Self Publishing Journeys

Welcome to Paul's Podcast Diary for Saturday 29th July, 2017.

This diary charts my self-publishing journey - the ups the downs, the successes and the failures.

Everything goes into this diary, week-by-week, but you'll also find it a source of great tips, resources, tools, podcast recommendations and so on.

Steven A. McKay's first book, "Wolf's Head", came out in 2013 and was an Amazon UK top 20 bestseller.

It has an incredible 389+ reviews on Amazon.co.uk ... if you've ever tried to get reviews, that's an astonishing number.

"Blood of the Wolf" is the fourth and final book in the Forest Lord series which has over 95,000 sales so far.

As a historical fiction author, Steven is currently working on a brand new tale - tentatively titled "The Druid" set in post-Roman Britain.

Find Out More:

1) Steven's website: https://stevenamckay.com/

2) Follow Steven on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SA_McKay

3) Follow Steven on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steven.mckay.355

4) Steven's Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7161617.Steven_A_McKay

5) Steven's Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Steven-A.-McKay/e/B00DS0TRH6/

Interview Talking Points:

1) How I sold 90,000* ebooks - blog post: https://stevenamckay.com/2016/07/11/how-i-sold-90000-ebooks-some-tips/

2) Amazon Academy event write-up: https://stevenamckay.com/2017/05/26/amazon-academy-kdp-event-eicc/

3) Gordon Doherty: http://www.gordondoherty.co.uk/

4) Simon Turney: http://www.sjaturney.co.uk/

5) Ben Kane: http://www.benkane.net/

6) FreeBooksy: https://www.freebooksy.com/

7) BookLemur: https://www.booklemur.com/

8) InstaFreebie: https://self-publishing-journeys.com/IF [My affiliate link]

9) BookBub: https://partners.bookbub.com/

10) BookTracker: https://book-tracker.com/

11) Book Report: https://www.getbookreport.com/

12) Amazon ACX: http://www.acx.com/

13) AudioBookBoom: https://audiobookboom.com/

1) This week's writing progress:

2) 20BooksTo50k in London: http://20bookslondon.com/

I originally booked through Booking.com so I could cancel my rooms if I needed to (which I did!) [My referral link btw]

Eventually I booked my room at the Travelodge in Egham which is just a short walk up the High Street to the venue and considerably cheaper: https://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/588/Egham-hotel

3) MailerLite - my current, preferred email marketing service: https://self-publishing-journeys.com/ML [My affiliate link]

4) Thrive Themes - great plugins for use with Wordpress websites: https://self-publishing-journeys.com/Thrive [My affiliate link]

5) Authors XP promotion website - well worth a try: https://self-publishing-journeys.com/Promos  [My affiliate link]

6) InstaFreebie: https://self-publishing-journeys.com/IF [My affiliate link]

Alison Ingleby is a freelance writer who provides blogging and copywriting services to businesses all over the world who are connected to travel or the great outdoors.

Alison is planning to use this freelance business business to bootstrap her self-publishing efforts.

She has just written her first book, which will form part of a dystopian trilogy.

I asked Alison to join me on the podcast because I'm keen to capture the experiences and progress of a brand new indie author.

Essential links

1) Alison's website: https://alisoningleby.com/

2) Alison's Windswept Writing website: http://www.windsweptwriting.com/

3) Follow Alison on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ARIngleby

4) Alison's Windswept Writing Twitter account: https://twitter.com/windsweptwords

5) Connect with Alison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alison-ingleby-b74ba226/

Talking Points

1) NaNoWriMo http://nanowrimo.org/ [Recommended for brand new and existing writers]

2) Scrivener: https://paulteague.com/scrivener [My affiliate link]

3) Jon Cronshaw, another new author who I'm following on this podcast: https://joncronshaw.com/

4) The Creative Penn podcast: https://www.thecreativepenn.com/

5) 20BooksTo50k Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/781495321956934/ [Highly recommended!]

6) Microsoft OneNote: https://www.onenote.com/

7) Mark Dawson: https://www.facebook.com/markdawsonauthor/

8) The Wishing Shelf Awards: http://www.thewsa.co.uk/

9) Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/

10) Tablo: https://tablo.io/

11) Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/

12) Quickbooks self-employed: https://www.quickbooks.co.uk/oa/accounting-software/self-employed/

13) Wordpress Avada theme: https://avada.theme-fusion.com/

14) How To Build A Pro Author Website With Wordpress: http://selfpublishingadvice.org/how-to-set-up-a-pro-author-website-in-an-hour-using-wordpress-paul-teague/

15) Alliance of Independent Authors: https://paulteague.com/alli [My affiliate link]

16) Hemingway Wordpress theme: https://en-gb.wordpr

1) This week's writing progress - 5036 words written on Friday and I'll write another 5k on Saturday:

2) This is the location of my new thriller - I needed somewhere that a millionaire might own in the UK, but somewhere claustrophobic too: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3072342/What-s-REALLY-like-stay-night-Victorian-fort-middle-sea.html

My book will feature a fictional version of one of these forts.

3) I got the cover for my email marketing book this week, the old design is shown below - I'm still not sure!

4) Training Your Dragon course: http://training-your-dragon.teachable.com/

The courses go live on July 17, 2017 – be one of the first to sign up now and receive a massive $100 discount. This offer will not be repeated and pricing will revert to $297 at course launch.

5) Get your website mobile friendly and get an SSL certificate on your site ASAP ... SiteGround gives this to you free, head for https://paulteague.com/SG [My affiliate link]

6) Once again, my latest novel was plotted out in The Novel Factory, which remains my preferred software for this purpose.

It allows me to outline plot structure, characters and locations and save web links and research notes: https://www.novel-software.com/

7) I'm taking part in this list-building activity for The Grid 1 this week - more info at https://self-publishing-journeys.com/Promos [My affiliate link]

 

This Week’s Self-Publishing News

The Alliance of Independent Authors news update: https://selfpublishingadvice.org/self-publishing-news-audio-still-leading-the-way/

 

Noelle Holten is a professional book reviewer with many years experience as a Senior Probation Officer.

She's just joined Bookouture as Publicity and Social Media Manager and recently completed her first crime novel.

Noelle has reviewed for Caffeine Nights Publishing Crime Club and Carina Crime Club and has even been fortunate enough to be put on a few publishers' reviewing lists.

Never one to catch a breath, Noelle runs the award-winning CrimeBookJunkie blog.

1)  Noelle's crime book review website: https://crimebookjunkie.co.uk/

2) Follow Noelle on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nholten40

3) Interview with Noelle: Noelle Holten – Blogger in the Spotlight: https://portobellobookblog.com/2015/11/20/noelle-holton-blogger-in-the-spotlight/

4) Interview with Noelle: Getting To Know…Noelle Holten: http://lifeofanerdishmum.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/getting-to-knownoelle-holten.html

5) Interview with Crime Book Junkie, Noelle Holten: http://marktilbury.com/interview-with-crime-book-junkie-noelle-holten/

Talking points

1) Crime & Publishment event: http://www.crimeandpublishment.co.uk/ [Recommended!]

2) Bookouture: http://www.bookouture.com/

3) Best Crime Books & More website from  http://www.bestcrimebooksandmore.co.uk/

4) I Love Reading: http://ilovereading1.weebly.com/

5) Graham Smith: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Graham-Smith/e/B006FTIBBU/

[You can listen to Graham's podcast interview at https://self-publishing-journeys.com/episode-60-graham-smith/]

6) Caffeine Nights: http://www.caffeinenights.com/

7) Britain's Next Bestseller: http://www.bnbsbooks.co.uk/

8) Sarah Hardy's By The Letter Book Reviews https://bytheletterbookreviews.com/

1) Scotland's Secret Bunker in Fife: http://www.secretbunker.co.uk/

2) I have booked my ticket for Feb 3-4, 2018 Runnymede-on-Thames 20BookLondon.

I booked via Booking.com for free cancellation up to 1st Feb [My referral link] and this is the location.

This is the event website: http://20bookslondon.com/

The 20BooksTo50k Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/781495321956934/ [Highly recommended!]

3) The Glasgow Gathering, online marketers' event: http://glasgowgathering.com/details/

4) John Hindmarsh's podcast interview: https://self-publishing-journeys.com/episode-70-john-hindmarsh/

John Hindmarsh writes thrillers and science fiction – sometimes with a crossover between the two.

He is originally from Australia, he's spent time in England and now lives in California where he writes full time.

Raised as a farmer, John studied for and qualified as a Certified Public Accountant, then transitioned into an IT consultant.

He has self-published several novels, writes short stories and is a serious photographer.

Find out more

John's website: http://johnhindmarsh.com/

John's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JohnHindmarshAuthor/

John's Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Hindmarsh/e/B005309ASK

John's Goodreads author page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7337086.John_Hindmarsh

Talking Points

John's Broken Glass cover art: http://mjb-graphics.co.uk/broken-glass/

Thrilling Reads interview with John Hindmarsh: http://get.thrillingreads.com/mtta-42-john-hindmarsh/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/partners

InstaFreebie: https://self-publishing-journeys.com/IF [My affiliate link]

Vellum formatting software: https://vellum.pub/ [Recommended!]

 

1) My Q3 (July-Sept) goals (personal financial goals hidden as are family visits):

https://self-publishing-journeys.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/q3-goals-819x1024.jpg

2) Sell More Books Show: http://sellmorebooksshow.com/

3) MailerLite is my current recommended writing tool: https://self-publishing-journeys.com/ML

4) My courses on Teachable:

How To Use Vellum On A PC: http://self-publishing-academy.teachable.com/p/how-to-use-vellum-on-a-pc/

Self-Publishing Academy: http://self-publishing-academy.teachable.com/p/self-publishing-academy/

5) 20BooksTo50k Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/781495321956934/ [Highly recoemmended!]

6) Burden of Gult on pre-release: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Burden-Guilt-Paul-J-Teague-ebook/dp/B071XJKZMM/

7) Caledonian Sleeper: https://www.sleeper.scot/

8) WebinarJam: https://www.webinarjam.com/

9) BookFunnel: https://bookfunnel.com/

10) InstaFreebie: https://self-publishing-journeys.com/IF [My affiliate link] 

 

Rachel Abbott spent most of her working life as the Managing Director of an interactive media company.

After her company was sold in 2000, it took until November 2011 for Rachel to launch her first novel Only the Innocent.

The book was self-published in the UK through the Kindle Direct Publishing programme on Amazon, and reached the number 1 spot in the Kindle store just over three months later.

In August 2015, Amazon confirmed that Rachel is the UK's bestselling independent author over the last five years.

She is also listed at number 14 in the list of bestselling authors – both traditionally and independently published – over the same five year period.

Rachel now splits her time between homes in Italy and Alderney, where she writes full time and has just published her sixth novel, The Sixth Window.

Episode 69, release date Monday 26th June, 2017

1) Rachel's website: http://www.rachel-abbott.com/

2) Rachel's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RachelAbbott1Writer/

3) Follow Rachel on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RachelAbbott

4) Rachel's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/RachelAbbott

5) Follow Rachel on Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/rachelabbott1/

6) Rachel's Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rachel-Abbott/e/B0068FBVCW/

7) Rachel's Goodreads author page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5349971.Rachel_Abbott

Talking Points

1) Rachel uses Scrivener for writing her books: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php

2) Rachel plots her books with Scrapple: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scapple.php

3) Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/

4) Ingram Spark: http://www.ingramspark.com/

5) New Writing North (which hosted Rachel's talk in Newcastle): http://newwritingnorth.com/

6) The AIDA marketing model: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDA_(marketing)

7) The Writer's Workshop: http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/