Saturday, June 30, 2012

SAS: 3 Great Hangouts for Independent Writers, by Michael Abayomi

 "Share A Saturday" is a weekly chance for you, yes YOU, to come on my blog and talk about whatever you want, so long as it's related to writing/books. For more information, such as if you'd like to "share a Saturday" with me, please see below!

Michael Abayomi was born in Lagos, Nigeria. He fell in love with the art of storytelling after reading J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. He currently works as a freelance website developer and shares a passion for books, computers, movies, music, video games and women.

  
Are you a fledging independent writer with a recently published book? Or maybe you’re still sitting on the fence regarding self-publishing? Or perhaps you already have a number of self-published books under your belt, but still feel like a new kid on the block? If either of these cases happen to be true, chances are you’ve been trying to learn as much as you can about self-publishing. Or at least you’ve been trying to connect with fellow independent writers through the various social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, Blogger etc)

The ebook market is constantly evolving, and there is a need to keep informed about those changes. In the seven or so months since I first self-published, I’ve managed to stay in the loop by frequenting the following three websites:

A Newbies Guide to Publishing
Truth be told, I’d been following J. A. Konrath’s blog months before I took the self-publishing route. Back then, I was still contemplating whether or not to query agents about my book series, Guardians & The Lost Paradise, which was only half-written at the time. I quickly discovered the wealth of information amassed there, which covers everything from how to go about promoting a book to his views on the ongoing ebook revolution (and what it means for writers). Thankfully, most of this information has also been collected into an ebook of the same name.

Let’s Get Digital
Let’s Get Digital is a professional blog for independent writers. It was created by Irish writer, David Gaughran, one of my many online friends. I met David in an online forum (can’t remember which one) and I had subsequently found out about his books and blog. Even though the blog is just one year old now, there is still a wealth of information to be discovered there. He’s also collected most of that information into an ebook of the same name.

Kindleboards Writers’ Café
Of the three websites I have chosen for this post, the Kindleboards Writers’ Café happens to be the one I frequent the most. It is a forum where indies can talk about all things Amazon (and way more). The sense of community there is overwhelming sometimes, and it is quite common for the same newbie questions to get answered over and over again. I’m more of a lurker myself, preferring to learn by reading through the ongoing discussions (rather than raise new questions). Some of the members are also quite eccentric. This is why just reading through the replies on some of the more popular threads is enough to brighten an otherwise sour day.


What about you? What other forums, blogs or Facebook groups do you follow or frequent as an independent writer?

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If you'd like to participate in a Share a Saturday, feel free to contact me at my email, hildred @ gmail.com (no spaces) or through any of the other ways to get a hold of me through my Contact page.

2 comments:

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