Recently I wrote about how most authors will never make any money. I was surprised by the comments, which I expected to be more negative. It seemed to comfort people to learn that they weren’t failing at being an author – they were doing as well as 99.9% of other self-publishing authors, because almost everyone fails. But...
Most authors (and lots of small business owners) spam. They kind of know they shouldn’t, but they do it anyway because they’re desperate for sales, and they might convince themselves that they’re NOT spamming, so here’s a short guide. If someone asks for your opinion or advice, or they put out a general call for
Tomorrow there are a couple of events going on. My mom has a local craft fair in Tigard. There’s also an indie author meetup in Portland, but few people have signed up to attend (at least on Facebook). Then there’s the “Crafty Wonderland” – a massive arts and crafts show in Portland. If you’re involved in
If you’re interested in publishing or self-publishing a book, you’ve probably got a lot of questions. There are so many tools, resources and services offering tips and information. How does it all work? How do you put a book together, get it out into the world, and get people to buy it? You might have
UPDATE: This post was hypothetical, but I’m not actually going to do any of these things. The reason is, it’s important to keep your “also-boughts” clean; which means, you want people buying your books who are buying other books in your genre. There are lots of ways to make that happen. But getting a whole
You can do anything. There is no limit to your glorious creative potential. However, making things that other people like and that benefit other people are much more likely to bring esteem, financial security, comfort and happiness. Most creative people passionately buy into the idea that “True Art” is never...
I can always tell when I’m speaking to a life coach. They ask a lot of questions. They are very focused on what I’m actually saying, and what’s behind what I’m saying. They are looking for negative thought patterns, unrealistic expectations, too much energy or worry being focused on the wrong projects… so that they...
Recently I’ve been making a lot of video, doing some webinars, and preparing to launch my first online courses. One thing that’s always bothered me (maybe the reason it took me a year to even feel comfortable enough on camera to begin) is that I have ugly teeth. Most of my teeth needed root canals,
I was at a conference this weekend talking to a lot of smart people; many of whom wanted to write a book. They’d inevitably ask, “are you self-publishing?” and then scowl, because they “want a real, physical book, not just an ebook.” I explained that print on demand has been around for a decade and
UPDATE: After months of work, we’ve just launched the coolest online 3D book cover creator in the world. It’s amazing, and totally free. Go check it out! My graphic design skills give me a huge advantage for book marketing. It’s almost unfair. That’s why for years I’ve wanted some free online tools you can use
A couple weeks ago I saw an article about Peter Mendelsund’s new book on book cover design; and I scoffed. Now I just saw another article on Wired, shared by Tim Ferriss. Peter is obviously doing the rounds (and quite well) to promote his new book. Kudos to him. Here’s the big problem: Peter’s had
A minute ago I was searching for images for a book cover. That led to a cat gif, which led to a Buzzfeed article called “16 things only spontaneous people can relate to as told by cats.” I spent a few minutes watching short cat gifs. What’s not to like? They appeal to everybody (even
