Best self-publishing sites
As a self-publishing author, once you lift your fingers from the keyboard after finishing a manuscript you have to take a break from the art of writing to engage in the business of publishing. To get to this point in your writing, perhaps you've taken a course or two; you've certainly spent many hours practising, writing and re-writing. But what about the publishing business? What do you do to increase your skills as a publisher?
In my case I read and my favourite source of information is the websites of authors who are publishers. I like advice and insight that comes from personal experience. And the best source of that is the author blogging community. There are more blogs about writing than about the business of self-publishing but there are many excellent blogs by self-publishers that cover that side of their writing business.
I like to read as many as possible, which is why I subscribe to RSS feeds with Google Reader (free). If you aren't familiar with feeds, they're usually indicated with a little orange button on a webpage, especially blogs. The feed contains the content of that blog, i.e. you get the words and images without having to go to the actual site. By plugging feed addresses into one place — a feed reader — you can see all the new content in one place. It means you don't have to keep going back and forth between different websites, some of which won't have been updated since the last time you visited.
My new favourite way to consume my feeds is to plug my Google Reader account into feedly, an iPad app that makes reading them as easy and pleasurable as flipping through a magazine.
The best self-publishing sites
I read plenty but there are a few where I'm always excited to see a new post:
The Book Designer Joel knows more about publishing than most of the rest of us combined. His posts are thoughtful, level-headed and have an assertiveness that makes them thought-provoking.
The Creative Penn Joanna is walking the talk more than most self-publishing authors, having recently left her job behind to focus on her writing and her self-publishing business. Her consistently upbeat tone has been an inspiration to me in my own blogging as I can get a little cranky sometimes 
Catherine Caffeinated This morning I heard a radio industry analyst describe 80s music as "heritage music". Catherine might be young enough to agree but she is wise in the ways of self-publishing. She wrote this site's most popular ever post, Self-Publishers need to start minding their manners, so you can only imagine how good she is on her own blog.
What about you? Whom do you read for their insights on the business of self-publishing? It would be great to share the self-publishing sites of some deserving writers here.
Naturally I hope you'd consider Taleist as a way to "feed" your writing business. You can find our feed here or subscribe now to receive the blog by email and get our free advice about self-publishing free to your inbox twice a week.
