Resources

Free tools, tips and links from SPR on writing and selling your book

Online Writing Tools That Help You Write

woman writingHere are several online tools to help you with the actual act of writing.

Byword

Writers just want to focus on what they are working on, as much as possible they don’t want distractions. This sort of application are now readily available online. Check this tool named Byword, an ideal Mac writing tool that will give writers the ability to focus more on their writing. It has a minimalist interface that you will enjoy.

Storyist

Some say that Storyist provides everything what the writer needs. This is a perfect website application for aspiring novelists. It helps you focus on writing […]

2015-07-23T06:46:07+02:00July 23rd, 2015|Categories: Resources|

Sharing Without Reading – How Authors Can Find Readers For Their Online Content

interwebWe’re faced with a huge social pressure of being ‘engaged online’ to sell our books as self-publishers, but is our carefully-crafted content being absorbed?

As authors are encouraged to guest blog, interview, and post on all possible outlets online, is this just throwing it all at the wall when the evidence shows people share to look cool, erudite, and popular, rather that sharing what they have read?

In a world where “RIP *insert really ancient and intriguingly cool famous person’s name I never heard of before today here*” is a way to make your Facebook page pop, and picture quotes […]

2020-02-21T06:49:19+02:00May 13th, 2015|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: , |

Creating a Book Trailer for Your Self-Published Novel

Image Source: NYMediaWorks.com

As many indie authors know, it can be difficult to get your self-published novel read by people outside of your inner circle of family and friends. Facebook, Twitter and other social networks can certainly help, but at the end of the day, they are just words – mixed with a static image, some hashtags and some links. Sometimes you need to go a little further to make an impact.

This is where a book trailer can help. You don’t have to be an internet genius to understand the power of online video. YouTube, Instagram, Vine and […]

2020-02-21T03:53:43+02:00April 17th, 2015|Categories: Resources|Tags: , |

How to Write a Book Blurb

FSOG Back CoverBy far, the weakest part of many self-published books is the synopsis found on Amazon and elsewhere. Worse than the cover, worse than the writing in the book itself, there are a lot of blurbs on Amazon that are pretty near atrocious. I include my own books in this category. Writing a decent blurb is an artform totally separate from writing a book.

Authors are also on record saying this is their least favorite part of the process. It can make you feel icky writing superlatives about your own book. At the same time, too many superlatives can literally be […]

2015-04-13T13:05:43+02:00April 13th, 2015|Categories: Features, Resources|

What Should You Charge for an Indie eBook?

The short answer to the question in the title is there’s no set answer. Indie book pricing is a tough matter because each book and each genre will sell differently at different price points. A 10,000-word erotica short can actually get away with charging $3.99. A first (non-erotica) novel by a new author generally can’t.

On Reddit, this was a comment on a post by a new author who was struggling how to set price. I argued that he should lower his book to $.99 from $1.99, as he wasn’t selling any books. This was a response:

99c essentially

[…]
2019-02-03T09:35:00+02:00March 25th, 2015|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: |

The Truth About FTC Guidelines For Paid Book Reviews

A flurry of nervous blog posts about “the dangers of paid book reviews!”  and “Google Penalties!” drove me to dig deeper into exactly what FTC guidelines mean for sites like SPR. Here’s the upshot of three months of advice and research.

I contacted the FTC, and spoke to an officer about paid book reviews. It is about time we all had it from the horse’s mouth.

Here’s the take-home:

The FTC Guidelines that the doom-n-gloom bloggers have been banging on about (with Matt Cutts of Google quotes akimbo PENALTIES! BOOKS BEING REMOVED! SHOCK! HORROR! SIX-FIGURE FINES! YIKES! END OF THE […]

2019-02-03T09:30:11+02:00February 19th, 2015|Categories: Resources|Tags: |

Authors: Improve Your Twitter Messaging and Control

Twitter Hashtags

Social Media is crucial for people who are trying to break into writing. Today our focus is on Twitter and how you can improve your messaging and communications.

Twitter allows you to reach more people on a daily basis because of its global reach. Authors have known for a long time that word of mouth is still the most effective marketing tool for them to market and sell their books.

It is all about meeting, connecting and interacting with people whether they are readers, resources, support groups or other authors. Your followers can be a source of inspiration and encouragement […]

2020-02-21T07:44:29+02:00February 16th, 2015|Categories: Member Blog, Resources|Tags: |

How to Choose Kindle Keywords

One of the more confusing aspects of publishing to KDP is selecting keywords. For many writers, finding that sweet spot for the right keywords has been the difference between sales and obscurity. Like Google SEO, there’s a bit of an art to it and it’s important to experiment if your sales are currently flat.

First, Amazon makes it somewhat easy. They list the keywords that you have to have in order to list in certain categories. For example, take a look at the Young Adult category. Some of the keywords are obvious but the “Angels & Demons” category needs the […]

2019-02-03T09:36:35+02:00February 12th, 2015|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: , |
Go to Top