This isn’t my first book conference, but I’m definitely an outsider here. The London Book Fair is the first book fair I’ve been to that’s firmly for publishing professionals. As a concession to the self-publishing authors who have won themselves a piece of the publishing pie, the London Book Fair has provided a whole...
I was chatting with friends at the London Book Fair when one of them reminded me of a presentation on book cover design; which I felt duty bound to attend. Frankly, I wasn’t expecting much, since I consider the cover design strategies I recommend for indie authors to be avant garde and not mainstream. But Damien Horner
Recently I posted an article/video called “The #1 Thing Indie Authors are Doing Wrong” – I didn’t expect much traffic but actually people have been sharing it quite a lot. So I watched my own video and I heard a lot of negativity. It’s frustrating, for me, and anybody who works in the publishing industry,
This month I published over 100 YouTube videos. I’m getting a little more confident, though I tend to ramble. In this one I discuss common self-publishing mistakes you should avoid that I see most indie authors screwing up. Here are some of the things I talk about. Ugly website Ugly book cover Spamming people Overprotective
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
Over the last couple of years my mission has been to improve the quality standard for self-published book covers, and after helping thousands of indie authors, I know I’m making a dent. But authors still face two huge challenges: author marketing, and having a decent author website. Although I talk a lot about book marketing,
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...
Recently I asked you guys if you had any publishing questions on this post: “Ask me anything about publishing – please!” I answered a lot of questions on that post, but I also decided to put them altogether into an ebook. And it’s free! I’ve sent it to my list already, but if you aren’t
Can someone explain Booktrope to me? I don’t get it. It looks like people can volunteer to be part of a creative time to produce the book, then earn a percentage of the sales revenue (and, apparently they only publish quality books that the community has supported, which means a better chance of revenue.) If
I got an email today from a wife helping her husband publish and worried about the book’s potential success. Putting your book out there is scary. Spending a lot of money and not earning it back is a very valid fear. There are ways around it, but it’s mostly a gamble. You can mitigate the
Most of the people I know who are working online are selling hot air. In other words, they fill people with hope, motivation and inspiration. They get them charged up and excited. They tell them “You can do anything you want, if you just BELIEVE in it!” They say, “Just follow your passion and the
This is a short post: I hear a lot of indie authors complaining about how everybody is against them. Reviewers won’t touch their book. They can’t get into bookstores. Everywhere they try to promote their book they hear things like “we don’t work with self-publishing authors.” That can seem like prejudice. It can...
