​Author Resources

There has never been a better time to self-publish your book. There are loads of self-publishing platforms, resources, and distributors to choose from, both print and ebook (and audiobook formats are taking off in a big way now too). Going indie puts you at the helm of all the creative decisions surrounding your book; you control everything, including gathering a team of professional editors, proofreaders, and designers to help you along the road to publication. I'd be honoured to be part of your publishing team. 

I'm here to help. 

I've put together my favourite resources on a variety of topics to help writers navigate the publishing process. This list is getting long, so here's a handy index to find your way around.

Table of Contents

Writing, Motivation, & Creativity

Books on Writing/Creativity:
  • On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King
  • Write Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, by Natalie Goldberg
  • Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, by Anne Lamott
  • The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle, by Steven Pressfield
  • The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, by Julia Cameron
  • Zen in the Art of Writing: Releasing the Creative Genius Within You, by Ray Bradbury
  • The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life, by Twyla Tharp

Blogs that Will Motivate You To Keep Writing (and not be so hard on yourself)

The Craft of Writing

Traditional Publishing & Literary Agents

Where to find literary agents
How to write a query letter

Online Tools/Apps

Self-Editing
  • Hemingway Editor -- Use this great app to write as boldly and clearly as Hemingway. It will flag all sorts of useful areas to rewrite and finesse.​​
  • ProWritingAid -- Grammar checker and style editor, kind of like a personal writing coach. ​
  • AutoCrit -- Online editing tool that gives recommendations for improving writing, with a focus on genre-specific analysis.​

Software
  • Scrivener -- Best-selling writing software that helps you write your first draft and move through revisions seamlessly.
  • Wavemaker -- Free online app to help you write your book. You can reorder sections easily.
  • Fictionary -- Online story editing tool for fiction. It allows you to visualize your story arc and evaluate your story scene by scene.​
  • Scapple -- Mindmapping tool by the creators of Scrivener.​

​eBook and Print Book Creation Tools
Reading

Editing

Blog Posts Top 5 Grammar Books
Style Guides/Usage Resources ​
Other Awesome Books to Peruse

Book Marketing

Self-Publishing

Here are the top self-publishing channels (distributors and aggregators) for indie authors. Also check out this excellent overview on the Reedsy blog):
Amazon
  • ​KDP Direct Publishing (KDP) for ebook selling. KDP Select is when authors choose to publish exclusively through Amazon for 90 days. Readers will be able to read unlimited ebooks enrolled in Kindle Unlimited, exclusive to KDP Select authors.

Barnes and Noble (they own the Nook tablet)
  • Barnes & Noble Press is a self-publishing platform, updated and streamlined version of Nook Press). You will be able to sell directly online and see your books in their B&N stores.

Kobo 
Apple Books (iTunes) Google Play 

IngramSpark
  • Platform for print-on-demand and ebook publishing. Their print-on-demand division is Lightning Source.
  • IngramSpark is a great gateway for offline selling, getting your books into bookstores and libraries. It connects your book to every major ebook retailer in the world, like Amazon Kindle, iBooks, Kobo and emerging retailers.
  • IngramSpark Academy -- free self-publishing courses online
  •  Ebooks for self-publishers

Lulu

Aggregators
  • Draft2Digital converts your document to an epub and distributes it in their online stores.
  • Smashwords is a popular distributor of indie ebooks. See their how-to guide and the style guide for preparing ebooks for upload to their site.
  • Publish Drive is an ebook publishing platform and featured global partner of Apple.​