Self-Publishing Mentor to Guide You

February 23, 2021

IT IS SO HARD TO BECOME AN INDIE AUTHOR and BE SUCCESSFUL. (That’s why you may need a self-publishing mentor). In my enthusiasm for writing useful books, I didn’t realise the absolute sh#t you have to deal with being a self-published author of any kind. There is a lack of book distribution partners who deal with us… I mean the kind that take 70% and give you access to the Big W, Target, and franchise bookstores. There is a lack of retailer co-operation on things like retail price points (my…

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Review: ‘How to Fail Fantastically’

January 15, 2021

Book reviews

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It’s not often that I chuckle aloud to myself while reading. But Ken Williams’ book on failing made me do it. It’s small in size but not in value, and has black & white cartoons and quotes that gelled nicely with the content. In Ken’s book, everything is opposite. Failure is good; success, well, you can surmise. Sometimes I think even he gets confused about how to say it. But by the grace of his awesomely silly humour, he pulls it off. It’s the perfect antidote to those simpering, ingenuous…

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A Blurb Book Publishing Review

January 13, 2021

Self-Publishing

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I’ve talked about IngramSpark, Amazon and Reedsy, but never reviewed Blurb. With image-rich books as a point of difference, Blurb book publishing has two parts: one for the hobbyist putting their photos into a book for the family treasure chest, and the other for offering colour trade books. This post contains affiliate links and if you click on them, we may get a commission from the company out of what you paid. To be fair, the hardback, gloss paper photo book option is also useful for designers and photographers to…

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How to Motivate Yourself to Write (and Finish) a Book

December 30, 2020

Book Writing, Self-Publishing

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Towards the start of the new year, my thoughts turn to how writers can motivate themselves to write and finish a book. It pains me to think of all those amazing books going unpublished or not promoted, just because of a lack of confidence, so let’s find out some motivation tips. When I’m trying to finish my own books and in need of motivation, I think about other people’s problems. I believe the power of writing is not in the medium – as readers enjoy books, ebooks or courses –…

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All About Reedsy

December 18, 2020

Book Design, Self-Publishing

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Online Book Editor to Save on Typesetting One of the major costs of book production is typesetting and design. The art of book typesetting is a lofty one, with things like chapter rules, widow/orphan rules, and page bottom alignment. Reedsy Book Editor is an app to do your own layout and make the PDF artwork–for free! Let’s say we don’t mind too much about rules, we just want to get our book formatted with simplicity. Then online tool ‘Reedsy Book Editor’ is your tool. I tried it out, and some of…

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The Superannuation Debate Rages On

December 9, 2020

Personal finance and scams

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Lately in Australia, people were able to access their Super of up to $10,000 if suffering because of COVID19 layoffs. However, it seems that four in 10 Australians who withdrew from their super under the Federal Government’s Early Super Access Scheme actually saw no drop in their income at the time. In fact, as some were collecting stable Jobkeeper payments rather than being a part-time casual worker, collated data shows that 21% of these recipients had their overall earnings rise by more than 10%. (Savings.com.au) Recipients of the second round…

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What’s an Aussie Alternative to Self-Publishing School?

November 25, 2020

Book Writing, Self-Publishing

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Authors often look online for book publishing training, and some Australians find Self-Publishing School, by Chandler Bolt. He is American. Reviews state that one author enrolled with some feeling that it would provide support services, but always remember that author training schools are not services like editing and formatting. Let’s compare Self-Publishing School to Book Creation Success Club at Business Author Academy, Australia. It is a sequential type course, so the person learns one part at a time. Ours delivers the marketing section in month 2, but the rest you…

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