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.