How IndiCafe Recommends works

IndieCafé Recommends is where you find recommended services for self-published author.

We list Recommended Services and Service Providers for services specifically focused on the self-published author such as freelance editors, book cover artists, formatting experts, etc. that authors like you love and recommend, then other SavvyAuthors members give real-world reviews of these recommended services and providers based on our their own experiences.

Every service on the IndieCafé Recommends list is just that – recommended. Keep in mind the service will also be reviewed by others. We understand that good people have bad days and sometimes the fit between service provider and customer is not perfect. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses and finding a good fit is key to working well together. That’s OK, and we do not expect that all reviews will be positive, but we do expect all reviews to be real, honest, and respectful.

IndieCafé recommendations are only accepted from SavvyAuthors members who are not affiliated with the service.

What you can expect

The IndieCafé Recommends contains a listing of Recommended services and providers that at least one SavvyAuthor or IndieCafé Member felt was worth sharing. This means that they personally believe this service or provider was worth a public recommendation. That’s kind of cool, right?

But one recommendation does not really tell the full tale, so we’ve asked other SavvyAuthors members who have also had experiences with this service or provider to add a review and rating. Anyone who has a Basic (aka free) membership can provide a review and rating. We’re keeping a VERY CLOSE eye on this to weed out spammy reviews. We’re also requiring that all ratings are accompanied by a review comment of at least 200 characters, that’s about 33 words–and we reserve the right to increase this number at any time!

All reviews that are spammy will be removed.

And yes, like beauty, spam may be in the eye of the beholder, so we’ll always contact the reviewer first to ensure that the experience was valid.

We’re also reaching out to the providers who have been Recommended and reviewed to make sure they can respond to all reviews, and we’ll help them do so. We want great editors, cover artists, marketing whiz kids, and publicity gurus to get the credit and clients they need to survive so we all can!

The point is that it’s a pretty scary place out there for indie authors and we’d like to make a small safe space where you can take a deep breath and know you are among friends.

Code of Conduct

In order to have a community where everyone can feel safe, at ease, and comfortable, the following Code of Conduct applies:

The Golden Rule

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”… In other words, please be courteous, respectful, and kind, there is no room for rude, disrespectful, and nasty comments. We are authors and industry professionals walking the same path with the same goal. We have zero tolerance for bullying.

STOP: Think about what you are writing and what you have typed before hitting the Enter Key.

Be respectful of your fellow members and authors! We are all in this together.

General:

Do post specific Recommendations and reviews about services you have actually used and would tell your friends about. IndieCafé Recommends is about recommending people and services you think are great!.

• Do NOT post any negative recommendations. We’re all about what works here at SavvyAuthors, and IndieCafé Recommends is another way we can promote good people doing good things.
• Do post your own reviews of any Recommendation including any not-so-good experiences. We are all individuals and having a bad day is expected, but any resources that end up with too many negative comments will be evaluated and potentially removed.
• Do NOT harass, insult, taunt, provoke, demean, or personally attack other forum members. Be friendly even if others are not.

Specific:

• Flaming or harassing or threatening another member is not allowed nor will it be tolerated. We understand that there may be a difference of opinion with service providers as each experience is personal, but do not argue or address the previous post. Just post your thoughts and feelings in a respectable manner.
• We understand that not all experiences with publishing professionals are a positive experience. Please do not trash talk or belittle the provider. Post your thoughts in a fair, yet respectable and constructive manner.
• Profanity is not permitted.
• Arguing your point or experience in a harassing or degrading manner, will not be tolerated. If you have an issue with a comment, please contact us.

* Posts that do not meet these criterions will be removed at Administrators discretion.

*Remember each person may have a different experience. So, you may not have clicked with the provider, but another client may love their work.

For example,

NOT ALLOWED:

This editor sucks and I would avoid their services. They were a waste of my money.

ALLOWED:

My experience with this editor wasn’t as positive as I had hoped. He/she didn’t return emails for two weeks and didn’t meet the deadline that we had decided on.

How all this works:

1. Any SavvyAuthors user can navigate to IndieCafé Recommends and create a new Recommendation. You will be asked for:
   1. Name of service and a brief tag-line summary
   2. URL
   3. Contact information (We will notify the service that they have an entry on IndieCafé Recommendations. This is just a notification and we are not going to ask for permission.)
   4. Description about what they do
   5. How you used them (what service was provided)
   6. When you used them
   7. What specifically you loved about them (We really are only looking for positive recommendations)
   8. General idea of the cost ($, $$, $$$)
   9. Genres (if appropriate)

1. Once you click submit, your submission will go into our moderation queue. We’ll review this and within one business day have your Recommendation published on the site or we’ll contact you with any clarifications or questions.
2. We’ll also contact the service and let them know a review is posted so they can comment and thank you for your kind words!
3. We’ll then add your listing to our weekly update of new Recommendations in the SavvyAuthors Weekly News. We’ll add a special thanks along with any promo you might like such as “buy” links or links to your website. And in the Weekly News we’ll encourage anyone else who has had a personal experience with the service provider to also comment.