SO MUCH TO LEARN, SO LITTLE TIME!
For Indie Authors, the world of self-publishing is an amazing place. There are so many possibilities, and Indie Platinum wants to help you realize all of them. You’re bound to have questions, and since we’re always thinking ahead, we thought we’d try to answer them BEFORE you even ask.
General Questions
Sure, as long as your emails are welcomed. Indie Platinum does not tolerate stalking, harassment or trolling of any kind.
Most vendors will include their email on their store site. If not, you can follow a vendor on their STORE PAGE and you can also ask questions from that location. Indie Authors also include their website or order page so you can use one of these methods to contact a vendor as well.
If you have encountered a picture, book cover or book concept that violates Indie Platinum’s policies (namely, books, art of concepts involving demonology, pornography, child abuse, bullying, extreme religion, hatred, gratuitous violence, or extreme racism), WE WANT YOU TO ALERT US.
Drop us an email at: IndiePlatinum@gmail.com.
NOTICE: Any Indie Platinum member who willfully and maliciously accuses another member of violating Community Policies and the accusation turns out to be FALSE may, at the discretion of the Editor, be permanently removed from this community.
Founders Info
Hi there,
I’m a mother, a former 20+ year special educator, and currently a full-time children’s book writer and researcher. For over 20 years I have offered tips and recommendations to aspiring writers at my personal blog, Rita Writes History, which has attracted over 1 million unique visitors, and at Picture Book Depot and The Black History Channel.
I have seven (7) books listed on Amazon.com.
My picture book, THE OLDEST STUDENT: HOW MARY WALKER LEARNED TO READ, debuted as the No. 1 Historical Bio PB about Women on Jan 7 2020. It has garnered many awards and honorable mentions.
Because I’m an indie myself.
When I was very young, I used typing paper to write and illustrate picture books. I then gave these as gifts to friends, and they always came back for more. Later, I created a line of independently-published historical calendars called Shades of Greatness(tm). I wrote, researched and printed them myself, and sold between 2,500 and 3,000 every year. I did this for 9 years, and at the end, the calendars were in 11 states across the U.S.
Currently, I have a series of picture books and a humorous middle grade reference book that I intend to independently publish. How does that sound?
Yes, I do. Here they are:
The Black History Channel – by, for and about African Americans:
http://theblackhistorychannel.com
Picture Book Depot – a site that celebrates the picture book.
http://picturebookdepot.com
Rita Writes History – a place where I laugh, cry and vent.
http://ritahubbard.com
The LORRAINE Foundation - a 501c3 dedicated to inspiring the elderly and the marginalized to be creative.
https://lorraine.ngo
Absolutely. I speak to churches, schools, women’s groups, libraries and entrepreneurial groups about any- and everything you can think of.
Some topics include:
**Entrepreneurship
**Writing and Publishing 101
**Creativity Against the Odds
**How to find and write about Unsung Heroes
**How to plot your book
Interested in learning about my services? CLICK HERE to download my brochure.
Protect Your Work
First, anytime anyone uploads anything to the Internet, it’s in danger of being “stolen.”
Second, Indie Platinum cannot and will not be held responsible for protecting artwork that is uploaded to this site.
Things you could try to protect your work…
**Disabling the right-click link
**Adding a watermark
**Uploading only low-res (72ppi) images
HOWEVER, please understand that these methods don’t always work. If you disable your right-click function, a user can simply click “Ctrl Print Screen” to copy your image and paste it on their desktop. If you add a watermark, a Photoshop (or other software) expert could take it off.
What should you do?
There are many experts out there who can advise you on protecting your work. Please read these articles:
- How to Protect Images of Your Artwork From Being Stolen Online – by Dan of EmptyEasel.com – http://tinyurl.com/p8faxpm
- Artful Resources: Protecting Images of Your Artwork Online – by TheArtLeague.org – http://tinyurl.com/nvayf3m
Hope this helps.
First things first: Don’t go accusing anyone. Remember, ideas travel and it’s a common thing for multiple people to have similar ideas at the same time.
Second, who have you told your idea? Your family? Your critique group? Your best friends? The other parents at the PTA meeting?
The truth is, ideas can’t be stolen. Ideas are not products or “works.” They are simply mental energy that has not made it from the brain to the prototype stage.
That being said, did you know that ideas travel? They do! As a professional reviewer there have been seasons when I’ve reviewed five or more books about basically the same subject, and yet not one of them was exactly like the other.
Think of it this way: All humans have similar experiences. They only become singular when they are told from YOUR perspective.
Hope this helps!
Indie Book Reviews
Sorry, but…no. Indie Platinum is extremely busy these days and we just don’t have the time. However, we do have a great list of places you can find a reviewer (Please see WHERE CAN I FIND A REVIEWER FOR MY BOOK? under the BOOK QUESTIONS or WRITING TIPS sections.
No. Indie Platinum does not approve of reviewing books for money. In fact, we don’t review books in any way, shape or form, because frankly, we just don’t have the time.
Your membership fee covers two areas:
1. Eligibility for the Program
2. Payment for display on our website
That’s it. You are welcome to display any reviews onto your vendor’s page, but you will have to find your reviewer(s) yourself.
Hope this helps!
No. And yes. Here’s the thing: many reviewers shy away from self-published books because many (not all) of them have not gone through the same rigorous editing and vetting processes as traditionally-published books. Therefore, reviewers know that if they accept your book for review and it has typo/editing/layout/design problems, they have to discuss those…and who wants to do that? I know I don’t.
Back in the day when I still accepted self-published books for review, I often had to give the writer a choice: either I sent the book back and waited for a more professional version before I posted the review (in other words, I gave them the choice to SKIP the review), or I went ahead with the review and wrote about EVERYTHING I found, good and bad.
Some writers really appreciated this. Others did not. My conclusion: Stick to traditionally-published books. That being said, check out the FAQ called “WHERE CAN I FIND A REVIEWER FOR MY BOOK” for your starting place.
It can be a challenge to find a reviewer for your self-published book, but please know that it’s NOT impossible.
Here is a list of known reviewers for self-published books. We’ll add to this list as we encounter more reviewers:
- The Indie Review – www.theindiereview.com
- Kirkus Indie – www.kirkusreviews.com/indie/
- Goodreads – www.Goodreads.com
- Digital Book Today – www.digitalbooktoday.com
- Self-Publishing Review – www.selfpublishingreview.com
- IndieReader.com – www.indiereader.com
- Indie B.R.A.G. – www.bragmedallion.com
- Blue Ink Review – www.blueinkreview.com
This should get you started. We’ll add to this list as we discover more sites.
Unfortunately, you WON’T.
Indie Platinum has a strict policy about random requests to review books -- and an even stricter policy about receiving unsolicited emails.
We just don’t have time for either one. That’s why we put the Platinum Program in place, so you can benefit from all the resources, information and options we offer.
How? Please see our FAQ Entry called WRITING TIPS, and the FAQ Entry called BOOK QUESTIONS to find the answers you need.
We’re so sorry to hear this, but…we’re not surprised.
Book reviews are very important tools that people use to help them make an informed decision whether or not they will purchase your book.
If you pay someone to give you a glowing review, that’s sort of like bribing someone to sing your praises — even if the book IS actually great.
FYI – Here are some important articles you really should read:
Indie Publishers
To be addressed at a later date!
Indie Books
We accept anything you can write. Well, almost anything.
We love picture books, chapter books, novels, encyclopedias and science books. We adore puzzles, graphic novels, comic books and coloring books. We love romances, paranormals, urban fantasies, zombies that walk the earth and side-splitting comedies. We even love teacher’s manuals and student workbooks.
We DON’T like demonology, pornography, child abuse, bullying, extreme religion, hatred, gratuitous violence, or extreme racism.
We know you’re in a hurry to see your book on the web. But before you submit, please be sure you do the following:
- Write the best book you can.
- Read your book aloud. You’ll be shocked at how many typos you’ll find.
- If you have Microsoft Word, allow your computer to read your book to you.
- Send your book to your critique group.
- If you don’t have a critique group, FIND ONE AND JOIN.
- Pay for a professional edit.
- Make sure your book is double-spaced, Times New Roman 12 Font, black.
- Don’t be pushy! Give your editor (or us) time to complete the work.
- Don’t take criticism personally.
- Keep polishing your work!
First things first…does anyone know your book even exists? Besides US, of course!
Many writers are under the impression that once they get their book on Amazon, they’re home free. They seem to believe Amazon will make sure its visitors know your book has arrived and is ready to be purchased. But that’s just not true. Amazon has millions of books, so it stands to reason that you’re going to have to do something special to get yours to stand out.
For starters, you should join Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook. A lot of writers swear by Goodreads, so consider this one also. In other words, get ready to work hard, network, and tell people that you and your book exist!
Sure, if you have one. And if it’s presentable. If it’s blurry, shaky or has poor audio quality it may be rejected.
If you have produced a high-quality trailer, you will need to have a YouTube account because you will be prompted to input your video’s YouTube link in order to get it to play.
We look forward to seeing your video. Please make sure it complies with our decency rules, which are: No pornography, no murder, no racism, no bullying, no child abuse, no demonology, no rape. We’re just not interested in those things.
Easy! When you upload your book information, you’ll provide a picture (or two…or three!), a book trailer, if available, and a live link to your order site.
MAKE SURE your link isn’t broken because visitors will click on it to be whisked away to your site. There they will place their order on YOUR site, or on your Order Page at Amazon or wherever you’re selling your book. Easy-peasy!
No. But then neither can Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Walden, or Books-a-Million.
The only one that can guarantee your book will sell is YOU, and you can do that by writing an outstanding book, providing a mind-blowing package, and doing a bang-up marketing job. This includes talking about your book on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter (for starters), and by channeling your followers to this site to check out your goods.
In other words, you’ll have a better chance of getting a sale when you let people know that you and your book exist, and you can begin by registering your book with this site.
If you have encountered a picture, book cover or book concept that violates Indie Platinum’s policies (namely, books, art of concepts involving demonology, pornography, child abuse, bullying, extreme religion, hatred, gratuitous violence, or extreme racism), WE WANT YOU TO ALERT US.
Drop us an email at: IndiePlatinum@gmail.com.
NOTICE: Any Indie Platinum member who willfully and maliciously accuses another member of violating Community Policies and the accusation turns out to be FALSE may, at the discretion of the Editor, be permanently removed from this community.
Indie Platinum
Indie Platinum is a premier website that shines the spotlight on hardworking indie writers and their amazing books.
As part of the #ownvoices and #WeNeedDiverseBooks initiative, we especially favor books with diverse characters. By diverse we mean books featuring African American, American Indian, Hispanic, Mexican and other “non-white” individuals as the main characters and not just inserts or supporting casts. Bring the diverse books on!
Like most good ideas, Indie Platinum didn’t materialize overnight.
I began reviewing children’s books for a writer friend nearly ten years ago. A couple of years later, I decided to start my own review site, only I made picture books my focus. It’s called PICTURE BOOK DEPOT if you’d like to whisk over and take a peek.
As I continued to review for trade publishers across the US, my name “got out there,” if you know what I mean. Before I knew it, independent writers began asking me to review their self-published books. At first I said yes, but this became a problem. Many (not all!) were not ready for publication–or even for review. So I began to think of ways I could help them BEFORE their books went to press.
In the end, I settled on helping ALL indie writers who approach me by offering this service to judge their books by the same standards that I would judge a trade-published book.
And voila! Indie Platinum was born.
There’s a chance that we might not be different at all, but…we still think we are!
Indie Platinum is not just a site for indie writers to list their books, it’s a “business plan” for books of excellent quality. “Excellent Quality” means that in addition to aggressive editing, these books have superior photography, professional typesetting, and high-end packaging.
In other words, Indie Platinum doesn’t accept just anything. We represent only the best.
Because the road to success is long and challenging, and not for slackers. The road to success is for people who are willing to put in the time, sweat, prayer and effort required to Tweet, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and otherwise network your book so that the whole world knows you’re here.
We want to represent these types of writers because your effort shows us that you’re serious about your work. It also shows us that you’ve got talent, because if you didn’t, no one would buy what you’ve created.
Just remember, Indie Platinum is a filtering system. There are plenty of “indie” books out there, but their range in quality may easily be as wide as the distance from the earth to the sun. We help avid readers take the anxiety out of choosing indie books and wondering about getting their money’s worth.
If they start with Indie Platinum, they’re getting a quality book.
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