You are not alone: Introduction to the indie publishing community

Writing is a solitary act. But marketing and promoting your book doesn’t have to be.

8,000 to 11,000 new publishers enter the field every year; and most are independent publishers. Luckily for you, many of these indies have a generous penchant for giving back to those coming in behind them  and they give away tons of free information! Just because you have the Do It Yourself mindset doesn’t mean you have to or even should do everything yourself. In fact, adopting the Me Against the World approach is a very quick path to failure in this business. I’ve made it a habit of standing on the shoulders of established indie giants like John Kremer, J.A. Konrath, Joanna Penn, Carolyn McRay, Melissa Foster, and Jeff Bennington. You should too.

You will quickly find that there are tons of other resources available to you as an Indie. We have our own alliances, societies, collectives, awards, websites, articles, blog tour services, cover designers, editors, facebook groups, goodreads teams, and much more! Due to this plethora of resources, it can be very tempting to simply pilfer the information you need to advance your own cause. Please do not take this selfish approach. Independent publishing is not a zero-sum game. It is possible to win (get sales and readers) without attacking, denigrating, or debasing other indies. There really does appear to be law of attraction when it comes to interacting with your fellow indies. The more you give, the more you receive from the community.

With that said,  I give you my top 5 Indie Community pillars. My criteria for selecting these sites is simple. These are active communities where you can get answers, shortcuts, and connections that will help you become a successful Indie publisher without having to buy anything. These are the places I spend my time when not here on AD.com. Click on each link and introduce yourself to the community, sign up for their newsletters, lists, etc., and stay active. Please tell them I sent you!

1. The World Literary Cafe: I wish I would have discovered this website first. It would have saved me so much time and effort getting started. Author Melissa Foster has created THE Indie community. WLC will help you get Facebook Likes, Twitter followers, honest reviews on Amazon and other sites, and much much more.
2. Digital Book World: While not 100% indie focused, DBW is THE source for information on the latest developments in digital publishing. As an Indie Publisher, the sooner you embrace the digital model of publishing, the sooner you will start reaching an audience and becoming discovered. DBW helps keep you on top of the trends. And one day you might even see your name on their ebook bestsellers list that comes out weekly.
3. The Alliance of Independent Authors: The ALLi is a global, nonprofit, collaborative collective of independent published  writers. There is a corresponding facebook group where significant discussion occurs.
4. A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing: Author JA Konrath used to be traditionally published. They should have kept him happy, because since joining the independent publishing movement, Mr. Konrath has become a force of nature. The community aspect here comes in interacting with Konrath and his legion of followers in his blog comments which are quite enlightening and often entertaining as well.
5. Facebook and Goodreads: There are nearly too many great indie publishing groups on FB and GR to list, but I will give you my top ones. On Facebook – Go Indie, World Literary Cafe. On Goodreads – Making Connections, Indie Book Collective, Goodreads Authors/Readers, Virtual Writer’s Group.

Now that you’re connected with the community, it’s time to unleash the power of KDP Select to drive your feedback machine!