The frenzy of gift buying has begun. For those of us in the indie author scene, our hearts begin yearning for some things to make our lives as artists and marketers easier and more enjoyable. So if you need a gift for an author friend, or if you are an author working on your wish list, here are some items and siubscription services that you might consider letting Santa know about this holiday season.
1) Yeti USB Microphone
Whether you are interested in doing online readings of your work, narrating trailers, or starting a podcast, this is a great multi-purpose microphone that is fairly reasaonably priced (around $125) and easy to use. With video becoming more and more important in book marketing, being able to have decent audio is very helpful. And it is a beautiful piece of equipment.
2) Canva for Work
Canva is a free online graphic design tool, but the paid version has a lot of bang for the buck. It allows you to organize your files and brand kit, gives access to a large photo library, allows for instant resizing for different social media formats, allows you to create videos and gifs of your graphics. and will soon offer Twitter and Facebook post scheduling. You can get an annual subscription for one person for $119.40, which works out to $9.95 per month.
3) Tailwind
If authors want to build a following on Pinterest and Instagram, this is the scheduling service for them. At $9.99 per month if you pay annually, it allows you to create, schedule, and analyze the performace of pins with ease. The Chrome plugin means that wherever you are online, scheduling a pin takes only a few clicks. You also have access to "tribes" of pinners in realted areas to help you network and boost each other's content. You can also do bulk uploads of images for both Pinterest and Instagram, and the Instagram mode suggests the most effective hastags to use and shares your favorite hashtags to save you time.
4) KDP Rocket
KDP Rocket is essentially a research tool for Amazon keywords and categories. One of the few tools that isn't a subscription service, it costs $97. It is frequently updated and can be very helpful in seeing what people are actually searching for on Amazon.
5) The Complete Guide to Facebook Advertising by Brian Meert
Unfortunately, we indie authors spend a lot more time marketing than most of us would like. This book ($19.99 on Kindle) is an extremely helpful overview of both the technical aspects of learning to use Facebook's advertising interface and the design and psychology of Facebook advertising. It also includes information about using Instagram ads and links to additional content.
6) Vellum
The ultimate book creator's dream software, Vellum is pricy ($249.99 if you want to do both ebook and paperback layouts) and only works on Mac. But if you have the cash to burn and really want to impress that author you love, getting them Vellum and a MacBook is the way to do it in style.
I am sure there are things writers covet that I am forgetting. Authors, what is on your ultimate wish list?
1) Yeti USB Microphone
2) Canva for Work
Canva is a free online graphic design tool, but the paid version has a lot of bang for the buck. It allows you to organize your files and brand kit, gives access to a large photo library, allows for instant resizing for different social media formats, allows you to create videos and gifs of your graphics. and will soon offer Twitter and Facebook post scheduling. You can get an annual subscription for one person for $119.40, which works out to $9.95 per month.
3) Tailwind
If authors want to build a following on Pinterest and Instagram, this is the scheduling service for them. At $9.99 per month if you pay annually, it allows you to create, schedule, and analyze the performace of pins with ease. The Chrome plugin means that wherever you are online, scheduling a pin takes only a few clicks. You also have access to "tribes" of pinners in realted areas to help you network and boost each other's content. You can also do bulk uploads of images for both Pinterest and Instagram, and the Instagram mode suggests the most effective hastags to use and shares your favorite hashtags to save you time.
4) KDP Rocket
KDP Rocket is essentially a research tool for Amazon keywords and categories. One of the few tools that isn't a subscription service, it costs $97. It is frequently updated and can be very helpful in seeing what people are actually searching for on Amazon.
5) The Complete Guide to Facebook Advertising by Brian Meert
Unfortunately, we indie authors spend a lot more time marketing than most of us would like. This book ($19.99 on Kindle) is an extremely helpful overview of both the technical aspects of learning to use Facebook's advertising interface and the design and psychology of Facebook advertising. It also includes information about using Instagram ads and links to additional content.
6) Vellum
The ultimate book creator's dream software, Vellum is pricy ($249.99 if you want to do both ebook and paperback layouts) and only works on Mac. But if you have the cash to burn and really want to impress that author you love, getting them Vellum and a MacBook is the way to do it in style.
I am sure there are things writers covet that I am forgetting. Authors, what is on your ultimate wish list?
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