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