Book Writing

Finding a Niche and the Myth of Creation

An email from Thrive Themes this morning reminded me of the worries that writers have about choosing the right topic for their first book. We tend to either think that topic is going to be ‘over-saturated’ – every other educator with a keyboard has a book on it – or we believe that our ideas are somehow less important than someone else’s. I call this last issue ‘the myth of creation’. If you’ve ever thought, “who am I to be writing on…..”, then you fall into this common trap. I’ve had this doubt a few times when writing a book on personal brand, since I’m hardly a branding expert. However, it seemed to be a resonating theme from lots of my blog posts 2013 to 2019, so with a few more tips and expert opinions, the book was on the…
Read more
personal branding ideas
Personal Branding

Author Brand Strategy: Tips from Experience

Why Personal Brand Matters for Authors I had no presence of any kind. I was even afraid to sign up for my own author website, let alone talk about my book. It was only when my husband set up a simple website for me that I realised: I had to step into the light. Being invisible wasn’t going to help the people I wanted to reach. As an author, your personal brand helps others recognise and trust your message. It brings clarity to your platform, consistency to your visuals, and character to your writing voice. Readers start connecting with you, not just your book. While others focus on marketing books, I prefer to help authors market themselves first. Why? Because putting yourself in the right light helps your message—and your books—stand out and sell. This is author brand strategy 101.…
Read more
self-help book marketing
Book Marketing

Self-Help and the Book Marketing Dilemma

Self-Help authors: How many times have you read about authoring a different type of format (like low content) and followed it down a rabbit hole? Let alone considering all those different ways to promote various books…  Writing self-help workbooks, planners, books and creating online courses is great — but getting people to know about them can be daunting. When contemplating book marketing, you hear about Facebook advertising, Instagram reels and Group curation methods. I followed many a fast-talking marketer down a new rabbit hole. But there is a much simpler method which I employ. To prevent overwhelm in book launching, I choose TWO main social media outlets, plus talking to my local crew. After writing my self-help book, I take QUOTES or ideas from the book and turn them into fun content. I also offer a free Downloadable with the book.…
Read more
How to Publish an eBook on Amazon and Make Money

How to Publish an eBook on Amazon and Make Money

Firstly, I believe that publishing to KDP is not the only way to profit from ebook publishing. It is simply the most well-known and easiest. This is likely because Amazon store represents a huge slice of the market. The company controls about 50% of the book market in the UK and claims 67% of eBook Sales market share overall. This article will however focus on how to publish an ebook on Amazon and make money. Over 1.4 million self-published books are released through Kindle Direct Publishing every year (though these are not all exclusive to KDP). (WordsRated.com). The dominance of Amazon is unchallenged. About 91% of the US self-publishing market now uses Amazon print. As IngramSpark also feed to Amazon, as does Lulu, this number makes sense.    Five Ways that Kindle Publishing has Changed Increased Competition: The Kindle Publishing…
Read more
why use ingramspark 2023
Self-Publishing

Why Use IngramSpark Now in 2023?

As of 1st May 2023, IngramSpark does not charge the US$49 upload fee. Nor will they charge the $25 revision fee in the first 60 days, which was levied if you had a revision after distribution time. Not every title will be approved for distribution. Things like book summaries, or pricing the book at a lot more than necessary, are not allowed. You can read all the IngramSpark catalogue integrity guidelines to be sure yours is fine. The Downsides of using IngramSpark In Australia, Ingramspark do not offer a sales platform to advertise on. One-book purchases are high in postage. (It’s $8.50 + $2 handling). Also consider, do I want to mess about with Adobe Distiller or InDesign ($29.99 per month) or pay for a book designer for my paperback? The important IngramSpark Guidelines for Titles are on their blog.…
Read more
Make someday goals now

Making ‘Someday’ Goals Part of Now!

Are you procrastinating on your biggest dreams, like that of writing a book, making excuses for yourself that you’re too busy… too tired… have too much ‘stuff’ to do? “There is never going to be a good enough time or a ‘some day’ where you have ‘enough time’”, says Andy Monks. Someday starts now. In any month, you may give 90 hours to your family and keeping the house, 795 hours or so to your work (clients/boss), and a few hours for school, church or community. But if you spend from just four (4) hours a week, or 17 hours a month, then within six months you could write a book and leave a coherent legacy. This beats a drawer full of notebooks with scribbles. That’s the bottom line. Another perspective is from a Brisbane coaching professional, Eduardo Gomes. He…
Read more
Filters
Reset