A common question I see on Facebook or in writing groups from newbie authors is, “How much can I expect to earn publishing my book?” This is a pretty easy question to answer, but it might discourage you.   Update: in this video I talk about the #publishingpaidme hashtag on Twitter which has now received national media attention to highlight …

These could easily be three separate topics but I’m lumping them together because they form one branch of my marketing efforts… repurposing your content. Let’s say you wrote a great blog post and you want more traffic. Turn your blog post into a Powerpoint (I hate Powerpoint actually, I use Google Slides). Then make a video of you giving the …

A month ago I published my first fiction. I was stressed about it. I checked my ranking every 20 minutes. And I wrote two major tutorials chronicling the experience, including all the stuff I did to make my book a bestseller. Yesterday I published two more. And it was so .  much . easier … Firstly, I built a huge …

2018 Update: I often share book marketing tactics or “hacks” without fully explaining my entire creative ideology, which can lead people unfamiliar with my brand to confuse me with other authors who are doing unscrupulous things. So first, let me explain that I don’t believe in gifting thousands of copies to “hack” the USA Today or NYT Bestseller lists (those letters …

EDIT: This article is based on the assumption that you get paid (via KU pagereads) for the free downloads you get on free promotion days with KDP select. In the comments, someone mentioned that you don’t get paid for free days. I checked KDP’s contract and they say “You will not receive any Royalties on your Digital Book during a free …

I wrote a huge book launch post a couple weeks ago about the launch of my first ever fiction. I still feel exhausted, even though I haven’t done all that much in the last couple weeks. But now it’s time for part two: what happens after launch. Basically, I want my book to stay in the top 10,000 in the …

Today I chatted with Michelle Madow and Leia Stone about their recent book launches – since we all launched a book on 1/26th, it’s been fun to see how our different marketing choices, platform and audience has impact the success of our books.   Here’s a list of topics we cover: Pricing – free, 99cents, 2.99? Summary description (keywords, categories) …

I used Kickstarter on my first non-fiction book. I very barely succeeded raising less than $1000. Here is how it works: you basically promise a copy of the book and any extras. You give bigger/more fun prizes depending on donation amount (these aren’t really “donations” – people expect to get something in return). You can include personal stuff like “10 …

After years of helping authors design, publish and market their books, in 2016 I’m focused on publishing my own young adult fiction. Since I’m building a network of powerful young adult book blogs and review sites, I wanted to share my platform with other young adult authors who are having difficulty getting visibility or connecting with teen readers. I’ll also …

It’s a new year! In 2015 I decided to focus on my writing, and this month I’m gearing up to launch my first fiction. I’ve been posting a lot of advanced Amazon hacking and guerrilla book marketing stuff on my blog, but I realized that’s too much for people who are still struggling to finish their first book, get it …