Best Writing Advice Ever
“Time is not free–that’s why it’s so precious and worth fighting for.” — Anne Lamott I’m a huge fan of Anne Lamott. Not just because she celebrates “sh*tty first drafts,” but because she explains
The Power of Social Media in Building an Audience
Yesterday when I opened my iGoogle page, “today’s spotlight video” looked something like this. Because I love both soul and gospel music, I clicked on it–and became an instant fan of an unknown singer who
How Viable is Self Publishing? Proof is in the Numbers
Clearly, 2011 is a tipping point for self-publishing–moving this new publishing model from backwater to the forefront of the publishing world. It’s all happening despite the bow-tie traditional publishers who still would have authors believe
Giving a Talk About Your Book
Having run the Stanford Publishing Courses for over 15 years, I had the good fortune of working with some of the most eloquent and polished speakers in the country–including John Kennedy, Jr., Guy Kawasaki, Brendan
Choosing Typefaces
One of the most common questions that indie authors ask: which fonts should I use in my book? The typefaces you use matter. They set the tone for your book. They affect readability. And they
Book Design Faux Pas: Five Ways to Signal You’re a Rank Amateur
Recently I asked several self-publishing companies to send me samples of books they’d produced. I told them I wanted to check the production values of those books–paper quality, binding, cover stock and so forth–before deciding
How To Become the Go-To Expert
One of the best ways to promote your nonfiction book is to position yourself as the expert in your field. How do you do that? One simple way is through HARO — short for “Help
Seth Godin abandons traditional book publishers
Serious authors often squirm when they have to reveal that they’re self-publishing their books. That’s because self-publishing is often confused with vanity publishing, that backwater of the publishing industry where snake-oil salesmen still flourish. But