Mary Shafer

Under the aegis of the Indie Navigator brand, I consult with book authors to help them make sound decisions about becoming self-publishers, and with existing indie publishers to help them better understand the business end of this industry so they can operate at a sustainable level of profitability. These two groups have the challenges I understand and can help them overcome. They're run by entrepreneurs like me, whose energy, enthusiasm, attitudes and goals I can identify with, and who deserve the guidance of someone genuinely interested in helping them succeed in this always fascinating, sometimes frustrating and often treacherous field.

Technological innovations have created undeniable synergies between marketing and publishing, and there are more to come. My marketing clients have often expressed interest in writing their own books or other publications, so I offer services such as ghostwriting, editing and custom publishing to help get their messages out in a format that complements their other channels. I also own Word Forge Books, my marketing firm's publishing division, so it's not a far leap to perform similar services for clients who want or need them.

My publishing colleagues often need help in the marketing arena, so I consult with them from the sympathetic standpoint of another publisher and author who understands the unique pressures they face in an industry currently undergoing incessant, significant upheaval.

Goals:
• Continue guiding indie authors and publishers to success in the most exciting era publishing has known in 500 years.
• Continue publishing my own books and e-books, including those under our SavvyBiz! imprint, which support and help explain the marketing and promotional techniques I espouse.
• Continue developing successful techniques to help small and micro-businesses once again become the economic drivers they have always been in America.

Background:
I worked in a small press as an art director, editor and proofreader in the early 1990s, and as a marketing and public relations professional for 35+ years. I've written three published books and contributed to two published anthologies. I've taught marketing, copywriting, commercial art and illustration in a formal college setting and I continue to teach informally because I enjoy it.