Self-Publishing: The Carnival of the Indies Issue #109

POSTED ON Oct 27, 2019

Joel Friedlander

Written by Joel Friedlander

Home > Blog > Self-Publishing, Social Media > Self-Publishing: The Carnival of the Indies Issue #109

By Joel Friedlander

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

Joy E. Rancatore presents Indie Authors and the Case of Fifty Hats posted at Logos & Mythos, saying, “Working as an Indie Author is a little like attempting to switch hats during a storm with hurricane-force winds while still holding on to the other forty-eight hats in your collection. Read some tips for managing them all.”

David Wogahn presents Should Indie Authors Use a Publishing Imprint? posted at BookWorks Blog, saying, “BookWorks.com guest contributor, David Wogahn, explains the reasons and benefits for indie authors to use a publishing imprint and purchase their own ISBNs.”

ebookIola Goulton presents 14 Questions to Ask When You’re Revising a Scene posted at Christian Editing Services, saying, “One common mistake new fiction writers make is not structuring their scenes for maximum impact. Many don’t even realise there is a correct or best way to structure a scene. This post takes writers through the questions they need to consider when writing or revising a scene.”

Book Design and Production

Connie Dowell Dowell presents An Illustrator’s Point of View with Elizabeth Savanella posted at Book Echoes Podcast, saying, “Illustrator Elizabeth Savanella gives us authors a peek into the visual art side of the equation, especially for picture book authors. In our discussion she talks about working with authors and has some tips for authors wanting to work with an illustrator.”

David Crumm presents Want books for the holidays? Order early! Avoid the annual publishing shortage posted at Front Edge Publishing Blog, saying, “David Crumm reports on what is becoming an annual year-end crisis of capacity in the publishing industry. The shortages are caused by major disruptions in publishing, including the good news that books are more popular than ever. At the same time, paper producers are shifting toward making the cardboard boxes that deliver those books to our homes.”

Dmitri Barvinok presents Tips for Authors: Preparing photographs and other images for print and eBook production posted at Front Edge Publishing Blog, saying, “Director of Production, Dmitri Barvinok explains the process of selecting and preparing photographs and other images for book publishing.”

Indie Author

Russell Phillips presents Blockchain Technology for Indie Authors Q&A posted at ALLi’s Self-Publishing Advice Center, saying, “I’ve seen a lot of hype about blockchain and publishing. Some of my questions and concerns have been posted on the ALLi blog, along with answers from their watchdog, John Doppler.”

Sarah Bolme presents How to Get Book Clubs to Choose Your Book posted at Marketing Christian Books, saying, “Getting a book club to read your book is a great way to increase both your book’s exposure and your readership. Yet, promoting a book to book clubs can be a daunting task.”

Terry Whalin presents A Critical Responsibility for Every Writer posted at The Writing Life, saying, “Terry Whalin tells a cautionary tale to remind every writer of a critical responsibility.”

Marketing and Selling Your Books

Chris Well presents Attract the Media by Pitching Relevant Topics & Angles posted at BookWorks Blog, saying, “BookWorks.com’s Media & PR expert, Chris Well, continues his series on creating multiple angles around your book with examples on how to pitch topics relevant to media audiences.”

Frances Caballo presents How to Use MailerLite (So You Can Dump MailChimp) posted at Social Media Just for Writers, saying, “This post reviews the reasons why email marketing is critical to an author’s success and explains how to set up your new MailerLite account and create and embedded newsletter sign-up form.”

Jay Artale presents 3 Key Elements to Building a Blog Audience posted at How to Blog a Book, saying, “Many writers begin blogging for one reason: to build an audience. But to build an audience you need to do more than write blog posts. Jay Artale, a digital nomad and full-time writer and blogger, offers a three-step strategy to help you attract and retain an audience for your books.”

Kimberley Grabas presents To-Do List Overwhelm? Try This Powerful – And Surprisingly Joyful – Tip to Tackle It posted at Your Writer Platform, saying, “Is your To-Do List like a wizard’s beard? Mine is. Since I decided to self-publish my book, my To-Do List is long and hairy and no matter how much I cut off, within seconds it grows back to the length it was before. I have however, discovered a magical method of managing my To-Dos in a way that’s actually fun! I’m going to share it with you here so your dreaded list can also become less dreadful. I don’t blame you if you don’t believe me, but keep reading and see how empowered you feel to try this by the end of the article.”

Nate Hoffelder presents How to be a Better Podcast Guest posted at The Digital Reader, saying, “If you are thinking about going on a podcast so you can talk about your books, I have some advice for you.”

Sarah Bolme presents A Book Marketing Recipe posted at Marketing Christian Books, saying, “Relationships follow a predictable pattern. The same pattern is replicated in selling books.”

Self-Publishing Success

Sandra Lafferty presents The Best Contract Negotiation Advice for Authors posted at IndieReader.

Dave Chesson presents 5 Warnings I Wish I Could Have Given Myself Before I Published My First Book posted at IndieReader

Dave Chesson presents 7 Kindle Keywords: Use All 50 Characters Or Not? posted at Kindlepreneur, saying, “When it comes to choosing your Amazon keywords, there are lots of opinions on best practices. Recently, I conducted an experiment to find a real, data-driven approach authors can use to show up for more searches and rank higher for the ones they really care about. Here are the findings.”

Joseph C. Kunz, Jr. presents Repurposing Blog Posts: For Maximum Impact, Exposure, and Income posted at Kunz On Publishing, saying, “Here is an explanation of the process, or steps, involved in repurposing your blog posts into a salable, money-making, format. It’s not a quick or easy way to make money from your blog posts. But, it is an interesting and practical way to take your blogging to whole new level.”

Writing Tools and Tips

Bryan Thomas Schmidt presents A Trick Every Writer Should Know About Writing Scenes posted at Bryan Thomas Schmidt-Author/Editor.

C. S. Lakin presents When Your Character Is His Own Worst Enemy posted at Live Write Thrive, saying, “Traditionally, there are four general types of opposition at the heart of a story. While our protagonist might face multiple kinds of opposition, the primary one will usually fall into man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. society, or man vs. self (and of course you can replace man with woman, or robot, or alien). In story structure, there are key scenes in which the opposition rears its/his/her ugly head and “pinches” the protagonist—hence why these are called “pinch points.” So how does this play out when your character is his own worst enemy? This post explains!”

Karen Conlin presents Spellcheck Cannot Save You! Possessive Nouns Easy-Peasy posted at BookWorks Blog, saying, “BookWorks.com’s irrepressible Indie Editor-at-Large, Karen Conlin, offers a quick brush-up lesson on how to form possessive nouns in her latest Spellcheck Cannot Save You! column.”

Katherine Pickett presents Fictionalizing Your Story? Commit! posted at The POP Newsletter, saying, “Omitting information can be as challenging as inventing it when your goal is to be true to your story. Yet, the best storytellers know when to expound on a seemingly minor detail and when to bridge over events that don’t contribute to the effect they want to achieve.”

Kathy Steinemann presents Writing Rules: When Can You Break Them? (Rules 1-6) posted at Free Resources for Writers and Poets, saying, “Are you a militant — or someone who prefers a kinder, gentler approach to writing rules? This is the first of a multi-part series, with sometimes irreverent reviews of rules that writing pundits insist should never be broken.”

Louise Harnby presents Tenses in fiction writing: Present, past, past perfect and habitual past posted at The Parlour, saying, “You have a choice when it comes to tense in your fiction’s narrative. Here’s an overview of the tenses you’ll most likely be working with, and some guidance on the benefits and challenges of each.”

Sophie Schiller presents Why We Need Universal Truths in Literature posted at Sophie Schiller, saying, “I have written an article on the importance of incorporating universal truths in literature to give it timeless appeal, with examples from fiction and film.”

Tyler Doornbos presents 3 Keys to Effective Web Writing…for Writers posted at BookWorks Blog, saying, “BookWorks.com’s Web Lead, Tyler Doornbos, offers 3 keys to effective web writing for authors, (even if you think you’re already a great writer) because writing for the web requires a totally different skillset than writing a book.”

Zara Altair presents Title Your Mystery posted at Write Time, saying, “Tips to choose a title that engages prospective readers, is easy to remember, and fits your genre.”

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 November 25, 2019 and the deadline for submissions will be November 15, 2019. Don’t miss it!

Here are all the links you’ll need

Joel Friedlander

Written by
Joel Friedlander

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