If you’re indie publishing, you probably can’t afford a photo shoot. Fortunately (or unfortunately), these days major publishing houses can’t either, which means everybody is using stock photography. Stock photos are royalty-free images you pay to download, that you can use for book cover designs or other projects. There are...
Quick Answer Book editing costs $0.005–$0.10 per word depending on the type; here’s how to find, vet, and hire the right editor without getting scammed. (Updated May 2026.) Updated May 2026. An author asked me today for advice about finding a book editor or proofreader. This is a big, serious, important question. Getting your book...
So I’ve just bought an information product to (hopefully) help me improve my ebook formatting skills. I’m a pretty liberal online buyer. I’ll buy something pretty quickly if it looks decent, has good reviews, and costs under $100. If it’ll save me 5 hours of work, it’s worth it. But on this particular website...
Quick Answer Standard ebook cover size is 2560×1600px (1.6:1 ratio) for KDP; print covers depend on your trim size and spine width. (Updated May 2026.) As a book cover designer, many times my clients question me on my choices for the size and height-width ratio of my book covers. And for good reason: there is
“Follow your bliss.” That’s the mantra that led me through the first two thirds of my life. It seems unimpeachable. Life is to short too waste time doing something you don’t enjoy, so you need to tune into your passion. Find out what makes you happy, what excites you, and don’t do anything else. Forge
Zopim. There, I said it. Rather than making you wait till the very end of the post to reveal the powerful secret promised in the headline, I’ve given it to you in the beginning. What is it, you ask? Zopim is a chat-software you can install on your blog or website, and then link up
I’m pretty good at setting big goals, but tonight I decided I better make a nice “Vision Board.” Basically, it’s a collage of the things you want out of life. The idea is you look at it everyday and “align” yourself with your goals, until they start coming true. Wanting to become a successful author
Recently I’ve been subscribing to a lot of email mailing lists. I look at the professional bloggers who seem to have their shit together, and I subscribe. I want to know what they’re doing, how they talk to their readers, and how they represent their brand. I pay attention, because I want to do it
You may have noticed I’ve narrowed my blog down to three main topics: tips for artists, authors and entrepreneurs. That may seem ridiculously wide-ranging, and indeed it’s clumsy to always have to say all three together. I sometimes shorten it to “authors, artists and entreps” but I wish I could say...
Adding a custom author box, using a photo or your gravatar, at the bottom of your wordpress posts should be a snap. Links to your social profiles, a short bio, a picture, a reminder to subscribe: these are very basic and powerful features that you should be using on the bottom of every post to
Recently some authors I’m working with needed a fantasy map to put in the beginning of their book, Legend of the Chosen. Sometimes it’s helpful to put a map in the beginning of your book, so that readers can have an idea of where everything is. But how do you make one? It’s not
Are you trying to write a book? If not, you’re the only one. The temptations of writing and publishing a book are many: the feeling of empowerment that comes with finishing a large project; the respectability and deference that comes with introducing yourself as a “published author”; and of course the opportunity to make...
