Amy Leigh Strickland's Blog, page 10

Stuff Those Stockings… With Books!

With one week until Christmas, hopefully you’re done finding the big gifts and just rounding things off with gift wrap, present toppers, and stocking stuffers. If you’re still looking for a stocking stuffer for the Kindle owner in your life, I might suggest theOlympia Heightsseries. The first book is 99¢ on Kindle, and the later titles are only $2.99 each.

To help, I’ve made a handy set of gift cards that can be printed on card stock and cut out to wrap and insert into stockings. You schedule...

Building an Author Site (Part 5 of 5)

Building an Author Site
Part V: Site Construction

Part I: Principle

Part II: What to Include

Part III: What to Cut

Part IV: Indie Indicators

[Part V: Site Construction]

We’ve been through all of the information to help you decide what to put in your site. Now we need to talk about how to build a site. There are many ways and many programs that can help you build a site for a reasonable amount of money. There are hundreds of hosts, too. I can’t cover them all, but I can give you my advice based on my...

Building an Author Site (Part 4 of 5)

Building an Author Site
Part IV: Indie Indicators

Part I: Principle

Part II: What to Include

Part III: What to Cut

Part IV: [Indie Indicators]

Part V:

Once upon a time, before Kindles and Createspace, in order to self-publish a book, you had to pay a vanity press thousands of dollars for a print run. These presses didn’t care if they were pushing out garbage, so long as they got paid (after all, it doesn’t have to sell when you’re only paid for printing and layout). Unfortunately for indie authors t...

Building an Author Site (Part 3 of 5)

Building an Author Site
Part III: What to Cut

Part I: Principle Part II: What to Include [Part III: What to Cut] Part IV: Part V: We’ve talked about what you should include in your professional site. Now, let’s talk about what to cut. In the next article, I will cover some red flags that mark you as an ameteur indie. For now, let’s talk about some general No Nos for professional sites.

What to Cut:
Selfies/The Angles

Your picture should be, at the very least, one someone else has taken in good lig...

Building an Author Site (Part 2 of 5)

Building an Author Site
Part II: What to Include

Part I: Principle

[Part II: What to Include]

Part III:

Part IV:

Part V:

There are two major types of author sites. The first is a clean, basic site with a little bio, a list of books, and some contact information. This kind of page is generally static and only gets updated to add pages about new releases. The second is an author blog, a site where you post blog entries and book updates frequently to encourage return visitors.

You can have both. You can...

Building an Author Site (Part 1 of 5)

Building an Author Site
Part I: Principle

[Part I: Principle]

Part II:

Part III:

Part IV:

Part V

Your author site is an advertisement for you. You are a brand, and your site should represent you in the best light possible. If your brand is quirky, it can be quirky. If you brand is serious, it should be serious. Consider what vision of yourself you are trying to promote and base everything off of that. If you write articles about developments in cancer treatment, your site should probably not be fill...

Who Needs Black Friday?

I’ve previously ranted about my hatred for Black Fridayand begged you not to go to stores. I will be spending Friday in pajamas working on NaNoWriMo, wrapping presents I have already purchased, and decorating my house for Christmas. This Saturday is Small Business Saturday. It’s part of a campaign to encourage people to shop at small businesses the Saturday after Thanksgiving, to support American jobs and strengthen the middle class.

So what does this all have to do with my blog? From now unti...

Cult of Kronos Description

I have been writing this series since 2007, and now I am putting the finishing touches on book four. It seems surreal. Some things have changed since my original plans (such as Jason) and some things have stayed the same (such as the character names and book titles). In a few months I will be publishing the last novel in the Olympia Heights series and working on plans for a comic adaptation/reboot with my brother.

If you follow me on Tumblr or Twitter or Facebook you may have seen a link to th...

The Indie Guide to Indie Publishing

Kickstarter This!

The Indie Guide to Indie Publishing is back on Kickstarter. You can get some great rewards, whether you’re a writer or not. Olympia Heights fans- there are signed paperbacks and an exclusive poster. Take a look and see if you can help us in any way. Shares help, too!

Back it now!

Thanks for your support!

NaNoWriMo 2013

I’m still deciding if I’m going to participate in NaNoWriMo 2013. I guess I’ll know by the end of the week if I’m done with my Olympia Heights edits and ready to write again. I’ll be rebooting The Indie Guide to Indie Publishingon Kickstarter this coming month, so that will take a lot of my time. If I do it, I’ll be continuing a draft in progress. Istarted working on the second Royer Goldhawk novel (tentatively titled Escape OR, Major Bedloe’s Cold Iron War Machine)in August, but I’m still so...