Askalli: Self-publishing Advice Podcast

My guest this week is Kate Woodard, a children's-book author who did not let a language barrier stand in the way of connecting and communicating with young people. When Kate moved to Brazil, she spoke not a word of Portuguese. But through making local connections with schools and bookstores, her readers were able to find her and the language barriers were broken down. Every week I interview a member of ALLi to talk about their writing and what inspires them, and why they are inspiring to other authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org. About the Host Howard Lovy has been a journalist for more than 30 years, and has spent the last eight years amplifying the vo

In this #AskALLi Self-Publishing Fiction & Non-Fiction Salon, Sacha Black will be interviewing Orna Ross about the concept of ACCESS Marketing from her new book, Creative Self-Publishing. ACCESS stands for Attract, Captivate, Connect, Engage, Subscribe, Satisfy, Sell and ACCESS marketing is a carefully crafted sequence of communications--which you also use to get words for your work-in-progress--that gives you direct access to the right readers for your books. Our fiction and nonfiction salon is brought to you by sponsor Izzard Ink. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org. About the Hosts Sacha Black is a bestselling and competition-winning author. She writes t

My guest this week is Darryl Lansey, who has a kind of love/hate relationship with his former employer, the US Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA. As an analyst and adviser to presidents, he loved making a difference for his country. As black man, he hated the institutional racism that was baked into the organization. He writes about his experiences in his new book, A Thin Line Between Love and Hate: A Black Man's Journey Through Life and the CIA. I spoke to Darryl about his experiences at the CIA.  Every week I interview a member of ALLi to talk about their writing and what inspires them, and why they are inspiring to other authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentau

Our usual AskALLi Members Q&A is taking a break for this month and being replaced by an Amazon special salon on Amazon advertising. From understanding the customer journey to the benefits of sponsored products, this ALLi podcast is for authors who are getting started with Amazon advertising and want to learn how to set themselves up for success.   Joining ALLi Director Orna Ross is Darren Hardy, Amazon’s UK manager for Kindle Direct Publishing, and his colleague Suzanne O’Kelley, senior manager, advertiser experience. About the 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. For more information about Orna, visit her website: http://www.ornaross.com

My guest this week is Janét Aizenstros, a Canadian author, entrepreneur, and publisher. Janet's own story is an inspiring one because she began with a series of children's books and built a series of growing multimedia companies. Now, she's making it her business to help other authors, especially other women, find their own voices and their own audiences. Every week I interview a member of ALLi to talk about their writing and what inspires them, and why they are inspiring to other authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org. About the Host Howard Lovy has been a journalist for more than 30 years, and has spent the last eight years amplifying the voices of indep

In 2008 Kevin Kelly wrote about the value of a creator having 1,000 true fans (you can read the updated version of the essay here). The idea is that you don’t need to be an influencer with a million followers to make a living from your work. All you need are 1,000 true fans each spending $100 a year on your products or services, for you to make $100,000 a year. But does the concept hold true for authors? Are books, a low cost item, enough or do you have to add on more premium products? And how does an author create true fans… and keep them? Join Orna and Joanna to find out.  Our advanced salon is brought to you by specialist sponsor IngramSpark. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, http://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 http://allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish! About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestsel

My guest this week is Dr. J. D. Remy. Well, that's not his real name, but as you'll hear in this program, he has changed it to protect not only his own identity, but that of his children. Dr. Remy had an ideal life for a little while, until what he calls Implosion Day, when he lost everything. He writes about it in his new book, but I'll let Dr. Remy tell his own story.  Every week I interview a member of ALLi to talk about their writing and what inspires them, and why they are inspiring to other authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org. About the Host Howard Lovy has been a journalist for more than 30 years, and has spent the last eight years amplifying the

Creative self-publishing is when indie authors approach our publishing tasks, and our author business, with the same creative mindset that we bring to our writing. It focuses not just on what we do, but how we do it, as we publishing our books and establish our author business. In this presentation, based on her new book Creative Self-Publishing, ALLi Director, Orna Ross, demonstrates how creativity can be embedded in every task we do, across the seven stages of the publishing process.  The result is a business that is uniquely you — and that attracts the right readers for your books. This is a post from the Authors and Money SelfPubCon. SelfPubCon (The Self-Publishing Advice Conference) is an online author event, run free twice-yearly, in association with the Alliance of Independent Authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic

My guest this week is Dave Tamanini, who at the age of 72, has spent a lifetime studying relationships. That is, relationships between races and genders as a civil rights enforcer, and relationships between family members as a lawyer working in family courts. After retirement, he found the perfect way to unite all these studies into one book about a slave during the Salem Witch trials. We'll talk about that book in a moment, but first a little more about Dave Tamanini. Every week I interview a member of ALLi to talk about their writing and what inspires them, and why they are inspiring to other authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org. About the Host Howard

What are the best time management tips for authors? Our Member Q&A is hosted by Michael La Ronn and ALLi Director, Orna Ross. Other questions this month include: What are resources to help publish a children's book? Will KDP ever distribute books to libraries? What's the best way to market a translation? How do I find the right literary agent? And more! Also, News Editor Dan Holloway updates us on expansion at Ingram and Netgalley, and what the continued growth of audio means for indie authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish! About the Hosts Michael La Ronn is the author of over 30 books of science fiction & fantasy and

My guest this week is Kristina Stanley, who is a rare writer who also loves math. You don't find too many who can use both the logical and artistic sides of their brains. The way Kristina has combined the two talents is in the fiction-writing software she developed that guides writers along the way to achieving their artistic vision. But, first, let's learn more about Kristina's mathematical mind. Every week I interview a member of ALLi to talk about their writing and what inspires them, and why they are inspiring to other authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org. About the Host Howard Lovy has been a journalist for more than 30 years, and has spent the last

Writing books is easy, writing good books is hard. Do you want to know how good prose sells more books? Getting every element of your story right is important. But it's the words that make readers come back. Good stories need good words. In this session, Sacha will show you a series of quick tips to improve your prose, rid yourself of ticks and crutches and polish your stories to perfection. This is a post from the Authors and Money SelfPubCon. SelfPubCon (The Self-Publishing Advice Conference) is an online author event, run free twice-yearly, in association with the Alliance of Independent Authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org.

My guest this week is Roz Morris. Roz is a literary consultant, a book doctor, an instructor, a blogger, and even a ghostwriter. But the one constant in her life, through all her incarnations, is her love of literature, and she's coming into her own as a fiction author, writing under her own name.  Every week I interview a member of ALLi to talk about their writing and what inspires them, and why they are inspiring to other authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org. About the Host Howard Lovy has been a journalist for more than 30 years, and has spent the last six years amplifying the voices of independent publishers and authors. He works with authors as a bo

Social media is one of the most effective ways for authors to reach readers and amplify their message at the same time. In this advanced salon, Orna and Joanna cover how to use social media creatively and mindfully, including broadcasting versus engagement, tools and tech, and how to measure success. You'll learn: The difference between broadcasting and engagement and how both are necessary; What not to do; How multi-genre authors are stratifying their social media; How to generate great content in video, audio, and text that enables you to sell books without getting caught in time-sucking distractions. And more! Our advanced salon is brought to you by specialist sponsor IngramSpark. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, http://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 http://allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish! About the Hosts Joanna Penn

My guest this week is Michael La Ronn, who many of you know as the co-host of the AskALLi Members' Q&A podcast. You also may know him as a video blogger, and writer of fantastic fiction. He lives and thrives at the border between genres, and as an African American author who was raised in a biracial family, he chooses to try to bring people together in these polarized times. Every week I interview a member of ALLi to talk about their writing and what inspires them, and why they are inspiring to other authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org. About the Host Howard Lovy has been a journalist for more than 30 years, and has spent the last six years amplifyi

In this month’s Fiction & Nonfiction Self-Publishing Salon, Sacha Black and Orna Ross explore the importance of an author platform. They explain how to establish an effective platform in today’s digital publishing environment. Topics covered include:   What is an author platform? How platform gives you reach  How to grow your platform organically, as part of your work The topics explored in this session are all about expanding your influence and impact as an author. Our fiction and nonfiction salon is brought to you by sponsor Izzard Ink. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org. About the Hosts Sacha Black is a bestselling and competition-winning author. She w

My guest this week is Eric Twiggs, an indie author and motivational speaker who is an expert in procrastination. In fact, it took him a little while to figure out that was his calling, and then he held off on writing a book about it. Now, though, the author of The Discipline of Now and One Moment in Time has some advice all authors can use on the value of getting things done today rather than tomorrow. So, without further delay, here's Eric Twiggs. Every week I interview a member of ALLi to talk about their writing and what inspires them, and why they are inspiring to other authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org. About the Host Howard Lovy has been a journ

Orna Ross and Dalma Szentpály explore the basics of online book distribution and sales trends over the past few months. As poetry slams and other events moved online, many poets are connecting for the first time with the power of digital distribution for their books. How do you ensure that your poetry books are available to readers all over the world? What are the facts about poetry book sales at the moment? Dalma and Orna have the answers. Tune in for discussions on a different theme each month with a focus on developing prosperity for poets through community building and self-publishing. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org. About the Hosts Orna Ross Orna’s wor

My guest this week is Scottish author Lorna Fergusson, who has tried publishing the traditional way, but found that she enjoyed the control she had over her own work that comes with being an indie author. Lorna has also devoted her career to coaching other indie authors on how they can chase away self-doubt and join the indie publishing revolution.  Every week I interview a member of ALLi to talk about their writing and what inspires them, and why they are inspiring to other authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org. About the Host Howard Lovy has been a journalist for more than 30 years, and has spent the last six years amplifying the voices of independent p

What are the industry standards and best practices for paperback books? Our #AskALLi Member Q&A is hosted by Michael La Ronn and ALLi Director, Orna Ross,and this month they'll be answering this question and more. Questions include: What are ALLi's best practices for producing a book in print? What are my options if I'm not satisfied with the current print on-demand options for my book? Should I pursue paid reviews? Should I join organizations like Romance Writers Association? What are the best time management tips for indie authors? What are resources to help publish a children's book? Also, News Editor Dan Holloway updates us on what indie publishers and authors are doing in conjunction with the worldwide spotlight on #BlackLivesMatter.  Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven’t already, we invit