Support Indie Authors
Who Is Ann Livi Andrews? I'd like to start by telling you all a little story about a 5' tall girl who wanted to be a writer when she grew up: Growing up I fully intended to have a book published by 20. It was more than a dream; it was my one true goal. But 20 came and went without a published book. I couldn’t even raise up the courage to contact agents or publishers. Years of being told how difficult it was and reading about the harsh responses that many aspiring authors receive made me timid and fearful of the impending rejection. Without a support system (even a singular individual) I resigned myself to only writing for myself in the hopes that my children would one day enjoy reading them or at least enjoy laughing over them with me. The terms Indie Author and Self Publishing didn’t come to my attention until 2011. And my introduction to them came from the man I would eventually marry. He became my inspiration and my encouragement to stop settling and to take a chance on my wish to be a published author. Sounds fairy tale-ish, right? Many aspiring authors imagine that my next words will be “And the rest is history. . .” But that’s not really how being an Indie Author works. I quickly learned that even though I had made a few indie author friends via Twitter and Goodreads, neither of those locations offered the type of fellowship that I was looking for. I wanted friendship, support, encouragement, and constructive criticism all in one location! But apparently that was too much to ask. And all of my queries into this mystical and magical land were quickly shut down by overly competitive authors who couldn't care less about yet an another indie author trying to make it in the grown up world of traditional publishing. And that's when I rolled up my sleeves and put my big girl pants on. If such a community didn't exist, I decided to create one on my own. This is where the fairy-talish happy ending comes into play. I began Support for Indie Authors, a mere Goodreads forum group, mid January 2015. Within seven months we grew to over 3,000 Members! Apparently I was not the only one searching for this mystical land of support, resources, and happiness. Due to our rapid growth, I quickly added a new mod, and then two new mods, and then two more new mods, and then finally two additional mods, bringing us to a total of 8 (if you were paying attention and counting) SIA Mods. During one of our meetings (yes we have meetings) we realized that we had outgrown Goodreads. What we wanted to do for our community could not be supported by a mere forum (not to diss Goodreads, we LOVE YOU!) We expanded to Facebook, then Twitter, and then we realized that we truly needed our own Website. One where we could easily list all of the resources we'd collected in an organized fashion so that our members could find what they needed without the headache and hassle of sorting through hundreds of Goodreads Categories and Topics. So here we are. Your SIA Mods introducing our very own website. Here's a brief list of what you can expect to find: -The most extensive list of Self Publishing Resources ever accumulated -All the Support and Encouragement you can stand -Friendly ears to bounce ideas off of -Suggestions regarding online conduct for authors (social media, responding to reviews, etc.) -Author Services -Twitter Ads -Beta Reading -Editing/Formatting Help -Book Cover Help -Advertising and Marketing Suggestions -Plus you'll be included in a large collection of authors who are looking to make friends and offer support SO TAKE A DEEP BREATH. IT'S OKAY. YOU'RE HERE. YOU'VE FOUND THAT MAGICAL PLACE YOU WERE LOOKING FOR.
