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This blog is designed to help if you’re setting up a Facebook Ad. It was recommended by ASPA member Kimberley at a recent Prose and Cons meeting, and it links to a YouTube video that explains the intricate settings you need to make the most of Facebook Ads, especially if you’re selling books. Facebook uses so many automated settings powered by AI, designed to make setting up an ad quick and easy and to provide a good user experience. However, that doesn’t always mean they ar

When you first step into the world of publishing, you discover a whole range of confusing words that you have not come across before: ISBNs, metadata, trim sizes, distribution channels, to name but a few. One term that often puzzles new authors is “imprint.” It sounds quite technical, but in reality, it’s very straightforward. What is an imprint? An imprint is the publishing name that appears on your books. It is the name that readers, booksellers and libraries see on: ·

Advertising can feel overwhelming for authors with so many platforms, budgets and targeting options to choose from. It is so easy to spend money and yet not see much return on your investment. This is where the SMART process can help you: a simple and structured method designed to plan precise advertising campaigns and measure what works. SMART is used by businesses across the globe and not just by writers, but it can be very useful to you as an author if you are planning to

Most writers have an online presence for readers to explore their books and follow their work, and a favicon is a discreet and powerful part of this process. Literally short for ‘favourite icon’, a favicon is the tiny icon that appears next to someone’s page in browser tabs, bookmarks, and mobile shortcuts. You can design one however you want it to look, so that it reflects your genre or your personality. It is far more than a decoration, but a discreet way to build a brand a

One of the biggest challenges a writer faces is how to market their book once it's finished. If this sounds like you, then you may be interested in a free government-funded course called 'TQUK Level 2 Certificate in Digital Marketing'. You can find more about it here, on https://freecoursesinengland.co.uk/digital-marketing-free-course/ Or click on the image to take you directly to the sign-up page. The application process involves checking your eligibility by postcode, and

Search Engine Optimisation is the process of improving your website’s visibility amongst millions of other sites. It pushes you higher up the rankings in searches. To get to the top of a page straight away, you can always pay for an ad with Google Ads or Microsoft Advertising so that you are one of the first few sponsored names that users see. But that comes with the condition that you will only stay there for as long as your ad is running. If that’s not something you want,

If you live in the UK, and would like to get your book into libraries for readers to borrow, there are a few things you need to be aware of first. The first is Public Lending Right. This is the system whereby authors receive payment in remuneration for the lending of their books in public libraries. It is not only authors that are paid, but illustrators, photographers, translators and editors too. Payments are made annually by the British Library, from a fixed pot of money pr

In 2023, the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) commissioned the first-ever global income survey of indie authors, which discovered that self-published writers earned more than those who were traditionally published. Following on from that, they investigated further and produced ‘The Big Indie Author Data Drop 2025’. Its findings are enlightening and encouraging for self-published authors. If you would like to read the report in full, click on the image. Some of the major

Arranging for book royalties to be paid after your death involves making preparations within your estate planning now. UK and US copyright lasts for 70 years after the author's death, so to ensure your beneficiaries continue to receive royalty income during this time, your copyright needs to be recognised as a transferable asset. The simplest way to do this is to include it in your will by clearly naming who you wish to inherit your rights and royalties (e.g., spouse, child

If you are looking for a way to use print-on-demand services for your customers without paying big royalties, then Books.by may be your answer. Instead of charging for every book, like Amazon or Ingram Spark, Books.by funds its costs by charging an annual fee of $99, after which you keep 100% of your sales, minus print costs. You are given your own shopfront platform to customise as you wish, with its own URL to direct customers to from your website or social media pages.

If you publish a new book or edit an existing one, you will be asked at the time of uploading it if you have used AI to create the content. You will need to understand if you have used ‘AI-generated’ or ‘AI-assisted’ content and know exactly what is allowed. ‘AI-Generated’ means that your text, images or translations have been created by AI, even if you have edited them heavily later. You MUST disclose this when uploading your book and indicate the level of human editing th

The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) is a UK not-for-profit organisation that collects and distributes secondary royalties to writers. It exists to make sure you’re paid when your work is copied, shared, or used in ways that don’t generate traditional royalties and has been operating since 1977. ‘Secondary uses’ are things like: · Scripts being used for broadcasting · Use of articles in journals and magazines · Lending in libraries overseas ·

There is now a real alternative to Amazon when it comes to reaching new customers with your ebook. Draft2Digital have signed a partnership with Bookshop.org , giving thousands of independent bookstores across the US and UK financial incentives when they give their customers access to self-published ebooks on Bookshop.org ’s platform. To find out more about how Draft2Digital works, click on the image. To make your ebook visible, you will need to upload your manuscript onto the

A quick thought today about New Year’s resolutions related to writing. Did you make any and have you stuck to them? Personally, I’m certainly more writing-focused after vowing ‘ to do something connected to writing every day ’. I made very little progress in the second part of last year, and by the time December came, I put it off, like everything else, until after Christmas. But I’m happy to say I’m getting back into a routine again and have found my resolution has broug

As 2025 draws to a close, it's time to reflect on the many achievements of our ASPA community this year. MEMBERS The Association of Self-Published Authors remains true to its original promise of being free to all members and ‘ proudly run by self-published authors, for self-published authors’. Today, it has 684 members, all of whom can take advantage of the wide-ranging resources on the website. Click here to learn more. PROSE AND CONS One of the major successes this year ha

If you self-publish your e-books using Amazon KDP, you may have received a notification from them explaining that the policy on Digital Rights Management (DRM) is changing. Here’s a quick summary of what’s happening and how it affects you as an author. What is DRM? DRM on Kindle is a protective technology that restricts how readers can access, copy, or share your e‑book. If you enable DRM when publishing through Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), your book can only be read on Ki

During World War 1, Agatha Christie volunteered to be a nurse and spent a lot of time in the hospital dispensary. She later became an apothecary’s assistant, where she handled pills and lotions every day and learned which concoctions were deadly. This training served her well in later life when she wrote her novels; she was able to give her characters access to innocent-looking plants or household chemicals that could be used for fatal consequences. Her high level of underst

Career Inspired Many of today’s celebrated authors started out in jobs completely unconnected to writing and used their life experiences to fuel their stories. The 20-million-copy best seller, Atomic Habits, written by James Clear, was created after years of blogging. The author was a US college baseball player studying biomechanics when an injury forced him to look at how small habits could lead to life-changing outcomes. He blogged about self-improvement and productivity

Live Demo of the InkBots in Action

You may have seen some ASPA posts recently talking about InkBots, so I’ve put together this short guide to explain a bit more about how...