Book Editor and Writing Coach

May 17, 2024

How to Ramp Up a Personal Brand with Canva’s New AI Tools

Why Canva? Well, 16 million paying subscribers and 150 million free monthly users believe it’s the tool that will make their content marketing sing. Some of us (like me) also use it to make workbooks, business cards, brochures or beautiful pitch decks. Canva can be used for anything visual, and that’s why it’s great for promoting books. I have already done plenty of mockups with my book cover in different variants. For my personal profile on Facebook, Magic Edit replaced a boring background with blue and gold balloons. It used to take hours in Photoshop to do what’s now done in a click or two. Now there are 10 more AI tools, some of which could be handy for authors: Magic Switch: Like Re-size on steroids, Switch converts your design into a range of formats with one click. For example, you…

September 23, 2024

Book Marketing

Marketing Your Book: The Ultimate Guide

‍ Why Book Marketing is Crucial for Success Writing a book is often a long labour that you’ve poured your heart and soul into, along with your trusted editor. But what good is a masterpiece if nobody knows about it? Along with planning, book marketing is the key to ensuring that your masterpiece reaches its intended audience and achieves the success it deserves. Effective book marketing and media planning are crucial, firstly because they help to generate awareness about your book. With so many books being published every day, standing out from the crowd is essential. You need tactics to make book readers curious about your book’s content. Secondly, book marketing helps to build your author brand. By promoting your book and connecting with your target audience directly, you establish yourself as a credible and trustworthy author. This can lead…

September 23, 2024

Book Writing

How to Write a Book that People Will Enjoy Reading

Say you’re writing a book. Do you sometimes think to yourself: What if it all goes wrong? What if I can’t write a book that gets the reader past the free preview? What if it doesn’t hold their attention as it’s just too dense? These are valid concerns. After all, the person who ends up reading your new book is likely to be an avid reader and so is not going to enjoy a repetitive, cliché-ridden, same old, same old book. My point is, if you want your book to be read, think about the quality of your writing. Think about doing original research. Instead of clichés, think about using original metaphors, similes, and allegories. Instead of lecturing, as many new writers seem to do, try to create a picture in their minds. You can do this easily through a…

May 14, 2025

Personal Branding

24 Hours to Improve Your Personal Brand for Business Reasons

Say you’ve got 24 hours before a big potential client Googles your name, your brand. You’re faced with the frightening prospect of having nothing unique to say — and no idea how to project a solid ‘professional you’… without losing the ‘personal you’. This is where personal branding for business reasons comes in. Leading with your personal brand first starts off a little uncomfortable, but it is soon rewarding. My author blog became a testing ground for ‘personal brand’ style marketing because of all the marketing methods available, I preferred to write blogs. I also think it’s more powerful to put yourself in the spotlight instead of a company name. Think of Virgin; it would be far less compelling without the vivacious Richard Branson. Getting to the point… A vibrant personal brand with personal values, graphic style, colours, and a…

September 15, 2025

Self-Publishing

Writing a Book Blurb, with Examples

Sometimes we authors write our own book blurb and we tell all about the book’s contents — but we don’t sell it. With my examples, learn how to write a book blurb without crying anguished tears. https://youtu.be/IR9gc69dbKQ History book blurb example Two Rivers Run is the tale of the first European to settle in Gippsland, a vast and diverse region that has become the economic powerhouse of Victoria. Not far from the spreading development of Melbourne and Port Philip Bay, Western Port retains a place for wildlife and nature to thrive. Land beside a small freshwater creek near Bass provided a good place for Scotsman, Samuel Anderson, to start growing wheat and potatoes. The intrepid bookkeeper-turned-trader was to become Victoria’s third settler and Gippsland’s first. A bumper harvest from the trial crop convinced Samuel and his…

May 17, 2024

Book Marketing, Personal Branding

Selling Personal Branding to a Sceptic

I often imagine a sceptical consultant, leaning on his metaphorical shovel, and asking, “I’ve already got a brand, why do I need a personal brand too?” The latest book, out soon, My Personal Brand covers much of this reasoning in detail, so here are the crib notes. (Incidentally, ‘sceptic’ is spelled with a ‘c’ in British English.) Click to view. Get 5 Tips to Get Unstuck as a Thought Leader – in printable format. A Personal Brand will carry more trust. While companies can build up trust in their brand over time, a personality-rich soloist can build trust faster, simply by showing their face to the camera. People like doing business with people, those they like. It has been shown that video content is the preferred format for viewing promotions, and Facebook Lives get 10X the engagement of other videos. Facebook…