Indie Authors Monthly Magazine For Authors and Readers discussion

Hi Charles. Nice to meet you

Nice to be met.

Welcome Charles! Your books sound fascinating. :)

Julie and pals you are marvellous. This is great. Hopefully I'll have time to take part a little more now I'm up and walking.

I write as p.d.r. lindsay and I write historical novels - Historical not Romance sub-genre historical. I'm part of a writers' co-operative and it's hard work supporting the members and doing PR for everyone.

Just launched a novel and am about to start the next!

Glad to see you PDR

Good to see you here PDR!

Thank you. I'm busy hatching a new novel so am abstracted and not quite with it!

Nice to meet you , Graeme.

Ben Jackson, children's books and fiction, non fiction author. Add me or follow and I'll gladly follow back, just message if I miss it!!

Glad to be here!! I'm also happy to write a Goodreads review of any children's books!

Hi Ben!!!

Nice to meet you, Leo.

I am an author. Just published my debut novel last month. Sunwalker by S. T. Sanchez.
https://www.amazon.com/Sunwalker-Tril...
Check me out at facebook.com/sunwalkertrilogy
sunwalkertrilogy.blogspot.com
Looking forward to being a part of this group;)

Welcome Graeme, Been, Leo and S.T.!

I am a pharmacist, mom and author. I have three books published so far. Two are part of an epic fantasy series called The Chronicles of the Coranydas. Book 1 is The Rashade' Book 2 is A Guardian Falls. The third book For Their Sins is a paranormal urban fantasy. All of them have action and an element of romance. I tend to prefer writing epic fantasy but have tried my hand at sci-fi as well.
So far the Indie community has been very gracious and welcoming! I would be very grateful for advice. Help getting reviews and getting my name and books out there would be appreciated as well.

Scroll through all the discussion on both this and our other discussion group- There are tons of tips to get your name out there. Don't hesitate to ask any questions. Everyone is really helpful here. Nice to meet you R.

Good morning everyone,

Thank you for this wonderful, helpful site on Goodreads.

We are indie publishers, my husband Dennis Meredith is the author, I Joanne Meredith do the marketing.

Dennis was a career science writer, writing for research universities and major research centers. He still writes non-fiction science but also loves to write hard science fiction/science thrillers.

We have published five hard science fiction novels, the newest, The Happy Chip. The Happy Chip

We also edit and publish some of our books for the YA reader.

Hi Guys!!! Love the articles you always put up for the rest of us.

Welcome to the group R. And Dennis!

Hi ☼ my name is Ashen Venema. I found this group through the Ramsay Wood page.
I recently published a book called 'Course of Mirrors' through Troubador: http://www.troubador.co.uk/book_info.... also on amazon and listed on Goodreads.
My website is: www.courseofmirrors.worpress.com
I hope to engage here but must learn to navigate Goodreads better.

Hi Ashen, R, ST, Leo, Graeme, Charles and everyone else I've not said hello to. Also hi to those of you from the other one that are now on this one.

Hello.

Where is my coffee?

Ashen wrote: "Hi ☼ my name is Ashen Venema. I found this group through the Ramsay Wood page.
I recently published a book called 'Course of Mirrors' through Troubador: http://www.troubador.co.uk/book_info......."

Thanks Amy. Coffee here too ... another addict.

Hi Ashen, welcome.

Thanks, Carole ☼

Hi, I'm Dan.

I recently wrote my first book which was published on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing. It's called 'An Island Paradise' and is a romcom based in the Seychelles.

I'm British but have been living in the Seychelles for the past five years. Most people don't know a great deal about the place apart from the beautiful beaches which is mainly what inspired me to write a book based here.

I thought, being one of the most popular honeymoon destinations in the world, it would make a great backdrop to the story, bearing in mind that it is a romcom.

I joined the group because I thought it would be interesting to communicate with and learn from likeminded people.

Hi Dan, nice to meet you. I bet the view from your window is fantastic.

Nice to meet you too Carole. The view is pretty good I must say. I am at work in my wine shop here right now. I can see a palm tree outside which is always an inspirational sight.

Sounds beautiful. Wine, palm trees, and an island. Hmmmm...sounds like a perfect backdrop for a rom-com.

It is a lovely place although it has it's unique quirks and foibles like anywhere else. Can't complain though!

Dan,

Best of luck. Seychelles is one of the places that I haven't been to but it does sound delightful. The writing part of a book is relative easy. Marketing it is a lot more difficult because of the vast competition that you will be p against.

Hey, I'm Val. Just got my first book out, desperate trying to market it wherever I can. Any tips?

Lots of ways to do it. Social media, libraries, reviews, appearances in book stores, email, business cards (I stick them in car doors wherever I go) etc. Be careful of paid promotions. I've tried em all and few work.

I find everything adds to the mix. Each thing you do, keeps working as your spread word., the rippling effect keeps interest alive. There is no bad promotion, even if it has a disappointing result. You never know who it reached, and even if it's just one person, they may have an even bigger impact on individuals you may never have had the opportunity to reach. It's an on-going process, and never stops. The advantage to being an indie is that you can promote a five year old book with the same intensity as a new one. One of my son's author names is Michael Phillip Cash. I promote his books. I did everything for his books from taking out ads in the NY transit system to radio ads all over the country. The end result was he was picked up by an traditional publishing house and got a two book deal. It came from diligently promoting him in every blog, magazine, radio show or contest that I could. It built up a presence that the agent who "discovered" him found hard to resist, and when he pitched it, it took a nanosecond for them to say yes. That was my son's dream. I prefer to be indie, but I think I'd be hard pressed to decline a good financial offer.
Most of my promotion techniques were learned by experience. I search for the inexpensive, and if I am spending money on something, I weigh it for a long time. I try lots of different things, and do find I return where I got the most bang for my buck.
My experience is that people need to hear about you constantly to finally make the investment, so when I do choose to advertise, I try to get the target audience for the book that I am promoting.
Welcome to the group, guys. If you look through the threads you will find discussions on many different tips to promote. What works for some, will not work for others.
You may see that two other authors and I have created an indie magazine. That was born from a discussion on these threads when we found many couldn't find inexpensive ads to advertise. I had spoken to a few of the big guys- you know who they are and asked them to discount an entire indie page for us- so we could do a group ad. They couldn't do it, so we created our own magazine. Check it out- it's free and we are taking articles from anyone who wants to contribute. https://www.magzter.com/US/IndieAutho...

What Carole said lol

Very interesting. Thank you. Although my small royalties all go to charity maybe an advertising program could lead to a publisher for another book?The Crazy Life of a Kid From Brooklyn

That's very noble, William. I believe Karma always swings around to reward! I always said the kids from Brooklyn were special. I still miss it!!

My son's trip to traditional publishing was a windy, twisty path. He publishes under two different names- self-help and fiction. He sent all his work out to agents and never even got rejection notices. Most were returned unopened. Not one to give up, he found an entertainment attorney who answered his call, was totally charmed by him and then pitched him to a couple of agents. I know they wouldn't have even looked at him if he didn't have realistic reviews and a presence online. Traditional publishing is a new experience- they are releasing his book with them in October. I am looking forward in seeing the difference in publicity.

Wishing your son the very best of luck. With his perseverance and skill his venture will be successful. Pls. remind me in Oct. as I'd like to read it.

Also thank you for the kind words. Of course my book is a lot more than just about Brooklyn but being brought up there has certainly made a big dent in my life. And, yes there is something about the air in Brooklyn that can bring out the best in people.

P.S.I signed up for Magster

Fugettaboutit! You can take the kid out of Brooklyn, but not the Brooklyn out of the kid. I left Brooklyn 59 years ago and I can't believe when I hear my accent on the podfire radio shows.

Youse right about dat

Welcome to the group Ashen, Dan and Val!

Bethlehem Steele Greetings and salutations! I hope I'm leaving this in the right place. I haven't been on social media site in ages (besides the occasional tweet). I am a budding author just put my book on Amazon a few weeks ago and am looking to promote and give back! It's been a tough road. Who would've though the easiest thing about this entire process would be writing the book!
Just got off ACX trying to add audio to my book since everybody is raving about audiobooks! Waiting for a producer to accept an offer from a starving author. I'm hoping money will entice! Trying to do as much as possible as quick as possible!

Congrats on publishing, Bethlehem. If you look up the magazine we've been talking about- this month's issue is all about audio books. You can get it through Magster- The magazine is Indie Author's Monthly and it's free. ;)


Glad to hear you looked it up, William.

Welcome Bethlehem!

William wrote: "Dan,

Best of luck. Seychelles is one of the places that I haven't been to but it does sound delightful. The writing part of a book is relative easy. Marketing it is a lot more difficult because of..."
Thanks William, Totally agree with your views. I found the writing element relatively straight forward. The marketing has been tough. However, I am extremely determined!

Dan,

By all means keep trying different marketing ideas and don't give up. If you find any new one let me know.

Hi! I recently published my first novel, Painting Sage, last May and I'm looking for some honest reviews of my work. It can be purchased here: http://amzn.to/2qv3IaZ
Or, for simply more info you can visit my website at www.rachaelkhannah.com

Thanks!
Rachael

Hello there, my name is Lee Hall and I am an indie author from the UK.

I currently have 2 horror/occult novels available and of course I'm still figuring this all out. I'm looking to connect with more book reading/ book writing people.

In my experience when it comes to making connections both Goodreads and Facebook are superior, well they have been for me. Most of my sales have been driven by Facebook, I guess different authors have different results. (the book selfie has worked well for me).

What I'm currently looking for is gradual growth in my following and very recently I have started a giveaway campaign via my Facebook page. What I really need is for more genuine writer/reader people to exchange likes with (that is if you have a page). The giveaway closes when the page reaches 400 likes and it currently sits at around 360.

For more information check out my page, and please do contact me if you are interested in exchanging likes.

Thank you

Lee Hall

https://www.facebook.com/lhallwriter/

Nice to meet you, Lee.

Hello all! I have written in science fiction and fantasy under another name, but this latest endeavor requires a pen name. It's science fiction and world religions smushed together. The premise is that all the lore of good and evil spirits is real and the different world religions have a different way of explaining and understanding the same realities.

A group of teens, aided by angelic spirits, must work together to banish evil spirits according to their own religious traditions.

It is my first time self-publishing through Amazon and I am mostly worried about self-promotion. Also the whole world religions thing. I'm sure I'm going to make some readers mad or at least nervous.

Hi everyone,

Beleaguered writer of fantasy fiction and pony stories just waving hello from the corner, happy to make friends with all and sundry.

I've self-published on Amazon for a while but just thought I'd get out there and chat to others who are book-crazy (or just happily crazy in general!)

Hi to all those who have recently said hello before me as well :)