Indie Authors Unite: Instant Karma

In a world full of books, how do you get noticed? Will your story ever have a chance to shine in the over-saturated world of publishing?

As more people take to publishing books, the Indie community is increasing in volume at record speed. So, how do you compete with all the other authors?

My answer to this question is that you don’t. I would suggest that you not even try to compete.

Think of the Indie publishing world as a team: we are all working together for the greater good of a collective. Very early on in my career I learned that, together, we are more powerful than if we were to go it alone. And who doesn’t want support? What you must remember about this com-munity is that we all need extra support now and then, so make sure you have your proverbial karma dollars in the bank.

I’m not saying everything should be tit for tat, but I have found the more I give the more I receive.

Writing a book is a largely selfish endeavor. It’s all about you, your story. But, marketing that same book doesn’t have to be as divisive or isolating. Create the cleanest manuscript you can produce. Then the next step is to sell the product. For that you are going to need a sizable support network. In my experience, if you step out a bit to help others before you need an extra push, you will have people waiting in the wings- all too happy to assist you when the time comes.

Of course, not all people are as responsive as we would like. You should be prepared for some disappointment but, generally, people won’t forget you. Whether it’s sharing your book on Facebook or Twitter, helping with your blurbs (thank you, Janni Styles, who seems to have the secret to writing perfect blurbs and is worth her weight in gold), or putting together a blog post for your latest work in order to spread the news.

But, even with all of these digital resources at our disposal, word of mouth is still the leader when it comes to sales. Many of us lack the support of our friends or family. So, who better to understand what we are experiencing than other authors?

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Tune in to The Official Prose. Blog later today for the full article by returning guest writer, Brenda Perlin (@BrooklynAndBo), at blog.theprose.com.