Welcome to this issue of the Carnival of the Indies blog carnival. This issue is for July, 2015. 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
Valerie Shanley presents All the Ways to Self-Publish on Amazon posted at Alliance of Independent Authors Self Publishing Advice, saying, “This article covers Amazon’s eight main publishing platforms and programs (six for ebooks, one for print books, one for audiobooks), together with ways to promote your book in the largest bookstore in the world.”
M.L. Gardner presents The Great Indie Upheaval of 2015 posted at M.L. Gardner Books, saying, “The arrival of KU 2.0 has caused what I will remember as The Great Indie Upheaval of 2015. I will admit, at first I was leery. Monica (my assistant) and I dove into all the articles we could find to figure out how this was going to affect us…”
Sandra Hutchison presents Is it the cover? A PickFu polling case study posted at Sandra Hutchison, saying, “Watch an author use PickFu to test two three different cover concepts, then analyze results. Includes a PickFu discount code if you want to try it yourself.”
Book Design and Production
Russell Phillips presents How To: Large Print Books posted at Andrew Knighton Writes, saying, “Creating a genuinely useful large print edition of a book requires more than simply increasing the font size. This post explains exactly what is needed.”
Sabrina Ricci presents CODEX Hackathon: Connecting People with Books posted at Digital Pubbing
Simon Avery presents What to expect from your book cover designer posted at Reedsy
Indie Author
Adrienne Morris presents Indie Novels Are Like Organic Apples posted at Nothing Gilded, Nothing Gained–Writing Historical Fiction at Middlemay Farm, saying, “Who says we want to be just like the traditionally published?”
Alexander Zoltai presents Why Trying to Write a Bestseller Is Bad for Your Mental Hygiene posted at Notes from An Alien
Helen Sedwick presents How to Hire an Attorney posted at Helen Sedwick’s Blog, saying, “Many people are intimidated by the thought of hiring an attorney. I broke down the process and give suggestions on how to control legal fees. Really, we don’t bite. We are here to help.”
Robin Storey presents Too Much On Your Plate? Here’s the Solution. posted at Storey Lines, saying, “As an indie author writing, publishing and marketing your books, as well as keeping up with all your other commitments, do you often feel overloaded and stressed? Author Robin Storey offers her solution.”
Marketing and Selling Your Books
Doris-Maria Heilmann presents How to NOT Rely on ONE Book Distributor Only posted at Savvy Book Writers, saying, “To be more independent from one major online retailer… and act as a real publisher means to sell your book on all available places – online and offline.
This article gives lots of tips where to sell your book, no matter which format.”
Erica Verrillo presents The Skinny on Virtual Book Tours posted at Publishing … and Other Forms of Insanity, saying, “In this day and age you really need a blog tour for your upcoming book, but how effective are they? How do you find a good service? How do you arrange a blog tour yourself? What makes a successful blog tour? These questions are answered (and more) in this”
Frances Caballo presents 12 Things Every Author Should Know about Social Media posted at Social Media Just for Writers, saying, “If you write books, coach, edit, host trainings, speak at conferences, etc., great. You’ve arrived. But don’t fill your social media timelines with all of this information about yourself all the time.”
Joseph C. Kunz, Jr. presents Personalize Your Foreword With Anecdotes To Make It More Powerful posted at Kunz On Publishing, saying, “Anecdotes are an amazing literary device for writers, as well as marketers. They are a deceptively powerful writing and marketing tool. Using anecdotes in the foreword will immediately make your book stand out from the crowd. When written properly, they c”
Kate Tilton presents Why I Use Different Social Media Networks (And You Should Too) posted at BadRedhead Media, saying, “Social media is a vital tool for marketing and selling your book. Author Assistant Kate Tilton covers the importance of being on multiple social media channels and listening to your audience.”
Randy Stapilus presents How to Make the Most of Your Website posted at BookWorks, saying, “Authors find few pieces of marketing advice repeated more often than this: Get thee to a website! But once you have a website, what do you do with it? The primary purpose of your website is to promote yourself and your book. Part of the process of selling”
Ron Callari presents Preorders, Underutilized Marketing Tool? posted at Bookworks’ Ron Callari Blogs, saying, “In the traditional publishing world, preorders have been a invaluable marketing tool for some time now. In the self-publishing space however — not so much. Why have indie authors been reticent to adopt a best practice, which from all outward appearances s”
Sharon Goldinger presents Polish Your Elevator Speech: Sell More books posted at Bookworks, saying, “Blog is by Betty Sargent, includes tips from Sharon Goldinger!”
Tony Riches Riches presents Setting Up Amazon Author pages posted at The Writing Desk, saying, “I see many authors who leave their Amazon Author pages blank or out of date – it only takes a few minutes and is helpful to readers.”
Self-Publishing Success
Sabrina Ricci presents Indie Authors: Self Publishing Advice posted at Digital Pubbing
Writing Tools and Tips
G.G. Andrew presents How to Choose What to Write Next posted at G.G. Andrew: Romance Writer. Book Nerd., saying, “This is the method I’ve devised to sort through the myriad of writing ideas we all have to decide which to pursue next, using the criteria of joy, growth, and market potential, and just a little bit of math.”
Jessica West presents About Writing: Preferential Descriptors posted at The CoffeeShoppe, saying, “One tiny detail isn’t enough to kill a reader’s desire to continue reading. Probably. Maybe. Do we want to take the risk? How do we identify preferential descriptors and is it really worth the effort?”
Jessica West presents The Manly Art of Acceptance and Rejection posted at Prose Before Ho Hos, saying, “If you’ve dipped your finger into writing for at least a year or so, you’ve probably received a much-dreaded rejection at some point. Many have a collection. For the veterans and newbies alike, take heart. It isn’t about you. It’s not about your talent. Not about your skills. Not even about your social media presence. Gaining an acceptance all boils down to the tally.”
Marcy Kennedy presents 10 Writing Mistakes that Kill Your First Chapter posted at Marcy Kennedy
Marcy Kennedy presents 6 Clues You’re Overusing Internal Dialogue in Your Fiction posted at Marcy Kennedy, saying, “Internal dialogue is one of the most powerful tools in a fiction writer’s arsenal. It’s an advantage we have over TV and movie script writers and playwrights. It’s also one of the least understood and most often mismanaged elements of the writing craft.”
Paula Casill presents The Non-Fiction Writer’s Voice posted at Paula Casill, saying, “How does a Nonfiction writer attract readers who will buy and read every one of your books? It’s not just about picking interesting topics. Loyal readers will read about pretty much anything if they are fans of an author’s voice. So how do you find and ut”
Stefanie Newell presents How To Write A Book That’s Painful To Write! posted at The Write One Blog
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, Plus-1 it on Google+, Link to it!
The next issue is August 30, 2015 and the deadline for submissions will be August 15, 2015. Don’t miss 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
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- Subscribe to The Book Designer Blog