We’ve heard you guys loud and clear: book marketing sucks, it takes up too much time, etc, etc. Luckily, the self-publishing blogosphere has come through with some fun, unique and effective ways to promote your book. Let’s check them out in this week’s edition of As The Self-Pub World Turns!

• QR Codes by Joel Friedlander. You know those funny black and white codes you see on everything from billboards and magazines to t-shirts and movie screens? They’re called QR codes and they offer up an interesting book marketing opportunity.
• 5 Pinterest Tricks for Indie Authors by Wise, Ink. If you’re not already hopelessly addicted to Pinterest, well, consider yourself lucky. We actually found ourselves pondering its usefulness to indie authors a couple of weeks ago when, lo and behold, the good folks at Wise, Ink. read my mind and released these great tips.
• Indie Authors: Getting Those All-Important Reviews by Rachel Abbott. You guys know the deal: objective reviews are absolutely essential to building credibility for your book. Rachel covers the basics in 3 phases that make it easy for you to get started.
• KDP Select Free Promo Update by John Betcher. John had great success in several rounds on the KDP Select free promo rollercoaster. Learn from his experience and results in his informative update post.
• 7 Worst Mistakes Indie Authors Make by Joanna Penn. From not understanding yourself and your target market to forgoing marketing and editing, Joanna covers the worst mistakes you can make as an indie author (and we happen to agree with them all!)
• GoodReads: 8 Things Writers Should Know and Pinterest: 13 Things Writers Should Know by Rachelle Gardner. Two easy-to-read and informative overviews on two social networks that can be overwhelming for authors. Rachelle also points out in her posts that she’s not saying you have to use GoodReads or Pinterest, but that if you choose to use them, make sure you do it right!
• A Quick Guide for Self-Publishers Worried About eBook Formats by Bubblecow. While not directly promo-related, eBook formats are an often confusing topic that Bubblecow does a great job of breaking down in this informative guide.
• Godin on Libraries, Literary Agents and the Future of Book Publishing by DigitalBookWorld. Seth Godin is one of those people I feel like exists in some sort of higher plane than the rest of us — and when he speaks, people listen. Check out this interview for his thoughts on the future of book publishing (and why, just because you write, doesn’t mean you should get paid for it).

Now we open the floor to you! I know you guys have also found some awesome posts/resources in the past couple of weeks — won’t you please share with the class? Take a few moments to leave the link in the comments so we can all have some lovely Monday reading!

Our second birthday celebration is right around the corner (oh snap, time for the Terrible Twos), and in those two years of blogging we’ve managed to build up an archive of over 200 posts! Due to the sheer number, it’s easy for some of our favorites to get buried — let’s take today to do some old Duolit blog post reminiscing!  *cue flashback music*

Note: I totally resisted the urge to go back and edit these before presenting them to you! With two years of blogging under our belts, I know there are some changes Shannon and I would make to some of the posts below, but I’m presenting them to you as-is. For their historical value, you see!

2010

We started blogging way back in February of 2010, and the self-publishing community welcomed us with open arms. Here’s a few of the goodies from that year:

• Don’t Let Grammar Get You : Resources & Tips
• 7 Steps To Make Your Self-Published Book Look Professional
• Five Tips for Writing a Stellar Press Release
• The Many Paths to Book Cover Failure (and How to Avoid Them)
• 14 Steps to Launch Your Author Blog — Today!
• 21 Author Blog Post Ideas
• Six Steps to Finding Your Target Market
• 5 Key Elements of Author Branding
• 5 Things Every Author Should Know About Design
• Start Your Media Kit Today: Mini Workbook

2011

After a year immersed in the indie author community, we felt way more comfortable in offering up our self-publishing perspective. A few choice posts from last year:

• Motivational board: A visual kick in the pants
• 7 Questions to Ask When Pricing Your Book
• 4 Ways NOT to Find Your Writing Motivation
• No Excuses: 15-Minute Goal Setting for Authors
• 4 Ways to Get Involved in the Online Writing Community
• 6 Rules of Writing Research
• Get noticed: 5 Steps to Boosting Book Publicity
• 4 Marketing Research Exercises to Help you Sell More Books

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of our awesome RSS feed subscribers (215ish), Facebook likers (315), Newsletter receivers (88), Indie Ninjas (15 strong), and Twitter followers (8,000+) for making the past two years so very awesome. Check back on Monday to hear all about the new goodies we have in store for you for our third year

In the meantime, we have a question for you guys to answer in the comments: what types of posts are the most helpful to you? Do you want more writing posts? Marketing posts? Let us know!