Self-Publishing Archives | Page 5 of 10 | Jennifer Lancaster

January 24, 2020

What does your Financial Life hold for 2020?

We made a fun 1-minute video to interest you in my new book, Creative Ways with Money, launching: eBook – via Draft2Digital on 27 JANUARY. $4.99 only that week. Paperback – all retailers on 7 FEBRUARY. $23.99 Book Trailer Template (copy) on Biteable. What’s Hiding in Creative Ways with Money–the Book? Everyone can create their own goals unhindered by Government rules. I believe the key to financial independence is down to doing several basic things: 1. Start a budget and monitor your spending 2. Create new income streams from easy-to-look-after investments and/or online educational products 3. Be careful with where you invest your money, whom you invest it with, and invest relative to risk 4. Reinvest dividends or profits and don’t spend it on fripperies. 5. Only borrow for good debt (investments, business, education), rather than bad debt (personal consumer…

January 4, 2020

Self-Publishing, Selling eBooks and Media

How to Optimise a Book Sales Page

A book sales page — aka a landing page — focuses the action on just one thing: your book or course. This is so new visitors can read the benefits about it without getting #distracted… as we are likely to do. When creating your book/course landing page, start with these questions: 1. What’s the purpose of my landing page? Have one clear call to action, like signing up the first video lesson, subscribing for a free chapter, or take this 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…

November 6, 2024

Self-Publishing, Selling eBooks and Media

The Reasons Your Indie Book Isn’t Selling and What to Do About It

Since selling your already self-published book is probably the hardest thing you’ll try to do after changing your own car oil, I’ve compiled some ‘low hanging fruit’ ideas to get you started. If your book has been published through XLibris, Balboa Press, iUnivers, AuthorHouse, etcetera, then the raw cost to you of buying in your book may also be a barrier to making any profits. I heard that a regular trade paperback could be $12 each to buy in! (It should be more like $6 + shipping). Thin Records Could be the Problem If you used a ‘publishing package’ at a big group, then you might have no idea what your book record contains—and thus how poorly it may be filled out. Alas, it may also be an ISBN registered in a foreign land. Once you confirm that booksellers here…

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…

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…

Author Assist Packages Comparison Review

November 9, 2024

Book Design, Book Marketing, Self-Publishing

Author Assist Packages Comparison

If you’re part way into writing your book, it’s time to think about who is going to help put together your book and administrate it. This is a giant step but is often left to emotion and chance. So read our Author Assistance Package comparison review (Australian based). Check down the bottom for DIY administration + freelancers option, which is the model for intrepid independent types. Most author assistance packages leave out the most important service—editing (and writing support). Book publicity and launch planning is usually either an add-on or ‘find your way in the darkness’, but really important for you, the author. Remember, no matter how little you may know about the publishing process, you are in control of the path before you. Let’s make it a good one. Publicious: Package 3 + Editing added Gold Coast, Australia. Book…