Advice

What to Expect from a Professional Editor

Publishing today is highly competitive. If your book isn’t nearly perfect, you risk readers trashing your story. Professional editors are one way to make sure you release the best product possible. But it’s not always easy to find the right editor, especially when you are trying to find one for the first time. When hiring a paid editor, a writer should expect several things: Professionalism: The editor should conduct themselves in a professional manner throughout … Read more

You Don’t Need an Agent to Publish

In the world of publishing, there has long been a common belief that to successfully navigate the complex and competitive industry, one needs to secure the services of a literary agent. While having an agent can certainly be beneficial, the notion that they are an absolute necessity for finding a publisher is not entirely accurate. In fact, in today’s digital age, there are numerous ways for writers to connect with publishers on their own, with … Read more

Is Your Life Story Worth Telling in a Memoir?

Writing a memoir is a deeply personal and often emotional journey that requires self-reflection, honesty, and vulnerability. Not everyone is suited for the task of writing a memoir, as it requires a certain level of introspection and courage to share one’s life story with the world. So, who should write a memoir and why? Anyone who has a compelling story to tell and feels a strong desire to share it with others should consider writing … Read more

Why Author’s Still Need an Email List and Newsletter

For authors to gain success, they must play many other roles besides writer of books and articles. To sell books, authors must build a strong online presence to connect with their readers directly. One of the most effective ways to do this is with a newsletter and email list. Newsletters and email lists allow authors to communicate with their audience, promote their work, and build a loyal fan base. Let’s explore the reasons an author … Read more

Why Every Story Needs a Little Humor

Humor adds depth, engagement, and charisma to any story, even if it’s a serious drama or an exciting thriller. Injecting an element of laughter into the narrative connects readers to the characters, creates a sense of realism, and provides a much-needed break from the seriousness of the plot. One of the main reasons every book needs humor is its ability to create a sense of relatability with the reader. Humor is a universal language that … Read more

Managing Automatic Targeting Ads for Books on Amazon’s Sponsored Ads

Now that you’ve completed Automatic Targeting for Books with Amazon Advertising’s Sponsored Ads and let the ad run for a while, it’s time to manage the ad. No, you can’t just set it and forget it. There are a number of things you’ll need to do on a regular basis to make sure the ad delivers results.  NOTE: If you haven’t set up an ad on Amazon yet, click on the title above and set … Read more

3 Helpful Items to Add to Your Daily Journal

If you keep a daily journal, where you spill thoughts and track progress on your various projects, there are three items you should add to help increase your productivity. These items are quick and easy to add at the beginning of your journal each day. And they all provide a little kick in the butt to keep your goals on track. 1. Note the Week # and Day # I bet that at the beginning … Read more

How to Write An Author Bio That Attracts Readers

So you’ve been putting off writing your author bio. Or maybe you wrote one in 10 minutes just to get it done, then you slapped it up on Amazon Author Central with a dulled-out selfie. After all, very few of us enjoy an afternoon of bragging about our books and other accomplishments. And no one reads them anyway, right? Wrong! Your author bio is your business card. It helps you stand out from the rest … Read more

Critique Groups: A Writer’s Lifeline

If you are a writer or aspire to write, you soon discover it’s not as easy as it looks. In fact, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I’ve been writing professionally for over thirty years. It’s a career where the minute you think you’ve mastered the craft, your editor returns a document covered in markups and comments that triples the size of your MS Word file. Hence, writers learn quickly to stick together … Read more

How a Song Writer Inspired a Story Writer

Today, I decided to share a paper I wrote a few years ago, when I returned to college for a short time. Surprisingly, I had to retake an English class because it had been too many years since I’d had one. I could have challenged the class, but I thought it might be fun to retake it. What’s funny is that they were willing to accept credits for English classes that are much more complicated. … Read more

How to Standardize the Punctuation in a Manuscript Before Submitting or Formatting Your Book

In a previous post, I showed you how to Remove The Extra Sections, Breaks, and Spaces Before Submitting or Formatting Your Book. This is not the only messy situation you might encounter in your manuscript. Your punctuation can be just as inconsistent, which causes major issues when formatting your book. Plus, your book looks sloppy, and sloppy books get bad reviews. Below is an example of inconsistent punctuation. Forgive my pathetic use of ellipsis and … Read more

Automatic Targeting Ads for Books with Amazon Advertising’s Sponsored Ads

Sponsored Products ads are the type of Amazon ad that authors use to create book ads. Automatic Targeting is one of the ad types, and it is the easiest ad to create. Because automatic targeted ads require little to no planning, these are the perfect starter ads for authors new to advertising on Amazon. It is important to note that automatic targeting is one of the least effective ads because you have little control over … Read more

4 Ways to Login and Access Amazon Ads

Amazon makes it easy for you to access their ads platform from a number of places. The Amazon Advertising dashboard is where you will create new ads and manage existing ads. In this checklist you will access the website and set up your account for the first time. There are also instructions on how to access Amazon Advertising from KDP and Author central. Amazon Ads Website In this section you will access amazonads.com and set … Read more

You Don’t Need a KDP Account to Manage Amazon Ads for Your Books

Amazon Author Central Reports and Marketing Option

If you have an Amazon Author Central account, you’ve probably seen an Amazon Advertising box in the Reports + Marketing section. This is a perfect option for traditionally published authors who don’t have a KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) account. And it’s quite essential for an author to have an Amazon Advertising account because, as you’ll hear me say over and over again, you won’t sell books on Amazon unless you advertise. You might be afraid … Read more

5 Reasons Author Central is an Essential Part of Your Author Presence in the Amazon Bookstore

Do you want readers to buy your books? Of course you do. Then don’t just put your books in bookstores, put yourself out there too. Amazon’s Author Central brings both you and your books together in one place that you control. Besides introducing you to Amazon’s customer base, it encourages readers to buy more of your books, and here’s how. 1. Author Follows Amazon is invested in understanding their customers’ preferences because it results in … Read more

Manuscripts Are A Dirty Business: Remove The Extra Sections, Breaks, and Spaces Before Submitting or Formatting Your Book

Let’s face facts. It’s hard enough to write a book, let alone keep the manuscript file clean. Eventually you find yourself with an edited book that you want to submit to agents or self-publish, but there’s all kinds of extra line breaks, spaces, tabs and other inconsistencies that make your manuscript look like a giant mess. Sure, you can turn it over to a book formatter, but the up front work to clean up the … Read more

The Remaking of a Fiction Series and Why You Should Consider Remaking Your Series

I write a fiction series, currently titled The Courier under the pen name Winnie Jean Howard, but I’m changing the series name to Angels Dark and Dumb. Why, you ask? Because the series title doesn’t speak to the actual series’ genre/sub-genres. Yes, the main character is a courier, and he continues to transport otherworldly things and beings in the series, but The Courier doesn’t speak to the fantasy, paranormal, and comedy side of the series. … Read more

Missing Fonts While Placing Text in Adobe InDesign: Resolve the Issue by Changing the Default Font

The missing fonts issue in InDesign, which I originally encountered while placing text from an external document file, is a well known problem, or possibly it works as designed, although poorly if you ask me. Regardless, and as annoying as it is, there is a quick fix. I mainly use a Window’s machine, so the instructions below are for that operating system. The Problem of Missing Fonts in InDesign Per my opening complaint, does the … Read more