Self-Publishing with ALLi

In this month's Advanced Self-Publishing Salon from the Alliance of Independent Authors, Orna Ross and Joanna Penn discuss tips and tools for how to launch a book.

The AskALLi podcasts are sponsored by Damonza: Books Made Awesome.

Topics discussed this week include

• An update from Orna Ross on ALLi's activities.
• Joanna Penn updates us on her writing and editing process.
• Orna is working on her creativepreneur (creative entrepreneur) work.
• What's going on with EU copyright and what does it mean for indie authors?
• French/Israeli author wins award; French booksellers won't stock the book because Amazon published it. Orna is outraged.
• The importance of developmental editors: Get one!
• Challenge your assumptions about marketing. Don't keep doing what is not working.
• How much are readers willing to pay?
• Build profit into every transaction.

And more!

Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, http://selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org.

Now, go write and publish!

About the Hosts

Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. For more information about Joanna, visit her website: http://thecreativepenn.com

Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. For more information about Orna, visit her website: http://www.ornaross.com

How to Launch Your Book: Bump Up Sales with the Best Book Launch Ever

Are you ready to have the best book launch ever? Shayla Raquel—editor, marketer, and publishing mentor—guides you through her one-of-a-kind plan to launch Amazon bestsellers for her indie authors. You'll learn how:

to build a launch team to use social media as a lifeline to your readers to pitch to influencers and book bloggers to use your email list and preorder incentives to increase sales to plan an out-of-the-park online launch party to tell the world about your book without feeling salesy to stay on top of things after the launch and a few more marketing strategies!

So are you ready to have the best book launch ever?

This podcast is part of London Book Fair Self-Publishing Advice Conference (SPACon), an online author conference that showcases the best self-publishing advice and education for authors across the world — harnessing the global reach of the Alliance of Independent Authors' network. Our self-publishing conference features well-known indie authors and advisors, for 24 sessions over 24-hours, in a one-day extravaganza of self-publishing expertise straight to your email inbox.

Welcome to AskALLi, the self-publishing advice broadcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. This week it's our monthly IndieVoices' self-publishing salon with interviews conducted by ALLi Managing Editor Howard Lovy and updates from News Editor Dan Holloway.

I'm about to say something with which just about every other person in the publishing industry will disagree. In fact, most will strongly, passionately, with much snooty sarcasm, disagree with what I'm about to say.

Ready for it? Everybody has a memoir in them. Not only that, but everybody should write one. There, I said it.

Every life is unique, and everybody has a story that only they can tell. As a journalist, what I enjoy most is getting people's stories in their own words. As a book editor, I can help them tell it in a way that brings out their own voice, that will invite others to relive their unique lives with them. With the rise of self-publishing, authors don't need to put up with rejection by acquiring editors who decide whether anybody cares about your story. Just write it. Oh, and hire a good editor to help you tell it. That's all.

I'm Howard Lovy, managing editor at the Alliance of Independent Authors, and I'm focusing this episode of IndieVoices on memoir.

I'd first like you to meet Indie author Leila Summers of South Africa, who self-published a memoir called It Rains in February, about a very personal, painful topic that she made universal.

Also in this episode, ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway updates us on a self-published author who is winning awards in France (and a resultant uproar because he published it on Amazon's CreateSpace), what Amazon Storefront means for indie authors, and an update on European copyright law.

Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need.

And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org.

Now, go write and publish!

Howard Lovy has been a journalist for more than 30 years, and has spent the last five years amplifying the voices of independent publishers and authors. He works with authors as a "book doctor" to prepare their work to be published. Howard is also a freelance business and technology writer, and is launching a new Jewish-themed podcast on Patreon. Find Howard on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Dan Holloway is a novelist, poet and spoken word artist. He is the MC of the performance arts show The New Libertines Earlier this year he competed at the National Poetry Slam final at the Royal Albert Hall. His latest collection, The Transparency of Sutures, is available on Kindle

Welcome to AskALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. This week it's our monthly Member Q&A where ALLi Members' have their most pressing self-publishing questions analyzed and answered. Join your regular hosts for the Member Q&A: Michael La Ronn and Dan Blank.

Questions this month include

• Amazon has made an error in my royalty reports. What do I do?
• Two part question: 1. In my book, I have included links to YouTube Jazz recordings by jazz greats like Dizzie Gillepsie. Do I have permission to do that? and 2. If I want to copy a website address into a link, does that infringe on copyright?
• How do I make it easy for a bookstore to carry my book without bearing the financial burden of returns?
• How do I convert a PDF to a fixed layout ebook?
• When I launch my book, should I change my spelling to American English?
• How long should my novel be?

Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need.

And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org.

Now, go write and publish!

About the Hosts

Michael La Ronn is the author of over 30 books of science fiction & fantasy and authors self-help books. His books include the Galaxy Mavericks series and Modern Necromancy series.

Dan Blank is the founder of WeGrowMedia, where he helps writers and artists share their stories and grow their audience. He is the author of the book "Be the Gateway: A Practical Guide to Sharing Your Creative Work and Engaging an Audience."

In this month's Advanced Self-Publishing Salon from the Alliance of Independent Authors, Orna Ross and Joanna Penn discuss the latest news in author-publishing, including the latest publishing trends and opportunities.

Topics discussed this week include

• ALLi is getting ready for Digital Book World and its online advice conference.
• ALLi is in the middle of its Self-Publishing 3.0 campaign.
• Joanna is finishing Valley of Dry Bones.
• What's it like to co-write with your mom?
• Orna launching two books: poetry and GoCreative!
• What about Foreign Rights Deals? Is that significant income?
• CreateSpace is being rolled into KDP Print. What does it mean?
• Walmart partners with Kobo. How does this impact authors?
• How many platforms should you use?

And more!

Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, http://selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org.

Now, go write and publish!

About the Hosts

Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. For more information about Joanna, visit her website: http://thecreativepenn.com

Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. For more information about Orna, visit her website: http://www.ornaross.com