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Halloween Is Over: Time to Think About Holiday Book Sales!
It’s time to start thinking about holiday book sales! From Christmas printing and shipping deadlines to simple marketing ideas, here’s what independent authors need to know to get their books into readers’ hands before the holidays.
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What to Know About KDP Unlimited Changes
Amazon is rebranding Kindle Unlimited as Kindle+ and expanding the subscription program to include eligible ACX audiobooks. Learn what this change means for independent authors, which audiobooks qualify, how royalties will work, and whether enrolling your titles in Kindle+ is the right choice for your publishing strategy.
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Finding Your Readers Is Harder Than Finding Followers
Finding your readers is one of the biggest challenges facing independent authors. Building an author platform, attracting social media followers, and increasing engagement don’t necessarily translate into book sales. So how do you reach people who actually want to read your books? Drawing on lessons from my recent Kickstarter campaign, I explore the difference between…
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Does Your Book Marketing Plan Need an Update?
“Sell more books” is a goal—but it isn’t a marketing plan. Here are seven simple steps to create a book marketing plan you can actually measure, evaluate, and improve.
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AI for Authors: Stock Photos & the Cost of Being Creative
AI-generated graphics are affordable, flexible, and increasingly common among independent authors. But will using them attract readers—or drive them away?
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What’s the Hardest Editing Advice to Follow?
The basic idea is easy enough. Instead of telling your reader what a character is feeling or what is happening, you let the reader experience it through action, dialogue, sensory details, and the character’s reactions.
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5 Fiction Writing Methods and Why None Is the ‘Right’ One
Explore five fiction writing methods, from Stephen King and Aristotle to Save the Cat and Fictionary—and why no single method is right for every writer.
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Mystery vs. Confusion: Not the Same Thing
One of the most common comments I make while editing a manuscript is, “This isn’t creating mystery. It’s creating confusion.” At first glance, the two can seem similar. In both cases, the reader doesn’t know everything that’s happening. But they produce very different reactions. Mystery makes readers turn the page. Confusion makes them put the…
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So… What Exactly Is Kickstarter? And Why Should Authors Try It
I’ll admit it. I’ve been telling myself for years that I should try Kickstarter. I’ve even worked with a couple of authors who ran successful campaigns on this crowd-funding website. Every time I watched one launch, I told myself, I should try that someday. I just didn’t have the courage. Until now. Over the past…
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How a Question About Book Edges Created an Ancient Library
One of the biggest misconceptions about using AI is that you ask a question and get an answer. Sometimes that happens. More often, at least for me, something much more interesting happens. Last night I sat down with a simple publishing question. Should my companion book, Claw, Elm & Charm, have sprayed edges? That was…
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Behind the Scenes: Building My First Kickstarter
The Kickstarter campaign for my Unleashed: Collector’s Edition Werewolf Trilogy is starting to take shape. Over the past month I’ve been designing collector’s editions, creating maps and character cards, commissioning artwork, planning reward tiers, and learning what goes into producing a campaign that readers will truly enjoy. It’s amazing how much work happens long before…
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Use AI to SELL More Books
Most authors think they have a writing problem. They don’t. They have a conversion problem. Your book can be well-written, well-edited, even beautifully designed—and still not sell. Why? Because readers never get past the decision point. That’s where AI can quietly change everything. Here’s what I mean. I took one of my own blurbs recently…
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Ego-Baiting: The New Nigerian Prince
I love to learn new words and phrases. Sometimes, though, it’s not just for the love of words, it’s to protect myself. The word for today is: EGO-BAITING. And just what does ego-baiting mean? It’s a particular type of scam that I’ve had dozens of authors call me about in the last few months. “Your…
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Permission to Start Small: Why January Is a Terrible Time for Big Writing Goals
Did you just spend the last week making New Years goals to write a book—or maybe two? Then take it to the top of the bestseller list, all while doing more exercise, keeping in touch with old friends, and eating homemade healthy meals every night. I did. And then I had a revelation. Maybe instead…
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Selling Without Amazon: Creating Your Online Bookstore
Wouldn’t you like to skip the middleman, reap all the profit from your book sales for yourself, and get the names and emails of your readers so you can keep in touch with them and build them into raving fans? Well you can. But it does take more work than just putting your book on…
