As the title says, blogging ain't easy. And before you cringe and point fingers at my use of 'ain't', please remember I'm from the south, so it's acceptable. Just as 'totes' has become acceptable in our little corner of the indie world. ;)
With that said, I just wanted to do a quick blog post here (because we really don't do enough!) in hopes of sharing with you everything we do here at IABB, and all the stuff we're planning to do.
IABB was started with a simple dream in mind. When G and E began IABB back way back when, about 4 years now, I think, they simply wanted to help blogs and authors find one another. They wanted to share books, resources, and things relevant to our community to help everyone be involved. As an indie author myself, I totally wanted to be a part of it, because I know how hard it can be when you're just starting out. Around here, there's definitely the whole "It's all about who you know" type of deal.
Unfortunately, not all of us know bigger names, or blogs with huge numbers, who will share our books or promote us. Though there are plenty of little, lesser-known blogs with heart, it is hard for us to be seen.
Facebook definitely doesn't help with that. If you don't pay the $$ to use an ad, your chances of being seen are very slim to none. And while IABB may not be the biggest or most popular, we do everything in our power to help push authors out there, to get them seen, and to pique the interest of readers to take a chance on them.
Over the past few years in which I have been more heavily involved with IABB, I have seen friendships made between those who follow along on this adventure. IABB Confessions, an idea I'm glad I brought up to G, has exploded into something amazing. It's beyond anything I ever thought it would be, and though sometimes there's more negativity than we'd like, we have to admit it's still a pretty awesome thing and a lot of people enjoy Thursdays because of it.
Confessions aren't going anywhere anytime soon - don't worry. :) But we definitely have had a little difficulty in having enough to fill up the entire 24-hours they're meant to. So, with that said, here is a shameless plug:
SUBMIT YOUR CONFESSION
Also, while it's on my mind, if you haven't visited the google URL shortener in a while, you might want to take a look at this popup I got yesterday.
With that said, I just wanted to do a quick blog post here (because we really don't do enough!) in hopes of sharing with you everything we do here at IABB, and all the stuff we're planning to do.
IABB was started with a simple dream in mind. When G and E began IABB back way back when, about 4 years now, I think, they simply wanted to help blogs and authors find one another. They wanted to share books, resources, and things relevant to our community to help everyone be involved. As an indie author myself, I totally wanted to be a part of it, because I know how hard it can be when you're just starting out. Around here, there's definitely the whole "It's all about who you know" type of deal.
Unfortunately, not all of us know bigger names, or blogs with huge numbers, who will share our books or promote us. Though there are plenty of little, lesser-known blogs with heart, it is hard for us to be seen.
Facebook definitely doesn't help with that. If you don't pay the $$ to use an ad, your chances of being seen are very slim to none. And while IABB may not be the biggest or most popular, we do everything in our power to help push authors out there, to get them seen, and to pique the interest of readers to take a chance on them.
Over the past few years in which I have been more heavily involved with IABB, I have seen friendships made between those who follow along on this adventure. IABB Confessions, an idea I'm glad I brought up to G, has exploded into something amazing. It's beyond anything I ever thought it would be, and though sometimes there's more negativity than we'd like, we have to admit it's still a pretty awesome thing and a lot of people enjoy Thursdays because of it.
Confessions aren't going anywhere anytime soon - don't worry. :) But we definitely have had a little difficulty in having enough to fill up the entire 24-hours they're meant to. So, with that said, here is a shameless plug:
SUBMIT YOUR CONFESSION
Also, while it's on my mind, if you haven't visited the google URL shortener in a while, you might want to take a look at this popup I got yesterday.
I don't know what that's going to mean for all of us who have come to rely on it, but hopefully it gives you enough time to figure out an alternate location to collect those nifty -shorter- links. :)
All right, so back to what I was saying. IABB is striving to become a #1 resource for the indie community, and we definitely couldn't do that without you. To all of those who have gotten promotions with us, or listed a business with us, or taken part in our cover contests and the IABB Hookup - thank you! We mean that from the bottom of our hearts. We're slowly working on adding all sorts of neat stuff that will make us stand out from everybody else.
In case you've never really had a chance to browse our website before, allow me to tell you about some of the things we offer here.
The Ultimate Book Blog List - a compilation of book blogs and the genres/age ranges they read and review. These are all categorized in the above drop down menu. Just hover your mouse over the BLOG LIST text to see them. We hope authors will use these lists to their advantage. That's what they are there for. Also, we hope it helps some blogs get a little love, too. <3
The IABB Hookup - The Hookup is intended for books that are in need of reviews. As you know, places such as Amazon have it set up to where your book won't even get love from them unless you have at least 15 reviews. As long as they're 3-star and above, your book will start circulating, somewhere. (If I am wrong about the 15 reviews, please correct me!) The Hookup is $5 a month and we promote them at least twice a week. You can check them out by clicking HERE.
The IABB Initiative - More information about this is coming soon. But basically, it's going to give readers a chance to promote some awesome books with a blind book date twist. We'll be sharing more on that very soon. Also, free ebooks and a monthly chance at a signed paperback or gift card. Sounds pretty fun, right?
Cover Contests - We've been trying to get this one up and running for a while now. We've had 3 contests so far, and they're really fun. Our theme right now is MAFIA/MOB, so if you've got a cover fitting that description, be sure to check out how you can enter by clicking HERE.
Are you looking for an editor, cover designer, or something else? We've got all the lists for those, too!
We are constantly brainstorming ideas on how to make IABB more fun and interactive for the indie community. It's no telling what you'll see from day to day, but we sincerely hope you'll stick around to find out. As stated in the title, blogging ain't easy. On a week-to-week basis, I put no less than 50 hours into the content we post on our page and website. IABB confessions take up at least a few hours for our beloved graphics team.
We do this because we love you. Because we love books. Because we want our indie community to be the most amazing and magical place, a place that people want to be involved in.
Our inbox is always open for your new releases, cover reveals, and book sales. If you want to get a promotion with us, that's great, too.
Blogging ain't easy, but we do it anyway. Give some love to the blogs. <3
All right, so back to what I was saying. IABB is striving to become a #1 resource for the indie community, and we definitely couldn't do that without you. To all of those who have gotten promotions with us, or listed a business with us, or taken part in our cover contests and the IABB Hookup - thank you! We mean that from the bottom of our hearts. We're slowly working on adding all sorts of neat stuff that will make us stand out from everybody else.
In case you've never really had a chance to browse our website before, allow me to tell you about some of the things we offer here.
The Ultimate Book Blog List - a compilation of book blogs and the genres/age ranges they read and review. These are all categorized in the above drop down menu. Just hover your mouse over the BLOG LIST text to see them. We hope authors will use these lists to their advantage. That's what they are there for. Also, we hope it helps some blogs get a little love, too. <3
The IABB Hookup - The Hookup is intended for books that are in need of reviews. As you know, places such as Amazon have it set up to where your book won't even get love from them unless you have at least 15 reviews. As long as they're 3-star and above, your book will start circulating, somewhere. (If I am wrong about the 15 reviews, please correct me!) The Hookup is $5 a month and we promote them at least twice a week. You can check them out by clicking HERE.
The IABB Initiative - More information about this is coming soon. But basically, it's going to give readers a chance to promote some awesome books with a blind book date twist. We'll be sharing more on that very soon. Also, free ebooks and a monthly chance at a signed paperback or gift card. Sounds pretty fun, right?
Cover Contests - We've been trying to get this one up and running for a while now. We've had 3 contests so far, and they're really fun. Our theme right now is MAFIA/MOB, so if you've got a cover fitting that description, be sure to check out how you can enter by clicking HERE.
Are you looking for an editor, cover designer, or something else? We've got all the lists for those, too!
We are constantly brainstorming ideas on how to make IABB more fun and interactive for the indie community. It's no telling what you'll see from day to day, but we sincerely hope you'll stick around to find out. As stated in the title, blogging ain't easy. On a week-to-week basis, I put no less than 50 hours into the content we post on our page and website. IABB confessions take up at least a few hours for our beloved graphics team.
We do this because we love you. Because we love books. Because we want our indie community to be the most amazing and magical place, a place that people want to be involved in.
Our inbox is always open for your new releases, cover reveals, and book sales. If you want to get a promotion with us, that's great, too.
Blogging ain't easy, but we do it anyway. Give some love to the blogs. <3