No matter the industry, the tech you use everyday requires regular maintenance. You take your car in every few thousand miles, the office copier gets monthly visits from the service tech, and the software you're using to write your next book gets regular updates from its developer.

But what about your website? 

Are you considering publishing your book in hardcover? Or converting your existing hardcover to IngramSpark’s new jacketed case laminate option?

Read on!

You can write the absolute best book in the world, have top-of-the-line book distribution and quality, but another essential part to being a successful publisher is taking the time to invest in expanding your publishing knowledge and expertise, because, at the end of the day, your book’s success needs your input.

Ah, research. For some authors, it is the bane of their existence, and for others, their bread and butter. Whether or not one takes any particular pleasure in it, research is integral to any writing process.

You’ve officially started the process of publishing your book! Congratulations; you have put in a significant amount of time and effort, and now the next step is beginning the process of marketing and publicizing to help let others know about the project you worked so long and hard on. This can seem like an overwhelming task, but you can learn to think like a publicist and incorporate media outreach into your marketing strategy. 

I think all people go through important transitional moments in their lives, and if we’re lucky, during those moments we stumble across tools that help us to find and better understand ourselves. When my mom died just before my final year of art school, I walked head-first into one of those major life-altering periods and my sense of self seemed to have been lost somewhere along the way. But there’s an interesting, and slightly magical, thing that happens when we lose a piece of ourselves — it makes room for new discovery. For me that discovery was poetry, specifically in published, physical form.

I first encountered the term ‘beta reader’ while reading Harry Potter fanfiction online. From the author notes, I surmised that beta readers were the first people to read a story, and that they helped to polish them into finished pieces. I assumed that a beta reader was like an editor, but not paid.

I eventually learned that beta readers are not unpaid editors, but serve a key purpose in the writing process nonetheless. In fact, I’d had beta readers before and didn’t even know it! 

Ask 100 different people who have self-published how difficult it was, and you will probably get 100 different answers. After all, we are writers. Give us an open-ended question and the probability we give you a longer answer than you wanted is high. But the truth is, the journey to self-publishing and the process you take to release day is different for every person. 

Our world needs memoirs.

It needs individuals who are willing to share the honest reality of who they are and the things they’ve experienced. When someone chooses to read a memoir, it means they’re searching for something. They’re searching for understanding, to gain perspective or insight, and they’re hoping to find something within your story that they can resonate with—perhaps something that gives them hope. 

When it comes to authors deciding how to write a book dedication, there’s often a lot of giving thanks. There are funny proclamations, curt pithiness, esoteric wit, or the occasional coy flirt. There are greetings and salutations. Yes, yes, when it comes authors dedicating their books, there runs a whole gamut of affection and charm and innuendo.

Fanfiction is a word that is being bandied about more and more in the publishing industry. But what is it exactly? Fanfiction is basically writing a book in another author’s “world.” You use some of their characters and locations and weave them into your own story. Of course you can’t just write this kind of story and publish it on your own, without the approval and blessing from the original author (you don’t want to be accused of plagiarism or “stealing” another author’s ideas and characters). So how does fanfiction work?

As humans, we are addicted to stories. We spend our days telling our own and hearing the stories of others. We then go to sleep at night and our imagination continues to tell story after story. The magic never stops. However, are you listening to that magic or pushing it aside? This being said, in a world where we crave stories, how are you telling yours?

According to Bowker, the official ISBN issuing agency in the United States, self-published books were up 40% in 2018 over 2017, with an estimated 1.68 million self-published print and ebooks published. Through the boom of self-publishing, long before 2017, book promotion dramatically changed. Publicity campaigns that were once focused solely around a book greatly expanded to make room for the personality behind the content. An established author platform, in many ways, has become more of a necessity than the book itself as it drives much of the reader, reviewer and media engagement. Most authors know you can’t just release a book into the wild to wait for something to happen, and that promotion—whether at the hand of a professional or the author herself—is necessary. There are, however, critical steps to prepare your author platform before diving headfirst into publicizing your book. Taking these early steps, amongst others, will ultimately provide you with channels you’ll later need to leverage your publicity results.

Have you ever read a book that left you in a daze? One of those truly magical reads that leaves you feeling as though you’ve just come back from a walk in the woods at twilight, the scent of pine needles still fresh in your mind.

Whether you are working on your next novel or writing short stories for the sake of writing short stories, there are a number of things that can make the process of writing them a bit easier.

I will start by saying, my virtual book launch was not planned at all. My original book launch party was planned for 4^th April, just before the government stepped up restrictions, banned gatherings, and closed all establishments. I wouldn't let COVID-19 stand in the way of my celebrating—so I decided to throw a virtual book launch and want to help others looking to do the same! 

According to an April 19, 2020 CNBC news report, “there was a whopping 777% increase in book purchases” in the first half of April as compared to the first half of March. It’s clear that quarantined readers are devouring books in record numbers, but there have also been important changes in reader preferences and habits amid this boom. These shifts present opportunities for resourceful indie authors who know where to look. So let’s dive into three top trends we’ve identified at Bublish.

We're excited to unveil the new home dashboard and title setup process in your IngramSpark account!

Working with an editor is one of the most important decisions you'll make when it comes to publishing a book. So how do you know when you're ready to send your draft to an editor? How do you choose the right editor? And when do you trust your own writing style over your editor's suggested revisions? Find out all the answers you need to understand the editing process.

The fantasy genre in literature, especially that of the Young Adult (YA) age group, is a constantly changing and maneuvering beast of new ideas, expanding themes, widening horizons, and tedious design—not only inside but outside of the book. 

Twitter is for politicians, musicians, comedians, but authors? Authors are best at writing novels, not 280-character tweets. Still, hundreds of writers have used Twitter successfully master social media marketing: Augusten Burroughs has over 40K followers on Twitter; Jackie Collins over 170K; Joyce Carol Oates has over 200K; George R.R. Martin has over 1 million; Stephen King has over 5 million; Paulo Coelho has over 15 million. These writers aren’t just popular on social media because they have popular books—they’re popular because they’re actually saying things on Twitter that people are responding to. Here are seven tips to help break down Twitter for authors and make sure you are tweeting like a bestselling author!

Quarantine days are a bit quieter, and there's never been a better time to step into a creative mindset and write. The IngramSpark community is hyper-engaged right now, and WE 👏 SEE 👏 YOU! 👏 To keep the creative juices flowing, we've rounded up some of our top writing and publishing resources to keep you stimulated and sane while you're at home!

There is no question that the Young Adult (YA) genre has taken the book world by storm. Gone are the days when the only titles that fit into this genre were dystopian fantasies, or when the only readers were teenagers. The YA genre has evolved—and continues to evolve—along with its readers and their tastes and now includes more realism, romance, diversity, and inclusivity than ever. As a result, the number of YA books published and sold each year has exploded.

Making a habit of marketing your books is important for all authors and publishers. Some habits are good, leading to long-term success. Others are not so good and can keep you from reaching your goals.

Let’s skip to the point. You’ve already decided on a few things: you like stories (mainly of the suspense-thriller variety), want to write your own, and want to publish something for a wider audience. The only hang up is you’re not quite sure how to go about it all, right?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is often seen as a complex and confusing term. And for authors, it can often be another rabbit hole of information, one that seems endless and complex. But it doesn’t have to be. Getting found online is really about doing stuff that Google likes. Google’s number one goal is matching websites to consumer search—and that’s it. So, the key really is not in understanding the various changes in Google’s algorithm, but understanding how search impacts your website—and how to turn this to your advantage.

A challenge is something that requires special effort. It takes special effort on your part to sell your books. Therefore, selling books is challenging. With more than two million books published every year, the book selling climate is fiercely competitive. Every author must meet and overcome three challenges to sell books: attention, time, and declining readership. Let's talk about how.

Succeeding as an author isn’t just about writing strong books. Sure, that may be the most important factor, but the rise of self-publishing has resulted in authors facing more competition than ever. If you want to stand out in the crowd, you need to make sure that you also write strong marketing copy.

As you know, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) is impacting the book industry including cancelled events, limited employee travel, and workforce and supply shortages. We are closely tracking the manufacturing, distribution, and shipping challenges you may be facing in your own business. 

Suspense is holding your breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Take a second to picture that moment. Notice how your body tenses; you may clench your teeth or curl your toes up. Make a note for later.

Suspense is about heightened emotions. Do you want to have your reader breathless, stressed, intrigued, wondering what’s happening and what’s going to happen next? If you do, then you need to understand and utilize suspense.

“Kids don’t read books anymore.”

How many times have you heard someone say those words in the last ten years? With phones, tablets, TVs, smartwatches, VR headsets, and Siri chatting away in the background, it can seem like an impossible task to entice a child to sit down and read a book for a few hours or even a few minutes.

Though the days of women selecting masculine pen names for fear of being unable to publish are predominantly past, authors still frequently write under names that are not their own. Why is this?

Sooner or later, every book will get a negative review. Authors can be hit hard by those reviews; you may want to wade in and defend your book, or hide under your blanket and swear you’ll never write again. But negative reviews can hold a lot of value for you, so before you give up or pick a fight, take a deep breath and read on.

With stiff competition for indies to get a place in the programme of one of the big commercial literature festivals, it’s worth thinking laterally and going about it another way: by starting your own. Whereas the high profile litfests depend on famous name, trade-published authors to sell the tickets that fund their year-round operation, there’s plenty of public appetite for small, friendly indie litfests offering a different menu of speakers and the chance to meet their next favourite author that they’ve never heard of!

If you publish your book with IngramSpark, you may have noticed an email in your inbox with the title “Important: Maintaining Catalog Integrity.” 

Authors and small publishers must have their own mobile-friendly, professional looking website—it is, by far, the most important element of a book marketing strategy. I've developed over 150 author and publisher websites in the last 20 years, and although a lot has changed when it comes to developing websites, some things remain fundamental. This blog is the complete guide to creating an author website—from domain names and costs all the way down to specific content categories. Read more and learn how to create a professional author website today.

“What’s the secret sauce?”

“How did you know where to begin?”

“How did you know you would be successful?”

These are all questions I was asked after I wrote my book, and they all come back to the following: How do you embark on a personal venture to change a part of the world, no matter how big or how small it is, through your writing?

When we need guidance on how to write, there is nothing quite like a book from an author we admire. Which other format could be more appropriate for sharing wisdom about our beloved craft?

What’s the big deal about editing? You add some periods, delete a few commas, run spellcheck and voila, you’ve just edited a book—well done! Nope. It takes years of dedication to the craft before editors develop the necessary skills to help authors say precisely what they want to say in the most effective, affecting way possible.

When I was nine years old, my fourth grade teacher read a story to our class about a boy and his two hunting dogs in the Ozark Mountains. Where the Red Fern Grows did more than make me teary-eyed; it filled my young mind with wonder, imagination, and inspiration. 

Emotionally driven love scenes can be a powerful part of any story in any genre. And in a romance novel, they are even more key, because the love scenes can and should inform the arcs of both the characters and their relationship, letting readers understand more deeply both what is pulling these characters close… and also what is keeping them apart. So how do you accomplish that?

With the growth of other visual social media sites like Instagram, it seems like the buzz for Pinterest has really died down, but nothing could be further from the truth. Pinterest continues to grow. In 2019 Pinterest became a publicly traded company and in Q2 of 2019, it reporter higher than expected earnings, 62% higher in fact than the previous year. 

I’m sitting here in my kitchen window on a January snowy day in New Mexico thinking about all the possibilities ahead in 2020. With this new year just dawning, it’s a perfect time to take inventory of what's happening in the world of self-publishing. Here’s a review of self-publishing trends in 2019 and what I see happening in 2020.

IngramSpark has been hard at work to expand book options for indie authors. Over the last few months, we've launched three exciting new product offerings: groundwood paper, Digital Cloth™, and Jacketed Case Laminate! Learn more about the new product options.

The whole “introverted writer” thing is so cliché. But hey, some clichés are true—and this is one of them. Many writers are introverts, preferring to keep to themselves, only entertaining the ideas and characters roaming in their brains. So the thought of broadcasting videos of yourself on social media may seem like a threat on your sanity—but it doesn't need to be.

As we look back on 2019, we want to take a moment and celebrate some of the best and brightest ideas on the blog. The verdict is in—here are your top ten most viewed self-publishing blogs from IngramSpark in 2019! 

Crowdfunding has become a major source of funding for creative projects since online funding platforms such as Kickstarter began launching around a decade ago. Kickstarter has helped more than 16,000 publishing projects raise over 150 million dollars in the last ten years.

Did you catch the Season 4 finale of IngramSpark's self-publishing podcast, Go Publish Yourself? We featured some exciting guests this season—publishing experts from all over the globe sharing their secrets to successful indie publishing. With over 100,000 listens in more than 70 countries, Go Publish Yourself is the go-to podcast for indie publishing knowledge. Listen to Season 4 to learn more about self-publishing in Australia, the business of book publishing, and the top self-publishing mistakes today!

We all have tasks that we enjoy doing, some we don’t mind doing, and some we dread. Many of us put off doing those tasks that we dread. In fact, almost everyone procrastinates sometimes. Up to 95% of people report that they occasionally procrastinate. However, studies reveal that 20% of people are chronic procrastinators.

Learning a new language is like learning to see the world in a new color: you suddenly notice shades of sounds in rolled r’s and guttural consonants, and potential friendships tucked behind an “hola” or “salut.” That’s why it’s so special when a child has the opportunity to learn another language, especially through a book you write! As language learners embark on this journey, bilingual books can be an incredibly helpful resource for them.

As the holiday season winds down, there’s a new sense of excitement in the air. This is the year that you’re going to publish a book. You’ve thought about it for months, maybe even created goals around writing, networking, and creating a fan-base; but you still haven’t published a book. We get it—life happens, and maybe writing isn’t your full-time job. Now is the time to take a leap and go for it. For all of you aspiring authors ready to take the plunge, we’ve put together a list of New Year’s Resolutions for writers that will make your dream to publish a book in 2020 a reality.

2019 was another fantastic year for IngramSpark authors. We have so much to look back fondly on in 2019, including a successful IngramSpark Day and a brand new look for www.ingramspark.com. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to launch wholeheartedly into the new year! 

There was a time when becoming an author was a far-fetched dream, and writing a paper was the closest anyone in my community had come to sharing a message. The journey to becoming an author has not been a straightforward one. It has been one of mental challenges, imposter syndrome, and lack of knowledge around the phenomenon that is indie publishing—but it's been so worth it.

Finally seeing the nonfiction manuscript you spent months — or years — writing turn into a published book can feel like crossing the finish line of a long and exhausting marathon. But while you have just achieved an incredibly rewarding milestone, the race is not quite over yet. Because now you’ve got to let the big, wide world know that your book actually exists. In other words, it’s time to learn how to market your book.

You’ve just spent what seems like a huge chunk of your life writing your book, and now, at last, it’s time to hit that publish button . . . but not so fast! Is it really time to publish your book? Just because a book is finished doesn’t mean the timing is right. Your publication date is important. There are certain months that would be perfect for your book and make your pitch to retailers and media outlets easier, and some months you should avoid altogether. Below are some tips to help make sure your book doesn’t launch with bad timing.

For most of us, barrelling into the end of the year means getting ready for the holiday season in a flurry of last-minute projects and parties. For many writers, though, November brings an added challenge—National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short.

As of the second quarter of 2019, Facebook boasts approximately 2.41 billion active monthly users. That’s a key reason it’s among the most popular digital marketing platforms. Facebook ads simply have the potential to reach a very large audience, and this remains true today, despite greater competition among advertisers.

Have you ever met an author who doesn’t want to sell more books? Even the authors who claim they don’t care much about book sales secretly wish they were selling more books. Most authors aim to get as many readers as possible to buy their books—which can prove to be more challenging than writing the book in the first place.

Whether stereotypical fact or fiction, many writers prefer the intimate, one-on-one relationship with their keyboard over marketing or promoting their book. Whether that describes you is beside the point. Your success as an author is in your own hands and marketing your books is no different. Having a solid book marketing strategy is key.

Believe it or not, there is a science behind choosing the best fonts for books. Think about all the places you see type today. Whether it’s a phone, a computer screen, a book, an ad, a magazine or a menu, almost every minute of the day is spent reading something. And—other than the menu at your favorite restaurant perhaps—much thought has gone into which font to use.

There are many ways you can leverage your book to bring in more business and ultimately help more people. In this article, I will share one avenue where you can use your book as your golden ticket to receive more exposure for you and your business. I’ve used this method with my own book and have helped my clients do the same. And what is that avenue? Leveraging public speaking to bring a face to the words of your book and generate business from that.

Are you thinking about publishing a cookbook? In the digital age, the opportunities to market a cookbook can seem endless. In this article, I'll share nine steps to help you build a following, three keys to planning a successful book launch, and eight different ideas to add to your marketing plan.

‘Tis the season to be jolly... and productive. With the hustle and bustle of the approaching holiday season, it can be easy to push aside your writing productivity as you focus on all the festivities.

As science progresses, so do the tools we have for understanding the human brain and human behavior. The development of fMRI in the 1990s has opened the door to neuromarketing. You may be wondering, how can neuromarketing help me sell more books? In this post, I'll share three specific reasons.

Writing comes with innumerable choices around characters, dialogue, setting, and plot. But once you finish your masterpiece, there is another set of choices with which you'll be faced. When you decide to print a book, those choices begin with paperback vs hardcover. And once you choose one over the other, there are even more choices that fall under those designations. They're all worth it to print a book that is worthy of the story within its pages, so let's review some of the most popular options available for these print formats with IngramSpark.

Writing is a journey. Sometimes, we could all use little extra motivation! Are you ready to challenge yourself to do more? Learn more about IngramSpark's 30-Day Writing Challenge and join a community of people improving their writing skills, one day at a time. 

The notion of setting type might belong to another era, but with the advance of technology, it’s more relevant than ever. Ironically, technology is the reason that typesetting matters today: increased exposure to (sometimes) beautiful typography in books, magazines, and marketing materials, not to mention websites, has raised our collective expectations regarding appealing type. Even the uninitiated among us can easily pick out poor font choice and bad formatting. So, what exactly is typesetting—and why does it matter for self-publishers?

Let’s face it. A lot of people decide to write children’s books because they seem easier. I mean, it’s a 32-page book for 5-year-old kids. There are lots of 5-year-olds in the world, how hard could it be right?

The thing is, you don’t realize just how hard it is because when you Google “How to market a book”, you get 2 billion results. The problem is that the majority of the book marketing strategies online focus nearly entirely on the adult market.

It’s not until you become a children’s author that you realize that children’s books are an entirely different beast.

Amazon book ads have become complex, but a definite necessity when it comes to book promotion. If done right, these ads can really help to boost your online exposure—but if they’re done incorrectly, they can end up costing you a lot of money. So, let’s look at some ways that you can boost your exposure, without adding to your daily ad budget!

Your imprint name is different to your author name, which is the name you are writing a single book under. It’s also different to your publisher name. Are you confused yet? Let's break down what an imprint is and how to set it up.

Most writers will tell you that writing nonfiction is easier than writing fiction. This is the good news. The less good news: that doesn’t mean it’s less work to write a nonfiction book. While fiction writers often use a basic outline and then go wherever the story and characters take them, nonfiction takes careful planning before you even start writing. To get you started, these steps explain the basic process of how to write a nonfiction book.

Running Facebook ads can be a total came changer for your book career, but it can also be a big waste of time and money if you don’t know what you’re doing. Over the last few years, we’ve worked with a ton of authors and publishers, but one question we get almost daily is this: “Is running ads on Facebook the same thing as boosting a post?” I’d like to give a very Facebook answer and say, “it’s complicated.” (Read on, it’s really not that complicated.)

Coloring books are a great way to relieve stress, have fun, and create a shared creative experience between the customer & artist. Behind the scenes of what goes into creating one is an art form itself, and we’re excited to share our experience. We hope to inspire future indie artists to bring their imagination to life and create that shared experience with others. Here’s our journey in creating Wandering: a coloring book of the unusual!

Over the years, serious fans have taken a variety of different shapes and been called everything from “Super Fan” to “Street Team” to “Tribe.” And while each of these terms is a great descriptor, not all mega fans are created equally.

You posted a photo of your dog on Facebook and all your friends liked it—building a Facebook page to promote your book to fans should be easy, right? Wrong! While your Facebook fan page may look the same and even function the same, the content and mission is completely different. You aren’t talking to your close friends and family, you are talking to over one billion potential viewers, because unlike your personal Facebook page, your fan page is public and a vehicle of your social media marketing. Here are some tips to point you in the right direction.

Cozy mystery (or cosy mystery, in British English) is the gentlest subset of the broad genre of crime writing. As its name suggests, it’s a comfort read that leaves you satisfied and at one with the world, rather than scared to sleep alone with the lights out.

Books are definitely judged by their covers. Those with more compelling and impactful covers, quite simply, have a better chance of being purchased and read. Book cover design trends are constantly evolving, and they tend to affect the industry as a whole—one day, you may walk into a bookstore or turn on your e-reader to discover that the overall look of book covers has changed. As we head toward the latter part of the year, let’s take a look at some of the biggest design trends of 2019.

Have you started planning your holiday book sales yet? Cyber Monday and Black Friday are right around the corner in marketing minutes and those sales are secured by the planning that happens before the big shopping days, and all the effort in between. If you want to grab big holiday sales, you’d better start early, so let’s get up to speed by qualifying your book and brainstorming unique book marketing strategies!

For the past few months, we've been hard at work laying out an new online experience for our website users. We've focused on making it easier to find the self-publishing resources you need, highlighting our IngramSpark authors and publishers, and helping you connect with your IngramSpark community. Now, it's the time for us to share it with the world. 

Writing is a journey, and many people use writing to heal old wounds. It's important to work through the pain in order to create a helping version of your story to share with readers. Are you ready for that next step? Everyone can write about painful experiences by following these three steps.

What happens when your book gets stuck in IngramSpark's title processing? And what if your title is showing up as "temporarily unavailable" or "out of stock" through online retailers? In this post, we'll review common file errors that delay your title processing and how to ensure that your title is available to booksellers worldwide.

Every author has their own way to outline. Some want minimal detail, some want a lot. Some keep the same outline process for every book they write. Some change from book to book—a new method for a new writing experience. Is there anything they all have in common? Yes, they do.

Many authors write a book based on a subject they like, or perhaps on a unique experience they have had. As a book marketing consultant, a question I frequently hear is, “My book is finished, now what do I do?” Successful book marketing lies in giving prospective readers what they want to read. Figuring that out depends on four pillars: target market, customer needs, integrated marketing, and profitability.

We are now living in a golden age for indie content creators. Through Twitch, YouTube, Instagram, and publishing portals like IngramSpark, artists can connect directly with their fans and bypass traditional gatekeepers like agents— they can even make more money this way.

At least once a week, I get an email that reads something like "I found the perfect image for my book on the internet. Can I use it, as long as I give credit to the photographer?" or "I have the best song to set a scene in my book. Can I quote the song lyrics?" In order to answer these questions, we have to understand "fair use." 

A well-designed book isn't just a collection of text and images; it's a work of art. And illustrations aren't just pictures interspersed throughout text, but crucial elements of decoration and style that bind a book’s theme and purpose. In this article, we ask you to take a moment to immerse yourself in the wonderful world where the illustrative magic begins.

Over the years, quite a few business owners, entrepreneurs, and CEOs have come to me asking for help writing a book. Sometimes it's a memoir, other times it can be prescriptive nonfiction, or even inspiration. You may be wondering why this would be a good use of your time—but trust me, there's huge potential to grow your business by writing a book. Here are several different reasons CEOs should write a book.

Social media writer’s block. It’s a thing! You have no problem hammering away at an 80,000 word novel, but when it comes to a 280 character tweet? Forget about it! You end up posting about what you had for dinner or what you did during the day, and nobody seems to be listening... or following. If that sounds like you, then these 10 social media marketing tips are just what you need.

Many of us authors get tired of hearing the word “platform.” Working to build an audience can feel like climbing an impossibly high mountain, where the peak looks farther and farther away as you go. The good news is that the potential audience for your book might be bigger than you realize.

So you just tried advertising for the first time. You signed up for Facebook's ad tools. You made your first ad. You chose an audience, and you uploaded some pictures, and you wrote some great ad copy. Maybe you even tweaked a bunch of settings over time as you figured out what worked and what didn't. Heck, you probably even sold a couple more books than you usually do. So why didn't your ads work quite like you wanted?

You may be ready to start building your marketing plan for your debut book—but where do you start? Some authors avoid planning in general because they don't know how to do it. There are two different ways for first-time authors to create their future marketing plans. One solution is discovery-driven planning in which much is still assumed, but the plan evolves over time through trial and error. A second technique views planning as narrative, conducted as you would when writing a novel.

Do you lose heart when you see fellow indie authors crowing about 2000, 5000, or 10000 words a day, or launching a new book every quarter, every month, or even every week?

Writing and marketing a memoir is so personal. Unlike a work of fiction or a business or self-help book, this is your life. While memoirs probably offer the most opportunities for marketing, knowing how to harness the specific power of your story and use it to make a difference is key.

Being an indie author is one of the most rewarding jobs there is. But it’s far from an easy one. You have to wear dozens of hats: writer, publisher, and marketer to name a few. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and struggle to prioritise. After all, you can’t market books without… well, books. But you can’t write more books unless you’re earning enough to eat.

“You have to be on social media. You simply HAVE to,” is something you’ve likely heard before. If you were to believe this advice, you’d be under the impression that a new author’s career is made or destroyed on the back of every tweet and ‘gram. That your social strategy forms the backbone of every book launch. Which is… less than true.

To self-publish or not to self-publish? For many aspiring children’s book authors, that is the question. In fact, as a children’s book author myself, it’s one of the questions I receive most frequently. While there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to publishing, I believe that fully understanding your options can help you decide.

When I tell people I'm a ghostwriter, I often hear "I've been working on a book forever." Maybe you have a great book premise, and you just need to get it written. People who hire ghostwriters have a desire to write a book, but there are two things standing in their way—time and experience writing.

Let's face it - many indie authors (which I generally refer to as "independent publishers," albeit smaller ones) will dismiss podcasting out of hand.

Too hard. Too time consuming. Don't quite get it. Pass.

And that would be a bad idea.