The first in a new monthly series of tips on how to make the most of your membership of the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), the non-profit organisation bringing together professional self-published and indie authors all over the world.
Whether you're already an ALLi member or haven't yet signed up, we hope this new strand, running on the last Friday of every month, will remind you of the many benefits of belonging to our group.
There are so many benefits, and the list is growing all the time, that even long-standing members of ALLi may find some surprises here. We don't want anyone to miss a valuable trick!
ALLi's Private Facebook Group
This week we're focusing on the ALLi private Facebook group. Whether or not you use Facebook for other purposes, many members think it's worth joining Facebook (and indeed ALLi!) for this discussion forum alone. Hundreds of the most active of our members have been welcomed to the group, which provides a confidential forum in which to pose questions and discuss issues out of the public eye and before a receptive, informed and empathetic audience of author and partner members of ALLi.
Post a query on the forum, any time of day or night, and you'll receive a supportive and authoritative reply from at least one member, and often from many more. An apparently simple question can sometimes lead to a very long thread of comments and stimulating, far-reaching discussion that benefits all members of the group.
No question is too simple – all the members in the group were once beginners in the self-publishing game, and they are happy to help newcomers develop their skills and knowledge.
Equally, no issue is too complex for discussion there. Often what starts out as a simple question grows into a detailed explanatory article on our blog, written by one of our members. The conversation within the forum remains private, however. Your secret anxieties or misunderstandings are safe with us!
Global Spread Offers Round-the-Clock Support
Given the international spread of our membership, the forum is active round the clock, every day of the year. Given the often secluded life of the writer, it can be especially stimulating to find yourself engaged in discussion with authors on the other side of the world. Every continent is represented, and that's also part of the forum's charm: it broadens every member's horizons.
Some members join the forum under pen-names, preferring to keep their personal identity private, and that's fine. Even under your pseudonym, you'll make firm and supportive friends.
How to Join the Group
If you're already a member of ALLi and haven't yet joined the Facebook group, you'll find it here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ALLIA.Writer.Members/ Please leave a request to join the group and one of its administrators will add you in as soon as they've had a chance to check the membership database.
And if you'd like to join ALLi, in order to qualify for the Facebook group, you'll find joining instructions on the homepage of the Alliance website: www.allianceindependentauthors.org.
The Facebook group is just one of many benefits that I outlined in my opinion piece last month, entitled “How I've Got My Money's Worth From ALLi”. If you think that as commissioning editor of this blog, I may be a little biased, take heart – it's not just me who thinks that ALLi membership is a great investment. If you'd like to hear why other members agree, including prominent and bestselling indie and hybrid authors, read the comments left on this earlier post: “Why I'm A Member of ALLi”.
And if you're already a member but haven't left your comment yet, please do!
Like to tweet this post? Here's our suggested tweet to copy and paste:
“One of the many benefits of joining #ALLi: access to its private #Facebook group http://wp.me/p44e6Y-1HI @IndieAuthorAlli”
Calling
[…] organisation that can provide advice on how to market and self-publish your work. There’s a Facebook group where you can ask advice from other authors. You can get special deals on services, find the best […]
That’s odd, Theo, the link works on my computer – but maybe that’s because I’m already a member of it. Apologies for the confusion! And thank you for your email – will reply to that now and try to resolve the issue that way!
I think I’ve resolved it myself. I was trying to sign in with my author page details, but it turns out fb didn’t allow that. I have to sign in with my personal account.
Great! Thanks for solving the mystery, Theo!
Hmm… I tried to follow the link to the private facebook forum, but all I got was a screen requiring me to sign in. When it did, it redirected me to my own facebook page. When I clicked on the same link again (now being signed into fb), again, I just got redirected to my own page.
:-\?