Several years ago I published a book on “how to write, format, publish and promote your book without spending any money.” Download the book: PDF VERSION | KINDLE At a book conference recently, one of the most popular talks was on the same subject. I’ve put together tons of resources to help authors publish on the cheap, but it’s worth pointing …

Work in progress! Someone asked for a ‘quick and easy guide’ to Facebook advertising for authors, so I wrote this:   1. Use your hook/story for text. Test out 10 different hooks. Test out some with reviews. Make sure you mention the genre clearly, but incite emotion. 2. Don’t use your cover, use a pretty image that attracts readers of …

I have a suspicion that most of those “how to wake up early” posts are written by morning people – those annoying chipper people who smile too much. They mean well, but can’t understand the complexities of sleep deprivation facing sufferers of sleep disorders. Personally, I don’t believe in waking up early. I don’t think waking up early makes you …

I talk a LOT about best practices for author websites and your Amazon page, but people keep ignoring me. I know this because I review author platforms and websites almost daily, to help authors find places they can improve conversion. Conversion is IMPORTANT. Amazon and Google are keeping track of how long people stay on your page, and whether or …

  My Guerrilla Publishing course has lots of information and can seem overwhelming, so I just wrote a summary of all the important bits. This includes some of my launch strategies and a basic glossary of useful publishing terms. If it’s useful, please share!   The most important step to publishing successfully is:   1. Write a good book in …

I’m watching a new show called “Kevin Probably Saves the World” – and normally, even though I write fiction about fallen angels, I wouldn’t be that interested in the “plucky but failed protagonist gets help from angels to do small acts of kindness” trope. But it’s actually really good and I’m enjoying it. It makes me nostalgic for when I …

  There are generally two places when writers quit. The first is after their first, second or third book. They expected everything to be easy and found out that publishing is hard. They assumed their book would be successful on its own merits, despite having an unprofessional cover, blurb and website. They thought it would connect with readers even though …

Years ago I made a cover for a book called “Not For Hire.” The aim of the book was an announcement to the world that I could not be bought. It depended on making so much money with my own passion projects that I never needed to take on work I hated. Some people call this level of success “F*ck …

If you’re thinking about becoming a writer, you might be asking yourself whether you’re “Good Enough” to go professional. The short answer is YES, because quality doesn’t matter. Let me explain: Readers read for content, not quality.  Yes, it needs to be clean and edited enough not to be distracting. I shoot for less than 1 typo in 10,000 words …

We spent the last two weeks in Castle Rappottenstein, Austria. It’s hard for either words or pictures to do the experience justice, so in the post I’ll also share some of the less obvious benefits of hosting writing retreats in castles. But first, here’s a video tour with some last minute Nanowrimo tips.   I don’t always do Nanowrimo, and …