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by Traci Tyne Hilton @TraciTyneHilton #1 in a series where I answer questions I suspect you are asking Indie Author: I took an indie class by some girl named Tracy Tunes Hooton or something like that, and she said I have to publish a book every 90 days or I might as well not do it at all. But I can�t do that. It�s not how I work. Do I have to give up on my dream of being my own boss and running my own empire? No! You don�t!   Let�s consider the case of Dorothy Sayers, the girl in that famous group of Christian literary geniuses, The Inklings. Dorothy Sayers wrote during the golden era of detective fiction when Agatha Christy was ruling the field in the UK and a guy called Rex Stout was killing it over in the US. Sayers work is considered some of the best ever produced and much of it holds up to contemporary writing techniques, even though some of her work is almost 100 years old. Her work is smart, moving, charming, her characters are irresistible, and have been made into TV s...

by Traci Tyne Hilton @TraciTyneHilton One thing those  p esky traditional  publishers have that I have always wanted is editorial reviews. But where? How? Kirkus charges indies over $5oo and Romantic Times just closed! I strongly encourage you to Google the heck out of options, hunting for all of the review sites you can. While hunting for your future reviewers, you can also hunt for contests! I�ve recently learned about The BookLife  P rize. BookLife is the indie arm of  P ublishers Weekly. They have quite an assortment of �stuff� for indies to take advantage of, but my personal favorite is their contest. It costs around $1oo to enter, and gives you feedback pretty quickly�feedback you are allowed to use as editorial reviews! The book I entered received a mediocre score, but even so, I received some very positive feedback that I was able to use for marketing. Example: � Plot: Hilton's novel is well plotted and fast paced. The story will keep readers guessing until t...

by Traci Tyne Hilton @TraciTyneHilton When I was a newly-wed I stumbled across a book at the library about how to become a professional speaker. I devoured it while sitting on the dryer in the communal laundry room of our little apartment complex. I knew with every fiber of my being that this world of professional speaking was the only one in which I could be a fully happy professional adult. The trick was, to get into the world, you had to be an expert. I was an expert in nothing. I had a bachelor�s degree in history--focus �Western Hemisphere,� a job assisting the Josten�s travelling salesmen with his caps, gowns, and class ring sales, a small taste of success as a playwright, a year of Bible school, and some short term mission trips on my CV. None of that qualified me as an expert. So, I returned the book to the library sad that I�d never get to do the thing I was sure God had created me to do. A few years later I was a new mom with a cute baby. I was very bored, so I started a ...

by Traci Tyne Hilton @TraciTyneHilton One of my �made it moments� in indie publishing was the first message I got from an author asking if Proverbs 31 House Publishing was accepting submissions. It�s not. It�s barely even taking my own work. But I knew when I got that message that I was managing to make books that felt like �real� books to other authors.  You all know that can be a challenge for an indie! There are obvious things that need to be done to achieve that polish, like clean editing and quality covers, but there are other little things you can do as well.  Start by naming your business.  Make it mean something to you and get a great logo. If you don�t know where to start with logos, check out Fiverr, it�s been around a long time and is a great source for inexpensive art work�as the name suggests, as low as $5! Once you have that, it�s a good time to check the laws of your area to make sure you have the correct business formation, too. In my town authors are requ...