fair, and collectors of vinyl records will love the vinyl club. There are also sections dedicated to illustration and gastronomy.

 
Photo: pixabay.com

Shelley Sturgeon

Written by
Shelley Sturgeon

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