An Indie Author’s Journal: Setting Up Shop

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As I mentioned last week, I’m delving into the world of indie publishing. Some authors go the quicker route and use a source like CreateSpace or Kindle Direct to immediately get their books out there.

There’s nothing wrong going  that route, but I’ve decided to take a different path.

 

STEP TWO: Create Your Company Image

 

My writing “entity” for the past eight years has been THE STORY CATCHER. After much thought, I decided to expand on that concept and set up my own publishing house, appropriately named STORY CATCHER PUBLISHING (www.storycatcherpublishing.com), with only one author to promote…me.

Here are the steps I’ve taken so far to set up my company:

1) Bought new computer…$495. (I went with an HP laptop and one year of Windows 365 was included)

2) Used WordPress to create new business website…$100. (I could have gone with the free version but the step up gives me more features to create a more professional website)

3) Created personalized “.com” name for WordPress website and blog…$50. (I could have stayed with a “wordpress.blogspot.com” format, but again I’m trying to streamline a better overall professional look to everything I’m doing moving forward.)

4) Requested EIN number for new company…$0.

5) Set up Excel spreadsheets for monthly accounting of business expenses…$0

6) Used Vista Print to create business cards, car magnets, and banners…$96. (There are other companies like Moo.com, Gotprint.com, and Overnightprint.com to name a few, but when I saw this design on Vista Print, I just knew it would represent my company the best.)

What do you think?

 

SCP business card front(full color business card front)

 

SCP business card back(full color business card back)

 

SCP car magnet

(car magnets)

 

SCP banner(full color business banner)

 

Last week I promised a sneak peek at the book trailer I had created for my upcoming young adult fantasy book release early next year. I think the video is fabulous (and it only cost me $25), but I’m having trouble adding it to my YouTube channel. Maybe someone out there can help me out with the conversion of a google drive mp4 book trailer to a YouTube url?

Anyway, here’s the link to my book trailer I will be releasing next year for LUNADAR: Homeward Bound. Leave me a comment below and let me know what you think!

http://drive.google.com/file/d/1hAmIB_fn0KMSaJsXzKRag9XkPsVe6GFd/view

Next week I will talk about the software I’m using to format my novel for publication as well as some questions you can use for your beta readers. See ya next week!

 

Author Profile Pic
International best selling, award winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection.

 

 

 

 

Donna L

Hybrid award winning author; aspiring sketch artist; and 4th Degree Senior Certified Taekwondo Instructor. Host of BOOK NOOK REVIEWS. Member of SCBWI. Mom to fabulous son and adventurer delving into the tricky world of indie-publishing.

3 thoughts on “An Indie Author’s Journal: Setting Up Shop

  • April 9, 2018 at 2:55 pm
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    Donna, thanks for this. Your business card is very fetching. I like the design. Did you consider having your photo on it? I read that that’s a good idea when you’re trying to get the word out. I too have a WordPress account and am planning on changing it to leave out the WordPress part. Did you find this difficult? I seem to struggle with every part of the tech experience. Were you able to do it on your own, or did you use tech support?

    Reply
    • April 9, 2018 at 3:15 pm
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      Hi Tiffany and welcome to my blog!

      Thanks for your kind words about my business cards…I like them too!

      In answer to your questions:

      1. No, I did not consider putting my photo on these business cards because I am promoting my company, not myself as an author. My author business cards do, however, have my photo on them.

      2. You have to switch to a WordPress business account (an additional $25 per month) in order to completely remove the affiliation to WordPress and I was not willing to add that expense to my budget.

      3. It was easy once I knew where to go to change it a bit. It’s been a while since I did it, but I’m pretty sure you can go into settings and somewhere there is a drop down menu that allows you to choose what your website footer will show. I changed it from saying I had a wordpress.blogspot account to it simply showing the WordPress logo at the bottom of the page. I’m not ashamed to be using WordPress, but I still want my website to look as professional as I can get it while staying within my poor gal’s budget…lol.

      I hope that answered all of your questions. Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

      Reply
      • April 10, 2018 at 3:46 am
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        Thanks Donna. This is informative. And I get what you’re saying about the business cards. Thanks and best of luck to you!

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