To succeed in the business of writing and selling books, you’ll need an online headquarters — a place that readers can visit to learn everything they need to know about who you are, what you write, and where they can purchase your books. In other words, you’ll need an author website.

What information should an author website include? How does one go about creating an author website, exactly? When is the right time to create and launch your online headquarters?

Every successful author needs a platform, which publishing professional Jane Friedman defines as “the ability to sell books because of who you are or who you can reach.”

Unless you’re a celebrity, politician, or public speaker, you probably won’t find commercial success as an author simply because of who you are. Instead, it will be your ability to reach and engage with readers that will ultimately determine your success as a writer.

So, how do you build an author platform that will help you develop a readership and writing career?

While writing a book can be challenging, many writers find promoting themselves and their work to be far more overwhelming. Just the thought of marketing is often enough to make many writers want to put a blanket over their heads. It can easily become many writers’ least favorite tasks.

But what if I told you there’s a way to actually enjoy marketing your books? It’s true!

The secret lies in a mindset shift. Instead of thinking of marketing as an icky way to beg people to buy your books, think of it in terms of one of your favorite things to do: writing a story.

You can spend months crafting the perfect novel for your audience, only for it to sell poorly because you haven’t taken your metadata seriously. It may not be fair, but it’s true--the metadata for your eBook can make or break your sales.  But what is metadata? Here’s a list of what it includes:  1. Book title 2. Subtitle 3. Series information 4. Description 5. Author 6. Contributors 7. Publisher 8. Keywords 9. Category You enter all of these metadata elements when you’re publishing your book.

It’s no secret that social media can be both an incredible tool and an incredible distraction.

Unfortunately, that distraction isn’t limited to the amount of time we spend mindlessly scrolling. Maintaining an active social media presence can also eat away at the limited amount of time most writers have to dedicate to their work. It’s no wonder I’m often asked how one can balance writing and social media marketing, or even whether writers must have a social presence in the first place. It’s the latter question I’d like to address in depth today.

Inside every writer sits a creative well. Whenever you sit down to write, you dip your bucket into this well, drawing the energy you need to attend the work at hand. 

The energy in your creative well is a renewable resource, but the rate at which it renews depends on many factors. When surrounded by sources of inspiration, your well overflows, leading you to create at a frenzied pace. But when life becomes stressful, your creative well fills more slowly, with much of its energy diverted to other priorities. On most days, however, a writer’s creative well renews at a rate somewhere between the two extremes.

If part of your personal definition of writing success includes making a living from your writing, here’s the good news: you can build a successful career as an author in many ways. To do so, you must think of your work as a business. Your books are your products, and your readers are your customers—and books don’t sell themselves. Are you willing to adopt an entrepreneurial spirit to make a living from your writing?

So, you’re fearful of putting your writing out there into the world…

Well, you’re not alone. Every writer experiences anxiety about letting other people read their work. Every writer fears rejection and criticism. Today, I’d like to help you overcome these fears by sharing insights gained from my own submission experience.

Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of research on how one can make a living with their writing.

It’s my aim in 2019 to publish my first non-fiction book, Build Your Best Writing Life, which is the first step in transforming my creative business model from a focus on digital information products to one that’s built on publishing. Needless to say, I’ve been learning a lot as I’ve researched, and though I’m currently focused on non-fiction publishing, most of what I’ve learned applies to fiction writers as well.

If, like me, you’ve often wondered if you can truly make a living with your writing, then buckle in, my friend. Today, I’m breaking down a few common myths about what a writing career looks like, sharing whether (and how!) it’s possible to make a living publishing fiction, and doling out the questions you should ask to determine if pursuing a career in writing is right for you. Shall we dive in?

Have you ever thought about publishing under a pen name?

There are many reasons why you might choose to do so. Perhaps you'd like to share your stories in secret, select a name that's more memorable or a better fit for your genre, market stories in various genres without causing confusion, or distinguish yourself from another writer or creator with a similar name.

No matter the reason, choosing a pen name that best fits your publishing needs can be tough. What factors should you consider? Is the use of a pseudonym right for you? Let's discuss in today's article, writer!

When I first began writing, I didn't have a clue who my future readers would be.

I wrote for myself, as I believe many writers do when they first begin. But I was eighteen at the time, wafting through the grey space between teenage- and adult-hood, and every time I matured as a person, my writing matured too. As a result, my stories were ever-changing, and I struggled to maintain a hold on the narratives I was trying to tell.

This is why, when I first came across the concept of an ideal reader, my interest immediately piqued. With it, however, came a million questions. What in the world is an ideal reader? Can you be your own? How can having a clear picture of your future readers help shape your stories for the better? Writer, we're breaking it all down in today's article, so let's get started!