The Authorpreneur Blog
Amelia D. Hay is a virtual writing and business coach for fiction writers and the host of The Authorpeneur Podcast. Every week, on this blog, she will teach you how to develop a story idea, create compelling characters and outline your novel. Learn how to write your first draft, revise your story, self-publish, establish your author platform, and reach readers. In her, Behind the Scenes Podcast Diary (BTS) she shares an honest account of her journey to self-publishing her novels.
TAP045, The Anatomy of a Scene: Goal, Tension, Conflict and Stakes | How to Write Great Scenes
In this episode, I will break down the elements of a scene, which include the goal, tension, conflict and stakes, and share tips on how you can incorporate this into your writing.
BTS056, AI-Generated Images, Designing Your Own Book Cover, Declining Free eBook Downloads, and Struggling to Write Book Three
In this episode, I discussed whether you should use AI-generated images in book covers, how to work with a book cover designer and the things you need to know before you design your own book cover. But, this episode isn’t just about blog posts; I also discuss my struggles with writing and the epiphany I’ve had, which helped me make progress after chasing my tail for so long.
Should You Use AI Generated Images for Book Covers?
Since the creation of the various artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, MidJourney, and the like, people have responded in two ways. The first is “I’ll never use this”, and the second is the excited response by those first adopters who rush into using everything new with a natural curiosity. Should you use AI-Generated Images for book covers? Before you embrace the newfound world of AI-generated images and create your first or next book covers, there is an important thing you need to consider. And that is copyright. It’s a very important topic that you need to consider. So, let’s talk about it.
Things You Need to Know Before Designing Your Own Book Cover
The other day, I watched a video about an author designing their own cover, which was great—I do that too. But what bothered me was the misinformation about printing and colour formats. So in light of all of this, I decided to share with you, the things you need to know before designing your own book cover.
How to Work With a Book Cover Designer
So, you’ve finished writing your first or next book, and you’re working with an editor. But you’ve realised that you need a book cover. And you’re on a budget, so you’ve started browsing premade book covers but can’t find something that suits your story. This led you to commission a custom book cover, even though it’s a little out of your budget. In this blog post, I will share tips on how to work with a book cover designer so that you can get the best possible cover for your book.
Accounting and Financial Terms for Authors | What You Need to Know About Making Money as an Author
I’ve been threatening to write an article defining a few important financial terms for authors for a while. And the day has finally arrived. So, what pushed me to write another informative rant? The other day, I found a blog post with the headline “How Much Do Authors Make?” and the headline also promised examples of salaries inside the blog post. Let’s just say I was more than intrigued, clicked, and scrolled to the data. To my inner finance nerds horror, the blog post referred to the royalty you would receive from the sale of a book as income. I was so horrified that I wanted to gouge my eyes out with a spoon.
BTS055, My Experiment with Tempting Readers to Impulse Buy the Second Book in a Series. Did It Work?
So, I have a confession to make. Actually, I’ve been struggling to sell paid books. Sure, I can give them away for free, but paid is a different problem altogether. I’ve been struggling to sell Duplicity, the second book in my James Lalonde Amateur Sleuth Mystery Series. A few days before my forty-second birthday, I decided to embark on a book marketing experiment where I tempt readers to impulse buy the second book in a series.
BTS054, Changes to the KDP Print Pricing, New Categories in KDP, and A Solution to My Series Mistakes | May Author Diary
In the April Behind the Scenes Author Diary, I mentioned that I screwed up my amateur sleuth mystery series; well, a solution might be at hand. So, in this episode, I discuss my plans for my James Lalonde Amateur Sleuth Mystery series books three and four and a new shiny object. On top of this, I discuss a few self-publishing updates, including changes to the KDP print pricing, the new KDP categories, and selling direct with WooCommerce.
BTS053, The 100th Podcast Episode: Ask Me Anything on Writing, Revision, Editing, and Self Publishing
In the spirit of celebrating the 100th episode milestone, I’m going answer the top questions asked by my Blog Readers, YouTube Subscribers, and Podcast Listeners, and questions asked through my Ask A Question form on my website.
BTS052, I Screwed Up My Series and Reaching a New Level of Appreciation for Draft2Digital
At present, I’m struggling to sell book two in my amateur sleuth mystery series, and I’m going into detail about my experiments to get this bookselling and my issues with publishing direct to Barnes and Noble upon the advice of going wide webinar. Let’s just say that I regret leaving Draft 2 Digital. And I discuss how I’ve screwed up my amateur sleuth mystery series.
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Tools I Love + Use
The following recommended tools contain affiliate links.
I’ve been using Blubrry to host the Authorpreneur Podcast since 2018.
I’ve been a proud Divi Theme user since 2015.
A great website host for WordPresss sites and Divi Theme users.
A great writing tool that I’ve been using since 2014 or possibly earlier.
A course that I use and recommend that helps you get the most out of Scrivener.