If you’ve been following me for awhile, you may know I’m unfortunately cavalier and careless in any regards – I like to think of myself as a pirate or a rebel, and that sometimes gets me in trouble. This year I’ve been working with a new team of writers to put out more content around my fiction brand, Urban Epics. …

A lot of authors – almost all I talked to – are very cautious about the money. Several writers have told me they don’t want to make money with their writing, even after publishing several novels. They don’t want to make a living with their writing, because then it would be a job; if they were getting paid to do it, they …

When I decided I wanted to be a writer, I got my hands on everything I could about plotting, prose, story and character development and the art of creative writing. Here’s what I learned: the majority of books from famous writers are self-reflecting memoirs with a handful of good life lessons. Inspirational, but not useful. Although – I will add – …

I just sent out an email with a broken link; click here or on the images below to watch the first video to my book writing video and the first week’s lesson of my writing summer camp. Thanks! Derek SELL MORE BOOKS (without spam). I wrote a free book with all my best book launch and marketing tips - if …

I planned to spend my summer indoors quietly catching up on my backlist of YA fantasy and scifi novels and maybe doing a bit of book editing. But I’ve also been wishing I had a way to help out more and share my expertise. I practically grew up at summer camps, spending 3 months a year for almost a decade …

Recently I got featured on a couple lists of “best self-publishing sites (The Write Life & Feedspot). I thought I’d pay it forward by making my own list of self-publishing companies. When most authors start thinking of self-publishing their book (usually after years of failed querying, or with dollar signs in their eyes from reading about millionaire authors like Hugh …

Hey this is Derek – one of the clients I work with has been having a great release – #1 in 7 categories, dozens of books sold a day, and over 12 physical book signings in Barnes & Noble. Generally, I dissuaded authors from focusing on Brick&Mortar sales because it can be a lot of work and you’ll see bigger …

People often ask me if it’s worth crowdfunding your book to get the resources you need to publish. I generally say “no” – because Kickstarter won’t give you an audience, nor help you figure out how to package and position your book to appeal to them. Plus, first time authors drastically over-estimate how much it costs to publish, and I …

Today in my free book marketing group someone asked: I was wondering if there was any easy ways to somewhat promote a book for free other than trying to convince your friends on Facebook to tell their friends and anyone they know about your book. Since in my case that’s never seemed to work for me anyways. Unfortunately asking your friends …

Recently in my Guerrilla Publishing Facebook group a new member posted this: I have just finished the rough draft of my first book. Now what? I’m in the process of putting it in the computer and fixing spelling and sentence structure. I’ve been thinking about cover design but don’t know where to go or how to go about it. Also …