Member Self-Publishing Q&A w/ Orna Ross & Paul Teague: April 2017

Ep#53: Orna Ross and Paul Teague answer members' questions on writing, publishing and promoting books. Each month Orna Ross and a special guest answer Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) Members' questions. This month we're welcoming Paul Teague into the hot seat to talk about a series of videos he's created especially for ALLi. And to answer our members' latest, most pressing questions with Orna. Our monthly Ask ALLi broadcasts are an ideal way to keep learning about being an indie author and the skills you needed to become a successful self-publisher. Here's the self-publishing questions asked and answered this month: Q: I'm printing and distributing through Ingram Spark. What's the best way to set up returns? Q: Amazon has it's own imprint. Will they end up only selling books from Amazon Publishing and and ignore Indie Author's books? Q: What are you three top tips for using LinkedIn to develop your author brand? Q: I have a wordpress website hosted on Bluehost, where can I host a test site so that I can design it before I publish? Q: I'm setting up my own imprint to publish my own books, and considering using it to publish books by other authors. What can I do to create a solid business plan? Q: Can an ISBN owned by my imprint be placed on a book written by somebody else, with me as a publisher? Q: What are the minimal submission guidelines I need to write in order for them to be legally binding on both sides? Q: How do I set industry standards for setting up my financial business models for my imprint? Q: When I publish other authors under my imprint, who takes care of the marketing? The author or the publisher? Q: My book is with Bookbaby for distribution. I've written a self-help book, and want to know how to find marketing plan help. Q: ISBN - do I need the name of a publisher in order to fill out the ISBN application. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Member Self-Publishing Q&A is one of four regular shows, which include a more advanced salon, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About Your Hosts: Paul hosts the Self-Publishing Journeys Podcast which features discussions with other indie authors who talk about their approaches for self-publishing and reaching readers using inventive strategies that work. He also runs the Self-Publishing Academy, which is a simple, step-by-step, jargon free guide to self-publishing your book.  Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss