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Storytelling Wizard

by Dave BrickerExplore this soon-to-be-released Speakipedia AI tool. Load one of the demos and view the AI-generated results. Intro Setup…

6 days ago

Audience Inspector

by Dave Bricker Explore this soon-to-be-released Speakipedia AI tool. Load one of the demos and view the AI-generated results. Intro…

2 weeks ago

Nonfiction Writing and the One-sided Sales Conversation

Business, technology, and how-to books can be viewed as one-sided sales conversations. Though the author may hope to sell products…

3 weeks ago

Book Design Basics: Choosing a Book Font

Selecting a book font seems simple enough, but important subtleties and fine points of typography are not obvious to the…

3 weeks ago

Rethinking Book Cover Design

Book cover design tells the story of the story. It must convey the spirit and intentions of the author authentically,…

3 weeks ago

Publishing Advice – Practices & Principles

The following publishing advice is based on my own experiences and those of my clients. I hope you find it…

3 weeks ago

Want a Traditional Publishing Contract? Do Your Homework

This article discusses the pros and cons of traditional publishing. Abandon your biases, study the business of publishing, and choose…

3 weeks ago

Book Design Basics: Quotation Marks and Primes

Writers often ask about the difference between "straight" or "dumb" quotation marks and traditional printers' quotes, commonly referred to as…

3 weeks ago

The Perfect Book Sales Page

Tom Morkes published The Perfect Book sales Page on his blog. I'm usually the first person to reject formulaic approaches…

3 weeks ago

Writing Ergonomics: Avoiding Injury at Your Desk

This article explores ergonomic solutions to writers’ repetitive stress problems. As static as it may seem, writing is a physically…

3 weeks ago

Page Layout: Illustrated Books and the Rule of Thirds

This article explores page layout strategies for books based on the Rule of Thirds. A grid system based on traditional guidelines ensures harmonious…

3 weeks ago

Tabs, Indents, and Margins: How to use the Tab Ruler

This article explains the tab ruler found on every word processor and typesetting application. Understanding the simple and elegant split…

3 weeks ago

Simulating the Appearance of Traditional Print

Digital typography offers capabilities that printers working with hot lead type and wood type could only dream of. Digital type…

3 weeks ago

Fine Control Over Justified Text

Page layout programs like Adobe Indesign and Quark, allow typographers to exert fine control over justified text to remove gaps…

3 weeks ago

Book Design Basics – Use Hyphens for Justified Type

Hyphens are an important contributor to elegant, easy-to-read typography, especially when text is fully justified as is the convention in…

3 weeks ago

Book Design – Revisiting Classic Layout for Print and EBooks

Book design has changed since publishing became a gigantic industry. Typesetting was once performed by trained craftsmen who apprenticed to…

3 weeks ago

A Manuscript is Not a Book: Ten Tips for Manuscript Preparation

In my work with writers, I come across many common technical problems with manuscripts. These usually spring from the best…

3 weeks ago

Not Selling Books? Did you do the Math?

You threw a grand party but nobody came. Your novel is so good but you're not selling books. What happened?…

3 weeks ago

Book Cover Design: Judging a Book by its Cover – Part 3

This third installment of Judging a Book by its Cover looks at great book cover designs that won the 2012…

3 weeks ago

Book Cover Design: Judging a Book by its Cover – Part 2

Part 1 of Book Cover Design: Judging a Book by its Cover critiqued "professional" covers taken from Amazon's Editor's choice…

3 weeks ago

Book Cover Typefaces and Cover Design Horror Stories

I recently responded to a question in a writers’ forum from an author who was in the process of designing…

3 weeks ago

How Many Spaces After a Period? Ending the Debate

Few subjects arouse more passion among writers and designers than the debate over how many spaces should follow a period.…

3 weeks ago

Book Cover Design: Judging a Book by Its Cover – Part 1

Nothing screams “amateur” like a poorly crafted book cover. The standards for book design aspired to by trade publishers are…

3 weeks ago

Reality Checklist for Self-Publishers

One question that loops endlessly on writers’ forums is “How can I sell more books?” The question is a natural…

3 weeks ago

Proposed Standards for Book Typography

The word processor has placed new burdens on writers to understand how to use italics, big and small capitals, dashes,…

3 weeks ago

Self-Publishing: Art or Business?

The very idea of "book marketing" is vague. It's like subsuming advertising and fine art sales into a single realm…

3 weeks ago

Book Design Basics – Drop Caps and Initial Impressions

NITIAL CAPITALS have historical roots in the early days of book design; their use predates the printing press and the…

3 weeks ago

Book Design Basics – Dashes, Hyphens and Dots

This section on dashes, hyphens and dots goes beyond typographic aesthetics to explore how we can communicate more effectively as…

3 weeks ago

Book Design Basics: Small Capitals – Avoiding Capital Offenses

Use of Small Capitals—uppercase characters designed at lowercase scale—is one aspect of writing and book design that isn’t taught in…

3 weeks ago

Book Design Basics Part 3: Running The Numbers

Part 3 of Book Design Basics explores better ways to present numbers on your pages. Numbers (called figures) look simple…

3 weeks ago

The Single Most Important Contribution to Publishing

Many readers still love to feel the subtle emboss of letters stamped on paper with metal type. I was rummaging…

3 weeks ago

Book Design Basics Part 2: Optical Margins, Indents and Periods

Part 2 of Fundamentals of Book Design explores optical margins, paragraph formatting and spaces. Read about margins, layout and leading…

3 weeks ago

Book Design Basics Part 1: Margins and Leading

Book design is a lost art. Though book design discussions usually focus on covers, consider how much more time a…

3 weeks ago

Book Typography: The Crystal Goblet by Beatrice Warde

Designers, writers and publishers will benefit from Beatrice Warde’s eloquent perspectives on the craft of typography, the power of type…

3 weeks ago

Runny Noses, Sunspots and Thesis Writing

Thesis writing is one of the purest forms of self-publishing. In my work as a professor, I regularly encountered students…

3 weeks ago

Tips For Book Cover Design

Most book designers make the same errors. One sore spot for me and with many of my university design students,…

3 weeks ago

Speakipedia Podcast #7:
Kelly Swanson

Transcript Dave Bricker (00:07) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speakipedia Media…

1 month ago

Intromatic

Explore this soon-to-be-released Speakipedia AI tool. Load one of the demos and view the AI-generated results. Speaker Introduction Wizard by…

6 months ago

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