Hard to believe that summer is winding down and that children will soon be returning to their classrooms to continue their educations. There’s always lots to learn as a self-publishing authors and I’ve picked out some great articles that were published this week to share with you. Hope you enjoy them.

Betty Ming Liu on Betty Ming Liu
How to write a bio about yourself or someone else
“Writing a good bio isn’t that hard. This is great news because everyone needs a decent bio. But since most folks find the process rather intimidating, I’m going to share some basic how-to’s that have worked well for my students.”

Catherine Ryan Howard on Catherine, Caffeinated
Goodreads Giveaways: Don’t Do What You’re Told
“Any self-published or self-publishing author who’s done even the tiniest smidgen of research into how to use internet thingys to help sell their books will already be familiar with Goodreads. It’s Facebook for book lovers, a place where you can share what you’ve read, divide your reads up into lists and recommend books you’ve loved to others.”

Doris-Maria Heilmann on Savvy Writers & e-Books online
17 Bestseller Tips – from Trade Publishers
“Since 2010 roughly 7 million new self-published books appeared, almost all at online retailer’s websites. And these titles will be offered for many years to come, as most of them are in digital format. The “gold rush” seems to be over and self-publishing has been dropping almost 50% per year, obviously “separating the wheat from the chaff”. You’re not a New York Times bestselling author. You don’t have a publicist. And your Amazon sales numbers are awful. Should you quit writing books? No, absolutely not!”

John Kremer on The Writing Desk
The I-Don’t-Have-Any-Time Hour-a-Day Book Marketing Plan, by John Kramer
“Here’s my I-Don’t-Have-Any-Time Hour-a-Day Book Marketing Plan: Do one thing a day. Focus on creating relationships with high-traffic targeted websites (targeted to your audience or your topic). That’s it.”

Ruth Ann Nordin on Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors
Are Pre-Orders Right For You?
“I’m sure you guys have already gotten the KDP email announcing pre-orders for all indie authors. If not, it’ll probably be coming in your inbox soon. Basically, you can do a pre-order up to 90 days before your book’s release.”

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