Self-Publishing Central's Top 10 of 2010

It seems like everybody is into wrapping up the year with a list of greatest hits or top stories for 2010. So who am I to buck the trend? This post is going to remind you of some of Self-Publishing Central's best of the year gone by.

But first . . . a couple of announcements.

1) In case you haven't heard, Amazon Kindle books may now be loaned by their owners for a single lending period of 14 days without charge. Some authors may oppose this "free book for your buddy" approach. I believe that the more people who read my books, the more can help me market them. I don't think I'm going to run out of potential readers -- though it would be great of I did!

2) Belonging to The Independent Author Network (IAN) (just started up in December, 2010) has given my promotional efforts a big boost in terms of site hits -- both here and on my author site -- and actual book sales. If you're a motivated book marketer, you may want to check it out. (NOTE: IAN is not an author-mill. IAN founder @WilliamPotter68 gives the site (and each author) his personal touch. Rarely will IAN add more than one new member per day. So please be patient. The wheels of quality grind slowly, but exceedingly fine.)

3) This blog has grown in recent months to a following of more than 1000 hits per month. Thanks to all of you Followers. I hope this means I'm supplying something useful to authors and self-pubbers on Self-Publishing Central.

AND NOW . . . The Top Ten Posts of 2010.

10) My Most Successful Book Marketing Tip to Date. Find reviewers for your books among Amazon's Top 500. And a redux on this topic: Marketing Update.

9) An Author's Greatest Challenge. The value of patience.

8) The Importance of a Media Kit. An invaluable sales tool.

7) Is Print on Demand Really a Bad Idea? Refuting the established wisdom about POD.

6) Making Sure Your Self-Pub Research is Current. Times are changing fast in the publishing industry. If you're researching whether to self- or indie-publish vs the traditional route, make sure your research is current.

5) Choosing Your Self-Publishing Formats. Paper? Kindle? ePub? PDF? All of the above?

4) Just Write. How to make the leap from shorter works to writing a novel.

3) Finding Reviewers for Your First Book. Such a great topic there are two posts. Here's the second: 25 Places YOU Can get Book Reviews.

2) Book Award Competitions for Self- and Indie-Pubs.

1) Authors Deserve to Feel Good, Too. Reasons it's great to be an author!

Okay . . . I have to admit I would have liked to add another ten posts to this list, but long lists are deadly to readers! (Good to remember that.)

So there you go. My Top Ten. You may have others. And you may have comments. So please feel free.

Here's wishing all of you peace, prosperity and happy writing in the new year. Make 2011 the best yet!

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.

John