I had a blast at IndieReCon and learned so much! Whether you're just starting out, or an experienced self published author, IndieReCon is a great experience and its free! I thought I would share some of the things that I took away from the conference and I hope to see you all there next year!
The main goal for all indie authors, is to put the best product we can in the readers hands. It's hard to spend money on an editor and a cover designer when we're struggling to get our first book out there but its worth it. Personally, I enjoy making my covers, but when it comes to editing I wanted a professional. After all, a cover can be changed if you need to, but if your work isn't up to par and you start getting bad reviews, its hard to fix that.
Getting people to subscribe to your mailing list is key!! Over the three days of IndieReCon, I've come up with a plan to get people to start signing up to my mailing list before book one is released. We'll see if it works and I will keep you updated on whether is was a success or failure.
This is a long term journey and you have to be willing to put in the time and effort to really be successful. And you must keep writing. Deep down in the dark corner of our hearts, we want to think that our first books will make us millions, but that's simply not that case. We have to keep writing and keep putting out top notch books!
The author platform is so important. Having a nice site where readers can learn about you, your books and sign up for your mailing list all in one place is key to success. Make it easy for the reader to find you and they will stick with you for a long time if they are a fan. Also, the author platform needs to be about the author, not just the book you are launching. People follows authors they love after a series is finished, so make the audience love you!
I really could go on and on about everything I learned but instead I'll leave you with a few quotes that I found inspiring:
"Its our job to be a little crazy" - Mark Coker
"Stop Being afraid and beleive in yourself." - Jim Kukral
"What is my message?" - Yen Ooi
"You control your future." - HM Ward
Until Next Time!