By Joel Friedlander
Welcome to this issue of the Carnival of the Indies blog carnival. This issue is for January, 2020. 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
Russell Phillips presents Create and Edit Universal Book Links posted at Author Help, saying, “I’m a fan of Draft2Digital’s Universal Book Links, so I’ve written a guide on how to create and edit them.”
Jay Artale presents How to Decide Where to Host Your Online Course posted at How to Blog a Book, saying, “One way to build your author brand and sell more nonfiction books is to use your content and expertise to develop a course. But should you opt for an online learning or a course hosting platform? Your decision rests on two key factors: money and time. Do you want to pay now or later, and do you have time to contribute to your success?”
Book Design and Production
Helen Vdovychenko presents Fantasy Book Cover Design: 30 examples and why they work posted at MiblArt blog.
Sarah Bolme presents My Checklist Fiasco posted at Marketing Christian Books, saying, “There are many elements that go into making sure a book is industry-standard. New authors and publishers can easily miss one or more of these elements because finding a complete list in one place is not easy.”
Indie Author
Diana Stevan presents Recording an Audiobook posted at Diana Stevan.
Marketing and Selling Your Books
Dave Chesson presents INSTAGRAM FOR WRITERS [2020]: HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF IT posted at Kindlepreneur, saying, “Over the past few years, Instagram has become one of the most popular social media platforms. The visual-first setup is easy to use, highly engaging, and still growing. As an author, Instagram offers unique opportunities to interact with your fans and boost the size of your audience. In this article, we’ll look at how you can use Instagram to reach your writing goals.”
Doris-Maria Heilmann presents Maximize Your Foreign Presence – Almost For Free posted at SavvyBookWriters, saying, “How to successfully sell your author-published book in foreign countries?”
Helen Vdovychenko presents Email Marketing for Self-Published Authors: How to Find Your Readers posted at MiblArt blog.
Joseph C. Kunz, Jr. presents The Top Reasons Non-Fiction Books Do NOT Achieve Success posted at Kunz On Publishing, saying, “Why isn’t my non-fiction book selling more copies? Why is my book a failure? Why don’t I feel successful as a self-publisher? These common questions can sometimes be difficult to answer very quickly. And the answer isn’t always as simple as it might seem at first glance. But there is hope for you and your book to achieve success. Here are 14 reasons your book might not be successful.”
Pauline Wiles presents Your Author Website: The Joy of Keeping It Simple posted at Mark Dawson’s Self Publishing Formula.
Sarah Bolme presents Three Challenges in Selling Books posted at Marketing Christian Books, saying, “Selling books is challenging. A challenge is something that requires special effort. Special effort is required to sell your books. The book selling climate is fiercely competitive. Every author must meet and overcome the following three challenges to sell books.”
Terry Whalin presents When Your Book Isn’t Selling posted at The Writing Life, saying, “What actions do you take when your book ISN’T selling? Much published author and acquisitions editor Terry Whalin gives us six insights.”
Self-Publishing Success
Glenna Collett presents How much does it cost to self-publish? posted at Book Design Made Simple, saying, “The road to successful self-publishing is a long and often expensive one, and most first-time publishers stumble on one unexpected cost after another. We think everyone should know what they’re getting into before they begin.”
Writing Tools and Tips
Jay Artale presents Develop your Travel Writing Style: Tone and Author Avatars posted at Birds of a Feather Press, saying, “Lot’s has been written about creating an audience avatar to help keep your writing on track and focused, but have you tried creating an author avatar to set your writing tone? It works for travel writing, and can work for any other nonfiction niche too.”
Laura Cross presents How to Effortlessly Map the Content for Each Chapter of Your Self-Help, How-To or Business Book posted at Ink & Cinema.
Zara Altair presents Character Context posted at Write Time, saying, “Character context defines their role in the story. Use context as your primary guideline as you create a character background.”
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 February 23, 2020 and the deadline for submissions will be February 15, 2020. Don’t miss it!
Here are all the links you’ll need
- Have something to share with our community? Submit your article here
- The original announcement post
- Carnival of the Indies web page
- Bloggers, grab your official Carnival of the Indies Badges here
- Follow Carnival of the Indies on Twitter to get deadline reminders
- Subscribe to The Book Designer Blog
