Triskele Trail - A Pathway to Independent Publishing

By Gillian Hamer

There’s a new kid in town. A new voice in indie-publishing advice. And she’s called The Triskele Trail. (Because she’s quite obviously a lady.)

Joking aside, The Triskele Trail has already been touted as the new 'writers’ bible’ – and that’s within its first week of publication.

And it’s exactly that. A ‘Go-To’ Guide at any stage of the writing or publishing experience. The warts-an-all story of our journey from inception to publication. Whether you have trouble with grammar or POV. If you’re haunted by dangling participles or ISBNs. Or if maybe you’re simply interested in what makes a ‘good cover’ – you’ll find the answer in The Triskele Trail.

Put together by the five core Triskele members: Gillian Hamer, JJ Marsh, Liza Perrat, JD Smith and Catriona Troth with extra input from associate authors, friends of Triskele, and a selection of professional voices,

it’s available as an eBook with plans to release a paperback version in 2014.

It’s not a How-to-Book. It’s a How-we-did-it-Book. And with seventeen beautiful and exceptional novels under their belts, Triskele Books certainly have something worth talking about – and an ethos where we firmly believe that shared knowledge is vital in such a rapidly changing environment.

But don’t take my word for it. Listen to a range of voices.

What other authors are saying about The Triskele Trail:

NOVELIST & GHOSTWRITER, ANDREW CROFTS.

Despite having published more than eighty books with traditional publishing houses I found the path through the jungle of independent and self-publishing peppered with booby traps for the unwary. I wish I’d had this book when I set out, it would have saved me a great deal of time, money and heartache.

This is the ultimate jungle guidebook written by people who have actually cut their own path through the undergrowth. They have weathered all the set-backs, fallen into all the traps and climbed back out again, emerging into the light, bruised but triumphant, with a thriving small business and a number of handsome books. The lessons they have to teach are priceless for anyone hoping to follow them.

Modern publishing is an industry filled with dreamers, fantasists and the plain deluded. This book is a clear, calm, factual guide from people who truly know what they are talking about.

Andrew Crofts is a ghostwriter and author who has published more than eighty books, a dozen of which were Sunday Times number one bestsellers. He has also guided a number of international clients successfully through the minefield of independent publishing.  His latest novella, “Secrets of the Italian Gardener”, draws on his experience ghosting for the powerful and wealthy.

BESTSELLING AUTHOR, AMANDA HODGKINSON.

This is a must-have book on indie publishing from a writers' collective. Having successfully published seventeen novels between them, they decided to write about their experiences and I am glad they did. In the changing world of publishing, this book is filled with all the information every writer should know. The Triskele Trail is a twenty-first century indie writers' bible. In other words, an essential purchase. Beautifully presented in clear, easy to read chapters, it's a book I will be coming back to again and again.

Amanda Hodgkinson is an award winning, New York Times bestselling novelist. Her debut novel 22 Britannia Road was published in 2011 to great critical acclaim. It was a Waterstones best debut novel, an Amazon.com Editor's Pick Best Books of the Year and was nominated for the Goodreads Reader's Choice best historical novel.  Her new novel Spilt Milk (Penguin Books) is available for pre-order and will be published on 6th February 2014.

INDIE AUTHOR AND SPEAKER, JOANNA PENN

Triskele stands out in the world of indie authors as an author collective that is focused and mindful of their writing, publishing and marketing processes. In this book, you'll learn their views on the fundamentals of being an indie author, as well as the benefits of a collective, who to trust on the journey, plus tips on time management and researching historical fiction. The Triskele Trail is a smorgasbord of useful tidbits and the book will definitely help authors make decisions in this rapidly changing publishing environment.

J.F.Penn is the bestselling author of Desecration and the ARKANE series of thrillers, as well as the #1 bestseller ‘How to Market a Book’ and ‘Career Change’ published under Joanna Penn. Joanna’s site for writers, TheCreativePenn.com has been voted one of the Top 10 sites for writers three years running. She is a professional speaker on creative entrepreneurship, digital publishing and internet marketing, and has been nominated as one of the Top 100 creative professionals by the Guardian 2013, alongside JK Rowling. www.TheCreativePenn.com Connect with Joanna on twitter @thecreativepenn

INDIE AUTHOR, DEBBIE YOUNG.

In the true spirit of the writers' collective whose name it bears, this book brings together many different voices (and not just the five authors currently in the Triskele group) to share the benefits of their experience with indie authors everywhere. It picks off in turn every aspect of the production and publication of an indie book for examination, offering a wealth of advice gained at first hand. It was good to see quite a few pages devoted to ways of improving the writer's craft - something too often overlooked in books of this kind, when it is of course the most important part of the whole process of producing a professional quality, self-published book in any genre.

All of this it does with good humour and wit, with the individual writers' characters, passions and different areas of expertise shining through their various chapters. As I was reading, I felt as if I was witnessing a writers' conference unfold on the page before me, a series of single-speaker presentations interspersed with some two-handers or panel discussions. Like any good writers' conference, it reassured me that I'm doing a lot right already, reminded me of some things I knew but had forgotten, and left me buzzing with lots of new ideas too.

"The Triskele Trail" includes copious references to authoritative websites, books and blogs, effectively delivering substantially more than the word count of the book itself. Usually I prefer to have reference books in print form, but this book is so stuffed with useful hotlinks that reading it as an e-book makes more sense, as it will be easier to jump straight to the links. I understand there are plans to bring out a print edition in due course (and with that beautiful cover, it would look good on any writer's reference bookshelf).
Excellent value for money, and well worth the investment of the time it takes to read it, too.

Debbie Young is the editor of ALLi's Self-Publishing Advice blog<http://www.selfpublishingadvice.org> Her author website YoungByName <http://www.youngbyname.me>, includes her personal blog and sample short stories, flash fiction, travelogues and memoirs. Her most recent book is Coming To Terms With Type 1 Diabetes: One Family's Story of Life After Diagnosis <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Coming-Terms-With-Type-Diabetes-ebook/dp/B00GKOIOC6/>, from which all profits go to the Type 1 Diabetes research charity, JDRF<http://www.jdrf.org.uk/donateyoung>.