Welcome to this issue of the Carnival of the Indies blog carnival. This issue is for December, 2020. 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
Frances Caballo presents My Favorite Apps posted at Social Media Just for Writers, saying, “In this post, I share twelve of my favorite social media applications. I rely on these and I love the way they perform. I test a lot of apps and these are my all-time favorites.”
Sandra Beckwith presents 3 WAYS TO SELL MORE NOVELS IN 2021 posted at IndieReader.
Darcy Pattison presents Printing Overseas v POD posted at Indie Kids Books.
Indie Author
C. S. Lakin presents 4 Strategic Actions for a Productive Writing Year posted at Live Write Thrive, saying, “The new year is looming on the horizon, and to many it feels like the chance at a fresh start. We can say good riddance to 2020—for so many reasons, to be sure. But I also hope you spent some time writing and improving your writing chops. Some people have been too busy and stressed to focus on their writing, but my hope is that in the coming months, space will open up, and the writing will flow. If writing is more than a hobby for you—or you hope that will be the case this next year—you should already be starting to think about your career strategy.”
Robin Phillips presents Proving copyright ownership with WIPO Proof posted at Author Help, saying, “The World Intellectual Property Organisation is offering a new way to evidence your copyright with WIPO Proof. It’s much less expensive than registering with the US Copyright Office. This article explains what it is and is not, and helps authors decide whether they should use it.”
Marketing and Selling Your Books
Sandra Beckwith presents 3 WAYS TO SELL MORE NOVELS IN 2021 posted at IndieReader.
Belinda K Griffin presents How To Market A Book On A SHOESTRING Budget posted at SmartAuthorsLab, saying, “Think you need to throw money at book marketing to see results? Think again! In this post I share my number 1 way to market a book when you have zero budget, so you can sell more books and start seeing a return on all you have invested in self-publishing so far.”
Bryan Thomas Schmidt presents No Deal Is Always Better Than a Bad Deal posted at Bryan Thomas Schmidt-Author/Editor, saying, “Non-legal advice on contracts.”
Cate Baum presents 5 Tips For Promoting Your Book This Christmas posted at SPR.
Chandler Bolt presents 4 Free and Effective Fiction Marketing Ideas posted at Digital Pubbing.
Deborah Jay presents The Holy Grail of Book Advertising posted at Deborah Jay Author, saying, “If you’ve never had a BookBub Featured Deal, read on to discover the challenges and the benefits of this pricey platform.”
Heather Redding presents How to Increase Reader Engagement When Promoting a New Book posted at Digital Pubbing.
Nate Hoffelder presents How to change your Author Blog into an Author Website posted at Write Site, saying, “Starting a blog is easy, but how do you turn it into a professional website? I have a few suggestions in that regard.”
Phyllis Zimbler Miller presents Branding Yourself as a Writer posted at Joylene Nowell Butler.
Sabrina Ricci presents 7 Ways Podcasting and Marketing Are The Same posted at Digital Pubbing.
Self-Publishing Success
Darcy Pattison presents The Glorious Failure of Book One posted at Indie Kids Books.
Doris-Maria Heilmann presents 19 Bestseller Tips – Copied from Trade Publishers posted at 111Publishing, saying, “How can author-publishers use the methods of global trade publishers to promote their self-published books?”
Wolf Bahren presents Technical Tips for Indie Authors Publishing a POD Book on Amazon KDP posted at Wolf Bahren, saying, “This is a blog post providing technical tips I gathered during the KDP POD preparation process.”
Writing Tools and Tips
C. S. Lakin presents The Nuances of Deep POV posted at Live Write Thrive, saying, “Writers hear a lot about point of view and, in particularly, deep POV. What is deep POV? It’s being inside one character’s head, and, in fiction, there are some current “rules” that fiction writers are urged to follow. Rules aside, there is a lot of failure to stick with deep POV, and that’s because many writers don’t understand what it truly means. If you write fiction, you need to master deep POV. Read how!”
Denise Thunderhawk presents Writers: In These Covid Times, Are You Prepared For The Unthinkable? posted at Mestengo Books, saying, “Loosely related to writing tools and tips, I thought this post a necessary bit of information during these uncertain and sometimes dangerous times. As writers, our work sustains us and our readers, so it’s important to be prepared for the unthinkable. With the advent of the Internet and Social Media, writers cannot afford to ignore what will be (someday) inevitable. We have many digital accounts (SM, finance, etc.) that must be maintained while we’re here; whether or not to maintain them once we’re gone is another issue. We need prepare so readers can continue to enjoy the fruits of our labors and family can know they are taken care of.”
Jennifer Navarre presents 5 Ways to Work on Your Book in November (Besides NaNoWriMo) posted at bibliokids, saying, “What do you do if the thought of writing a novel in a month is simply too much for you this year, for whatever reason? For those of us who won’t be committing to writing 1,667 words per day, here are some suggestions.”
Jennifer Navarre presents Why Kidlit Authors Need to Join SCBWI posted at bibliokids, saying, “As a kidlit author, you’ve probably found that a lot of information online doesn’t really apply to writing for children and teens. Sure, there are lots of kidlit resources. But just about everyone agrees: you need to join SCBWI.”
Jo Kelly presents How many acts should your novel have? posted at Authors A.I. Learning Center Blog, saying, “Authors A.I. CEO Alessandra Torre explores the concept of using four, rather than three, acts in your novels, with author John Adcox, editor Lou Aronica, and examples from Star Wars.”
Jo Kelly presents Show don’t tell: The first rule of writing posted at Authors A.I. Learning Center Blog, saying, “Veteran editor and bestselling author Lou Aronica asks: ‘If “show, don’t tell” is such a basic fiction-writing tenet, why don’t more people heed it?'”
Kristina Adams presents How to Get the Most Out of an Online Writing Workshop posted at The Writer’s Cookbook.
Kristina Adams presents Secondary Characters: What They Are, Why They Matter, and How to Write Them posted at The Writer’s Cookbook, saying, “Secondary characters often get overlooked in the character creation process, but with the right love and care, readers can connect with them just as deeply as they do with your main characters.”
Luke Palder presents Dialogue Tips – 476 Alternatives to “Said” posted at Digital Pubbing.
Nate Hoffelder presents 14 Gmail Hacks Every Writer Can Use posted at Florida Writers, saying, “Judging by the stats for my mailing list, everyone uses Gmail, but how many people are getting the most out of it? Here are 14 tricks you can use to make full use of Gmail.”
Zara Altair presents Stop Overthinking Your Story posted at Write Time, saying, “Planning makes writing go faster. But sometimes it feels as though you’re trying to squeeze your story into a plot structure. You are overthinking your story.”
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 to Tweet it, Share it on Facebook, Link to it!
Here are all the links you’ll need
- Have something to share with our community? Submit your article here
- The original announcement post
- Carnival of the Indies web page
- Bloggers, grab your official Carnival of the Indies Badges here
- Follow Carnival of the Indies on Twitter to get deadline reminders
- Subscribe to The Book Designer Blog
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