To celebrate National Novel Writing Month, (NaNoWriMo), ALLi Director Orna Ross and Partner Liaison and US Ambassador Michael La Ronn answer writing questions. Among them ... What’s the best app to write my novel? How do I conquer writer’s block? Help! I’m stuck in the murky middle of my novel! Where do I find beta readers? What are the best tips for editing my novel? Also ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway joins Multimedia Manager Howard Lovy in an update on the latest news from the indie author-pub...
Nov 20, 2019•50 min•Ep. 182
My guest this week is Sue Stern, who at the age of 80 is hitting her stride as an author. When she wrote The Child Who Spoke With her Eyes , a memoir of the all-too-short life of her daughter who suffered from cerebral palsy, she called forth a great deal of pain mixed with the joy of her memory. Along the way, she found a spiritual path through the journey she took with her daughter. Every week I interview a member of ALLi to talk about their writing and what inspires them, and why they are ins...
Nov 17, 2019•13 min•Ep. 181
All the foundations of book marketing begin with knowing your audience. And that is your reader! How do you identify who your reader is? How deep do you need to dig? What difference does knowing exactly who your target reader is affect your overall book marketing approach? Join Orna Ross and Sacha Black as they discuss the differences and similarities of identifying readers of nonfiction versus fiction to help you build a strong base upon which to build all your book marketing activities. Our fi...
Nov 13, 2019•35 min•Ep. 180
My guest this week is Robert Dinsmoor, a writer who has seen his share of sadness and addiction, yet is able to find ways to write about them with both wisdom and wit. Robert talks about his journey as a comedy writer whose alcoholism landed him in rehab, where he was able to not only find healing, but also inspiration for his writing. Every week I interview a member of ALLi to talk about their writing and what inspires them, and why they are inspiring to other authors. Find more author advice, ...
Nov 10, 2019•13 min•Ep. 179
Should you consider self-publishing in Germany? As Amazon opens its ads dashboard in the UK and Germany, and a number of the authors on the ALLi Indie Author Translation Rights project turn their attention there, Orna and Joanna consider the options for Indie authors around the world who’d like to reach the 29.1 million ebook readers in Germany, in English or in translation. Joanna reports from Frankfurt Book Fair and Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith’s Business Masterclass in Vegas, ...
Nov 06, 2019•47 min•Ep. 178
My guest this week is Ruth Badley, whose book, Where Are The Grown-Ups? chronicles her grandmother's short, troubled life and makes sense of her own family history. Ruth is a journalist who discovered long-withheld family secrets about her grandmother that sent her searching for the truth in London's old Jewish East End. Every week I interview a member of ALLi to talk about their writing and what inspires them, and why they are inspiring to other authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools ...
Nov 03, 2019•16 min•Ep. 177
Do you want to know how to properly market self-published poetry books? Many poets spend a lot of time submitting to literary journals and competitions, but the new way to reach poetry readers is through digital social media and book publishing. In this session poet and ALLi Director Orna Ross, and Business Developer at book distributor PublishDrive, Dalma Szentpály, discuss some of the many ways to make and market poetry books today. Tune in for discussions on a different theme each month with ...
Oct 30, 2019•40 min•Ep. 176
My guest this week is Phil M. Cohen, whose new novel creates a dystopian future of uncooperative machines, a messianic Jewish cult, and the quest for control over a powerful new drug. He uses humor and scifi to discover the meaning of being Jewish in a chaotic world. Phil's book, Nick Bones Underground , combines the Jewish wit of Michael Chabon with the sci-fi absurdity of Douglas Adams. The backdrop to this story is a dystopia, where machines stop working, or just evolve other priorities, and ...
Oct 27, 2019•10 min•Ep. 175
Has ALLi ever heard of certain shady publishers? That is among the questions answered this month on our monthly Member Q&A, where ALLi Members’ have their most pressing self-publishing questions analyzed and answered. Join your hosts for the Member Q&A: Partner Liaison and US Ambassador Michael La Ronn and ALLi Director Orna Ross. Questions this month include: I published my book with a publisher, the publisher did a bad job, and now I got my rights back. I want to self-publish, but "use...
Oct 23, 2019•49 min•Ep. 174
My guest this week is Victoria Noe, whose experience working with AIDS patients in the 1980s prepared her to write a series of "Friend Grief" books on dealing with loss when somebody close to you dies. Every week I interview a member of ALLi to talk about their writing and what inspires them, and why they are inspiring to other authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center : https://selfpublishingadvice.org , with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog...
Oct 20, 2019•12 min•Ep. 173
Going wide and being selectively exclusive is definitely the safest way to a sustainable and scalable author business. But is it the same for fiction and nonfiction? And what is the best approach at different points of an author business? Boni (sitting in for Orna) and Adam discuss going direct to retailers or using aggregators — what are the pros and cons of each, which are worth the effort of going direct, and are there differences between fiction and nonfiction? Find more author advice, tips ...
Oct 16, 2019•31 min•Ep. 172
My guest this week Freddie P. Peters, whose background in law and high finance was perfect preparation for her series of financial crime thrillers that also involve espionage, terrorism, and the nature of greed. Every week I interview a member of ALLi to talk about their writing and what inspires them, and why they are inspiring to other authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center : https://selfpublishingadvice.org , with a huge archive of nearly ...
Oct 13, 2019•13 min•Ep. 171
Orna and Joanna attended the Brand Licensing Show in London and bring back advice and information on publishing rights, deal-making, negotiation, and collaboration for everything from stationery to video, TV to merchandise. Discover new trends and ideas and learn how to build partnerships and secure brand rights. Our advanced salon is brought to you by specialist sponsor IngramSpark . Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, http://selfpublishingadvice.org . ...
Oct 09, 2019•48 min•Ep. 170
My guest this week is Mari Howard, whose books are about finding ways to reconcile science and religion, and about the personal and ethical gray areas between the two. It's not an easy thing to write about during these polarized times, but whether she's writing about in-vitro-fertilization, cloning, or gender transitioning, Mari successfully navigates through questions of prejudice, and the place where humanity meets science. Every week I interview a member of ALLi to talk about their writing an...
Oct 06, 2019•12 min•Ep. 169
Sometimes called pamphlets, poetry chapbooks are short collections of poems, inexpensively and usually independently published. They are typically in ebook or paperback format—though indies are now producing print-on-demand hardbacks and audiobooks of their own readings, too. ALLi Director Orna Ross publishes chapbooks regularly, whenever she has ten publishable poems, for her “Poems to Inspire” series. In this session, Orna and Dalma Szentpály will explore the delights and challenges of chapboo...
Oct 02, 2019•39 min•Ep. 168
My guest this week is religious fantasy author Brandon Wilborn, who combines the epic fantasy of J.R.R. Tolkien with the religious allegory of C.S. Lewis to create books with action and adventure, yet grounded in lessons on how to handle moral dilemmas of good and evil. Every week I interview a member of ALLi to talk about their writing and what inspires them, and why they are inspiring to other authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center : https:...
Sep 29, 2019•13 min•Ep. 167
What is hybrid publishing and should I consider it? That is among the questions answered this month on our monthly Member Q&A, where ALLi Members’ have their most pressing self-publishing questions analyzed and answered. Join your hosts for the Member Q&A: Partner Liaison and US Ambassador Michael La Ronn and ALLi Director Orna Ross. Questions this month include: I'm struggling with formatting my paperback. What should I do? Help! My publishing is withholding my royalties. Can I file a c...
Sep 25, 2019•46 min•Ep. 166
My guest this week is Scottish author Barry Hutchison, who has found great success as an indie author writing comedy science fiction and crime thrillers. These two genres might seem to be unrelated, but to Barry it was about combining topics that interested him with a market that needed to be filled. The result has been a successful transition from traditionally published author to indie, and he has not looked back. Every week I interview a member of ALLi to talk about their writing and what ins...
Sep 22, 2019•19 min•Ep. 165
Orna Ross, Adam Croft, and Boni Wagner-Stafford discuss the similarities, differences, and key elements in your book blurbs. What must every indie author include in their blurb? What should they never include? What are the differences between fiction versus nonfiction book blurbs? Tune in for this session on book blurb best practices. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center : https://selfpublishingadvice.org , with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog p...
Sep 18, 2019•31 min•Ep. 164
My guest this week is Helena Halme, a writer of Romantic Nordic Mysteries. She lives in the United Kingdom, but is originally from Finland. Before she became a novelist and ALLi's official Nordic ambassador, Helena played a small, but important, part in Cold War history as a translator for the BBC. In addition to her Nordic Mysteries, Helena writes nonfiction on how to turn your life into fiction and how to write in a language that's not your own. In this week's podcast, we talk about her advent...
Sep 15, 2019•12 min•Ep. 163
Orna Ross: Creative Self-Publishing: Optimising Platforms, Formats and Income Streams Self-Publishing Advice Conference, Digital Book World 2019
Sep 15, 2019•1 hr 1 min
What can you do today to master social media book marketing strategies? Which strategies work and which are a waste of precious time? Rachel Thompson, who knows a social trick or two, reviews what works and what doesn’t these days, with specific insider tips for Twitter and Facebook Pages. This podcast is part of Self-Publishing Advice Conference , an online author conference that showcases the best self-publishing advice and education for authors across the world — harnessing the global reach o...
Sep 11, 2019•46 min•Ep. 162
My guest this week is Debbie Young, and if you're an ALLi member, you already know her as a helpful presence on the members' facebook page or on our blog. But Debbie has gone through a long journey as a writer to get to a place where she can give back to the indie author community. This is the story of how Debbie has traveled from early promise, to a detour writing promotional blurbs, to fulfilling her dream as an indie author of mysteries in the best of the British tradition. Every week I inter...
Sep 08, 2019•19 min•Ep. 161
My guest this week is Alison Morton, whose background as a translator, historian, and British army veteran make her uniquely qualified to write an alternate history of Rome, asking what would have happened had the Roman Empire survived into modern times … and it was ruled by women. Every week I interview a member of ALLi to talk about their writing and what inspires them, and why they are inspiring to other authors. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Cen...
Sep 05, 2019•16 min•Ep. 159
From audiobooks to readings to podcasts, audio has never been a hotter topic in publishing, but how do you use audio to market and sell books? In search of the answers, Joanna is off to the Podcast Movement Conference in Orlando and Orna is preparing an advance summary of the audio sessions at Digital Book World. The podcast will also focus on how you monetize audio. Our advanced salon is brought to you by specialist sponsor IngramSpark , professional-grade publishing services at prices self-pub...
Sep 04, 2019•48 min•Ep. 160
In another first for the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and as part of its 2019-2020 season of broadcasts, ALLi launches the first Self-Publishing Poetry Podcast. For poets, this is a safe online space to read and perform, to get advice about online poetry publishing and creative enterprise, and to get more attention. On the #AskALLi Self-Publishing Poetry Podcast, find: advice on how to self-publish poetry books for pleasure and profit discussion about writing and publishing options fo...
Aug 28, 2019•29 min•Ep. 158
Diana Stevan is in her 70s and is beginning to hit her stride as a prolific indie author of novels about family, love, and relationships. Her third self-published book, called Sunflowers Under Fire, is set in WWI and the Bolshevik Revolution. It's based on stories told to her by her mother and it's a finalist for the 2019 Whistler Independent Book Awards, sponsored by the Writers Union of Canada. Diana is able to draw on a wide range of experience, from working at a meat-packing plant to an actr...
Aug 27, 2019•15 min•Ep. 157
Welcome to AskALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. This week it’s our monthly Member Q&A where ALLi Members’ have their most pressing self-publishing questions analyzed and answered. Join your regular hosts for the Member Q&A: Michael La Ronn and Orna Ross. Questions this month include: Help! Someone is pirating my book. My publisher went out of business and took my book with them. What do I do? How do I get an editor to read my fantasy book?...
Aug 21, 2019•47 min•Ep. 156
Carmen Klassen has personally gone through transitions that became the inspiration for her series of books about women and how they cope with crisis and change. We live in uncertain times. Professions appear and disappear with changing needs and technology. Our political systems are in turmoil, creating a need for all of us to have some kind of contingency plan for when things go wrong. Every week I interview a member of ALLi who has done something remarkable and inspiring. This is the only show...
Aug 18, 2019•13 min•Ep. 155
In the first of our new shows comparing the perspectives of fiction and nonfiction, Orna Ross, Adam Croft and Boni Wagner-Stafford discuss when you should brand the author versus when the branding should focus on the book, or the book series. What are the factors to take into account? And what about pen names? Should you have one? Or maybe even more than one? What are the implications? Tune in for this session on branding best practice. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publis...
Aug 14, 2019•32 min•Ep. 154
