For the last few years, I’ve been recommending that the easiest print option with the best benefit for authors is Amazon’s CreateSpace (“CS”). Beginner: CreateSpace The reason? They have had the best wholesale price for authors to buy their books, they charge no fees other than the cost of books, they have the best margin on […]
Category: Strategy
Tips for Faster First Drafts and Better Plots
When the reality of the need to be more than a one-trick pony sinks in for an author, the pressure mounts. How can you write fast enough (and well enough at the same time) to make a living at it? Maybe you’re trying to fit writing in around a day job/life. Maybe you’ve given up […]
Top Five Tips for Authors to Build Opt-in Email List Subscription
Authors, you know you crave them: subscriptions to your opt-in email list. The people who willingly sign up to hear from you, who follow you and your books, who aren’t subject to the vagaries of Amazon, the fortunes of Barnes & Noble, or the flakiness of Google Play. The ones you can send exactly the […]
The Uncomfortable Silence
Time for the annual republication of this classic—I’d say “enjoy,” but really I’d rather it make you squirm a little bit. Also, if you find errors in my books, PUH-LEEZE email me at pamela at pamelafaganhutchins dot com. I fix them. And let my beleaguered copyeditor know, so we can both learn from the ones […]
The Down Low on My Hollywood Pitch Trip: My 5 Rs of Book-to-Screen Pitching
A year ago, I was invited to attend “Adapting to Hollywood,” a conference thrown by Sisters in Crime (primarily the fabulous LA Chapter) and for which I didn’t have to spend one red cent. I still don’t know how I got invited, but I’ll take it. What was obvious from the get-go was that indies like […]
Five Tips for Plotting a Mystery
Written four years ago, but still good food for thought: When I wrote my first mystery by the seat of my pants, I bought myself a year of heartache by winging it. It took me three more years and three more mysteries before the secret of mystery plotting revealed itself to me: plotting is […]
Dear Hootsuite… Where Have You Been All My Life?
By Candi Fite, SkipJack Publishing Assistant As a publishing assistant—whose main focus is publicity, promotions and marketing, a mother, wife, writer, artist, part-time yoga instructor, and volunteer, a busy girl’s gotta do, what a busy girl’s gotta do. Anything to simplify my life. Enter Hootsuite, aka an assistant’s assistant. Let me give you a brief […]
Cleaning UP During Your Bookbub Promotion, Part 1: Does the big cost pay off?
You’re going to think these posts are about how my e-book did on Bookbub, and they sort of are. But keep reading until the end of my “cleaning up” posts, because it’s ultimately about how everything other than my e-book did, and you’ll be shocked at how important everything else was; these posts contains tips I’ve NEVER SHARED BEFORE, so […]
3 Ways Less Creates More for Your Writing
From time to time, you should take stock of your life for situations that no longer serve you or your writing, then let them go. Even activities you once loved. Doing so will help your creative process overall. Recently, I shared how I’ve given up the last of my regular guest posts on huge writing blogs. The […]
Showing Up: Online Author Presence with No Fuss, No Muss
Recently I had the honor of attending my first Novelists, Inc. conference. It is a “must-attend” annually for me from here out. My head is spinning with ideas and information that will change strategy and tactics for me, in big and small ways, and I’ve blogged on specific topics several times already. This time I’m […]