Welcome to this issue of the Carnival of the Indies blog carnival. This issue is for September, 2016. 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
Judith Briles presents Author Beware … Publishing Predators Are Breeding posted at The Book Shepherd, saying, “Publishing predators are breeding with the surge of authors now by-passing traditional publishing. Over half of all books published today are by self- and indie publishers. Traditional publishers are taking notice and are now gearing up to offer their own “self-publishing” opportunities… Expect to see all of this push into a higher gear—after all, there is money in wannabe author’s pockets.”
Jordan Smith presents The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Right Price for Your Book posted at Fix My Story, saying, “One of the biggest challenges we indie authors face is pretty much the entire process of setting a price for a book. In this mega-post, I explore a number of ways you can gather data to help you price your book intelligently.”
Kimberley Grabas presents Build An Epic Visual Strategy for Your Author Brand posted at YourWriterPlatform.com, saying, “The visual trend in marketing is inescapable. Short attention spans combined with an unparalleled surge of information (and distraction) requires a medium that can convey a message, a story, your entire essence, all at once. And if a picture is worth a thousand words… A strong visual strategy is an essential part of developing a powerful and successful author brand. The right visuals will help you communicate ideas that get remembered, boost interaction with your growing fanbase, help tell your brand story, and make it much easier for readers to like, share and respond to your work. If you are not yet focusing on visual content in your book marketing and platform building strategy, it’s time to get started. ”
Book Design and Production
Tony Riches presents How to produce an audiobook with Amazon ACX posted at The Writing Desk, saying, “I had never considered audiobook production but now they form a third income stream and extend my readership”
Ebooks and Ebook Readers
Alexander Zoltai presents Why Are There Still So Many People Who Don’t Have Books to Read? posted at Notes from An Alien.
Indie Author
Helen Sedwick presents Copyright Infringement: Those Cute Kitten Pix May Cost You posted at BookWorks Blog, saying, “BookWorks Legal Expert Helen Sedwick warns of the pitfalls when choosing images for author blogs, websites, and newsletters and offers resources and tips of how to do so safely.”
J.M. Ney-Grimm presents Why Create a Site Map? posted at J.M. Ney-Grimm, saying, “Without a site map for human visitors (as opposed to Google crawler bots), most of the great content on your author website is hidden. The browsing reader you’ve worked so hard to attract will click away after they’ve skimmed the post they were looking for. But if there’s a site map that they can access, they’ll be tempted to poke around a bit more. And the longer they stay, the better!”
Robin Cutler presents ISBN Q&A: Everything You Need to Know About Barcodes posted at BookWorks Blog, saying, “BookWorks’ Distribution Expert, Robin Cutler of IngramSpark, reveals everything indie authors need to know about ISBN’s; what they are, where to get them & how to use them.”
Sabrina Ricci presents Useful Productivity Hacks and Tools posted at Digital Pubbing.
Terry Whalin presents What’s Holding Back Your Writing? posted at The Writing Life, saying, “Whether writers realize it or not, often they are stuck and held back. This article gives three strategies for getting unstuck and moving ahead.”
Marketing and Selling Your Books
Belinda Kroll presents How to Rock an Author Festival with a Self-Published Book posted at Belinda Kroll, Books for Kids & Teens, saying, “Belinda shares key marketing pro-tips she learned from her teacher friend while visiting an author festival about how to stand out from the crowd.”
Chris Well presents 7 Essential Ways for Authors to Be Newsworthy posted at Write Nonfiction Now, saying, “When authors have a book to promote, the LAST thing they want to do is promote the BOOK. The media doesn’t care about a new book—they want an interview or news story that will hold the attention of their listeners, viewers, or readers. So, an author needs to pitch a topic of interest to that audience—and pitch himself or herself as an expert. This article outlines the seven factors a news editor or segment producer looks at to determine whether that pitch is “newsworthy.” A pitch doesn’t have to be all of these—but it should be at least one of them…”
Chris Well presents How Social Media Fits into Your Publicity Strategy posted at Social Media Just For Writers, saying, “At first glance, it’s easy to assume that social media and publicity are pretty much the same. But they’re fundamentally different: Social media is you sharing your message to the people you can reach yourself. Publicity is convincing an influencer to share your message with an audience larger than your own. In this article, I offer five steps for authors to use social media to make the right connections and get coverage in the media.”
Dave Chesson presents Kindle Keyword Ranking Percentages: #1 Vs. #2 posted at Kindlepreneur, saying, “Have you ever wondered what’s the difference in book sales if your ranks #1 or #2 in the Amazon search results as compared to #3 or greater? Well, thanks to our research, you can now estimate how many clicks your book will receive based on your Amazon ranking for a search term.”
Heather Hart presents Simple Steps for Building an Email List posted at Books, Faith, and Coffee, saying, “One of the best ways I have found to reach more readers and sell more books over the years is by building and utilizing an email list.”
Iola Goulton presents Book Reviews: Why I Review (and 3 Reviewing Tips) posted at International Christian Fiction Writers, saying, “I’ve recently passed my fifth anniversary as a book blogger. Over that time, it seems book reviews have become even more important to authors as Amazon has continued to gain influence and importance. Here are a few things I’ve learned in my time as a reviewer.”
Kate Tilton presents Five Things You Need To Know About Self-Publishing by Cassie Phillips posted at Kate Tilton, Connecting Authors & Readers, saying, “The power to create and share work is firmly in the hands of writers with the self-publishing revolution. Writer Cassie gives five things you should know about self-publishing.”
Penny Sansevieri presents How Great Book Descriptions Sell More Books posted at BookWorks Blog, saying, “BookWorks Marketing Expert, Penny Sansevieri, spells out how to create great book descriptions on Amazon and other e-tailers that will sell more books.”
Sandra Hutchison presents How author Florence Osmund “never lost money” on a promotion posted at Sandra Hutchison, saying, “An interview with a well-regarded indie author who shares her tips and tricks for promoting your books without losing money on them.”
Sarah Bolme presents What’s Your Promise? posted at Marketing Christian Books, saying, “Are you reliable? Can people trust you? If you are an author, readers need to trust you to buy your book. Readers need to trust that you will keep your promise.”
Self-Publishing Success
Carla King presents Great Editing = Great Writing, Great Reviews & Great Sales posted at BookWorks Blog, saying, “BookWorks Tech Expert, Carla King underscores the importance of professional editing and explains the various types of editing, finding what you need, and what it may cost you.”
Kyoko M presents Hindsight is 20/20: My Third Year in Self Publishing posted at She Who Writes Monsters, saying, “I recap my third year as a self-published author, including some Do’s and Don’ts as well as general new experiences in writing, publishing, and marketing.”
Mark Coker presents 10 Self-Publishing Trends to Watch posted at Publishers Weekly, saying, “A fresh look at 10 trends shaping the future of indie authorship, updated to examine the impact of KDP Select and Kindle Unlimited.”
Sabrina Ricci presents A Look at Self-Publishing Success Stories posted at Digital Pubbing.
Writing Tools and Tips
Andrew Crusoe presents How to Proof a Paperback for Free & Save Time on CreateSpace posted at Aravinda Loop, saying, “For this article, I strategy I’ve been using with Createspace that’ll save you money and time. Thanks again for hosting this great blog carnival!”
C. S. Lakin presents Layering 20 Scenes to Create a Strong Romance Novel posted at Live Write Thrive, saying, “Learn how you can layer ten romance scenes over the ten foundational scenes for a romance novel. This post lays out a template that romance writers can use to ensure the key romance scenes as well as the important foundational scenes are in the right place.”
C. S. Lakin presents Nailing That Ten-Scene Foundation for Your Novel posted at Live Write Thrive, saying, “Ten foundational scenes to frame your entire novel. Do you know what they are and where they need to be placed in your story? Take a look at an example of a recently published novel that uses this template to show strong story structure.”
Carolyn Abram presents Outside Voices and Confused Impressions or Seven Ways to Get the Feedback You Want posted at Informed Iteration.
James Moushon presents Short Story Goals: Why should authors write short stories? posted at eBook Authors Corner, saying, “Writing short stories is a great opportunity for authors. But whether you are trying to market your novels, keeping your readers engaged, or improving your writing skills, you need goals in place to get the best return on your time investment. Why Write Short Stories? The main reason, I would suspect, for writing short stories is authors ‘LOVE’ to write them. Shorty’s are their style. They get an idea digging in their mind and they grab a pencil and let her fly. Of course, there are many other reasons to jump into the quick read world…”
K.M. Weiland presents 6 Reasons You Need to Make Way More Writing Mistakes posted at Helping Writers Become Authors, saying, “It’s time to stop beating yourself up over writing mistakes. Here are 6 ways to embrace them as one of the most rewarding parts of the writing process.”
Kate Tilton presents What X-Men Can Teach About Storytelling by Will Van Stone Jr. posted at Kate Tilton, Connecting Authors & Readers, saying, “Author Will Van Stone Jr. teaches us what we can learn about writing from X-Men: The Animated Series, a show that redefined what it meant to make children’s entertainment.”
Shelley Hitz presents 5 Editing Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Nonfiction Book posted at Shelley Hitz | Author Audience, saying, “Editing is essential so that you can share your message clearly to your readers. In this post, I share 5 editing mistakes to avoid when writing a nonfiction book.”
Tamara Dever presents 10 Questions to Ask Before You Hire an Editor posted at TLC Graphics: The Designer Writes, saying, “Because not hiring one is simply not an option!”
Victor Davis presents Dream Journals for Writers posted at The Page-Hungry Bookworm, saying, “This is a guest post by Victor A. Davis for Sara of The Page-Hungry Bookworm about why writers should keep dream journals.”
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, Plus-1 it on Google+, Link to it!
The next issue is October 30, 2016 and the deadline for submissions will be October 15, 2016. 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
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