Getting a lot done is a must for an entrepreneur or solo-preneur! I wouldn’t be so productive if I didn’t A) schedule my time, and B) didn’t have great resources to help my productivity. I thought I could help you by providing as many of the tools and informative sites that help me in my business.
Bookmark this page because I add to it whenever I find another great one!
How to Use Scrivener Course – This is an AMAZING course on how to use Scrivener (a comprehensive application that helps writers write and format books, but is confusing if you don’t know how to use it). I bought this course myself and it’s fantastic.
Editor In-a-Box – Whether you’re tightening up to send to a traditional editor or a work-for-hire editor this will save you both time and money. With a traditional editor it will very possibly save you a rejection. Why? By empowering you to get your manuscript in the best possible shape before submission. If you’re hiring an editor so you can self-pub, you’ll save yourself hundreds or thousands of dollars in unnecessary editing time, because you’ll have already cleaned that stuff up. This will enable you to clean up your work before you send to an editor. Emma hit the New York Times bestseller list with her The Very Fairy Princess children’s picture book series, but she’s also an editor. She has created THE best tool for writers with her Editor in a Box. It’s a “wash-rinse-repeat” system. Maybe she used it on herself!
Let’s Make Kid’s Books – Let’s Make Kid’s Books is a six week course that takes you through every step of the process for self published writers. I know Beau Blackwell, the guy who created it and he’s a lovely guy who also managed to do very well with his own self-published children’s book.
KDP Mastery – When Amazon announced the release of their free software called Kindle Kids’ Book Creator, it gave any author the opportunity to create an illustrated children’s book and sell it on the Amazon store. My friend Jon Bard and Laura Backes Bard created the first course specifically designed for children’s authors who want to publish illustrated eBooks using this revolutionary new software.
99 Designs is great for a lot of things. This link will take you to the book cover design page. You tell them what you want, choose a price package, and they launch a designer contest! You pick the winner. It’s that simple!
Canva.com is a dream come true for those of us not blessed with graphic design talents (who you lookin’ at?!) It’s super easy to use, too!
Bluehost.com is super easy to use and very inexpensive when you want to have your own self-hosted site.
StudioPress – You can use a free template for your site, or if you don’t find anything you want, you can buy one that is more to your liking here.
AWeber.com – You need a mailing list. It’s crucial to building your business online, creating a fan base, and selling your books, which is key to being a book-selling writer. I love AWeber and have used it for many, many years.
LeadPages – You want to get serious about gorgeous lead generating web pages? This is what you get. I have it, I use it for practically everything. It’s super easy to use, drag-and-drop. Check out the tutorial video I made for you. This is one business expense anyone who wants to increase their mailing list should invest in.