Thorpe-Bowker publishes an interesting newsletter on the independent publishing scene. Free subscription link here.
DIY renders of 3D book covers (free)
Boxshot invites users to upload their book cover and spine, then fiddle with a variety of controls to arrive at a striking 3D rendering of said cover. The basic offering is free, with a paid version offering more bells and whistles.
Recommended texts for Independent authors:
Independent authors are faced with a bewildering new world when they attempt to promote their books on snd offline. The following authors and sources do an excellent job of making sense of the contemporary publishing and promotional landscape, and all are worth reading.
Euan Mitchell's Your Book Publishing Options
How to Be an Author from Fremantle Press
Let's Get Digital by David Gaughran
Ricardo Fayet's How to Market an ebook
Amazon Ads Unleashed by Robert J. Ryan
Amazon Selling Services from Helium 10
Author 2.0 Blueprint by Joanna Penn
Advice for Independent Authors
Independent authors are often preyed upon by publishers. Writing a book is hard but a relatively linear task — write > edit> proofread, but the modern landscape of publishing and promotion is wide open, with a myriad possible strategies and pitfalls. Unsurprisingly, many authors find the prospect of self-managing their book overwhelming and sign up with ‘vanity’ presses. Many of these presses over-promise and under-deliver. With the amount of money they spend on signing up with a publisher, authors could have achieved a great deal pursuing their own promotional plan. There are many resources online to assist with this planning. Jane Friedman is also very helpful.
Here is a good roundup of Australian resources. The Queensland Writers Centre has some useful advice.
Independent publishing is hard, but it can be very rewarding. Many of the possibilities are very low cost, your reach is potentially global, an amazing thing in itself.
WorkingType Design has compiled a useful hints booklet for authors, downloadable here.
Your Name Here — The Zen of a Blank Product
Department of There's an Internet Business for Everything: Yellow Images sells blank products ready for you to superimpose your own brand/product. There's something so soothing about a plain object not covered in all of the cruft designers are paid to create.