I wrote recently about why you should use WordPress for your author website. Now allow me to recommend some themes that might work for you. But first, let me make sure you’re in the right place: #1. You are not a celebrity If you are, then you can make a totally personalized expensive website with bells and whistles, because your …

For the last couple of years I’ve been helping authors market books. But I haven’t really offered book marketing services. That’s because the best marketing is done by you. There are some things you can outsource, and you could pay for advertising or promotions, but real, long-term, successful, author platform building strategies – that sell tons of books easily – …

This is an older post, but my position is unchanged: I’ve even seen this strategy adopted from people with large platforms: Get the ebook out quick, make sure it sells and leave time to fix stray typos, or unclear passages (edit/add depending on reader feedback and reviews. THEN make a very nice, perfect print book when you’re sure you’ll never …

  I almost, but then didn’t, start writing a novel this November. I’ve got way too much to do. But I did hire two writers to work on my book ideas for me, which is thrilling. And I want to do something fun to participate in the NaNoWrimo movement – which is a huge and supportive community of indie writers. …

Today on Facebook I saw a post about the Awesome Indies website, which just relaunched with a new design. I support indie authors and want them to succeed, and I like the idea of indie authors grouping together and doing cool things. The intention Awesome Indies is noble: lots of people are publishing crappy books. Awesome Indies will sort out …

I’ve done a handful of author websites but don’t do them often (since I prefer book covers). But your author website is a big piece of your sales funnel, so soon I’m going to be doing a case-study where I makeover 5 author’s WordPress websites – which range from ugly to mediocre – to see how much a new website …

Self-publishing is big business. And most self-published books don’t sell – for a variety of reasons, but mainly because: 1. There isn’t any market for them; they were written without considering the genre readership. 2. They are poorly designed. 3. The authors have no platform (blog, traffic, followers, email list, etc). And that’s why authors spend a lot of time …

In my books I urge against marketing your books on Twitter, or paying anybody else to do it for you. I’m annoyed by the hundreds of misguided tweets shouting and bouncing all over my Twitter feed like “Sexy, hot, 5star reviewer says ‘Must Read!!’ On sale now #99 #kindlebooks #amreading #bestseller” And recently I was also pretty critical of book …

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 luxurious career as a …

Cover design contests and “cover wars” are becoming a staple of indie book promotion and marketing. For awhile I’ve been quietly voicing concern but I thought it about time to take a stronger position. Here’s why: 1. The underlying assumption behind book cover contests and cover wars is that the best designed cover will win. This is rarely true. Instead, it’s a popularity …