A common piece of advice for indie authors that I hear repeated strenuously is this: “DON’T make your own book cover in Microsoft Word!” Why? Because it’s almost certain to be ugly. But the reason that authors even attempt it, is because Word is probably a program they already know how to use and have
Recently I’ve been building several author websites, or helping authors tweak their WordPress blogs. Consistently I learn that they have no set plan in place, aren’t sure how to organize things, what to have on the pages or what to write about (which is fine – that’s where I come in). But for those of
Recently I spent a few months in Mexico, culminating in a week-long stay at the all-inclusive resort, Sandos Cancun. Part of our package deal was a mandatory time-share presentation for Royal Elite, which filled me with dread. I went in convinced I wouldn’t be sucked in, but left having spent $6000 on lots of timeshare
I’ve seen versions of this debate raging around the internet for several years. The short version goes like this: 1) Lightning source produces better quality books 2) Lightning source offers more professionalism and the right kind of discounts therefore 3) Even though it’s more expensive and a pain in the ass, you should go with
Recently a lot of my creative friends have been raving about “The War of Art” – a little manifesto about art, creativity and creative production by Steven Pressfield. It’s an inspirational book that’s popularity is based on the fact that it tells would be authors and artists the New Age message that...
This week is our last week of a month and a half tour of Mexico. Although I’ve traveled extensively since I was young, and have made money online for several years, I’m only beginning to make enough money to really travel around, work from anywhere, and fully engage in nomadic living. During our time in
I just read a post from Chris G. about his success with blogging and online business, where he says it’s mostly a matter of relationships, not specific technologies, tricks, etc. Then I got an email from an author who’s on the lookout for new ways to market books. Perhaps the combination of the two may
After I started doing book cover designs, I knew I needed to learn to make ebooks. All of my author clients needed to have their books formatted for Kindle, iBooks and all the other ebook stores. The problem is that making ebooks is a huge pain in the ass. You have to know a lot
Most people want to save money on their vacations – but actually spend much more than they usually would. Me, I’m going on vacation to save money. Even though I’ve been living with family in Oregon for the past two months, my wife and I spend a lot of money every time we go out,
When I finished my first book, I set up a contest and giveaway to entice book reviews. Then I created an email list of about 1000 blogs I thought might be interested, and emailed them all about it. I asked them to pass on the good news to their readers. I later found out that
If you have a Wordpress blog or website, you may have noticed that it’s getting harder and harder to keep it clean. You may have experienced the “white screen of death” or the dreaded “Reported Attack Page!” that tells you not to visit your own site, because it contains malware and has been blacklisted. As someone...
In about an hour it will be 12:12, 12-12-12. With the end of the year looming, this seems like a good time to begin an annual evaluation process about the things you did right in 2012, and what you want to work on in 2013. Don’t put it off – there’s little time for reflection
