Sci-Fi, fantasy and speculative Indie Authors Review discussion

I've got some stuff to share, some possible help, and also a bit of shameless self-promotion.

1. What I learned from my first book = production. My first book, a self-help spoof called Unleash the Sloth! 75 Ways to Reach Your Maximum Potential By Doing Less felt like a herculean feat just getting it off the ground, so when I saw the sales page on Amazon, I was like "Whew! I'm finished!" But as you probably know, that's only the beginning. I created a site, social media pages, etc., and actually sold a nice number of copies. But not "NICE!" nice, just nice. But I did learn a ton about production, about specing books, more about WordPress, etc. Great learning experience, and I'm happy to answer any production questions anyone has.

2. What I'm learning from my second book = marketing. My second book's a sci-fi comedy titled Where the Hell is Tesla? A Novel. This time I'm delving more into the marketing part of self-publishing. Building a "platform." (Buzzword for the tools and the process you use to connect with readers and attract new ones.) But I'm a copywriter and designer, not a self-help guru, so what do I base my platform on? I have no "here's how to be happy in 5 easy steps" blog articles, or "here's what I learned when I visited the Dalai Lama" interesting adventures. So instead of trying to make up interesting stuff about myself, I've decided to leverage what I've been good at over the years, copy, design, and production, and start a little boutique publishing imprint...

3. My new project - Goldfinch Publishing. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. I've started a little company that aims to help independent authors get their books published and platforms built, and gain learning and exposure for my own work along the way (this would become my own "platform" as well). Here's the site: http://goldfinchpublishing.com. I have no idea if any of this is going to work, but it's the best I can offer. Is it good enough?

I welcome any thoughts, questions, advice you have. I have twenty-five years of copy/design experience, and some pretty okay self-publishing experience. Seriously, feel free to contact me.

4. Shameless self-promotion:

Where the Hell is Tesla? is available starting today! (Well, it's a semi-self-published novel, so the date is totally arbitrary, but it happens to be today, so I'm celebrating!)