Askalli: Self-publishing Advice Podcast

Ep#55: Orna Ross & Joseph Alexander answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Each month, Orna Ross, ALLi Director, invites a special guest into the indie author hot seat to answer ALLi Members’ questions. This month’s special guest is non-fiction indie authors Joseph Alexander who built his Fundamental Changes guitar series into a instantly recognizable author brand. Find out some of the secrets of his success, and listen in as he and Orna answer self-publishing questions posed by our ALLi Members. Here's the self-publishing questions asked and answered this month: Q: I hear other authors say that promoting non-fiction is easier than promoting fiction, but my efforts aren't working for me - what am I doing wrong? Q: I'm publishing a comic self-help book, can you help me with a basic low cost marketing plan, or one that is free to implement? Q: Are Amazon Ads a good option for indie authors? Q: What is the best approach for Facebook Advertising. Should I be promoting my Facebo

Ep#55: Welcome to Ask ALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. In a monthly salon type discussion, Orna Ross, Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors and Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, talk about the latest tools and trends of interest to emerging and experienced self-publishing authors. Topics discussed this week include: Money and Creativity Where Readers Convene Amazon Buy Button How to Market a Book – 3rd Edition Choosing a Self-Publishing Service KDP Categories Dublin Writer’s Conference What Penn pages are selling? New Amazon Charts Attention Economy Indie Author Fringe Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi’s free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools a

Ep#54: Welcome to Ask ALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. In a monthly salon type discussion, Orna Ross, Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors and Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, talk about the latest tools and trends of interest to emerging and experienced self-publishing authors. Topics discussed this week include: Money and Creativity Where Readers Convene Amazon Buy Button How to Market a Book – 3rd Edition Choosing a Self-Publishing Service KDP Categories Dublin Writer’s Conference What Penn pages are selling? New Amazon Charts Attention Economy Indie Author Fringe Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi’s free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools a

Ep#53: Orna Ross and Paul Teague answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Each month Orna Ross and a special guest answer Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) Members' questions. This month we're welcoming Paul Teague into the hot seat to talk about a series of videos he's created especially for ALLi. And to answer our members' latest, most pressing questions with Orna. Our monthly Ask ALLi broadcasts are an ideal way to keep learning about being an indie author and the skills you needed to become a successful self-publisher. Here's the self-publishing questions asked and answered this month: Q: I’m printing and distributing through Ingram Spark. What's the best way to set up returns? Q: Amazon has it’s own imprint. Will they end up only selling books from Amazon Publishing and and ignore Indie Author's books? Q: What are you three top tips for using LinkedIn to develop your author brand? Q: I have a wordpress website hosted on Bluehost, where can I host a test site so that I c

Ep#52: Orna Ross and Mark Dawson answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Mark also answers the question, is paid advertising right for you Each month, Orna Ross, ALLi Director, invites a special guest into the indie author hot seat to answer ALLi Members’ self-publishing questions. This month's special guest is Facebook advertising expert Mark Dawson, and this session was recorded live during London Book Fair. As well as being a best-selling author, Mark is the powerhouse and frontman behind The Self-Publishing Formula, which provides authors with tried and tested methods to self-publish and reach more readers. He started using Facebook Ads to increase his mailing list sign ups and boost his own sales figures, and a couple of years ago he turned that knowledge and expertise into his first "Facebook Advertising for Authors" course. Today he's sharing insights about Facebook advertising, but also covering the new kid on the block, Amazon Ads. Amazon Ads vs. Facebook Ads Q: Are you

Ep#51: Welcome to Ask ALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. In a monthly salon type discussion, Orna Ross, Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors and Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, talk about the latest tools and trends of interest to emerging and experienced self-publishing authors. Topics discussed this week include: Orna and Jo are back from travels (in San Francisco and New Zealand) and they discuss the international scene and what they experienced while touring The latest report from Author Earnings. News of Kobo Plus launching in the Netherlands The purchase of Bookouture by Hachett The importance of author self-empowerment.  Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi’s free online

Ep#50: Orna Ross and Joel Friedlander answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Each month, Orna Ross, ALLi Director, invites a special guest into the indie author hot seat to answer ALLi Members’ self-publishing questions. This month’s special guest was self-publishing pioneer Joel Friedlander. “Self-publishing gives you an opportunity to change the world, one reader at a time, but you have to treat your work with the respect it deserves.” “Keep learning and don’t give up, book publishing is a marathon, not a sprint.” Our monthly Ask ALLi broadcasts are an ideal way to keep learning about being an indie author and the skills you need to acquire to become a successful self-publisher. Here are the topics we covered: Author Collaboration. FREE Writing Technique. How important is it that non-fiction copy editors have familiarity with the topic they’re editing? Will the new Amazon KDP Paperback service replace Createspace? How do we find a publicist we can trust? What is your experien

Ep#49: Welcome to Ask ALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. In a monthly salon type discussion, Orna Ross, Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors and Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, talk about the latest tools and trends of interest to emerging and experienced self-publishing authors. Topics discussed this week include: Orna and Jo are back from travels (in San Francisco and New Zealand) and they discuss the international scene and what they experienced while touring The latest report from Author Earnings. News of Kobo Plus launching in the Netherlands The purchase of Bookouture by Hachett The importance of author self-empowerment.  Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi’s free online

Ep#48: Self-Publishing Advice Podcast: Indie Author Fringe Highlight with Dan Blank In this interview with David Penny of ALLi, Dan Blank discusses the psychology of writing, how to find alternative outlets for your books, and how writers can use available resources to research their reader audience. Selling a book is a business. It doesn’t mean that the process of writing your book has to be approach as a business, but when it comes to reaching readers you need your business head on. In this podcast we share how to: Make the most of Amazon and Goodreads. Create valuable Connections. Leave yourself a planning window. Consolidate Newsletter Research. Plan using Baby Steps. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advicebroadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Indie Author Fringe Highlight  is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and an advanced self-publishing salon. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice ce

Ep#47: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Each month, Joanna and Orna answer Members’ self-publishing questions during our regular Ask ALLi event. If you missed our live Q&A session you can watch the video and listen to the podcast here. We’ve also included a summary of the questions that were asked and answered this month. How do you assert copyright if you're intending to self-publish under a pseudonym? And how does this pseudonym link back to the real-life person? How can you benefit from Foreign Rights requests but protect yourself from potential scams? I'm close to publishing my first novel. I'm confused about the ISBN, what pricing should I ask my designer to put on my book's cover? If I'm publishing via Amazon for Kindle, can I also publish via other services like Ingram Spark and Lulu? I'm having trouble getting PR opportunities for my books. How can I find a publicist? Listen to Orna and Joanna as they provide updates on the exciting

Ep#46: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Each month, Joanna and Orna answer Members’ self-publishing questions during our regular Ask ALLi event. We’ve also included a summary of the questions that were asked and answered this month. Is there an advantage to using both Create Space and IngramSpark, and why, does one offer something the other one doesn’t? Should you purchase your own ISBN numbers, even if the first book is an e-book? And if someone submits a PDF to Ingram, do they generate an ePub, should you use IngramSpark for e-books? I’m finding it hard to get any writing done with so many tasks. Any tips for that? I write music based fiction or many books in my series follows series or songwriters and includes lyrics I’ve written. I want to bring other named titles and songwriters/singers into this story line. Is it legal to do this? I’ve bitten a bullet, commissioned an audio version of my first book. What advice do you have about going wide

Ep#45: In this insightful Indie Author Fringe podcast, Jane Friedman takes us through seven critical elements that are foundational for any author who is serious about their writing career. I've summarised some of the key takeaways that resonated with me, but listen to this broadcast yourselves to delve into the subject in greater detail. Have your own Website. Make sure your website is mobile friendly. Have consistent bios on social media and website platforms. Improve the imagery and videos you use. Explore your entire demand curve. Mine information that is useful to connect with readers. Make important Marketing efforts trackable. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advicebroadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Indie Author Fringe Highlight  is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and an advanced self-publishing salon. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And

Ep#44: Indie Author Fringe Highlight with Joel Friedlander and Nick Stephenson. As authors, we all know the role that social media plays in our ability to connect with readers, but the most beneficial ways of establishing a 1:1 relationship with your potential customers is via your email list. Start your list building early: Between them, Joel and Nick have lots of indie author and self-publishing knowledge and expertise, and although their email marketing approaches may differ, they both agree authors need to establish their email list as soon as they start their indie author journey. This is the most crucial factor in your long term success as an author. Not only is it the ideal way to establish a direct line of communication with your readers, but it provides an opportunity to cultivate relationships, it extends your reach and exposure, and helps you raise awareness for your books (or other products). Size doesn’t matter!: When it comes to lists, size doesn’t matter. What’s important is the quality of your

Ep#43: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Each month, Joanna and Orna answer Members’ self-publishing questions during our regular Ask ALLi event. We’ve also included a summary of the questions that were asked and answered this month. Q: I’m investing in editors for my first book, do I send to multiple editors one at a time? Q: What’s the difference between trade paperbacks and mass market paperbacks? Q: What are the different book cover design considerations when you’re planning an ebook and print book launch? Q: Are Amazon getting rid of the Table of Contents in their books, and when I upload my book, what should I choose for the DRM (Digital Rights Management) setting? Q: I’ve been offered a contribution-based publishing contract – what are your thoughts on these types of agreements? Q: I’m trying to avoid losing money with my book launch, and am considering a Book Launch service to help me learn the process. Q: How to I go about finding an agen

Ep#42: Indie Author Fringe Highlight with Kathy Meis All too often, great books launch into silence. Why? There is no plan in place to give the book a fighting chance. Today’s book marketplace is highly competitive. You need to bring you’re A-game not only on the craft side, but on the business side. In our latest Indie Author Fringe podcast, Kathy Meis from Bublish delves into the six crucial steps that authors need to take before launching their book. Kathy starts off by talking about the foundations of a successful book launch and the kind of mindset you need to have going into this to be successful. Then she takes a deep dive into the six crucial steps you need to do before you launch. Stop thinking of your book as a baby, and start thinking about it as a product. Launching a book is a business, and by following these 6 crucial pre-launch steps you will increase your chances of success: Step 1: Research audience and genre. Step 2: Line up reviews and interviews. Step 3: Set up a system for capturing emai

Ep#41: Indie Author Fringe Highlight with Mark Coker from Smashwords Authors are in the midst of rapid and dizzying change, and Mark Coker, CEO of Smashwords, shares his insights about the "10 Trends Driving the Future of Publishing" in our latest ALLi podcast. Mark kicks off the podcast talking about his epiphany moment that helped to get Smashwords off the ground in 2008. Mark's company was at the forefront of of the indie revolution, and for those of you who aren't familiar with Smashwords, they're an eBook publishing platform that makes it fast, free and easy to publish and distribute your books. At the time of recording, Smashwords features 400,000 books from 115,000 authors and small independent presses. Mark's discusses 10 key elements that are driving the future of publishing, and and how indie authors can can maximize their potential for self-publishing. Trend 1: THE RISE OF EBOOKS. Trend 2: The Democratisation of Publishing. Trend 3: Ebooks are Going Global. Trend 4: The Rise of Indie Authorship. T

Ep#40: Self-Publishing Advice Podcast: Indie Author Fringe Highlight with Sean Platt and Johnny B Truant of Sterling & Stone believe the key to writing better is to write faster. Here they talk about their creative process, how planning helps authors to write a better story in less time, even if they're "pantsers", and their new story-planning app. A lot of indie publishing is frontier thinking. Sean and Johnny have been figuring the best way to approach their writing process, and in this podcast they share some lessons and techniques they’ve learned along the way. Here are three elements from this podcast that really resonated with me: Understanding your genre foundations. Know your characters. The importance of cover design for your readers, and you. Want to know why some books sell more than others? This information is out there and accessible to anyone who wants to take the time to understand their genre better. At the end of the day, if you want to sell more books, you have to write books that appe

Ep#39: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. See allianceindependendentauthors.org for more details. Here’s a summary of the questions and a brief synopsis of the answers in this month’s Ask ALLi with Orna and Joanna (for more in-depth answers – you should watch the video or listen to the podcast): Q: What exactly makes a piece of fiction, Literary Fiction? Q: Should you use Scrivener to get your books accepted by distributors? Q: How can you generate an ebook review copy? Q: What’s the difference between pre-orders and a soft launch? Q: What are the advantages of using both CreateSpace and IngramSpark for creating your POD print book? Q: Why does Joanna only use CreateSpace for her POD books, and not IngramSpark? Q: When you get really burned, how do you stay motivated enough to keep writing? Q: What is the best way to promote a novel that doesn’t fit into a specific genre? Q: How useful is it to participate in KBoards? Our weekly Self-Publishing Ad

Ep#38: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Here’s the questions posed to Orna and Joanna this month: Q: How did you find your beta readers and how many do you have? Q: What should I instruct an editor or line editor to look out for in my manuscript? Q: Past, Present or Future - which tense is most appropriate? Q: Is it ok to self-publish before you go to school? Q: I'm designing my own book covers. If I download photos from the internet, am I breaking copyright? Q: Is there funding to help an independent publishers? Q: Are Bookbub Ads and Goodreads Deals worth the effort? Q: Are review bloggers and guest blogging still a powerful marketing strategy? Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, A

Ep#37: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Here’s the questions posed to Orna and Joanna this month: Q: How would you define the difference between a non-fiction writers and a journalist? Q: In a previous Ask ALLi Joanna mentioned that she was moving from direct with Nook to Draft2Digital distribution, I thought the advice was that it was best to go direct? Q: When a book is finally finished… what is the right order for all of the follow up activities to get it to market? Q: Do you need to send hard copies to the British Library? Q: I have a new book I’m working on, Should it be completed before I decide on a company to do the ebook formatting? Q: What is the current best practice on formatting? Q: What’s your input on Amazon Affiliate accounts? Q: My book is written and produced, what is the best way to market it? I’ve been approach local books stores and TV stations, as well as local historic societies. Q: My illustrator is having problems uploadi