Helping hand

I'm so excited! My first book is coming out in just 13 days! I know that's nearly two weeks, but if you've been waiting as long as I have you'd be excited too. It's amazing how fast it's gone. Though this month has been crammed with so much! Who knew that something they make seem so easy is so very complicated. I've been utilizing google, and my author friends on Facebook like no ones business. Thankfully all my author friends, C.L. Knopf, Lilith Tempest, and Fran Comesanas to name a few have been supportive to a first timer like myself. I couldn't ask for a greater group of friends!

Anyways!

Here are a few tips that I learned along the way that new authors may find handy:

***Join this Goodreads group: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/220-goodreads-librarians-group

The feed where you need to start is: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1012751-author-faq-authors-look-here-first

You will not survive Goodreads without it!

***Ask if you've no idea, and believe me none of us know 100% of what is required of us. The community of Indi writers is tight-knit, and most are willing to help if you only ask.

***GoogleDocs, is my saving grace. When I first started my laptop died, and so did most of what I was working on. But what I found the most frustrating was my Microsoft Office was also taken when that ship sank. I tried several free writing services, but GoogleDocs I personally love the best. It auto-saves, and who doesn't love that? And....it's connected to Google, so in other words if this laptop craps out on me as well...all my work is safe and sound!

***It is true what they say when marketing. It is really hard work. Do yourself a favor and prepare!

I'm a do-it yourselfer all the way so you may not find any of the following sites helpful, but I'm passing on the knowledge anyhow.

-I made the majority of my posts for social media on: https://www.canva.com/ If you pick a free design then it's free, and so is the download.

-Editing my pictures I use: KVADPhoto+ and if you want to spend the money, which I did buy the Pro version.

-There are several different free stock photo sites, but here are the number 3 I used the most often: https://www.pexels.com/ , https://pixabay.com/ , https://unsplash.com/

Authors! If you had any to add please do so in the comments. Would love to check out some new resources if you have any.