Creativindie Experiments in self-publishing, productivity and building a creative empire

I didn’t start speaking until I was ready for full sentences. I don’t like making mistakes and hate being laughed at. Like most people, when I got into art or writing, I wanted my work to be “finished” before sharing it. Even though I’ve learned to share work earlier to get feedback before committing to something, I still feel like most …

Picture it like this: you’re a poor orphan on a ship with a spoiled princess. Lightning strikes, the ship is going down. You spot another ship not far away. You have to convince the princess to trust you and jump together off the boat. YOU know this is the only way to save her, but she’s not convinced. That’s email …

From page 7, to page 3 in one hour… When I review other authors books on Amazon, I usually point out they need more keywords in their description, title, and even author bio. Why?  Because Amazon is a search engine. If you don’t have any WORDS in your description letting Amazon know what kind of book it is, it won’t …

I made a video review for Cassandra Arnold and it’s worth sharing, because she’s both and artist and a writer, and she’s struggling to get visibility on both or figure out how to sell her poetry books and short stories. I touched on some really interesting book marketing ideas for poets and artists, so I hope it helps some other …

Most business-owners understand the potential of writing a book, they just don’t know what to write about. They usually try to find their “one perfect thing” – which can be hard if you’re not exactly sure what you want to do with your life or business; and of course you want everything to be perfect which can be intimidating. Here’s the …

Getting more book reviews is critical for authors – without at least 10 reviews it’s hard to even give your books away for free. Unless you already have a platform, you should shoot for around 20 before you invest in book marketing, promotion or advertising. But how do you find reviewers? What should you say when you contact them? What …

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, because entrepreneurs are familiar with stories …

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 test your ideas faster by …

For several years I’ve used Instafreebie and BookFunnel to give out ARCs (advanced reader copies) to my email list. Recently however, there have been some KU controversies concerning free book giveaways for authors enrolled in the Kindle Unlimited program. I want to be careful not to break terms or get in trouble with Amazon, so I did some digging. I’d previously received a …

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 about nothing to show for …