Member Blog | Self-Publishing Review

8 Easy Tips for Fiction Writing

1) It is Important to Show, Not Tell

First off it is important to show, not tell. Showing is based around description and that really helps a reader become engaged in a story and understand the situation the character is in. Telling is more of an expository summary of something, which as I’m sure you’ll agree isn’t quite as exciting!

Knowing your audience and creating characters that they not only engage with but also empathize with is very important. I try to create characters that kids can look up to as role models that deal with situations and issues that […]

SPR2020-06-25T08:06:07+02:00June 25th, 2020|Categories: Member Blog|Tags: Writing Tips|

Awesome Time-Saving Tools for Authors

As self-publishers, we have a lot to do every day to make sure our business is running smoothly. Every minute you save is useful–but remember, during tough times like these, it’s always a good idea to come to the desk refreshed and with a positive mental attitude.

So in this article, we’ll look at five tools you can use to save time in your self-publishing business.

RescueTime

If you want to save time, you need to know how much time you’re wasting. This is where RescueTime comes in. RescueTime keeps track of the websites you’re using and how often […]

Dave Chesson2020-04-30T05:30:10+02:00April 29th, 2020|Categories: Member Blog|Tags: Dave Chesson Articles, Writing Tips|

How To Get Honest Book Reviews in 2020

Here are four simple methods to get honest book reviews in 2020. Authors are always looking for new ways to get reviews for their book, but most want an honest opinion. Attracting readers to buy your book is difficult enough, but getting them to leave a review is even harder.

Use a reader mailing list service. There are only two main services you can rely upon that result in Amazon Verified Customer Reviews (proof the reader actually bought the book) and sales within Amazon’s Review Guidelines. Both services have huge mailing lists of readers who buy, read, and review books. […]

Cate Baum2020-02-12T09:45:16+02:00February 12th, 2020|Categories: Features, Member Blog|Tags: Amazon News and Tips, Book Promotion Articles, Book Reviews|

How to Optimize Your Book’s Sales Page on Amazon

Your Amazon product page is your book’s final sales page. It is the page that will ultimately dictate which browsers become readers. That means, you need to make it as inviting as possible–you want to optimize your page and draw in more sales and ‘one-click buys.’ After all, authors are always looking to level up their book marketing strategy.

Luckily, Amazon does a lot of the technical work for you. If you were to create a sales page on your website, you’d have to do all the positioning and testing to see what works. When you sell on Amazon, […]

Dave Chesson2020-02-10T11:06:21+02:00February 8th, 2020|Categories: Features, Member Blog|Tags: Amazon News and Tips, Book Promotion Articles, Dave Chesson Articles|

Why Authors Should Stop Blogging Now

Blogging If you’re a self-published author, or plan to become one soon, you’ve probably read plenty of great advice about building your online platform. And I’m betting that a common theme is that you should blog regularly.

And here’s why that’s poor advice:

If you set up a blog on your own website, and only ever post there, you risk only reaching people you’ve already reached! It doesn’t matter how engaging, fascinating, controversial, or informative your articles are. It’s irrelevant whether you blog about your writing process, share tips for other authors, take the reader behind the scenes, or offer bonus […]

SPR2020-02-06T06:17:11+02:00February 6th, 2020|Categories: Features, Member Blog|Tags: Author Blogging|

3 Things You Should Consider When Selecting Amazon Keywords

Dave Chesson Deciding to publish your book is a milestone in any author’s career, says Dave Chesson from Kindlepreneur. And for many self-publishers that is achieved through Amazon KDP. Amazon’s marketplace is the largest available outlet on Earth for all book sales — from eBook to print and traditionally published to self-published.

This is why it is all the more vital that you really consider how to market your book there. It’s a competitive battleground that, when leveraged properly, can yield great results. And this all starts with choosing the right keywords for your book.

But what exactly are Amazon keywords? […]

Dave Chesson2020-02-08T15:58:12+02:00June 14th, 2019|Categories: Member Blog|Tags: Amazon News and Tips, Dave Chesson Articles|

3 Reasons to Self-Publish an eBook for Free (And How To Do It)

Amazon Top 100 Free

Self-publishing can be a doorway to success the likes of which few authors rarely see. Some of the biggest names in the industry rose to prominence after independently publishing their works. But, reaching these lofty heights is not easy. Becoming an author through the self-published route is a challenging process, and presents a number of hurdles that may not be present for authors who gain their notoriety through the traditional publishing scene.

When attempting to succeed in the self-publishing world, you need to use all the tools you have at your disposal. One such tool that you have, that traditionally […]

Guest Post2019-03-06T09:01:40+02:00March 6th, 2019|Categories: Member Blog|

Why I Wrote My Memoir

The Wrong Side of the Room I’ve been telling stories about my Sicilian-American family and my career in musical theater all my life. In my delivery, I always attempted to embody the various characters I depicted—specific accents, vocal cadences, facial expression, and gesticulations. Well, I’m Sicilian for God’s sake; we use our hands to tell stories. Can we even talk without our hands? I doubt it. People seemed to enjoy these anecdotes, but I was never certain whether they liked the story for itself or because of my delivery. If they were just seeing words on a page, would it resonate? For this reason, I was

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