freelance editor

The Long Road to Freelance Editor: Part One

As much as I’ve always wanted to be a writer, I was also fascinated with the business of editing. As a little girl, I would write for hours and fill notebooks with stories of my own worlds. I was convinced I would grow up to be an author. Until one magical day, I stumbled across… Read more »

Title Image: Three Criteria for Effective Author Posts on LinkedIn

Three Criteria for Effective Author Posts on LinkedIn

Welcome to the Author Marketing Toolkit, where you can learn from 20+ years of time-tested marketing and insights expertise, translated for authors. I’m Carol Van Den Hende, an MBA and strategist who’s known for bringing chocolate when I speak at conferences (surely, we’ll get back to in-person events one day!). I’m thrilled to be joining… Read more »

Title Image: Amazon Exclusivity

Amazon Exclusivity: An Honest Appraisal for First-Time Authors

If you’ve spent any time with self-published authors, you’ll know that one of the community’s real hot-button issues is Amazon exclusivity: the decision to either sell your book only on Amazon, or to “go wide” with other retailers like Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Google Play, etc. This debate has been flourishing since Amazon introduced… Read more »

Title Image: Be a conference guru

Be A Conference Guru

Conference season is in full swing, and whether you are attending in person or virtually, conferences can be taxing on mind and body. But they don’t have to be. Here are things I’ve learned from attending conferences large and small that can help you become a conference guru too. Before You Go: Make A Wish-List… Read more »

Title Image: Using Instagram to Grow Your Author Business

Using Instagram to Grow Your Author Business

If I told you Instagram can become a relentless, reader magnet machine for your author business, would you be interested? Because author, that’s exactly what it can be if that’s what you choose.  In 2021, a few things are certain. You don’t need to be on everyone’s mamas internet to reach your readers, build community,… Read more »

Title Image: Plan an Online Book Launch

Plan an Online Book Launch

So, you wrote a book, and now it’s getting published. Finally this dream, built with your blood and sweat and tears, is coming true! That makes it a time to celebrate! But if you’re anything like me, this is probably also a time of major stress—now you have to make sure the world knows about… Read more »

Title Image: Build a Virtual Community

Build a Virtual Community

I’m the Operations Maven at DIY MFA. That role encompasses a lot of things, but the common thread—the thread I want to pick at in this essay—is my responsibility to build our community. One of the beautiful things about DIY MFA is how far-flung we are. As a community, we cover the globe. We are… Read more »

Title Image: Judge a Book by Its Cover: How to SPARC Great Cover Design

Judge a Book by Its Cover: How to SPARC Great Cover Design

Welcome to the Author Marketing Toolkit, where you can learn from 20+ years of time-tested marketing and insights expertise, translated for authors. I’m Carol Van Den Hende, an MBA and strategist who’s known for bringing chocolate when I speak at conferences (surely, we’ll get back to in-person events one day!). I’m thrilled to be joining… Read more »

Title Image: How I Built My Side Biz as an Editor

How I Built My Side Biz as an Editor

2019. My literary agent was subbing my third manuscript to acquiring editors for publication. I had just completed manuscript number four with the help of a book coach to whom I paid upwards of a grand. As I pondered its publication path, I realized I needed a side biz to bring in some bread. A… Read more »