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2017 Indie Author Day Gears Up

My table at the 2016 Indie Author Day October 8, 2016 Anaheim Main Library, Anaheim, CA

Thanks to my friend Melissa Guzzetta, author of Private Lucky, for notifying me of the Indie Author Day webinar , Evidence for Indies, presented on Tuesday, January 31, 2017. Somehow I missed seeing the announcement, but thankfully I jumped on just as it was starting.

The panel of four was made up of the following:

Kiera Parrott, reviews director for School Library Journal and Library Journal and a former children’s librarian
Carla Sarratt, Virtual Services Librarian with New Hanover County Public Library
Carl Pritzkat, president of BookLife.com, Publishers Weekly’s website dedicated to indie authors
K. S. Brooks, an award-winning author and photographer administrator for the superblog IndiesUnlimited.com and member of the Indie Author Day advisory boardRead more about the panel from their biographies on the pdf EvidenceforIndiesWebinar-Bios

The second annual Indie Author Day has been set for Saturday, October 14, 2017, and a few libraries are already making plans. The organizers plan to have other webinars and encourage libraries to host events throughout the year to help indie authors learn and follow best practices for indie publishing.

While they confessed that libraries have been not always been open to self-published books, the attitude has changed as indie authors are becoming more professional. It also helps that highly successful best-selling indie authors such as Hugh Howell and JA Konrath have freely shared their journeys and advocated for authors. Check out their websites of these two successful authors for loads of encouragement and guidance.

The speakers encouraged indie authors to approach your local library, but be sure you’re talking to the decision maker. They reminded us that a library’s decision to invest in a book are based on many things, but they strongly rely on reviews from respected third party sources.

I’m not sure the Evidence for Indies webinar was recorded, but they provided a download of the slideshow. Download it here Evidence for Indies Slideshow

Visit http://indieauthorday.com/ to learn more about what’s shaping up for 2017. They will need our support and involvement, so please offer your ideas as they request on the site, and by all means, approach your local library to encourage them to participate.

In the meantime, read the post below to see what authors from last year’s Indie Author Day had to say about their participation.

Indie Authors Have More to Love at the Library: Transformation

indieauthorday_webbanner_250x250-png Whether you are an indie author or an avid reader, I hope you will be participating in Indie Author Day on October 8th in one of the over 300 participating public libraries in the USA.

This day is significant in a number of ways.

Until recently, indie authors were known as self-published authors, and suffered from an unfortunate stigma that their work must not be any good if it couldn’t get past the gatekeepers at major publishers. Once published, it was near-impossible for self-published books, without regard for quality, to be picked up by public libraries.

The line between traditional and self-publishing has blurred

While it is debated whether or not many famous authors self-published their early books as we’ve heard, it is true that the line between traditional and self-publishing has blurred. A self-published author who decides to follow the same steps to producing a quality book as a traditional publisher is now best called an indie (independent) author.

An indie author recognizes that none of us truly self-publishes, so she forms a team to produce a quality book.

Yes, the indie author still writes, but as an entrepreneur, she also oversees the publishing, marketing, promotions, and financial operations of her work. Recognizing the importance of quality, she hires the same professionals that traditional publishers employ: editors, book cover designers, formatters, and so on. She often does this under her own small publishing company brand. She is savvy about using social media to build her target market and strategically plans her appearances on and offline.

Indie authors are not opposed to traditional publishing. Many submit some manuscripts to traditional publishers while continuing to publish under their own publishing companies.

Indie authors know that traditional publishers don’t like taking chances on a newcomer or an author who doesn’t already have a following. The indie author is a risk-taker, eager to let the readers decide if a book is any good. In the process she builds up fans, maintains control over the process,and keeps a much larger percentage of the profits than she would otherwise.

Public libraries celebrate local indie authors

Public libraries now recognize they are in partnership with good writers and there are many indie authors who are good writers. For the first time in the USA, public libraries are welcoming and celebrating local authors on Indie Author Day, October 8, 2016.

To see which library near you is participating, visit indieauthorday.com and click Where. Activities vary from library to library. Some will feature panel discussions or book talks, but all will have indie authors with their books available for sale and autographing.

No celebration is complete without swag, so you can expect to find fun gift items for authors and attendees. Indie Author Day goodie bags will be arriving soon in a participating library near you.

If you can’t attend, tune in on October 8th at 2 p.m. EST to the live streaming of a Q and A panel of publishing notables. Find out how at http://indieauthorday.com/blog/how-to-tune-in-to-indie-author-days-digital-q-and-a/

If you’re in and near Orange County, be sure to stop by my table at Anaheim Central Public Library.

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