I’ve heard it said numerous times, “Don’t switch genres. Every time you do it is like starting all over again.” Yet authors still switch genres, myself included. My experience of writing in different genres (non-fiction and contemporary) I started by writing non-fiction and never dreamed that I would write novels. All of my non-fiction was …
Continue reading “Practicalities of writing different genres”
What are direct sales? First of all, let me be clear that we are talking about an online store. It usually sells ebooks first but may include audio books, subscriptions, courses, and link with print-on-demand stores to sell print books. If you have decided to be exclusive to Amazon through their Kindle Unlimited exclusivity programme, …
My first two non-fiction books were published by traditional publishers: one a smaller Scottish press, and another, a mid-range US publisher. Since those first two books, I’ve self-published eight novels across two series, and two more non-fiction. Why did I switch to self-published? The initial reason was that it was becoming harder and harder to …
Continue reading “Advantages and Disadvantages of Self-Publishing”
The Problem We’ve written a book and for most of us, that is a major, major accomplishment. It might have taken between one and ten years of work and represents much blood, sweat, and angst. But then the book sits there and the world goes on. How does an author get reviews, sales, and opportunities …
Continue reading “Running your own giveaways – the why and how”
Every year various survey results are published about ‘authors’. Prompted by this one, I thought it would be great to start surveying our own Australasian Christian authors (Australia/New Zealand and the Pacific). I came up with the list of questions and then in consultation with other authors, we tweaked them to make them more useful. …
In the last few months, several people have asked me about self-publishing. Each time my mind goes “Eek!” because I’ve spent more than five years learning how to self-publish. It’s not something that can be taught in five minutes. However, the requests have prompted me to begin what is likely to be a continually expanding …
You’re a new author with your first book. Everyone has told you that you need as many reviews as possible but it is so difficult to get them. Are they really so important and if so, how do you get them? Why are reviews so important? Reviews are social proof for a book. If a …
Writing and publishing books is a huge learning curve. It’s not helped by the multitude of voices telling us what we need to do: from writing more books, to advertising, to building your newsletter subscribers, to … many more things. Sometimes we want to curl up in a ball and forget the whole thing. The …
Continue reading “Help! Where should I spend my time at my stage in the writing journey?”
When you think of fiction, almost immediately book series come to mind. Whether it was Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie books, or Agatha Christies’ Hercule Poirot detective stories, or Harry Potter. Series grip readers’ minds and are much easier to market. One of the difficulties nowadays with traditional publishing is that many …
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Fast Five Kiwis or koalas? Kiwis – they’re rarer and I love birdwatching. I have never seen a wild one. Mangoes or kiwifruit? Mangoes – I grew up in Asia. I do like Kiwifruit too – after all they’re Chinese gooseberries originally. Hobbits or Mad Max? Definitely Hobbits. Lord of the Rings is one of …
