The site currently known as Kboards started life as KindleBoards, a website primarily dedicated to talking about that new-fangled reading device, Amazon’s Kindle. Kboards is a booming site for both readers and writers, with over 80,000 registered users and 2.5 million posts. For writers, there’s more to it than just an opportunity to rub elbows with readers. A sub-board of Kboards is The Writer’s Café, which has become one of the go-to places for up-to-the-second information about publishing, with a strong emphasis on independent publishing. Continue reading “Introduction to Kboards”
Author: Shawn Inmon
Shawn Inmon is a full-time author who lives in the bucolic town of Seaview, Washington. He is married to his high school sweetheart, and they are privileged to share their home with two Chocolate Labs and a schizophrenic cat named Georgie. Shawn is the author of the twelve book Middle Falls Time Travel series, which has been produced in audio by Podium Publishing. He has eight other books, including travel books, romances, memoirs, and a collection of short stories. He promises to settle down and write in one genre. Someday. Learn more about Shawn on Facebook or his Author Central page
Is a Developmental Editor Right for You?
According to Big Al’s Publishing Process Survey, only 45 of the 85 respondents paid to work with an editor, although another 17 traded services. There are a number of reasons, ranging from the artistic to the monetary, for deciding not to work with an editor. I’ve taken the other path and worked with at least one editor on every project I’ve published. It’s my single biggest publishing expense on each book, which, given my propensity for thrift, shows how much I value my editors’ feedback.
When writers do choose to employ a professional editor, they normally do it at the end of the process, either working with a copy editor or a proofreader. I do that as well, but I also work with a developmental editor often before I type the first words. I’ve talked about this with enough fellow writers to realize I probably lost a few of you right there: The process of creation is sacrosanct. I just want an editor to clean up my grammar and look for a few bad habits. I don’t want them to interfere with my creative vision. Continue reading “Is a Developmental Editor Right for You?”
Do Facebook Author Pages Still Work?
Facebook is fini, right? Since they began “monetizing” the site several years ago, charging businesses to reach our own fans, authors have been peering at the social media giant with a jaundiced eye. Why should I have to pay to reach my own fans? is a familiar refrain. No one sees my posts anymore anyway is another. In fact, a lot of authors I know have decided to just let their Facebook page lie fallow.
I believe that is a mistake. For me, my most valuable promotional tools are my mailing list and my Facebook page. I don’t have a huge number of Facebook fans – just under 2,200, but they are all organic and the involvement rate is high. Would you believe me if I told you that I had a single post generate more than 150,000 impressions without paying a penny? Admittedly, that post was unusual, but I manage to get at least a few posts that are seen by 25,000+ each week. And that’s with only 2,200 fans.
The question is, how? Continue reading “Do Facebook Author Pages Still Work?”
The New Book Release “30 Day Cliff”
Whatever your writing and pre-publication process is, you’ve done it: your book is edited, proofread, formatted, and you have a cover that you love. You’ve hit the publish button. You’re probably not thinking that the next 30 days may make or break your book’s success. But that just might be the case. So, now what?
For most of us, the first steps go something like this: send an email out to your newsletter subscribers. Those should be your most ardent fans and supporters. They will give your book a nice little boost right out of the gate. Up next, social media: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Instagram, and wherever else you want. The big question that most authors face is, what then? Continue reading “The New Book Release “30 Day Cliff””