September 26, 2023

Truth Bomb: Talent Has Very Little To Do with Writing Success

By Paul Goat Allen

I watched a presentation recently given by Mike Tomlin, the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he said that talent has very little to do with success in football. “It’s not what you’re capable of, it’s what you’re willing to do. I know plenty of people that are capable. […]

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August 3, 2023

Book Marketing Pep Talk

By Amanda Miller

Book Marketing is usually the toughest part of your publishing journey. That’s the reality. Writers, unlike businesspeople, seem to be extremely uncomfortable marketing themselves, yet they often don’t have the funds to delegate the tasks to someone else. Add the fact that you can rarely see book marketing results in real […]

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November 21, 2022

Why Your Novel’s Cover Art is Even More Important Than Ever

By Paul Goat Allen

As someone who has been in the self-publishing business for decades—from purchasing titles for a national book chain to reviewing thousands of self-published titles for Kirkus, BlueInk, etc. to interviewing countless self-published authors for various sites—I’ve seen cover art quality for self-published titles increase exponentially over the last few decades […]

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June 16, 2022

9 Features on KDP You Should Know About

By Amanda Miller

Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform has been an amazing tool for independently published authors to get their books into the world and hit a big market—not only swiftly but affordably. Not only is KDP’s platform easy to use, but it is ever-evolving with fresh, new developments for authors to take […]

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March 14, 2022

7 Must-Have Tools for Your Book Marketing Toolkit

By Amanda Miller

Faced with the arduous task of marketing a book, you may conclude that writing it was the easy part! Most authors—both traditionally and independently published—eventually face a laundry list of marketing tasks, including devising an overall plan, creating marketing materials (such as bookmarks, postcards, and press releases), and finding ways to […]

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July 7, 2021

Three Ways Writers Can Create Opportunity

By Paul Goat Allen

One of Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw’s most iconic quotes is a fitting way to begin this blog: “Don’t wait for the right opportunity: create it.”

Creating opportunity—it’s a huge deal when it comes to self-published and traditionally published writers alike. Writers may not want to be reminded of the […]

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June 1, 2021

Why Your Novel Needs a Strong Cover Blurb

By Paul Goat Allen

There are several reasons why most traditionally published novels you pick up have a blurb prominently featured on the front or back cover. The addition of a strong blurb—an endorsement by a person of note (a well-known author or expert) or an excerpt from a professional book review—immediately establishes a perceived […]

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April 12, 2021

Finding Your People: BlueInk Review Talks with Elly Bangs

 By Paul Goat Allen 

Amidst the backdrop of a pandemic killing millions of people worldwide and the planet in the death throes of environmental collapse, debut novelist Elly Bangs has released a post-apocalyptic thriller that is simultaneously terrifying and hopeful. Set on a future Earth where humankind is largely relegated to existing […]

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