If you’ve read any of my articles on book cover design, you already know I don’t agree with the standard rules most indie authors keep reciting. They say stuff like: use bright, bold colors use big, clear fonts that can be read even as a thumbnail don’t use white covers because they disappear on Amazon
A while ago I shared one of these on Twitter and recommending printing it out and putting it near the desk; somebody asked “do you have a high-res version we can print?” I’m not sure who made the original, so I had it remade… You can share these smaller ones online or click the links
I’m working with Laurie Berry Clifford to prepare for her book launch, and we’ve been discussing author websites. I think our conversation is worth sharing. I’ve tried to research this myself but I can’t seem to find a straight answer. It’s about blogging. I’m going to start a blog called Buddha Frog Life. I...
This is a short post: I hear a lot of indie authors complaining about how everybody is against them. Reviewers won’t touch their book. They can’t get into bookstores. Everywhere they try to promote their book they hear things like “we don’t work with self-publishing authors.” That can seem like prejudice. It can...
I’ve used PayPal for about a decade, and since all my businesses are online, I figure I’ve paid about $20,000 in PayPal fees. Recently I opened a new account for my wife, linked to her bank account in Taiwan. It worked fine for a little while, then Taiwan decided it couldn’t let PayPal accounts be
Quick Answer The best free graphics editors for book covers are Canva (easiest), GIMP (most powerful), and DIY Book Covers templates (best for non-designers). Looking for a book cover maker? So was I! But I’ve built some recent solutions to book cover design, scroll down to see the latest stuff! So here’s an interesting problem:
This past month I’ve been thinking big and buying up online platforms related to publishing and book design. My little blog gets some traffic, and my book cover design business is doing fine – I just want to be a bigger player. A couple weeks ago I found a little blog network for indie authors
I was listening to a session of the Non-Fiction Writers Conference today and the question came up: “How do people find your website?” The answer involved using Google keywords to find out what people are searching for, and then rewrite your content to use more of those search terms. For example, if my book is
Quick Answer The grit test measures your ability to stick with long-term goals despite setbacks — take it here and see how you score. (Updated May 2026.) Psychologist Angela Duckworth is making news by claiming “Grit” is as important to success as background, education or IQ. The funny thing about Grit is that it’s a
According to Createspace’s submission requirements, To calculate the spine width of your book, White paper: multiply page count by 0.002252 Cream paper: multiply page count by 0.0025 So, for the 230 page cream book I’m working on, my calculator says the spine width should be 0.575″. That’s also what Createspace is...
In my books and with my clients, I routinely stress to keep ebooks very simple. Nothing fancy. No embedded fonts or images. Because it’s unlikely to look good on all different platforms and ebook readers. But that’s so boring. I ignore my own advice, because for me, style and design are as important as content.
I had no idea what Black Box was about when I started watching, but was soon delighted with it – a brain scientist with psychological issues recounts her last near death manic episode to her psychologist. While I’m writing about drugs and creativity, she makes the opposite point – sometimes we normalize our episodes with
