Writing and Publishing: How to Help an Independent Author

As I am writing this, I have just announced the release of my new book “A Few Drops of Fantasy”. I made a Facebook post on my author page and then shared my own post on my personal timeline. Several of my sweet friends commented on how wonderful it was that I was publishing my books. Most of the people I know have known I write for the longest time and they always ask when I will publish my books. What they don’t know is how hard it is to get published. Finding a publisher is so difficult that I decided to self-publish. It is not something that it’s unheard of, many people publish ebooks now a days because it’s easier and free, but without the support of a big publishing house it’s very hard for your book to get the marketing it deserves. Marketing it yourself could be expensive, so right now, I am focusing on digital media to make my name known as an author and get my books read.


So, wonderful friends, you must be wondering, what you can do to help an independent author (indie author) with her books? Please understand, writing is my passion, and I will keep writing and publishing even if nobody reads my books. I’m not in it for the money, but with a little help from you, more readers may be aware that I exist and that can’t be a bad thing. It’s just a little click on your part, but it helps bunches! Besides, how many authors do you know? Can’t be many… so I ask, will you please help me out?


1. Leave a review. Where? Anywhere! You can leave it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, iBooks, Nook, Goodreads… the list goes on an on. Reviews do many things: they make my book move up on listed books when readers search, they let other people know there are other people out there who have read the book, so it’s more likely they will take a chance with the book, write a review and they let me, believe it or not, advertise for free on certain websites that only let you in if you already have a few reviews. If you are reading this and would like to read the book and leave a review, but can’t spare 99 cents to buy the book, let me know and I will email you a link to my book free if you will leave a review. Your review is gold to me, remember that. The first book in my North American Vampire Secret Agency series is PERMA FREE now (that means it’s free permanently). If you would like to help by leaving a review, you can visit my Pronoun author page with links to my books and all the places they are available. Look here.


2. Share and Like my posts on Facebook and Twitter. Believe it or not, sharing is caring. I know I don’t have a lot of digital history. I am an introverted, anxious and socially inept person (it happens), but since I started publishing my books I’ve been doing a great effort to create a digital presence as an author. And when I say effort, I mean it. It’s been hard, but I’m out there! I research a lot on how to get my books to be known – because mostly what I want is for people to read and enjoy them – and what works is to create a network to have people share your joy. You, as my personal friend on Facebook or Twitter, help by liking a post I share. You can help even more by sharing the post, especially when I am trying to get people to click on a picture that will take them to my book. Maybe you don’t care for my genre, but I’m sure some of your contacts will. We are all different and you never know who is going to be interested in a series about vampires who are secret agents who fight werewolves. Right? Please remember that sharing is caring.


Here’s my Author’s Facebook Page and my Twitter Page.


3. Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads and/or Amazon. This is probably the hardest thing to ask. Nobody wants to be getting posts or tweets they don’t care about. But, if you follow me, every time I update either of these websites, I get views and if you view it or like it or share it, it helps me. Remember that the point is for people we don’t know to realize there is a book out there they may like but are missing because they don’t know about it. Someone out there will care enough to click and at least take a look. That’s more than I could hope for. One of those looks could turn into a download and one of those downloads may turn into a review! See? Not all is lost. Think about it, you may be a part of something wonderful!


If you would like to follow me in any of these places, you can find links below:
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Amazon


I want to thank everybody who took the time to read my ramble and for considering any help you can give me. Thank you, everybody! Now, to keep writing! Take care!