Resources
Here are some of the tools and websites I often mention in consultations.
Links marked with * are affiliate links.
Advanced reader copies and getting reviews
Bookfunnel
Booksprout
Readers’ Favorite
Hidden Gems Review Service
For audio: Audiobook Obsession review team (free)
Book Reviewer Yellow Pages
Reedsy Best Book Blogs 2021
Metadata
Publisher Rocket* (software to find keywords and Amazon categories)
eBook Keyword Lab (free tool to find Amazon keywords)
BKLNK category tool (see which Amazon categories your book is in)
HTML description generator by Kindlepreneur
WideWizard browser extension
Getting into Bookshops
Ingram Spark
Nielsen Title Editor
Waterstones indie publishing form (need to be registered with Nielsen Title Editor first)
FAQ: Get your book listed on Indigo (Chapters)
Admin
Amazing Marvin (to do list software)
Wise* (international money transfers)
ScribeCount* (tracking sales across retailers)
Books2Read universal links
Formatting
Graphics & Covers
Mockupshots*
MockDrop (free)
3D book mockup by DIY Book Design (free)
Canva
Bookbrush
MiblArt Covers* – get 5% off with code SKYE5
Promotion
Reedsy list of promo newsletters
Kindlepreneur list of promo sites/newsletters
Newsletters
Spam test (free)
Flodesk* (affiliate link gives you 50% off for life)
Audiobooks
Karen Commin’s Audiobook Marketing Cheat Sheet
Findaway Voices
Chirp Freebie Friday submission form
Indie Audiobooks Book Deals (various promo opportunities – be sure to join their Facebook group!)
Courses & Books
Reedsy courses (free)
Wide for the Win* by Mark Leslie Lefebvre
Get Your Book Selling Wide* by Monica Leonelle
Dear Writer, You Need to Quit* by Becca Syme
Wide Retailer Resources
Draft2Digital* (distributor)
Apple marketing tools: link & embed widget maker
Kobo form to notify them of new releases (ebook and audio)
Draft2Digital form to notify them of pre-orders and upcoming promotions
Publishing in German
tolino alliance
Buchdeals (use code SKYEMACKINNON25 for €25 off your first booking)
Self-Publishing in German (my book)
Facebook group to find beta readers
Lesestunden list of blogs
Rezi-suche blog list
Reziliebe Facebook group (for reviews)
You’ll find lots of additional resources in my book Self-Publishing in German.
Fiction Apps
Application page for KISS
Application page for Radish
Misc
Wide for the Win Facebook group
Quickwrite (AI writing software)*
ALCS – Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society
PLR – Public Lending Right
Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLI)*
Society of Authors
Romantic Novelists Association
The Ultimate Publishing Wide Spreadsheet (credit goes to Laura Greenwood for the original version)
Wide for the Win Swag Shop @Redbubble
USB mug warmer* (totally essential)