Tag: quality book

Perfection in Publishing: No Excuses

noexcusesOur Fearless Leader, Stephen Hise, recently was featured on a blurb.com blog talking about what it takes to be a successful indie writer. Or rather, what it takes to not be a successful indie writer. He points out all the places were a writer might fall short, either in expectation, attitude or in deed. One of the reasons an author might not do well is:

You are big on excuses.
Indie-land is a no-excuse zone. Don’t put out some typo-riddled book with a cheesy, amateurish cover and expect people to overlook its flaws just because you’re an indie. Help is out there. You can hire it or you can learn some new skills. You can even find folks who will help you get it right, or trade their services for something you do well.

This reminded me of something I read, oh, about 35 years ago in a photography magazine. I am a photographer in my spare time, sometimes professionally but mostly not. I had my own photography business ages ago—shot some weddings, shot some portraits, even won some awards. I used to read photo magazines religiously. I don’t now remember which magazine it was or who the author was, but I read this article about being a professional photographer. I will paraphrase what I read, or at least what I remember through the lens of all those years: Continue reading “Perfection in Publishing: No Excuses”

The Indies Unlimited Vetting Process

LabelRecently, we ran a post showing you How Indies Unlimited Works. We explained about our staff and our content, including the features we run which help authors promote their work. Book promotion is only a small portion of what we offer here on Indies Unlimited. We run only two paid feature spots per week. The rest of the book promo opportunities we offer are of the free variety: book briefs, announcements, or book video trailers.

We also offer some self-serve posts, wherein we invite authors to post links to their books in certain formats or venues. Books listed in those post threads are subject to a lower standard of vetting focused on whether the book genre is within those accepted on the site.

All books featured on Indies Unlimited, whether the promotion is free or paid, are run through a vetting process. This is why we ask that all queries, including those for paid advertising, include a link to the book authors want featured. We need to see how this book is presented – so we will know what our readers will encounter if they click through to the book’s purchase page. Continue reading “The Indies Unlimited Vetting Process”