This Week in the Blogs, March 11 – 17, 2017

POSTED ON Mar 19, 2017

Shelley Sturgeon

Written by Shelley Sturgeon

Home > Blog > Self-Publishing, Social Media > This Week in the Blogs, March 11 – 17, 2017

Tomorrow is the first day of spring and the promise of all that we associate with that—brilliant displays of spring flowers bursting from the warming ground, birds busily building nests and laying eggs, etc. As self-published authors, many of us start out like baby birds—hungry for how-to knowledge, with much to learn, but with time and perseverance and the right guidance, we learn to spread our wings and fly. Today’s selection of posts, and all the tips, tools and information we offer here at The Book Designer and Book Design Templates can help indie authors soar toward success.

A big post here today. Be sure to check back here tomorrow for our February 2017 e-Book Cover Design Awards!

Carla King on Author Friendly
Comparing and Calculating IngramSpark and Amazon CreateSpace Author Royalty
“It can be tough to choose how to distribute your books and, to make it even more complicated, you can use combinations of services to maximize your marketing and profits.”

Frances Caballo on Social Media Just for Writers
5 Tools Every Indie Author Should Use
“”When I first started using social media, confusion quickly set it. … I read a lot of blog posts and tried every application I learned about. I signed up for more than I needed and registered for apps before they were even available.”

Chris Syme on Smart Marketing for Authors
New Data Shows Facebook is Still King and Twitter is Falling
“Facebook is still king of the hill–by an overwhelming margin. And then there’s Twitter.”

Sandra Beckwith on Build Book Buzz
Get a better author photo without spending a fortune
“Raise your hand if you’ve seen a bad author photo on an author’s website or used in a social media profile recently.”

Ladey Adey on Self Publishing Advice Center
Opinion: Why Indie Authors Need to be Bold with Social Media
“Social media is here to stay: use it, abuse it or ignore it, it’s a fact of life and as authors it is time to embrace it, make it work as an effective communication art form.”

Self-Publishing News You Can Use

By Amy Collins

Best-selling Authors Join Worldwide “Read-in” for Refugees

As a result of the worldwide crisis involving millions of displaced people and the resulting pressure on immigration policies worldwide,

a growing list of best-selling authors and recipients of the world’s highest literary honors are adding their names to #Read4Refugees, a worldwide “read-in” for refugees. The campaign encourages people everywhere to support refugees by donating what they spend on a night out and stay in to read instead.

Many veteran and newly-published authors are signing on. If you would like to join this cause and add your name as an author supporting #Read4Refugees, just donate a night out on the campaign page and send an email to [email protected] to say, “I’m in!” Your name will be added to the fast-growing list of supporting authors.

Links of Interest

https://gojanegive.org/r4rpress/
https://gojanegive.org/authors/
https://www.refugepoint.org/


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


The Society for Professional Journalists Regional Conference

We discussed these conferences last month, and they’ve got a bunch more coming in April.

April 1- Knoxville, Tennessee
April 7–8 New York City, NY
April 7–8 Elon, North Carolina
April 8- Indianapolis, Indiana
April 28- San Diego, California

The Tucson Poetry Festival (TBD)

Let’s hope this one happens. We need more poetry these days.

Norwescon 40 (April 13–16)

Seatac, Washington

Award winning sci-fi author Ian McDonald joins artists Cory and Catska Ench, astrophysicist Ethan Siegel, and reps from Angry Robot Books, among other luminaries. Writers’ conferences, costume balls, concerts, laser tag. It sounds like a lot of fun!

The Alabama Writers Symposium (April 20)

Monroeville, Alabama

Come home to Monroeville, the official literary capital of Alabama. This show boasts themes such as “Literary Gumbo” and “Murder, Mystery and Mayhem.” Award presentations include the Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer, the Eugene Current-Garcia Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Literary Scholar, and the Truman Capote Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer of Literary Non-Fiction or the Short Story. Yaa Gyasi, who wrote Homecoming, is the keynote speaker.

The 5th Annual Self-Publishing Conference (April 22)

Leicester, UK

This conference is an “informal and relaxed” way to learn the ins and outs of self-publishing, with sessions on writing, production, and marketing and distribution.

The American Society of Business Editors and Writers: SABEW17 (April 27–29)

Seattle, Washington

Great Gatsby, Batman! The world of money is the world of action, creation and consequences. Write about it. Learn about writing about it. Drones. Platforms. 3-D printing. All their program topics read like the most interesting things happening in the world today.

Pikes Peak Writers Conference (April 28–30)

The Prequel (April 27)

Colorado Springs, Colorado

What’s the prequel? An extra day of seminars.

This is the PPWC’s Silver Jubilee, so you can guess they know how to do a conference right. Seminars, networking sessions, a costume night, and the presentation of the Zebulon Award. It’s a writing contest! See if you’ve got the right stuff. Internationally best selling author Tess Gerritson is the keynote speaker.

Have fun!

 
Photo: pixabay.com

Shelley Sturgeon

Written by
Shelley Sturgeon

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