An easy way to generate keywords for non-fiction
By: Ginger | Posted on December 31, 2021
When it comes to finding relevant search keywords for your book, not all of the techniques you may be familiar with work for all types of books. How readers search for the book they’re interested in is a big factor in how you come up with your keyword list, and this is specifically relevant when it comes to whether your book is fiction or non-fiction. To generate keywords for non-fiction books, it’s not simply a matter of finding similar authors or analyzing the also bought list. Fortunately, there are tools available that can help, and Ginger is here to give you some tips on which ones to use and how to use them. Advertising on Amazon has a notoriously steep learning curve. However, if you self-publish non-fiction books, there is one tool at your disposal that can help shortcut a lot of the hard work. The secret to effective… Read More >
Self-Improvement Books to Help Kick Off the New Year
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on December 28, 2021
With the new year right around the corner, a lot of people find themselves reflecting and setting intentions. Regardless of your goals, we are certain that there’s a self-help book out there for you. With those thoughts in mind, today we’ve rounded up the self-improvement books our readers loved the most. Happy Mind, Happy Life: A Science-Backed Guide to More Happiness and Self-Love by Barbora Centik No matter your age or background, the tried-and-tested lessons inside this self-improvement book arm you with powerful tools and knowledge for taking your happiness into your own hands. If you want to escape the endless cycle of worry and enjoy feelings of contentment in your everyday life, then Happy Mind, Happy Life is for you. Pat M. says in their 5-star review, “Barbora Centik has written an engaging book that starts off with asking us a pertinent question – ‘What is happiness to… Read More >
Should you advertise direct to your Series Page?
By: Ginger | Posted on December 24, 2021
It’s an unfortunate reality that many authors cringe when they hear that Amazon has made yet another change to their storefront with regards to how product pages are displayed or laid out. After all, it seems like more often than not those changes are more of a benefit to Amazon than to the actual author whose book is being sold on that page. So it’s a welcome relief to learn that they’ve finally added something that is actually useful. For authors that like to write books as part of a series, Amazon now allows more customization around how your series landing page looks and acts, making it a much more powerful tool for selling multiple books. Here’s Ginger with how you can start taking advantage of this! It’s a pretty well-established fact that the most successful self-published authors tend to write multiple books – often as part of a… Read More >
Author Spotlight Interview: Stacey Wilk
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on December 21, 2021
Today’s interview is with author Stacey Wilk. She writes novels about true family, steamy love, and second chances. It was an absolute pleasure to get to know more about her writing style, life outside of writing and upcoming projects! HG: How would you describe yourself to somebody who isn’t familiar with your writing yet? SW: If someone is finding my books for the first time, they should know I write broken characters. I like to make things complicated for the people in my stories. Personally, I love a good thriller or mystery, so when I can, I add those elements to my books as well. I would categorize my novels as commercial women’s fiction or romantic suspense. HG: Where does the inspiration for your writing come from? SW: Such a great question. I believe all stories are character driven. If an author doesn’t have complex characters making choices under pressure,… Read More >
Has Apple’s recent update killed your Facebook ad performance?
By: Ginger | Posted on December 17, 2021
One of the constants of being a self-published author is that just when you think you have this game all figured out, one of the other players goes and changes the rules and throws everyone back a few steps. This time, it wasn’t one of the usual suspects making our lives more difficult, and what was done wasn’t targeting authors at all, but many of us have been negatively affected nonetheless. I’m taking about Apple’s recent ‘Do Not Track’ 14.5 iOS update. Designed to improve the privacy of Apple users, one of the side effects has been that authors everywhere are seeing their Facebook ad performance drop significantly. Today, Ginger goes into some detail about why this is happening, and some of the things you can do to try and compensate for it. Earlier this year, Apple announced that their IOS 14.5 update would include a “Do Not Track”… Read More >
Highly Rated YA Novels to Add to your TBR List
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on December 14, 2021
Each great in their own way, with all the elements that make YA novels so addicting, don’t blame us if your TBR list grows after checking out these young adult favorites among Hidden Gems ARC readers! Metallic Red by Jennifer Ann Shore From Hidden Gems favorite Jennifer Ann Shore, Metallic Red is a young adult vampire fiction book with romance, self-discovery, and a bit of blood. It is the first novel in the Royally Human Vampire series and pulls in an impressive 4.7 average star rating on Amazon. “I really enjoyed reading Metallic Red,” writes Jennifer H. in her 5-star review. “I found it to be an interesting take on a vampire novel. I liked the plot developments and the ending of the story. I liked the internal conflict that the protagonist faced going to a human high school with human friends and embracing her human side but having… Read More >
Updated your book? Now test the results.
By: Ginger | Posted on December 10, 2021
As a self-published author, you’re probably very aware that your book isn’t done just because you’ve finished writing. You’re still ultimately responsible for putting together all of that “other stuff” that helps actually sell the thing. I’m talking about blurbs, covers, or any of the other details that make up an enticing product page. But unless you’re also a marketing expert, you may not get all those things right on the first try, and missing the mark on them can lead to poor sales for even a great book. That’s why you should never shy away from making changes if you think you’ve identified an issue, regardless of whether your book is already published or not. But even if those adjustments don’t lead to a dramatic or immediately obvious change in sales doesn’t mean they didn’t make a difference. You’ll only know for sure if you carefully measure and test… Read More >
Author Spotlight Interview: Casey Dembowski
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on December 7, 2021
Today’s interview is with award winning author Casey Dembowski who writes contemporary romance. Reviewers call her books engaging, fun, and thought-provoking. We were thrilled to chat with Dembowski about her writing journey, style and exciting upcoming projects. HG: Your debut novel, When We’re Thirty was just named the 2021 NYC Big Book Award Winner for Romantic Comedy, congrats! Tell us more about the book and why readers may enjoy it. CD: When We’re Thirty is a friends-to-lovers/marriage of convenience mashup about two friends who follow through on a pact they made to get married if they were both still single when they turned thirty. It’s a fun story and really tackles the experience of being thirty in New York City. Will and Hannah have a lot to overcome not only in their relationship but with their careers and families and the direction they want their lives to take. HG: Oooh,… Read More >
Don’t forget to curate your back catalog!
By: Ginger | Posted on December 3, 2021
Authors get better with every book they write and publish – that’s inevitable. However, readers often like to start from the beginning of an author’s back catalog and work their way through. How do you avoid losing these potential fans when they insist on starting with your not-so-strong books? Ginger offers up a couple of ideas. There’s a famous parable about a pottery class in which the students were divided into two groups. One group was assigned to make the best, most perfect pot they could. The other group was assigned to make as many pots as they could – they’d be judged on quantity, not quality. The result? The students who’d made the most pots had also made the best ones – repeatedly. They’d easily beaten the best efforts of the group who’d been asked to make a single, perfect pot because practice makes perfect – while perfectionism… Read More >
