Book Editor and Writing Coach

Smart Marketing for Indie Authors Review

February 22, 2023

Smart Marketing for Indie Authors: My Review

Mike Kowis is mostly like us: an Indie Author who put heart, soul and $5,000 into his first book, one of a few. That number was just the marketing part, by the way. The reason I liked ‘Smart Marketing for Indie Authors‘ is because he goes through each marketing tactic with pros and cons, a rating from his experience, insider tips and supreme attention to detail. His honesty level is admirable in the chapter “What not to do”, all of which are going to save you time and cash, as it is throughout the book. “No amount of marketing will help if your book is filled with grammar and spelling errors… or your cover is unprofessional”.– Mike Kowis Book Marketing Tactics Cherry-Picked Book Marketing Tactics by Mike Some of the main areas I liked are covered below, but there are…

February 22, 2023

Personal finance and scams

My Money Guide for those Earning $60,000 Annually

The money guide for those on $60,000 a year, give or take $15,000 This kicks off my idea for a series of articles designed to get you thinking about your money and your path to freedom, based on your annual income. Now, freedom to you might mean retirement in 10 years’ time. Or freedom might mean being able to do a business from home part-time but have ample income. Or it might mean something else. Even at AU $60,000 a year, you and your partner can make an impact on your future wealth. Thanks to Mike’s book, ‘Clockwork’ Who am I to tell you this? Certainly, I’m no financial guru. But I’ve spent a lot of time researching, studying and thinking about how our money lives operate. So, I consider myself a ‘philosopher of money’; an author who helps you…

May 14, 2025

Book Marketing

Why Do Content Marketing?

When you consider the overall picture: the opportunities, challenges, some barriers to success in your market, then you can begin to see how regular content marketing will help your publishing brand get a foothold in the market. Firstly, understand what main facets make some marketing pieces rock. CopyBlogger said that good, share-worthy content is: · Useful (it solves an audience problem) · Interesting (it’s framed in a way that catches attention) · Audience-friendly (it has an interesting headline and it’s formatted to be readable) · Sticky (it invites the reader to settle in, learn more, and maybe take the relationship further). Why do we need to do Content Marketing? Every business starts off with a burning reason for running a content marketing campaign. Often, they get disheartened with the poor results (often caused by half-baked implementation). Just like a good…

February 22, 2023

Personal finance and scams, Self-Publishing

Is Hybrid Publishing Profiteering? See what a UK report says

The Writers Guild of Great Britain and ASA recently surveyed 204 UK writers who were independently published. Findings made for sober reading. For instance, 59% of authors were not satisfied that their paid hybrid publisher did enough to get sales or interest in their book. And monetary losses were heavy; 94% of authors surveyed lost money on hybrid / paid for publishing contracts. (Around half of respondents chose this publishing type). There was a median loss of £1841 each, although there was a broad range. It would be extremely interesting to gain similar insight into Australian author experiences. I personally have heard of a $20,000 publishing loss, along with other losses on website design. In the report ‘Is it a steal?‘, the Writers Guild concluded that “of all the publishing approaches available, a ‘hybrid’ / paid-for deal is the worst option a…

February 22, 2023

Self-Publishing, Updates

News in Publishing and Book Writing

I found an interesting website for writers looking to publish with a true publisher or go in literary competitions, one that will save you ‘bags of time’. It is called DuoTrope and is free to join, with small tips for submitting to the publishers. I recommend it because the listings are all updated; they’re sifting through the wheat and chaff for you. Their book submission manager helps authors keep track of submissions, and that’s called Duosuma. When I was doing the Rabbit Hole Challenge writing day, I made a donation to QWC (Writer’s Centre). Then to my surprise, I won this bag! I only completed 1.5 hours of writing my book but it helped get me back ‘into the groove’. What things do you do to get your book writing going? A New Write – Edit – Format Tool Another…

February 22, 2023

Book Marketing, Personal Branding

Author-First Book Marketing: First 4 Tips

Having a foundation in online book marketing makes a difference to any author’s ability to succeed in the market. With an Author-first approach, it’s making sure you and your brand goes out into the world. Many of you will have a coaching, consulting or a particular business in the background and with this approach, it’s going to have the most effect. The first three times I published, I had zero brand and no real connection to ‘me’. The next time I published, I went hard on research and achieved some relevance by adding my own case study experiences (and supplier details) to the book. If I could start again, I would make all my books talk to the one audience, even if on a number of different topics. Well, I guess it’s never too late to start over! 1. Start…