Jennifer Lancaster

June 30, 2026

Books about Book Marketing!

I noticed there are lots of books about marketing your book in various ways. Here I’ve compiled a list of my faves, recently updated. There is the book-first approach, and then there is an author-brand first approach, which I endorse for those building a career out of book publishing. Smart Marketing for Indie Authors by Mike Kowis. A favourite, that takes intending authors through all the tactics and ranks them on Mike’s scale. My Personal Brand and Set Up as a Micro Publisher. The brand book is about foundations, with a chapter on publishing and speaks of monetising as well, while the second one teaches you more about book marketing and getting that return on investment. Book Promotion sites are covered here, which enables Amazon reviews. 5-Minute Book Marketing for Authors – Penny Sansevieri. If you want to know quick…

July 16, 2025

Self-Publishing

Xlibris Investigation and POD Comparisons

I recently spoke with yet another indie author who believed Xlibris (Hybrid Publishers) would help them publish books and turn a decent profit—after all, they’re paying good money for the services. But what’s the real story? Here’s what I uncovered using information on the websites concerned and some of my own knowledge. Be aware that XLibris is owned by Author Solutions Inc, who have 5 brands and who have been in court and out of favour with customers in the United States. If you Google ‘hybrid publishers’, do not click on the top four Sponsored results, okay? Xlibris Royalty Practices Xlibris does pay royalties on book sales, but feedback from authors has been mixed. Some have raised concerns about payment accuracy, transparency, and delays. If you’re considering signing up, read your publishing contract carefully and keep an eye on your…

April 7, 2025

Self-Publishing

Top 16 Up-and-Coming Indie Authors

Those of us around long enough to know Beetlejuice movie #1 will realise that Indie Authors become their own micro publisher – they don’t pay some other company to publish. If you want to do this also, my new book on Micro Publishing is coming soon. This list includes (to my knowledge) authors who have made their personal brand into a publishing imprint – at least in the beginning – and have had success. I think it’s important to look beyond the obvious authors who have had a leg up. Most are emerging indie authors from Australia but a few are based elsewhere and some parlayed their success in indie publishing into traditional publishing deals. You’ll notice most actively publish multiple books. This is because we always get better when we do a process again, revising what didn’t work and…

Learning to do, not to have (writer learning)

December 5, 2024

Book reviews, Book Writing

Learning to Do, Not Learning to Have

Most of the educational learning we do is theoretical and ‘nice to know’, but, according to researchers, has little adaptation to the real world. This is alarming. However, there is a lot we can do to improve our learning and skill take-up. In ‘Ultralearning‘ by Scott H Young, he gives four ways to learn directly. These are: Learn through a Project – SkillShare and Coursera courses let you do this. It works on two levels: your project aim makes for practical outcomes and your learning becomes more enjoyable and fruitful. Immersive Learning – Going to the region to learn the language works far better than learning on an app. The Flight Simulator Method – Students of a US high school found that when trying an important matter in a mock courtroom, they got way more specific, adaptive learning. Critical thinking…

how to create a digital product to help book sales

April 7, 2025

Selling eBooks and Media

How to Create a Digital Product to Help Book Profits

As nonfiction topic specialists, we all know that royalties aren’t quite enough, and your expertise and advice is worth a lot more than $5 per customer! So, it may be time to learn about a tool which has a way to add a simple coaching service or digital product to your book. You used to need to use a shopping cart like WooCommerce plus Woo Payments (setup time!) and connect a processor if you wanted to sell anything virtually (through WordPress). No longer! A product in this post is one that Jennifer uses herself and endorses to others – if you click on the link and go through the trial to purchase, Jennifer gets a commission. Now, you can use a main EMS platform to host each product and its payment options. Or still use a sales page in your…

November 29, 2024

Book Editing

Will AI Replace Editors and Writers?

Like almost everything, the concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is both good and bad. AI and machine learning is already replacing pesky jobs — like auditing a huge news site — yet it could also threaten the livelihoods of editors, journalists, and content writers. In 2019, we all didn’t believe jobs would disappear. Now, in 2024, we see that content writers are becoming editors of generated chats in a forced vocational transition. AI programs can scan a newspaper’s back issues and by learning the style, it can write feasible news articles from releases. Some places, like Sports Illustrated, have gotten into trouble by not marking that articles were written by artificial means. The Washington Post has a robot reporting program called Heliograf. However, The Post is using their system to not replace journalists, but to assist them and make their…