Jennifer Lancaster

May 6, 2019

Self-Publishing, Selling eBooks and Media

What Can I Expect to Make in Royalties as a First-Time Author?

“The time has come, the Walrus said, to speak of many things.” (Lewis Carroll) Today’s unspeakable thing is what all new authors want to know: how much money will I make as a self-published author? Will it give me the freedom and riches I truly deserve? The quick answer to the first question is, not much… and the second one is, no, not on its own! Bestselling author Federico Pistoni (of Robots will Steal your Job) agrees with me, and I quote: “Most people don’t make any money writing books, and chances are, you won’t be part of the 0.01% that makes it”.Federico Pistoni Derek of CreativeIndie worked out that only the top .06% of authors actually sell 1,000 books over a period of three months at Amazon – so Fed’s supposition is pretty darn close to statistical averages. Even…

May 14, 2025

Selling eBooks and Media

Use your Talents to get Book Attention

You have talents, no doubt. There’s no point in struggling away with the wrong media type when you can use your talent to attract a new, relevant audience for an upcoming book, otherwise known as Book Publicity. If your skill is a visual one especially, perhaps you have clear and large book pictures, then you’ll love this new partnering idea. Not only relevant to securing partnerships, you may use your innate talents to get publicity by: talking about your subject (podcast guest)writing short how-to pieces (guest blog, articles in magazines)making creative short videos to relay a conceptmaking cartoons signifying ideas of yours to put on Instagram Want Publicity? Check this First. If you’ve been only heard of ‘Social Buzz Club’, BookBub and BookBuzz, then this is the level up from that, and just chock-full of Australian ‘cool’. Also, it’s not…

February 6, 2019

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…

December 20, 2018

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…

book promotion tools for self-published authors

July 26, 2020

Book Marketing, Self-Publishing

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…

October 31, 2018

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…