If you’ve never published a book before, get ready to take a deep sigh. Several times. Be sure to have your Nespresso geared up. Have a financial cushion available, and prepare yourself for hiccups.

If you do all of this, when you run into these skin-flaming steps of the process, you’ll be mentally ready to face, and crush, them.

I say this in advance because getting to the finish line of any marathon is always the toughest, and publishing is no different.

Just because it sounds easy, doesn’t mean it is. However, I’ve laid out some great tools that will lessen the head-to-wall banging that can ensue.

I’ve tried these tools myself throughout the years. Use them! They will be of great service to you, and seriously push you ahead in your authorial career. Your toolbox will thank you!

In the last article, Your Self-Publishing Toolbox for Authorial Success: Editing Tools, we discussed the tools I highly recommend for the writing phase of an author’s publishing journey. 

In this article, I’ll dive deep into what I personally recommend for the publishing phase of your journey as an author.

Publishing Tools

Cover Design: Miblart

Miblart is a web and graphic design company that offers professional book cover design services for indie authors: illustrated, ebook, and print covers, and interior book design.

I have used miblart for years. They’re fast, with affordable investment, and top tier quality. They’re not just for book covers, but they’re also great for other services like: typography, author branding, and more.

I myself have used the book cover services, as well as typography services. I’ve also booked the formatting service for both the paperback and hardcover print versions of my books.

I can attest that their customer service is wonderful! Their designers will do what it takes to get you the cover you need, and overall you’ll leave satisfied.

Is this service for every book you will publish? Of course not. But if you need low overhead, a quick turnaround, and quality art? This is the company to go to at the outset.

If, and when, you use them, be sure to tell Tania I sent you. She’s a sweetheart, and I guarantee you’ll appreciate her kindness.

Cover Design: Professional Designers and Illustrators

Let’s be clear about cover design. You know that saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover?”

It’s a lie. A bonafide L I E.

We all judge books by their cover. And your readers will judge yours, too, if you don’t invest in high quality book design. Don’t even bother DIY’ing this part. What it will cost you in the long run isn’t worth it.

After miblart, I seriously recommend working with professional designers and illustrators.

Now, here’s the rub. These professionals are everywhere, their schedules are the cesspools of chaos, and their work, plus 1:1 service to you, can sometimes be a hit or miss.

To this date I’m sitting on illustrations that will never see the light of day. However, just because one designer fell short, doesn’t mean all of them will.

I have worked with fabulous illustrators and designers throughout the years that have blessed my career with their art.

Keys to finding a good artist? Check their street cred!!!

Beyond the beautiful fotos you see on Instagram and TikTok. Beyond what they say authors are saying. Ask around. Ask in author communities. Read the comments section on their posts. Look on Amazon for the supposed art they claim they have done. Check who has resposted them.

Do. Your. Research.

Some are pretty obvious they’re professional and a go to, while others you’ll have to take a chance on. 

I still recommend this route.

Be sure to message them in advance. They may require full payment upfront. They may be booked out for half the year, or even up to an entire year. They may only do a certain kind of illustration or design. They may be available, but take 6 months to finish the artwork and you need to publish in 4.

Again. Do your research.

I highly recommend working with professional artists from around the world who specialize in covers for your genre to design your cover so you have a higher chance of success!

Formatting: Vellum

Vellum is a book creation tool for Mac that allows you to professionally format books for publication. This software is free to download and use, but you’ll need to purchase a package to actually export your files to publish.

Ya’ll. If you have a Mac, buying Vellum is a must.

No. 

But. 

Seriously.

Vellum is a formatting tool that makes getting your book publish-worthy an entire dream! You can format hundreds, or even thousands, of pages in mere minutes to hours.

It’s as simple as uploading your book’s word doc into the software, choosing your header images and the book’s dimensions, adding in your front and back matter, then presto! Click export, and you now have several book files to upload on every platform you plan to publish on.

Sounds too good to be true? I promise you it’s not. This software is the real deal for formatting.

Currently it’s only available for Mac users, but if you can manage to get your hands on this tool anyway, I can’t shout its praises enough!

Publishing: IngramSpark

IngramSpark is an award-winning independent publishing platform, and an online self-publishing company that allows you to print, globally distribute, and manage your print and ebooks!

I’ll say this now, this platform comes with an upfront cost that will result in backend fruit.

What this means is, through IngramSpark you’ll need to purchase ISBN’s, bar codes, and pay a book-set-up fee when you’re ready to publish. 

However, your author copy purchases will be less. And might I add, when you’re ready to ship directly to your readers, while Amazon has you waiting several weeks for your books to arrive, with IngramSpark, your books will take days.

This platform is for those who are willing to spend a little more on the front end, and take a little longer to get their books live, but want long term security for book success and reader satisfaction.

Publishing: Kindle Direct Publishing

Kindle Direct Publishing is a platform to self-publish eBooks and paperbacks for free and reach millions of readers on Amazon.

KDP is often a go to for authors, especially if they’re publishing for the first time, and I completely understand why.

You pay for nothing upfront. Bar codes, ISBN’s, and even a cover generator, are all provided by Amazon’s self-publishing platform. All you need to do is upload your manuscript in the appropriate book file and you’re good to go.

If you’re an author wanting to take the approach of solely publishing on Amazon for now, go for it! Many authors have done this and carved out 6, and 7, figure businesses for themselves.

There are many perks to publishing through KDP and being exclusive to Amazon. I myself have used this service for years, even in the golden hour when it used to be Create Space (Where my OG’s at?). I love the ability to publish a book, with zero stress, in literally minutes.

I highly recommend the KDP platform for publishing your book. Not only you’ll find it simple and easy to use, but you’ll also find great success in using it.

Publishing: Draft2Digital

Draft2Digital is a digital publishing aggregator offering conversion and distribution services for authors. The platform is aimed at authors “going wide” and selling the books in as many places as possible.

Friend, if you’re an author with a vision of having your published book everywhere, Draft2Digital is for you. I used to publish solely on Amazon, and for a time this served me well. 

However – not all my readers like to buy their books on Amazon. What, with them not wanting to constantly feed the Bezos and all that…

Anywho. Some readers are still loyal to Barnes and Noble. Indie Bound. iBooks and the like.

If you know you want to build a “wide” audience, by having your books published on all platforms, in all markets, I encourage you to upload your books to Draft2Digital. It’s quick, easy, simple, and oh yeah, it doesn’t cost you a dime upfront.

I’ll admit. The publishing leg of the authorial process is a bit of a journey with moving parts. However, once you know what to expect, you can make sure you have the publishing tools you need to accomplish your dreams and be successful. 

These are not end all, be all publishing tools. But they’re a wonderful start, and have been tried and tested by me throughout the years. I love and highly recommend them all.

Tell us below: Are you ready to publish your novel? Which of these publishing tools do you plan to use?

Stephanie BwaBwa is a Fantasy Universe Builder, Author, and Entrepreneur. She’s the creator of Elledelle, the universe filled with angels, adventure, romance, and magic. She’s the author of the fantasy series: The Seraphim Resistance  and The Transcendents, as well as the writing guide, Fantasy Fundamentals. Stephanie co-hosts a podcast for indie authors called: Indie Author Lifestyle with her fantasy partner-in-madness, Angela J. Ford, and is a self-publishing columnist for DIY MFA. You can usually catch her going for a walk through a park, or simply binging anything creatively juicy with too many snacks. Get in contact with Stephanie directly at: stephaniebwabwa.com.

The post Your Self-Publishing Toolbox for Authorial Success: Publishing Tools appeared first on DIY MFA.

In the last article, Your Self-Publishing Toolbox for Authorial Success: Writing Tools, we discussed the tools I highly recommend for the writing phase of an author’s publishing journey. In this article, we’ll dig into the editing tools I recommend for your self-publishing toolbox for authorial success.

When we finish writing the magical words, The End, a deep sigh of joy escapes our lips. 

We did it. We. Wrote. The dang. Book. And it can seem as if we’ve reached the final finish line. Except there’s only one problem. Once the manuscript is done being drafted, the process of true writing has just begun. This is where your editing tools come in.

Editing Tools

Intuitive Editing by Tiffany Yates Martin

Intuitive Editing is a book written to explain exactly how to edit a book. It’s described as: 

Developmental editor Tiffany Yates Martin has spent her career in the publishing industry honing practical, actionable techniques to help authors evaluate how well their story is working, where it might not be, and how to fix it.

With a clear, accessible, user-friendly approach, she leads writers through every step of deepening and elevating their own work, as well as how to approach the edit and develop their “editor brain,” and how to solicit and process feedback. Intuitive Editing doesn’t offer one-size-fits-all advice or rigid writing “rules”; instead it helps authors discover what works for their story and their style—to find the best version of their vision.

Whether you’re writing fiction, narrative nonfiction, or memoir; whether this your first story or your fiftieth, Intuitive Editing will give you the tools you need to edit and revise your own writing with inspiration, motivation, and confidence.

I myself go through this invaluable resource over and again every time I’m editing a new book. It’s that rich. Whether you’re tackling developmental edits, plot holes, character flaws, and so on, this book breaks down exactly how to fix your book. I can’t recommend it enough. 

Google Docs

Here’s a second plug for Google Docs because the tool is versatile. You’ll remember that Google Docs is:

A free web-based application in which documents and spreadsheets can be created, edited, and stored online. Users of Google Docs can import, create, edit, and update documents and spreadsheets in various fonts and file formats, combining text with formulas, lists, tables, and images.

Even if you don’t choose to draft in Docs, it is a powerful editing tool for you. Not everyone is comfortable with editing software like: Grammarly and ProWritingAid. 

Sometimes, all you need is to add your manuscript to a different writing processor, change the font, and get to polishing to create your best work.

ProWritingAid

ProWritingAid is the only platform that offers world-class grammar and style checking combined with more in-depth reports to help you strengthen your writing. Our unique combination of suggestions, articles, videos, and quizzes makes writing fun and interactive.

While I haven’t personally used ProWritingAid for one of my novels yet, I know this is an invaluable editing tool. I’ve used it for smaller projects and was blown away by its features. Not to mention how much ease it brought to the entire process of editing.

ProWritingAid also employs technology, such as artificial intelligence, to amplify the tool so while you may miss something, the tool itself will not. It’s a great software to use for processing your manuscript before sending it off to betas and editors.

Grammarly

Grammarly is a cloud-based typing assistant that reviews spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity, engagement, and delivery mistakes. It uses artificial intelligence to identify and search for an appropriate replacement for the error it locates.

Grammarly is a good editing tool if you have a shorter manuscript and you’re not looking to do a thorough edit, such as developmental editing. I’ve used it for different projects. I, personally, noticed the tool works best on simpler, and shorter, projects versus, let’s say, a long-form epic fantasy manuscript.

If you like browser add-ons and something that’s quick, but works, I encourage you to add Grammarly to your toolbox for initial editing, after proofreading, before you dive in to handle developmental edits and so on.

Print It Out

Not a digital writer? No problem. I know many authors who will draft their books in a writing tool like Scrivener, but then they will go to their local library, or even somewhere like FedEx (USA establishment for printing and shipping), and they will print out their entire manuscript.

This helps them because they can physically scratch out lines, write notes, and rearrange scenes, all in a bright red pen… Okay, that may be too triggering. For some, the pen is purple… Or orange. Ha!

Nevertheless, if you need to touch it? Flip it? Physically put your pen to it? Go ahead and print it all out. Grab a massive binder to add the sheets to, and be sure to stack up on pens and highlighters so you can dive into a thorough edit of your book.

As you continue on your journey, you will find other editing tools that will help support you where you are and be of great assistance to your craft. However, if you’re uncertain of where to begin, I highly recommend these tools for your toolbox once you’ve crossed over into the editing stage of your book.

Tell us in the comments: What editing tools do you use? Are there any not on this list?

Stephanie BwaBwa is a Fantasy Universe Builder, Author, and Entrepreneur. She’s the creator of Elledelle, the universe filled with angels, adventure, romance, and magic. She’s the author of the fantasy series: The Seraphim Resistance and The Transcendents, as well as the writing guide, Fantasy Fundamentals. Stephanie co-hosts a podcast for indie authors called: Indie Author Lifestyle with her fantasy partner-in-madness, Angela J. Ford, and is a self-publishing columnist for DIY MFA. You can usually catch her going for a walk through a park, or simply binging anything creatively juicy with too many snacks. Get in contact with Stephanie directly at: stephaniebwabwa.com.

The post Your Self-Publishing Toolbox for Authorial Success: Editing Tools appeared first on DIY MFA.

An author’s toolbox is essential. Within will be the resources you revert to, time and again, to write, edit, publish, and market your books. While every story you pen will begin from scratch, your toolbox will make putting it all together far simpler. 

In this article you’ll find a list of self-publishing tools, specifically for writing your stories, I highly recommend for your authorial success. Most of these writing tools I use myself, and can confidently say they will be of great service to you as they have been to me for many years.

*Please Note: In this article, we will focus on writing tools. In subsequent articles, I will share the best tools for editing, publishing, and marketing.

Writing Tools

Scrivener

Scrivener is the go-to app for writers of all kinds, used every day by best-selling novelists, screenwriters, non-fiction writers, students, academics, lawyers, journalists, translators and more. Scrivener won’t tell you how to write—it simply provides everything you need to start writing and keep writing.

I have used Scrivener for many years. It hasn’t always been perfect, but it has been the best tool possible for me when it comes to writing my novels. There are many functionalities I love about it, and this writing tool is always my first suggestion for a writers’ toolbox.

Learn More

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word is a word processor software developed by Microsoft in 1983. It is the most commonly used word processor software. It is used to create professional-quality documents, letters, reports, resumes, etc, and also allows you to edit or modify your new or existing document.

When I first began writing for publication, back in 2013, Word was the first tool I used, primarily because it was the one tool I knew. I wrote in Word for years before switching to Google Docs, and then finally finding the magic that is Scrivener. Word is wonderful for beginners, especially if you already own the software. Depending on what you’d like to do during the writing process, you may find yourself itching for a more efficient tool for authors. But if you need to get typing right away, Word is a great way to start and go.

Learn More

4thewords

4thewords is an online writing game and community. It helps you write more using game mechanics like monsters, item rewards, quests, and a fully immersive world to explore. 4thewords is here to push your daily word count and to help you maintain a consistent writing habit.

I myself have not used 4thewords yet, albeit I plan to. One of my best friends, Angela J. Ford, swears by 4thewords. This is how she has successfully published over 20+ bestselling novels throughout the last several years. If you’re into RPGs, or you’re a gamer of any kind, this tool will help you pen your novel while you’re having a world of fun. If you need something more interactive to get you writing, this writing tool will be a great option for you.

Learn More

Google Docs

Google Docs is a free web-based application in which documents and spreadsheets can be created, edited, and stored online. Users of Google Docs can import, create, edit, and update documents and spreadsheets in various fonts and file formats, combining text with formulas, lists, tables, and images.

After Scrivener, Google Docs is my best friend! But nah, for real. While it may not have all the fun features of Scrivener, it’s quite efficient and is a great tool. I often draft in Scrivener, but I edit in Google Docs. It’s wonderful to use as well if you also have software such as ProWritingAid or Grammarly (more on these in a subsequent article). 

If you don’t have a Google account, I highly recommend creating one so you can have immediate access to Google Docs, whether you want to use it to draft or edit your manuscript. Google Docs is also where most editors will send your manuscript for you to confirm their changes for your polished novel.

Learn More

Pen and Paper

This goes without saying. Most of us are still pen and paper writers. Even if it’s only for the early stages. There’s something about fleshing out ideas in a notebook, or the back of a napkin, or the edges of mail you’ll never read, that stimulates your imagination and fosters your creativity. Keep a few notebooks on hand with working pens close by. Story ideas are always brewing, and you want to be ready when they decide to pay you a visit. 

Here’s your permission to go to Target, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby, and splurge on all the notebooks and stationary your heart desires!

The above writing tools may not seem profound, but you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the wonders they do for your career as you use them. The longer you use a tool, the more familiar you become with it, the more your creativity will find a home within it. This makes for easier writing and better storytelling.

Soon I will share with you the best editing tools. For now, pick one of the above writing tools and get storytelling. Share with me below which tool is your favorite, which one you use now, and what you will give a go in the future.

Disclaimer: There are no affiliate links in this article that will profit the Columnist, Stephanie BwaBwa. She genuinely loves and uses these tools herself, and sincerely hopes your authorial career benefits from them. If you’re on the fence, don’t be. There are no gimmicks here. Just value.

Tell us in the comments: What writing tools do you use? Are there any not on this list?

Stephanie BwaBwa is a Christian Fantasy Novelist. She’s the creator of the universe: Elledelle – about angels in magical worlds with impressive power that mirror the human condition.

Stephanie is a Canadian-born, Haitian-raised, Congolese descended, North American dweller who lived a colorful life in south Florida that cultivated a perspective on the world as unique as her background.

She’s the author of the YA fantasy series: The Seraphim Resistance Prequels and The Transcendents Serial, as well as the writing guide, Fantasy Fundamentals for Christian fantasy writers.

You can usually catch her going for a walk through a park, or simply binging Disney+ with too many snacks. Get in contact with Stephanie directly at: stephaniebwabwa.com or follow her on Instagram or Goodreads.

The post Your Self-Publishing Toolbox for Authorial Success: Writing Tools appeared first on DIY MFA.

On that note, if there’s anything I’ve learned in my three years at Reedsy and two years of writing for DIY MFA, it’s that we creators thrive when we share resources and support one another. In that same spirit, here are my top tips for self-publishing authors! While they’ll be most helpful for the first-timers, I hope even experienced authors learn a little something new about the self-publishing process.

1. Write the book you believe in

Before you can self-publish a book, you have to actually write it. And though “write to market” is increasingly common (and valid!) advice these days, I still think most authors should start with ideas they really love. Not only will the passion shine through in your prose, but it’ll also motivate you to write all the way to the end—something that marketing potential alone may not do.

A little anecdotal evidence: nearly all the most interesting, fresh-voiced books I’ve come across through Reedsy have been passion projects. Plenty of these titles end up with solid audiences too! But with the exception of nonfiction books serving specific groups (how-to, self-help, etc.), the best books are inspired by the story, not by the people who will buy it. 

In short: write the book you truly believe in, and the audience will follow.

2. Invest in your cover design

As I emphasized in my post on cover design mistakes, your cover is a crucial window into your book. Readers use it to judge genre, tone, and ultimately whether or not they should commit to your work; even the tiniest design mistakes can have a devastating impact on this decision.

This is why you must invest in cover design over everything else, whether that means spending sufficient time on your self-design or hiring a professional to make it look flawless. I’d certainly recommend the latter route to most authors: while you can always self-edit your book in a pinch, graphic design skills are simply not in most writers’ wheelhouses. And on top of being artistically gifted, a professional cover designer will be savvy enough to know exactly which design elements readers in your genre want to see.

True, hiring an artist will cost more than doing it yourself. But the time and stress you’ll save in the long run—not to mention the gorgeous cover you’ll get out of the deal!—will be worth it.

3. Start marketing relatively early

I stand by the notion that “writing to market” is not mandatory for success. Once your book is finished, however, you can (and should!) turn your attention to marketing—ideally as you’re editing your book, commissioning your cover design, etc. This will give you a few solid months to attract readers before your book hits the shelves.

Why market so early, you ask? The main reason is reviews: you’ll want to launch with reviews already in place, so your first “real” readers can purchase your book with confidence. In order to get these reviews, you’ll need to send out ARCs to bloggers and reviewers at least a few weeks in advance of your launch. So once your book is in its near-final form (i.e. only awaiting minor copy edits or a proofread), get on those ARCs ASAP.

You may also want to set up a website, start posting more on social media, and create ads if necessary. Needless to say, this work can pile up quickly—so the earlier you start, the better.

4. Make the most of the community

Somewhat paradoxically given the term, one of the best things about self-publishing is the self-publishing community—the authors, readers, and professionals dedicated to the cause and its ever-evolving points of interest. They convene on Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, etc. Wherever you normally spend time online, you should be able to track down the right community for you.

These communities are not only treasure troves of advice and commentary but also of genuine compassion and understanding. Join to connect with authors and readers in your genre, stay for the people that care about authors like you. Yes, it’s always handy to be able to post a reader poll or pick the brain of an experienced editor—but when you’re despairing over writer’s block or Amazon algorithm woes, that’s when your own little self-publishing community bubble feels truly invaluable.

5. Be wary of publishing scams

Not to pull a terrifying one-eighty with this next point, but for all the amazing people you’ll meet online, scammers still sadly abound… and their sociopathic inventiveness and persuasion can hoodwink even the most experienced authors.

The most common scam is when someone (often impersonating a real editor) contacts you, the author, with some fantastic offer—a full publishing package, a contract with a Big 5 imprint, or a deal to turn your book into a screenplay—in exchange for upfront payment. They’ll often call this an “agent fee,” a “signing fee,” etc. to try and make it sound more legitimate.

No matter what they say, though, contacting you out of the blue + requiring payment before providing any services = going to take your money and run. 

The good news is that once you’ve heard about the Big Scam, it’s easy to spot: anyone who randomly pops up in your inbox, proffering fame in exchange for money, is bad news.

For future reference, this post and Writer Beware are excellent resources to help you steer clear of publishing scams. When in doubt, you can always Google—where there’s smoke, there’s fire in the world of online scams.

6. Build out your backlist

On a more uplifting note, one of the best things you can do for your self-pub career is the very reason you started it in the first place: to write more books! Building out your backlist is a huge part of long-term marketing, allowing you to usher readers toward more books they’ll be interested in—especially if you’re writing a series about characters they love.

If you’re completely finished with the world of your first book, you can still write something similar. For authors of genre fiction, this shouldn’t be too hard; just start on another sci-fi book, or lit fic novel, or historical romance, as you were probably planning to anyway. For nonfiction authors, it might be tougher. Consider asking your readers what they’d like to learn about next.

Once you have a few books in your backlist, plug them like nobody’s business. Your most recent release should remain your primary focus, but you can still have things like a website banner displaying all your books; social media posts about previous books, especially harking back to fan-favorite bits; updated ebooks with intriguing previews at the end of each; and so on.

7. Remember that success takes time

Coming full-circle, I’ll end on another point that sounds obvious, but is worth reiterating for authors everywhere: quantifiable success takes time. Of course, publishing even a single book is a massive achievement by most people’s standards—but if you’re looking for strong sales, abundant readers, or even consistent critical acclaim, it’s likely going to take a few years.

Whether this statement feels inspiring or discouraging really depends on you as an author. If it currently skews more “discouraging,” try to get some clarity. For example, if you’re after a very specific type of success, ask yourself why. Are you working toward a sustainable career as an author, or is it a matter of ego? Which matters most to you: money, readers, or glowing reviews?

None of these are mutually exclusive, nor is any answer invalid—the idea is to guide you on how to proceed. You might even decide that self-publishing isn’t for you and end up pursuing a traditional publisher instead! 

But if you do stick with the self-pub route, take comfort in the fact that you won’t be the only one on the indie grind.

This also seems an apt note on which to end my indie grind, so to speak. As I close out my final column for DIY MFA, my wholehearted wish is that every author reading this—whether green or gold in terms of experience, indie or trad pub in their eventual path—pursues their dreams uninhibited, and gets everything they want out of craft and career alike. Best of luck to you all, and have a wonderful 2022!

Tell us in the comments: Have you ever considered self-publishing your novel? Why or why not?

Savannah Cordova is a writer and content creator at Reedsy, a marketplace that connects authors with the best editors, designers, and marketers in the business. In her spare time, Savannah enjoys reading contemporary fiction and low fantasy, as well as writing the occasional short story. She’s here to pull back the curtain on publishing so that every author can have the greatest possible chance at success.

The post My Top Tips for Self-Publishing Authors in 2022 appeared first on DIY MFA.

So, as we celebrate the arrival of 2021 and of Covid vaccines and look forward to the time when we can get back “out there” with our readers, it occurred to me that another thing worth celebrating is the success of Indie writers in our genre. To that end, I’ve compiled a list of winners and runners-up of a number of highly-respected book awards that focus on the Indie publication sphere.  These are by no means all the awards out there, but they are some of the best known. Finalists and honorable mentions are also listed on many of the award websites.

Perhaps you’ll find something for your TBR list. Perhaps you’ll discover indie writers who fuel your own WIP. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to submit your own indie-published book for consideration. In any event, here’s wishing all historical fiction writers a brighter year and lots of success, no matter where you are in your publishing journey.

American Fiction Awards

These awards have categories both for Historical Fiction and for the adjacencies discussed in my August article, “When is it Historical Fiction and when is it something else?”. So I’ve included the 2020 award winners for all the relevant categories.

Historical Fiction: The Takeaway Men by Meryl Ain, Sparks Press, August 4, 2020

Adventure-Historical: Northern Blood (Northern Wolf Series, Book 3) by Daniel Greene, Rune Publishing, March 31, 2020

Fantasy-Historical: The Winter Sisters by Tim Westover, QW Publishers, LLC, August 6, 2019

Mystery/Suspense-Historical: A Child Lost: A Henrietta and Inspector Howard Novel  by Michelle Cox, She Writes Press, April 28, 2020

Romance-Historical: Awaken My Heart by Christine Wissner, Christine Wissner, March 10, 2019

Best Indie Book Award

The most recent set of winners posted here is for 2019. I didn’t find any indication of when the 2020 award winners would be posted.

2019 Winner: Sinner’s Cross by Miles Watson, One Nine Books, October 6, 2019

Eric Hoffer Book Award

Winner: I Was Hitler’s Baker by Glenn Peterson, Xlibris US, January 26, 2019

1st Runner-Up: Carrying Independence by Karen A. Chase, 224 Pages, June 11, 2019

Foreword Indies

Gold: The Boys Who Woke up Early by Amy Trueblood, Imbrifex Books, March 3, 2019 (1st edition)

Silver: Mrs. Rossi’s Dream  by Khanh Ha, The Permanent Press, April 5, 2019

Bronze: Beloved Mother by Laura Hunter, Bluewater Publications, April 1, 2019

Independent Author Network

Book of the Year First Place and Historical Fiction First Place:

Before The Brightest Dawn (The Half-Bloods Series Book 3) by Jana Petken, June 14, 2019

Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) Benjamin Franklin Award

Gold Medal: Moccasin Track by Reid Lance Rosenthal, Rockin’ SR Publishing, August 29, 2019

Silver Medal: Breaking Point: A Novel of the Battle of Britain by John Rhodes, Suncoast Publishing, September 24, 2019

Silver Medal: General Meade: A Novel of the Civil War by Robert Kofman, Lion Valley Publishing LLC, March 5, 2019

Independent Publisher Book Awards (the IPPYs)

Gold: Across a Broken Shore by Amy Trueblood, North Star Editions, November 5, 2019

Silver: Beyond the Ghetto Gates by Michelle Cameron, She Writes Press, April 7, 2020

Bronze: The Pelton Papers by Mari Coates, She Writes Press, April 7, 2020

International Book Awards

Winner: Moccasin Track by Reid Lance Rosenthal, Rockin’ SR Publishing, August 29, 2019

National Indie Excellence Awards

Winner: The Dung Beetles of Liberia by Daniel V. Meier, Jr., BQB Publishing, September 1, 2019

Next Generation Indie Book Awards

Winner: Repentance by Andrew Lam, Tiny Fox Press, LLC, May 1, 2019

Pacific Book Awards

First Place: The Andean Cross by L. A. Clayton, JustFiction Edition, April 9, 2013

Second Place: In the Beginning: The Early Days of Religious Beliefs by Jaime Reyes,  Westwood Books Publishing LLC, (August 13, 2019)

Rubery Book Award

There was one Historical Fiction novel short-listed for this award in 2020.

Song of the Nightingale by Marilyn Pemberton, The Conrad Press, December 14, 2019

An award-winning author of historical fiction and a freelance editor, Pamela Taylor loves helping others polish their stories almost as much as she enjoys writing her own. She’s a member of the DFW Writers Workshop and the Editorial Freelancers Association and is in her fourth year on the judges panel for the Ink & Insights Writing Contest. She shares her home with two Welsh Corgis who frequently remind her that a dog walk is a great way to get inspiration for that next chapter.

The post Celebrating Indie Writers appeared first on DIY MFA.

Meg LaTorre is a sci-fi/fantasy author, YouTube darling, and founder of iWriterly. She is also the creator of the free query critique platform, Query Hack, co-host of the Publishable show, and blogger for websites: Writer’s Digest, Savvy Authors, Writers Helping Writers, and so forth. Formerly, she worked at a literary agency, and she has a background in magazine publishing, medical and technical writing, as well as journalism. For more information about Meg, subscribe to her YouTube channel or follow her on social media. You’ll find all her links on the show notes page.

Today we’ll be talking about her latest book, The Cyborg Tinkerer.

In this episode Meg and I discuss:

• How having a rebellious nature allowed her to write the kind of Steampunk novel she wanted to read.
• What aesthetic elements of the novel help portray issues of “otherness” and discrimination which are integral parts of the narrative.
• Why she chose the indie publishing route and how other authors can learn from her experience.

Plus, their #1 tip for writers.

About the Author

Meg LaTorre is a science fiction and fantasy author, YouTube darling and founder of iWriterly, creator of the free query critique platform, Query Hack, co-host of the Publishable show, and blogger (Writer’s Digest, Savvy Authors, Writers Helping Writers, et al.). Formerly, she worked at a literary agency, and she has a background in magazine publishing, medical/technical writing, and journalism. 

To learn more about Meg, subscribe to her YouTube channel, follow her on Twitter and Instagram, sign up for her monthly newsletter, support iWriterly on Patreon, or visit www.iWriterly.com.

The Cyborg Tinkerer

In a deadly circus competition, even hearts are on the line. Gwendolyn Grimm intended to seduce men and women across the galaxy while working as a ship tinkerer on the finest vessels in the Crescent Star System. Alas, terminal illness is a buzzkill. When a life-saving opportunity struts into her life dressed in a pinstripe suit, she is made an offer she can’t refuse: become a cyborg and work as a tinkerer for Cirque du Borge, the once renowned cyborg circus.

The problem is, a new law has banned the creation of new cyborgs and becoming one means execution if caught. Thus, no one cares to see the wonders of man and machine anymore.

Ticket sales continue to fall as the circus announces a competition to determine which acts will perform for the emperor on his home planet—an opportunity with the potential to save the circus from bankruptcy. But the competition has deadly consequences. Losing acts have their cyborg implants forcibly removed, and those who survive the extraction are banished from the circus.

As the tinkerer, Gwendolyn is forced to perform the revolting task of removing the cyborg implants from the losing performers. When she falls for both the man running the competition and a woman competing in it, she must decide who to protect. But can she risk having to harvest the people she loves the most? The Cyborg Tinkerer, comes out November 17, 2020.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 331

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio or Google Play and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 331: Writing and Indie Publishing a Steampunk Novel – Interview with Meg LaTorre appeared first on DIY MFA.

You are not alone!

While writing books comes naturally to us, marketing seems so vague and complicated. And yet it’s a necessary evil that must be overcome if we want to be successful indie authors. We scour the internet, listen to a bunch of podcasts, and watch enough videos that our heads explode. And marketing our books still doesn’t make sense.

What if I told you that not only could you understand how to market yourself but actually enjoy it? As someone who writes fiction and does marketing for a living, the key is to approach marketing in a way authors can relate to.

Here are five marketing tips for indie authors by an indie author.

Know Your Ideal Reader

Before you even start drawing up marketing plans or creating social media accounts, you need to know who your book is for. Authors who excel at marketing cater everything they do to that person who will buy every book they write. Just look at some of the most popular authors out today:

●  Stephen King fans want a book that will scare their socks off.

●  James Patterson readers want thrillers with savvy detectives and larger-than-life villains.

●  JK Rowling caters to readers who want to escape to magical places

That’s why you need to know your ideal reader just as well as the main character in your book. What types of settings does this reader love to read about? Where do they hang out online? Who are other authors they love? How do they recommend books to others?

When deciding what online platforms you should be on, whether to start a blog, or even what to write in an email you can always go back to this research. No matter what type of marketing you do, it has to connect with your ideal reader.

Have a Strong Author Brand

If you go back to those authors we mentioned earlier, there’s something else you may notice — they all have strong brands. You hear their names and you automatically know the kind of books they write.

From your Instagram feed to your author website, when readers discover you they should be able to tell right off the bat who you are, what you’re about, and the genre you write in.

Jay Baer, the author of Convince and Convert, defines a brand as “the art of aligning what you want people to think about you with what people actually do think about you.” Think about what you want to be known for. Do you want to be known for penning epic fantasy stories? Do you want readers to see you as an authority in the self-help space?

When thinking about the content you want to share online — social media posts, emails, videos, your website — think about how it will back up the author brand you want to create.

Connect With Readers Through Your Personal Story

Whether you have one book out or twenty, sharing your story can really resonate with your audience. Marketing these days is all about connecting with people on a human level, and our books are no different. We all want to connect with others that either share similar experiences with us, know what we’re going through, share our struggles, hobbies, and even fandoms.

What happens when readers feel you could be friends in real life? They will buy anything you write and rave about your work to their friends.

Think about your personal story and what shaped your life as a writer. What got you into writing? Why is it a passion for you? Was it because you wanted to write the stories you wanted to read? Did you start writing late in life? The key to sharing your story in a way that furthers your book marketing is to make sure your audience can relate to it. 

Take Your Reader On A Journey

Instead of looking at content marketing as something that’s stiff and uncreative, think of it as taking your reader on a journey of discovering you as a writer and the stories you tell. In Marketing Land, it’s called the buyer’s journey–companies create valuable and entertaining content for their audience as they make their way to buying their products. Since you already know how to tell an engaging and entertaining story,  you can apply that same approach to your marketing.

When you’re first starting out, you want to attract your ideal reader to you and your author brand. Like the opening chapters of your book, you have to make a great impression and entice your reader to keep reading.

Once they’ve accepted your call to adventure (i.e. followed you on Instagram or subscribed to your email newsletter), you want to keep them around. Doing weekly Instagram live videos, participating in Instagram book challenges, or sending out monthly newsletters are just a few things you can do to keep your new followers engaged and coming back for more.

Finally, when your reader is ready to complete their journey (i.e. buy your book), that’s when you can create marketing content that focuses your book. Giveaways, challenges, and blog tours work well at this stage because you already have a tribe who loves what you’re about and are ready to support you.

Never Lose Sight of Writing the Next Book

As indie authors, we turned our passion into a business. Like any other product-based business, the more products you have the more profitable you will be. That’s why we can never lose sight of writing the next book. There’s no better way to market yourself than publishing another book.

If you’re spending way more time marketing than writing, it’s time to take a step back and evaluate. Maybe you need to cut back on posting to social media or move your emails from twice a week to once a month. What can you schedule out ahead of time? Don’t be afraid to go back and modify your marketing tasks to free up more time to write.

While the thought of marketing yourself is enough to send you running in the other direction, think of it as a fun way to interact with your future readers. Besides, you already have a leg up in the marketing game compared to other types of solopreneurs — you know how to write, you know how to tell a story, and you have an amazing imagination.

You got this!

Margaret “MJ” McGriff is a YA fantasy author who writes about pirates, magic, monsters, and treasure-hunting nuns. She’s also a content marketing strategist for fiction authors, giving them the tools and resources they need to rock their book marketing.

You can learn more about MJ’s books at mmcgriff.com, her fiction author services at margaretmcgriff.com, and nerd out with her on Instagram at @MJ_McGriff.

The post #5onFri: Five Marketing Tips for Indie Authors appeared first on DIY MFA.

Consider me a colleague happy to share her hard-learned wisdom with you. If I were starting over again in indie publishing, I’d do a number of things differently. In future posts, I’ll share with you some of the decisions I regret and why, in hopes you can learn from my mistakes. 

The first thing I’d do differently if I could start again? Not publish until I had at least three novels in a series.

Conventional wisdom IS wisdom

When I first considered indie publishing, I heard this advice: Don’t publish until you have three novels ready to release. Given the work it takes to write just one novel, I thought, This is ridiculous. I can’t imagine waiting so long. Traditional publishing doesn’t operate this way. Is self-publishing really that different? Won’t having a book on the market allow more readers to find me?

Patience pays

Solid reasons exist behind the argument to wait to publish. Primary among them: the market is absolutely flooded with books. There are currently over six million e-books on Amazon alone. Writers also compete with tons of exciting content on television, in film, in video games, and (in ordinary, non-pandemic times) sports and other leisure pursuits. What that means for the single-title-publishing author is that your book, regardless of how good it might be, will drown in a sea of content. 

If you have one book in the market, readers may love it and leave a positive review, but then they need a new toy. If you can’t offer them another book, they’ll move on to someone else’s. And if, like me, you take a year or eighteen months to produce another work, that’s a ton of time for a reader to forget about you. Maybe you were lucky enough to capture some of those initial readers on your mailing list. If so, terrific! But the truth is that only a fraction of your readers will actually sign on to your mailing list. How many authors do you read regularly? Are you on all their mailing lists? Nope, thought not. 

We live in a binge culture. How do you consume TV? If you’re like me, you’d rather wait until the final episode of Homeland is released so you can watch the entire season in three days. Readers behave no differently. Having a series of three or more books gives an engaged reader somewhere to go, and improves your long-term viability in the market. Conventional wisdom in the indie world goes something like this: if readers read you once and your book is good, they’ll like you. If they read you twice, they’ll remember you. If they read you three times, they’ll stay with you, eager for your metaphorical Season Two. 

If you can get a reader to read three of your books, it probably won’t be a hard sell to get and keep them on your mailing list. Then a periodic update–whether once a week, or once or twice a month–will keep you on their radar screens and anticipating your next release. Outside of this model, you start from ground zero every single time you launch a book, and launches are difficult and draining. Don’t make more work for yourself.

Algorithms and visibility

The more readers progress through your series, whether via direct purchase or by Kindle Unlimited borrows, the more the algorithms begin to work in your favor. David Gaughran’s forgotten more than I’ll ever know about the mechanics of algorithms and how to make them work in your favor to increase your visibility, so I’ll leave it to him to share the finer points with you, but this multi-title release strategy is essential to gaining traction in digital marketplaces. 

Development time

Another advantage to completing a short series before releasing the first book is that it gives you time to work with your characters and produce a cohesive product. By the third book, you have insights into your characters that you didn’t have the first time through. I know that if I could go back and rewrite my first book, there’s so much I’d be able to put in that I just didn’t know the first time. 

A fruitful practice might be to draft three books (say, 30 or 40K words each), one after another. As you write the second one, you get important distance from the first story while at the same time broadening your knowledge of your characters, practicing your craft, and honing your voice. By the time you’ve drafted the third book, you’ve figured out how to write a book, where your process challenges are, and how to work through them. In other words, you can now recognize patterns in your own work. 

As you begin to revise and flesh out the first story, you can bring that wisdom to your first book. At the same time, that perspective will aid you in leaving Easter eggs and weaving interesting threads and subplots throughout the series. Map out a series on paper all you want, but when you’re writing, things don’t always go to plan. Crazy things happen. Whole characters show up out of nowhere. Pausing before you hit the “publish” button allows you to refine the entire package into a polished cohesive unit, and for that, your readers will thank you.

Writing a book is a long and difficult process, and exercising patience at the end of that process demands real discipline from the writer. But trust me: I’ve been there, and the discipline is worth it. Your reward will come in increased visibility, a more devoted readership, and improved long-term success–things every writer wants. 

Helen J. Darling writes and publishes contemporary women’s fiction at her imprint, Bricolage Books. She published her first novel, I’ll Know Me When I Find Me, in January 2018. Her latest novel, Terms and Conditions, was published in November 2019. You can connect with her at itshelendarling.com, on Instagram, Twitter and on Facebook. 

The post Don’t Do What I Did: Mistakes in Indie Publishing appeared first on DIY MFA.

Helen is the author of two humorous women’s fiction novels: Terms and Conditions and I’ll Know Me When I Find Me. She is also the resident self-publishing expert and columnist at DIY MFA.

Helen worked in publishing for twenty years before acknowledging she’d like to write something herself. When she’s not writing or spending time with her family, she dabbles uncontrollably in hobbies from photography and painting to gardening, carpentry, and home renovations. She reads three or four books at a time. She also keeps bees. That’s why she takes so long to write her novels.

You can learn about her latest distractions by joining her mailing list or following her on social media. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, two children, a codependent beagle, and a cat who owns them all.

In this episode Helen and I discuss:

• How working in academic publishing led to Helen’s writing career
• The flexibility that comes with self-publishing
• How self-publishing has changed
• Why writers choose self-publishing over traditional
• The two most important people on your self-publishing team
• Choosing the right people for your self-publishing team
• An overview of the editorial and publishing process
• The main parts of a book launch

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About Helen J. Darling

Helen J. Darling is the author of two humorous women’s fiction novels: Terms and Conditions (forthcoming) and I’ll Know Me When I Find Me.

She lives in North Carolina with her husband, two children, a codependent beagle, and a cat who owns them all. Helen worked in publishing for twenty years before acknowledging she’d like to write something herself. When she’s not writing or spending time with her family, she dabbles uncontrollably in hobbies from photography and painting to gardening, carpentry, and home renovations. She reads three or four books at a time. She also keeps bees. That’s why she takes so damned long to write her novels.

You can learn about her latest distractions by visiting her website, joining her mailing list or following her on Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and BookBub.

Terms and Conditions

An ambitious single woman. A lifelong goal within reach. Will Manhattan’s unexpected challenges turn her fantasy into a disaster?

After ten lackluster years in a dead-end job, Jane Desmond can’t wait to pursue her enduring ambition of a career in the glittering NYC literary scene. But the city starts throwing her curveballs the moment she arrives and what’s worse, her nervous mother, petrified for Jane’s safety, won’t stop texting her. Determined to reclaim her sanity, Jane posts a selfie challenge to prove to her mom she’s living the dream.

As she struggles to find an apartment and blows critical interviews, her online pics tell a very different tale. Caught up in a web of social lies, Jane digs herself deeper with every update. Worried that she doesn’t have what it takes to make it in the city and on the verge of calling it quits, she races the clock to get her life together before her parents and friends learn the sad truth.

Can Jane get comfortable in her own skin before the deception comes crashing down around her?

Witty and endearing, Terms and Conditions follows Jane as she discovers the thrill, the challenge, and ultimately, the joy of living truly for herself.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 304

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio or Google Play and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 304: An Inside Look at Self-Publishing – Interview with Helen J. Darling appeared first on DIY MFA.

In this article, we’ll look at five writing tips–or, depending on how you operate, editing tips–to become a better author. 

1) Use Adverbs Sparingly 

One of my favorite authors, Stephen King, has a saying, “The road to hell is paved with adverbs”. While you may not be paving your road to hell by using adverbs, you’re certainly paving yourself to a boring writing style. 

Back when we took early English classes, your teachers would have told you that an adverb describes verbs and adjectives. On the surface, this sounds like a great tool to use in your writing. 

Here’s the truth: adverbs weaken your writing. Rather than carefully constructing a sentence, you’re taking the easy way out and using an “-ly” word to add a quick description. 

But there’s hope. You can do something to improve your prose. Look for the adverbs in your writing and ask yourself if they deserve to be there. In most cases, you’ll be able to add a more descriptive verb. For example, instead of the dog “barking loudly” it can “howl” or “roar.”  

Am I saying to never use an adverb? No. Here’s an example of Apple using one on a sales page, and Apple has obviously been very successful.  

I’m just saying that your writing will be better once you remove unnecessary adverbs and replace them with stronger verbs or more descriptive language. 

2) Get Rid of Crutch Words

Crutch words are those words and phrases that you rely on too much in your writing. Sometimes, you reach for your crutches when you don’t need them…

You’re probably most familiar with conversational crutch words we lean on when we’re speaking:

• Like: “I was, like, going to ask if you’d like to go to lunch.”
• Well: “Well, that was a lot better than I thought it would be.”
• You know: “It’s not up to me, you know.”
• Literally: “Today was literally the slowest workday.”
• Obviously: “I’m obviously very happy with how everything is going.”

When you’re thinking on your feet in a conversation, these crutch words are handy conversation fillers. In writing though, they’re repetitive and can annoy readers when used outside of dialogue. Here’s a list of common crutch words that authors use if you’d like some examples. 

Crutch words are usually redundant, and they’re often unique to an author. It all depends on your voice. A few examples of mine are: 

• Still 
• In fact
• Very much
• My way
• Just 
• Halt
• Eye
• Gaze
• Laugh
• Clearly

If you’re writing a conversational blog post, there is a bit of scope to use crutch words–after all, you’re trying to make the article read like you’re having a conversation. When you’re writing a novel though, you need to be aware of every word you add and consider its relevance. 

Once you know what your go-to crutch words are, make sure you aren’t using them too much. I like to ctrl+f and search for my crutch words in my first draft. Then, I can consider re-writing those sentences and using stronger word choices. 

3) Start Your Story With Action, Not Backstory 

One of the things I love about being a fiction author is creating an entire world of my own. Each character has their own individual background and story to tell. Talking about it now makes me want to start writing again! 

If you’re like me, you’re probably bursting at the seams to tell your reader about the characters you’ve created. It’s so tempting to start a story by giving the reader a huge infodump of background about the characters or the setting. However, it’s a far better strategy to start your novel with some action to hook the reader in.

The main reason you want to start your story with action is to engage your reader as soon as possible. The earlier you hook the reader in, the more likely they are to keep reading. For self-publishers, this is more important than ever for a couple of reasons. 

• For starters, all Kindle books sold on Amazon have a ‘Look Inside’ feature. This option is shown above the cover image of the book. 

When a potential reader clicks the link, they’re shown a preview of the book, which is usually around the first 10%. A compelling first page will turn browsers into readers.

With Kindle Unlimited (KU), you want to generate as many read pages as possible. There are a lot of KU subscribers that simply grab three or four books at a time and flick through a few chapters before deciding which one is worth reading. 

You don’t want to waste your first impression by giving your reader backstory that will slow the book’s pace down. If you need to get that history down on the page, write an entire chapter of it before you start your story. Then, you can intersperse parts (or all) of the background chapter throughout your story when you see fit.

Of course, the action must be related to your character’s conflict or pain point. Action for action’s sake won’t work.

4) Remove Redundant Words

Similar to your personal crutch words, when you’re writing, there are other words that should hit the cutting room floor. These are redundant words that add nothing to the novel. Removing them will make your writing sharper and easier to read. 

Diana Urban has a super list of redundant phrases to cut from your novel.

• Really, very. These are useless modifiers. Instead of these words, use stronger language choices. 
• That. “That” is a word you can delete if a sentence makes sense without it. For example “It was the best movie that I’d seen all year,” can easily read “it was the best movie I’d seen all year.”
• Then. When I see a passage that includes overuse of the word “then,” I imagine a five-year-old telling you about their day. “First I woke up then I had breakfast, then I had a bath.”
• Totally, completely, absolutely, literally. Rather than use words like these, use stronger language. Instead of saying the character was “completely sure,” you can say they were “positive.”
• Definitely, certainly, probably, actually, basically, virtually. In the same way to the last point, these words don’t add anything. Remove them or use stronger language. 
• Rather, quite, somewhat, somehow. These words make you appear less confident in your work. You don’t have to call something “rather boring,” you can just call it boring! 

Forge on Medium also has a great list of redundant phrases where two words are used when only one is needed. For example, you don’t need the phrase “end result.” When else will the result be? And unless you start falling upward, you probably don’t have to use the phrase “fall down.”

Once you’ve got a list of redundant phrases you use, run a ctrl+f search on your document and highlight the words so you can check if each one is needed or not. 

5) Avoid Cliches Phrases

We’re all familiar with cliched phrases used in writing:

• Play your cards right
• Read between the lines
• It’s an uphill battle
• The grass is always greener on the other side
• Better safe than sorry
• Ignorance is bliss
• You can’t judge a book by its cover
• Bring to the table
• Low-hanging fruit

These sayings have been used so many times over the years, they’ve kind of lost all meaning. Common cliches don’t evoke a mental image when you’re reading. Not only that, but the use of cliches is lazy writing. When I see an overuse of cliches, I notice it and so do many other readers. 

Find new ways to say things. The use of specific language and examples in your writing will add to the mental image the reader is putting together, not take away from it as a cliche does.  

There is an awesome list of cliches that you should look at from my friends at ProWritingAid. Check what phrases you use in your work, and replace them with alternatives. 

Final Thoughts

Simple changes to your writing can make a world of difference, making your book easier to read and strengthening your story. Follow these tips as a way to engage fans with your work and stand out from all those other books on Amazon. 

And remember, you don’t have to get all of these things right while you’re writing. In fact, you’ll write much faster if you don’t worry about them at first. You can always fix them while you’re editing. 

Dave Chesson is a book marketing obsessive who has consulted for various NYT Bestselling authors. He shares his latest ideas at Kindlepreneur.com, such as his recent guide to book writing software, and also hosts The Book Marketing Show podcast.

The post #5onFri: Five Writing Tips For Levelling Up Your Craft appeared first on DIY MFA.