Jennifer Lancaster

December 23, 2020

Why do Authors Need a Marketing Mindset?

Even a simpleton will realise that novice or pro authors and business owners alike need to focus on their marketing activity. But, which elements do we need to work on—and why? Coming from a ‘why’ perspective, it gives any author a strong enough motive to move past their comfort zones. Hell yeah! Rather than worrying over your ‘product’ (book or service), your message is front and centre. This is great because it means people connect with your hook or your ethos. You will be learning about brand, benefit writing, landing pages, keywords, and teaser lines: all stuff that is handy for attracting anyone to any book. A niche marketing mindset is even better. That’s because choosing a niche will help an author attract fans with this laser focus. Using certain words, a phrase, a slogan or even a book title…

January 14, 2025

Book Marketing

How to Make a Book Landing Page

When creating your book sales page or course landing page, start with these questions: 1. What’s the purpose of my sales page? Have one clear call to action, like subscribing for a free chapter, buying a pre-order, or taking up a special fans & followers offer. 2. What am I offering my readers? Not more information, but an ability to earn more, do more, be more productive. 3. How will my prospects benefit from what I’m offering them? — A strong “what’s in it for me”. 4. Have I incorporated the strongest selling points in the headline? 5. Is there one clear reason for my ideal readers to buy? 6. Can I summarise some of my longer paragraphs with easier to read lists (written in direct voice)? 7. Does the design allow for ease of reading? White space and title case…

November 6, 2024

Book Design, Self-Publishing

Save Time (and Money) with Book Design Templates

This post is about saving time and how to use book design templates yourself. But, if you’re a professional, you’ll probably want to hire a book designer. Why? Because great book designers match the typeface to the cover and they think about the whole book’s look and feel. They can’t use a template for that, except as a starting point for size and margins. The other reason is because they are pros at it. First of all, I can’t mind-read whether you are using MS Word, InDesign, or Pages. (If you’re considering another program, like Publisher, for book design, it’s probably not a great idea). For fairness, we’ll talk about each one. Personal Fave: InDesign Yes, there are some benefits to subscribing to Adobe InDesign, and one of them is a selection of instantly downloadable ‘sort of free’ fonts. (The…

June 21, 2019

Selling eBooks and Media

How to Apply a Unique Selling Strategy to Books

One reason that new businesses fail is because they don’t have enough customers… generally because, says Paul Bassat (founder of Seek.com), “They think they are solving a problem… but that problem doesn’t really exist”. An even more common reason is… in the competitive marketplace, they “don’t offer any unique features that others don’t have”. It’s the same with books that help an author’s profile: the book must have a unique angle. Why apply a unique selling point to writing books? When writing a new book, I think about a strong selling point that my book can offer Australians. For example, the book market is small for Australians looking to grow their money knowhow or micro business. But I don’t worry over that, as there is an advantage in not competing with international finance/business gurus. Instead, I focus on compiling the kind of…

August 17, 2024

Book Editing

Good Editing Advice is Powerful

Hi, I’m Jennifer Lancaster, an editor and writing coach (Australia) for professionals who want to create their own book. Some of my clients have said really nice things about working with me, even after all their struggles of trying to get the right editor and getting the wrong point of view and advice, and several other incidents. Eve said: “Your editing is exactly what I needed in all the many areas that I did not know enough. I am so very grateful to have found you. I know the book will be much improved as a result.” That’s what I’m looking to do in my business… meet and exceed authors’ needs, when they want to write a book from the heart. Whether it’s a psychology book, a self -help, wellness, health, or yoga book, some with personal stories, I…

October 4, 2019

Publicity, Self-Publishing

Why a Book Creation Club for Indie Authors?

To answer the question of why a self-publishing membership is needed, let’s go back to 2008, when I was navigating self-publishing my first full book to sell to the public. There was little information available to me to find out how to print cheaply, get a cover design done (DIY ugh!), and sell my well-researched book to people other than my own network. I tried a public seminar—what a failure. I handed out flyers about it, and people looked startled. I would like to have known many different realities and knowledge about self-publishing, starting with the philosophical question: is this all worth it? Each of us have our own criteria, and therefore our own answer. But one thing is for sure, a Book Writing & Publishing club offers a handy resource for indie authors. To me, being an author-publisher-entrepreneur is…