For all of us who blog, I am guessing it’s a common experience. We write a new blog post, we upload it and wait, however patiently or impatiently, for reactions or comments. And we get… nothing.
Crickets.
At Indies Unlimited, we always get comments, sometimes tons of them, and many readers talk about using the information we’ve supplied, but do they? It’s not always easy to know if what we’ve made available has been truly helpful, and/or if that person has applied the information and/or gotten any results from it. For those of us who are paying it forward, we LOVE hearing about your successes. For those of us who have blazed the trail, we LOVE hearing that others were able to follow our path and get where they wanted to go. It’s a phenomenal feeling to know that we have helped someone reach their dream and do what they never thought they could do. After all, we’ve been there.
We have gotten quite a bit of recognition around the web. Bookworks listed us in their top 15 Blogs for Indie Authors. Publisher’s Weekly listed us in their top 6 Great Blogs for Indie Authors. Choosy Bookworm listed us as #1 in sites for learning and connecting on their list of the top 40 Resources for Writing and Marketing Books. So we’re definitely getting the critical acclaim. (You can check out our “brag” page here.) But are we helping writers where it counts? Are we providing information that gets results?
I thought it was time to share with you what some of our readers have said and done.
We recently received an email like this. I’ve edited out the specific information, but what’s here is exactly what we got in our mail bag.
…One of your posts was about the opportunity to enter a Short Story Contest with the link to it. I entered it and I won it … I want to thank you very much for all the help and good advice I have learned from your site. I am very grateful to all of you, who are part of www.indiesunlimited.com not just because I was able to enter this single contest and win …, but because your weekly Flash Fiction writing prompts have helped me to hone my writing skills. I started writing flash fiction short stories and I try to enter one every week in your weekly flash fiction contest since October 2015. Prior to this all I published was word search books.
Our buddy Morgan Winters, another frequent entrant in our Flash Fiction contests, went so far as to write a guest post about what IU has done for him.
Indies Unlimited has done EVERYTHING for me. It has shown me that I can write something shorter than an epic novel. It has taught me how to do everything from formatting my own book to finding free promotion platforms. I learned how to set up my Author Central page, how to make a book trailer video, and so much more.
Another email was from a reader who used our free promotional tool, Thrifty Thursday, and had great results.
Wow! Based on the immediate spike in sales of (book name) and the skyrocketing Amazon KENP read chart, I have to give a big thanks to readers who like quick, hip mysteries … and a giant shout out to Indies Unlimited’s Thrifty Thursday: eBook Bargain Bonanza.
We recently wrapped up our special monthly spotlight on Indies Heroes. It was great to be able to share who has inspired us, who has helped us behind the scenes, and who has moved the chess piece of indie-dom further along toward success. But we also want to spotlight YOU, the readers, who take the information and opportunities we offer and turn those into results. That’s really what we’re here for. So, in the comments below, please tell us what you’ve learned, what opportunities you’ve taken, what you’ve accomplished with IU by your side. Your success is our success. Your progress is our progress. And we love hearing from you.
Not surprised by the great comments. Nearly every article on Indies Unlimited teaches me something–and not just about writing. I’ve learned so much here about marketing strategies and tactics, and received invaluable information on how to build a platform. I am a complete “newbie” in this area and this site has been invaluable to me as I start from the ground up. I, too, am a huge fan of the weekly opportunity to participate in the flash fiction contest. Thanks to all the administrators and contributors for doing what you do!
Stacie, thanks so much for letting us know what’s been valuable to you. It’s nice to know we can pass on our experiences, our lessons learned, so you up-and-coming folks can use them to springboard yourselves forward. We hope, also, that you’ll let us know about your successes!
Absolutely, Melissa! Thank you.
When one is put on the spot like that it’s hard to answer because I’ve learned so much from all the posts and comments on IU it’s just impossible to quantify, and if I tried it would take 700 pages or more- even though I have learned about brevity and less is more along the way.
As for how successful I’ve been at applying what I’ve learned, well that is another thing I’m probably not the best one to judge. But I have tried. There have been swathes of helpful marketing ideas which have given me the courage to try, and I’ve got a few results too. There have been great ideas about other forms of promotion, some of which I never quite got my head round, but others have been great fun and helped me sell some books.
All in alll, IU has been by far the most informative, friendly, influential and worthwhile writing forum I have found and it has led me into unexpected channels, made me many super new friends, and introduced me to aspects of books, writing and publishing I had never dreamed of.
It’s been fun participating too, so thanks to each and every one of you for letting me be a small part of this dynamic organism. 🙂
Ian, thanks so much for your comments. It’s great hearing how IU has added to your writing life, even in ways not quantifiable. After all, it’s not always about the money, is it? Great friends are a valuable and unexpected side effect.
The new friends are a particularly valuable bonus and its through interaction with them that I’ve learned most. Mere words in a post are very helpful, but sharing others’ experiences and swapping ideas brings all the pointers to life and makes them usable. It also provides oceans of encouragement and wonderful, constructive feedback. 🙂
You’re absolutely right, Ian.
Readers are not the only ones who benefit from IU. As a contributing member I can’t begin to list what I have learned here. We’re a team within and a team without.
That we are, Yvonne! Thanks for adding that.
As a traditionally published author, my books are edited, designed and marketed by publishers that pay me an advance before writing the manuscript. I’ve still learned a lot here and consider IU a valuable resource. I plan to also self publish in the future and that is where I will use most of what I’ve learned. I meet lots of people that ask my advice about writing and publishing. I always send them to IU as the best resource in this area. Thank you and all the minions for everything you do.
Thank you, Richard! I think many newbies think a traditional publisher will take care of everything, but that’s not always the case. Often you still have to do your own marketing, and IU can certainly help with that. Thanks for the vote of confidence and for recommending us to others. The word-of-mouth is invaluable!
I do work on my own marketing and IU has certainly helped with ideas and connections for building my author platform.
I have to say I’ve got more out of IU since I started writing for the site. For some strange reason, it seems the more you put into something, the more you get out of it. Hmm. Strange concept!
Yeah; go figure, right?
Hi Melissa,
You really hit the nail on the head about how Indies Unlimited has helped all of us. Everyday, I Find something new on your site to help my writing career grow and move forward.
Thank you and best wishes.
Joe
Thanks, Joe. And you don’t do too bad on the Flash Fiction each week, either!
-grin- I think most of us were lurkers here on IU before we whipped up the courage to contribute. IU rocks!
Thanks, AC! (And thanks, also, for the nice review!)