Derek Murphy's Blog: Creativindie

My youtube channel has started to skew towards some Chinese results, now that I’m back in language learning mode – and it recommended me some nice music. Great, I think… I can transcribe and translate the lyrics and use it to study.

So I go to Google the name of the song and band and wait a minute, it doesn’t exist. This is an AI music channel. I got fooled. But what does that mean?

I’m not looking to support a real human music creator or band here – just something nice enough I can listen to with...

Fear should repel us. Biologically, terror is designed to keep us away from danger. Yet horror stories—the ones that leave us sweaty-palmed and staring at the dark corner of the bedroom—have been with us since the first campfires. And not only have they persisted, they’ve thrived: from Gothic novels to streaming horror franchises, from whispered folktales to multi-million-dollar box office hits.

Why do we keep turning toward fear as entertainment? The answer, it turns out, lies at the interse...

Let’s face it, choosing a keyword-rich title for your self-published book feels like selling your literary soul for clicks. You dream of clever metaphors and poetic subtleties, yet the harsh truth of online algorithms drags you kicking and screaming into SEO land. But here’s the uncomfortable reality: as a self-published author, your beautifully nuanced title might vanish into the digital abyss if readers can’t find it.

A keyword-rich title isn’t just a trendy marketing gimmick—it’s survival....

Vibe coding, no code, low code—whatever you want to call it, the future of building things without laboriously hammering out lines of code is growing up fast. One minute you’re reading about “citizen developers” in corporate handbooks, the next you’re scanning app catalogs of robust, full-featured no-code tools that promise drag-and-drop magic. It’s all a bit overwhelming, but also exhilarating—this idea that you can do big, meaningful stuff without bowing to a mountain of JavaScript or Python.

I keep seeing people talking about how their translations are making them a ton of money, and I want in. The challenge is, it’s time-consuming. After a lot of research, Claude 3.7 seems the best at creative writing and will probably do a good job.

But I’m trying to translate my 400,000 word vampire dystopia and I don’t want to translate each chapter individually (I could, but I don’t want to). So I’ve been looking for something else.

I’ve seen ads for some things but I don’t really trust them; tra...

Something I noticed recently, is just how much of the internet is shit.

People talk about “AI slop” specifically, but most online blogs and websites have always been crap, and there’s a reason. Once people start getting traffic, it’s too easy to focus on the money.

How do I get MORE traffic; how do I actually make it earn some money so it’s no longer a hobby space that wastes my time and money but a real online business?

You probably notice ads for gambling, cbd or porn everywhere… it’...

Why You Need a Single “Universal” Link

There’s no bigger momentum-killer than forcing potential readers to sift through a dozen different URLs in your tweet, Facebook post, or email. Even the simplest call-to-action—“Buy my book!”—can get tangled when you’re juggling Amazon.com, Amazon UK, Kobo, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, plus whatever else is out there. This is why “one link” or “universal link” solutions are so beloved: they let you share a single, tidy URL that routes reader...

Launching a book is hard. Selling 5000 copies? Even harder.

Most authors write their book, hit publish, and hope for the best. But hope isn’t a strategy. You need a structured, repeatable process to get your book in front of the right readers—and keep it selling long after launch.

This roadmap is designed to help self-published authors, indie writers, and small publishers launch a book effectively without spending a fortune. If you follow these steps, you’ll:

Sell more books with organ...

For years, BookTok has been the go-to hub for readers, writers, and creators to share their love of books, drive trends, and even push obscure titles onto bestseller lists. But with the looming TikTok ban in the USA, many members of the BookTok community are scrambling to find new platforms to keep the magic alive. The question is: where are they going?

Platforms like Lemon8, Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, Rednote, Neptune, and YouTube are vying for their attention, but will any of them truly f...

We’re overworked, under-resourced, and running on empty while the world demands more and more. No wonder we need new language for the new emotions and shared experiences we can barely describe.

These are feelings people may be experiencing, and feelings are valid—and no amount of logic or dismissive commentary can explain them away. The emotions we’re grappling with today aren’t just a case of mild ennui, that sense when life is fine but missing joy or zest, lacking that je ne sais quoi. No, this...