Self-Publishing Archives | Page 6 of 10 | 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…

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…

February 20, 2018

Book Marketing, Self-Publishing

A Tale of the Printing Press and POD

In 1450, in the town of Pearlessence, Sir Rupert was talking to his lightly-paid servant, Eric. It seemed the world of technology had moved on without Sir Rupert, which young Eric was only too happy to point out. (Bear with it, this parable does have a point). “Sir, it is a futile effort that you make, copying your manuscripts by hand. Even by woodblock, it takes a week to set up for one book! Have you not heard that in Mulberry city they have a new Gutenberg press, a POD 400*. Its metal, moveable type and mechanized process makes it very fast!” “I don’t care, Eric, I am good with my hands and have all day long to make my books.” “Aye my Lord, but the POD 400 means you could not just copy out a book a fortnight and charge 10 guineas,…

February 7, 2018

Self-Publishing

Signs You’re Falling into an Author Support Solutions Trap

Lately, there have been a couple of client tales about the neverending saga of BP. Let’s just say BP, for legal reasons… they of the permanent Google advertising. So I want to talk about how to spot the signs before you fall into an author support solutions trap. In case you’re unaware, many of those holding top spots of Google for “book publishing support Australia” or “author support services Australia” are actually American companies with Australian sales machines. (Except for me, ha ha!) These provide a publishing package but then if you want editing, that’s more. If you want help with marketing, that’s more. Then some of them take in 50% of the author royalties… This split is not a given as there are perfectly reliable author support businesses on our Australian coastline who provide a service without taking royalties. Read more about Author Solutions Inc…

September 15, 2025

Book Design, Self-Publishing

Book Design Knockdown: MS Word vs Adobe InDesign

Lately, a few talented writers have contacted me with their pre-press production problems. Now, most new authors want to typeset their non-fiction book in Word, but Word is designed for word processing and not so much for book design. However, some authors want to be able to access the file again — and if they are not worried about the colours (inside) not being controlled, then there are workarounds. But Adobe InDesign is the industry standard for book design, so let’s discuss MS Word vs Adobe Indesign. Remember, the interior of any book is completely separate to the cover. To dispel another myth, you can print bleed images right to the edge of your file (when setting up for IngramSpark or CreateSpace) and no, you don’t need to have a border. Bleed means going beyond the page (e.g. 3mm beyond). What you need…