I
have several friends who’ve had great success as Indie authors. After talking
with them I decided to check into this new venue for writers. Would you like to
know what I discovered? There’s a lot more involved than meets the eye.
Today
is an interactive learning day. I’ll tell you the few things I discovered and
you can correct me and share your knowledge.
1.
You need good critique partners. As I’m sure all of you know a good critique
partner is invaluable. In my humble
opinion, they are even more so when you are planning an indie release.
2. A
good editor is a must. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you or your friends
will catch everything a good editor can. Traditional publishing houses hire
editors for a reason.
3. A
proof reader to catch any mistakes you make while incorporating changes from
your editor. Typos are so easy to make and as we all know spell check doesn’t
catch everything.
4. A
cover designer. Now some of you are probably talented enough to make your own
covers, but I’m not. Also, if you want
your book to be available in print you need a wrap cover. Meaning there was
absolutely no way I was going to figure all this out. So for me a cover
designer was a must.
5.
The ability to format your book as an e-book and a paperback. There are places
to assist you with this, such as Draft 2 Digital and others. However, even that
left me feeling out of my league. I chose to go with hiring someone to do the
formatting.
6.
ISBN numbers. Some authors have ISBN’s for e-books, my understanding is that having one for e-books is
a choice. Any knowledgeable indie authors out there feel free to correct me if
I’m wrong. But, if your book is going to be available in print then you’ll need
an ISBN number. Createspace is one venue that can assist you with ISBNs.
7.
Don’t forget to go to www.copyright.gov. Your book is
your work, your brainchild, so don’t forget to protect yourself.
8.
Marketing! There are multiple new releases daily, so you will want to market
your book. This is such a tough one. There are ads, words of mouth, blog tours,
giveaways, and newsletters. I’m not the world’s best at marketing. What about
you? Any tips that have helped you market your book whether it is traditionally
published or indie published?
This is a very limited list. I know there are many, many more things to learn. Today I wanted to take the time to interact with all of you and see if you can provide any additional tips. Leave a comment and let me know what else you’ve learned if you have an indie book. If you don’t what are some good marketing tips? And if you’re a reader what draws you to a book?
This is a very limited list. I know there are many, many more things to learn. Today I wanted to take the time to interact with all of you and see if you can provide any additional tips. Leave a comment and let me know what else you’ve learned if you have an indie book. If you don’t what are some good marketing tips? And if you’re a reader what draws you to a book?
The Christmas Bride Wore Boots
Widowed Pastor Jacob Thompson had vowed to never remarry, but that was before he met Veterinarian Molly Kincaid. Could this unlikely duo be a match made in heaven?
Available late November!
Terri Weldon is a lead analyst by day and an author by night. She enjoys gardening, reading, and shopping for shoes. One of her favorite pastimes is volunteering as the librarian at her church. It allows her to shop for books and spend someone else’s money! Plus, she has the great joy of introducing people to Christian fiction. She lives with her family in Oklahoma. Terri has two adorable Westies – Crosby and Nolly Grace. Terri is a member of ACFW and OCFW, a local chapter of ACFW. Her dream of becoming a published novelist came true in November 2013 when Mistletoe Magic, released from White Rose Publishing.
Terri Weldon is a lead analyst by day and an author by night. She enjoys gardening, reading, and shopping for shoes. One of her favorite pastimes is volunteering as the librarian at her church. It allows her to shop for books and spend someone else’s money! Plus, she has the great joy of introducing people to Christian fiction. She lives with her family in Oklahoma. Terri has two adorable Westies – Crosby and Nolly Grace. Terri is a member of ACFW and OCFW, a local chapter of ACFW. Her dream of becoming a published novelist came true in November 2013 when Mistletoe Magic, released from White Rose Publishing.
I don't have anything to ad here, other than to say I'm so excited for you!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sharon, I would have never been brave enough to try this without your encouragement.
DeleteHi Terri - I loved your post and agree indie sounds rewarding but a lot to consider. Congratulations - I love your book cover. It's gorgeous and I can't wait to read it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Loves to Read! I'm finding this to be a very rewarding pathway. I hope you enjoy the book!
DeleteCongratulations, Terri! I haven't taken this route yet, but am collecting info, so I'm interested in all your advice and any that others want to share.
ReplyDeleteHow did you go about picking your editors and designers? What would you do differently next time? What surprised you about the process?
Sandy, I'm blessed to have a talented editor and cover designer in my local ACFW chapter. Huge help! The next time I'll make sure I allow more time to get everything done. The amount of time required to do everything really surprised me.
DeleteLove the book cover, Terri! A gal can't go wrong with red boots!
ReplyDeleteThanks Gail! I love red shoes so red boots seemed perfect.
DeleteCongrats,Terri!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the process you're going through as I went through it too. There's a huge learning curve, but once you wade through it, there are rewards on the other side. I like having control over my work and the ability to set my own goals and deadlines.
I hired an editor and a proofreader. Then after it was proofread, I went through both books several times and found things the proofreader missed. But reviewers still found mistakes!!! That was frustrating. But the beauty is that I have the ability to go back in and fix those mistakes.
I used KDP for my e-books and Create Space and IngamSpark for paperbacks. They have different strengths for distribution. But you need to know that a few things are different for Ingram. Like the paper is thicker, so the spine width on the paperbacks needs to be slightly wider. Too much detail to go into here.
I also hired a cover designer - someone I know personally.
But I purchased Joel Frielander's templates for interior formatting and did my own for both print and e-book. Without those templates, I would have hired out that job. I still had to tweak the templates, but they made the process much easier.
I also purchased my own ISBNs from Bowker so that I have the freedom to upload the books anywhere - not just Amazon.
Dawn, I'm glad you mentioned Bowker. I didn't realize Createspace ISBNs couldn't be loaded anywhere. Thanks for sharing that. My friend who designed my cover is going to format my ebook. I may need to talk with you privately about a few things.
DeleteGreat post, Terri! I haven't tried to indie pub yet, but I'll be back to reread this post if I ever do. Thanks for sharing these tips and opening up this discussion!
ReplyDeleteAnnette, it has been a fun process. Two of my good writing buddies encouraged me to give it a try. They've both done really well. You'd be a natural with your editing skills. I'm glad you found the post helpful.
Delete