Support for Indie Authors discussion

This is where you can ask questions to the Moderators for Support for Indie Authors. Please note that this is a Public Thread - anyone can read this. If you prefer to ask privately, please message me or email me at siamoderators@gmail.com.

Thank you!

At least one of my books was put there by a fan. I don't believe authors are allowed to put books into the lists, though. I believe it has to be done by a fan. That's about all I know about it, which isn't much.

Dwayne wrote: "At least one of my books was put there by a fan. I don't believe authors are allowed to put books into the lists, though. I believe it has to be done by a fan. That's about all I know about it, whi..."

Are you sure Dwayne? I think I've seen author do it, but I may be mistaken.

No, I am not sure. I said this is what I believe.

And even if authors are not supposed to do it, doesn't mean authors won't.

Anyone who has read a book may add it, meaning an author can mark their book as read and add it to a list, however, who added it is shown, so some readers may be turned off by authors adding their own books.

Yes, I think it is probably not a good idea for authors to do it.

Ok, honestly, I thought they had removed the author's rights to add their own book because of abuse. I guess I was wrong.

I have a question. I want to ask for flash fiction for a feature on my blog called Friday Friends. Is there anywhere here where such a request would be acceptable?

Or should I put it on my thread in the showcase?

Or am I just a waste of space?

Oh and where am I?

Jane wrote: "I have a question. I want to ask for flash fiction for a feature on my blog called Friday Friends. Is there anywhere here where such a request would be acceptable?

Or should I put it on my thread..."

Showcase. You can put it in the services as a call for submissions as well as your own thread.

Christina wrote: "Jane wrote: "I have a question. I want to ask for flash fiction for a feature on my blog called Friday Friends. Is there anywhere here where such a request would be acceptable?

Or should I put it..."

Yes ma'am. And could I interest you in a spot on my very new baby blog?

Dear Moderator,
( A bit of background) I'm an 80 year old woman who has been writing since I was 50. I had a publisher and we parted ways, now I'm trying to learn the ins and outs of Indy Publishing. I'm a member of SinC and SinC for self pubbed authors. So far I've published four of my novels myself.

My current problem: I joined Goodreads several years ago and got badly burned by some 1 star reviews, so I backed away fast. That was a mistake. But my books were doing really well back then and I thought, "I don't need this grief." I was wrong. I'm willing to take the grief now and shrug it away. However, I was so badly burned that now I'm afraid of making a mistake in ignorance and deeply offending someone.
I want to join your group and I clicked one of the boxes. However, nothing popped up for me to fill out.
If you have any helpful advice for me , I'd be so grateful.
Jackie King

Jackie wrote: "Dear Moderator"

Hi Jackie,

You are a member of the group. I just checked. It's been so long since I joined, but I don't remember having to fill anything out. As far as I know, nothing should pop up and there's nothing to fill out.

Do not let those one star reviews shake you. Just remember, they are just the opinion of one reader, a reader with the right to dislike your book. Just shrug and say, "Okay, I didn't please that one" and move on. And keep writing!

Thanks, Dwayne.

I want to add my picture to my Author Page and I can't figure out how to do that. Help will be greatly appreciated.

Make sure you are logged in to your author page. Over on the right hand side, near the top, you should see some gray words that read "edit page". Click on that and you will see, on the right hand side, a link that you can click to add photos.

Also, under the generic picture of a tan person holding a book, there should be a link where you can upload photos. Once you have your photo uploaded, you can mark it to be your profile picture.

Ann wrote: "This is where you can ask questions to the Moderators for Support for Indie Authors. Please note that this is a Public Thread - anyone can read this. If you prefer to ask privately, please message ..."

Hi Ann:
I self-published with Createspace. Now I am searching for a distributor to expand the market. Do you or anyone in the group have suggestions?
Thank you!

Luellen wrote: "Ann wrote: "This is where you can ask questions to the Moderators for Support for Indie Authors. Please note that this is a Public Thread - anyone can read this. If you prefer to ask privately, ple..."

I do not, unfortunately, but we'd love to hear about your process and search at some point.

I'd really like to contribute regularly to this group, but it is proving quite frustrating. Most of what I have added either gets moved to a spot where it is not relevant, or is deleted without any explanation as to why - this just happened. I've read the rules, so this makes it very hard to improve contributions to get it right. How can I offer support for indie authors? Thank you

Chris wrote: "I'd really like to contribute regularly to this group, but it is proving quite frustrating. Most of what I have added either gets moved to a spot where it is not relevant, or is deleted without any..."

Your last post was self-promotional (put your own profile as the about) and contained a link (which is clearly stated as not allowed in the rules)

Christina wrote: "Chris wrote: "I'd really like to contribute regularly to this group, but it is proving quite frustrating. Most of what I have added either gets moved to a spot where it is not relevant, or is delet..."

Thanks for the quick reply. How do you then provide support for indie authors if you can't link to the support? Is there an alternate way to do it, or is that kind of support not wanted? Obviously copy-paste is not an option/illegal. Sorry for all the questions, genuinely trying to get it right.

Sorry about the profile, I had never used that box before and had a brain fart and thought I was supposed to when I saw the option.

We want people to help each other and offer our own, personal experience. You can easily say 'I read an article about XYZ and it made these great points: (list points) and then explain why you feel they are good points. Anyone can search the web for articles. Anyone can find blogs or pay for advice, but what matters here is helping one another cut through all of that.

We don't want a list of ten marketing tips, we want your experience and why it did/not work for you. We do ask for links on guided threads, but we also check those and they are to specific services.

Hi MS,

When you click on this link, you will see a list of all the folders and the most recent posts in each folder.

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

The folder rules are pinned to the top of each folder. Here is a screen shot, showing two of the folder rules:

Hi,
I'm a new member. I would like to post the blurb and cover of my book to get feedback. However, I can't find the place where I can post in any of the folders. It looks like I'm missing something. Please help.

Sayanta wrote: "Hi,
I'm a new member. I would like to post the blurb and cover of my book to get feedback. However, I can't find the place where I can post in any of the folders. It looks like I'm missing somethi..."

If you look at the screenshot Dwayne posted two comments up, those are the exact folders he used in his example. Read the posts he has circled before creating your own thread.

Sayanta wrote: "Hi,
I'm a new member. I would like to post the blurb and cover of my book to get feedback..."

The link I provided in the above post will take you to the full list of folders, too.

Christina wrote: "Sayanta wrote: "Hi,
I'm a new member. I would like to post the blurb and cover of my book to get feedback. However, I can't find the place where I can post in any of the folders. It looks like I'm..."

Thanks, Christina! However, the problem is I found those folders before but didn't find a way on how to post my blurb and/or cover in them. Please tell me the way.

Dwayne wrote: "Sayanta wrote: "Hi,
I'm a new member. I would like to post the blurb and cover of my book to get feedback..."

The link I provided in the above post will take you to the full list of folders, too."

Thanks, Dwayne, as I said to Christina, I found those folders before but never found a way to post my blurb and/or cover in them. I need assistance for that part.

If you click on the folder name, it will bring up a list of all topics. At the top of that list on the right side, you'll see a link for new topic. It's kind of small. Click that and you can make your post.

Christina wrote: "If you click on the folder name, it will bring up a list of all topics. At the top of that list on the right side, you'll see a link for new topic. It's kind of small. Click that and you can make y..."

Yeah, I found it now. Thanks a lot for your help!

I assume I am not allowed to ask for some help with promoting my book on Kickstarter?

Petros wrote: "I assume I am not allowed to ask for some help with promoting my book on Kickstarter?"

Not here. This group is for discussion of writing, the process, marketing strategy, etc. and not for self promotion.

Fabulous moderator Dan directed you to our Showcase group in another thread. I'll give you the link again.

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

This is where you go for self promotion. Please be sure to follow the directions. Thanks!

Just ran my first giveaway. I understand that it's not acceptable for authors to contact the winner. Is there a way I can get the winner the tracking number for the package that I shipped today? The winner is in Australia and the package is shipping from the US. I would think the tracking number would be welcome. (PS This last Saturday, the USPS started providing tracking numbers for international mail, which I think is great—unless I can't get the number to the winner).

Thomas wrote: "Just ran my first giveaway. I understand that it's not acceptable for authors to contact the winner. Is there a way I can get the winner the tracking number for the package that I shipped today? Th..."

Hi Thomas,
That is a question for Goodreads customer support. Support Indie Authors is a group on Goodreads, but we do not work for Goodreads.

Christina wrote: "Thomas wrote: "Just ran my first giveaway. I understand that it's not acceptable for authors to contact the winner. Is there a way I can get the winner the tracking number for the package that I sh..."
Okay, thank you.

Dwayne wrote: "Hi MS,

When you click on this link, you will see a list of all the folders and the most recent posts in each folder.

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

The fol..."

I thought links weren't allowed here. Ok for thee, but not for others?

John wrote: "thought links weren't allowed here. Ok for thee, but not for others? "

Exactly. Moderators may reply with links here in Goodreads to point people in the right direction. Aside from that, links may only be posted on the specific threads where they are asked for.

Christina wrote: "John wrote: "thought links weren't allowed here. Ok for thee, but not for others? "

Exactly. Moderators may reply with links here in Goodreads to point people in the right direction. Aside from th..."

Thank you for the clarification.

Announcing a re-launch of my series... would that fall under New Releases or...?

J.D. wrote: "Announcing a re-launch of my series... would that fall under New Releases or...?"

Not allowed here. You can join the showcase and start a thread there, provided you read and adhere to the posting rules.

I appreciate that SIA is here to support self-published authors.

But, I have to wonder what the animus is towards the Authors Guild. The Authors Guild exists to support ALL authors regardless.

I suggested that it may be a good idea for self-published authors to join Authors Guild as membership will enhance their credibility.

Self-published who earned $500 in the past 18 months are eligible for membership.

It's a great resource, yet SIA moderator(s) are single-minded fanatics in deleting my references to AG. Why the animus?

SIA should be out front in sharing information that will help self-published authors get ahead. Squelching of information is not helpful.

Hi JD. Feel free to message me privately regarding your messages and we can discuss. Thank you.

J.D. I have deleted two such messages as they were in a thread about business cards and your post has nothing to do with business cards.

An Authors Guild membership logo can be placed on a business card. Also, any logos for awards received. Even the Goodreads logo might be appropriate. Anything that would instill confidence in readers.

Rico wrote: "I apologies if I have been inactive. Can non authors talk through here as well?"

I am not an author. My wife is and I do all the marketing and business end.

What I comment on is on marketing and not writing. You'll notice that.

I know very little about writing and don't have the courage to put myself out there, but I do know a great deal about marketing and what works and what doesn't work so well.

As far a "non-author" contributing to SIA:

Free speech is a wonderful thing. People can hear or read different points of view and determine for themselves what is valid and useful or not.

SIA has great members who are working hard at their craft to be successful. I hope that they are.

What I can offer is my perspective on the marketing side and the briar patch of publishing whether through a house or self.

If what I post is useful, then use it. If what I post is not useful, don't use it.

But, unless Ann has a different take I guess the answer to your original question is "Yes."

Yes, non authors can post as well.

Thanks, Ann!

Anyone have a clue as to how to post your "two-sentence" horror story on Goodreads for Horror Week?

JAKe wrote: "Anyone have a clue as to how to post your "two-sentence" horror story on Goodreads for Horror Week?"

That's a question for Goodreads. You can contact them through the 'help' button at the very bottom of the page.

Rico wrote: "sorry, i just can't get my head around this self-promotion thing."

Self-promotion is not allowed per our group rules. Since the majority of our members are authors, we do not want anyone looking at our members as customers. Goodreads best practices for authors also advises that authors who are pushy in readers groups are likely to have their posts flagged and risk losing their author status.

Dear Ann, I am trying to find the results of the Thunderclap we had in the early fall to refer to it. Is it possible to find out how many participated and what the reach was. I have been searching for emails to find this data and cannot find it. Also when if at all are there plans for another. Thank you. Delores