The Speakipedia Influencer Tools are based on careful study of story structures. It's easy to ask AI to "write a…
Since time immemorial, clichés have sneaked in the door when we least expect them to. They're low-hanging fruit for writers…
There are plenty of good reasons to self-publish, but not all are profit-oriented or even rational. Before you invest in…
Business, technology, and how-to books can be viewed as one-sided sales conversations. Though the author may hope to sell products…
Verbs are the engines that move your writing and your readers, but many authors don’t spend enough time choosing the…
Selecting a book font seems simple enough, but important subtleties and fine points of typography are not obvious to the…
Book cover design tells the story of the story. It must convey the spirit and intentions of the author authentically,…
The following publishing advice is based on my own experiences and those of my clients. I hope you find it…
This article discusses the pros and cons of traditional publishing. Abandon your biases, study the business of publishing, and choose…
Writers often ask about the difference between "straight" or "dumb" quotation marks and traditional printers' quotes, commonly referred to as…
Two-word clichés are perhaps the least obvious kind. Unless we’re vigilant, they sneak into our prose, steal color, mask our…
Many self-publishers start their book projects with unrealistic expectations and misunderstandings about how publishing works. A huge industry has arisen…
Should you give away books for free? The value of book giveaways can't be assessed by formula. The prevailing mythology…
This article explains how to produce and market a professional quality audiobook using Amazon ACX. Through ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange),…
Here's an addendum to Publishing Scams and How they Work. I wonder why so many authors, after spending thousands of…
This article explores page layout strategies for books based on the Rule of Thirds. A grid system based on traditional guidelines ensures harmonious…
Once you have your book cover design looking spirited and professional on your computer screen, how can you ensure that…
Digital typography offers capabilities that printers working with hot lead type and wood type could only dream of. Digital type…
Page layout programs like Adobe Indesign and Quark, allow typographers to exert fine control over justified text to remove gaps…
Hyphens are an important contributor to elegant, easy-to-read typography, especially when text is fully justified as is the convention in…
Book design has changed since publishing became a gigantic industry. Typesetting was once performed by trained craftsmen who apprenticed to…
In my work with writers, I come across many common technical problems with manuscripts. These usually spring from the best…
You threw a grand party but nobody came. Your novel is so good but you're not selling books. What happened?…
Dialogue presents challenges for writers. Some prefer to simply declare what was “said.” Many authors feel that “said” is both…
Are images analogous to words? Is what makes a sentence sound "right" the same thing that makes an image "pop"…
"Passive writing" refers to a specific set of grammatical circumstances where emphasis switches from subject to object. The money was…
Generic descriptions are telltale signs of lazy writing. Add color to your writing by replacing overused and boring words. It's…
This third installment of Judging a Book by its Cover looks at great book cover designs that won the 2012…
As a graphic designer, I see numerous parallels between the values that create engaging imagery and the values that create…
The word "that" is often abused. "That" is a perfectly useful pronoun but it's often the useless fat that slows…
How can speakers, indie writers, and self-publishers use a blog to build a platform? This article explains how to publish…
Part 1 of Book Cover Design: Judging a Book by its Cover critiqued "professional" covers taken from Amazon's Editor's choice…
I recently responded to a question in a writers’ forum from an author who was in the process of designing…
Few subjects arouse more passion among writers and designers than the debate over how many spaces should follow a period.…
I recently published a post about the difference between vanity publishing and true self-publishing. Fundamentally, the article defines a publisher…
Nothing screams “amateur” like a poorly crafted book cover. The standards for book design aspired to by trade publishers are…
One question that loops endlessly on writers’ forums is “How can I sell more books?” The question is a natural…
What is true self-publishing? What is the difference between self-publishing and “vanity publishing” or “subsidy publishing?” How do these differ…
The word processor has placed new burdens on writers to understand how to use italics, big and small capitals, dashes,…
After completing the final draft of a manuscript for my fifth book, I wanted a reality check. I hired a…
The very idea of "book marketing" is vague. It's like subsuming advertising and fine art sales into a single realm…
NITIAL CAPITALS have historical roots in the early days of book design; their use predates the printing press and the…
Indie publishers are everywhere and so are indie bookstores, but apart from their names, the two have little in common.…
This section on dashes, hyphens and dots goes beyond typographic aesthetics to explore how we can communicate more effectively as…
The notion of real publishing as opposed to self-publishing and the stigma surrounding it is obsolete. I have no objections…
Use of Small Capitals—uppercase characters designed at lowercase scale—is one aspect of writing and book design that isn’t taught in…
Part 3 of Book Design Basics explores better ways to present numbers on your pages. Numbers (called figures) look simple…
Book design is a lost art. Though book design discussions usually focus on covers, consider how much more time a…
Part 2 of Fundamentals of Book Design explores optical margins, paragraph formatting and spaces. Read about margins, layout and leading…
Editing is one of the first hurdles you’ll encounter as an independent writer. Your fan club is your enemy. Encouraging…
There are plenty of good reasons to self-publish, but not all are profit-oriented or even rational. Before you invest in…
Thesis writing is one of the purest forms of self-publishing. In my work as a professor, I regularly encountered students…
If you're hoping to have mainstream bookstore distribution, using a Vanity Press may present some obstacles. Book buyers will likely…
Most book designers make the same errors. One sore spot for me and with many of my university design students,…
Speakipedia Affiliate Program Terms of Service Agreement By signing up to be an Affiliate in the Speakipedia Affiliate Program ("Program")…
Here's a useful definition. Think of a publisher as an individual or entity that assumes the financial risk for a…
Transcript Dave Bricker (00:06) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is…
In default mode, as soon as you hit the "play" button on a PowerPoint™ presentation, it takes over your entire…
The speaker advanced to the next slide and began to explain. I suppose this might make some sort of sense…
A power saw is a wonderful tool, but if you don’t have any training or skills, it’s easy to sacrifice…
“That” is often useless fat that slows down an otherwise elegant sentence. Fortunately, misuse of “that” is one of the…
In the “old days,” computer monitors and televisions all had a 4:3 aspect ratio. What does that mean in English?…
Why do I keep a cardboard cutout of King Charles in my green screen studio? Well, no offense to Chuck,…
Celebrities can charge enormous fees because people will pay to be in the same room with them, and when an…
If you want money, ask for advice. If you want advice, ask for money! This is a longstanding fundraising mantra…
WordPress is a content-management platform used to drive over 455 million websites. Written with open-source technologies like PHP and MySQL,…
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