by The Indie Voice
In the wake of hitting the New York Times and the USA Today Bestseller lists with our box set in April, all ten Indie Voice authors received so many questions related to self-publishing and how we individually and collectively “made it” in self-publishing, that we decided to put together a practical guide. We called it “The Naked Truth about Self-Publishing”, because that’s what it really is.
There’s no fluff, even though we each take a couple of pages in the book to talk about our personal journey. But the rest of the book contains practical advice, links to resources, and numbers. It still seems to shock people that there are actually authors out there who’ll reveal how many books they’ve sold and how much money we’ve made. But it’s not because we like to brag. Ok, we do just a little, but it’s really so that other authors who’re on the fence about self-publishing see the possibilities and are inspired.
Eight of us went to the RWA conference in Atlanta just recently, and several of us gave workshops to a standing-room-only crowd. The energy and excitement, but also the fear and anxiety, was so strong, and something we had never felt before. Everybody we met was talking about self-publishing. Everybody wanted the inside scoop, the little tips and tricks that we employed to get us where we are now. Had we had to explain to everybody individually what is involved when self-publishing, we would have never gotten to eat or sleep. Because there’s so much to succeeding. It’s not just about writing the book and uploading it, and then sitting back and waiting for your paycheck to arrive. No, that’s when a lot of our work just starts.
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The Naked Truth about Self-Publishing goes into all this. We’re lucky to be such a diverse group of women. We’re all good at what we do, but some of us have developed areas of true expertise, may it be metadata, formatting, marketing, reader relations, foreign translations, and more. Each of us wrote a couple of chapters of what she knew best. And each of us learned something new when reading our fellow authors’ chapters.
We believe in self-publishing, and we believe that the more informed our fellow authors become the better for all of us. This is not a zero-sum game: another author selling well doesn’t mean you’ll sell less as a result of it. There’s enough for all of us. The author sitting next to you is not your competition. Through authors sharing their experiences and cross-promoting, they help each other succeed. That’s why we spend our time sharing our knowledge and traveling from conference to conference to educate our fellow authors.
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Join our indie-writers-only Facebook group: Club Indie . To receive an invitation to this group, please contact the Indie Voice by emailing us at theindievoice@gmail.com.
The members of the Indie Voice are (from left to right): Tina Folsom, Denise Grover Swank, Debra Holland, Liliana Hart, Jasinda Wilder, Colleen Gleason, Dorien Kelly, Jane Graves, Jana DeLeon, and Theresa Ragan.
I’ve nearly finished reading this e-book the once and I expect to go around the second time. There’s a heck of a lot of inside information here – some REALLY helpful material.
It’s primarily slanted towards romance writers – but if you don’t glean something from the pages of this THE NAKED TRUTH ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING = then you really ought to go talk to an eye-doctor on account of there is something SERIOUSLY wrong with your reading glasses.
The best thing about this book is it is CURRENT – and that’s important in self-publishing. The rules of this gig are in a state of perpetual evolution – which is why a book such as this one is of vital importance.
If I wasn’t so all-fired manly I’d probably sit down and write me a romance – but face it – I’ve got so much testosterone in my genetic make-up that Chuck Norris has me on his blood donor list.
For inspiration, information and in-depth instruction you cannot beat THE NAKED TRUTH ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING.
Pick up a copy now, why don’t you?
Thanks Steve, I’m so happy to hear that you got some useful information, even though there’s a slant toward the romance writer in this book, but many of our tips will apply to any fiction writer, and some to non-fiction writers too.
We plan to update the book at least once a year since things change very fast in this business.