It is no secret that poetry is the most difficult type of literature to get published through traditional means. Although it won’t be a walk in the park, self-publishing poetry is a lot easier and you have complete control over the entire process. It will take some time and hard work, but there are self-published poets out there who are doing some incredible things and making good money. Here are 5 tips that will help you to follow in their footsteps.

#1 Plan Your Marketing Strategy

It is incredibly important to plan your marketing strategy before you start self-publishing poetry. While you can always revive a book from the dead sales-wise, you’ll have a much easier time if you market your poetry before, during, and after the book launches. 

#2 Utilize Social Media Marketing & Content Marketing

With so many avenues available to us, it’s now easier than ever to find our audience and form a relationship with them so that you can develop a solid base of fans...

Using a penname has been common among writers of all genres since publishing began. Mark Twain was really Samuel Clemens, George Eliot was Mary Ann Evens, Doctor Seuss was Theodore Seuss Geisel, and Stephen King is actually Richard Bachman. Using a penname when self-publishing can be a great way to feel more comfortable publishing and distinguish your work, but is it right for you? 

Let’s take a look at the reasons when and why it makes sense to use a penname, and also when it doesn’t. 

When It’s a GOOD Idea to Use a Penname 

• If you want to hide your identity – There are many reasons why you might legitimately want to conceal your real name. You may want to preserve your privacy or keep your writing life separate from your “normal” everyday persona. For some, the idea of seeing their name in the media fills them with excitement, but for others it makes them want to hide.  

• If you have another career where you use your...

Any fiction writer should be using literary devices – your prose will be very boring if you’re not! Even if you aren’t making a conscious effort to add literary devices in fiction, you are likely using many of them by instinct. Using literary devices can help you to take your writing to the next level and help you make a better impact on and connection with your readers.

Here is a list of the top 11 literary devices in fiction you should be using more often in your fiction: 

1. Personification

Personification is a literary device that gives human-like qualities to non-human things, like the weather, buildings, or furniture. Using personification in your writing helps to create a more visual experience and immerses the reader further into your fictional world.

2. Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is a literary device that provides the reader with clues for what may happen further into the story, but in an obscure way so that it may not be picked up by every reader...

Trying to give your book characters cool, memorable names is one of the most difficult parts of being a fiction writer. We all have the names of memorable characters in our heads, like Katniss and Peeta, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, and Hercule Poirot. Some of these are “normal” names, yet they lodge in our minds. 

The right character name will convey the character’s personality and make each character easy to distinguish. While the characters actions and speech should distinguish them from one another, you want their name to lodge in your reader’s mind, especially if you’re writing YA, Fantasy, or a series. 

What should be considered when choosing cool character names?

There are a few things you should consider: 

The age of the character – names need to fit in with the time period that the character was born, especially within historical fiction. Names like Stacey and Ashley are not going to fit in with a story...

With Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) independent authors are provided with the tools they need to self-publish, rather than having to go through the stress of trying to get their book published through traditional publishing companies. Traditional publishing often takes a lot of time and disappointment, for not a lot of pay off financially, and so more and more authors are choosing to self-publish.

Amazon provides independent authors with the tools they need to create and sell digital books as well as print and sell paperback books on demand. If you are thinking of going down this route, you are probably wondering about the Amazon self-publishing cost. Here we will break down the cost so that you can get a better understanding of where your money should be going to create a realistic budget.

Get in contact with Kosta Ouzas from Self-Publishing Hero. 

Amazon Self-Publishing Cost: How much does it cost to publish a book on Amazon?

Formatting

If you put in some...

First published in 2008 as an essay by Kevin Kelly, author, and co-founder of Wired magazine, the 1000 True Fans concept shows that you don’t need millions of fans to become a successful creator. 

Since he first shared this concept, back when self-publishing was still young and still largely seen as “vanity” publishing by the traditional publishing industry, independent creators from all areas of art have taken his principles to heart. If you want to become a full-time self-published author, you need to know about the 1000 true fans theory. 

What is the 1000 True Fans Theory?

When Kelly talks about “true fans” he is referring to those people who will do anything to connect with you and support you. They will buy all of your books, in every version, and tell everyone they know that you are the best and they should be reading your books too.

We all have our “auto-buy” authors, the authors we love and will trust to deliver a good...

A short story is an interesting form of fiction that has lost a lot of popularity since the days of hundreds of short story magazines – at least, they have when it comes to stand-alone short stories. However, when you use them as a lead magnet for your books? Well, that’s a different story (pun not intended!). 

Giving Away Short Stories Will Help You Sell More Books 

There are a few different ways you can primarily use a short story to sell more books, they are: 

• As an introduction to your series 
• To get readers who have just finished one of your books onto your mailing list 
• To keep readers on your mailing list engaged 
• To build excitement for your future books, especially if you’re not on a tight rapid release schedule 

Why give them away? Because you want your story to act as a lead magnet (“magnetize” people into your world and keep them there). 

What are the Advantages of Using a Short Story as a Lead...

You may think that plot or characters are the key aspects in story writing but in fact, the setting of a story is the most important thing you can work on. The setting is effectively the context of a story, including time and place, as well as the social environment. Not only will it tell the reader where your characters are, but it also helps to provide a mood, it may influence the behavior, emotions, and dialogue of characters. Your setting should foreshadow events to come, and may even play a role in the story.

The setting of a story is the main aspect that allows your reader to actually visualize the established world and experience it through full immersion. Here are 7 story setting tips to help you level up your story writing.

Story Setting Tips #1: Research

This might seem like a no-brainer for some, but if your story is set in a real location do as much research as you possibly can. World building and the importance of setting is absolutely not just for speculative fiction...

As a fiction writer, it can be difficult to know how far to go when it comes to monitoring the length of your sentences. Writing advert copy is much more clear-cut; language is urgent, snappy, and staccato. But when it comes to fiction and dialogue, you’ve got a lot more flexibility in your sentence structure. There are rules, yes, but as a fiction writer you can break them if you choose. 

There is an endless debate between those who believe that longer sentences burden the reader’s short-term memory and those who feel that sentences should have their own story. So, let’s dive into what makes a great sentence and how you should aim to use or avoid long sentences in your prose.  

Sentences should evoke a journey, like your story’s arc

One of the most important elements of a fiction novel is its arc or journey. It needs a beginning, middle and end, with developments and changes throughout. Sentences often work similarly. They require development...

Embarking on any new project is exciting and challenging, but writing a children’s book is a special challenge, because your audience is so complex. Yes, you read that right – complex. Children are a lot brighter than many people give them credit for, so you need to knock your story out of the park if it’s going to land with your readers. To help you do just that, here are 11 actionable tips to help you with writing a children’s book. 

Writing a Children’s Book – Where to Start 

1. Don’t assume writing for children is easier. You need to write for children because that’s the audience your story will best connect with, not because the books are shorter.
   
   
2. Define your age group before you start. Are you writing a chapter book for young readers or a novel for more advanced readers (9-12 years old)? Think about whether you plan for your book to be read alone by the child or with someone helping them.
   
   
3. Define the genre – define...