Nick Thacker's Blog, page 23

Christmas Sale for The Platform Firestarter!

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Remember The Platform Firestarter?

(Scroll down to see the Christmas Special pricing)

Six months ago, when I “re-launched” LiveHacked.com, I didn’t have any idea how well my plan would work.

I thought I’d “sneak” into the world of self-publishing, writing, and book marketing, and just “see what happens.”

Well, things worked.

I’m not “there” yet, and I have massive plans for 2013, but I’m super-excited about what 2012′s brought.

Anyway, part of my launch strategy for the blog was based on years of...

One Coward, One Prisoner And One Hero: Which One Would You Rather Be?

Heroes aren’t born, they are made. Just like cowards aren’t born as cowards, they learn to become that way. With that you know you can become a hero and become better than average.

Throughout time we have seen Heroes saving people from burning fires, lifting cars when people are in danger and flying in tights on our cinema screens. We always see them battling villains head to head in combat on the battlefield.

It use to be that Heroes where the warrior type, going out into battle to defend thei...

Episode 6: Design Matters

[image error]If you’ve been reading through this series, or even just the blog, you know how I feel about cover design:

We judge books by their covers.

It’s a simple truth. How else can we quickly wade through thousands or tens of thousands of books in an online store’s genre, and how else can we separate the professionally-written ones from the hacks?

It may not be fair, but it’s the truth.

We might not judge an individualbook or product by its aesthetic appearance, but given a huge catalog to browse, that’s...

Episode 5: Don’t Be Afraid to Promote

[image error]When you publish something, you’re no longer just a writer — you’re a businessperson.

That means you need to do your work — and yourself — a favor and start sellingyour product.

Books are products, and it’s your business.

This philosophy isn’t always one that’s readily adopted by writers, artists, and creators — but there’s no sense tiptoeing around it: if you want to make a career out this writing and self-publishing (or even traditional) thing, you need to start seeing your work as a business....

The Definitive Guide to eBook Pricing

[image error]Or, really, An Entire Post on Selling Through Amazon

Chances are you’re not new to the world of 35% or 70% royalties, KDP Select, Smashwords, iBookstore, etc.

You’ve probably got a book or two for sale on Amazon right now, and/or have one on the way.

Also, you’ve most likely been around the block a few times when it comes to the DIY world of selling eBooks.

However, there’s one more assumption I can make:

You’re probably not a millionaire yet.

While this post isn’t going to guaranteethat you’ll be...

Episode 4: Use Social Meda

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Social media hasan unfortunate reputation for bloggers and writers. On one hand, we love the ease and speed at which we can communicate with people around the world.

On the other hand, though, we tend to get upset with the inefficiencies of it — it takes a long time to build a great online reputation through social media, and even if it didwork to sell a few extra books — how in the world do you do it?

In this episode of Specific Generic Self-Publishing Advice, we’ll talk about the simple truth...

Top 10 Self-Publishing Blogs Competition

If you haven’t heard, The Future of Ink is running a Top 10 Self-Publishing Blogs competition, and we’re in the running!

That’s right, this humble little self-publishing/marketing/book blog is in the running to be listed as one the best resources for self-publishing awesomeness.

However, the battle’s not over yet — there’s still a week or so left, and we need your help to seal the deal! While there areplenty of fantastic blogs listed in the 28 finalists, we’d love to become one of the top 10.

He...

Scrivener: An Introduction to Novel Writing

[image error]It’s no secret around here that I’m a huge fan of Scrivener, the #1 tool for writing. I’ve used it for two novels, six nonfiction books, and even for quickly formatting copied text to generate personal-use PDFs.

Still, I get questions all the time about what it really doesthat Word or Pages can’t handle.

There’s no easy answer.

However, I wanted to write a post that would provide the “pre-user” a good starting point for comparing Scrivener to their current writing tool of choice, to help people...

Hey Simon & Shuster: I’m Calling You Out!

This post is half op-ed, half “I told you so,” but it’s still adamant that you’re aware of what’s going on. As an author — whether you’re a self-published indie DIY-er or a traditionally-published one — the changing landscape of the publishing world is a constant in our lives.

For that reason, I’m taking this opportunity to do a PSA-style blog post on something that really pisses me off.

Yeah, I just said that.

I don’t usually wear my feelings on my sleeve and say things like that, but it’s true...

Episode 3: Build A Platform

[image error]If you’ve been following along with this series so far, you’ll know that there’s no point in building something that works well, looks awesome, and functions perfectly if there’s nosubstance.

That substance is what drives the success — or failure — of your venture. If you haven’t written the best book possible, or created the most amazing product you can, or whatever it is you do, building an online platform is pointless.

But if youhave written the best book you can…

…Then it’s time to talk abou...