Tag: Writing

13^th July 2021.

This is a useful guide for writers about the challenges and issues you’ll face in your career. For each issue, the author gives practical guidance, often based on her own experience, on how to deal with the problems and stay positive. It covers everything from writers block to imposter syndrome and being overwhelmed by what you need to do once you are published.

As a published author, I’d encountered many of the writing issues, though I still found the advice interesting. You never know when writers’ block might creep up on you. The guidance on marketing and making a career from writing was more pertinent and useful to me.

Wherever you are on the writing journey, it’s good to know others have experienced the same challenges you face. It’s even better to know, they’ve found the answers that could help you.

Description

Being a writer is not just about typing. It’s also about surviving the roller-coaster of the creative journey.

Self-doubt, fear of failure, the need for validation, perfectionism, writer’s block, comparisonitis, overwhelm, and much more. When you’re going through these things, it can feel like you’re alone. But actually, they are part of the creative process, and every author goes through them too.

This book collects the mindset issues that writers experience, that I have been through myself over the last decade, and that perhaps you will experience at different times on the creative journey.

Each small chapter tackles a possible issue and then offers an antidote, so that you can dip in and out over time. It includes excerpts from my own personal journals as well as quotes from well-known writers. I hope it helps you on the road to becoming a successful author.

22^nd June 2021.

This is a well-written and clearly explained guide to help authors build a solid platform. While a website remains the core of this platform, it’s only the start of the marketing authors need to carry out to improve their presence in a competitive market.

Fuelled by the author’s own experiences, the various aspects that make up the platform, including social media, are all addressed and supported by examples of good practice.

Thought provoking, inspiring but still practical, this book can help authors improve their platforms and marketing.

Description

In Platform Mastery, full-time USA Today Bestselling Author Nick Thacker breaks down what it means to launch an author platform, and what it means to use it to reach the next level.

No matter where you are today, there is something you can do right now to get to where you want to be.

You don’t need more books (although that can help). You don’t need to be a better writer (but that could help, too).

You need a better platform. A plan of attack. A belief that you can reach the next level.

23^rd February 2021.

While there are plenty of books out there that deal with all aspects of marketing a book and using social media as a writer, it’s great to find one that talks to me in my language. I’m neither an expert nor a novice, but I like to check out different angles and approaches as there’s always something to learn.

And this book gave me a fresh outlook in a number of key areas, such as how to engage on Twitter and use it as a writer. Email subscription lists are another area where the author gave me plenty to think about and try. Suddenly, it started to make more sense. I could see how I could improve what I do.

That’s the beauty of this excellent book – it’s filled with practical tips, mainly based on the author’s own experiences and knowledge. The book’s written in an engaging and encouraging style that left me feeling more confident and motivated to try harder.

You can’t ask for more than that.

Description

Are you swamped with book marketing and looking for a way to find new sales? Learn simple and effective networking techniques, to grow your readership and connect with other authors and book lovers, today!

Whether you are a new or an experienced writer, self-published or traditionally published, this book will show you how to grow your readership and author network, through some of the most powerful of all marketing tools – word of mouth and recommendation.

This book will show you:

How networking can help you sell more books.

Why author branding is important.

How networking hours work.

Specific Facebook groups for writers

How to utilise social media to grow your readership.

How not to waste valuable writing time.

How to make our marketing more effective.

18^th August 2020.    5 stars.

This is an excellent introduction and guide to independent publishing that’s perfect for a novice or seasoned indie author. It’s filled with practical tips and no-nonsense guidance that takes you to the heart of all the important issues so you can produce the best book possible and market it to as many readers as you can.

It’s well-written, everything is explained clearly and based on David’s extensive experience.

If you only read one book on publishing your own work, make it this one.

Description

Publish like a pro and start finding readers today with the most comprehensive and up-to-date self-publishing guide on the market. Packed with practical, actionable advice, the new fourth edition of Let’s Get Digital delivers the very latest best practices on publishing your work and building audience.

* Boost your writing career with marketing strategies that are proven to sell more books.
* Discover expert tips on platform building, blogging and social media.
* Learn which approaches are best for selling fiction vs. non-fiction.
* Implement powerful ways to make your ebooks more discoverable.
* Increase your visibility by optimizing keywords and categories.
* Weigh the pros and cons of Kindle Unlimited, and find out exactly how to tweak your promotional plans depending on whether you stay exclusive to Amazon or opt for wider distribution.

And that’s just for starters…

16^th July 2020. 4 stars.

As the title suggests, this book is aimed at independent authors. It’s a positive, encouraging book that shows you what it’s possible to achieve with hard work, marketable ideas and an insight into the world of self-publishing. The author’s been there and calls on his experiences and learning mistakes to offer practical advice, inspiration and solutions.

I’m not a science fiction fan, so the author’s examples didn’t resonate with me and I skipped most of them. The rest of the book gave me some useful ideas on book descriptions and marketing on Amazon.

If you’re new to writing and self-publishing, this is an essential introduction into the world you are about to join.

Description

Demystifying the tangled web of self-publishing to put you on the road to success.

This is the 2nd Edition, updated in 2020. A motivational guide based on publishing over four million words (mostly with Amazon) to help you see past the hurdles that are keeping you from climbing the mountain of success. Nothing is overwhelming once it’s been explained. If you are smart enough to write a book, you are smart enough to do everything else needed to make your indie author business a success.

16^th July 2020.   5 stars.

This free guide to building and developing an author platform is a must read for any independent author, trying to build their brand and improve visibility on a busy internet. Like all of David Gaughran’s work, it’s well-written and presented, filled with valuable advice, insights and guidance, which is always straight to the point.

If you like no-nonsense advice from someone who knows, grab a copy of this excellent guide.

Description

From the author of Let’s Get Digital and Amazon Decoded comes a fresh, new approach to platform-building.

This short, free guide breaks down what an author platform is, exactly, and what it should contain—and what you can safely skip, so you can focus on writing more books. Authors are told to “build a platform,” or “get their name out there”—advice which is vague as it is useless.

Following will show you precisely how to build your author platform, walking you through every step involved so that you can build a real platform, a proper, sustainable readership, and build a career as a writer.