Sign-up for the Indie-Pendence Week Blog Hop Event here & help us celebrate indie authors!

This July, GraveTells is celebrating two of our most basic and most important rights: freedom of press and freedom of speech. Those freedoms have opened up a whole new world of opportunities for authors, in the form of small “indie” presses and self-publishing. During the week of July 2^nd to July 6^th, we’ll be exploring good practices and helpful resources for self-pubbed authors then spotlighting authors who have been successful in the sometimes-rocky world of self-publishing. We invite and encourage anyone who is a blogger, author, or reader with an interest in self- or indie publishing to participate by hosting your own discussions and authors during the event (signups below). Here are some topics we plan to explore – feel free to use our suggestions or find your own unique perspectives! [starlist]

• De-mystifying the publishing process
• Editors: when you need one and how to find one
• Cover artists: what to look for and how to communicate your needs
• Promotion: Getting your book off the “shelf” and onto e-readers

[/starlist] I want to give a quick shout-out to Buffy Kennedy and Kari Pinasco for helping get this event together. These ladies took time out of their busy review and blog schedules to do a lot of the prep work and did a GREAT job! <3

Looking for the event post (instead of the sign-up)?  GO HERE!

Ok DVK, I’m in! But what is the difference between “indie” and “self-pub”? Can I still participate?

Absolutely! When hammering out the details of this event, we discussed at length the definition of an Indie author. Whether you’re an author, publisher, blogger, or reader, we decided to invite you guys share your own definitions of what it means to be “indie”. Are indie authors strictly those who publish their work themselves? Authors who publish through small presses? Feel free to start your event week off by sharing your thoughts on the “great debate” as your first post!

How to participate in the hop

Blog Hop Requirements & Suggestions: [diamondlist]

• Required: Be willing to host a giveaway, and this giveaway MUST be indie-author related (as “indie” is defined by you).  Gift cards are acceptable, but we recommend sponsoring a book giveaway by an indie author. (Note you are responsible for choosing and distributing your own prizes)
• Required: No more than one (1) mandatory entry. You can have as many optional entry methods as you like.
• Required: Your first post must go live on July 2nd and your giveaway must run from July 2-6.
• Required: Your site must clearly display the event button on your sidebar or in an easy-to-find location, and the button must link to either this sign-up page or to one of your posts containing the Linky list.
• Required: Include the Linky list in your event posts, or a link back to this GraveTells signup post, so people may follow the hop.
• Suggested: When scheduling and planning your posts for the hop, consider sharing your thoughts on the debate over what makes an author “indie” before moving on to any other indie author related content.

[/diamondlist] If you agree with those requirements and are looking forward to helping us explore what it means to be “indie”, we invite you to sign up! There are no genre requirements for this hop, so whether you blog or write about Historical, SciFi, Fantasy, Mystery, Paranormal/Urban Fantasy, Highland, Romance, Young Adult, etc, you are welcome to join us!

Feel free to spread the word. Together we can help recognize deserving indie authors and educate aspiring new authors on how to set themselves up for success!

You can grab the buttons and code below, then sign up in the Linky by leaving a comment at the bottom of the page! Further instructions and link specifics will be sent to all participants the week before the event.

Full-sized post event banner	Sidebar-sized event button
<a href=”http://gravetells.com/2012/05/17/sign-up-for-the-indie-pendence-week-blog-hop-event-here-help-us-celebrate-indie-authors/” _mce_href=”http://gravetells.com/2012/05/17/sign-up-for-the-indie-pendence-week-blog-hop-event-here-help-us-celebrate-indie-authors/” target=”_blank”><img class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-10289″ style=”margin: 10px;” _mce_style=”margin: 10px;” title=”GraveTells Indie-pendence Week” src=”http://gravetells.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/GTIndiePendenceWeek.png” _mce_src=”http://gravetells.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/GTIndiePendenceWeek.png” alt=”” width=”400″ height=”533″ /></a>	<a href=”http://gravetells.com/2012/05/17/sign-up-for-the-indie-pendence-week-blog-hop-event-here-help-us-celebrate-indie-authors/” _mce_href=”http://gravetells.com/2012/05/17/sign-up-for-the-indie-pendence-week-blog-hop-event-here-help-us-celebrate-indie-authors/” target=”_blank”><img class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-10289″ style=”margin: 10px;” _mce_style=”margin: 10px;” title=”GraveTells Indie-pendence Week” src=”http://gravetells.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/GTIndiePendenceWeek-sm250.png” _mce_src=”http://gravetells.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/GTIndiePendenceWeek-sm250.png” alt=”” width=”250″ height=”333″ /></a>

Sign up here

To sign up, LEAVE A COMMENT! It will automatically enter you into the Linky list. When signing up, be sure to state whether your giveaway is US only or available internationally. Example: GraveTells (US/Int) or GraveTells (US) Feel free to leave any questions in the comment box below and I’ll be glad to help!

Signups for this event are now closed!