Learn To Self-Publish

If you want to learn to self-publish pay $ZERO for the first month of online lessons and then pay $47 a month for the next six months. This total amount of $282 gives you:

• 28 weekly online lessons that educate, motivate and inspire
• Ongoing monthly Q&A group sessions on Zoom that give you the support and friendship of like-minded people and access to me, your personal self-publishing coach
• 12 months support in a private, members-only Facebook Mastermind group  

Be mentored and get community support as you are taken step-by-step through the self-publishing process.

• If you are feeling lost and have no idea of how to get started with self-publishing 
• If you lack the knowledge, or 
• have a lack of faith in your ability to go it alone, or 
• you feel that you just don’t have the backbone to start the self-publishing process, and
• are fearful, scared and frightened that you will mess up

then jump onto this before it’s too late.

Learn to self-publish

LEARN, APPLY and potentially EARN with these 28 weeks of lessons and when it’s over continue to access the monthly Q&A Zoom sessions.

The small investment of $282 that you make today is leverage for your dreams

1. having your first book published is a dream come true
2. realise the potential gateway to future income opportunities
3. be empowered as a successful self-published author
4. experience the most incredible feeling of euphoria when you make that first sale
5. unlock your true potential as an author and self-publisher and make your dent in the world

• Take joy in the ease of self-publishing, and you (not the traditional publisher) have control of your book and its revenue
• Have the satisfaction of making sales, receiving royalties, and growing another income stream
• Master the fundamentals of self-publishing on Amazon and
• Experiencing the high self-esteem of being a successful author

And then, rinse and repeat – launch more titles on Amazon with even greater opportunities for earning a higher income

Love the excitement of marketing your book throughout the world

But you need to take action today

Who wants to self-publish?

It is for the first-time author who wants to :

• complete the first draft of their book
• self-publish their book
• go it alone but who wants help and guidance along the way
• self-publish cost-effectively
• breakthrough the self-limiting beliefs that hold you back

It’s for the person

• who has the passion to write and self-publish their book
• who is committed to investing in their education so that they can advance their knowledge
• who wants to learn the fundamentals of publishing on Amazon so that readers will discover and buy their book
• who has a positive mindset
• who is prepared to take full responsibility for their outcome

How To Become a Self-Published Author

This home study program helps you to make it happen and gives you step-by-step guidance along the way.

Click the link today and get started.

ACCESS NOW

Remember, by joining today you get that first month for free.

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

Join Facebook Group: Fast Self-Publishing Online

Strategies For Making Money With Self-Publishing

If writing books is your passion then here are twelve strategies for making money with self-publishing.

A frequent question I get is whether you can generate an income from writing books and self-publishing?

Like any industry there are the winners and the losers. There are those who make millions and then there are those who just make a little pocket money or even no money at all.

Multiple streams of income can be made from self-publishing, marketing, and selling your books. However, if you just publish your book and neglect to promote and market it then you will struggle to generate any income.

12 Strategies

Here are just 12 strategies for earning income streams.

With Amazon, you can earn up to 70 per cent in royalties. This is a really decent return for almost any business venture!

But just because your book is on Amazon or the IngramSpark platform doesn’t mean it will automatically sell.

You have to get the word out about your book. You need to let people know that you have a book for sale, how the book will benefit your market, and where they can get it.

As I talk about my most recent publication I am asked all the time – “Where can I get it?”

Because you have written a book you can earn from making regular book sales, and you can earn selling a related business product or service.

Income streams

1. Market your book on Amazon in Australia and enjoy having the royalties (35-70%)paid directly into your bank account
2. Market you book in other Amazon market places like the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Italy, Mexico – wherever Amazon has a marketplace
3. Earn an income on Amazon for lending your book
4. To maximise your income satisfy the market by publishing your books in different formats – Kindle eBooks, paperbacks, hardcopies, audiobooks
5. As well as Amazon put your book on the IngramSpark platform and have it distributed  through 40,000 channels throughout the world
6. Australian book stores buy via IngramSpark so watch your sales on your IngramSpark dashboard
7. Australian libraries buy via their library suppliers who in turn buy from IngramSpark
8. Once your books are in public and educational libraries you may be eligible for Public lending Right(PLR) and Educational Lending Right(ELR) so you can get paid once a year by the Australian government. The more books you have in the libraries the more you get paid
9. Publishing a book helps your credibility and reputation so it’s possible to become a speaker and be paid to speak at conferences and conventions
10. Develop and sell an online course that relates to your book
11. Set up an eCommerce website with a shopping cart and sell books directly from your website
12. Keep a stock of books on hand and be ready to sell them directly to people in your network

There you are – 12 strategies for earning income from self-publishing your books.

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a rewarding, safe and profitable 2022.

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

Join Facebook Group: Fast Self-Publishing Online

How To Market Your First Book

Marketing a book is complex and learning to market your first book can be overwhelming. Authors freak out about it.

Many authors just want to write and do not want to bother with being involved in the business side of their writing. But the reality is if you want to be a successful creative, marketing is essential.

Those very first steps

What might be the first few steps for getting started with marketing your book?

You are a first-time author, yes? You are starting out with no track record, yes? Then you need to be inventive to get the word out about your book.

Who is your book for? Does your book have a defined market? Who do you think would want to read or buy your book?

1. Start an email list

Ask yourself – who do you know in your own circle of influence that might be interested in learning about your book and possibly purchasing it?

Brainstorm and come up with a list of names. 

• People you know in your immediate circle of influence
• Friends on Facebook
• People in groups you are part of
• People with whom you share common interests.

Make a list of their names, email addresses, and mobile phone numbers. Double-check with these people that they are happy for you to have their details. Also, check that they are happy for you to contact them either by email or by phone.

You are doing this before you even get into the business of email marketing with an autoresponder and associated legal issues to do with privacy laws.

I’m simply suggesting that when you want to market your first book take baby steps to get the word out.

Once you’ve started with a list send a personal email to these people telling them about your book. Don’t forget to provide a link as to where they can buy your book.

Do not at this stage send out a bunch of emails in a group; they might just end up in the recipient’s junk mail and you don’t want this to happen.

Keep these first emails very friendly and personal.

Once you’ve started a names list you can then graduate to setting up an email marketing platform with a website or landing page, an autoresponder and a lead magnet to capture more leads.

2. Have a book launch

When starting in self-publishing authors are usually interested in one thing – sales. By taking those first few baby steps offline it is possible to get immediate sales.

Organise a book launch. This could be as simple as inviting a few people to your home to tell them about your book or you might even meet at a coffee shop or club.

A book launch can range from a simple, low key gathering in the home to a more formal event held at a public venue.

Book launches, book signings, author talks, author interviews on community radio, promotional flyers, and personal networking are proven and tested methods for marketing your book which can be leveraged to your advantage once you focus on your target audience.

Other methods of marketing

After you’ve taken these first baby steps in the offline space you can start exploring other methods of marketing. Build your author platform but this will take time. It’s not something that happens overnight.

Building a website

Your website is your hub from where you communicate with your readership. You’ll set up a lead magnet, have an autoresponder, write blog posts, and send out broadcasts to your email list on a regular basis. You’ll include an author bio, a sales page, social media links, blog posts, and contact details.

Get reviews

You’ll be wanting to get reviews both editorial reviews and customer reviews for social proof.

Social media

A social media presence is important with a Facebook page, a possible Facebook group, being part of other Facebook groups, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest.

You may be interested in setting up a YouTube channel or starting a podcast.

Pre-publication marketing

An area commonly neglected by first-time authors and which starts prior to writing the book is Market Research. Make sure you are writing a book that has a potential market. You don’t want to go to all the effort of producing a book only to discover that no one is interested in your book. It has no market.

Other prepublication marketing tips include designing a stunning cover, deciding on a keyworded title, and paying attention to an attractive interior. There is the business of selecting appropriate metadata like the title, categories, keywords and book description.

If you brainstorm all the various ways you can go about marketing your book it is possible to come up with at least 40 if not more methods. It is too overwhelming to cope with all of them at once.

When starting out keep it simple by taking baby steps. The best place to start is with your immediate circle of influence.

Master one marketing method at a time. Then move on to the next. Over time as you learn you will grow your repertoire of marketing methods and find out what works best for you.

To learn more about writing, self-publishing, and marketing your book ACCESS HERE the How To Become A Self-Published Author subscription program which consists of weekly online lessons that educate, motivate and inspire.

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

JOIN FACEBOOK GROUP

Fast Self-Publishing Online

13 Book Editing Tips For Insiders Only

The first draft of your manuscript is finished so probably you’ll be in need of some book editing tips. You now need to focus on editing and wonder if the manuscript should be given to a professional editor?

Along the way you’ve tried to reduce the mistakes in your text but it has been a daunting experience. You’ve not realised that there are methods for editing your own work.

You could have done with some editing tips early in the piece.

Go through the process of self-editing before handing your book over to a professional editor. Get your manuscript to an advanced level and then you’ll be able to reduce your editing costs.

In addition the exercise of self-editing will make you more sensitive to editorial issues and this in turn will help you to improve your writing next time round.

Here are 13 tips for self-editing your manuscript.

Tip 1 – Print the manuscript

Once you have completed the first draft of your manuscript print it out. This way it looks more like a physical copy of your book.

Tip 2 – Take a rest from your manuscript

Put your manuscript away. Lock it in a drawer or filing cabinet and leave it there for a week or two. Do not look at it. Give yourself a rest from the project.  

Tip 3 – Structure

After taking the break look at the manuscript with fresh eyes. First of all, examine its structure. Check the order of the chapters. Ensure there is a logical sequence.

Sections of text may need to be rewritten to make the writing more clear. The text must flow taking the reader logically from one place to the next so that they have a transformational experience.

Watch out for repetition. Keep sentences simple and straight forward. You want your message to be easily understood and precise.

Tip 4 – Check facts

Your facts might need to be substantiated by referring to the source of your information. Document your sources immediately and put these references into a section at the end of the chapter or at the end of the book.

It is important to document your sources as you write. Avoid neglecting this otherwise you could have insurmountable challenges later on like not being able to remember the source of the information.

Tip 5 – Editing grammar

Become acquainted with the most frequently used rules of grammar and writing style before you start writing. Minimise bad grammar and correct grammatical errors

Be on the look out for errors in syntax, punctuation,  capitalisation, hyphenation and eliminate unnecessary adjectives and adverbs.

Tip 6 –  Sentences

Rewrite sentences if they are long and ungainly. You want them to be short, straight forward, and to the point.

Tip 7  – Remove repetitive words

Writers tend to overuse certain words. Remove the ones that you overuse and consult Roget’s Thesaurus to help you to find fresh and alternative words.

Tip 8 – Hold reader attention

To hold the attention of the reader format your text to make it reader friendly. Use sub-headings to break up the chapters.

Tip 9 – Editing software

Run your manuscript through some editing software like Grammarly to identify passive voice, repetitive words, incorrect comma usage, typos, and bad sentence structure. There is even a plagiarism checker.

Tip 10 – Read book aloud

You will identify more errors by taking the time to read your book aloud.

Tip 11 – Rework manuscript

Once you’ve done a second draft give yourself another break from your manuscript.  Put it away and come back to it sometime later. Then start reworking the third draft and fix all the errors.

Tip 12 – Beta readers

Give your manuscript to a few trusted beta readers. Get their feedback because they will enviably see mistakes that you have missed.

Tip 13 – Proofread

Once you have fixed more errors proofread your manuscript.

Learning how to self-edit your manuscript is not an easy task. However, it is worthwhile doing the hard yards even if it is laborious.

By going the extra mile working on your manuscript you will publish something for which you will be proud.

The final stage in editing is to give your manuscript to a professional editor who will fine tune it and make your manuscript the best it can be.

To learn more about writing, self-publishing, and marketing your book ACCESS HERE the How To Become A Self-Published Author subscription program which consists of weekly online lessons that educate, motivate and inspire.

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

JOIN FACEBOOK GROUP

Fast Self-Publishing Online

How To Be Creative In Lockdown

Despite all the negatives associated with lockdown – uncertainty, loss of income, fear, physical separation from loved ones, lack of social interaction, losing freedom, and the inability to lead a normal existence, let’s see how lockdown in this pandemic can be used creatively.

Lockdown could be the perfect opportunity to do all the things you never had time to do before. If you are a writer or artist, or some other kind of creative, count yourself lucky.

If you like to be creative maybe writing a book, self-publishing, making artwork, writing an article, building a website, anything of a creative nature – means that you have a project that you can throw yourself into. In a lockdown, there is every chance that you have more time on your hands.

You could be so busy that you wouldn’t have time to be lonely or bored.

Using time productively

You may very well have more time but are you using it productively or creatively?

Perhaps the temptation is there to stay in bed for another hour or two. Perhaps you are lacking the motivation to do anything, or perhaps you just don’t feel like doing any of the things you think you should be doing. You just procrastinate.

A common challenge for many aspiring authors and self-publishers is time – just not having enough time. If you want to manage yourself better in this regard

• get some clarity on what it is you’d like to achieve.
• examine what you are doing with the extra time you now have available.
• do a time audit.

Time

With TIME there are 24 hours day 7 days a week. That is absolute.

If you are challenged by time and find yourself frittering it away in lockdown identify the things you are doing that drain your time.

How does time get away from you?

Do you know what you are actually doing with your time?

If you are struggling because you are losing time do a time audit. This means tracking what you do each day over a 24 hour period and breaking this up into 30-minute time slots.  

This is a brutal exercise but it helps you to be honest with yourself. It gives you a baseline of how you are actually spending your time, and you may not like the results.  

A time audit can pinpoint those areas of your day that you need to work on and then you can plan ways in which you can generate more creativity.

Once you have completed the time audit analyse your data. What things have you been doing that have actually been stealing your time?

Did a family member distract you? Was there something on the television you just had to watch? Did you get sidetracked by doing a bit of housework? Did you start reading all your emails? Were you surfing the net?

Identify the pattern in your day to day activities and see where you are losing time.

Move forward and manage yourself more effectively. You will find more creative time by examining your activities and ranking them.

• Identify the tasks that should take up most of your time
• Identify tasks that are important but which are not a top priority
• Identify tasks or activities that blatantly waste your time.

When you manage yourself and your time successfully and practise it, you will find more time to be creative. You will still fulfil life’s obligations and have the time for some rest and recreation.

The top-secret to time management rests in understanding why you are pursuing a creative goal like producing a book, and then learning to prioritise tasks. It is this ability to prioritise and select the tasks that will drive you forward to your ultimate goal.

Apply these methods to living in lockdown and make the best of your extra time. Take advantage of this and tap into your creativity. 

Eliminate what is not necessary and arrive at a mental space in which you can move forward in your quest to achieving whatever it is you desire. Let lockdown be rewarding for you. 

Most importantly keep safe.

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

JOIN FACEBOOK GROUP

Fast Self-Publishing Online

Suffering From Lockdown Blues?

If you are an author and are in lockdown, the challenge is to keep not only physically active but to ensure your brain is mentally active too.

Lockdown trauma

We live in an era of terrible uncertainty. For many lockdowns mean the trauma of losing income, not being able to connect physically with loved ones, being unable to engage in normal social activity, and not knowing what the future holds.

It’s a time when fear can take its toll.

Unfortunately, there seem to be no real answers; people are afraid and anxious.

Lockdown means you cannot physically connect as you would normally because of social distancing.

There is the challenge of loneliness which is not good for mental health. While physical contact is not an option in lockdown areas, it is possible with technological advances to connect with others through other means than just the telephone. 

Zoom, Facetime, and social media allow for a degree of connection and making contact with family and friends this way is preferable to having no connection at all.

Creative activity

Count yourself lucky if you have a creative disposition. A project such as writing a book, an article, painting a picture, making jewellery, or some other kind of creative pursuit – means that you have a project that doesn’t have to start and finish all in one day. 

In the lockdown days ahead you have something to look forward to and which can absorb you.

I’ve spoken with a number of writers about their experience with the lockdown. Writing is a solitary pastime the implication being that for some lockdown is no real issue. Life in lockdown is not very different to their norm.

If you feel low because of self-isolation and are lonely, perhaps it’s possible to find comfort and satisfaction by becoming involved in some television episodes, or reading a book, or watching a movie that you can escape into.

Lockdown is the perfect time to do many of the things you never had time to do before. You probably find that you have more time, would I be right?

If you find that you have more time, lockdown may be the perfect opportunity to do all the things you never had time to do before. Doing that household chore like cleaning out the cupboard, rearranging a room, making a painting, learning a new language, writing the book you’ve always wanted to write, taking up a new hobby, putting together a jigsaw, reading a book could mean becoming so busy that you wouldn’t have time to be lonely or bored.

While the pandemic may be forcing us to be physically apart from loved ones and friends, in other ways, it has us coming together to support and encourage one another through other means like more telephone calls, WhatsApp, and Zoom. 

Lockdown can be a time in which you can unleash your creativity and use these tough times as a stimulus to get that book written and do all the things that you have spent years simply dreaming about.

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

JOIN FACEBOOK GROUP

Fast Self-Publishing Online

Amazon Or IngramSpark?

If you are planning to self-publish your book you may well ask: “Should I publish with Amazon or IngramSpark?”

In the world of independent publishing, dominant industry players are Amazon and IngramSpark. 

Some self-publishers take the Amazon route while others go with Ingram.

This raises the question. Which is better? Amazon or IngramSpark? 

Offerings

Both Amazon and IngramSpark offer:

• Print On Demand (POD)
• eBooks

While publishing on Amazon is free and there is no charge for revisions, IngramSpark does cost. On IngramSpark you pay $49 to publish and there is a fee for revisions.

Three common elements in both platforms are:

• As the author, you are the publisher
• Amazon and IngramSpark are the printers 
• Distribution channels include the Amazon online shop, online stores, bookstores, libraries, and academic institutions

With Amazon’s KDP if you choose to expand your reach into other online booksellers, bookstores, libraries, and academic institutions that are not part of the Amazon ecosystem you can do so by selecting “Expanded Distribution”.

At one level IngramSpark is just like KDP, but it doesn’t have or own its sales platform like Amazon. But it does help you to reach bookstores and libraries.  

A major benefit of using IngramSpark, says Karin Wiberg, is that bookshops and other brick-and-mortar retailers are already used to buying books from Ingram. They are used to the distribution channel that is available.  

This brings us back to the question: should you as a self-publisher use the Amazon platform or IngramSpark?

Use both platforms

The solution is to use both. They complement each other. Not only that, but both platforms have a collaborative relationship.

In an IngramSpark blog Robin Cutler says “Ingram and Amazon enjoy a very collaborative relationship where human beings on both sides work tirelessly to improve the experience for our collective publisher and author content providers.”

Where the Amazon model is based on the classic direct sales method and facilitates the author-publisher selling directly to its customers IngramSpark is more traditional involving a middle-man who buys from IngramSpark and distributes to customers.

The benefit of IngramSpark model

The real benefit of IngramSpark is that libraries and bookstores will buy through IngramSpark whereas they are unlikely to purchase from Amazon.  

Booksellers get a wholesale discount when buying through  IngramSpark and there is a returns policy. Wholesale discounts and a returns policy are not offered by Amazon.

By using both platforms self-publishers can maximise their marketing reach.

When starting out as a self-publisher keep things simple. Do your apprenticeship with Amazon and publish both Kindle eBooks and paperbacks.

Down the track, you may very well want to widen your distribution channels to maximise sales and profits by having your book distributed to libraries and bookstores. In which case use the IngramSpark platform as well.

If you plan on using IngramSpark as well

1. Purchase your own ISBN from My Identifiers
2. Set up your book on Amazon’s KDP but do not enable Expanded Distribution
3. Then set up IngramSpark

As I mentioned earlier these two giants have a collaborative relationship so if you want to maximise your reach and maximise your potential market throughout the world you should think about publishing with both Amazon and IngramSpark.

How To Become A Self-Published Author Program

If you want to write a book within 30 days, publish it without breaking the bank, get it to market within 24 hours, and launch it successfully then this subscription program of 28 weekly online lessons may be for you. 

Learn every aspect of the self-publishing journey with the How To Become a Self-Published Author program.

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

JOIN FACEBOOK GROUP

Fast Self-Publishing Online

Market Your Books To Libraries

Market your books to Australian libraries

Does the concept of earning a passive income from getting your books into Australian libraries interest you?

If as a result of your marketing efforts you succeed in getting your books into public and educational lending libraries it is possible to generate a substantial, passive income that can go on for many years.

The Australian government has a program that compensates authors, publishers and other creators in recognition of income they lose when their books are borrowed in public and educational lending libraries.

Public Lending Rights

The program is Public Lending Right (PLR) and Educational Lending Right (ELR).

These two programs are also designed to support the enrichment of Australian culture by encouraging the growth and development of Australian writing.

As an Australian book publisher or author, and this includes self-publishers, you may be eligible to be a recipient of the PLR and ELR programs.

Assuming you qualify, it means that every year you can receive a payment from the government for having your books in libraries.

Eligibility

How do you know if you are eligible? You need to visit the Public Lending Rights website.

Check your eligibility to receive PLR/ELR.

If you are eligible, your payment will be based on:

• the estimated number of your books held in public and educational lending libraries;

• the proportion of the royalties you receive for your books;

• and the applicable rates for PLR payments and ELR payments.

This program applies to print books; as yet it does not include eBooks.

Before you attempt to claim PLR/ELR for your books there are certain pieces of the jigsaw that have to be put together before you make a claim.

Steps to making a claim

1. First of all, you need to buy an ISBN and register your book with an ISBN with Thorpe Bowker at My Identifiers.

Complete the registration and put the ISBN on the back of your title page, also known as the copyright page, of your forthcoming book.

2. Go to National Library of Australia and provide the details of your upcoming book with the Prepublication Data Service.

3. When the print version of your book is published send a copy of it to the National Library of Australia for Legal Deposit.

Australian publishers and self-published authors are required to send a copy of their print books to the National Library and relevant State Libraries for legal deposit. The legal deposit ensures that a comprehensive collection of published material relating to Australia and its people is preserved for the community and future generations.

Once you’ve got an ISBN for your book with My Identifiers, completed your Prepublication Data with the National Library of Australia, and sent a copy of your book to the Legal Deposit at the National Library of Australia, you can then proceed to claim your book for Public Lending Right and Educational Lending Right.

Just doing a claim for PLR, though, is not enough.

You will need to market your books to Australian Libraries.

If you want to understand more about getting a long term passive income from having your books in Australian libraries then schedule a complimentary strategy call with me.

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

JOIN FACEBOOK GROUP

Fast Self-Publishing Online