One project I’m currently building is an Author Website Reality Check tool. The idea is simple: many authors have websites, but it is not always clear whether the site is helping readers, growing trust, supporting book discovery, or quietly getting in the way. The tool looks at things like homepage clarity, navigation, book discovery, email … Read more
Few parts of modern publishing create more emotional confusion than reviews. Authors are told reviews matter enormously. Algorithms appear to reward them. Launch strategies revolve around them. Entire industries have emerged promising faster visibility, stronger rankings, and larger audiences through review accumulation. At the same time, many writers feel deeply uncomfortable asking readers for reviews … Read more
For many writers, crowdfunding initially sounds slightly uncomfortable. The idea of publicly presenting a creative project and asking readers to support it before the book fully exists can feel vulnerable in ways traditional publishing discussions rarely acknowledge. Some authors worry it may appear self-promotional. Others assume crowdfunding only works for creators with massive online audiences … Read more
Few topics in modern publishing generate more emotional turbulence than artificial intelligence. Some people speak about AI as though it will permanently destroy creative work. Others describe it with almost religious enthusiasm, promising effortless productivity, instant publishing success, and limitless content creation. Between those extremes, many authors are simply trying to understand what these tools … Read more
Authors often hear the same reassuring phrase repeated throughout publishing conversations: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Readers, unfortunately, do it constantly. Not because they are shallow. Because they are human. Modern readers make rapid decisions in environments flooded with information. Online bookstores, social feeds, recommendation lists, digital ads, and crowded category pages all … Read more
One of the most discouraging experiences in publishing is watching a thoughtful, well-written book quietly disappear into obscurity while weaker books seem to attract endless attention. Most authors eventually encounter this phenomenon. At first, many assume the explanation must be simple: “The better book should naturally rise.” But modern discoverability rarely works that way. Readers … Read more