I can be a little judgy sometimes… Literally. I judge things. Essay contests. Grant applications. Poetry submissions. I recently judged twenty self-published books for a national writing magazine’s contest. While I’d hoped to judge nonfiction so I could share with you what I was seeing in the indie nonfiction space, I ended up judging children’s picture […]
Strategy
Should you update your book? Maybe, maybe not.
A past client contacted me to ask if I would make a few minor changes to his book, which we’d published three years earlier. I decided that if we were updating his book anyway, I should reread the whole thing for other needed editorial adjustments. As I read, I flagged items for consideration. I was […]
How Short Can Your Book Be?
The most popular article on my website—by far—is How Long Should Your Nonfiction Book Be?. My writerly answer: “Use as many words as you need and no more.” My strategic answer: “Match your book length to your readers’ needs and your brand promise—while paying attention to genre norms.” My practical answer: “Probably 30,000 words for […]
KDP vs. IngramSpark: Which Publishing Platform Is Right for You?
Originally published February 18, 2019; most recently updated November 22, 2021. To keep things simple for first-time authors, I often suggest they stick with Amazon’s ecosystem, using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) for both ebooks and print books. However, there is another major player in the print-on-demand (POD) space: IngramSpark (IS), which is the POD service from […]
Position Your Book for Top Billing on the Publishing Stage – Part 2: Behind-the-Scenes Metadata
This two-part series looks at how to position your book for top billing online. In Part 1, we looked at front-of-house elements that make your book appealing to your audience: cover design, title, description. In Part 2, we cover the behind-the-scenes elements that make your book findable: metadata. You’re at a Broadway show. In the […]