SIA Showcase for Readers and Writers discussion

This thread is for any questions you may have about the group, be it about posting or anything else. Don’t be shy! Ask us anything. If you have a question or concern that you would rather not comment on publically, do send one of us a PM. You can do that by clicking on our name and clicking the down arrow next to the “follow” button. From there, select “send a message” and let us know what is on your mind. Please don’t utilize the “ask the author” feature because that too is public.

How about a which fictional character are you thread.

Not, who would you like to be. But who you really most resemble.

I guess there would be more of us who actually qualified as Quasimodo than Scarlett o'Hara

Hmm, ya know, that actually sounds like a great fun folder topic over on the main group! Start it! But we can't all be Quasimodo. ;)

I regularly post about cross-promotional opportunities that I have, such as:
- authors who have freebies running when I have mine running
- authors who have new releases out when I am putting out mine
- themed contests, giveaways, or themed book announcements

Then I do a blog post or other promotional that features my book and the other books that I have gathered together. Everybody who participated (hopefully) shares on their various platforms to get more eyes on these books.

Is the "services" folder the place to make these calls for participants? I assume you want me to do things like that on this group, rather than on the main group now.

Hi PD! Yep! You can post in services and on your own showcase thread.

Hi there, is there a place where we can share our Skype usernames, or will there be one in the future? :)

Hi Calvin! Go ahead and add that to the other social media thread.

Christina wrote: "Hi Calvin! Go ahead and add that to the other social media thread."

Thank you Christina. I didn't want to make a duplicate thread so I thought I would check. :)

Sorry, I didn't phrase that well. Other social media is a thread that already exists.

Christina wrote: "Sorry, I didn't phrase that well. Other social media is a thread that already exists."

Whoops. Sorry.

LOL! No worries. That was my lazy typing.

Just a thought: Since 'Showcase' is more conversational than SIA, maybe replies should have a lifespan... say 15 days. That way, threads don't get too cluttered, and old topics can fade away. If something is important enough to keep, it should go on SIA proper, or on your own 'Member Showcase.'

If that works, maybe even topics themselves could fade away after all of the replies have fallen off and 30 days pass with no activity. You would want to exempt 'Member Showcase' topics, natch...

Not sure that could be automated, so the maintenance might get excessive.

Hi CB. The whole point of the member showcase us that members get to dictate what happens on their own thread. If you want people commenting, let them know. If you don't, state that as well. Anyone can delete their own posts (and should on the promo threads) but if you want posts by others deleted, you can simply PM a mod to do it.

There is no way to automate that and we wouldn't want to enforce a time limit on anyone's thread. Beyond the member showcase, each folder has specific rules as to what can be posted, so this would not apply as there wouldn't be any discussions happening there.

Thanks for starting this group. I'm sure it will grow to be just as awesome as the original group :)

Quick question: can we add our own books to the bookshelf on this group?

I think it would be nice if we could and maybe even organize the bookshelf by genre or something.

Hi Noor. We actually closed the bookshelf because it creates a bunch of folders that are impossible for us to moderate properly. We do encourage you to start your own member showcase thread and you can certainly add books there. Some people put them in the first post, others reserved the second post for their books. When you have a promotion to announce, those threads are all set up by genre, so it's easy for readers to find deals they may be interested in.

Sounds great, thanks for the quick response Christina! :)

i need some assistance i'm rewriting a loving tribute book about my deceased mom but sometimes i get stuck what can i do?

Eric wrote: "i need some assistance i'm rewriting a loving tribute book about my deceased mom but sometimes i get stuck what can i do?"

Hi Eric,
Questions specific to writing would be better asked within the original Support for Indie Authors group. But do keep in mind, having a specific question will be best for getting help. If you're asking about writer's block, I believe there are several threads that already exist over there to tackle the subject.

Hello.

*smiles winningly*

I've got a two-day free deal going Jan 1 & 2 for a book of short stories and perverses. We don't have a thread on We've Got Books do we?

Pretty please....

Husband is requiring me to out on pants and leave the house, but as soon as I get back, we shall have a short story thread. Or if another mod wants to add it... (Short stories that is, not sure we're ready for a Perverses thread yet ;))

Edit: DONE!

Thank you Christina. I'll fight anybody who calls you mean...

Hi Christina, I'm new to this group. I'm an Indie author with 2 books published so far. It was suggested to me that Goodreads would be a good place for me to get more reviews on my books. Can you recommend a group for that or am I in the right place with the Showcase?
Thanks, Annette
Annette Zoheret

Annette wrote: "Hi Christina, I'm new to this group. I'm an Indie author with 2 books published so far. It was suggested to me that Goodreads would be a good place for me to get more reviews on my books. Can you r..."

Hi Annette, you may post on the ARC thread if you have copies to send out, and if you set up a thread, you may offer copies. Just understand that folks have no obligation to review and SIA (showcase and main group) is not geared toward reviews.

Eric wrote: "i need some assistance i'm rewriting a loving tribute book about my deceased mom but sometimes i get stuck what can i do?"

Hi Eric,
I write memoirs and biographies. It's natural to get stuck when it's so close to home. Sometimes you just have to give yourself that space to 'feel your way through it' before you can continue to write. Sometimes, I work on something completely different and come back to it a few weeks later when I've dealt with emotion overload. Hope that helps and good luck!

Eric wrote: "i need some assistance i'm rewriting a loving tribute book about my deceased mom but sometimes i get stuck what can i do?"

Hello Eric, I can't help you with that sorry, but I believe you may have more help if you'd post in our main group's thread here:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

Good luck with your project.

Annette wrote: "Can you recommend a group for that or am I in the right place with the Showcase?..."

We only moderate SIA's two groups but there are a few groups that specialize in reviews. As Christina said though, you can't force people to leave a review. Here are a few groups that I either used once or twice or that I know they do reviews.

The most popular one Shut up and read is booked until July 2017 but might be worth getting in anyways (I used them for my two book a few years ago) https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

This one I have been approached last year to enlist my books but I declined for personal reasons that had nothing to do with them.
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

There are others depending on genre. Some stopped offering due to the hassle it brought. I left most of the groups with SIA taking up most of my time so I am not familiar with them anymore.

Thank you

Soooo... I have a question. I read the read me section of the events folder. I am trying to set up a facebook launch party and I wanted to invite other authors to do half hour takeovers and invite readers to come join the fun, but the read me portion of the events folder says that we can't start a thread to announce an upcoming release. Does that include Launch Parties? Should I post somewhere else? I don't want to post anything that isn't allowed. I have major anxiety about posting in the wrong place or posting something I shouldn't! Help please?

Ember wrote: "Soooo... I have a question. I read the read me section of the events folder. I am trying to set up a facebook launch party and I wanted to invite other authors to do half hour takeovers and invite ..."

Hi Ember! Nope, you are fine to start a thread for an event! What we mean by new release is just a bookwhack, basically saying "Hey! I'm an author and I wrote a book! Buy it!Love me!" Because, ya know, we have our own threads for that. ;)

I totally get that! Thanks so much!

I am a newbie to the indie publishing. I found this section. My book has just moved to the book cover phase so I don't have an author profile yet. My question is this. How do you begin a thread when my book is published?

B.A. wrote: "I am a newbie to the indie publishing. I found this section. My book has just moved to the book cover phase so I don't have an author profile yet. My question is this. How do you begin a thread whe..."

Hi BA. You don't need to be an author to star your own thread in the Member Showcase. To start a thread, you would click on the folder and at the top right it it will say 'new topic.' Click that to create a thread.

hello B.A.

I have a book a friend of mine has written called 'Refuge' and I would like to intro. it here.
Where do I put it and how?
Thank you.







Christina wrote: "This thread is for any questions you may have about the group, be it about posting or anything else. Don’t be shy! Ask us anything. If you have a question or concern that you would rather not comme..."

RW wrote: "hello B.A.

I have a book a friend of mine has written called 'Refuge' and I would like to intro. it here.
Where do I put it and how?
Thank you.

Hi RW,
We would prefer that authors showcase their own works. Your friend is welcome to start their own showcase thread and you are welcome to start one as well, but please only feature your own work. Thanks.

ok, thank you, I will let her know.

Hi there.

Ever since I was invited to the group, I've had a really good time interacting with everyone about my writing as well as others content. I just thought I would ask if there could be a section put up for talking about visual novels, as some of them can be considered a work of fiction in themselves by their word count?

On a separate note, is there anyone here who wants to write a visual novel, or has previously created one? :)

Hi Calvin. That would be topic to discuss in the main SIA group. In fact, I'm pretty sure someone brought it up a while back because I remember finding them strange, personally.

cool. which topic area would they be under?

Hello awesome moderators I have a question for you! There is a group romance promo today and I was wondering if I could post in the romance free and discounted books section? I have a link to the promo site I can post so everyone can see all the wonderful books that are being discounted there! Can I post it there? If not that's totally fine just thought I would ask! Thank you!

Ember wrote: "Hello awesome moderators I have a question for you! There is a group romance promo today and I was wondering if I could post in the romance free and discounted books section? I have a link to the p..."

if you don't add pictures and follow the rules by only posting the link, you should be ok.

Would it best to post in the main group if you are interested in collating with other authors to create a short story collection.

Ember: there is also an events area and I believe you guys had a sign up post, so you may want to go ahead and update that.

Calvin: that would be something to put under services here.

Thank you!!

Christina wrote: "Ember: there is also an events area and I believe you guys had a sign up post, so you may want to go ahead and update that.

Calvin: that would be something to put under services here."

Thank you Christina :)

So I checked the events folder again and there wasn't anything there I thought that I had posted only what you asked in the romance section but it got deleted so should I create a thread in the events section then? I just don't want to do anything to get deleted you know?

Ember wrote: "So I checked the events folder again and there wasn't anything there I thought that I had posted only what you asked in the romance section but it got deleted so should I create a thread in the eve..."

I might have been confusing it with Amanda's post in services. Go ahead and make an event. I haven't been around much today, so I'm not sure what got deleted or by who. Sorry!

Great! No worries thanks Christina!

I'm currently in a Kindle Scout campaign (until the end of March). Looking for the right/best place to ask for nominations. Is it here?

Mike

Michael wrote: "I'm currently in a Kindle Scout campaign (until the end of March). Looking for the right/best place to ask for nominations. Is it here?

Mike"

You may create a showcase thread where you may talk about all things you including scout campaigns. We only ask that you abide by the posted rules as well as Goodreads best practices for authors.

Christina wrote: "This thread is for any questions you may have about the group, be it about posting or anything else. Don’t be shy! Ask us anything. If you have a question or concern that you would rather not comme..."

Where do I put in an email to post a new topic?