Webinar on Indie Author MagazineChris was on the Indie Author Magazine Webinar series last week talking about what Written Well does, his application of game theory to the self-publishing world, and how to make the best use of your keyword boxes on Amazon.
Kindle Trends ReviewSummary: Interesting data service with innovative visualizations and some truly useful info. Limited number of categories minimizes its usefulness. Cost: $15/month, or $10/month with coupon code INDYAUTHOR (if it’s still active). Kindle Trends is a fairly new service that sends weekly newsletters to your email with in-depth data about a number of genres. If it covered all the genres, it would be an immediate recommend, as you get a lot of data for the price, though as with most things data-oriented, it takes a fair amount of knowledge and work to massage that data into actionable plans. However, currently it...
The 27 Chapter StructureThe 27 Chapter structure is kind of a recursive version of the Three Act Structure, breaking down the three parts of each act into three chapters so that there are twenty-seven chapters. But the form of the three-act is still in there with the inciting incident, the plot twist, the midpoint, all falling in roughly the same spot as the three-act. It’s a good structure to reference if you’re lost or running out of ideas in the middle of the book. It can help you understand a little better how to move through the three-act structure — or any structure....
Buying a Premade CoverSo, you need a cover for your book. It’s a big decision. You want something that you are proud of, but what you need is something that will sell. Assuming you have done your research (link to cover research video) and know what you are looking for, you might be ready to start looking at premade covers. But don’t forget, it’s not that hard to learn to DIY your cover (link to my making a cover with Canva video). Let’s start with the big question: Should I buy a premade book cover? If you aren’t going to design it yourself,...
Market Research Like a FoxLead instructor Chris “Fox” Wallace shows you how to research markets using just WrittenWell and Amazon....
NovelitistWelcome to my review of Novelitist. I’m actually writing it in the software itself, which just tagged the word ”Novelitist” as a spelling error. Other than that, the site works really well. So well, in fact, that I’m considering using it for some of my writing in the near future. What Is Novelitist? It’s a writing tool for novelists. It also has short story and a few other formats, but it’s primarily designed for writers of long form fiction. Novelitist lives in the cloud, so you can log in from anywhere and get right to work on your next book,...
Do I Really Need an ISBN Number?Do you need an ISBN number to sell your book? This question comes up constantly. The answer is, unfortunately, it depends. An ISBN number is a unique number, attached to a barcode, assigned to a book that identifies it for SKU systems for inventory tracking. If you want your book to be sold “wide” meaning that it’s available everywhere, you might need one. Maybe. If you just want to sell your book on Amazon, they will provide a unique ISBN that only works on Amazon, and they won’t charge you anything for it. If you want to sell your book...
Do I Need an ISBN Number?Do you need an ISBN number to sell your book? This question comes up constantly. The answer is, unfortunately, it depends. An ISBN number is a unique number, attached to a barcode, assigned to a book that identifies it for SKU systems for inventory tracking. If you want your book to be sold “wide” meaning that it’s available everywhere, you might need one. Maybe. If you just want to sell your book on Amazon, they will provide a unique ISBN that only works on Amazon, and they won’t charge you anything for it. If you want to sell your book …
Ergonomics for WritersErgonomics is the study of humans in their work environment. The part of it that matters to us is how it relates to keeping us healthy and safe and avoiding aches and pains and repetitive motion injuries. A comfortable writer is a productive writer, so don’t skimp on your office setup. Everyone is comfortable in slightly different positions. So, before we get into the “correct” ways to work, let’s look at some general advice that should always trump whatever specific advice you get if the two are in conflict. What The Experts Say Correct ergonomics, according to the experts, means...
Finding Your NicheFinding your niche is writing to market for people who aren’t comfortable in just writing anything. Which, frankly, is most writers. It’s hard to write in a genre you don’t love. We all have our favorites, our go-tos. And reading widely within the genre you write in is a near essential skill for writing successfully in that genre. If you don’t understand the genre, and at least like it or hopefully love it, most times the readers can tell. And in the end, it’s the readers who decide whether your books will be successful or not. Ignore them at your...
