Excerpt: Fourteen exclusive books and one workshop, all packed with up-to-date advice for indie writers navigating 2026—from writing faster and smarter to marketing, Kickstarter, newsletters, and surviving the modern publishing landscape. Available for a limited time, the Write Stuff StoryBundle also supports World Central Kitchen, so you can help your writing career and do some good at the same time.
Write Stuff Story Bundle Release. Read More »
Kindle Select Trends I don’t usually debate the pros and cons of authors selling their books via Kindle Select (erroneously but commonly referred to as “KU” — as Kindle Unlimited is what the reader side of the program is called). To get into any discussion about KU versus Wide would be, I feel, a waste
Kindle Select Trends Read More »
A short post today, as it’s St. Patrick’s Day, and everyone is focused upon green beer. As I’m allergic to alcohol, I focused upon the four leaf clover, instead. When commercial fiction was controlled by the traditional publishers, it was pretty much accepted that breaking into the business required a large slab of luck. You
Cultivate Luck For Yourself Read More »
I’ve been skirting around AI for weeks, referring to it indirectly and implying that it would become increasingly important that we indies deal with it in the near future. In my prediction post for 2023 (that wasn’t really a prediction) about the year ahead, I did grasp the nettle…a little, and very gently. And I
Yeah, I’m Gonna Go There. So should you. Read More »
Last year, Fantasy author Brandon Sanderson ran a Kickstarter project that raised $42 million USD. $42 million is a very nice payday, but it’s an outlier, not a common outcome of publishing Kickstarter projects. However, Brandon Sanderson’s success drew attention to crowd funding in a way that made most of the indie publishing industry sit
You Can’t Afford to Ignore Crowdfunding Read More »
A somewhat new indie author said to me recently, “I know either Draft2Digital or Smashwords can distribute my books. Is there any other big distributors I should consider instead?” I’ve never tackled on this blog the various distribution options indie authors have. At first glance it doesn’t have anything to do with productivity. In fact,
Who Gets to Distribute Your Books? Read More »
This is Part 4 of an informal series about Pen Names. See Part 1 or Part 2 or Part 3 or Part 4. A PIFW reader reached out to me a couple of days ago, asking questions about pen names, branding and genres, and in particular, how they impact the Amazon algorithms. My response to him
Pen Names – 2022 Update. Read More »
Google Has Made a Brilliant Strategic Move Why Indie Authors Should Capitalize on It In late April this year, Google Play Books announced the launch of an AI Narrated Audiobook beta program for indie authors and publishers using their retail platform. There’s a few conditions attached. Surprisingly few. It was an incredibly smart move. Here’s why.
Google Has Made a Brilliant Strategic Move Read More »
Are You Indie Publishing Fiction? Will You Choose KU or Wide? 9 aspects that will make you rethink your options. The Wide vs KU Debate has been around for a great many years. Indie authors used to step to either side with their sleeves rolled up, righteousness steaming from their ears. Monica Leonelle wrote a great post
Are You Indie Publishing Fiction? Will You Choose KU or Wide? Read More »
It’s been a mucky couple of years, with the pandemic putting stress on everything, including the supply of printed books and, not least of all, nervous systems. One of the stress victims was the indie publishing industry in general, as it was already evolving into new directions even before the pandemic threw extra burdens on
Sometimes you need to scale back to move forward. Read More »
