THE VIKING'S APPRENTICE
The award-winning, international best selling children's adventure series from author, Kevin McLeod
Author Resources
I've been in this industry for 12 years. My first book was published in 2013, and I've made so many mistakes and missteps a long the way. This page is for authors who want to lean on my experience and hopefully you will find some of the information here useful. It's the tools I use and the promotional sites that I have found to be great value for money. If you find these tools useful and want more great tips and tools then sign up to my newsletter at the bottom of the page. You'll get a free promotions tracker as a welcome bonus!
Free or Almost Free Tools for Authors
Below are tools that I use all the time as part of my writing journey. They are free, or nearly free, and can remove a lot of stress and wasted time for writers. I am not affiliated to any of the tools or sites on this page.
Calibre
If you're a self-published author and you are uploading your book to Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Google etc you will know that almost all of them require a different file format. Not all formats are straightforward, Epub and Mobi for example. Calibre is a tool that takes a word file or any format of file and can turn it into any other required format. It's completely free and even gives you a preview of your new file format. It's easy to use, saves you a load of time and stress. I use it with every book I've written. Click the link, download and enjoy. Get started here
Booklinker
This is a brilliant tool. Every Amazon store in different countries have different links for your book. So .com .co.uk .CA .AU etc. Booklinker provides a universal link so that your customers click the link and they are directed to the correct store for them. You no longer need to have 10's of different links on your site or customers telling you the link didn't send them to the right store etc. Get booklinker and set up your links for free today. Get started here
Book Funnel
This one isn't free, but the starting level is $20 per year. Trust me, it's worth it. If you're an author trying to build a mailing list with readers that you know are interested in your work then Book funnel is the place to be. You can build landing pages, it captures your sign ups and let's you download them in CSV files that can then be uploaded to whatever email software you use. You participate in group promotions with other authors in your genre, readers who want your book sign up to the promo and click your link, they get something free from you and you get their email address. I've used this tool to build my list to over 5000 readers. You do need to have something to offer readers, so either a free book or short story etc. It's a great tool and one you should definitely consider.
Get started here
Creative Tools for Authors
These are the creative tools that you can use as a self published author to help you design your books to a very high standard. Cost effective and sometimes free!
Canva
Ever wondered how some self published authors are able to have such amazing book covers that look like they have paid $100s if not $1000s to have designed? Some probably have paid loads of money others use Canva. It has a free tier and a pro tier. The pro tier is cheap though at around $15 a month. Canva is a brilliant tool that can help you design eBook covers, paperback covers, postcards, posters etc. The list is endless. It's easy to use and very easy to understand. They offer great tutorials and there are also Youtube videos to help if you get stuck. I use it all the time for all the above and more. Definitely a tool you should have in your author toolkit.
Get started here
ChatGPT
Controversial choice? Maybe but hear me out. Never use an AI bot to write your book, it will be terrible. They don't have human empathy and they don't really understand complex human situations and relationships. However they do have their uses. Social media planning being a huge one. 'Hey Chatgpt act like my social media manager and make me up a week of posts for insta, X and Facebook based on my book series, keeping in mind the 80/20 rule' 2 seconds later it's done. They are also very good at writing SEO meta websites etc and keyword research for sites like Amazon and Apple. It's a tool I use daily. Think of it as a writing assistant. There's a free tier which is probably all you'll need. Get started here
Buffer
This one isn't free, I believe you can start from $6 a month though for one social media account. Buffer is a social media planner and poster. Once you've used Chatgpt to help write all those lovely social media posts, put them into buffer and it will send them out for you. I use this tool to follow my social media plan and I also take the time to interact with other users posts in my own time so that that my timeline isn't just me spouting into the void! Buffer is great though, it's very easy to use. copy and paste your posts in and schedule and forget. It will remind you when your calendar is empty and will help you engage with your audience and start conversations. It also helps those pesky algorithms pick up your accounts. Get started here
Promotional Sites that Deliver
I have run so many book promotions over the years. I've tested almost every promotional site out there. Some have been great, others have been disappointing. This doesn't mean that every site that works for me will work for you. Genre is important, your book is important. If your book has good reviews and a great cover then promotions, in general, will do better. If your cover isn't eye-catching or there is a lack of social proof (reviews) then it's less likely to 1. be accepted by some sites and 2. perform as well as hope. My numbers are based on middle grade which is traditionally one of the smallest for readership, so your numbers might outperform mine!
Bookbub
I know, I know. They are expensive, but there's a reason. They get results. They have 10 million subscribers, you read that right, 10 million. Bookbub are very selective on what books get picked so a good cover and reviews definitely help. If you are successful you can't then promote that book with them again for 6 months. This keeps each email fresh for their readers. I'll be honest, I applied to them 10 times and got rejected each time. I have the reviews, I have the social proof, but what I didn't have was the right cover for my genre. I changed my cover, submitted again and got accepted. My genre, middle grade, costs $110 (at time of writing). This resulted in around 2000 downloads of my book, which for middle grade is fantastic. The book I chose is a first in series and with 3 other books in the series, the opportunities for repeat readers is huge. You can sign up for bookbub here
The Fussy Librarian
What a brilliant promotional site this is! They are fantastic and very affordable. A middle grade promotion is $25 and gets me around 200 downloads each time. You can run a promotion every month I believe. They have great customer service and work with authors to ensure the promotion runs perfectly. Visit their site here
AuthorsXP
I've run a couple of their $20 promotions and the results have been strong and reliable. Around about 100 downloads each time. I would definitely recommend you add them to your promotion rota. Visit their site here