Tag: guest post

Conquering Self-Doubt (Don’t be Afraid to Suck)

Author Brian Beam

One of my favorite fantasy authors, Brandson Sanderson, once imparted some wonderful advice for writers. Just five simple words. Five words that could possibly be the best writing advice I have ever heard: “Don’t be afraid to suck.”

When I write, I sometimes find myself wondering, “What will readers think about this? What will they say?” Before I know it, I am questioning every word, every sentence, and every paragraph that emerges on the screen before me.

Doubt worms its ugly presence into my brain like a bad pop song with crippling intensity, turning my productivity dial to 0. I realize that I am afraid to suck. Continue reading “Conquering Self-Doubt (Don’t be Afraid to Suck)”

The Challenges of Publishing Indie Nonfiction Books by Marcia Quinn Noren

Author Marcia Quinn Noren
Author Marcia Quinn Noren

For the sake of simplicity, let’s agree that authors who write fiction draw freely from their imaginations. Nonfiction writers are expected to deliver verifiable truths. We do not invent characters, events or dialog. Our task is to spill hard, cold, often ugly facts onto the page, framed in captivating paragraphs. Like novelists, we are storytellers engaged in a similar creative process, and what we write is filtered through our subjective perceptions.

Passion is the emotional component that drives the research. How we interpret information cannot be objective, no matter how hard we try to restrain influences that sway our points of view. Deeply held convictions influence the way our sentences are constructed, determine which resources will be brought forward to support our opinions, while at the same time we strive to keep the third person narrative consistently detached and trustworthy. After scouring every other author’s tome on our topic, we must remain convinced that we have something utterly new to offer our readers. Otherwise, why bother to retell the story? Continue reading “The Challenges of Publishing Indie Nonfiction Books by Marcia Quinn Noren”

Q&A Two-fer

It can be hard to tell from the other side of the curtain just what it is that goes on around here. Sure, every once in a while, somebody leans on the red button and the front row gets more splattered than at a Gallagher performance.

Most of the time though, things run pretty smoothly. One of the drawbacks to making this look easy is that it raises expectations and folks may get a little impatient from time to time. Precious minutes have ticked by since you hit the send button. Fear not. You have questions, we have answers:

I submitted a query/materials to be featured on your site a week ago. How come I haven’t heard back? What do you people do all day?
Indies Unlimited is staffed by lovable but snarky volunteers. We respond to queries in the order in which they are received. Sometimes there is a bit of a backlog, and your patience is appreciated. Here’s the deal though: Sometimes people just send in a query that says, “Here’s my book.” We appreciate that you believe we’re clairvoyant, but since we have a lot of different features, it’s really best if you tell us which one interests you. If you don’t give us what we need to help you, then your query and/or submission goes to the end of the line while we take care of the folks who were more assiduous about following the instructions.

I participated with a Sneak Peek, Book Brief, Book Trailer Video, or Guest Post feature – why can’t I find my book in the IU Book Store?
The book store is updated twice a month, more often if time allows. Unfortunately, the store is not searchable by title, but you should be able to find your book in the “Featured Authors” section. The “Indies Unlimited Authors” is reserved for members of the IU Staff. If your book falls into one of the genres in the store’s left side-bar and you would like your book added, use the contact form, include a link to your book on Amazon.com, and the name of the genre. Of course, you must have participated in one of the qualifying IU features in order to be eligible to have your book listed in the store.

Developing Long-term Relationships for Constant Success

“How do I get people excited to buy my book?!”

It’s a marathon, not a sprint

If you have a book out there, or, if you have a book that will soon be released, I’m sure you’re asking yourself this over and over.

We’ve all been there. In March I wrote an article here at Indies Unlimited on having others promote your book—how to get reviews. In the post, I even offered you my spreadsheet of blogger reviewers and all my little notes and results. Many of you took me up on that request. I hope you were able to make sense out of it. The offer still stands—if you want it, contact me and I’ll get it to you. I still believe that this is a viable option for marketing your book.

Today, I say, “Whoa, Nellie.”

That March post was good and right on the money—IF you are looking to find the short-term answer to a long-term problem. You see, there is no “one-way” to do anything. In our world of self-publishing and indie writing, we have to incorporate some sprint training (the former post) into our marathon training—today’s message. Stay with me until the end where I’ll give you a step by step plan. Continue reading “Developing Long-term Relationships for Constant Success”