Self-Publishing with ALLi

Ep#56: Welcome to Ask ALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Broadcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. This is our monthly Beginners' Self-Publishing Salon, with advice, tips and tools for indie authors just starting out. And here are your regular hosts for the beginners' salon: Jay Artale and Michael La Ronn. Each month Jay and Michael will share self-publishing tips for each segment of the author journey, including: writing, design, book cover design, book production and distribution, marketing and promotion, and how to set up and maintaining your indie author platform. In this introductory session our hosts chat about their indie author experience with fiction and non-fiction, and the layout of this new ALLi broadcast. Each show would feature one of the stages of self-publishing as its primary topic, and this topic would be supplemented by first hand experience from both presenters and other topical news items that have happened in the previous month that are relevant to beginners. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This beginners salon is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a member Q&A and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your show hosts: Jay Artale is a project manager who swapped corporate life for a nomadic existence as a non-fiction writer. She's written and self-published a series of travel guides, travel writing books, and poetry collections. Jay is also one of the co-organizers of the Indie Author Fringe, an online conference for indie authors who self-publish. Connect with Jay on Twitter: @BirdsOAFPress Michael La Ronn is the author of over 30 science fiction & fantasy novels and author self-help books. To date, he has published over 1.5 million words of fiction and nonfiction. Since publishing his first book in 2014, he has produced a prolific writing portfolio while raising a family and working a full-time job in the insurance industry. Connect with Michael on Twitter: @MichaelLaRonn

Ep#55: Orna Ross & Joseph Alexander answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Each month, Orna Ross, ALLi Director, invites a special guest into the indie author hot seat to answer ALLi Members' questions. This month's special guest is non-fiction indie authors Joseph Alexander who built his Fundamental Changes guitar series into a instantly recognizable author brand. Find out some of the secrets of his success, and listen in as he and Orna answer self-publishing questions posed by our ALLi Members. Here's the self-publishing questions asked and answered this month: Q: I hear other authors say that promoting non-fiction is easier than promoting fiction, but my efforts aren't working for me - what am I doing wrong? Q: I'm publishing a comic self-help book, can you help me with a basic low cost marketing plan, or one that is free to implement? Q: Are Amazon Ads a good option for indie authors? Q: What is the best approach for Facebook Advertising. Should I be promoting my Facebook page, my book, or a Facebook post? Q: I'm still confused about the benefits of using Amazon CreateSpace and IngramSpark to produce and distribute my POD book? Also do I need to buy my own ISBNs or can I use the free CreateSpace ISBN on IngramSpark? Q: I've heard rumors about Amazon Imprints (Amazon Publishing) and that Amazon will eventually only sell books that have been published under their imprint. Do you think this will happen? Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your hosts Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss Joseph Alexander has been a guitarist and expert music tutor for over 20 years. His tuition books are published in four languages and have sold over 200,000 copies to widespread critical acclaim. Recently his books passed $1,000,000 in revenue and he is currently writing a guide book to self-publishing for authors. He is currently writing and publishing cutting edge-material that breaks down the barriers between learning and playing the guitar.

Ep#55: Welcome to Ask ALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. In a monthly salon type discussion, Orna Ross, Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors and Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, talk about the latest tools and trends of interest to emerging and experienced self-publishing authors. Topics discussed this week include: Money and Creativity Where Readers Convene Amazon Buy Button How to Market a Book – 3rd Edition Choosing a Self-Publishing Service KDP Categories Dublin Writer's Conference What Penn pages are selling? New Amazon Charts Attention Economy Indie Author Fringe Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#54: Welcome to Ask ALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. In a monthly salon type discussion, Orna Ross, Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors and Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, talk about the latest tools and trends of interest to emerging and experienced self-publishing authors. Topics discussed this week include: Money and Creativity Where Readers Convene Amazon Buy Button How to Market a Book – 3rd Edition Choosing a Self-Publishing Service KDP Categories Dublin Writer's Conference What Penn pages are selling? New Amazon Charts Attention Economy Indie Author Fringe Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#53: Orna Ross and Paul Teague answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Each month Orna Ross and a special guest answer Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) Members' questions. This month we're welcoming Paul Teague into the hot seat to talk about a series of videos he's created especially for ALLi. And to answer our members' latest, most pressing questions with Orna. Our monthly Ask ALLi broadcasts are an ideal way to keep learning about being an indie author and the skills you needed to become a successful self-publisher. Here's the self-publishing questions asked and answered this month: Q: I'm printing and distributing through Ingram Spark. What's the best way to set up returns? Q: Amazon has it's own imprint. Will they end up only selling books from Amazon Publishing and and ignore Indie Author's books? Q: What are you three top tips for using LinkedIn to develop your author brand? Q: I have a wordpress website hosted on Bluehost, where can I host a test site so that I can design it before I publish? Q: I'm setting up my own imprint to publish my own books, and considering using it to publish books by other authors. What can I do to create a solid business plan? Q: Can an ISBN owned by my imprint be placed on a book written by somebody else, with me as a publisher? Q: What are the minimal submission guidelines I need to write in order for them to be legally binding on both sides? Q: How do I set industry standards for setting up my financial business models for my imprint? Q: When I publish other authors under my imprint, who takes care of the marketing? The author or the publisher? Q: My book is with Bookbaby for distribution. I've written a self-help book, and want to know how to find marketing plan help. Q: ISBN - do I need the name of a publisher in order to fill out the ISBN application. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About Your Hosts: Paul hosts the Self-Publishing Journeys Podcast which features discussions with other indie authors who talk about their approaches for self-publishing and reaching readers using inventive strategies that work. He also runs the Self-Publishing Academy, which is a simple, step-by-step, jargon free guide to self-publishing your book. Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#52: Orna Ross and Mark Dawson answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Mark also answers the question, is paid advertising right for you Each month, Orna Ross, ALLi Director, invites a special guest into the indie author hot seat to answer ALLi Members' self-publishing questions. This month's special guest is Facebook advertising expert Mark Dawson, and this session was recorded live during London Book Fair. As well as being a best-selling author, Mark is the powerhouse and frontman behind The Self-Publishing Formula, which provides authors with tried and tested methods to self-publish and reach more readers. He started using Facebook Ads to increase his mailing list sign ups and boost his own sales figures, and a couple of years ago he turned that knowledge and expertise into his first "Facebook Advertising for Authors" course. Today he's sharing insights about Facebook advertising, but also covering the new kid on the block, Amazon Ads. Amazon Ads vs. Facebook Ads Q: Are you better to spend your money boosting a post on Facebook? Q: I once heard that Mark would rather have a mailing list sign up than a sale, how can that make sense? Q: I have standalone books (not in a series) will Facebook Ads still be effective for me? Q: Should I do sponsored or keywords Facebook Ads? Q: How do you scale your book advertising success? Q: How may keywords are optimal on your Amazon Ad? Our weekly Self-Publishing Advicebroadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Indie Author Fringe Highlight is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and an advanced self-publishing salon. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. If you're not familiar with our Fringe event, it's three-times a year, online conference for self-publishing authors, brought to you by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and fringe to the major global publishing fairs; London Book Fair, BookExp, and Frankfurt Book Fair. ALLi brings together the most up-to-date self-publishing education and information available and broadcasts it to authors everywhere. Running 24 sessions over 24 continuous hours allows our members, and other authors round the globe, to attend sessions, no matter where they're located. For more information, visit our Conference Home Page. Now, go write and publish. Host Bio: Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#51: Welcome to Ask ALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. In a monthly salon type discussion, Orna Ross, Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors and Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, talk about the latest tools and trends of interest to emerging and experienced self-publishing authors. Topics discussed this week include: Orna and Jo are back from travels (in San Francisco and New Zealand) and they discuss the international scene and what they experienced while touring The latest report from Author Earnings. News of Kobo Plus launching in the Netherlands The purchase of Bookouture by Hachett The importance of author self-empowerment. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#50: Orna Ross and Joel Friedlander answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Each month, Orna Ross, ALLi Director, invites a special guest into the indie author hot seat to answer ALLi Members' self-publishing questions. This month's special guest was self-publishing pioneer Joel Friedlander. "Self-publishing gives you an opportunity to change the world, one reader at a time, but you have to treat your work with the respect it deserves." "Keep learning and don't give up, book publishing is a marathon, not a sprint." Our monthly Ask ALLi broadcasts are an ideal way to keep learning about being an indie author and the skills you need to acquire to become a successful self-publisher. Here are the topics we covered: Author Collaboration. FREE Writing Technique. How important is it that non-fiction copy editors have familiarity with the topic they're editing? Will the new Amazon KDP Paperback service replace Createspace? How do we find a publicist we can trust? What is your experience with Bookbaby? Good, bad, or indifferent? The strategy of using Amazon and IngramSpark together, and what direction to take on my ISBNs. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This ALLi Member Q&A podcast is one of four regular shows, which include an an Advanced Salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#49: Welcome to Ask ALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. In a monthly salon type discussion, Orna Ross, Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors and Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, talk about the latest tools and trends of interest to emerging and experienced self-publishing authors. Topics discussed this week include: Orna and Jo are back from travels (in San Francisco and New Zealand) and they discuss the international scene and what they experienced while touring The latest report from Author Earnings. News of Kobo Plus launching in the Netherlands The purchase of Bookouture by Hachett The importance of author self-empowerment. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss Orna Ross and Joanna Penn launch the first episode of their Self-Publishing Salon. This month we welcomed the launch of our Self-Publishing Salon with Orna and Joanna. Usually this duo hosts our month Ask ALLi Q&A event to answer Member's self-publishing questions, but this Salon has a new format and instead of answering Member questions, they're having a conversation about what's going on in the publishing industry and about their own indie author events and experiences. Whereas our month Ask ALLi Q&A is aimed at emerging and experienced indie authors, the topics discussed in our Salon events will be skewed towards the more experienced authors who have already mastered industry terms and are familiar with the basics of self-publishing. Topics discussed this month are Digital Book World, The Data Guy, ISBNs, Audio books, Niche Markets, Box Sets, Pronoun, Microsoft, and Kobo. Visit our Membership site: http://allianceindependentauthors.org Visit our Self-Publishing Advice Centre http://selfpublishingadvice.org

Ep#48: Self-Publishing Advice Podcast: Indie Author Fringe Highlight with Dan Blank In this interview with David Penny of ALLi, Dan Blank discusses the psychology of writing, how to find alternative outlets for your books, and how writers can use available resources to research their reader audience. Selling a book is a business. It doesn't mean that the process of writing your book has to be approach as a business, but when it comes to reaching readers you need your business head on. In this podcast we share how to: Make the most of Amazon and Goodreads. Create valuable Connections. Leave yourself a planning window. Consolidate Newsletter Research. Plan using Baby Steps. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advicebroadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Indie Author Fringe Highlight is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and an advanced self-publishing salon. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. If you're not familiar with our Fringe event, it's three-times a year, online conference for self-publishing authors, brought to you by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and fringe to the major global publishing fairs; London Book Fair, BookExp, and Frankfurt Book Fair. ALLi brings together the most up-to-date self-publishing education and information available and broadcasts it to authors everywhere. Running 24 sessions over 24 continuous hours allows our members, and other authors round the globe, to attend sessions, no matter where they're located. For more information, visit our Conference Home Page. Now, go write and publish.

Ep#47: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Each month, Joanna and Orna answer Members' self-publishing questions during our regular Ask ALLi event. If you missed our live Q&A session you can watch the video and listen to the podcast here. We've also included a summary of the questions that were asked and answered this month. How do you assert copyright if you're intending to self-publish under a pseudonym? And how does this pseudonym link back to the real-life person? How can you benefit from Foreign Rights requests but protect yourself from potential scams? I'm close to publishing my first novel. I'm confused about the ISBN, what pricing should I ask my designer to put on my book's cover? If I'm publishing via Amazon for Kindle, can I also publish via other services like Ingram Spark and Lulu? I'm having trouble getting PR opportunities for my books. How can I find a publicist? Listen to Orna and Joanna as they provide updates on the exciting activities planned for their author brands for 2017. There are also continual updates to existing ALLi guidebooks and plans to create new self-publishing ALLi tools throughout the year. Time waits for no ... indie author. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#46: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Each month, Joanna and Orna answer Members' self-publishing questions during our regular Ask ALLi event. We've also included a summary of the questions that were asked and answered this month. Is there an advantage to using both Create Space and IngramSpark, and why, does one offer something the other one doesn't? Should you purchase your own ISBN numbers, even if the first book is an e-book? And if someone submits a PDF to Ingram, do they generate an ePub, should you use IngramSpark for e-books? I'm finding it hard to get any writing done with so many tasks. Any tips for that? I write music based fiction or many books in my series follows series or songwriters and includes lyrics I've written. I want to bring other named titles and songwriters/singers into this story line. Is it legal to do this? I've bitten a bullet, commissioned an audio version of my first book. What advice do you have about going wide or exclusive with Audible bearing in mind different royalty rates and contract terms? How long before you publish should you start your marketing plan? I don't have time to write and schedule my own Facebook ads, can you recommend someone to do this for me? What is your advice to a first time author with one book hitting the market in the next few months, does KDP Select make sense as a strategy or does that set up KU reader expectation that your remaining books will be free? What is the best way to make a review e-book copy of your book from a word document? What are some of the innovative ways Indie authors of YA are attracting young readers? Are those authors also targeting adults and if so what is the strategy? I have an edited manuscript, I plan to self-publish, what is the next step to get me from computer to bookstore? Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#45: In this insightful Indie Author Fringe podcast, Jane Friedman takes us through seven critical elements that are foundational for any author who is serious about their writing career. I've summarised some of the key takeaways that resonated with me, but listen to this broadcast yourselves to delve into the subject in greater detail. Have your own Website. Make sure your website is mobile friendly. Have consistent bios on social media and website platforms. Improve the imagery and videos you use. Explore your entire demand curve. Mine information that is useful to connect with readers. Make important Marketing efforts trackable. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advicebroadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Indie Author Fringe Highlight is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and an advanced self-publishing salon. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. If you're not familiar with our Fringe event, it's three-times a year, online conference for self-publishing authors, brought to you by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and fringe to the major global publishing fairs; London Book Fair, BookExp, and Frankfurt Book Fair. ALLi brings together the most up-to-date self-publishing education and information available and broadcasts it to authors everywhere. Running 24 sessions over 24 continuous hours allows our members, and other authors round the globe, to attend sessions, no matter where they're located. For more information, visit our Conference Home Page. Now, go write and publish.

Ep#44: Indie Author Fringe Highlight with Joel Friedlander and Nick Stephenson. As authors, we all know the role that social media plays in our ability to connect with readers, but the most beneficial ways of establishing a 1:1 relationship with your potential customers is via your email list. Start your list building early: Between them, Joel and Nick have lots of indie author and self-publishing knowledge and expertise, and although their email marketing approaches may differ, they both agree authors need to establish their email list as soon as they start their indie author journey. This is the most crucial factor in your long term success as an author. Not only is it the ideal way to establish a direct line of communication with your readers, but it provides an opportunity to cultivate relationships, it extends your reach and exposure, and helps you raise awareness for your books (or other products). Size doesn't matter!: When it comes to lists, size doesn't matter. What's important is the quality of your list, and how responsive your email contacts are to your communications. Your goal is to compel your list to act, even if it's in their self-interest (e.g. downloading a free book). The concept of permafree is a well known way of using your book as a promotional tool, but you don't have to give a book away to have it working on your behalf. Nick includes a large graphic at the front and back of each of his books, offering a free download to anyone who joins his list. Other topics covered: How to attract traffic to your website. Engage with your Audience. Use your Writing Skills to build your email List. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advicebroadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Indie Author Fringe Highlight is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and an advanced self-publishing salon. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. If you're not familiar with our Fringe event, it's three-times a year, online conference for self-publishing authors, brought to you by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and fringe to the major global publishing fairs; London Book Fair, BookExp, and Frankfurt Book Fair. ALLi brings together the most up-to-date self-publishing education and information available and broadcasts it to authors everywhere. Running 24 sessions over 24 continuous hours allows our members, and other authors round the globe, to attend sessions, no matter where they're located. For more information, visit our Conference Home Page. Now, go write and publish.

Ep#43: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Each month, Joanna and Orna answer Members' self-publishing questions during our regular Ask ALLi event. We've also included a summary of the questions that were asked and answered this month. Q: I'm investing in editors for my first book, do I send to multiple editors one at a time? Q: What's the difference between trade paperbacks and mass market paperbacks? Q: What are the different book cover design considerations when you're planning an ebook and print book launch? Q: Are Amazon getting rid of the Table of Contents in their books, and when I upload my book, what should I choose for the DRM (Digital Rights Management) setting? Q: I've been offered a contribution-based publishing contract – what are your thoughts on these types of agreements? Q: I'm trying to avoid losing money with my book launch, and am considering a Book Launch service to help me learn the process. Q: How to I go about finding an agent that will represent my subsidiary rights? Q: At what point does an author's social media following grow organically? Q: I have 1 book out / 10 books out. How should I adjust my marketing activity for these two different approaches? Q: Has ALLi got an insider contact at Amazon, like Andy for Ingram Spark? Q: Can you upload to KDP and make your book available to pre-order? Q: I used a free ISBN when I released via Createspace. Can I release via Ingram Spark with a different ISBN? And should I even bother with Ingram Spark? Q: What are the most important decisions an indie author has to make to transition from writing as a hobby to an authorpreneur? Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#42: Indie Author Fringe Highlight with Kathy Meis All too often, great books launch into silence. Why? There is no plan in place to give the book a fighting chance. Today's book marketplace is highly competitive. You need to bring you're A-game not only on the craft side, but on the business side. In our latest Indie Author Fringe podcast, Kathy Meis from Bublish delves into the six crucial steps that authors need to take before launching their book. Kathy starts off by talking about the foundations of a successful book launch and the kind of mindset you need to have going into this to be successful. Then she takes a deep dive into the six crucial steps you need to do before you launch. Stop thinking of your book as a baby, and start thinking about it as a product. Launching a book is a business, and by following these 6 crucial pre-launch steps you will increase your chances of success: Step 1: Research audience and genre. Step 2: Line up reviews and interviews. Step 3: Set up a system for capturing email addresses. Step 4: Create a professional product. Step 5: Form a marketing support team. Step 6: Create a content and campaign calendar. It is a lot of work to be an indie author, but Kathy believes you will set yourself up for success if you implement these 6 crucial steps. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advicebroadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Indie Author Fringe Highlight is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and an advanced self-publishing salon. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. If you're not familiar with our Fringe event, it's three-times a year, online conference for self-publishing authors, brought to you by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and fringe to the major global publishing fairs; London Book Fair, BookExp, and Frankfurt Book Fair. ALLi brings together the most up-to-date self-publishing education and information available and broadcasts it to authors everywhere. Running 24 sessions over 24 continuous hours allows our members, and other authors round the globe, to attend sessions, no matter where they're located. For more information, visit our Conference Home Page. Now, go write and publish.

Ep#41: Indie Author Fringe Highlight with Mark Coker from Smashwords Authors are in the midst of rapid and dizzying change, and Mark Coker, CEO of Smashwords, shares his insights about the "10 Trends Driving the Future of Publishing" in our latest ALLi podcast. Mark kicks off the podcast talking about his epiphany moment that helped to get Smashwords off the ground in 2008. Mark's company was at the forefront of of the indie revolution, and for those of you who aren't familiar with Smashwords, they're an eBook publishing platform that makes it fast, free and easy to publish and distribute your books. At the time of recording, Smashwords features 400,000 books from 115,000 authors and small independent presses. Mark's discusses 10 key elements that are driving the future of publishing, and and how indie authors can can maximize their potential for self-publishing. Trend 1: THE RISE OF EBOOKS. Trend 2: The Democratisation of Publishing. Trend 3: Ebooks are Going Global. Trend 4: The Rise of Indie Authorship. Trend 5: Indie Authors are hitting all the Best Seller Lists. Trend 6: Previous stigma of being self-published is disappearing. Trend 7: A glut of high-quality low-cost books means it's becoming more and more difficult to reach readers. Trend 8: Amazon is exploiting this product glut. Trend 9: Kindle Unlimited is undermining the market in single copy sales. Trend 10: Indie Authors will write the next chapter in this industry's evolution. The power centre in publishing is shifting from publishers to writers. So as an indie authors you decide where, when, and how you're going to publish. It's the collective decisions of writers that will determine the course of the publishing industry, and really shape the industry for the next generation. It's a pivotal moment in publishing, and as an indie author you have the tools and the knowledge to publish with pride and professionalism. You also have the freedom to self-publish as an indie author, or go the traditional route. It's your choice. Mark is supportive of all the options available to writers, and only time will tell whether Amazon will strip indies of their independence. Are Amazon trying to control the supply of books? Mark believes that's true, but at the end of the day, Indies control the supply if they decide to to wield their collective power. So imagine twenty years from now. Imagine the future that you want and then make the decisions today that enable the future to come to fruition. Do your best to support a thriving and dynamic ecosystem of multiple competing retailers, by supporting all of the retailers that distribute your books. As an Indie author, fight for your right to be the captain of your own destiny. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advicebroadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Indie Author Fringe Highlight is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and an advanced self-publishing salon. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. If you're not familiar with our Fringe event, it's three-times a year, online conference for self-publishing authors, brought to you by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and fringe to the major global publishing fairs; London Book Fair, BookExp, and Frankfurt Book Fair. ALLi brings together the most up-to-date self-publishing education and information available and broadcasts it to authors everywhere. Running 24 sessions over 24 continuous hours allows our members, and other authors round the globe, to attend sessions, no matter where they're located. For more information, visit our Conference Home Page. Now, go write and publish.

Ep#40: Self-Publishing Advice Podcast: Indie Author Fringe Highlight with Sean Platt and Johnny B Truant of Sterling & Stone believe the key to writing better is to write faster. Here they talk about their creative process, how planning helps authors to write a better story in less time, even if they're "pantsers", and their new story-planning app. A lot of indie publishing is frontier thinking. Sean and Johnny have been figuring the best way to approach their writing process, and in this podcast they share some lessons and techniques they've learned along the way. Here are three elements from this podcast that really resonated with me: Understanding your genre foundations. Know your characters. The importance of cover design for your readers, and you. Want to know why some books sell more than others? This information is out there and accessible to anyone who wants to take the time to understand their genre better. At the end of the day, if you want to sell more books, you have to write books that appeal to the genre's core audience. When Johnny and Sean first started writing together it was as simple Sean coming out with a very simple outline and then Johnny turning it into a book. Along the way, David Wright joined the writing team, and they developed a systematic way of writing together that allows them to establish core relationships with the characters. At the end of this process, there's enough information for each of the writing team to be able to picture the locations and know the characters. They have a connection with all of them, and this is one of the elements that allow them to write their stories faster. The Cover Design topic never gets old! But what was interesting was hearing about Sean and Johnny's writing process. For Book 1 in the Invasion series, they commissioned the book cover before they started writing, and it provided some creative inspiration for their story details. During their cover design discussion, Johnny and Sean also discussed the importance of genre conventions in the cover process. Yes we all want our book to stand out in our genre, but if you design against the established conventions, especially in the major genres, you may end up getting passed over rather than stand out. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advicebroadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Indie Author Fringe Highlight is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and an advanced self-publishing salon. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. If you're not familiar with our Fringe event, it's three-times a year, online conference for self-publishing authors, brought to you by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and fringe to the major global publishing fairs; London Book Fair, BookExp, and Frankfurt Book Fair. ALLi brings together the most up-to-date self-publishing education and information available and broadcasts it to authors everywhere. Running 24 sessions over 24 continuous hours allows our members, and other authors round the globe, to attend sessions, no matter where they're located. For more information, visit our Conference Home Page. Now, go write and publish.

Ep#39: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. See allianceindependendentauthors.org for more details. Here's a summary of the questions and a brief synopsis of the answers in this month's Ask ALLi with Orna and Joanna (for more in-depth answers – you should watch the video or listen to the podcast): Q: What exactly makes a piece of fiction, Literary Fiction? Q: Should you use Scrivener to get your books accepted by distributors? Q: How can you generate an ebook review copy? Q: What's the difference between pre-orders and a soft launch? Q: What are the advantages of using both CreateSpace and IngramSpark for creating your POD print book? Q: Why does Joanna only use CreateSpace for her POD books, and not IngramSpark? Q: When you get really burned, how do you stay motivated enough to keep writing? Q: What is the best way to promote a novel that doesn't fit into a specific genre? Q: How useful is it to participate in KBoards? Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#38: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Here's the questions posed to Orna and Joanna this month: Q: How did you find your beta readers and how many do you have? Q: What should I instruct an editor or line editor to look out for in my manuscript? Q: Past, Present or Future - which tense is most appropriate? Q: Is it ok to self-publish before you go to school? Q: I'm designing my own book covers. If I download photos from the internet, am I breaking copyright? Q: Is there funding to help an independent publishers? Q: Are Bookbub Ads and Goodreads Deals worth the effort? Q: Are review bloggers and guest blogging still a powerful marketing strategy? Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#37: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Here's the questions posed to Orna and Joanna this month: Q: How would you define the difference between a non-fiction writers and a journalist? Q: In a previous Ask ALLi Joanna mentioned that she was moving from direct with Nook to Draft2Digital distribution, I thought the advice was that it was best to go direct? Q: When a book is finally finished… what is the right order for all of the follow up activities to get it to market? Q: Do you need to send hard copies to the British Library? Q: I have a new book I'm working on, Should it be completed before I decide on a company to do the ebook formatting? Q: What is the current best practice on formatting? Q: What's your input on Amazon Affiliate accounts? Q: My book is written and produced, what is the best way to market it? I've been approach local books stores and TV stations, as well as local historic societies. Q: My illustrator is having problems uploading my book to Amazon, who can I contact for uploading to Amazon? Q: I'm on my first book. My first publishers when out of business and I accepted their replacement publisher. How do I take my published book to a new printer and create an ebook? Q: As a new authors about to engage an editor and proofreader, I have concerns about sending copies to people I haven't met. Can I protect against this piracy and copyright infringement? Q: I'm considering engaging a book publicist, what advice do you have? Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#34: Self-Publishing Advice Podcast: Indie Author Fringe Highlight with Bryan Cohen & Orna Ross In this live 20 minute presentation from BEA, author and copywriter Bryan Cohen explains how you can optimize your sales pages to get more readers to buy your book. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advicebroadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Indie Author Fringe Highlight is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and an advanced self-publishing salon. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. If you're not familiar with our Fringe event, it's three-times a year, online conference for self-publishing authors, brought to you by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and fringe to the major global publishing fairs; London Book Fair, BookExp, and Frankfurt Book Fair. ALLi brings together the most up-to-date self-publishing education and information available and broadcasts it to authors everywhere. Running 24 sessions over 24 continuous hours allows our members, and other authors round the globe, to attend sessions, no matter where they're located. For more information, visit our Conference Home Page. Now, go write and publish.

Ep#33: Self-Publishing Advice Podcast: Indie Author Fringe Highlight with Kim Bookless & Orna Ross In this live 20 minute presentation from BEA, Orna Ross and Kim Bookless talk about how their respective organisations serve the needs of indie authors and can help you write and sell more books. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advicebroadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Indie Author Fringe Highlight is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and an advanced self-publishing salon. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. If you're not familiar with our Fringe event, it's three-times a year, online conference for self-publishing authors, brought to you by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and fringe to the major global publishing fairs; London Book Fair, BookExp, and Frankfurt Book Fair. ALLi brings together the most up-to-date self-publishing education and information available and broadcasts it to authors everywhere. Running 24 sessions over 24 continuous hours allows our members, and other authors round the globe, to attend sessions, no matter where they're located. For more information, visit our Conference Home Page. Now, go write and publish. Host Bio: Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#36: Self-Publishing Advice Podcast: Indie Author Fringe Highlight with Penny Sansevieri & Orna Ross The secret to sustaining a successful author career is the connection you make to your fans. Join Penny C. Sansevieri, Founder and CEO Author Marketing Experts and Orna Ross, Director, Alliance of Independent Authors — both bestselling authors and publishing experts, learn how to identify and reach your ideal readers, turn them into superfans and how to ignite those fans so they are ones promoting your work. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advicebroadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Indie Author Fringe Highlight is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and an advanced self-publishing salon. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. If you're not familiar with our Fringe event, it's three-times a year, online conference for self-publishing authors, brought to you by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and fringe to the major global publishing fairs; London Book Fair, BookExp, and Frankfurt Book Fair. ALLi brings together the most up-to-date self-publishing education and information available and broadcasts it to authors everywhere. Running 24 sessions over 24 continuous hours allows our members, and other authors round the globe, to attend sessions, no matter where they're located. For more information, visit our Conference Home Page. Now, go write and publish. Host Bio: Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#30: Indie Author Fringe Highlight with Joni & Jerusha Rodgers and Orna Ross In this live 20 minute presentation from BEA, mom and daughter ghostwriting and editing team, Joni & Jerusha Rodgers, explain how story works - in your books and in the words you write around them. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advicebroadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Indie Author Fringe Highlight is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and an advanced self-publishing salon. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. If you're not familiar with our Fringe event, it's three-times a year, online conference for self-publishing authors, brought to you by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and fringe to the major global publishing fairs; London Book Fair, BookExp, and Frankfurt Book Fair. ALLi brings together the most up-to-date self-publishing education and information available and broadcasts it to authors everywhere. Running 24 sessions over 24 continuous hours allows our members, and other authors round the globe, to attend sessions, no matter where they're located. For more information, visit our Conference Home Page. Now, go write and publish.

Ep#31: Self-Publishing Advice Podcast: Indie Author Fringe Highlight with Kieffer Brown & Orna Ross In this live 20 minute presentation from BEA, Kiffer talks about the qualities and strategies that are non-negotiable for indie authors. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advicebroadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Indie Author Fringe Highlight is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and an advanced self-publishing salon. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. If you're not familiar with our Fringe event, it's three-times a year, online conference for self-publishing authors, brought to you by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and fringe to the major global publishing fairs; London Book Fair, BookExp, and Frankfurt Book Fair. ALLi brings together the most up-to-date self-publishing education and information available and broadcasts it to authors everywhere. Running 24 sessions over 24 continuous hours allows our members, and other authors round the globe, to attend sessions, no matter where they're located. For more information, visit our Conference Home Page. Now, go write and publish. Host Bio: Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#32: Self-Publishing Advice Podcast: Indie Author Fringe Highlight with Amie McCracken & Orna Ross In this live 20 minute presentation from BEA, editor, book designer and indie author Amie McCracken outlines how to get your first draft down in six months. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advicebroadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Indie Author Fringe Highlight is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and an advanced self-publishing salon. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. If you're not familiar with our Fringe event, it's three-times a year, online conference for self-publishing authors, brought to you by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and fringe to the major global publishing fairs; London Book Fair, BookExp, and Frankfurt Book Fair. ALLi brings together the most up-to-date self-publishing education and information available and broadcasts it to authors everywhere. Running 24 sessions over 24 continuous hours allows our members, and other authors round the globe, to attend sessions, no matter where they're located. For more information, visit our Conference Home Page. Now, go write and publish. Host Bio: Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#35: Self-Publishing Advice Podcast: Indie Author Fringe Highlight with Kinga Jentetics & Orna Ross In this live 20 minute presentation from BEA, Orna Ross and talks with Kinga Jentetics of PublishDrive about book distribution world wide. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advicebroadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Indie Author Fringe Highlight is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and an advanced self-publishing salon. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. If you're not familiar with our Fringe event, it's three-times a year, online conference for self-publishing authors, brought to you by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and fringe to the major global publishing fairs; London Book Fair, BookExp, and Frankfurt Book Fair. ALLi brings together the most up-to-date self-publishing education and information available and broadcasts it to authors everywhere. Running 24 sessions over 24 continuous hours allows our members, and other authors round the globe, to attend sessions, no matter where they're located. For more information, visit our Conference Home Page. Now, go write and publish. Host Bio: Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#29 : Self-Publishing Advice Podcast: Indie Author Fringe Highlight with Orna Ross Want to boost your sales? Who doesn't? In a panel session recorded live in the Author HQ at London Book Fair, ALLi Director Orna Ross interviews two bestselling indie authors and sales gurus, Mark Dawson and Joanna Penn, together with ALLi's literary agent Toby Mundy about how to go beyond selling ebooks in your home territory. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advicebroadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Indie Author Fringe Highlight is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and an advanced self-publishing salon. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. If you're not familiar with our Fringe event, it's three-times a year, online conference for self-publishing authors, brought to you by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and fringe to the major global publishing fairs; London Book Fair, BookExp, and Frankfurt Book Fair. ALLi brings together the most up-to-date self-publishing education and information available and broadcasts it to authors everywhere. Running 24 sessions over 24 continuous hours allows our members, and other authors round the globe, to attend sessions, no matter where they're located. For more information, visit our Conference Home Page. Now, go write and publish. Host Bio: Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#28: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Here's a summary of the questions in this month's Ask ALLi with Orna and Joanna: Q: What should you do when you feel badly served by a self-publishing service provider? And do you have a list of book formatters? Q: How do you create front matter and chapter headings, so that they look good on Kindle? Q: What company would you recommend for a Non-Ficiton Hardback? Q: There's still so many really bad Indie Book Covers, do you think they'll every become a thing of the past? Q: Is there any good tools out there that can help you chart the months leading up to a book release? Q: I'm publishing a book about rural libraries in Zimbabwe, how can I have them published widely? Q: Once you've self-published, what would it take to get an agent interested? Q: How can I get estimates of adding illustrations to my KDP file? Q: Should manuscripts be proof-read after you've completed the interior book layout? Q: Do I own rights to my book cover designs? Q: Do I need a separate ISBN for my audio format? Q: How long does it take for Amazon to price match my book price after I've reverted from a free price-point? Q: What are your thoughts about Archway? I'm looking for assisted publishing for a memoir. Q: I have a signed contract with Matador to publish and market my book. What should I beware of, and what should I do myself? Q: Should I do a book tour to actual physical books stores, or pay for an online blog tour or a publicist? Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#27: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Here's the questions posed to Orna and Joanna this month: Here's the questions posed to Orna and Joanna this month: Q: I write Fantasy. How can I show my character's mind-speak (i.e. what they're thinking)? Q. I've released my first non-fiction e-book, and I'm struggling with reads let alone sales, and I'd really like to get some book reviews. Q: "My Publisher" wants 8 books for 10 years. Do I have to accept these terms, or can I have it reduced? Q: I'm a YA Writer. How should I market and promote for this segment? Q: Is it a problem that I have a separate ISBN for my e-book and POD, and my reviews and sales rank from my e-book won't transfer over to my POD listing on Amazon. Q: On book covers when you see "perfect for fans of " .. do you need permission from the author to use their name? Q: What is the best way to promote books to an Indian market? Q: I have questions about my fixed-pub layout kids book, and wonder how you control duplicate copies. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#26: Orna Ross presents a new episode of ALLI Insights: NaNoWriMo is Over, Now Publish Your Novel Did you take part in NaNoWriMo last year, and now have a finished draft in front of you, and are thinking "Now What?" You're not alone. Did you know that nearly half a million writers signed up for NaNo in 2015? That's quite a jump from 1999, when Chris (the founder of National Novel Writing Month) and 21 of his friends set themselves a target of 50,000 words in 30 days. In January and February, NaNoWriMo support the revision and publishing process. It's an extension of their November writing frenzy, and a much-deserved author break in December. The goal of this period is to help fulfil your novel's potential by getting it from it's rough first draft stage and see it through the publishing process into the hands of readers. There's a natural synergy between National Novel Writing Month's focus on writing and ALLi's continued focus on self-publishing, and this month's ALLi Insights features Orna Ross and Grant Faulkner chatting about the author journey. As well as the importance (and power) of fiction that will be music to the ears of any indie author. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your host: Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#25: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Here's the questions posed to Orna and Joanna this month: Q: Is ALLi continuing to work with Ingram Spark this year and are they offering a self-publishing discount to ALLi Members? Q: Do you have Insights about iUniverse Services? Q: What are the legal issues about setting up your publisher imprint? Q: What are the differences between CreateSpace and Ingram Spark POD distribution services? Q: Should authors release their books in Hardback? Q: Do ALLi maintain a list of reputable book Editors? Q: Is there such a thing as a "Book Shepherd" who could help an aspiring author publish their first book? Q: Is there any recourse if my publisher won't take my book off Amazon or Barnes and Noble? Q: I'm publishing my book via Lightening Source, but on CreateSpace it shows that it has a long lead time for delivery. Is there anything I can do about this? And why is this happening to a POD version of my book? Q: Where can I find my ALLi Author Seal (and affiliate code?) Q: What's the #1 Marketing Tip for Authors? Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#24: Orna Ross chats with Toby Mundy about How Authors Sell rights. The writer's path to publication has grown more complex, as new choices emerge. What once was a one-track pathway to print in now a maze of formats, platforms, apps, films, broadcast, foreign, translation, audio and more. Each of these markets offers different opportunities and operates by different rules. How are writers to find their way without a team of experts and lawyers? The Alliance of Independent Authors is releasing How Authors Sell Rights to help authors navigate today's complex rights marketplace. A compilation of advice from publishing and legal experts, How Authors Sell Rights shows writers the best ways to reach decision-makers in various industries, what these rights-buyers are looking for, and what to expect in negotiating a license or sale of rights. Covering both business and legal aspects, and focussing particularly on audiobooks, TV & film and translation, How Authors Sell Rights shows how the rights landscape for authors is transforming and yielding unprecedented opportunities. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your host: Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#23: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Here's the questions posed to Orna and Joanna this month: Q: If I get a Bookbub, what other promotional activity should I be doing? Q: Has anyone had experience with Kirkus Reviews or other paid review sites? Q: Is 2 books enough for a box set? Q: "Translating is the new black" but how do you assess the final work? Q: How can I copyright protect the short stories that I'm selling directly from my website? Q: Where should I start with publishing a printed illustrated children's book? Q: How do you make your characters seem unique? Q: What's the best way to get Amazon Reviews, and how many reviews should I aim for? Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#22: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Here's the questions posed to Orna and Joanna this month: Q: I'm writing my first book and I'm overwhelmed by all the other self-publishing and indie author tasks I should be doing like blogging and marketing. What should I focus on? Q: I've never written a book before, and wanted to know if I needed to hire a lawyer to look over the self-publishing contracts from IngramSpark and CreateSpace? Q: What are the pros and cons of using ACX? Q: What are the pitfalls of creating a 2nd Edition version of a currently published novel? Q: I've marketed my book in the UK and the US in the same way, but have had minimal sales success in the US. Is this market a harder nut to crack? Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#21: Orna Ross chats with mystery writer Elizabeth Spann Craig to discover how she's using Wattpad to expand her reader demographic. If you're looking for an uncomplicated and free way of reaching more readers, Wattpad could be the option you're looking for. This month's ALLi Insights event was full of information and inspiration about why and how you can leverage your existing content to reach a broader audience. Here's Wattpad Insights to whet your appetite: Wattpad users are very mobile savvy and skew towards a younger demographic. Authors don't have to write serially, they just need to publish serially. The Wattpad mobile app for free, and a Wattpad account is also free. Set a consistent publishing schedule for your chapter releases. If you already have a free book, it makes sense to leverage it on Wattpad. Use it as a funnel to your other books. At the end of each Wattpad chapter you can add an author call to action (e.g. sign up to the author's mailing list, or letting your readers know where to buy the book if they can't wait for the next installment). A demographics tab gives you insights into the age demographics of your readers and their geographic location. Authors can add images or a video to each chapter to increase engagement. It'll take about 4-6 chapters to get some audience traction. Wattpad increases your opportunity of reaching your share of the 40 Million global readers. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your host: Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#20: Joanna Penn and David Penny answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Here's the questions posed to David and Joanna this month: Q: Is there an Indie Book Fair event planned in Australia? Q: The Legal Deposits Library has requested 5 copies of my book, do I need to send them? Q: I've written 5 short stories, how many should I have in a Collection? Q: What is the typical length of a book blurb? Q: What Writing Craft Resources would you recommend? Q: How should Authors leverage a Mailing List? Q: I'm a new author and published my book 3 weeks ago. How long does it take to see Kindle Sales on Amazon? Q: When is the Showcase up and running again? Q: When should you start thinking about promoting and marketing your book? Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn

Ep#19: Orna Ross chats with Katie Donelan from BookBub to reveal how to increase your chances of getting your book selected for a BookBub Promotion. Competition to be included in the daily BookBub email is fierce, especially in popular categories like Romance, so if you want to increase your chances of being "BookBubbed" it's best to familiarise yourself with the selection criteria process used by the BookBub editors. Historically publishing has not been a direct to consumer market, but BookBub knows what Indie Authors have known from the outset; the most important element of marketing and promotion is reaching readers. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your hosts Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss Katie Donelan is the Director of Business Development at BookBub, a service that helps millions of readers discover new books and authors. Katie's team works with all the major publishing houses, mid-size and smaller publishers, and thousands of independent authors to help market their ebooks.

Ep#18: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Here's the questions posed to Orna and Joanna this month: Q: How should authors deal with lines from songs… what is fair use? Q: For a 1st time self-publishers, how many months out should you advertise your first release Q: How can I boost my sales? Releasing a new book in January with a preorder in October. First book didn't do well, how can I promote my second book better? Q: Why aren't my keywords working for me? Interested in Joining ALLi? Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#17: Orna Ross chats with Helen Sedwick discuss copyright to add clarity around what a writer owns vs. what they don't. Other topics being discussed are: How authors can protect their work. How to keep others from taking more than their fair share by understanding the nuances between licenses vs. assignments, exclusive vs. non-exclusives and termination clauses. Author scams and what red flags indie authors should look out for. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your hosts Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss Writer and lawyer Helen Sedwick has thirty years of experience representing businesses and entrepreneurs. When she self-published the novel COYOTE WINDS, she could find no handbook to help writers deal with the legal issues of self-publishing. So she wrote that book: Self-Publisher's Legal Handbook. Her goal is to keep writers out of court and at their desks.

Ep#16: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Here's the questions posed to Orna and Joanna this month: Q: I'm toying with the idea of using Facebook ads for 1) collecting email subscribers by offering some free content and 2) promoting my books directly. I've been through Mark Dawson's 3 free videos and probably have enough information to try this .. should I do it? Q: Google Play: What is it? Should I put my books in there or not? What royalty revenue could I expect? Q: Now that I've published my first book, I am getting contacted by book promoters who promise to publicise my book for a fee. How can I tell which are effective and which are not? Q: After hitting some technical problems loading my books onto Ingram Spark, I missed the promo offer (open to everyone). Can you advise when and if a new offer for Alli members will be launched soon? Q: When hiring a proofreader is it best to engage them for two sets of proofreads – digital and print or just digital? Q: As a self-publisher/writer should I purchase my ISBN's directly from Bowker? I see there are other sites offering ISBN's for less money, but are they legitimate? Q: Are there any book cover designers available who can format a color design for a modest book who do not charge lots of money to do so? Q: How can I get review copies of my book at a discount? Q: What publisher would you recommend to do a self-published non-fiction book that has both black and white and color pages? Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#15: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#14: Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) Director Orna Ross and Joanna Penn, of The Creative Penn, answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#13: Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) Director Orna Ross and Joanna Penn, of The Creative Penn, answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#3: Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) Director Orna Ross and Joanna Penn, of The Creative Penn, answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About your hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss