Being an indie author does not demand that you know everything about your profession before you publish your first book. Pastry chefs know how to make the desserts. The counter jockey at the fast-food joint knows everything about making hamburgers, running the french-fry machine, and running the cash register. Nobody expects a surgeon to operate […]
Now that I’m running Peschel Press, I’ve discovered a need to automate as many of my processes as possible. There are tasks that have to be done on a regular basis. There’s the monthly sales report, the half-yearly payment of sales tax revenue, the weekly checklist of tasks that need to be done. None of […]
When setting up your indie company, some questions will probably be easy to answer, such as how should you set it up? Probably the best rule of thumb is: the least complex you can get by with, and as the laws in your area require. When you’re just starting out, when it’s just you and […]
Words are important. Finding the right words to express your thoughts clearly is vital. But finding the right words that your audience gets is paramount. Here’s what I mean as it pertains to thinking of book marketing as watering holes. A common subject for writers and book marketers is the “don’t be afraid to market […]
I had to spend time rooting around my website. I had received an email from HostGator telling me that they couldn’t back up PlanetPeschel because of “inode,” which was about as unhelpful a message as one could get. Fortunately, HostGator had a page explaining what the heck inode means. In plain English, I have too […]
(2015 edition using Word 2007) If you are impatient with carefully written explanations and confident in your ability to navigate Windows 7 and Word 2007, jump to the end for the summary. This is a frequent topic on the CreateSpace boards: “Why does CS reject my PDF because my images are less than 200dpi? I’m […]
One way to approach marketing your book is to think of the tribes out there that not only would be interested in it, but want to know more about it! Yes, there will be people who are curious about your book if it reflects their interests. I learned that lesson at a cat show. My […]
How is indie writing like vaudeville? Let me start with a history lesson. It’s been said by people cleverer than myself that history doesn’t repeat itself, it rhymes. I rather like that, because the longer I’ve lived, the more I see certain things coming around in a slightly different form or from a completely unexpected […]
A writer these days needs more than Virginia Woolf’s “money and a room of one’s own.” She would probably add “and tools for distraction free writing so I can stop spending the day on Twitter and Facebook.” Coping with distractions is an important part of the writer’s job. The same inventions that have allowed us […]
The most important story that you can write is the one that’s read after you die: your will. An author’s estate leaves behind something potentially more valuable than money, insurance policies, collectible Beanie Babies, and other valuables. We have intellectual property: books, unpublished works, and personal papers. Complete works that can be republished; incomplete works […]