ALLi Exclusive: What’s Your Mindset around Money?
There is a common belief that artists, including authors, make very little money. To explore that assumption, in 2023, the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) commissioned the world’s first Indie Author Income Survey, focused specifically on self-published authors. We found that indie authors earn more than those who are traditionally published, and this data was […]
ALLi Exclusive: One Story Takes Many Forms
Melissa Addey, ALLi Campaigns Manager What book formats should an author be creating? Doesn’t it just come down to print, e-books, and audio? Well, no; there are a lot of exciting variations to explore under the broad heading of “formats.” The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) does of course offer detailed advice on each of […]
ALLi Exclusive: Invest in the Best of Your Business
Melissa Addey, ALLi Campaigns Manager Should authors “write to market”? It’s a question we’ve answered before, but this month, we’re looking at a more practical question: if you want to understand what’s going on in the market in which you are doing business, how do you go about it? Where can you find the best […]
ALLi Exclusive: The Power of Past Titles
Melissa Addey, ALLi Campaigns Manager The term “backlist” is one self-publishing authors adopted from traditional publishers, though it’s less relevant in the days of digital publishing than it was when only the frontlist—the newest books—got the most attention from readers. Today, we can promote any book, any time, and though your latest book is often […]
ALLi Exclusive: Give the Readers What They Want
Melissa Addey, ALLi Campaigns Manager What is “writing to market”? The phrase is tossed around a lot in author circles, and especially in independent publishing. The concept involves creating content specifically tailored to what’s currently in demand for readers, maximizing the chances of commercial success by writing what readers are actively seeking. You research popular […]
ALLi Exclusive: Getting Your Book in Readers’ Hands
“Distribution” may sound technical and far from the creativity of writing. But distribution simply comes down to how you can get a book from your hands into those of your readers as easily and widely as possible. The Alliance of Independent Authors’ (ALLi’s) guiding policy for the most effective distribution plan is to be in […]
ALLi Exclusive: The Basics of Book Production
Professional layout and formatting is crucial to a book’s success. All authors worry about their book covers, and rightly so, but a beautiful cover and wonderful content can quickly be overshadowed by poor layout and formatting. The Alliance for Independent Authors (ALLi) has a comprehensive book, Creative Self-Publishing, that covers the seven processes of self-publishing […]
An ALLi for Tomorrow’s Authors
At the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), the global association for professional self-publishers, one of our ongoing campaigns is what we call Self-Publishing 3.0, or SelfPub3 for short. The seismic shifts that the self-publishing sector has seen over the past two decades have all been driven by technology. SelfPub1 was the era of desktop and […]