Everybody Hates Self-publishing

This week on The Localist, Carrie reminisces about her time managing Jonathan Benton, Bookseller. Carrie dives in with the lessons she learned through lots of trial and error, and what she took with her to her own shop. Carrie inherited a ton of debt when she became manager, but she was able to turn it around and got the store in the black by the time she left! Her methods may have bent the rules a bit, but Carrie gives tips that are applicable to all businesses. Full show notes at localistpodcast.com. Mentioned in this episode:  Church Street Coffee and Books Infomedia  Birmingham Post-Herald  Jonathan Benton Bookseller Cracker Barrel  Libro.fm  Carrie’s Kickstarter  Sri on Instagram  The Localist by Carrie Rollwagen Co-Owners of Golden Age Wine on The Localist Podcast  Golden Age Wine Trattoria Zaza  Print Gocco Hermione Granger  S.P.E.W. Brick & Tin  @ThinkLocalist on Instagram CarrieRollwagen.com

This week on the Localist, Pam Sanderson, Director of Account Development at Infomedia, joins Carrie to talk about everything you need to know about websites. Pam and Carrie dive in with where you should start when evaluating your website, and how to assess your goals. One of Pam’s best tips is to focus on your customers and your content first, and she gives you a road map to follow from there. Pam and Carrie then discuss the best ways to strike a balance between your users, good design, and Google’s algorithm (hint: consistent, quality content is a good place to start!). Content is truly king in the world of websites, and Pam and Carrie give great tips on how to create, utilize, and get the most out of your content. They wrap up the conversation with when to seek help with your website, and what you can expect if you work with a web developer.  Mentioned in this episode:  Carrie’s Ecommerce Webinar Signup Pam Sanderson Infomedia WordPress Drupal Wix SquareSpace Church Street Coffee and Books  One Quick Quest

In this episode, Carrie Rollwagen wraps up season one of Everybody Hates Self-Publishing. She talks about Charles Dickens (A Christmas Carol was self-published), WordCamp US, her new job with the American Booksellers Association and her upcoming new podcast, Words with Carrie.

In this episode, Carrie Rollwagen talks to Annie B. Jones, owner of The Bookshelf bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia about how to host an innovative book signing and how to pitch a book signing for your self-published book to a bookstore successfully.

In this episode, Carrie Rollwagen talks to Betsy Teter of Spartanburg, South Carolina’s Hub City Writers Project about small press publishing versus self-publishing, crowdfunding projects, book signings, book selling and more.

In this episode, Carrie Rollwagen explains what Shop Small Saturday is and how it can help you establish relationships with bookstores that can help you get your book onto shelves. She also talks about the Shop Small Saturday release of her self-published book, The Localist, and gives tips about hosting your own book signing.

In this episode, Carrie Rollwagen talks to former Print Production Manager Leslie Johnson about getting your self-published book printed and understanding print terminology to get a better idea of how to manage the printing of your book.

In this episode, Carrie Rollwagen talks to Little Professor bookseller and Nanowrimo winner Sara Glassman about how writing a draft for this year’s National Novel Writing Month could be a great first step to writing your book. They also talk about Little Professor’s recent move to a new building, decorating a bookstore for the holidays, and mistakes self-published authors often make when trying to get independent bookstores to carry their books.

In this episode, Carrie Rollwagen talks about her own book tour which stretched from New Orleans to New York. She shares how she booked the signings, what she packed to take to signings, what discount she offered on her books, and which mistakes most self-published authors make that keep them from being able to schedule in-store signings.

In this episode, Carrie Rollwagen talks to Katie Kelly about how to look great while traveling on a book tour, how to keep your skin looking its best and how to create a consistent look that will photograph well on your tour.

In this episode, Carrie Rollwagen talks to the stylists behind Irrelephant blog — Joanna Ballentine and Molly Stilley — about how to prep for headshots, how to find a stylist, and which makeup and hair products are their favorites.

In this episode, Carrie Rollwagen talks about why most independent booksellers dislike Amazon and why partnering with Amazon by publishing through CreateSpace isn’t the best idea for self publishers who hope to be found on bookstore shelves someday. She also reads an excerpt from her book, The Localist.

In this episode, Carrie Rollwagen talks with former bookseller Michelle Phillips of Church Street Coffee & Books about how self-published authors often botch their bookstore pitches. They also talk about how to make the best of your book signing and tone down the awkwardness of a signing or meeting.

In this episode, Carrie Rollwagen shares her experience as a website copywriter with tips for how to create an author website, including which pages your website should include, where to link your books for sales, and how to process payments.

In this episode, Carrie Rollwagen interviews photographer Kelly Cummings about how to design a social media campaign for your self-published book and book tour. We discuss how to use hashtags, how to deal with Instagram changes and how to spin a lackluster book signing into social media gold.

In this episode, Carrie Rollwagen interviews Jonathan Walls, the web designer and developer who built the website for her book, The Localist. We talk about whether you should hire a web developer to design your author website or use a template, when to install Google Analytics, the pros and cons of WordPres and Squarespace, and which pages and functionality your book’s website will need.

In this episode, Carrie Rollwagen talks about how to network to promote your self-published book, including tips for a short and sweet elevator pitch, ideas for how to drive people to your website, and how to meet people who’ll care about your book.

In this episode, Carrie Rollwagen interviews Mollie Hawkins, freelance writer and former librarian. We talk about why it’s difficult to get your self-published book onto library shelves and the best ways to butter up library staff and librarians in hopes of getting your book into a library catalog.

In this episode, Carrie Rollwagen interviews Elisa Munoz, former book buyer at a big box bookstore. They talk about why it’s almost impossible for self-published authors to get their books into big box stores, how to approach a book buyer, and which genres perform best in corporate bookstores.