Subject: Your April Indie Author News

Indie Author News

Hi Friend,

Spring has sprung and with it, we bring you a packed newsletter this month.

Announcements by Amazon and Facebook, Where to Indie Authors Make Their Money? A Spotlight on author Julia Bell, and an introduction to the four wellness doctors you need to meet to stay a healthy writer. We've also updated our office hours for April - it's free to visit, so if you have any questions, or just want to chat about writing or publishing, book a spot and I'll see you on Zoom.

So, without further ado...

Amazon - KDP Updates

Amazon has made changes to their publishing requirements for 'reflowable' e-books (i.e. this will generally mean prose, such as novels, novellas and short-story anthologies). They now recommend MSWord (.doc, .docx), .epub (standard international e-book format), and .kpf (from Kindle Create programs) formats, and are no longer accepting .mobi formats for e-books of this type. The .mobi format will, however, still be accepted for fixed-page e-books (primarily technical and picture books).

This should be good news for many e-book authors as it should make it easier and faster to publish to KDP in the future, assuming Amazon devotes some resources to working out some of the translation bugs that sometimes occur upon uploading Word documents.

Facebook - New Self-Publishing Platform

Facebook has announced plans to create a subscription-based platform for its writers and journalists that will allow them to monetize their content. Launching first in the US this summer, it appears this system may be similar in idea to sites like Patreon and Subscribe Star, or even the paid version of Medium.

Given their huge membership base, it will interesting to see what Facebook offers in this niche and how quickly it will be adopted.

Where do Indie Authors Make Their Money?

Well-known British authorpreneur Joanna Penn launched a survey of self-published authors in January this year to discover what their main income streams were. 738 authors responded and 94% stated they have multiple income streams (although it should be noted that print, e-book, and audiobooks were listed as independent streams).

About a quarter of respondents make money from alternate streams such as instructing and/or freelance/ghostwriting. Author services and coaching were both 19%, with online patronage (e.g. Patreon), merchandise, and online course sales each used by approximately 10% of indie authors.

We all know it's not easy to make money self-publishing so it's interesting and informative to see how other authors approach making a living from their passion.

Featured Article

Why Every Writer Needs to Meet

the 4 Wellness Doctors

_{by author and wellness mentor Francesca Hepton}

Read the complete article here

"When I started going on about self-care over 10 years ago, most writers looked at me with a blank expression."

If we’re not careful, writing can be very destructive to our health, both physical and mental. It’s not the sudden destruction of a roofer having an accident, but rather the constant, gradual, erosion of the temple by constant weather. We often don’t notice until it’s too late.

In this article, author and wellness mentor Francesca Hepton introduces the 'four doctors' she uses to warn her when she's straying onto harmful ground.

Julia Bell

Buy Harriet Grace

Award-Winning Romance

Award-winning Yorkshire Romance author Julia Bell has just released her latest novel, Harriet Grace.

Julia has been writing for twenty years and has published eleven novels. She enjoys writing romance stories with hopeful, if not happy, endings.

Julia's novel Songbird won a Chill Book Premier Reader's Award in 2019 and became a Readers' Favourite Finalist Winner in 2020.

If you enjoy romance with well-developed characters, interesting plots, and hopeful endings, why not check out Julia's lastest?

"Meeting handsome Detective Constable Mackinnon Taylor brings her mixed emotions. And then on a visit to the signal box, Harriet intercepts a strange coded telegraph message leading to the discovery of a shameful secret, the implications of which will threaten the lives of Ned and herself as they pursue an abduction and possible murder."

Learn more about Julia at Author Insights

Utility Fog Press, in conjunction with our promotional arm, Indie Book Showcase, will be hosting a series of global virtual indie book conventions beginning later this year. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

Currently, we are planning four 2-day events, one for each of the following genres: crime, science fiction, romance, young adult. They will feature talks, panel discussions, workshops, cozy author chats, and book launches.

If you are an indie author who would be interested in taking part in an event like this, or you would like to help out, please contact us at contact@indiebookshowcase.com

If you're looking for answers to your questions about writing, publishing, or marketing your book, we have weekly office hours via Zoom.

Please be aware, we've modified our office hours system recently.

Recognizing that many people may not be comfortable with a 'drop-in' format, we've created a scheduling system. Office hours will still be via Zoom, however, they will be 1-on-1 and sign-up in advance is required. There are only two spots on each available day.

The booking calendar will be updated for the first of each month and has available dates and times for the entire month.

April Office Hours

A unique Zoom link will be created for each meeting and you will receive yours by e-mail after booking a spot (warning: we've found that gmail often doesn't work well for this system). If you don't receive the link in your e-mail, please contact us (contact@utilityfogpress.com) and we will send it to you.

The Office Hours alternate weekly between Fridays (11:00, 11:45 am) and Wednesdays (4:00, 4:45 pm).

Thanks for reading.

Stay healthy, keep active, and Write On!

Edwin Rydberg

Utility Fog Press