A community for authors building a wider publishing business.
Wide for the Win is a community for authors building a publishing business across more than one channel — Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, library systems, print, audio, translations, and direct from their own storefronts.
Wide isn’t all or nothing. Some members publish everywhere. Others keep ebooks in Kindle Unlimited while going wide in print, audio and translation rights. The useful question is never “in or out” — it’s which combination earns most for a particular book, in a particular market, right now.
That’s a harder question than most publishing advice admits, because it changes by format, by territory and by title. This community exists for the working detail: what actually converts on a Kobo promotion, how IngramSpark handles a large-print edition, whether a direct storefront repays the setup, what translation rights are worth in a given language.
Members post what they tried, on which retailer, and what happened. Conversations are organized by topic so a question about print distribution doesn’t get buried under one about audiobooks, and a useful thread from last year is still where you left it.
The community is private and members-only. That’s deliberate — people share real numbers here, and they do it because the room is not public.
Wide for the Win was founded by Erin Wright and Suzie O’Connell, who built this community and set the tone it still runs on. In January 2026 they passed the reins to Chelle Honiker and the team behind Indie Author Magazine and Indie Author Training, so they could turn their attention back to their own writing. What they built is the foundation everything here still rests on.
Alongside the community, we run self-paced courses on the specific parts of publishing widely that people get stuck on, and we work with industry partners — distributors, print providers, review services and promotional platforms — who each hold a space inside the community where members can ask them questions directly.
Wide for the Win is run by a working board of authors and industry people, alongside the team behind Indie Author Magazine and Indie Author Training.
Authors and industry professionals who steer the community.
Paul Austin ArdoinVice PresidentPaul Austin Ardoin is the USA TODAY bestselling author of The Fenway Stevenson Mysteries and The Woodhead & Becker Mysteries, and is a contributing writer to Indie Author Magazine.
Mark Leslie LefebvreCommunications & Outreach DirectorWriter, book industry representative and craft beer lover.
Bradley CharbonneauEducation & Technology DirectorMBA-wielding, non-fiction author who takes wide to the limits with audiobook narration, podcasts, YouTube channels, and even improv and stand-up comedy.
Kimberly DiedeSecretaryWomen’s Fiction writer and encourager.
The people who keep the courses, the magazine and the partnerships running.
Chelle HonikerPublisherAn advocate for the empowerment of authorpreneurs. Co-founder and publisher of Indie Author Magazine, IndieAuthorTools and Direct2Readers, with two decades in executive operations and a career as a speaker and TEDx organizer.
Nicole SchroederEditor in Chief, IAMNicole leads editorial for Indie Author Magazine, shaping the reporting that keeps indie authors current on a market that moves monthly.
Karen GuylerOperations, IATKaren runs operations for Indie Author Training, so the courses, webinars and product tours happen on schedule.
Grace SnokeProductionGrace handles production across the brands, getting issues, courses and campaigns built, scheduled and out the door.
Elaine BatemanPartner RelationshipsElaine works with the distributors, print providers and services that support indie authors, making sure those partnerships are worth something to members.
Erin WrightCo-founderHey, y’all! I write sexy cowboys and firefighters, set in a small town in Idaho. But you probably know me because I’m an advocate of having a wide mindset.
Suzie O’ConnellCo-founderCo-founder of the Wide for the Win Facebook group and resident Photoshop addict.
Erin and Suzie founded Wide for the Win and built the community into what it is. They handed over the running of it in January 2026 to focus on their own writing, and the foundation they laid is still what everything here rests on.
