It is time… to assemble a list of resource links.
All of these links are links from my various blog posts, along with other things I’ve just never mentioned, plus a few goodies of my own. They are all organized into various categories. I’m sure the categories do not make sense to anyone other than me, but hey, this is chaos authoring, so that’s how we do it.
As you look at the list, it’s obviously… a lot more than just the links. If you want just the links and none of my rambling…
CLICK HERE
And now, let’s begin.
Planning YOUR BOOK
This is my most basic… how to plan your book spreadsheet set I can offer. It breaks down character descriptions, chapter synopsis, arc plot points, series event notes, and then my basic editing checklist by chapter. I use this more or less for every book, and also edit this as I go, adding in little details as it’s noted. It’s an easy reference point for in the future – what did I say someone’s eye color was? What chapter did this event happen in? And I use them heavily.
Save a version of this and use it for yourself! Or, adapt what you need, and throw out the rest. But, this is how I plan my books, is with this.
*PROJECT PLANNING SPREADSHEETS
This is how I plan my publishing calendar… or at least, I did do this, as my life is now more chaotic. That stated, it can also be a good tracker as you work on your projects. Basically, you input your various projects, when you work on which item, and figure out from there how long you think future projects will take. This has a little more effort to it, but it can be nice to look at a large spread and see what your goals are and whether or not you are on track or if you have certain things that take longer than others.
Blog Post – Step 10 : Publishing Schedules
I’m going to be honest… this is the method that I use. I was using this basic structure before I even knew it was a thing for my fanfictions, but now I have it locked down after reading this book and using the spreadsheets. I like a four act structure, and it gives the waves as needed. I highly recommend that anyone writing romance read this book.
I feel like anyone who has even considered being a storyteller has probably heard of Save the Cat. It gives you a basic outline for storytelling, the various waves, etc. This one is not genre or even book specific – if you have a story to tell, Save The Cat might be the storytelling guide for you.
I will say that this book is a little heavy on explaining romantic subplots, and is more intended for the Fantasy and SciFi genre, as it’s delving into Universal Fantasy, but I truly think writers of every genre should read, or take a listen to as I did, for this one. The Author of it is funny as all get out too. She narrates it herself, and yeah. It’s a good and educational listen.
PRODUCING YOUR BOOK
Everyone always asks me what program I write in, because there’s so many, and my answer is somehow always shocking and yet makes sense? I’m an original MMORPG girly who loves gaming and has severe ADHD. Of course I’m going to use a writing program that might not have all of the functionality of things like Scrivener, when I could be slaying monsters and completing quests just writing. Of course I’m going to turn writing into a game. I love this game. I have a 3 year streak going on. I write daily because of it.
I don’t even know how to describe this tool… so like… just check it out lmao.
PWA is an editing software tool that makes suggestions to your manuscript. Please note, this is not a substitute for real editing, but it can be nice to catch things like using the wrong spellings, frequently repeated words, and other small basic errors. There’s a free version and a paid version, and I personally like using the free version. It’s similar to Grammarly, but Grammarly has a security issue that I dislike.
When it comes to formatting both the ebook and the paperback, I use one program and one program only… and that is atticus. I’ve used it from the start. It was my big purchase gamble. I went all in on something that was still in the beta stage when I began this journey… and it has paid off. It’s a one time purchase, and yeah there’s some bugs. I would never use it for writing in, not yet at least, but for formatting? It’s exactly what I need. It’s user friendly. It’s stupid proof. And I recommend it to anyone else who doesn’t want to rely on a formatter or learning a hard program or something else to get their formatting done.
Blog Post – Step 11 : Formatting
RELEASING YOUR BOOK
This is my images included walk through on how to submit your book to Amazon for pre-order status. It has all the clicky things. I’m sorry I don’t have information for IngramSparks, but I’m hopeful that I will be working on that soon.
When it comes to sending out Advanced Reader Copies… Bookfunnel is honestly the way to go. It’s easy to use, there’s a first time author pay rate, you can do monthly or annual, and there’s also a mid-tier where you can use it for newsletter collection and landing pages on freebies. I love it. I recommend it. I don’t even know if there’s anything like it comparable. I recommend it now as well for distributing audiobooks. It’s a good resource. Recommend.
This is a sign up thing that I have in my Linktree/Carrd for Booktok Readers to sign up, mark their favorite genres and their triggers, so that authors can reach out to them about having the people join their ARC team. This is not something I am monitoring, simply a resource I am hosting. Give it a look, and message anyone who you think might be interested in your work!
This is the most comprehensive how to guide for Categories. You will also need to use…
These two together, plus your A-Plus Content, are what you need for managing your listing on Amazon.
It’s literally all in that post. Boom. There you go.
GRAPHICS
This is by far the best stock images deal you will ever be able to find. Available in April and November, this deal gets you really cheap stock images from deposit photos, and the licenses don’t expire. Deposit photos is one of the best stock image sites, in my opinion, and I highly recommend using it in general. Don’t miss out the next time it’s available!
Canva is… umm… well.
Canva does it all.
Everything from creating graphic posts to doing video backgrounds to providing stock images to fonts to… even scheduling your posts! You can share graphics with your team, with others, even make things like your media kit and social media banners. It’s one of the few things that I recommend you spend money on from the start, and I recommend it to everyone. You want it. You need it.
This is just one of those things that you need to have in your back pocket. Basically, you upload your book cover, and also the spine if need be, and select which format you want, then click PNG, and boom… you have a transparent 3d mockup you can throw onto a pretty background and make beautiful graphics. Highly recommend. Free to use. Great resource.
Veed is a newer resource that I am still learning and plan to post about in the near future, but I think it’s worth mentioning while I still explore it, for those who are in need of such a resource. Basically, veed is a video editing platform, which is great and all, but… you can also upload audio files to it, and then, crop and save the audio files. I’ve been using this to break down my audiobook into short sound bites that I can easily upload to canva to make quick videos. It’s relatively easy to use, and for what I’m using it for, I can use the free version. It’s fun to play with, and I recommend!
PROMOTION
Books2Read is your ultimate Universal Link / Vanity Link resource. No matter a person’s country, the right version of Amazon will pop up for them. There’s also all of your paperback links and your audiobook links, all connected together. Seriously. It’s great. Amazing. Fabulous. Highly recommend.
And while you’re at it, check out the other places you should be promoting…
Blog Post – Step 9b : Pre-Orders
I haven’t actually made any real posts about bookspry, but this is a resource that honestly probably deserves it’s own blog post eventually. I use this place for two very essential things, and the first fits under this category, so putting it here, and that is…
Promoting a Free or Discounted Book.
Seriously, it’s so easy, they send out emails, and I’ve had thousands grab my freebie simply because of using Bookspry. They’re amazing and wonderful and the lovely person who manages their contact form is an actual God.
The second thing, however, is…
THEIR DUNGEON CHECKER
You put in your ASIN, and it tells you if your book is in the dungeon. Amazing. Fabulous. Recommend.
I’ll do a post about this eventually.
LEGAL STUFF
When I made a recent post regarding piracy, I noted that I had never before used Muso, but I hoped to one day. This has since changed, and I do not regret it. Basically, MUSO finds various files and links on google where your book is being offered by pirates. They then handle the legal paperwork to get it removed, send the DMCA complaints, get it removed from Google Search, etc. It’s $7 a month per book or $70 flat for all of your books (so obviously a deal if you have 10 or more). While this may be costly for some, if you are having issues with pirates and can’t stay on top of submitting DMCA complaints (my issue) then this is your solution.
If you are wanting to submit your own copyright complaints to google search for removal, this is the link! It’s noted on the link below how to do this entire process, but I put it as it’s separate resource link because the copyright DMCA email is also on that post.
Basically, a whole blog post by me about piracy. If you’re dealing with it, check out the post, as it gives a step by step guide on your options, what you need to do, how to do it, etc. It even includes a whole lawyer written email you can send to the pirates! Now, go and free yourself of that garbage.
I wasn’t sure where else to put this one, so we’re putting it here, because you don’t fuck with the IRS, and that’s all legality stuff, so, putting it here. Basically, this is your expense/income report that you would use for your bookkeeping. You should have much more than this, but I don’t feel comfortable sharing the actual spreadsheet I use for my monthly budget, as the original format was one I purchased from Etsy and then doctored the crap out of, but I’m sure you can find something similar elsewhere online.
That stated, someone did ask about my expense report for sending to a CPA for taxes, and so… here’s basically what I sent!
I’ll probably update this link after my taxes are back… sometime… eventually…
Blog Post – Step 15 : Budgeting and Taxes
SOCIAL MEDIA
When it comes to newsletter management, there is nothing better than Mailerlite. It’s easy to use, allows for a large number of free subscribers, and is cheap once you do have to start paying. It’s what I’ve used from the beginning, it’s what my friends have used since meeting me, and it’s what I recommend to everyone I know.
You are, throughout this process, going to need to share a mailing address… and I’ll be damned if I ever use my home address. Everything from my newsletter to DMCA complaints to sign ups, I use a forwarding service, where they receive my package, and then mail it to me. I could also pick it up myself, but as I live overseas, that’s not really possible for me. I currently use postscan and I recommend it. It’s easy to use, easy to get approved.
You need to have a list of links on social media, and yes, you could link back to your website, but a website is a huge dump of information. You need to have a link on your social media to your most recent release, anything exciting going on, your newsletter sign up, and your various social media. Linktree is the most common one people use.
That stated, TT got funky weird about my linktree, and so I have moved to using Carrd. It takes a little bit more to set it up, but I do like it! So the choice on that is yours.
This is the “plan a week of social media content” spreadsheet. It’s in canva, you can print it off, or adapt it as needed, and note down all of your posts that you plan to make. Please note, this is only for the IN THE THICK OF IT marketing girlies, and goes HARD. That stated, it’s nice to have it organized, and color coded as well if you’re into that.
Blog Post – Step 8 : Social Media Revisited
This is the tiktok downloader without watermark. Note, there’s a different app for your phone, but this one is for web browser. I like to obviously cross post my video content, and would prefer to do it without the watermark on it, and in the best quality. There’s a different link for instagram, I think? But I use this to save videos on the off chance I ever lose my TT account as well!
CHECKLISTS
This is the checklist that I started with. I think it’s a good start point, but obviously, needs to be adapted to fit every person’s own requirements. Still, worth checking out!
This is my personal release day checklist, although arguably, this starts with pre-orders, and goes through a paperback and even the audiobook going live. I noted throughout links to things or blog posts, so that if you need a further explanation as to what something means or what you need to do, you can check it out yourself. You can also check out the blog post for release day below. Make a copy, keep track, check things off!
Blog Post – Step 18 : Release Day
AN ADDITION
Everyone is always asking me about my planner. I’ve talked about planners in another VERY OLD post, but my big reliable planner that I use heavily is a plum paper planner. You can get yours in whatever size you like, in whatever layout you like, with whatever additions you like. It’s up to you on how you want for your planner to look. I personally add in lined pages and dot pages, for whatever notes and tracking I want to do. I also this year had a checklist page, but I ended up never using it. Last year, I had the budget pages, and again, never used them.
But it’s up to you on what you want to use! You can also get the monthly sticker subscription, which I did do this year, but I’ve decided not to do it next year, not because the stickers aren’t cute, but just because I have so many stickers, I see no point in buying more… who am I?!
So there you have it. Your full list of resource links for various things, with explanations, etc. Yeah. We did it. Woo.
And with that… I leave you all.
Fingers crossed, prayers, etc, that my next post will be in regard to taxes. Seriously. Praying. Ahhh.