Book Editor and Writing Coach

February 22, 2023

How to Choose the Type of Book to Write

Do you have the desire to create and share your ideas but not the know-how of writing a book? Take a peek over my shoulder as I step through the process of choosing a type (or model) of book to write. Starting out There are already millions of books published and available on Amazon, so here is a question: what is the one thing that none of them already have? Answer: Your experience and your writer’s voice. Types of Books: Choosing the Best Model Breaking down complex and dry topics, a good writer draws out the ideas for their reader to digest. This is best done with a particular model. Tips Book Tips books can be good if prefaced with a note on why you need these tips and how to use the content. Power Marketing was in this style,…

May 17, 2024

Personal Branding

Attracting New Buyers, Despite the Odds

Some have endured the odds of the pandemic and floods, and continue to do so. Thought Leadership is about being resilient. It is about attracting new buyers, so you can write and sell thought leadership books and courses. Experienced specialists often go into their own business (often with a ‘teaching’ focus) and believe that they must pretend to be BIGGER than just one person. Or that their family business must appear very professional, ‘always on’. Because of this belief, smart business owners run themselves close to empty, giving their all because they think success is about high standards of delivery. With Thought Leadership as a focus, that hustle is not necessary. The leader steps out to talk about their beliefs and knowledge, rather than hiding behind a corporate insignia. You may be thinking, ‘this doesn’t apply to me’… I’m not……

February 22, 2023

Book Design, Selling eBooks and Media

eBook Formatting Service for Kindle

These days, once you get your file cleaned up and ready for upload to the Amazon Kindle platform (KDP), it often can go through straight up. But for specially designed, image-laden eBooks, there is a software to get your ebooks formatted. On this, I would not bother trying to get an eBook converted and designed in these ways: Calibre – absolutely the hardest way for novices, but it is a free option Kindle Create – free, but you have to start again if your charts/graphics don’t appear correctly and thus you lose ALL your changes. It outputs KPF – a Kindle Publishing only format. Oh, What to Do for my Ebook? If you want to do-it-yourself in designing ebooks more than just once, Atticus is the software for you, at US$147. It takes in your .RTF or .DOCX file and…

photo of assorted letter board quote hanged on wall

February 22, 2023

Book Writing

Don’t Get Sued After Writing a Book

It’s book writing season – well, the impending Christmas holidays seems to jiggle us along – and it’s time to put our creative hats on. Inevitably, some amateur writers will attempt to help their book creation along with some ‘extra pieces’ from others, thus unknowingly break the law. So here we cover the basics of “how to not get sued while writing a book”. (Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and all of this is not admissible in court!). Last week I won a book called “Cover Your Arse Online” by Jeanette Jifkins, a very practical online lawyer. There are a lot of areas where one can walk the tightrope and possibly get sued, but here I will focus on those pertaining to writing a book. (DO NOT COPY IMAGES either). Firstly, just because something is publicly viewable – or…

May 14, 2025

Book Marketing, Publicity

Media Kit Template – Free

Have you ever thought of creating an Author or Speaker Media Kit? It’s a boon for many reasons. Media Kit Templates are not exactly created for authors or bloggers, so I created my own two designs. Media Kits can be used for: Podcast guest appearances/question prompts Giving credibility by mentioning your audience numbers or articles A PDF version of your book data and photos Public Speaker pitches Approaching news media editors & journo’s for an expert article or interview, etc. A good media kit for authors or specialists must adjust to suit them. Every specialist likely has something different they want to include, including perhaps a listener special offer. It’s important to think about what the podcasters or magazine editors you are approaching will want to know. See Free Book Marketing Resources guide for more goodies. Hints for…

February 22, 2023

Book Marketing, Selling eBooks and Media

Find your Book’s Ideal Audience

Many of us want to write a good quality book for the right audience… but what kind of audience is right for us? The truth is, if we can narrow down our audience and understand the depth of the pain problems and desires, then we can write a book that resonates deeply with them. I like to give some support on these areas and so have a brief video in the Book Creation Success course on competitive research. Independently, you can go along to Amazon and with ‘Amazon Suggest’ you can see what types of keywords people are typing in to find your area. You need to have a competitive overview of your marketplace and the key bestsellers in your niche. Then you can do some further research on BuzzSumo (free account, 10 searches) or SparkToro (free account) to get…