Befriend other authors for support and collaboration
By: Ginger | Posted on August 6, 2021
I’ve mentioned before that I attribute much of my success as an author to being part of an online writing community where I could ask questions, get support, or just talk to others that were dong the same thing I was doing, and going through the same sort of experiences and challenges. Even though that community is no longer around, I’m still friends with many of those authors, Ginger being one of them. Befriending another author directly is essentially the same thing, the two of you just make up a smaller community, but it’s no less important or beneficial. Just remember that while you might do your writing alone, that doesn’t mean that you’re alone in writing. Ernest Hemingway once wrote: “Writing, at its best, is a lonely life,” but uncharacteristically, I don’t agree with Papa on this one. The most successful authors that I know are surrounded by… Read More >
BookBub Ads – Part One: Getting Started
By: Ginger | Posted on March 5, 2021
When it comes to advertising, Amazon isn’t the only game in town. Facebook is still a familiar favorite for those trying to drive traffic to their books, and some authors have even ventured into using YouTube and TikTok to promote their work. But have you given Bookbub a try? Once just a hard-to-get newsletter promotion, Bookbub now allows authors to place ads in front of their large readership. In this first installment of a three-part series, Ginger gives you the lowdown on the Bookbub advertising platform and what you need to know to decide if it’s right for you. One often overlooked but surprisingly effective advertising platform is BookBub – with many authors unaware they even run ads. For most self-published authors, getting a BookBub ‘deal’ is the only feature they’re interested in – often considered the Holy Grail of book promotions. But for a fraction of the cost,… Read More >
The 30-day Social Media Challenge
By: Ginger | Posted on December 11, 2020
One of the topics I discuss most often with authors looking for advice on expanding their readership is social media, because the importance of building a following cannot be overstated when it comes to self-publishing. There’s no one else to do it for you, so even if you shun social media in your personal life, you can’t afford to ignore it when it comes to your writing. That’s why advertising and marketing expert Ginger is here not only to challenge you into using your social, but he’s also handing out plenty of tips on how to do it effectively. There’s probably nobody reading this who doesn’t know what NaNoWriMo is – the “national novel writing month” in which people commit to writing 50,000 words in 30 days, each November. Well, successful self-published authors spend every month as if it’s NaNoWriMo – because of how important it is to write… Read More >
What are your Publishing Priorities?
By: Ginger | Posted on April 3, 2020
As many of us know, when it comes to self-publishing, actually writing your book is really only the first step in a much bigger process and to really have any chance of achieving success in this business, you can’t afford to miss or skip any of the other steps. You want to make the most out of each book launch, which means being prepared and well organized – in other words, “get all your ducks in a row.” Unfortunately, that advice only works when you’re already sure which order your ducks are meant to go in! That’s why in this short guide, we’ll break down the publishing priority list for any independent author. One of the things that holds back a lot of self-published authors is the sheer scale of launching a writing career. Writing a book is hard enough – but then you’ve got to teach yourself how to… Read More >
10 Software Essentials for Authors
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on November 15, 2019
With the rise of self-publishing, there’s a growing differentiation between people who just publish – and the truly successful authors who produce books that are indistinguishable in quality from those of the top 5 publishers. One of the ways in which they achieve this is by using the same tools as publishers do; or often, even better versions of them. Here are some software essentials as recommended by our community of Hidden Gems authors – which could empower you to add additional speed, precision and polish to your published works. Vellum It’s a cliche that writers tend to favor Apple products, but in the case of this highly-touted formatting software, the fact that it’s only available on MacOS suggests there’s some validity to that. Vellum is designed to streamline the entire process of formatting books – including inserting links and pretty flourishes, assembling box sets and store links, and even… Read More >
Kindle Select – Are Page Reads Good or Bad for Authors?
By: Ginger | Posted on December 14, 2018
Since the introduction of KU, authors have argued about whether it’s a good deal or not, given the ever fluctuating payouts and Amazon exclusivity they paid as a price for participation. On one hand, it does seem like more and more authors are going wide, but on the other hand, the KU program continues to grow and authors like Ginger have an overall positive experience with it. Here are some of the pros and cons about the program, as well as how Ginger has used it to enhance his own career as a writer. Amazon pays self-published authors on it’s KDP Select program in two ways – royalties from book sales, and a share of ‘page reads’ from Kindle Unlimited subscribers. But is the fluid and unpredictable nature of the Page Read payout a good thing, or a bad thing for authors? When I first moved to America, two things… Read More >
Should You Write Seasonal Fiction?
By: Ginger | Posted on November 21, 2025
Every year, Halloween romances surge, Christmas novels take over the charts, and familiar holiday titles rise from the dead to dominate sales again during their season. If you’re an author watching this from the sidelines, it’s natural to wonder whether jumping into the seasonal market could boost your own visibility and income. There are real opportunities in publishing holiday-themed books, but the picture is far more complicated than many writers expect. On the pro side, you have predictable buying patterns, genre flexibility, and the potential for annual evergreen sales. On the con side, you face narrow sales windows, intense competition, and the financial risks that come with relying on a single holiday title. In today’s blog, Ginger breaks down both the advantages and the challenges of seasonal fiction, then shares practical strategies to help authors who want to explore holiday releases do so in a balanced and sustainable way. It’s… Read More >
This Simple Fix Can Double Your Direct Sales
By: Ginger | Posted on November 14, 2025
More and more authors are taking control of their careers by selling books directly to readers. For many, it’s both exciting and liberating, but it can also feel overwhelming. Even after you’ve built your store, created your landing page, and started running ads, you may find the numbers just aren’t adding up. Visitors click through, but sales don’t follow. Often, the problem isn’t your copy, cover, or price. It’s something far simpler that most authors never think about. In this week’s post, Ginger reveals one of the biggest hidden obstacles to successful direct sales, and what you can do about it. Slow-loading pages can derail your sales before a potential reader even sees your offer, with every second of delay leading to a steep drop in conversions. The good news is that once you know how to test your site’s speed and pinpoint the issues, the fix is simple. This… Read More >
How To Write Killer Marketing Copy for your Books
By: Ginger | Posted on October 31, 2025
Regardless of your skills as an author, writing effective marketing copy is another skillset entirely. For indie authors, short-form copy isn’t just a marketing extra anymore, it’s an essential part of getting noticed and selling copies. Every word in your ad headline, email subject line, or BookTok caption fights for attention, and when done right, those words can make a reader stop scrolling, click through, and ultimately buy. But writing that kind of tight, high-impact copy requires shifting your mindset from storyteller to strategist. In this week’s post, Ginger breaks down exactly how authors can master that shift. As he explains, the goal of marketing copy isn’t to sell the book, it’s to sell the next click. From dissecting the anatomy of great taglines to understanding each platform’s character limits, Ginger takes us far beyond generic “copywriting tips.” This is a hands-on, author-specific guide to writing punchy, persuasive lines that… Read More >
Tips for Writing the Perfect Book Blurb
By: Ginger | Posted on October 24, 2025
For many authors, writing a book blurb feels harder than writing the book itself. Condensing 60,000 words into just a few paragraphs that actually sell the story is one of the toughest challenges in self-publishing. That’s because a blurb isn’t just a summary, it’s sales copy. It has to tease, entice, and convince a distracted shopper to click the buy button. That’s why this week, Ginger is breaking down exactly how to turn your book description from forgettable to irresistible. From mastering brevity and shaping your blurb like a miniature story arc to choosing power words that spark emotion and curiosity, Ginger’s process is designed to create blurbs that convert. You’ll learn how to research your genre’s conventions, apply proven frameworks, and even test your copy for performance. By combining instinct with strategy, you can turn your book’s description into your most persuasive marketing tool. Over the years, I’ve worked… Read More >
