JPG vs. TXT: Are Newsletters Better When They Include Images?
Loads of articles compare the pros and cons of images or plain text in email newsletters. Let’s cut to the chase: They both have their pros and cons. Chances are also good that no single article will sway you one way or the other if you’re fixed in your ways and you have your reasons […]
Growth in the Indie Author Industry
I’m about to give the editors of this fine journal a headache. When they gave me the assignment of writing about growth in the Indie Publishing industry, my first thought was “this is a massive subject.” The second thought was “I’m gonna need to put ‘growth’ in quotation marks.” Indie authors didn’t just appear on […]
Plotting a Book vs. a Screenplay
You’ve finished your novel, published it, received rave reviews, and sold lots of copies, and now you want something more for your story. You can see your characters on the big or little screen, living out the words you wrote and entertaining those who may not otherwise know of your book. You aren’t sure where […]
Three Essential Arcs for Crafting Strong Characters and Shaping Your Story
A character death. A final goodbye. A heartfelt reunion. The end of a journey. It doesn’t necessarily matter the specific plot points that elicit the emotion nor is genre or artistic medium all that important. But scroll through recommendations on BookTok or consider the moments from a favorite series that have stuck with you the […]
Head in the Clouds: Amazon AWS Basics for Authors
In 1984, the first Terminator film thrilled audiences, and we were introduced to SKYNET, the network of supercomputers powering the world, described by one character as “hooked into everything, trusted to run it all … a new order of intelligence.” Back then, the concept of email was still somewhat fantastical, and the idea that homes […]
Is Your Book Multilingual?
Considerations for the Translation Question As indie authors expand their businesses, they are pushing the boundaries into new languages. While this is a great path forward, full of exciting possibilities, some issues arise when you don’t speak the language you want your books to be published in. We’re covering finding your translation team and marketing […]
Haunting For Hire: If And When To Hire Or Become A Ghostwriter
Ghostwriters are a key part of the process for many authors. They provide a valuable service to help their clients produce books for various reasons. An older person who has lived an interesting life may hire a ghostwriter to interview them and compile their memoir for their friends and family to enjoy long after they’re […]
Indie publishing powerhouses join forces
Draft2Digital is acquiring Smashwords later this year. Here’s what that means for their authors. The shocking news heard ’round the world Tuesday might just be the start of an indie publishing revolution—that is, if Mark Coker and Kris Austin have anything to say about it. Early last week, the duo surprised authors and publishers alike […]
Make Some Noise: What—And How—Indie Authors Gain From A Growing Audiobook Industry
Sometimes the best books are the ones we don’t read. That’s not necessarily referring to those books we leave languishing in our to-be-read piles though those deserve plenty of love and recognition as well. No, there’s just something nostalgic about having a story told to you rather than reading it yourself. Perhaps it’s the memories […]
NFT Books: A Work in Progress
A Vision from within the Infancy of Crypto Publishing *** What Are NFT Books? I can’t tell you for sure. Not yet. What I can do is speculate on what NFT books might become. The scenarios described in this article are realistic expectations based on existing technologies and the work being done to create the […]