Jennifer Mattern We already looked some of the reasons many author websites suck. And I promised I’d highlight a few decent examples that would inspire you to improve your own Web designs (or at least finally set up a site — I’m amazed by how many indie authors neglect them altogether). This post was supposed to be that list. But let me tell you, it wasn’t easy
Authors are notorious for having poorly-designed websites. That’s not to say all authors have dated, crappy sites littering the Web. But more in this group do than most others I’ve come across. Sometimes author site designs are downright frightening, looking like someone formatted some text in Word and slapped it on the Web in the mid to late-90s, never to update it again. The saddest
It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of either content mills or extremely low-paying private clients (like the webmasters on bidding sites willing to pay a whopping $1-5 per article). As far as I’m concerned it’s an irresponsible business move to take on these kinds of gigs without pursuing something better early on (and an irresponsible move I made myself back in the day —
Today Evelyn Lafont and I talk about beta readers for your books and e-books. Evelyn Lafont is a first-time fiction indie author, with her e-published novella Vampire Relationship Guide Volume One: Meeting and Mating scheduled for release on March 31st. Having only published nonfiction so far myself, I’ve seen benefits in working with beta readers — early readers who provide feedback before you release your
Book spines — oh, they’re important alright. I was reminded just how important they are on my weekend book-buying binge at our (sadly) closing Borders. At the end of the day I left with nearly 30 new mysteries. And then I ordered 11 more online to fill in the gaps in the series, and still have another order or two to place in coming weeks
As an e-book publisher should your rankings be based on your low-ball rates or on the merit of your work? Coming from the traditional side of e-book publishing, I’m a fan of the latter. I believe in premium pricing when you put out quality work. And I believe in letting your individual market help determine your rates — not Amazon or the general masses. Nonfiction
It’s mid-March. And that means we’re nearly through with the first quarter of 2011 already. How are your goals and resolutions for the year shaping up? Is your freelance writing business growing? Do you need to pick up the pace a bit? So far I’m reasonably happy with my progress for the year. I’ve: finished outlining the first book in my novel series; gotten my
With the introduction of e-readers it’s become almost essential for authors of print books to offer e-book versions of their works if they want to reach a broader market. But e-books have been around for a while now, and they serve purposes beyond being alternative versions of existing books. Sometimes it’s best to only e-publish your work. Let’s take a look at some situations where
When you host your own professional site or blog, you have several hosting options. Many freelance writers use shared hosting accounts, especially when starting out. While it can be a cost-effective option until you need more resources, there’s another concern — shared IP addresses. The IP address is basically a number that identifies the server you host your site or blog on. When you use
I made the mistake on Twitter yesterday of searching for “freelance writing” to see what people in the community were talking about. Wow. Just wow. I can’t remember the last time I saw so much spam and so many crap freelance writing jobs in one place. So it got me thinking about finding jobs on Twitter — more specifically finding good freelance writing jobs while
Can you handle more than one publishing project at a time, or do you have to be completely focused on one thing? I fall into the former group, actually thriving when other people might feel overwhelmed. And there’s no reason to push yourself to that overwhelmed status in order to handle multiple projects. You just have to know how to set limits and work with
Do you ever get low-balled offers for your freelance writing services? Does it piss you off when you see countless other content producers offering to write for a penny per word while you try to make ends meet by charging professional rates? Do you feel like others are holding you back? They’re not. You are. Remember, no one owes you a living as a freelance
Book marketing and book publicity aren’t afterthoughts to writing your book or e-book. You should be thinking about book marketing before you even sit down and begin writing. While pre-launch book marketing efforts are important for all authors, they’re especially vital to indie authors. Because indie publishing means you’re going into business and bringing your own product to market, you can’t afford to neglect the
[dropcap style=”font-size: 37px; margin-top:-2px; margin-bottom:-10px; margin-right:2px; color: #9b9b9b;”]D[/dropcap]o you want to publish a book in print? Do you really need the backing and validation of a traditional publisher, or can you go it alone? Indie publishing is actually a balance more than the antithesis of a traditional publishing contract. [quote] You choose the best people for your project…. [/quote]You don’t do everything entirely on your
Do you ever feel flustered under the pressure of your freelance work? Do you have a client who sometimes drives you crazy? Do you fear losing a gig because you don’t know where the next one will come from? Do you constantly worry about money because you aren’t earning as much as you’d like? First: take a step back. Next: breathe. Freelancing, or running any
Let’s go over some common components of the author (or book) media kit. While most of these will work for a hard copy media kit / press kit, let’s focus on online author media kits (those in newsroom formats on your website or downloadable .pdf files). Author Media Kit Components – Essential Author bio Published book list (titles, cover images, brief summary, ISBN, etc.) Media
The following is an interview with independent author, Peter Bowerman. Bowerman is the author of The Well-Fed Writer and The Well-Fed Self Publisher (a book I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone interested in pursuing indie publishing). When did you first decide to self publish, and which was your first self-published book? I decided to self-publish my first book, The Well-Fed Writer (2000), after only half-hearted attempts to
Do you use Google Analytics on your blog to track your website traffic statistics? If so, have you ever looked at your bounce rate there and wondered “why is this so high?” The problem might have very little to do with your blog and have more to do with the fact that the typical bounce rate metric isn’t always relevant to the blog format. Fortunately
Three different freelance colleagues mentioned using editorial calendars to me within the past week. And it made me wonder — is this a new trend among freelance writers and bloggers or are many of you already using this tool? I don’t have an editorial calendar per se, but I do a fair amount of post planning. I use editorial calendars for special circumstances (like my
When “indie publishing” is discussed here at All Indie Publishing, we’re talking about professional independent publishing. That means there’s an entrepreneurial element as opposed to publishing just to see your name in print. You plan to make a serious go of it. You plan to make money with your books. You work with professionals to put out your best work possible. You won’t see many
You know my thoughts on content mills. You know I’m pissed that Google has so far allowed these MFA (made-for-adsense) sites to spam their rankings using tactics that would have smaller independent publishers penalized in a heartbeat (and that’s been the case for years). They didn’t pay attention when we brought up the issues in writing communities. But now that the tech segment is on
Do you ever feel embarrassed as a blogger? Maybe the grammar police came a-calling. Or maybe you forgot to post when readers were expecting something. Or maybe you missed a publicly self-imposed deadline. Here’s what I have to say to that: lighten up! Coming to Terms with Typos Blogging is a relatively casual and conversational medium and yet we sometimes get worked up over simple
Everyone is willing to give you advice about freelance writing — from non-writers with preconceptions about the freelance lifestyle to professionals who have run successful freelance writing careers for years. In between you’ll find newbies who try to give advice like they’ve found the holy grail of freelancing, former freelancers who couldn’t cut it but still feel qualified to tell you how you can, and some
Bloggers usually love to receive comments. But as a reader, I sometimes don’t leave them, even if I love the blogger and content. It occurred to me as I looked through my RSS feed this morning that there’s one blog in particular that I almost never comment on. I admire the blogger. I love the content. But I don’t comment. Why? There’s one simple reason
Sometimes we find inspiration in the strangest places. And today I’m going to turn the floor over to my two kitties, Baby and Tubs. Here are a few lessons I’ve learned from these little beasties that apply to the freelance writing life: Baby: There’s Always Time for a Nap Sometimes we get so caught up in work and deadlines and finding new projects that we
Sometimes the things I find through Twitter make me want to cry. “How to Retire on Residual Income from Writing Articles” was one such link (although I can’t remember which darling follow felt it was a good idea to share). This is an article about how writing for sites that offer residual income is an option for people who want to retire. In other words,
There’s a not-so-new copyright infringement threat that seems to be becoming even more prevalent these days — so-called PDF search engines. In the last two weeks alone I received notification that three of these sites were publishing my content without a license or permission. What’s happening? Well, these sites purport to be about helping you find .pdf files. First of all that often means they’re
Maybe you’ve thought about freelance writing but your real interests lie in creative writing. Maybe you find nonfiction writing dull or unrewarding or you’re worried that working with clients will kill the creative side of your work. It doesn’t have to. Here are 11 ways you might be able to turn your creative writing passion into freelance writing opportunities. Some ideas are more traditional, but
When you work as a freelance writer, you’re a service provider. Selling products is technically something different. But that doesn’t mean you can’t incorporate other income streams into your business. Sure, you can remain a freelance purist if you really want to. But if you’re looking for new ways to make money with your writing without having to be too reliant on client projects, why
We talk a lot about how to market freelance writing services effectively. But how do you know when there’s a problem with your existing marketing and it’s time for a change? Here are five signs that your current freelance marketing sucks and that your marketing plan is overdue for a visit. You only attract low-paying clients — those unable to pay the freelance writing rates