Self-Publishing: The Carnival of the Indies Issue #104

POSTED ON May 26, 2019

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By Joel Friedlander

Welcome to this issue of the Carnival of the Indies blog carnival. This issue is for May, 2019. 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

Dave Chesson presents How to Convert EPUB to MOBI and Other Formats posted at Kindlepreneur, saying, “You might not think that file formats matter when it comes to your eBook. But you would be sadly mistaken. It might not matter to you, but it does to Amazon and other eBook publishers. That’s why it’s so important to make sure you have properly converted your EPUBs to MOBI and vice versa. This simple guide will show you how.”

Joy E. Rancatore presents How to Make the Most of Goodreads posted at Logos & Mythos, saying, “Goodreads is one of the few ways Indie Authors can directly reach their target audience—readers—and it’s simple and FREE to get started! Browsing through the site gives authors great insight into the industry and their ideal readers. Plus, interaction with fellow writers and readers leads to multiple benefits you may not have considered. Are you making the most of Goodreads?”

Louise Harnby presents What are action beats and how can you use them in fiction writing? posted at The Parlour, saying, “Action beats are short descriptions that come before, between or just after dialogue. Here’s how to use them effectively in your fiction writing.”

Book Design and Production

Fiona Raven presents Error importing Word index into InDesign posted at Book Design Made Simple, saying, “If you’re importing a Word index into InDesign, chances are good that the index will import just fine. But what if you get the dreaded “index entries contain invalid characters” error? This happened to one of our readers recently. It’s a tricky issue to resolve, but we explain how in our latest blog post.”

Susan Stitt presents Does My Book Need Copyright Protection? Then, How Do I Get a Copyright for my Book? posted at Front Edge Publishing Blog, saying, “What Is Copyright?”

Indie Author

Carole P. Roman presents Notes from the Field: Creating a Group Anthology posted at BookWorks Blog, saying, “BookWorks.com author, Carole P. Roman, shares her latest self-pub adventure collaborating on a group anthology in our “Notes from the Field” report.”

Sarah Bolme presents How Responsive Are You? posted at Marketing Christian Books, saying, “24 hours. That is the length of a day. It’s also the time-frame in which people expect a response.”

Marketing and Selling Your Books

Belinda Griffin presents How to Use Guest Podcast Appearances to Reach Readers posted at BookWorks Blog, saying, “BookWorks.com’s Reader Relationships expert, Belinda Griffin, shares advice on how authors can find, pitch, and leverage guest podcast appearances to reach more readers.”

Chris Well presents How to Use Media Attention to Build Your Author Email List posted at BookWorks Blog, saying, “BookWorks.com’s Media & PR dude, Chris Well, shares ways both fiction & nonfiction authors can capitalize on every media opportunity to build their email list.”

Dave Chesson presents The Supreme Guide to Author Business Cards posted at Kindlepreneur, saying, “Designing a professional author business card may sound daunting, but with these easy steps, you’ll be able to create something you can be proud of.”

Frances Caballo presents 4 Dirty Little Secrets About Social Media Marketing for Authors posted at Social Media Just for Writers, saying, “Think social media marketing for authors is hard to learn? Hardly. Sure, there are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of blog posts published every day explaining how to accomplish some aspect of social media.But guess what? It’s mostly been said and done previously. Sure, some things are new, such as Facebook’s new focus on Groups and Facebook Messenger chatbots. But a lot of what you read about social media marketing for authors has been said before. Really.”

Iola Goulton presents Dear Author | Why You Need to be on Twitter posted at Christian Editing Services, saying, “I understand that there are too many social media networks and not enough time in the day. But I do think authors need to have Twitter accounts, and here’s why.”

Jay Artale presents Nonfiction Book Marketing for Introverts – Back to Basics posted at Birds of a Feather Press, saying, “Introverted authors often shy away from book marketing, but with a few simple steps even the most reticent marketer can create a solid foundation for their books without getting overwhelmed. If you’ve been hiding your head under the covers to avoid self-promotion, find out how one simple switch in your perspective can ease the pain of marketing.”

Laura Cross presents How to Create a Table of Contents to Sell Your Nonfiction Book posted at Expert Author/Entrepreneur.

Sarah Bolme presents Awareness Is Always the First Step posted at Marketing Christian Books, saying, “Awareness is always the first step in a buyer’s journey. After all, I can’t buy something I don’t know exists.”

Susan Stitt presents How Do I Add Video to My Amazon Author Page? posted at Front Edge Publishing Blog, saying, “Amazon has been actively encouraging authors—and all of its sellers—to add videos, because customers can quickly learn a lot more about a book—or other product—through a brief clip. In short: Good, relevant videos can boost sales.”

Terry Whalin presents Endorsements Sell Books posted at The Writing Life, saying, “How do authors get endorsements? It’s simple–ask. Terry Whalin gives the details in this article.”

Self-Publishing Success

Tyler Doornbos presents 8 Must-Have WordPress Plugins for the Ultimated DIY Author Website posted at BookWorks Blog, saying, “BookWorks.com’s Author Website Expert, Tyler Doornbos, continues his Ultimate DIY Website series with the 8 must-have plugins for WordPress.”

Writing Tools and Tips

C. S. Lakin presents A Deep Dive into POV posted at Live Write Thrive, saying, “One of the most important decisions a writer has to make is regarding what POV she will use for her story or novel—not what character to write in, necessarily, but whether to write in first or third person, and if the latter, what variant of third person to use. Sometimes the reason writers fall into the POV pit is the wrong choice of POV in the first place. They may have chosen to write their novel in first person, but their plot and premise require showing a lot of action involving other characters at times when they are not with the protagonist. More than genre should determine the choice of POV. The primary question is “Which POV choice will best tell this story?” Often that choice is third person.”

C. S. Lakin presents How Novelists Can Say More with Less posted at Live Write Thrive, saying, “The best way to say what you mean is to use only the words you need—the most appropriate words for your context—and discard the rest. Think of the pages of your novel as expensive real estate. Writers who want to write well should aim to be as picky about the words they string together as the foods they eat or the clothes they wear. Pickier. Your novel’s pacing will be greatly affected by word choice. If you bog down your sentences with unnecessary words, your scenes will drag. In addition, using boring, flat, or weak verbs and adjectives will make the reading dull, no matter how exciting your plot might be.”

Colin Dunbar presents How to Start Writing a Book posted at ColinDunbar.com, saying, “I know what it’s like – you have this awesome idea, you’re uber excited, but how to start writing a book makes you hit out in a cold sweat…. Maybe you’re nervous. Maybe you’re afraid. Or any other number of reasons.”

Colin Dunbar presents How to Write a Book posted at ColinDunbar.com, saying, “This article offers you the fundamentals to writing a book. Writing a book is actually a matter of each to his own, but I hope that if you’re thinking of writing your book, the suggestions and ideas here will help.”

David Crumm presents Tips for Authors: Why your first words matter most. Lessons from Journalism, the Pulpit, the Moth and TED posted at Front Edge Publishing Blog, saying, “Veteran writers and editors expect to spend about as much time on the opening and the closing of a project than they do on all the rest of the work.”

Kristina Adams presents Hemingway vs Grammarly posted at The Writer’s Cookbook.

Lisa Tener presents Writer’s Block? Maybe You’re Not Stuck at All posted at Lisa Tener’s Writing and Publishing Blog, saying, “Starts with: “I was really stuck last week, but now I’m not as much.””

Louise Harnby presents Using adverbs in fiction writing – clunk versus clarity posted at The Parlour, saying, “Adverbs and adverbial phrases sometimes get a bit of a pummelling, and yet they needn’t intrude and shouldn’t be removed indiscriminately. Here’s how to use them purposefully in your writing.”

Mikhaeyla Kopievsky presents Is Your Plot Skeleton Showing? posted at Mikhaeyla Kopievsky, saying, “The plot is the skeleton of any story, but stories can be exoskeletal (skeleton on the outside) or endoskeletal (skeleton on the inside). And the best ones are endoskeletal – always hinting at the plot (a sense of purpose and direction, a sense of structural integrity and solidity, a sense of shape and dimensions) but never actually shining a direct light on it.”

Zara Altair presents Red Herrings in Your Mystery posted at Write Time, saying, “Red herrings as the setup for obstacles.”

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!

The next issue is June 30, 2019 and the deadline for submissions will be June 15, 2019. Don’t miss it!

Here are all the links you’ll need