And the wannabes? Well, it can be the opportunity of a lifetime for us, too, especially if someone who’s been there takes us by the hand and leads us. Enter the hand holders: Dollars & Sense, the Definitive Guide to Self-Publishing Success by Carolyn McCray, Amber Scott and Rachel Thompson.
Each of the three ladies who compiled this manual of self-publishing success has self-published and made money doing it. Each of them has an area of expertise which she shares in this book. Amber Scott takes us from an unformatted manuscript to a polished e-book ready for the market. I learned a lot about the psychology of buyers from her. In the second section, Rachel Thompson shows us how to use social media to brand ourselves (trust me, it doesn’t burn). She walks us through the hows and whys of each plank of our platforms. “Brand” and “platform” are explained. She shows why a book’s success is so dependent on a robust social media presence. In the third section, Carolyn McCray explains the major pitfalls of indie book sales and how not only to avoid them but use them to advantage. In short, she leads us step by step through what it takes to make a bestseller. They end the book with an example book launch to tie together all of the lessons as well as an exhaustive indie checklist anyone can follow. I’m not quite finished with this book, but I’m pretty impressed with what I’ve read so far and feel confident I can replicate their success. I’d say it was well worth the $2.99 I paid. Their website The Indie Book Collective is a treasure trove, too: indiebookcollective.com/IndieBookCollective
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The New Mexico Book Association has existed since 1994. They have monthly brown bag networking luncheons (the Success Team meetings Brian Jud touts) the second Friday of every month from 11:30 to 1:00 and provide a wealth of resources. For information and to join, go to www.nmbook.org. (If you join now, your membership will be good until August 2012. that's like getting a month's membership free.)