How Debut Author Became A Bestseller On Publication Day

Wow! I just read the most fascinating step-by-step account of exactly how The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides shot to the top of the bestseller charts earlier this year. Aspiring authors: Listen up. There’s a lesson to be learned here. Continue reading “How Debut Author Became A Bestseller On Publication Day”

How Author J.D.Barker Nails The Rules For Writing Suspense

Serial-killer thriller author, J.D. Barker is the latest writer to become a James Patterson co-author. Evidently, working with the world’s #1 bestselling author is rubbing off on him. J.D. has become a writing machine this year.

The Fifth To Die, the second offering in the Fourth Monkey (4MK) trilogy was published this summer. Dracul, the prequel to the Dracula series which J.D. was commissioned to write by Bram Stoker’s family is to be released on October 2, 2018. The novel was inspired by notes kept by Bram Stoker, the author of the original, classic novel, Dracula. It is co-authored by Dacre Stoker, Bram’s great grand-nephew. Continue reading “How Author J.D.Barker Nails The Rules For Writing Suspense”

Before You Hit The “Publish” Button: An Indie Author’s Checklist

Most indie authors grapple with the all-consuming issue of how to stand out from the crowd by creating memorable content and sufficient “buzz” for their self-published novels. Of one million books published a year, some 700,000 are self-published. Very few indie authors reach sales in the thousands, and fewer still break even after costs for giveaways and promotions and advertising are taken into account. A recent article by author Nicole Dieker  (on the website of publishing industry expert, Jane Friedman) attested to just how disheartening statistics for self-published authors can be. Continue reading “Before You Hit The “Publish” Button: An Indie Author’s Checklist”

How To Stand Out From The Crowd: An Indie Author’s Success Story

I just spent an hour on the phone with the man who, a couple of weeks ago, kept me up all night — turning the pages of his latest thriller. His name is J.D. Barker, and he’s an author who self-published his first novel, Forsaken,  in 2014. Since then Forsaken, a supernatural thriller, has sold approximately  250,000 copies. As an audio book, Forsaken made $30,000 for J.D. in the first month of its release. After the book sold 13,000 copies in one week of 2015, it was scheduled for the New York Times bestseller lists — until the NYT discovered the novel was self-published. So far, Forsaken has earned between $250-300,000. Continue reading “How To Stand Out From The Crowd: An Indie Author’s Success Story”