As well as being an author myself, I spend a lot of time helping other authors, through my work for the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) and through writing guidebooks for authors.
In 2012, I was commissioned by Silverwood Books to write a beginners’ guide for the new self-published or indie author called Sell Your Books! Although so much has changed in the intervening years, it is still an easy to follow and reassuring handbook for beginners and the more experienced writer.
In 2014, ALLi launched at the London Book Fair its handbook Opening Up to Indie Authors, which I co-authored with Dan Holloway.
My next ALLi guidebook, How to Sell Your Books Through Bookshops, should be launched later this year. For more information about my books for authors, click here.
About ALLi
ALLi (pronounced “ally”) was founded in 2012 by bestselling novelist Orna Ross to help indie authors share best practice and mutual support. ALLi also offers excellent benefits such as access to a private members’ discussion forum, where you can ask any question, any time, and have it answered by experts almost immediately, and discounts and deals on various author services. I’m proud to be part of its key team of advisors, acting in various roles including editor, speaker, author, and ambassador.
Editor
I was honoured when Orna invited me to become Commissioning Editor of ALLi’s Author Advice Centre blog. This role involves sourcing a new topical and helpful post for every day of the year. There is a small band of regular writers for specific features such as the News Round-up on Fridays by Valerie Shanley and Watchdog posts by Andrew Lowe (previously by Giacomo Giammatteo, who is currently unwell).
However the majority of the posts are one-off pieces by a huge range of authors. It’s a pleasure and a privilege to network with so many sparky, creative and generous writers all over the world. Reading their posts provides a fast-track to self-publishing expertise as well as inspiration to authors everywhere to keep writing and publishing their work, to the highest possible standard.
Speaker
I speak about self-publishing, book marketing, and the life of the indie author at public events such as literary festivals and writers’ workshops around the UK and also abroad. I’m happy to travel to wherever there is a demand. For details of my currently planned events, please visit my Diary Dates page.
Author of Books for Authors
I am the co-author, with Dan Holloway, of the ALLi handbook Opening Up to Indie Authors, which we launched at the London Book Fair in April 2014, and How to Get Your Self-published Book into Bookstores, part of our #Authors4Bookstores campaign which we announced at Indie ReCon in April 2015. For more information about my books for authors, click here.
Networker
I run two local meetup groups for authors (Bristol and Cheltenham), and I am UK Ambassador as part of ALLi’s Going Global programme. Not surprisingly, I highly recommend joining ALLi to all independent-minded authors, whether they are self-published, have trade publishing contracts and agents, or any combination of those things. If you have any questions about any aspect of ALLi’s work, please do not hesitate to contact me via my ALLi email address: debbie [at] allianceindependentauthors.org.
To join the Alliance of Independent Authors, visit the membership site.
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