Digital Media

Authors who’ve been using Mailchimp for their email newsletter might consider moving to Substack, as it offers several benefits—and it's free.

Authors should consider using AI for historical research—not as a replacement for primary sources, but as just another useful tool.

One marketer offers an opinion about why the promise of NFTs will most likely not upturn the whole publishing industry.

Hype aside, an NFT is not equivalent to registering a digital work with the Copyright Office—and it's no barrier to unlawful reproduction.

A free email newsletter is the better strategic choice when it comes to long-term career development. Blogging works better for reaching new readerships.

Whether you’re an audiobook producer, a publisher or an author, here’s a breakdown of the rights needed to bring an audiobook to market.

How authors can blog successfully for long-term platform and book marketing efforts, with tips for online writing, strong headlines, and good SEO.

Everything you need to know to start sending an effective email newsletter.

I strongly advocate all authors start and maintain a website as part of their long-term marketing efforts and ongoing platform development. But it's an intimidating project because so few authors have been in a position to create, manage, or oversee websites. Where do you even begin?

My favorite digital media tools that have enhanced my productivity and creativity as a teacher, author, and entrepreneur.

With low barrier to entry, livestreaming can be a great way to give your audience a chance to fall in love with you and your message. Here are some essential tips from the team at Best Seller Builders.

If you plan to pursue writing as a professional, long-term career, I recommend starting and maintaining an author website even if you’re unpublished.

Author Jay Swanson discusses how he's succeeded with Patreon, which allows fans to pledge monthly financial support to his creative efforts.

Is MailChimp the best choice for your email newsletter? Here's a breakdown of the pros & cons of the three biggest email service providers that authors use.

For a platform that powers a quarter of the websites in the world, Wordpress is surprisingly insecure. The default settings leave a site open to being hacked a half-dozen different ways.

Whether you’re an emerging author or one that is well-established, it can be challenging to figure out what belongs on your website's homepage and what to say about yourself on the front door to your online presence.

Plugins are one of the most wonderful and useful things about Wordpress. Here are some of my favorites for writers.

One of the first choices you have to make for your author website is determining its theme or template. It sets the tone and even defines the site.

Getting traction for your online presence—especially a new blog—can feel like an impossible task when you're an unknown writer. But it can be done.

How do you treat subscribers after they sign up for your email newsletter? An autoresponder can usefully and effectively welcome people to the community.

Pop-ups have long been despited by the Internet world, but the difficulty is: They work. Here's how to implement them in a way that won't annoy visitors.

Wondering why you don't have more blog traffic—or if it's worthwhile to continue your blogging effort? Here are the mistakes that commonly afflict authors.

If you're looking for an alternative to ACX and more control over your audiobook production and distribution, then ListenUp Audiobooks is worth a look.

In my latest post over at Writer Unboxed, I discuss what writers need to know if they're considering video as

If you’re considering WordPress as your platform of choice, here’s what you should know as you prepare to build on it.

Kirsten Oliphant details how to find, create, and edit branded graphics for blogs and social media.

Author Gigi Rosenberg describes how she redesigned and relaunched her author website primarily on her own, only hiring assistance at the end.

Jay Swanson, the creative mind behind real-time fantasy blog Into the Nanten, explains how to develop a compelling audiobook.

Join me to discuss digital media tools and publishing this coming Thursday (December 10) at 3 p.m. Eastern, at the Product Hunt site.

3 ways to avoid long-term pain and suffering if you're preparing to launch your first author website.

To sell products and services directly through your website, here are a few services and tools to get up and running fast (no coding or tech help required).

How to improve the effectiveness of your email newsletter through very specific changes to your sign-up forms and content.

Here are 10 questions to ask before you choose a Wordpress theme for your site.

Blogger and author Nina Amir explains how to turn your blog content into books and other information products.

Today's interview is by contributing writer Kristen Tsetsi (@ktsetsi), who does every-other-Wednesday interviews for the 5 On series. Anyone who pays any

Amazon's Kids' Book Creator allows the average Joe to create illustrated children's books for the Kindle and upload them directly to Amazon.

For me, the hardest thing about being online is remembering what I think and the "why" that I'm working for. The multiplicity of voices can make you forget your center.

If you have a Wordpress-based site, then you know that one of the first choices you have to make (and then

Note from Jane: Today’s guest post is by Simone Collins (@SimoneHCollins) at ArtCorgi. See her earlier post on The Advantages of

by Tim Dorr / Flickr When it comes to establishing your author website, one of the more confusing topics is

Today's guest post is by Los Angeles–based writer Kathryn Stanley (@kathrynstanley_). About six months ago, Pocket Gems, a mobile game developer,

Today's guest post is by literary agent Maria Ribas (@maria_ribas); check out her website, cooks & books. When I was starting

For 10 years, I've been analyzing website traffic—for my own site, for Writer's Digest (when I worked for them from

Earlier this week, I was interviewed by Jason Allen Ashlock about my new digital magazine Scratch, and how things have changed in

It's not unusual for authors to be told by their publishers that author websites aren't necessary or effective. Should their insight be trusted?

In this talk from the 2013 Midwest Writers Workshop, I explain the process of growing my readership since 2008, then share a few key principles I follow to make it an enjoyable and sustainable process.

Regardless of when or why you use Facebook, never consider it a replacement for an author website you own and control. Here's why.

Today's guest post is adapted from Red Hot Internet Publicity by Penny Sansevieri. Between Los Angeles and Las Vegas there’s

To maximize the effectiveness of your author website, it's necessary to study the data behind how people find your website, navigate it, and use it. Here are three of the most important areas to watch carefully.

One of the most frequent questions I receive from writers is how to manage it all: how to write, market