For every idea someone has for productivity, there is generally a ton of differing opinions and products to counter or, at times, support it. I learned that the hard way over the 8 years I’ve been at this. However, I have been doing this long enough that I feel I finally have something to share for someone just starting out that may help them sort through the quagmire of products and services for new Authors. Have you written a book? Do you want to self-publish? If the answer is yes, this post was written for you.
I wasn’t an early adopter in the sense that I wasn’t writing at the time when the e-readers first came out and disrupted publishing as we knew it. However, I have been around long enough now to have seen some pretty big changes in a very short amount of time. I have also been the beneficiary of products and services that have come along to solve a lot of the issues those first adopters struggled with, which is what this post will primarily speak to. This post was exactly what I was looking for 8 years ago, so I hope it helps anyone looking for this type of information now.
As a disclaimer, these products and services are my recommendations and I have no connection to them other than I am a customer who believes in what they have to offer. Also, these services and products are available and recommended at the time of this post, but only my character Fate can see into the future, so not sure what that will look like 6 months from now.
That said if you still want to see what I have to say, read on. Let’s dive in….
Newsletter – Mailer Lite
Love them or hate them, newsletters for authors are one of the best ways to stay connected with customers on owned turf. Think of it this way, your email list is your “sandbox,” while social media is someone else’s. You control your list and can sell directly to your list of subscribers through that, but if you sell through social media and they decide to kick you out of their play area there might not be much you can do to change their minds. AKA you will need to pick up your sand toys and go home. Not saying to avoid doing social posts or advertising in someone else’s play area, just saying put most of your energy into something you have ultimate control over. My humble opinion of course.
When I started out, I had a MailChimp account and liked the ease of creating newsletters with their platform. I had a free account with them for a few years before they moved in a different direction and added other marketing items to their list of services. Their fees changed, which prompted me to look for alternate systems. I looked at several services, looked at what they would ultimately charge at a higher level of subscribers, and what they offered from the start. Having access to services that offered automation capabilities from the start was a must since I was going to need a way for folks to be welcomed onto my newsletter without me being around to do it, so I ended up with Mailer Lite. At the time (looks like maybe they still do), they offered a free version of their service including all the bells and whistles for up to 1,000 subscribers. I was able to use a free version while I learned how to use their platform and build my list. I have been a happy customer ever since. Love this service!
This link will save you a little at the time of this post, and give me a little credit toward my service as well, which I would appreciate: https://www.mailerlite.com/invite/8a963ed199ec5.
Otherwise, You can find them at: https://www.mailerlite.com/
Book Delivery System – Book Funnel
Enticing subscribers can be an art all in itself, and one of the best ways to do it is to offer them something in exchange for their email address. I ended up writing a novelette just for that purpose, which you can download and check out here: DA Henneman’s Newsletter Signup. You can unsubscribe anytime, but what signing up for my newsletter will do is give you a good idea of what I am talking about when I say “automation sequence.” I also subscribed to a couple of authors who wrote in the same genre to see what they were offering and what they had to say, which helped me figure out how I was going to approach mine.
Basically, the automation sequence is a set number of emails you set up that go out on a regular basis each time someone else signs up for your subscriber list. This is generally introducing yourself, what you write, where someone can find your books, etc. Newsletter Ninja, by far, was the most helpful book to explain this process step-by-step. Highly recommend Tammi’s book which you can find on her site here: https://newsletterninja.net/. Come to think of it, signing up for her newsletter wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
Book Funnel started out as a system to get your ebook into the hands of your subscribers but is now so much more than that. This software, by far, has been the best investment for my small business. (P.S. If you aren’t thinking of yourself as a business, I recommend you start.) You upload your finished files, EPub and PDF are most common, connect them to your email system (if desired), and set up a landing page. If you followed the link above you have seen mine, but here is an image here of what I am burbling on about.
Anywho, when you have everything set and a subscriber clicks the link, it triggers the sequence you have set in the newsletter service of your choice, and bam! So magical! They have added other services over time that provide networking opportunities for authors that help build your subscriber lists, or even send you book sales! How great is that! I also use them to print codes for my postcard pass outs that I use for things such as book signings, community boards, or general distribution (aka using them as a business card). They have too much going on to go into in one post, so if you want to check them out you can click the link below. Highly recommend you check them out!
You can find them at: https://bookfunnel.com/
Social Media Post Scheduling Service – Buffer
There are a number of these services you can use, Hootsuite, Tweet Deck, and Meet Edgar, to name a few. I found a post that lists several here: https://influencermarketinghub.com/social-media-posting-scheduling-tools/. I connected with Buffer several years back and loved the capability they allowed from the start. It allowed me to grow my platform at no cost and after about a year or so I grew into a paid subscription. It was entirely free for me for the first two years.
Their program allows me to schedule my posts a month at a time on several social platforms at once. It is easy enough to swap out my image to size it for that particular platform’s requirements, which allows for a more professional look when creating posts. You can view the entire month, or week, at a time, and allows you to tag posts under a “campaign” which helps track things like special promotions. They also have a blog that has helpful articles which you can find here: https://buffer.com/resources/.
As with any social posting, you want to be sure that you have the right to use the images you are using, so using sites with royalty-free images is the best way to go. Here is a list pulled together by Buffer that might be helpful: https://buffer.com/library/free-images/.
For more information: https://buffer.com/
Graphic Design Helpers – Canva & Book Brush
I love both of these equally and often use them interchangeably. Canva is great to make slides for Buffer, which works drag-and-drop. I often have both programs open simultaneously when doing my posts, which makes things so much quicker. Once you download, you can drag the image right up and add it to your post. Easy Peasy! The Canva program has a ton of templates you can use that allow you to plug in your own image and personalize it as you go. I find those especially helpful for FB and Instagram stories, and drag-and-drop in the Meta Suite scheduler for those as well. Here is an image I created in Canva and used Book Brush to create the 3D image of my book bundle. I did get the parts for the bundle from my Graphic Designer since she is way better at design than I am, but there are ways to create these on your own, you just need time and patience.
Book Brush has a different set of tools and what is cool with them is they are specific to books. You can create the 3D image of the bundle like you see above, put your book in an e-reader, or pop your cover into a premade photo and get a post done lickety-split! What I love the most is clicking all of the images I want, selecting the cover I want to use, and downloading them all at one time in a zip file. Bam! You have all of your posts for your promo at once, and all you need to do now is remember which file you put them in later. Here is one I did the other day for the same Bundle as shown above.
And another which shows my book in an Ipad:
I can’t say enough about these helpers because when I started out I paid a TON for images just like these using my covers. While I do have a Graphic Designer, I want to save her for important stuff like branding, cover design, and formatting my print editions. With tools like these, once she has my covers designed, I can do the rest. These are a must have for authors! Also, these companies connect you with royalty-free images, so it is a great way to create ads without worrying you are going to have issues later on.
Find Canva here: https://www.canva.com/
Find Book Brush here: https://bookbrush.com/
E-Book Formatting – Atticus
I spent a TON in the beginning with this also since I didn’t have any idea how to convert files and didn’t want to mess with the conversion process going sideways with a Word doc. I will say learning to use Styles in Word was a huge time-saver and still is even with the other tools I use. Prior to finding Atticus, I did use Calibre to convert files and still have it saved as a way to view my Ebooks prior to going live. The software is free at the time of this post, and you can find it here: https://calibre-ebook.com/. I have found it to be a helpful tool, one very much worth looking into. However, Atticus pretty much saved my life.
What I like about Dave Chesson’s products is that you buy them once, and you “own” them. He also created Publisher Rocket (another amazing product), which is worth checking out if you are to the point where you are marketing your book and running ads. If you haven’t heard about him or seen any of his videos, I highly recommend you check out his YouTube channel! Go ahead I will wait… https://www.youtube.com/@Kindlepreneur.
I know, right?!? Sorry if I sent you down a rabbit hole, but glad you are back! Anyway, Atticus is hands down the best investment I have made as an Author. I am able to take my Word Doc (formatted in Styles which he also has a video on that I linked to above), plunk it in Atticus, and format an E-Book in less than an hour. It allows you to put in all the pieces parts to your book such as back matter, author bios, etc., and handles the Table of Contents for you. You download the file and it is ready to upload to your vendor of choice to distribute your book. This product has saved me time and money! So worth the money!
Writer Resources
I have another post planned on more Author Tools, but for now, this should be enough to get you started on your journey. If nothing else, it is a reminder of just how far I have come with my own learning curve. For more tools and resources, you can check out my Writer Resource Tab, which you can find on my home page: https://dahenneman.com/welcome/writer-resources/. I make changes to this as I find new tools that work for me, or come across things of interest.
I also maintain a Writer Craft and Marketing Booklist on Amazon as a wishlist but also as a way to keep everything I need to check out in one place. You can find that list here: DA’s Writer Craft and Marketing Book List
Lastly, I am pretty active on Goodreads which is where you can catch some of my reviews for fiction and non-fiction books alike. You can find that link here: https://www.goodreads.com/dahenneman
I hope you found this post helpful, and if so, please leave a comment and let me know how you liked the products I described here. Or, if you have something you really like that I didn’t mention, please let me know! I am always looking for new products to check out!
In the meantime, I wish you the very best on your publishing journey! XO
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