Spring's here and the self-publishing sap is surging with three unmissable events. First up is the London Book Fair (15th - 17th April), which this year includes the IndieReCon 2015, a free online conference offering advice and education for all indie authors. It culminates in a live all day event at Foyles bookshop in Charing Cross Road, where you can pick the brains of some of the most successful self-publishers on the scene.
Event number 2 is a Masterclass by that doyenne of self-publishing Joanna Penn at the Stratford-upon-Avon Literary Festival on 29th April. She will be covering, amongst other subjects; selecting the right publishing platform for your book and how to appeal to a global audience.
And finally, there's the 3rd Self-Publishing Conference (8th May), which is jam-packed with seminars, workshops and masterclasses. Speakers include Sue Magee (TheBookBag.co.uk), Diego Marano (Kobo), Cressida Downing (The Book Analyst), Stuart Evers (NetGalley), Helen Lewis (Literally PR), Ayisha Malik (Cornerstones) and Clive Herbert (Nielsen Book). They'll be discussing the most crucial aspects of self-publishing including; how to master essential social media, how to get professional reviews and how to pull off a successful book launch.
The organisers Matador are generously donating one free entrance ticket so if you like the sound of it (and which ambitious indie author wouldn't?), hurry scurry to their website and see if you can snaffle it for yourself.
On another note, but worth a mention - I recently did a promotion with Bookbub, where I dropped the Amazon ebook price of Cinema Lumière to £0 for five days over a weekend. Result? 31,000 people downloaded it in the UK and US, shooting it to Nr 1 in the Amazon Kindle contemporary romance charts. I then put it back on at £2.99 and it's still selling healthily - so that's definitely a nifty trick to remember.
Catch up on the previous self-publishing blogs in Huffington Post. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/portobello-puff/
For more advice on Getting Published, go to www.hattieholdenedmonds.com
Hattie's debut novel Cinema Lumière is out now and available on Amazon and at all good bookshops.
Scarlett Rugers.
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