Your Amazon keywords should sound like your reader, not like your ministry. Your book might be about surrender, identity and restoration. But your reader may be searching for “prayer during a difficult marriage,” “devotional after retirement” or “encouragement while caring for a parent.” If your keywords speak Christianese and she speaks plain English, the two of you may never meet. … Read More
How to Choose a Book Topic When You Have Too Many Ideas
Having too many book ideas sounds like a good problem to have. Until you actually have to choose one. If you’re anything like me, ideas are not the issue. I can generate them all day long. This book over here. That book over there. Another one that appears at three o’clock in the morning and suddenly feels like the most … Read More
Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing: An Honest Answer From an Author Who’s Done Both
For most first-time Christian nonfiction authors, I believe self-publishing on Amazon KDP is the better path today. You keep control. You generally keep a much larger share of each sale. And your book can be in readers’ hands in weeks instead of years. I say that as someone who published most of my 30+ books with traditional houses. And loved … Read More
How to Find Your Ideal Reader
(Hint: She Has a Name) Your ideal reader is not “everyone.” She is one specific person in a particular season, role or struggle who wants something to change. Picture her. Name her if that helps. Then write as if you are talking directly to her. I hear the opposite every year: “My book is for anyone with any problem or … Read More
How to Self-Publish a Christian Book on Amazon
Self-publishing on Amazon isn’t complicated. Publishing a book that is genuinely ready for readers is another matter. Kindle Direct Publishing can show you where to click. It can accept your files, assign your book a product page and make it available for sale. What KDP cannot tell you is whether the book is ready, whether the positioning is clear, whether … Read More