Nick Thacker's Blog, page 16

25 Reasons Why You Should Self-Publish

So you’re thinking about self-publishing, or “indie” publishing, your book.

Welcome. Glad you’re here. You’re in good company.

I’ve self-published all of my 7 books, and it’s been a heck of a ride.

Also, you’re in forÂquite an experience — it’s challenging (to say the least), somewhat nerve-wracking, and not always what it’s cracked up to be.

But I still believe in the process, and so should you.Â

Here are 25 reasons why:

1. Control

The biggest reason to self-publish in my mind isÂcontrol. As a self...

7 Ways to Immediately Be More Creative

You’re a creator. That means youÂcreate things — books, products, speeches, art, computer programs — as part of your day-to-day life.

But what happens when the creative well dries up, and you’re no longer able to find things to write about, blog about, change, adapt, or grow? What happens when you feel like you just can’tÂthink?

IÂconstantly struggle with losing my creative focus and motivating energy, and I can tell you — while the following little “recipes” will help, they’re only going to be...

Are You Tired of Being Unproductive?

You know you’re not as productive as you should be.

But you spend hours and money on books and products to help you get more productive.

You know “the muse” doesn’t actually cause you to write better, or more creatively.

But you quickly use it as an excuse to not write.Â

You know you could figure out the kinks and problems as you go.

But you wait until everything’s in place and makes sense to take action.Â

You know you work better in the morning.

But sleeping suddenly feels so great.Â

You know you wo...

3 Types of Author Blogs

Have you started a blog yet?

If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you’ll know that I believe a blog is a huge and integral part of building a great author platform.ÂBlogs are a wonderful way to spread a message, an idea, or a concept, and they’re sort of like the “low-hanging fruit” of the marketing world: cheap, easy to set up, and effective at long-term broadcast.

However, you might be among the many people who have asked me some form of this simple question:

What type of author...

The 3 Secrets of Surviving Writer Burnout

Note from Nick: this is a guest post from Sophie Lizard, and it’s one of my favorites. She’s a no-nonsense writer offering a dose of “punch-you-in-the-face” truth this morning. Read it, comment, and bookmark it!

You know that feeling you get when you’re writing and everything just flows?

Ecstatic focus.

When the world falls away, your thoughts come sharp and clean, and every word you write is right… it’s a gift. It’s a joy. It’s why we’re here.

But there are times when it just isn’t like that. No...

Behind the Scenes of A Book Launch

All right — you asked for it, so here it is:

Behind the Scenes of A Book Launch:

Videos about what a book launch might look like. I go into the technical nitty-gritty details about software, plugins, and other resources I used to get ready for my upcoming book,ÂThe Golden Crystal.

In this first video I talk about using Gravity Forms, WordPress, and MailChimp to set up an “automated” (for the most part) system for sending ARC (advanced reader copies) of my book to interested people, and then sett...

Write A Novel Now – What You’ll Learn

Last week I released the first official announcement about my upcoming writing course, Write A Novel Now.

I’ll be releasing it on Udemy, and including some coupon codes to get it free, so be sure to sign up for the newsletter.

I thought that today I’d give you another little teaser — this time a short “What you’ll learn” video:

http://vimeo.com/65909919

Watch it, share it, whatever you’d like — but don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter!

Advertise here with Beacon Ads

The post Write A Novel No...

How to Run A Contest for Your Book

Note from Nick: This is a guest post submission from Cody over at Academy Success, and it’s a perfect follow-up to Tuesday’s post about book marketing plans. Consider using this exact tactic in your overall marketing strategy!

Being a bit of an efficiency addict, I believe there’s always a better way to do things, so when I ran a recent Amazon KDP Select promotion to promote my newest Kindle book (a pretty cool thing to do to grow your list), I decided to up the ante a bit from the status quo…...

The Official Self-Published Book Marketing Plan

Note from Nick: This post isÂlong. Like almost 4,000 words long. If you don’t want to read the whole thing on the blog, I’ve prepared a (FREE) downloadable report instead… just scroll down to grab it!Â

I remember when I finished my first book, a thriller called The Golden Crystal. I thought to myself, “this is it. I’ve done it.ÂI wrote a book.”Â

And while I was, technically, correct (the bookÂwas, after all, finished), I wasn’t even close to being able to launch it into the world.

As you know,Âf...

Write A Novel Now – A Fiction Writing Course, Coming Soon

I’m currently working on a writing course called Write A Novel Now, walking you through some of the things you’ll need to know on your way to writing a novel.

The course is video-driven, but it’s going to be self-guided as well. What that means is that you’ll be able to work through the lessons at your own pace. Want to knock out a lot of them on Saturdays? Go for it. Want to pace it out over the course of a year? You can do that as well.

The course is going to be hosted and managed by Udemy.co...