The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe is Ready for Lift Off!

The universe is filled with anomalies and mysteries, from black holes to dark energy. For some authors who are new to publishing, getting their books in the hands of readers is equally baffling. In truth, writing a book from cover to cover is a huge task, but an even greater obstacle is finding an audience. 

The Indie Author’s Guide to the Universe is meant to help any author, whether they are traditionally published or self-published, to take one step further in their journey. This book is designed to encourage and inspire authors in their craft, and the daily lives of those who dare to explore the new galaxies in publishing. At the core of this universe is a black hole, a black hole that is sucking readers and time away from you. The gravitational pull is overpowering, and it’s your job to find the strength and tools to get them back into your gravitational field. The journey is not for the faint of heart. The task is not for the weak and thin-skinned writer. 

I want to be clear from the very start, however, that the lessons in this book will in no way, shape, or alien life form turn an automatic key to selling your books. It is not a definitive guide in marketing and selling. It is not a guide to the craft—Lord knows I could never teach that.

The Indie Author’s Guide to the Universe is about nudging new authors through the publishing process and offering helpful advice and encouragement in an environment that can be extremely draining. The guide may inspire, coach, and motivate you to go the distance, but it will not solve the problem of lackluster sales without serious effort on your part. This book will teach you what I’ve done on the road to Amazon’s Top 100 and give you indie-publishing wisdom, including tips and thoughts from some of the best-selling indie authors out there.

Any author who has experience in this industry will tell you that there are many excellent books that just aren’t selling. There are many reasons why some books sell and others don’t, but overall, it’s about luck, timing, and many other dynamics that come into play. No empty promises here. This book is based solely on my experience, my blog posts, and lessons I’ve learned along the way.

I’ve asked several other best-selling authors to add their two cents; authors like Scott Nicholson, Joanna Penn, Blake Crouch, Robert Bidinotto, Bob Mayer, Richard Bard, Ann Charles, Saffina Desforges, and more. Their advice paints a clear picture of what you can expect as an indie author. Hopefully, you’ll find comfort in knowing that successful indie authors understand the struggles that come with the freedom of independence, and that you are not alone in your quest for bestsellerdom.

What will you find in this book? 

• How to Build a Blog Tour
• Your Role as Marketer
• Marketing Strategies
• Your Role as Publisher
• Author Blogging
• The Ultimate Book Promotion
• Understanding "Floatation Pricing"
• How to Build an Author Platform
• Selling and Price-point Strategies
• Strategies for Navigating Amazon's KDP Select Program
• Understanding the Indie Author Movement
• Helpful links
• Tips From Best-selling Indie Authors Like Scott Nicholson, Bob Mayer, Joanna Penn, Blake Crouch, Robert Bidinotto, Richard Bard, Amber Scott, Melissa Foster, Saffina Desforges and many more!

Now, time to get back to the control panel. We are ready for lift off in five, four, three, two, one!

Jeff Bennington is the author of Twisted Vengeance, Reunion, and Creepy
The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe is only $3.99 on Amazon for a limited time for my readers!

 

Producing my Platform?

Imagine writing your memoirs or teaching the world everything you know about your profession or trade in a best-selling non-fiction. Or perhaps you'd like to write an acclaimed murder mystery series. Sound good? Sure it does. I talk to lots of people who tell me that they've always wanted to write a book, and I always encourage them to go for it. But what I don't talk about is publishing's dirty little secret - the elusive author platform. So if you're going to write a book, don't leave home without it. 

What's an author platform, you ask? An author platform is the missing link that most aspiring writers lack. Joanna Penn writes in her blog, The Creative Penn, "The author platform is how you are currently reaching an audience of book-buying people, or how you plan to do so. It is your influence, your ability to sell to your market. It is your multi-faceted book marketing machine!"

Most new and aspiring authors do not have a significant platform (present company included), which is a shame because it may be the one thing that keeps most writers from getting an agented publishing deal, regardless of writing quality and creativity. It hasn't always been that way, but the publishing business is in an economical funk and isn't investing much $ in new authors right now. But as they say, it's just business.

The interesting thing is, I just recently received a letter of acceptance for my book, 20th, from a publisher  who really liked the idea and my writing style. At the same time, they declined to publish, because I do not have an author platform; zero speaking engagements, no 100,000+ twitter fans, and I don't have thousands of pre-established readers, or viral video. Ugh! What a conundrum! 

So what do I do? Well, I'm not going to spend thousands of dollars on a publicist (not yet anyway), but I have decided to work my platform and show the folks in New York City how an Indy author can rise to the occasion, even when the economy is in the tank. That's right. Starting now, I am officially on a mission; a mission to divide and conquer the far reaching expanse of the planetary platforms for self-publicized-published-authors. So watch for me in the latest headlines and seven o'clock news, because I need a platform damn it, and I'm going to get one!

Oh, and by the way (sheepishly humble), would you mind sharing this link with all of your friends and family who happen to enjoy reading and getting to know the authors they love? Be sure they know that I'm the author of  the political thriller, Killing the Giants, and two other thrillers I hope to publish soon. And if you think about it, stop by your local library and ask them to purchase my book and invite me to speak! I mean really, it's the least you can do to help the author of The Writing Bomb get that elusive publishing contract! Boom!

                                                                

By the way, Killing the Giants is available on Kindle for ONLY .99 for a short time.