Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

Self-Publishing Advice & Inspirations


Jul 31, 2016

Ep#39: Orna Ross and Joanna Penn answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. See allianceindependendentauthors.org for more details. Here’s a summary of the questions and a brief synopsis of the answers in this month’s Ask ALLi with Orna and Joanna (for more in-depth answers – you should watch the video or listen to the podcast):

  • Q: What exactly makes a piece of fiction, Literary Fiction?
  • Q: Should you use Scrivener to get your books accepted by distributors?
  • Q: How can you generate an ebook review copy?
  • Q: What’s the difference between pre-orders and a soft launch?
  • Q: What are the advantages of using both CreateSpace and IngramSpark for creating your POD print book?
  • Q: Why does Joanna only use CreateSpace for her POD books, and not IngramSpark?
  • Q: When you get really burned, how do you stay motivated enough to keep writing?
  • Q: What is the best way to promote a novel that doesn’t fit into a specific genre?
  • Q: How useful is it to participate in KBoards?

Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi’s free online author conference.

Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org.

Now, go write and publish.

About your hosts

Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn

Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller’s “100 top people in publishing”. She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss