Hello Dear Writer,
I get asked what resources I’ve found helpful over the years, and, as you can see, there are quite a few! So I compiled them onto one page, so you don’t have to go hunting around the internet like I did.
This is by no means a complete list of resources. These are ones I personally use and have found helpful! A couple of these links are affiliate links which means I get a small commission if you buy something using my link at no additional cost to you. It’s a simple way to support an author (and I greatly appreciate it!). I hope you find these resources as helpful as I have!
Happy writing!
A.K. Mulford
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Writing Craft & Tools
Useful Books
Take Off Your Pants!: Outline Your Books for Faster, Better Writing- Libbie Hawker
I mean, I was sold from the title alone! For a pantster/ wannabe plotter this is a great read. I really liked the outline given for developing a plot outline in this book and it has been helpful to look back on in the early stages of story creation for me.
The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master- Martha Alderson
This book helped break down my understanding of plot points, pacing, character development and what makes a good story.
7 FIGURE FICTION: How to Use Universal Fantasy to SELL Your Books to ANYONE
This book is all about BUTTER! (You’ll understand after you read it, haha). But seriously, once you read this book you’ll start spotting universal fantasies everywhere and it’ll help you figure out the ones you love to read and write!
2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love- Rachel Aaron
I was very pleased when I realized I was already doing a lot of things suggested in this book but it has made me even more committed to doing them!
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book On Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need- Jessica Brody
This is a classic book that helps develop a story outline in simple to understand steps.
The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression (Writers Helping Writers Series)- Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi
There’s only so many times a character can nod or shrug (guilty) this book is incredibly helpful in expanding a writers vocabulary when it comes to describing emotions. There is a whole series of these books and I am slowly collecting them!
Other Resources
Brandon Sanderson’s Youtube channel and Creative Writing lectures
Brandon Sanderson is of course a legendary fantasy author who has some amazing resources on his Youtube channel. I really enjoyed watching his 2020 BYU creative writing lectures.
Scribe Forge
Scribe Forge has amazing resources for fantasy authors and gorgeous world building journals. Listeners to the Indies Fully Booked Podcast can get 15% off their first order with the promo code: IndiesFullyBooked.
Fantasy Name Generator
This is a great website for everything from character name generation to mythical plant names to castle descriptions. It is a great resource to get those ideas started when you might be feeling stuck. (Funnily enough my own surname once appeared as a generated medieval character’s name!)
Fantasy Maps by Kristen Timofeev
There’s a few great map-makers I have on my radar! My own map for The Five Crowns of Okrith was made by the wonderful Kristen Timofeev. Some other map designers I’ve heard recommended many times are Renflowergrapx on Chaimholtjer Fiverr.
Scrivener
After hearing the name floated about in writing circles for a long time, I finally took the plunge and have never looked back. Using Scrivener has been enormously helpful for this disorganized fantasy author. I love being able to separate out chapters and scenes, build character profiles, and have all of my book info in one document.
Editing
ProWritingAid
Before my manuscript is seen by another soul (even my alpha readers) I run it through ProWritingAid. Not only does it catch all those commas and warn me when I’ve started three sentences in a row with “she”, it also has cool features like readability. Between each set of human editors I run my manuscript through ProWriting Aid.
Early Readers Catch the Worms: How Alpha, Beta, & ARC Readers Can Help You Publish a Better - Carol Beth Anderson
This book was a really helpful guide as I navigated my way through my first rounds of alpha and beta reading. It also gave me the idea to do a typo hunt giveaway with my ARC readers. It’s filled with helpful tidbits and links, definitely worth checking out if the world of alpha, beta, ARC readers sounds overwhelming!
Editors and Beta Reading
There are lots of ways to go about finding Beta Readers. I connected with most of my beta readers through Tiktok.
Carolyn Bahm Editing
Carolyn edited The High Mountain Court, she was eagle-eyed, and had many helpful suggestions that elevated the story to what it is today. You can contact her at: [email protected]
Rose City Editing
Meadow has edited a few of my short stories and novellas and it is always great working with her.
Muddled INK
Ariel is another great editor I’ve worked with who was quick, thorough, and saved me in a time crunch.
Norma’s Nook Proofreading
Norma is a fantastic proofreader, quick, comprehensive and spotted many typos that slipped through the cracks. You can contact her at [email protected]
Publishing
PublisherRocket
I think I would have been lost trying to figure out the right keywords and categories for my novel without PublisherRocket. You can search for the best keywords, categories, and also compare them to the top books in those categories to make sure your story fits with them. There’s helpful tutorials and resources about adding more Amazon categories too.
Gotta Read It!: Five Simple Steps to a Fiction Pitch that Sells- Libbie Hawker
Oh the dreaded blurbs! This book really helps break down how to write them, which parts to include, and demystifying what makes a good blurbs.
BKLINK categories
Want to know what categories your book has been put in? Check out BKLINK, enter your books ASIN or ISBN to find out!
Kindletrends
You’ve probably been told to look through the top 100 books in your genre. Looks at their covers, their blurbs, what keywords their using. Kindletrends takes this to another level and has been hugely helpful for me in knowing how to present my books. You can sign up to monthly newsletters for your specific genre and get a breakdown of everything from pricing, POVs, and commonly used words. A fantastic resource!
Vellum
I am a big fan of Vellum for its ease of use. Even a tech-illiterate person such as myself can make beautifully formatted books! I knew if I wanted to be producing more than two books ever, Vellum would be worth the investment and I would highly recommend it if you can afford it!
Release Strategies: Plan your self-publishing schedule for maximum benefit – Craig Martelle
Trying to figure out how you should release your book? This is a great guide to different release strategies.
ALLi’s Self Publishing Advice
The Alliance of Independent Authors has heaps of resources at https://selfpublishingadvice.org/. I found myself going back to this article a bunch leading up to my release date: The Ultimate Guide to Launching a Book.
IngramSpark
I use IngramSpark for printing and distributing my paperback and hardcover books!
Bianca Bordianu
I’ve used Bianca as my cover artist for The Five Crowns of Okrith series and love the covers she has made for me. She has been great to work with and I highly recommend her.
MiblArt
MiblArt is another great book cover service that I used for my novella, The Witch of Crimson Arrows. They deliver quick, high-quality covers and were easy to work with.
Marketing
Newsletter Ninja- Tammi Lebreque
I had no idea how to create a successful author newsletter and I would’ve been lost without this book! I highly recommend it to any author with a newsletter (or thinking about creating a newsletter).
Mailerlite
I know there are many different mail provider services out there but considering how many indie authors I respect recommended using Mailerlite, I chose to go with them too. They are an easy to use service even for tech-illiterate newsletter beginners such as myself, with high deliverability and easy to use templates!
Bookfunnel
I use Bookfunnel to distribute ARCs, beta copies, and have a landing page for my free novella the is integrated into my newsletter sequence. Bookfunnel is easy to use and has been quick to respond whenever I’ve need to get in touch.
Buy Me A Coffee
I use Buy Me A Coffee to share little bonus scenes, bookmarks, and extras with my readers. It is a great way to connect with people who want more access to you and your stories, and for people who want to help fund the caffeine that keeps the words flowing!
Amazon Decoded: A Marketing Guide to the Kindle Store – David Gaughran
I haven’t taken the plunge into amazon ads yet but I’m already starting to read up about it. I really enjoy David Gaughran’s writing and how accessible he makes something that doesn’t come naturally to me.
Strangers To Superfans: A Marketing Guide to The Reader Journey – David Gaughran
I really loved this book. Cultivating reader relationships is really important to me!
Kindlepreneur Amazon Ads course
I like learning through both reading and visual mediums. This free Kindlepreneur course is great at showing you step by step how to make and use Amazon ads.
Canva
I do not have an eye for graphic design at all haha, but I have found Canva invaluable for everything from social media posts to creating my media kit! You can do so much with Canva for free but I eventually upgraded to the Pro account to have more access to different features.
Bookbrush
Bookbrush is a great resource for putting your book cover into different 3D templates, animations, etc for ads and marketing!
Elana Johsnon
All of Elana Johnson's books on rapid release, writing a bestseller, and marketing are fantastic! Be Warned: you will want to start a new pen name just to play around with all of these great tips!
Indie Inspiration
Elana Johnson's Facebook Group is an incredible resource and a wealth of knowledge! Great for established authors!
Podcasts
There are so many amazing podcasts out there for authors and aspiring authors. (I am a bit of a podcast junkie.) I listen to them while cooking dinner, having a shower, and taking my dog, Ziggy, for a walk!
check out:
Support & Advice
The Creative Penn
I remember listening to the Creative Penn podcast daydreaming about becoming an indie author years ago and look at me now! Joanna Penn’s website is a wealth of resources, courses, and books. So far I’ve read How to Make a Living with Your Writing: Turn Your Words into Multiple Streams Of Income (Books for Writers Book 3) and Audio For Authors: Audiobooks, Podcasting, And Voice Technologies which was great for both being an indie author and a beginner podcaster!
Alliance of Independent Authors
The Alliance of Independent Authors is a professional business membership. It is a great resource and community for indie authors. They have some fantastic ebooks, guides, podcasts, and discounts from some incredible partners. There is also important things like legal advice for indie authors, watchlists of services to be wary of, and general guidance that I have found instrumental.
Self Publishing Formula
I’ve done a few courses through Mark Dawson’s Self Publishing Formula and they have been incredibly helpful taking me step-by-step through different areas of self publishing. There’s a course for just about every step on the indie author journey. There are some free mini courses on the website too. The getting started with Vellum course was great to do right after I got Vellum!
David Gaughran’s Starting From Zero course
Let’s count how many times I can recommend David Gaughran on one page. Seriously though, go check out his website. It is a treasure trove of indie author resources, books, courses, and information. I really enjoyed doing his free Starting From Zero course that really breaks down where to begin with your author business and how to promote books when you’re just starting out. Also check out his YouTube channel.
20booksto50k Facebook group
What an incredible resource this Facebook group is! Craig Martelle also has a Youtube channel of five minute author focus discussion topics and some great books on self-publishing. I found Become a Successful Indie Author: Work Toward Your Writing Dream broke down the whole process of self-publishing into easy to digest and informative sections. It’s a great place to start on your author journey.
Kindlepreneur Youtube channel and online tutorials
There are heaps of great self-publishing tutorials on the Kindlepreneur website as well as resources on their Youtube channel.
The Better Faster Academy
If you’re an author and you haven’t heard of Becca Syme, you absolutely should. Becca has created a wealth of author resources, classes, coaching, podcasts and more that have helped me and countless other authors.
The Coupon Follow
This is a resource was sent to me by someone who found my resources pages helpful and I’m happy to include it here.
