Books for Indie Authors

This post contains affiliate links, but all opinions are my own. 

One of the best ways to learn about the indie market and indie publishing is to read. In the past few months, I’ve read several books by successful indie authors, but there’s so many, where do you even begin? So, today, I’m sharing my five favorite books for indie authors.

1. Write. Publish. Repeat. (The No-Luck-Required Guide to Self-Publishing Success) is from two of the three guys from the Self-Publishing Podcast, and it’s a big book. Over 120,000 words, I believe. But it’s packed with so much information. If you listen to the Self-Publishing podcast (see more podcasts you should listen to), this is basically a long version of that in written form.
2. Gotta Read It! – Five Simple Steps to a Fiction Pitch That Sells: I haven’t read this one yet, but I read Libbie Hawker’s other book and it was great. This is next up on my list, and I’m sure it’ll be great. Writing copy for a fiction book is hard. I’ll take all the advice I can get.
3. How to Make a Living with Your Writing: Books, Blogging and More (Books for Writers Book 2)
   : This book is by Joanna Penn from the Creative Penn podcast. While I loved the in-depth look at how she makes her money, this didn’t feel like it was anything new for me. But if you’re new to indie publishing, I would definitely suggest reading this one.
4. Indie Author Survival Guide (Second Edition): This is another favorite of mine because it’s just so in-depth. Susan Kaye Quinn takes time to discuss everything from writing habits to how to find pictures for your book cover. If you can only pick up one book, seriously consider this one because it’s just great.
5. For Love or Money (Building a Self-Publishing Career Book 2)
   : This is the sequel to Indie Author Survival Guide. Here, SKQ talks about the importance and difference in writing for your love of writing and writing to pay the bills. There is nothing wrong with either, but she talks about how she balances it all.

Bonus book: 

Fiction Unboxed: How Two Authors Wrote and Published a Book in 30 Days, From Scratch, In Front of the World: I haven’t read this one yet (it’s by the SPP guys), but the concept sounds absolutely fascinating. I’ll probably pick this one up during my Christmas break. It’ll be a long time before I ever get to doing something like this, but doesn’t it sound exhilarating?

Now that you have some books to read over your holiday season, what other books on publishing have you read?