Amazon is the world’s largest bookstore, and if you’re an author, you need to make the most of your presence there. I spoke with several indie authors to get their advice on how to maximize your Amazon Author Central page.

Personalize your Amazon Author Central URL

Amazon Author Central gives you the option to customize your URL. Author Karen Dimmick calls this a “pretty link” which she uses to “easily send people directly to it.” Her personalized link https://amazon.com/author/karendimmick looks nicer than the auto-assigned https://www.amazon.com/Karen-Dimmick/e/B01E0BXITY (though both land you in the same place). Include your Amazon Author Central link in your email signature or on your business cards. Author Amber Fallon adds, “The best way to put your Amazon Author Central page to work for you is to make sure people know about it. Tweet it once in a while. Be sure to include [the link] on your website and your social media profiles.” Tyrone Givens notes that the “author dashboard has a very convenient button for sharing the link to the page.” … Continue reading

What are the biggest and most common mistakes that new self-publishers should avoid? We reached out to three successful authorpreneurs to get advice.

Writing might be the “easy” part

“The biggest mistake self-published authors make is not approaching book publishing as a business, says “Inspiration to Creation” coach Nina Amir. “Many writers don’t realize that when they decide to self-publish, they become publishers. They open a publishing house. They enter into this endeavor eagerly because they are told it will be easy to self-publish, and they are surprised that they can’t just write, and that there is more to it than expected. They must carve out time to manage a team of designers and editors, pay taxes, promote, manage their publishing business’s finances, manage book sales, and more.” … Continue reading

If this is the year you plan to publish a book, resolve to take solid steps to get you there. Here are five suggestions to set yourself up for success. Ready? Go!

1. Measure yourself

Set up a concrete goal in order to hold yourself accountable to writing. Perhaps it’s a word count, perhaps it’s a defined block of time. But whatever you choose, quantify it. That way, a month from now you’ll be able to say, “wow, I wrote x thousands of words” in January, or “hey, I spent y number of hours doing nothing but writing”! … Continue reading

A book’s title is its calling card. It’s how a potential reader finds your book. It’s how a satisfied reader talks about it to a friend.

So when it’s time to dream up a book title, what must you consider? We turned to five experts on the topic, who shared these tips:

Word of Mouth

Word of mouth is still the number one reason readers buy books. If you want to maximize your sales and earnings as an author, you need to understand the word of mouth sales process. It all starts with your book title.

Every word of mouth sales process has three simple steps: … Continue reading