More Pride in Indie Publishing Than Ever

A woman asked me this past week about her son who had his manuscript reviewed and rejected. They liked it but didn't have time to fix the problems within. She said that others told him the next thing to do would be to self-publish. Perhaps, but either way those mistakes need to be fixed first. One should not put work out for public inspection that he knows contains problems. (Negative-buzz magnet.) Plus, many individual publishers have worked hard to give indie publishing high standards, not just something to settle for.

The mother said with a frown, "How can he make a name for himself that way?" Boy, was I glad I could refer her to the recent free online indie conference I attended (wearing slippers, I might add). Indie publishing has survived sharp barbs and soared into new territory. I told her that there have been enough Indies to have worked through their problems and are now sharing the solutions. Anyone can learn DIY publishing and marketing and they don't have to start from scratch. There are numerous blog articles, sites, and books which share tips, templates, and programs. 

A few highlights I gleaned from IndieRecon 2014 for traditional, indie or hybrid (authors using both) publishing: 1) The right Keywords for search engines, categories, lists, etc. give more visibility, 2) Reviews = sales, 3) Use social media to connect with people and share interests much more than book-selling, 4) Use images for quick attention-getters, 5) Network with others through interviews and guest posts, and the #1 best thing you can do to gain word-of-mouth advertising (for the best sales) is to 6) Write an awesome book! You can read any of the articles and older posts for more details. Share any awesome Indie tips you want to in the comments box below.  

The new-to-me blog of the week comes at a great time. You can get a lot of bang for the blog this month with several guest-posts during Rebecca Belliston's March Book Madness. Go to rebeccabelliston.wordpress.com and check out more than one post for some great tips. I'll be returning there a few times this month and hope you will too.