Indie publishers are slowly coming to realize the importance of an amazing book cover. Since many self-publishing authors are starting out on a very small budget however, homemade, DIY book covers are still a popular choice. But be forewarned: although book cover designs come in a wide variety, publishers consistently use reliable, time-tested...
I started this blog in 2011 and did nothing for a year except read all the books on creativity. It was research for a manifesto, but the more I read, the more fascinated I became with the subject. After another 5 years of freelancing, building digital products and working as a creative professional (my income The 3 secrets to book marketing...
I started this post years ago, but the topic came up again recently at a business conference in Saigon. The speaker, John Logan of Consulting Unleashed, said something like this: Why would you want to grind or hustle? Don’t force it if it’s not working. There was a lot of confusion in the room, The 3 secrets to book...
If you have a good idea for a business that provides value (by making something people want, need, like or enjoy), it’s easy to get sidetracked by details that don’t matter, and waste months playing around with websites and logos (by which time, you’ve probably had a totally new and better idea!) You need to The 3 secrets...
Six years ago I wrote a personal post about the challenges of being a full-time digital nomad, “Starting over with nothing at 32.” Over the years it’s gotten more traction than I expected so I thought it was time for a reprieve. I recently turned 38 (during the winter solstice) and I still have just The 3 secrets to book...
Using the right fonts on your book cover helps tell the reader what genre your book fits into and elicits an emotional response. You want it to look great, but also be appropriate, fit in well with the cover design, and (probably) be just a little more interesting than a standard font. So I’ve put The 3 secrets to book marketing, and a...
We’ve been in Burg Rappottenstein for a few days and we love it. It’s an enormous 12th century fortress; it’s comfortable and we’re all getting a lot of writing done. We’ll make a video soon and will share it with the #nanowrimo community, but for now here are some pictures and an introduction to my The 3...
First, let me catch you up to speed. I’ve been doing online business for about 10 years. I get pretty good, very specific traffic (people who want to publish a book) and get about 100 optins a day with no ads or promotion. The problem is, I’ve had trouble turning that traffic into real revenue. The 3 secrets to book marketing...
I just spoke to Kevin T Johns about writing fiction that sells and asked him for some tips on actually finishing a book – plenty of authors never finish and need more help – he delivered with this epic post! Writing a novel, especially a first novel, is a massive and complex project. The sheer amount The 3 secrets to book...
There is a demand for publishing short stories, but the money is in ebooks. Specifically, Amazon’s “short reads” section, which is broken down by reading time for books less than 100 pages. This week I got to peak at a report from k-lytics.com, who analysed more than 14,000 books to assess the commercial attractiveness of...
This is a free mini-series I put out at the beginning of 2017. Now that my YouTube Channel has almost 500,000 3 million views, I’m going to start organizing it and producing better quality videos. If you want more, you should follow me there (I have more recent videos on book marketing of course, but The 3 secrets to book marketing...
I’ve dealt with the frustrations of indie authors for the last decade. I’m not generally supportive in the emotional sense. I know publishing and making a living with your writing isn’t easy, so I try to teach them how to do it right and make it easier. But the overwhelm is so great that many The 3 secrets to book...
