PUBLISHED JULY/AUGUST 2018 by Angela Bole, CEO, Independent Book Publishers Association — CEO Angela Bole explains how representing diverse voices and topics is at the heart of Independent Book Publishers Association. The title story of the July/August 2018 IBPA Independent magazine, “Getting There: Why Indie Publishers are Well-Positioned to Satisfy the Need for Diverse Voices,” …

PUBLISHED MAY/JUNE 2018 by Ian Lamont, Founder, i30 Media — Can Amazon Advantage give you a competitive advantage? IBPA Board Member Ian Lamont walks you through the pros and cons. Last year, I wrote an article for IBPA Independent about Amazon Marketing Services. It got a huge response—people were clearly interested in learning more about this …

PUBLISHED JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 by Brooke Warner, Publisher, She Writes Press — In 2007, an aspiring author reached out to me to ask for support in self-publishing her book. I was still working in traditional publishing at the time, but I’d started to consult on the side. She was adamantly indie, wanting to forego the traditional …

PUBLISHED DECEMBER 2017 by Mark Wesley, Founder, me+mi publishing & IBPA Board Member — You are about to release some of your titles. Wow, what an accomplishment! You should be aware that if your goal is to earn a profit from your work and the work of your authors, you’ve only just begun. Hopefully, you …

PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 2017 by L.M. Browning, Founder, Homebound Publications & IBPA Board Member — As a publisher who routinely gives talks on the industry, I often find myself being asked the same questions by other publishers and authors alike: What is traditional distribution, and why is it important? The importance of traditional distribution is two-fold: …

PUBLISHED OCTOBER  2017 by Angela Bole, CEO, Independent Book Publishers Association — It’s been a couple years, so in this month’s Director’s Desk, I thought I’d pull the curtain back on a recent IBPA Board of Directors meeting. IBPA’s board is a 14-person leadership team—13 voting members, plus the chair—tasked with setting the association’s strategic …

PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2017 by Rob Price, President, Gatekeeper Press & IBPA Board Chair — There has never been a better time to be an author. For decades (centuries, actually), all-powerful gatekeepers ruled the landscape, determining whose books would be seen by the masses. If you weren’t one of the lucky few, your chances of getting …

PUBLISHED MAY 2017 by LM Browning, Founder, Homebound Publications – At the age of 27, I was offered every writer’s dream: a book deal. And not just one book, but five. I enthusiastically signed and went from scribbler to author only to be quickly disillusioned by the entire process. The manuscript I had worked on …

PUBLISHED JANUARY 2017 by Ian Lamont, Founder, i30 Media — Online and mobile advertising has been a mixed bag for indie publishers. You may have tried platforms such as Google’s AdWords tool or Facebook Ads, which let publishers target audiences searching online or browsing their social media feeds. But there’s a relatively new player in …

PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 2016 by Robin Cutler, Director, IngramSpark — I’ve been going to professional publishing conferences for nearly 35 years. When I think back on the hundreds of conferences I’ve attended, they all have a familiar structure. The conference model is comprised of two parts: providing education and bringing people with common interests together. Whether …