Latest Articles
ASK RON: “Why should I let SelfPublishing.com help me publish my book?” – Part 2
Affordable book cover design and text layout by qualified, experienced designers. I’ve written on this subject from time to time over the years and always end up with a small amount of heated emails from high priced designers but literally hundreds of emails, thanking me for removing the cloud … Read More
It’s Not the End of the World
The fortune cookie read, “you will find success this year.” Where will success be found? When will I find it? Will I find this “success” before the predicted end of the world next December? I don’t buy it. Any success worth finding is worth earning. This goes for all of us here at … Read More
Sometimes The Big Guys Get It Wrong
Just last week I had a customer email me regarding a job I had recently done which was rejected when he tried uploading it to iTunes. Not two days later I had another customer who had her job rejected from BookBaby. BookBaby actually takes files submitted to them and uploads them to other stores … Read More
The Best Advice I’ve Learned On Mastering a Concept Worthy of a Story
Five words that will change your entire outlook (or freshen it up, even for seasoned authors) on crafting a novel or screenplay: "Story Engineering by Larry Brooks." In his book, Story Engineering, Larry Brooks defines 6 Core Competencies that every writer needs to execute — to a high … Read More
Look Beyond the Bookstore to Sell More Books
“Total unit sales of print books sold through the outlets whose sales are captured by Nielsen BookScan dropped 10.2% in the six month period ended July 3, 2011…” (PWDaily, July 8, 2011). This is a trend that will continue, according to publishing experts. Combine that with the demise of … Read More
The Down-and-Dirty on Publishing’s Over-Promoted Technology
(Adapted from The Well-Fed Self-Publisher: How to Turn One Book into a Full-Time Living, by Peter Bowerman. Fanove, 2007). In a recent year, Xlibris, one of the big names in POD (Print-on-Demand), celebrated paying out their one-millionth dollar in royalties. The prior year, they helped authors … Read More
Past Articles
Does Your Ghostwriter or Editor Need to be an Expert in Your Field?
I’ve ghosted books on nearly every conceivable subject. The first question every new ghostwriting client asks is, “Are you an expert or do you know anything about [fill in the blank]?” My answer is usually always the same: “No.” So how do I do what I do? Furthermore, why do these people … [Read More...]
Chicken or the E-gg? Five Points About Print vs. E-Book Editions
Welcome to the Coach’s Corner! If you have your ear to the self publishing blogosphere, you’ve heard the constant buzz on the subject of publishing printed books vs. e-books. If you’re going to self-publish a book this year, there are five points you need to consider as you consider your … [Read More...]
Judging a Book by Its Cover
A majority of booksellers agree that the cover design is the single most important element of a book. The truth is, a book is judged first and foremost by its cover. If you want your book to have a fighting chance among the more than 700,000 new books published each year, your cover must trigger … [Read More...]
Legalized Plagiarism: The Bar Drops Again
I was intrigued by Amazon’s generosity towards the self-publishing market. They’ll put my little self-published book together for me? For free? They’ll sell it for me and take just 35% of the sale price? In the time it takes to chew a stick of gum, I’d ordered Kindle Fire and was ready to … [Read More...]
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