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3 Ways to Totally Fail Your Quest I learned from Night Museum: Secret of the Tomb

Confession: I let mediocre movies run in the background on my computer when I’m working, so I can “watch them” without them really sucking up too much time. Normally, the Night of the Museum movies are a little fun and cute. Not serious, not hilarious, but not terrible either. Except this one. The quest: the The 3 secrets...

June 16, 2015 Derek Murphy fail your quest, night at museum, secret of tomb 22
What’s the worst that could happen?

What’s the worst that could happen?

It’s Sunday. I’m feeling sad, nostalgic, as I tend to do on Sundays (through strangely, haven’t in a long time…) I’m not stressed, which is a major change – I’ve been behind on work for going on two years, but I stopped accepting clients until I can catch up and things are starting to become manageable...

June 14, 2015 Derek Murphy writing failure, writing tips 18
Content or Keywords? How to write a book subtitle or tagline that grabs readers by the throat

Content or Keywords? How to write a book subtitle or tagline that grabs readers by the throat

The title of this post is a little too violent, but it exemplifies the purpose of this post: your subtitles and taglines need to engage readers. Firstly: a subtitle is usually what goes on a non-fiction book, and non-fiction book readers are mostly looking for information and content, so you need to focus on keywords (sort of, The...

May 20, 2015 Derek Murphy branding, getting reviews 318
The 4 Ways to Instantly Double Your Income

The 4 Ways to Instantly Double Your Income

It’s hard to double your income if you have a “normal” job. You need to control your own salary first. But luckily, you don’t have to quit your job and move to Thailand to do it. Instead, build a ‘side gig’ business you can run in your time off or on weekends. Keep at it The 3 secrets to book marketing...

May 13, 2015 Derek Murphy freelance jobs, online jobs, passive income 126

6 disastrous ebook formatting mistakes you probably don’t know you’re making

A couple years ago I learned how to format my own ebooks; since then I’ve done hundreds. Now I’m fairly decent at taking a Word or InDesign file, converting it to epub and editing it with Sigil, a free editing program. Recently I decided to break apart one of my first non-fiction books, a 150,000 The 3 secrets to book marketing...

May 9, 2015 Derek Murphy 180

AuthorHouse’s Tips on Cover Design Demonstrates their Terrible Covers

I’m finishing up a Udemy course on book cover design and uploading some videos to YouTube. My videos aren’t very professional or well done, and I don’t have a lot of followers, but at least my cover designs don’t suck. This video from AuthorHouse, on the other hand, uses dozens of very ugly, unprofessional book The 3...

May 9, 2015 Derek Murphy cover design 37
This is why your self-published book looks unprofessional (and how to fix it)

This is why your self-published book looks unprofessional (and how to fix it)

  Indie authors have gotten much better at understanding the importance of a professionally designed book, and many of them are hiring quality designers to help make their book look just as good as any other in the bookstore. To differentiate their books from the self-published horde, however, traditional publishers have increasingly been using...

May 8, 2015 Derek Murphy Print on demand books 417
3 Foolproof strategies for designing fiction book covers that work for any genre

3 Foolproof strategies for designing fiction book covers that work for any genre

I talk a lot about book cover design, but when you start out with that blank canvas and your eager imagination, you’re bound to get lost in the possibilities of what to put on your book cover. So let me simplify things for you, a lot. First you can write down all the stuff you The 3 secrets to book marketing, and a haunted castle tour...

May 3, 2015 Derek Murphy 528
How to use free giveaways to grow your list and sell a ton of books (it’s not what you think!)

How to use free giveaways to grow your list and sell a ton of books (it’s not what you think!)

You may have heard of the idea of giving away free books. Yes, it works wonders if done correctly: you can giveaway a book for a short time and get lots of downloads – it’s a great way to gain new readers. You can offer one book (usually in a series) “permafree” to entice readers The 3 secrets to book marketing, and a...

April 21, 2015 Derek Murphy free giveaway, promotion 165
Representing Indie Authors at the 2015 London Book Fair

Representing Indie Authors at the 2015 London Book Fair

This isn’t my first book conference, but I’m definitely an outsider here. The London Book Fair is the first book fair I’ve been to that’s firmly for publishing professionals. As a concession to the self-publishing authors who have won themselves a piece of the publishing pie, the London Book Fair has provided a whole...

April 14, 2015 Derek Murphy authors, self-publishing 103
7 foolproof design tips to crush your book cover design

7 foolproof design tips to crush your book cover design

I was chatting with friends at the London Book Fair when one of them reminded me of a presentation on book cover design; which I felt duty bound to attend. Frankly, I wasn’t expecting much, since I consider the cover design strategies I recommend for indie authors to be avant garde and not mainstream. But Damien Horner The 3 secrets to...

April 14, 2015 Derek Murphy cover design, self-publishing 335

A serialized fiction growth-hacking technique for fiction writers

Most book marketing tips and strategies are for non-fiction authors. When publishing experts are asked, “well what about fiction writers,” the answer is usually, “um, I don’t have experience with that, but it should work too.” Here’s how to sell books: build a platform and an email list. BUT HOW?! Usually by...

April 5, 2015 Derek Murphy email optin list, promotion 79
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Book Writing & Publishing Tips from a Creativity Alchemist
Writing & Publishing Tips from a Creativity Alchemist
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Free fiction writing template to help you outline your novel (Word, Scrivener, G-Docs, Plottr)
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Free novel outlining template for Google docs
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The 8 brilliant fonts you NEED to use in your book layout (with type combos & samples)
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300+ Fool-Proof Fonts to use for your Book Cover Design (an epic list of best fonts per genre)
300+ Fool-Proof Fonts to use for your Book Cover Design (an epic list of best fonts per genre)
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How to make a full print book cover in Microsoft Word for KDP, Lulu or IngramSpark
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The horrible hidden truth behind the Secret Life of Walter Mitty that’s keeping you from your dreams.
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How much does the average author earn publishing their book?
How much does the average author earn publishing their book?
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