Celebrating Independent Authors
Hashtags are a great way to direct your post on social media towards viewers who might want to see what you have to say. Everybody knows that. But there are about 60 million hashtags out there. How can you find hashtags that will attract the right people to your post?
Hashtagify is a handy tool for finding useful hashtags. Here’s how it works. Continue reading “Finding a Better Hashtag: the Basics of Hashtagify”
In the writing community, people often suggest soliciting reviews via Goodreads, but for the new author, how may not be immediately obvious. Today, I’ll give an overview of how to use Goodreads to solicit reviews.
Generally, the best way to solicit reviews via Goodreads is through the Goodreads Groups, which are established and run by members. Many of the discussion groups have programs that allow authors to offer a free eBook copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. The programs tend to be called R4R (read for review), R2R (read to review) or Authors Seeking Reviews. If you’ve never done R4R, here are the basics. Continue reading “How to Get Reviews via Goodreads”
Guest Post
by S.E. Zbasnik
“No man is an island” wrote John Donne before getting ripped off by Simon & Garfunkle. Never is that more true than when an author is trying to get his or her book to market. It is impossible to do it all on your own from the cover, editing, proofing, formatting, and marketing. These things take not only time but also a skill set not everyone is proficient in, making them a breeding ground for scammers.
While a plethora of predatory publishers and editors exist within the pre-publishing stages, there are also a slew of scammers when it comes to marketing. What’s an author to do? You need to get the word out to drum up attention that hopefully leads to sales, and these shiny websites are offering their services to help – often for staggering fees. Requesting thousands of dollars has to mean they’re guaranteed to get results, right? Continue reading “How to Avoid Book Marketing Scams”
Linda Lee Schell is the Readers’ Choice in this week’s Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge. The winning entry is decided by the popular vote and rewarded with a special feature here today. (In the case of a tie, the writer who submitted an entry first is the winner per our rules.) Without further ado, here’s the winning entry:
Continue reading “Linda Lee Schell Wins Flash Fiction Challenge”