James Minter's Blog: Writers do it in Public... - Posts Tagged "how-to"

How To End An Affair, How To End A Relationship, Infidelity Recovery, Stop Cheating by Eugene Marks

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a must read for anyone who has found themselves in a situation where they are having an affair or their partner is having an affair. It is an easy read but full of insights both in self-awareness and how to see things from the other person’s perspective. It covers the issue from all angles, so where you find yourself in the situation, there will be something you can take away that, if you are prepared to make the necessary changes, you will have a choice about how you live your life looking forward.

I only wish that it didn’t finish when it did. I felt that there was probably a lot more depth that would have helped me glean more information that would help me. It felt a little as if this is just the introduction to a much larger subject and I hoped that it might have given me more exercises so that I could really make the changes I am seeking.

I would certainly read more of this author’s work.



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The Ultimate Goodreads Guide for Authors by Barb Drozdowich

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I love ‘how to …’ books. Like most authors my life is very busy reading, writing, editing, re-writing and promoting to say the least. If I can save time and gain knowledge by picking someone else’s brain I’ll do so. I find Goodreads a maze but I know to be a successful author it’s a website I must get to grips with. I’m a visual person too. So ‘The Ultimate Goodreads Guide for Authors’ is up my street.
Like most books of this type it’s not something to read from cover to cover. A useful Table of Contents allows you to jump to your required learning so saving time. Drozdowich includes a significant number of screenshots in this eBook which cuts down on the narrative to its essential.
As an introduction to navigating this large site it’s very useful. I read it on a PC with Kindle software loaded where the screenshots are large and easily read. In addition I loaded it onto an Apple IPad where it’s an excellent read as the images are in colour and can be enlarged as required. I do have some reservations on trying to read it on a Kindle e-reader which is only monochrome and the images cannot be resized.




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WRITE-LIVELIHOOD: How to Craft a Writer's Business Plan by Ryan Petty

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


First, I fully concur with Petty on the need for self-publishers to create a business plan. Second, I’m a self-confessed “How to …” book junky – I’m very happy to ride on the back of others shared experiences. There is always too much to do and too little time to do it in. Any shortcuts are welcome. With a book of this type I always pick up a nugget or two or three. Third, much of what Petty says in his book resonated with me.
Petty shows great commitment, enthusiasm and self-belief to his idea, and is truly passionate about his proposal. But for me the book didn’t really start until chapter 5. I had the feeling he was spending along time packing for a journey before actually setting off. Most of what was said in chapters 1 to 4 inclusive were, in my mind, the background thought processes he need to go through before being able to put pen to paper. He chose to share them with his audience which to me felt a bit unnecessary. This book is not for the fainted hearted, newbie indie-author but for the more seasoned self-published writer who needs to move their career forward. A good example of know your audience.
The split between writer, self-publisher and business strategist is useful and allows you to look at what you’re doing with three different heads on. I do question Petty’s maths when he suggests, as an author, 80% of your time should be spent writing and then talks about 15 hours per week. Remember this book is aimed at the professional writer who is looking to earn a living from his/her outpourings. I’m in that position and spend at least 45 hours or more per week writing, editing and promoting. Actual writing for me is about one third -15 hours or 33% of my time.
Petty does believe in writing more content – books in all their guises – short stories, novellas, full novels- finished to a professional standard and not striving for perfection. I’m fully behind him since perfection doesn’t exist. As he says “you need clarity in your writing not luminosity,” so stop polishing and move on to your next book.
He does include a couple of useful exercises; in particular the Relative Merits Review, to get you thinking around which book you should be writing and deciding where to focus your efforts. What’s more, the tool is available to download from his website: very useful.
Chapter 19 on Financial Scenarios is very misleading. I wish what Petty is saying was even half true but his starting point – Amazon pay 70% royalty on eBooks just isn’t the case unless you are selling to Brazil, Japan, Mexico, and India (for more info look here: https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A... ) The truth is royalty payments are closer to 35% or half of what he is basing his financial scenarios on.
In conclusion, his style is evangelical and too wordy for me but he is on to a useful thing looking at the future direction of self-publishing and what “professional” writers need to become. Yes worth a read, yes worth following him and his ideas but they need distilling/refining for his intended audience.




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Supercharge Your Kindle Sales: Simple Strategies to Boost Organic Traffic on Amazon, Sell More Books, and Blow Up Your Author Mailing List by Nick Stephenson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


As self-published author with five books already under my belt, I know how difficult the whole process is – especially discoverability. There is no “silver bullet” for success, only a lot of hard work; though the trick is to work smarter and not harder. ‘How to’ books like “Supercharge Your Kindle Sales” are useful as a way of assessing your actives against others experiences and provide an opportunity to find new / better ways of doing things; hence working smarter.

Packed with information, hints, tips and real life examples there is plenty to dwell on and take in. Time is tight for all of us. Nick hasn’t padded out this book just to make you feel you’re getting value for money – never mind the quality, feel the width syndrome, but he gets over the nub of each topic with links for further reading where necessary.
This is a great resource, written in a very open and honest manner – qualities much to be admired. He has, I think, discovered the secret of expanding available time, (which he doesn't share) either that or he hardly ever sleeps! The upshot is we, his readers, have benefited hugely from his efforts. Although assessing and reworking my own approach to marketing my books on Amazon will take some time/effort as a result, at least I know I’m not wasting my energy, money and resources.

Thanks Nick for putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard: an invaluable addition to my collection of self-help books.




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Create an Author Website - A Step-by-Step Blueprint for Busy Authors and Writers by Caimin Jones

My rating: 5 of 5 stars




I've owned a website, several in fact, for years and feel at home with the whole process of building and maintain them. There are many fellow authors out there who may well be creative writers but when it comes to the techy stuff really struggle. As Caimin Jones points out, a website for an author is essential, and just as important it’s a site you own. By owning it you are in total control but the downside is just purchasing the domain name is not sufficient, you have to build a credible website as well.

Caimin knows about WordPress and search engine optimisation (SEO) - another black art - as his other books demonstrate. Having read this eBook, I confirm he does know about the basics of building a WordPress website and mailing list.
There are two quite distinct aspects to owning a website: 1) The initial design and build, and 2) Keeping the content up to date. WordPress is a good tool for word-smiths like authors to maintain content, so 2) should be easy but I'm not sure 1) could be achieved by this book alone.

It is a beginner’s guide and a very useful read for an intending website owner. Having been through the content it provides the necessary information for an inexperienced author to ask the right questions or understand the answers to question from an experienced website developer. I'm not sure you could pick this book up and successfully complete the design and build process. This is not a slight on the book’s contents but more about the requirements / skills / research / tenacity required to achieve the task.
This is a great first port of call but not the only resource required.




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Advanced Twitter Strategies For Authors: Twitter Techniques To Help You Sell Your Book - In Under 15 Minutes A Day! by Ian Sutherland

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Advanced Twitter Strategies for Authors to Sell More Books – Ian Sutherland

‘How to …’ books are a blessing for busy people – there is so much to learn and so little time to learn it in. Books on using Twitter are many and varied in quality and usefulness. As an author myself, my view of the role of Twitter was it’s a great tool to schmoose the publishing industry but of little use for selling books. Ian Sutherland has changed my mind. ‘Advanced Twitter Strategies …’ was written by Ian from hard won experience, and the proof is in the number of twitter followers he has, and in his book sales rank available for anyone to see on Amazon. Okay, he is not number one but he is respectable placed given the millions of fiction books out there. It was after checking out these figures and noting his claim ‘I’ve struck gold!’ I decided to read and follow Ian’s techniques to the letter. Although at present I cannot report the same level of success (Ian went from 1,500 followers gained over four year period to plus 60,000 in a few months), it’s early days yet but already I’ve seen a marked improvement in the number of Twitter followers, I’ve divested myself on many laggards because of better targeting of whom I follow / unfollow, and I’ve seen a significant increase in the number of ‘lists’ I’ve been added to. What is more, Ian is ethical in his method – SHARP – is his byword (an acronym) which sums up his approach.
This book is not for the fainted hearted as you need a good basic understanding of and previous skills in using Twitter before adopting his techniques. Also it’s not a book to read in a few minutes – I suggest a reasonably detailed first read taking notes as you go, and then opening the book on your Kindle / Tablet alongside you PC screen so you can work through the setting up and configuration of the tools he recommends and illustrates in the text.
Once you’ve mastered the tools Ian gives a detailed plan of how to manage your Twitter account in 15 minutes per day freeing yourself up to do what fiction writers are supposed to be doing – creating jaw dropping stories.
I’m sold on this book, and very happy to give it five stars and to recommend it to all serious Twitter users be they authors or not.





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The Author Platform: A Beginner's Guide The Author Platform: A Beginner's Guide by Barb Drozdowich

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


As an author I fully appreciate what Barb is saying in this book. Take anyone famous – pop star, actor, author, anyone - and what do they all have in common – a platform, a foundation upon which to build their chosen career. Our audience, readers in our case, are drawn to writers they have heard of, people who have been recommended, reviewed, and written about in the media. Apart from close family if you are lucky, the chances of anyone picking up your book – on-line or off line – is very slim, almost negligible, unless you have a “platform,” a presence in the media, where you appear on Google, exist on Amazon, and are researchable on Goodreads. With the shift to self-publishing the writing world is very crowded; you need visibility to be found. All the tools and techniques discussed by Barb in this book are the essential/minimal required to lift you off the floor of invisibility and project you towards the light of discoverability.
Barb writes from the heart and from hard won experience – ride on her back, and get started on your journey towards success. Every contemporary author has gone through/is going through, this same process. Barb’s succinct book is a great place to start; a must read for new and aspiring writers looking for commercial success in this digital age.

Your "Platform" is key to your success - grab a short-cut to building yours …




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Book Reviews That Sell: Discover the Secrets of Getting a Boatload of Great Reviews by Gary Webb

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I am a huge fan of ‘How to …’ books. Time is precious, as all self-published authors know, so finding a really useful book on such an important subject is very fortuitous. I, like every other author doing self-promotion, have been up many blind alleys, and wasted time and money on activities which yield little or no positive results. Getting reviews is top of the list.
This guide is intended for new authors to steer them away from some of the approaches that violate Amazon’s terms of service. It gives a variety of strategies for getting more and better reviews, but Dr Webb also suggests his favourite one. Incidental, he undersells himself, this is a valuable read for all authors in this constantly changing world of Amazon.
Reviews are without doubt important, but only after reading Dr Webb’s book did I become aware of the subculture surrounding the review process. He has opened my eyes. Indie authors struggle to build their platform, whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads or Amazon (more usually all of these) and will tend to do anything that's legal, decent and honest to achieve that end. But through ignorance can inadvertently scupper their chances; a situation best avoided, to say the least. This book is extremely well researched – complete with a bibliography, and packed full of hints, tips, details, and insights which steer the savvy self-publisher through a minefield. Thanks for putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard: an invaluable addition to my collection of self-help books. If you take one thing away from this book then, to quote Dr Webb, “Stop struggling to collect reviews; starting seeking connection with reviewers.”




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The Self-Publisher's Ultimate Resource Guide: Every Indie Author's Essential Directory-To Help You Prepare, Publish, and Promote Professional Looking Books by Joel Friedlander

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I'm a huge fan of How to ... books. They save the reader so much time - primarily it's a dip-in resource, but actually it’s useful for the newbie/aspiring authors who need a framework for their writing/publishing activity - what to do with their manuscript to bring it to market.
Being eBook format makes keeping it up to date easier, though the actual process of checking web address, emails, contacts etc. is a mammoth task for the authors. For me being UK focused, the resources tend to be US-centric, but with the internet being Worldwide, that is less of an issue these days.
Coming from Joel Friedlander gives the user extra confidence - Joel is acclaimed in the self-publishing world. Definitely worth adding to any serious writers resource library.



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Blogging for Authors by Barb Drozdowich

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


As a self-published fiction author, besides writing great stories, I’m like all other authors, and need to jump through many hoops to get my books in front of my readers. Time is a premium, and in my opinion, “How to … “ books are a life saver, especially when written by Barbara Drozdowich. She is always honest and authentic, and writes her books to help—they are detailed, inclusive, tried and tested.
Looking at the Table of Contents will give you a quick insight to the breadth and depth of her coverage, yet she doesn't overburden the reader with unnecessary detail. The chapters are littered with links to other useful resources, which allows the reader to have a very personal experience when reading this book – a great benefit of digital books. To follow or not to follow a link, the choice is yours.
This book is essential for any serious author building their platform, and one that should prove a sound investment. Having read this book I now need to enact the advice, hints and tips, and that’s down to me. Highly recommended.




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