Tag: self-publishing

Why You Shouldn’t Worry about Family Not Supporting Your Books

When the Power series was first hot, my cousin said to me: “You should write books like on Power! The way we grew up, I know you can put some stuff together.”

That bothered me for two reasons:

  • I am not that kind of writer. Yes, I grew up around drug dealers and addicts, but I don’t write those kinds of books. (TWWBE was the closest book I’ve written with those themes.)
  • I interpreted it to mean the kinds of books I write already aren’t good enough for my Black audiences. In my mind she may as well have said: “We Black people wanna read books like the Power TV series.”

Self-Publishing is a lot of work, and not feeling supported by our family and friends can be crushing.

However, consider these facts, with a focus on point two:

  • Family and long-time friends don’t know the author you. They are only focused on who you’ve been to them growing up and will probably only jump on the bandwagon if you make the New York Times Best Seller and are introduced by Oprah.
  • More seriously, family, relatives, and long-time friends who don’t read the kind of books you write are not your targeted audience anyway.

Meaning you didn’t write this urban romance novel for your auntie.

You wrote it for the 34-to-44-year-old single Black woman who spends her time sharing relationship memes on Facebook, analyzing the breakups of celebrities in the Shaderoom, and devouring novels by Ashley Antoinette Coleman.

This is called appealing to your target audience, or the specific group of people within your market that your marketing is trying to reach.

Put simply: the strangers most interested in the kind of book you write who will likely go from strangers to book besties.

This is why worrying about why your relatives aren’t supporting your writing career is a waste of time.

Because you didn’t write the book for them in the first place.

Not unless they are part of your intended group.

So if auntie is within that wheelhouse, she will be a fan of your books.

But if she is more interested in the Power TV series, she should probably find an author who writes books like that.

Be encouraged.

Check out more Indie Author Basics articles here.

Preparing Your Self-Published Book for Bookstores (Part 1)

Contrary to popular belief, self-published books can get into brick-and-mortar bookstores.

Ask me how I know…

Here Are Three Easy Ways to Prepare Your Self-Published / Indie Book for a Store:

1. Have a professionally designed cover with your name and title on the spine.

Usually, I will tell you to ensure it’s edited first (do that, please), but I want to highlight book covers here because they become even more important offline.

Imagine you are in Barnes and Noble (or anywhere) looking for your next read. The cover is going to attract you first.

Also, because you see it from that point of view, the book becomes easier to notice if the name and title are on the spine.

Some bookstores also take your book through a review process, where their team has to vote on the book. If the cover is poor and the editing is not up to standard, they’ll reject stocking your book.

2. Buy Your ISBN from Bowker

You can get your book into Independent stores with a free ISBN on consignment. However, having your book registered under your or your company’s name is a plus if your target is larger chains.

It’s a plus because bookstores hate Amazon’s guts. As soon as they see you are published with Amazon, they are judging you and already trying to come up with a way to let you down easy. It’s almost an instant no.

There are also tons of benefits to having your own ISBN. I go into depth about that here.

3. Use both Amazon and Ingram Spark.

Publish with Kindle Direct Publishing for Amazon only. Do not choose the expanded distribution. This option puts your book into Ingram Spark’s system but under Amazon.

Instead, you will opt out of this and create your own Ingram account.

Then, you are going to publish your book there as well.

This will allow bookstores to order your book directly from Ingram Spark through you instead of Amazon should they decide to carry your title. It also prevents you from bringing copies in yourself, which you would do under consignment.

More on this in part two…

Check out more Indie Author Basics articles here.

Do More with Your Self-Published Book

High achieving authors (Indie, Trad, or otherwise) tend to fall into a few categories:

  • They publish high-quality books (well-edited, dope cover art, and well-formatted, to name a few).

  • They collaborate with other authors and business people. 

  • They use their book to create additional income streams through businesses and services.

Today, I want to focus on that last one, although all these are important.

No matter the route, book publishing is hard work, and most of the work happens after the book is written and published. Most of us find ourselves saying, “Dang, now what?”

Depending on what your book is about, there are so many creative things you can do to leverage your self-publishing career.

Here are a few things I do based on the kinds of books I write:

  • From writing black historical fiction, I lecture at schools.

and so on…

Some authors even have high-ticket courses based on the chapters in their books. Podcasts and workshops based on the book are also ways people leverage their books.

The key point is to look at the book not as the end but as the beginning. Let it (the book) stretch you to new heights!

Check out more Indie Author Basics articles here.

New: Book Review Directory

Photo by George Milton

I have created a page on the blog listing all the books reviewed so far to make it easier for you to access them.

Browse the directory and meet your next favorite author!

These are the authors whose books received a score of 3* or more. Support the author by purchasing the book if it resonates with you.

If I’ve reviewed your book in the past or will in the future, your review can be found on this list!

Wanna get in?

Apply for a review today by clicking on this link to get started.

But hurry! The 2023 registry is only open for a limited time.

How Blogging Helps Me Write Books

Photo by Plann

Social media is a powerful vehicle for publishing short-form content that people can digest quickly and easily. We are all lazy to an extent with short attention spans.

Which is why I love blogging as a way of publishing long-form content.

It gives writers a chance to fully express the completeness of their thoughts. And, if you are long-winded like me, I enjoy being able to thoroughly add context to my thoughts with examples to nurture further understanding.

Blogging also helps me to keep writing in those spaces when I am not actively writing a book. (I wrote more about that here) This is important because it means I can continue to sharpen my writing skills (through actually writing) and engage with others even when I haven’t published anything new.

But there’s an exciting twist!

Blogging has, so far, helped me to publish two books, with another on the way. That’s because, unlike static websites, blogs are updated regularly, allowing people to leave immediate feedback and share. Authors can see how their content performs in real-time, producing invaluable information they can apply later.

One of the most powerful ways blogging helps me is my ability to repurpose the content I publish here into larger works. Thus, even when I don’t think I am laying the foundation for new works, I am!

The Women with Blue Eyes, I am Soul, and Black History Facts You Didn’t Learn in School (2023) are all descendants of my posts on this blog over the years. The latter is based on my Black History Fun Fact Friday series and will be the biggest project to come out of The PBS Blog.

I like to say that reading and writing are a partnership, and blogging is the perfect bridge where we get to see how our thoughts have communicated with readers.

What about you? Does blogging help you to write? Do you recognize any instances where you’ve published books from blogging?

Voting for this year’s International Author Boss Awards Are Now Open!

Click Here to Vote me Author Boss of 2022.

Dear Indie Author, Remember to Guide Your Readers to Your Own Platforms

None of us can deny the power of social media to impact businesses, big and small. As we’ve seen repeatedly, what we post to our accounts can have positive and negative real-life effects, destructive and groundbreaking. With it, we can reach people worldwide without leaving the house. It is no longer just about posting family photos. People are making real money and establishing real connections.

However, an over reliance on social media to hold up the core of our business can prove disastrous since we do not own them. Lately, I have heard many complaints of Instagram pages being hacked, Facebook jail, and TikTok suspensions.

And these are not complaints from people with small accounts. People with tens of thousands of followers have had to start from zero.

People who operate systematically, moving their tribe (those genuinely interested in their content because everyone isn’t), over to their own platforms, do not lose when their accounts are hacked or when IG decides to glitch.

They do not lose because they understand a basic principle:

Social Media is the vehicle, not the destination.

Photo by cottonbro studio

Social Media is a powerful tool for socializing and networking with your target audience. Still, you want to always be moving them along your funnel.

This looks like adding them to your blog, email/text list, website, or membership site.

To do this, use a call-to-action at the end of your posts to tell people what you want them to do.

The call-to-action or CTA is when you give your people direction. What do you want us to do after seeing your post?

  • Do you want us to visit your website by clicking the link in your bio?
  • Do you want us to leave a comment? Are you asking for feedback?
  • Do you want us to buy something? Are you having a Black Friday sale?

The goal is to avoid getting too comfortable with the followers you get from these social media platforms. Only some people following you are interested in what you have to offer. You can ensure they know where to find you outside Instagram and Facebook. This allows you to nourish relationships and build stronger bonds with those who care.

In a matter of seconds, your thousands of followers can be gone if someone hacks you or your account is deleted for whatever reason.

Protect yourself by establishing an online home.

Indie Author Basics simplifies and streamlines the Self-Publishing Process so authors can Self-Publish high-quality books without pulling out their hair.

Click Here to Access the Archive.

Dear Indie Author, No One Wants to Subscribe to Your Newsletter (Do this Instead)

I used to ask people to subscribe to my email list, and almost no one ever did. It was also cringy to ask.

And then I realized I was working harder than I needed to.

How people look when you say subscribe to your author newsletter.

The truth is, asking people to subscribe to your email list is boring, and no one wants to do it. We have enough emails.

And if you are a new author, no one’s ever heard of, saying we will get a free copy of your book doesn’t work either.

As I alluded to in the last post, authors must start to think like readers if they want to attract them.

Instead of asking people to subscribe to your list directly, do this instead.[mepr-show rules=”31881″ unauth=”message”] 

Photo by EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA

Offer Something They Want

The value in giving something away is that if it’s a truly valuable piece of content, it will naturally lead to your paid stuff. At first, this wasn’t working for me. It wasn’t until I gave away my best book (the one people actually wanted to read) that I started to see a difference.

For your give, my advice would be not to throw something together. Give us something good.

Your give is also known as a lead magnet and doesn’t have to be a book. It can be a resource, guide, free tutorial, or access to exclusive content. It can be a complimentary ticket to your online class or a virtual pass to the next event.

Deliver Your Give By Requiring Email Sign-Up

Choose a platform to use to collect email addresses. I use Mailchimp, but there are tons of others. Require people to enter their email to receive the freebie.

Set Up Automation

As soon as they sign up, they should be able to instantly download the freebie. Setting up an automatic welcome email to officially introduce yourself is an excellent start to a warm welcome.

You’re done, and you didn’t have to beg, borrow, or pull teeth to get here.

Other ways to add subscribers:

  • Collaborate with other Authors
  • Host a contest

These are the two most powerful strategies I’ve seen. I get the most sign-ups through my poetry contests or when I collaborate with other authors.

  • Have a sign-up sheet at every live event.

This is probably the only time it’s okay to ask people to subscribe to your email list directly. I always have it sitting at my table. Still, the amazing thing is people will walk by and put their email addresses down without me asking! So in a way, you still don’t have to ask. All you have to do is make it available.

  • Add a pop-up on your blog and website. 

Please ensure this goes away after about 5 seconds and doesn’t take up most of the space. Pop-ups that aren’t easy to close out are annoying and distracting. This makes us feel like we are being forced to sign-up. You don’t want people leaving your site because your pop-up won’t leave them alone.

  • Use Your Blog

If email newsletters aren’t your thing, you can always use a blog. When people subscribe to your blog, they get an email notification whenever you post something new. You can use this with your third-party email list or by itself. Either way, it’s another way to stay connected with your tribe outside social media.

I can go on, but the moral of the story is there are tons of ways to collect email without spamming.[/mepr-show]

Oh, please be sure you provide a way out! It is illegal not to provide a way for people to unsubscribe if they no longer feel you. It is much easier to do this if your emails go through a third party. If people can’t unsubscribe, they will report you as spam, which can ultimately hurt you. I talk more about that here.

Couldn’t See the Full Post?

Subscribe to Indie Author Basics! Membership is Good for a Full Year.

Indie Author Basics streamlines and simplifies self-publishing so you can publish high-quality books without pulling out your hair.