It’s quick, but it’s not easy.
Flash Fiction: A “Short” Guide
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Author: Mark Dawson
Weekly Write-Up: 17th October 2018
The Man Booker Prize winner is announced, and self-publishing (officially) continues to grow.
SPF-141: Author TV – Building Readership with YouTube – with Garrett Robinson & Antoine Bandele
Video is another way authors can reach out to their audiences and build relationships with new readers. James chats with two authors who are doing just that via YouTube and live streaming service Twitch.
Increase Engagement Through Storytelling
Want to keep your readers glued to your non-fiction book? Try telling them a story.
Weekly Write-Up: 10th October 2018
Hannah Lynn wins the Kindle Storyteller award, a little boy writes a book, and Mark gets on the telly (again)!
No Author Website? Don’t Panic!
Websites are costly and time consuming. But are they essential when you first start out?
SPF-140: Keeping It Clean – with Anne-Marie Meyer
Best selling sweet romance author Anne-Marie Meyer talks to James about learning the ropes of writing, the importance of nailing your genre, and balancing writing with parenthood and marriage.
Weekly Write-Up: October 3rd 2018
Prolific Works replaces Instafreebie, Self-Publishing 3.0 is ‘officially’ here, and UT students provide a peer-review self-publishing platform.
SPF-139: BookLab #3 – with Gretchen S.B.
In this third edition of the SPF Book Lab, SPF friends Stuart Bache, Bryan Cohen and Jennie Nash put on their white coats and safety glasses to help paranormal romance author Gretchen S.B. improve her cover, book description and narrative structure.
The Secret Self-Publish Success Stories
The big names you (probably) didn’t know were self-publishing.
Weekly Write-Up: 26th September 2018
Instafreebie gets a new name, self-publishing makes a man some money, and the ebb and flow of micro-genres.
SPF-138: The Indie Publishing House – with James & Jeanette Hunter
Husband and wife team, James and Jeanette Hunter, talk to James about getting started as an indie author, learning about book marketing, and then transitioning to publishing others’ books.
Where Is James Blatch’s Book?
It’s been eight years in the making. Where is it?
Weekly Write-Up: 19th September 2018
Self-Published novels get nominated for major awards, and a Wonky Donkey makes a man some money.
SPF-137: Why You Need to be Publishing Audiobooks – with Tina Dietz
The popularity of devices like Alexa have created a rise in the demand for audio to educate and entertain commuters and laundry-folders alike. James talks to Tina Dietz about creating audiobooks from both our fiction and non-fiction work.
This week’s highlights include:
- The importance of creativity in every type of business
- How creativity makes us more productive
- The different approaches to audiobooks by fiction and non-fiction authors
- Thoughts on narrating your book yourself
- The range of cost for producing an audiobook, including what you can expect to pay a narrator
- Auditioning narrators to find the right voice for your book
- Providing character information to narrators to find a good fit
- Reading your book outloud yourself to get a sense of your characters’ voices
- The three reasons for starting a podcast
Resources mentioned in this episode:
PATREON: Self Publishing Formula Podcast’s Patreon page
TINA’S WEBSITE: StartSomethingPositive.com Creative Business Solutions
The Care and Maintenance of Critique Partners
Friends that critique together… write better books?
WEEKLY WRITE-UP – 12th September 2018
Amazon, Amazon and… Walmart?
SPF-136: How To Start That Awesome Author Website – with John Dyer, Stuart Grant and Kraig Mathias
An overview of three of the most popular and easiest website platforms for authors to use to create a beautiful and functional website.
Show Notes
- Why your author website is important
- The three website platform types
- Choosing a website platform that suits your technical abilities
- The importance of making sure your site looks good on mobile and tablet
- The costs associated with the different platforms
- Integrating websites with an email list provider
- Why all the parts of your website matter, including, as ever, book cover design
Resources mentioned in this episode:
PATREON: Self Publishing Formula Podcast’s Patreon page
PDF DOWNLOAD: Click here to get the PDF with all the tools and links listed.
SPF FRIEND: Tommy Donbavand’s site about his battle with cancer
Word Counts. Who Needs Them?
It’s not how many words you have that counts, it’s how you use them.
The Indie Author Toolkit
The ten most valuable tools for any indie author, as voted by you!