Do you want to successfully self-publish? There are thousands of new books being published every day, but many self-published books quickly sink to the bottom of the pile. Many authors are frustrated because there are so many options for self-publishing, and they don't know which one to choose or what will be best for their book. Others spend thousands of dollars to publish and end up broken-hearted with the result. But it doesn't have to be this way. I've spent the last seven years self-publishing bestselling fiction and non-fiction books and in 2011, I left my day job to become a full-time author entrepreneur. I've made lots of mistakes along the way, but through the process of self-publishing 17 books, I've learned the most effective way to publish and market your books. In this book, I'll share everything with you. The book includes: - What you need to know before you self-publish - Why self-publishing an ebook is a good idea - How to format an ebook - Exclusivity and going direct - How to self-publish an ebook - Why self-publish a print book - Print-on-demand will change your life - What you need to know before you print - How to self-publish a print book - What to do if you want help with the publishing process - After self-publishing - How much does it cost to self-publish? - How do you get paid when you self-publish? - Book marketing principles - How to market fiction - How to market non-fiction Plus, links to more useful resources. If you're ready to successfully self-publish, then download a sample or buy now. You can also get your free Author 2.0 Blueprint and mini-course at TheCreativePenn.com/blueprint (just copy and paste into your browser)

The first job of an author is, of course, to write great books, but these days, their second job is to market them. Marketing isn't a skill that most authors have naturally, and there is little formal training. But when your book hits the shelves, and the sales don't start rolling in, there's only two things an author can do. Keep writing more books and ... Get to grips with marketing. This book is for authors who want to sell more books, but it's also for those writers who want to think more like an entrepreneur. It's for traditionally published authors who want to take control of their future, and for self-published authors who want to jumpstart a career. There are some short-term tactics for those who want to kick up immediate sales, but the focus of the book is more about instilling values and marketing principles that will help your long-term career as a writer. It's also about going beyond just the book, because the methods in this guide can take you from being an author into professional speaking, making money from other products and creating opportunities that you can't even imagine yet. There are no rules in this game, but learning this kind of authentic marketing has certainly changed my life, so read on and I'll share everything I know with you. How To Market A Book covers an extensive range of marketing principles, strategies and tactics: Part 1: Marketing Principles - including myths, how to balance your time, co-opetition and generosity Part 2: Prerequisites for Success - including an understanding of yourself and your target market, professional editing and cover design, your book page on the retailer websites, pricing and the use of free Part 3: No Platform Needed - Short-term Marketing - including how to get book reviews, paid advertising, using traditional media and tips for TV, radio and press releases Part 4: The Author Platform - Long-term Marketing - including the reasons why a platform is a good thing, author branding, your author website, list-building and email marketing, content marketing and blogging, audio and podcasting, video and book trailers, social networking, professional speaking, and becoming an author-entrepreneur. Part 5: Launching Your Book - including how launching has changed, soft launch, launch spikes, post launch and relaunches as well as lessons learned from some major book launches. Plus/ tips for when you get overwhelmed and plenty more links to further resources.

Do you want to make a living with your writing? Do you want to turn your words into multiple streams of income? I’m Joanna Penn and I left my corporate job a decade ago to become a full-time author entrepreneur. In this completely updated Third Edition, I’ll explain how I make a living with my writing and share tips from other writers on how you can do it too with practical, actionable advice that you can implement for yourself. If you love to create and you’re ready to learn fresh skills in a fast-changing environment, this book will give you lots of ideas on how to make money with your words. Each chapter provides ideas you can use to research each opportunity in more detail and questions to guide your thought process. Sometimes it’s just about knowing what’s out there in order to find what’s right for you. Part 1: How to Make Money with Books Part 2: How to Make Money with your Writing in Other Ways The transition to making a living with your writing If you want to make a living with your writing, download a sample or buy now!

Being a writer is not just about typing. It's also about surviving the roller-coaster of the creative journey. Self-doubt, fear of failure, the need for validation, perfectionism, writer's block, comparisonitis, overwhelm, and much more. When you're going through these things, it can feel like you're alone. But actually, they are part of the creative process, and every author goes through them too. This book collects the mindset issues that writers experience, that I have been through myself over the last nine years, and that perhaps you will experience at different times on the creative journey. Each small chapter tackles a possible issue and then offers an antidote, so that you can dip in and out over time. It includes excerpts from my own personal journals as well as quotes from well-known writers. I hope it helps you on the road to becoming a successful author. The book includes: Part 1: Mindset Aspects of Creativity and Writing Self-doubt and imposter syndrome Need for validation Fear of failure Fear of rejection and criticism Your inner critic Fear of judgment Perfectionism Writer's block and procrastination "I'm not creative. I don't have any ideas" "My writing isn't original" "Why write? There are too many books in the world already" "I don't have the time or self-discipline to write" "I'm not finding writing much fun. It's hard work." "I keep starting things and not finishing them" Dealing with friends, family and writer's groups "How do I find my voice?" Comparisonitis or "Everyone is better than me" Part 2: Mindset Aspects after Publishing Anti-climax and creative dissatisfaction What is your definition of success? What happens when you tell people that you're an author? "I'm overwhelmed" Dealing with fans, authenticity and drawing the line Haters gonna hate Ambition, fame and fortune Giving up Part 3: Tips for Success on the Author Journey Know thyself Understand and hone your creative process Develop professional habits Manage professional relationships Take control of your writing career Find your community Keep learning Schedule rest and take time off Think long term. Create a body of work

Art for the sake of art is important. Writing for the love of it, or to create something beautiful on the page, is absolutely worthwhile and critical to expand the sum of human expression. But I’m not here to talk about creativity or the craft of writing in this book. My aim is to take the result of your creativity into the realm of actually paying the bills. ˃˃˃ To take you from being an author to running a business as an author. I was a business consultant for 13 years before I gave up my job in September 2011 to become a full-time author-entrepreneur. I worked for large corporates and small businesses, implementing financial systems across Europe and Asia Pacific. I’ve also started a number of my own businesses ”" a scuba dive charter boat in New Zealand, a customized travel website, a property investment portfolio in Australia as well as my freelance consultancy. I’ve failed a lot and learned many lessons in my entrepreneurial life and I share them all in this book. In the last six years of being an author, through tempestuous changes in the publishing world, I've learned the business side of being a writer and I now earn a good living as an author-entrepreneur. I’m an author because it's my passion and my joy ”� but also because it's a viable business in this age of global and digital opportunity. ˃˃˃ In the book, you will learn: \\ Part 1: From Author To Entrepreneur The arc of the author’s journey, definition of an author-entrepreneur, deciding on your definition of success. Plus/ should you start a company? \\ Part 2: Products and Services How you can turn one manuscript into multiple streams of income by exploiting all the different rights, various business models for authors and how to evaluate them, information on contracts, copyright and piracy. Plus/ putting together a production plan. \\ Part 3: Employees, Suppliers and Contractors The team you need to run your business. Your role as author and what you’re committing to, as well as co-writing. Editors, agents and publishers, translators, book designers and formatters, audiobook narrators, book-keeping and accounting, virtual assistants. Plus/ how to manage your team. \\ Part 4: Customers In-depth questions to help you understand who your customers are and what they want, as well as customer service options for authors. \\ Part 5: Sales and Distribution How to sell through distributors and your options, plus all the information you need to sell direct. ISBNs and publishing imprints ”" do you need them? Plus/ your options for pricing. \\ Part 6: Marketing Key overarching marketing concepts. Book-based marketing including cover, back copy and sales pages on the distributors. Author-based marketing around building your platform, and customer-based marketing around your niche audience and targeted media. \\ Part 7: Financials Changing your mindset about money, and assessing where you are now vs where you want to be. Revenues of the author business and how to increase that revenue. Costs of the author business and funding your startup. Banking, PayPal, accounting, reporting, tax and estate planning. \\ Part 8: Strategy and Planning Developing your strategy and business plan. Managing your time and developing professional habits. The long term view and the process for becoming a full-time author. Plus/ looking after yourself. \\ Part 9: Next Steps Questions from the book to help you work out everything to do with your business, plus encouragement for your next steps. \\ Appendices, Workbook and Bonus Downloads including a workbook and business plan template.

As creatives in a crowded world, we can no longer sit in our rooms, creating alone, if we want a viable income. Increasingly, we have to be out there in the world, sharing our knowledge and being visible in order to have a successful career. \\\ Public speaking can be an extra income stream, or can form an integral part of your marketing \\\ It's also a good idea to plan for success and authors/creatives often have to speak when they become well-known, so it's best to start practicing earlier. This book is a starter pack and an easy reference guide with the information that you need the most to speak confidently and professionally in public. And, although some chapters have specific tips for introverts, much of this information will be useful for anyone who is interested in public speaking, regardless of their personality type. In this book, I'll share everything that I know as a professional speaker and introverted author-entrepreneur. It contains lots of tips about public speaking in general, based on my own experience over the last five years. In addition, I cover some specific points that creative introverts need to consider as speakers. You can read this book from start to finish, but you can also dip in and out, as each chapter contains succinct tips that you'll need at different times on your journey. Part 1 goes into the practicalities of speaking: types of speaking, preparation, your actual talk, and what happens afterwards. Part 2 is about some of the psychological aspects of speaking: your mindset, authenticity, confidence, and tackling the inevitable anxiety, which we all feel. Part 3 discusses the business side of speaking: financials, marketing, and how to create multiple streams of income. Part 4 contains interviews with three fantastic professional speakers, each from a different market, to give you a variation in perspective. Mark McGuinness is an introvert, Clare Edwards is an extrovert and Alastair Humphreys sits somewhere in the middle. There are also videos, audio and extra image-formatted transcripts, so you can experience this information in other modes if you prefer. The Appendices contain resources that may be useful in your speaking journey, including my own speaking checklist and booking form, example sales page and a series of questions for you to answer that will kickstart your public speaking.

In this short book, bestselling authors J. Thorn and Joanna Penn share tips on how to successfully co-write a book and avoid the pitfalls along the way. It includes excerpts from their private co-writing diary, honest notes written every day on a fiction project that will help you on your own journey. Updated 2017 with a new chapter based on a four-author collaborative novel. What is co-writing? Benefits of co-writing \ The difficulties of co-writing \ Finding the right person to co-write with \ Before you written legal agreement \ Practicalities and process of co-writing and co-creation \ Excerpts from Risen Gods co-writing diary \ What happens if it goes wrong? \ Other types of collaboration and co-creation \ Tips for multi-author boxsets \ Tips for managing a multi-author collaboration \ Appendix 1: Example agreement

Do you suffer from physical pain relating to your writing life? Are you struggling with back pain, weight gain related to sedentary working, anxiety, depression, sleep problems, neck pain, eye strain, stress, loneliness, digestive issues, or Repetitive Strain Injury? These are the most common issues reported by writers and if you struggle with any of them, you are not alone. Writing is not a physically healthy job, but if you want a long-term writing career, then you need to look after your body. I've been through my own pain journey over the last six years. I used to get crippling migraines that sent me to a dark room, and back pain so bad that I couldn't sleep, as well as stress levels so high that I wasn't able to breathe normally. Now, my back pain, migraines and RSI have almost gone completely, and I manage my writing life in a far healthier way than ever before. I share my personal journey and insights with you in this book. My co-author is Dr Euan Lawson, who shares his insights into how we can reduce pain, improve health and build a writing career for the long term. The book covers: Introduction and survey results from 1200 writers Why writing is great for your health >>> Part 1: The Unhealthy Writer Stress, anxiety, burnout Back, neck and shoulder pain Writer's cramp and Repetitive Strain Injury A personal journey to a pain-free back Writing with chronic pain Sedentary life and inactivity Sleep problems/ insomnia Eye strain, headaches, and migraine A personal story of headaches and migraine Loneliness and isolation Weight gain or weight loss Joanna's Letter to Sugar Digestive issues and IBS A personal journey through IBS with FODMAP Mood and mental health Writing with depression Alcohol, coffee, drugs and other substances >>> Part 2: The Healthy Writer Build resilience Improve your workspace Find a community Start moving Sort out your diet Sort out your sleep Develop healthy habits How to use dictation for healthier writing life Lessons learned about writing from walking a double ultra-marathon Breathing, mindfulness, and meditation Yoga and writing Longevity: writing for the long-term It's time to be a healthy writer!

Do you want to write a non-fiction book but don't know where to start? Or perhaps you worry that you're not ‘the expert' or have enough authority in your niche to write a book on it? Are you ready to help other people and change your own life with your words? The first non-fiction book I wrote changed my life. Sure, it helped other people, but mostly it altered the course of my life – so much so that 10 years later, I make a living with my writing. I've written seven other non-fiction books and co-written two more and built a multi-six-figure income around my non-fiction eco-system. In this book, I'll share everything I've learned along the way and save you time, effort and frustration on your author journey. The book PART 1. Before You Mindset Why write a non-fiction book? Can I write a book if I'm not the expert? Originality. Or, there are so many other books on this topic Who are you? Personal stories and the writer's voice The day a non-fiction book changed my life Fear and self-doubt PART 2. Before You Business Types of non-fiction books Business models for non-fiction books Who is your book for? Identify your target market Decide on the topic for your book Decide on your book title Your author name and pseudonyms How long does your book have to be? How long will it take to write the book? Your perspective on time Writing a book proposal PART 3. Writing and Editing Gather and organize existing material Research, interviews, surveys, and social listening Structure and organize the book How to write the first draft How to dictate your book Turn your blog/podcasts/videos/talks into a book Speed and quality Focus and shiny object syndrome Writer's block Co-writing a non-fiction book How to turn a boring book into an engaging read Elements of fiction in non-fiction Truth and perfectionism Legal Using real people, quotes, lyrics, images, and citing sources Self-editing a book How to find and work with professional editors PART 4. Publishing and Product Creation Your publishing options The different formats for your book Non-fiction book covers Book formatting for non-fiction Pricing your book Your book sales description Categories and keywords Turn your non-fiction book into a multimedia course Updating your books over time PART 5. Marketing Non-Fiction Two models of marketing and the importance of mindset Book-centered marketing Paid advertising for non-fiction books Author-centered marketing. The power of a personal brand Build your author website Build an email list Integrate email marketing with your book Content marketing for non-fiction books My non-fiction marketing journey Conclusion and your next steps. It's time to (finally) write your non-fiction book. Download a sample or buy now and start writing.

Do you want to write more but feel frustrated at your lack of time? 
Are you doing ‘busy’ work instead of moving toward your creative goals? 
Is your To-Do list overwhelming? It’s time to stop, reassess and take control of your time. This book will help you discover the path to becoming a productive writer. Learn how to: Identify what’s really stopping you from reaching your goals Say no and set boundaries for others—and for yourself Find more time to write Make the most of your writing time Dictate your words for a more efficient and healthy writing life Use outsourcing to buy yourself more creative time Work with co-writers to produce more books Use tools for specific aspects of productivity Focus on physical and mental health to boost your productive time I’ve been writing and publishing for over a decade and in this book, I’ll share my lessons learned in order to help you become more productive and, hopefully, save you time, money and heartache along the way. If you want to become a more productive writer, download a sample or buy now.

Do you want to create, publish and market your audiobooks? Are you ready to use podcasting to grow your author brand and reach more readers with your books? Audiobooks are the fastest-growing segment in publishing with double-digit growth in markets across the world. Podcasting has gone mainstream with listeners consuming audio on mobile phones and in-car devices, as well as through smart speakers. Advancements in voice technology continue to expand possibilities for audio creation and marketing. With such rapid growth in opportunity, how can you position your books in an increasingly voice-first world? I've been podcasting for over a decade as well as narrating and producing my own audiobooks since 2014. I'm an avid consumer of audio content and I'm also experimenting with AI voice technologies. In this book, I'll share everything I know so you can position your books and your author brand for the next shift in reader behavior. You will Introduction Why audio and why now? The audio first ecosystem The audio mindset Part 1: Audiobooks Types of audiobooks Writing, adapting and editing your work for audio Intellectual property considerations for audiobooks Your options for audiobook publishing and licensing How to find and work with a professional narrator Reasons to narrate your own audiobook Audiobook narration tips Recording studio options Audiobook recording, editing, and production How to self-publish an audiobook How long does an audiobook take to produce? How do audiobook readers discover audiobooks? How to market audiobooks The money side of audiobooks Part 2: Podcasting Why podcasting is important for authors The difference between audiobooks and podcasting Types of podcasts How to research and pitch podcasters How to be a great podcast guest Should you start your own podcast? Podcast prerequisites Intellectual property considerations for podcasting Podcasting equipment and software Podcast structure How to be a great podcast host Podcast distribution Show notes and transcripts Collaboration and freelancers Podcast workflow and tools How to launch a podcast How to market a podcast Repurpose your content The money side of podcasting Part 3: Voice Technologies Overview of voice technologies Speech to dictation Text to speech Voice assistants, smart speakers and devices Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the future of voice If you want to position your books and your author brand for audio growth, then check out the book now!

You are an author. You turn ideas into reality in the shape of a book. You turn the thoughts in your head into valuable intellectual property assets. You understand how powerful the written word can be. Now it's time to use your words to create a business plan to take your writing career to the next level—whatever that means for your situation. I'm Joanna Penn and I've been a full-time author-entrepreneur for almost a decade. In this book, I’ll guide you through the process of creating a business plan that will help you achieve your creative and financial goals. It’s relevant for fiction and non-fiction authors, as well as those who want to include other products, services, and income streams. It’s also applicable whether you’re just starting out or if you already have a mature author business. A plan helps at any stage of the journey. The final chapter will give you a framework for simplifying your plan and turning it into achievable steps across a chosen timeline. In each section, I give examples from my own business plan and there are questions for you to answer, templates, and resources that might help along the way, as well as example business plans for different kinds of authors. It's time to take your author career to the next level. Let's get started on your business plan. Please This book doesn’t go into detail on how to do the specific topics, for example, how to self-publish a book, or how to do content marketing. I cover those topics in my other Books for Authors. If you already have my previous business book, Business for Authors, this is a rewritten and updated sub-set of that material, focusing on the specifics of a plan as opposed to everything involved in running a business. This book acts as a companion as well as a more recent update to my own author journey. It will help you bring it all together into a coherent plan that you can use to take your author business into the future. Books for Authors by Joanna Penn

There are plenty of books and tips on writing faster, learning more marketing tactics and strategies, trying to maximize your ranking, hitting the top of the charts, juicing the algorithms, and hacking different ad platforms. While these are all important things—which the authors themselves regularly write and talk about—it's also important to recognize that your author journey is a marathon, and not a sprint. Joanna Penn and Mark Leslie Lefebvre have been in the business long enough to see authors burning out and leaving the writing life because they turned what they love into a hamster wheel of ever more production and marketing tasks they hate. It doesn't have to be this way. This book is a collection of tips on how to be a more relaxed author—and return to the love that brought you to writing in the first place. You will If you want to be a more relaxed author, look inside or buy today.

It might not be in the way that you expect, but when you hold your book in your hand and say, “I made this,” something will shift. The process of getting to that point will light a spark in your creative soul and help you discover unexpected aspects of yourself. It will be one of the things you are most proud of in your life. This book will help you get there. I’m Joanna (J.F.) Penn, award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of 18 novels and novellas with nearly a million books sold in over one hundred countries. This book will help you write your first novel, or improve your creative process so you can write more books and reach more readers. It covers mindset, ideas and research, aspects of craft, how to write a first draft, and work through an editing process to a finished book. You will Conclusion If you want to (finally) write your novel, then buy How to Write a Novel today.