Features

Articles, how-to’s, opinion and tips and tricks in the self-publishing arena

3 Essential Apps for Self-Publishers

Author Apps
I’m a big believer that the vast majority of apps ‘talk the talk’ more than they are able to ‘walk the walk.’

This is understandable. Have you ever been let down by a major company? Anyone who ever purchased a Microsoft Zune can tell you how that feels. If even the major companies such as Microsoft fail to deliver on your expectations, you start to expect that even the smaller organizations will similarly disappoint.

Thankfully, there are many apps out there that buck the trend. Apps that over deliver on your expectations and truly make a positive difference to your […]

2020-02-08T15:59:13+02:00December 17th, 2018|Categories: Features, Member Blog|Tags: |

Why Do So Many Publishing Services Fail?

Why do so many publishing services fail?Traditional publishing professionals think they can jump on the indie bandwagon and make a mint from applying the same techniques they learned in that industry to self-published authors. This is the big error. The world of publishing and assisted publishing are two different beasts entirely.

And here’s why:

1.  In assisted publishing, the author is the client. 

This is confounding to many new services because in trad (traditional) publishing, the publisher holds the puppet strings. New services who don’t take the time to spell out deals and what the author will get on their service descriptions and websites feel like […]

2018-11-18T10:02:25+02:00November 18th, 2018|Categories: Features|

Five Tips to Write Your Book in Hard Times

Five Tips to Write Your Book in Hard Times

How Am I Supposed To Write With All This Going On?

This isn’t just October Surprise, this is something so depressing that I feel unable to write. How do we get to writing with all this sadness and violence going on? Here’s what I’m doing.

1. Turn off the TV. And the internet.

It’s the constant stream of gloomy, negative news into a household that will be getting in your head, even if you aren’t really listening to it. If you’re going to write, get away from the TV and listen to music instead. Here’s an app that stops […]

2018-10-27T16:36:58+02:00October 27th, 2018|Categories: Features|

Six Reasons Why Amazon is Not Banning Indie Authors

Five Reasons Amazon is Not Banning Indie AuthorsThere has been a lot of panic recently with horror stories about Amazon banning indie authors en masse for promoting their books. Here’s why that’s fake news.

1. Amazon is a business that wants to make money.

There are millions of books on Kindle, something like 7 million. Around 10% of Amazon’s total book stock. There’s no way Amazon wants to ban indie authors from Amazon, who must account for at least a quarter of those books, just by pure common sense.

2. Getting reviews and promotion for your book is not going to get you banned.

If you do […]

2020-02-20T13:31:33+02:00October 18th, 2018|Categories: Features|Tags: , , |

How To Switch From CreateSpace to KDP Paperback

CreateSpace will be closed down in about two weeks, so now is the time to switch to KDP Paperback. Here’s a rundown of each scenario to publish your paperback.


1. If you already have a CreateSpace Paperback and a Kindle eBook

All you have to do is go to this page and move your books over:

https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/createspace-transfer


2. If you have only a CreateSpace Paperback

You may feel wary of going over to KDP, but it’s exactly the same, and may help you sell more books. Here’s what to do:

[…]
2020-02-21T05:43:20+02:00October 14th, 2018|Categories: Features|Tags: |

Five Reasons You Shouldn’t Rush Publishing Your Book

Many authors think they should make a plan to publish and promote their book ahead of time. Here are five reasons to avoid a rushed book promotion campaign.

Run out of time for your book campaign?

ONE You may find errors in your book and have to rush the corrections

Classic dilemma. You’ve got your book file all ready to go, you have the reviews and promos locked in. Two days before they run, you realize you have whopping errors in your text. This is so common that we advise all authors never to book a review or promo until the book has been completely finalized and read […]

2020-02-21T03:53:03+02:00October 11th, 2018|Categories: Features|Tags: |

Mark Judge and The Kavanaugh Book – An Important Lesson About Publishing Memoirs

WASTED - GoodreadsWriting a memoir is a great way of recording your life journey, and many authors want to share their story. But this week in Washington, one author must be regretting he ever published his.

After hearing tearful women recounting their sexual abuse stories in the corridor, Senator Flake went back into the bipartisan meeting today and asked incredibly awkwardly for the floor vote on confirming Brett Kavanaugh to The Supreme Court to be held for a week while the FBI investigates claims and information given. And this may lead to one book in particular being hastily read across Washington.[…]

2018-09-28T12:39:28+02:00September 28th, 2018|Categories: Features|
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