creative nonfiction book writing
Book Writing

Revealing Truth in Creative Nonfiction Writing

There’s a certain kind of authentic voice and language that connects to your emotions, that you might find in outstanding creative nonfiction books and some self-help books. If you want to know what creative nonfiction is, it is the gripping, narrative style of writing but telling a factual story. Like any other skill, I believe you can learn to write in a more ‘raw and real’ way. Although at times I struggle with this myself. So push aside the academic ‘balanced view’, stamp down your prim English rules (occasionally), and let’s get to their hearts and minds. Raw and Revealing Recently, I was critiquing and editing a spiritual self-development book which contained many unconventional ideas. The author was obviously well-read but there were few references or evidence to back the ideas. This was more of a choice rather than an…
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Balance book - Author interview
Selling eBooks and Media

Life’s Now an Adventure: Book Launch Interview

This is an author interview with Leanne Blaney of Adventure School. What tactics did you use to attract people to your book and listing? Many people have connected on my Podcast, Ignite your Life, so many of the guests were happy to help. I also have a big network of coaches and people I’ve networked with. I did an Amazon Kindle campaign – over a 2-day period, I sent many emails and messages to gather support. The book was not discounted, it was priced at AU$11.99. With the aid of an Amazon expert, we listed in 5-6 categories. It went #1 in two categories (bestseller status) for those days. The categories are: 1. New Age: Mental and Spiritual Healing 2. New Age: Religion and Spirituality It is important to go into the lower niche categories, but the book was also…
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book promotion tools for self-published authors

Easy, Modern Book Promotion Tools

Lately I’ve been running into some amateur (yet very talented) self-published writers with little knowledge of book marketing. One serial self-publisher, an obvious talent, claimed that he was “hopeless” at marketing. No more!  Here’s the low-down on easy book promotion tools for self-publishers on a shoestring book promotion budget. Now, can we all agree we are living in an image-conscious world?  Good, then follow along. Instagram Not so Daunting Any type of author should set up a ‘business’ Instagram account rather than a personal one, so it lets you have a website link in the profile. The trick is not only to link to others, but also to have a lot of book-friendly images ready to go. But if you haven’t got a decent camera/lighting set-up or just publish ebooks, what then? Well, you cheat with mock-ups.  A mock-up generator…
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publishing books professionally
Book Writing, Self-Publishing

Dip your Toe in… or Immerse in Publishing Books

This post is about how you cut your book success off at the knees when you don’t commit to the publishing process. It’s also about ensuring professional quality in all books you write. Freight Train truth coming… Publishing an eBook on Amazon and talking about it on a small blog will not lead to many sales, keynote invitations, Joint Ventures, or podcast invitations.   Look for opportunity, not problems… While you can’t get an author platform just by publishing on Amazon, there are other ways to share your message and achieve success. Did you see the hardback, High Performance Habits?  I saw the picture of Brendon Burchard in front of these amazingly impressive books of around 300 pages. Look at the cover design – simple with just two colours, large letters, impactful. A hardback like this gives a great first…
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how to use Instagram and Twitter Hashtags
Updates

How to Use Insta and Twitter Hashtags for Authors

Learning Instagram and Twitter for authors? In making a new account for Business Author Academy, I came across some helpful information, which I’d like to share with you. Apparently, you can use up to 30 hashtags on Instagram posts and 10 hashtags on an Insta Story. Thinking that would be hard and admitting to sheer laziness, I was glad when someone emailed me this automated tool (87% safe rating on scamadvisor): https://Autogramtags.com What’s an Instagram Story? It’s a visual spectacle of 15 seconds (video) that you create right in the app. If you don’t have a teen nearby, find out how the kids are doing it here: https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/1/15889750/instagram-stories-how-to-tips-features-tricks Canva Quote to Instagram Post Another trick for the not-so-young… I made a Canva picture quote (nice!) but how to put it on Instagram?  Here’s a Mac tip: Just drag the downloaded…
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Changing Brand Positioning
Personal Branding

Knowing How to Change Your Positioning

Don’t look, I’m changing my positioning! Weird!  Some people don’t think of themselves as a ‘brand’… but really we are talking of ‘brand positioning’. When I was setting up Power of Words for copywriting and content marketing, I did a lot of SWOT research on what my service should do and what level I should play at. It is similar to what I do now, whenever I launch a new book or membership. Sometimes though, the level we play at is dictated by the people we can feasibly reach. Who can you reach? It makes sense to align with what people in your circles are looking for… this often comes down to your own content, pitches, and talks. I’ve found, people in my circles are not often looking for ‘executive level’ info; far more often, they are looking for how to…
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