As an independent author, you’re more than the person who writes words in a novel. Once you choose to go the self-publishing route, you inadvertently choose to also become a self-employed entrepreneur. As such, you now wear every hat for all the departments of your business. This includes wearing the marketing and sales hats. This… Read more »
I’ll come right out of the gate and say, publishing is for the birds. 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… Read more »
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 »
Editor’s Note: The following is a scary story based on the author’s experiences with being self-published. Happy Halloween! The autumn wind howls through the bare branches, rattling the dead leaves as the phone lines skip rope overhead. A lanky figure emerges from the gloom, its tattered clothes flapping against its mottled green skin. Slobbering and… Read more »
In previous articles, I’ve discussed some author branding basics, including key questions to ask when building your brand and different ways you can build your brand, even when you’re super busy. Remember, your brand is more than just a snazzy logo or website. It represents who you are as a writer. It’s your values, your… Read more »
On the back of every book you’ve bought in a bookstore, you’ll find a string of numbers, usually punctuated with dashes. It looks something like this: 978-0-9997003-0-3. This mysterious code is an International Standard Book Number, or ISBN. If you’re a self-publishing author, you should consider having them for your books. What Is An ISBN?… Read more »
Hey there Word Nerds! Thanks for joining me for this episode of DIY MFA Radio. You’re gonna love today’s guest. Today I’m speaking with one of the most prolific writers working in modern fiction: Dean Wesley Smith. A USA Today bestselling author, Dean has published far over a hundred novels in forty years, and hundreds… Read more »
Hey there Word Nerds! Today’s episode is especially awesome because I’m interviewing Joanna Penn, author and creative entrepreneur. She is the mastermind behind The Creative Penn, one of the top 10 sites for writers and has penned several nonfiction books helping writers build their platforms. She also writes thrillers under the pen name J.F. Penn and is a self-publishing superstar. I am… Read more »
Thanks for sticking with me! We’ve already talked about creating a professional book package for fantasy and romance books, but we’re not done yet. Continuing on our genre cover journey, let’s dive right in: Science Fiction This genre includes several subsets for the purposes of cover design: “hard” and “soft” science, space opera, steampunk and dystopian. In… Read more »
Continuing where we left off, let’s take a look at those genre specific cliches that can help make your cover a success. Are these hard and fast professional book package rules? Of course not. But someone looking to hook as many readers as possible would do well to pay heed to their genre guidelines. At… Read more »
