Authors, Steal This Book: Author Level Up

By M.L. Ronn

Read this book before publishing industry goons track M.L. Ronn down and throw him in jail!

 

Some ideas are too good to keep to yourself. In this writer's guide, prolific author M.L. Ronn dreams big and shares 67 innovative ideas that could one day change the author profession as we know it.

 

M.L. Ronn draws on lessons learned from a decade-long career of writing over 50 books, a YouTube channel for writers with over 2 million views, and networking with movers and shakers in the publishing industry.

 

• Discover unique publishing ideas that could help authors build their platforms and make more money

• Uncover author tools and services that are desperately needed but people aren't aware of yet

• Find out how existing and emerging technology can help authors do more in less time

• Learn how to become the writer of the future

 

If you are inspired by anything in this book, share it. You never know what could happen. If any of the ideas in this book take root, the author community will benefit tremendously.

 

V1.0

• Language: English
• Publisher: Author Level Up LLC
• Release date: Jun 18, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201437657

M.L. Ronn

Science fiction and fantasy on the wild side! M.L. Ronn (Michael La Ronn) is the author of many science fiction and fantasy novels including the Modern Necromancy, The Last Dragon Lord, and Sword Bear Chronicle series. In 2012, a life-threatening illness made him realize that storytelling was his #1 passion. He’s devoted his life to writing ever since, making up whatever story makes him fall out of his chair laughing the hardest. Every day.

Book preview

Authors, Steal This Book

Authors, Steal This Book

67 Business Ideas for the Writers of the Future

M.L. Ronn

Copyright 2021 © M.L. Ronn. All rights reserved.

Published by Author Level Up LLC.

Version 2.0

Cover Design by Pixelstudio.

Covert Art © samuraitop / Depositphotos.

Editing by BZ Hercules.

The content in this book originally appeared in the Indie Author Confidential series by M.L. Ronn. Follow behind the scenes of a working indie author at www.authorlevelup.com/confidential.

Special thank you to the following people on Patreon who supported this book: Zhade Barnet, Stephen Frans, Michael Guishard, Jon Howard, Beth Jackson, Megan Mong, Lynda Washington, and Etta Welk.

Some links in this book contain affiliate links. If you purchase books and services through these links, I receive a small commission at no cost to you. You are under no obligation to use these links, but thank you if you do!

For more helpful writing tips and advice, subscribe to the Author Level Up YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/authorlevelup.

M.L. Ronn is proud member and ambassador of The Alliance of Independent Authors, a nonprofit association devoted to ethics and excellence in self-publishing. Join him today at www.authorlevelup.com/alli (paid link).

Contents

Introduction

Writing and Publishing Ideas

Write a Pilot Series

Write About Your Career Experience

Microsoft Excel for Writers

History of a Certain Subgenre

The Neuroscience of Writing and Reading

80/20 Your 80/20

Track Your Book Writing Time

Visualize Your Toolbox

Writing While Moving

21-Day Challenge

A Year of Challenges

Showing the Entire Publishing Process Live in One Giant Video

Watch the Master at Work

Hiring an Audiobook Proofer

Clever Dictation Hack

Author Inspiration, the Album?

Genre-Based Music

Bring Essays Back

Amalgam for Self-Published Writers

Reversing Your Series

Kingdom Hearts for Self-Published Writers

Stream Decks for Publishing

The Opposite Year Challenge

Ideal Day

Marketing Ideas

Author Marketing Co-op

Give Your Book Away on Torrent Sites

License Your Persona

Include Failures on Your About Page

Roadmaps

Community-Supported Agriculture...for Books?

Coffee and Tea Brands for Authors

The Return of Permafree?

Business Ideas

Planner for Writers

IP Patroller

Book Marketing Browser Plugin

Personalized Editing Rules Engine

Audiobook Transition Tool

Brand Monitoring System

Crowdfunding in Reverse

Author Servicing Co-op

Author IT Cooperative

Knowledge Transfer Platform

The Indie Author Apprentice

Thoughts on Mentoring: Automated Mentor Selection and Reverse Mentorships

Let’s Hire a Futurist

AI for Slush Piles

Open-Source Computer Vision Idea

Taxes for Authors

Indie Author AI Co-Author Collective

Studying Reader Habits

Marketing Workbench

Influencer Direct Platform

Meditation MP3s for Writers

Publishing Content Curation Service

Writer Assistance Program

Author Services Ideas

A Book Cover Design YouTube Channel

Your Self-Publishing Attorney

Your Self-Publishing Accountant

Metadata Consultant

Genre Consultant

Genre-Specific Boutiques

Book Cover Hunter

Author Efficiency Coach

The Indie Author Bounty Hunter

Part-Time Email Only Assistant

A Company that Maintains Your Books When You Die

Ideas That Have Worked Well for Me in the Last Decade

Read Next: The Writing App Handbook

Meet M.L. Ronn

More Books by M.L. Ronn

Introduction

Every change begins with an idea. This book is a collection of ideas that I believe can change the publishing industry for the better. These ideas are for authors and anyone who has the skills to develop tools and services for authors. While my focus is on self-publishing, traditionally published authors can use this book too.

The ideas in this book are compiled from my Indie Author Confidential series. In that series, I document my journey of building a writing career while working a full-time job, raising a family, and attending law school in the evenings. Every time I thought, Wow, this would be a great marketing idea, or This would be a great idea for someone to do for authors, I wrote it down. I thought it would be fun to create a book with nothing but ideas that could help people. The ideas in these pages are both big and small.

I came up with the idea for this book while watering sod. Contractors did some work at my home and they tore up my grass. After I complained, they put down sod. Reluctantly, I began the month-long process of watering and caring for my new grass.

Consider with me for a moment the tough life of sod. It grows on a farm in perfect agricultural conditions. It has all the nutrients, water, and sunlight it needs. It has an amazing life.

Then, one day, a giant machine tromps across the field and slices the grass’s roots clean from under it. The grass gets rolled into a blanket, thrown on a hot truck, transported on a bumpy ride for hours to a new, unfamiliar (and possibly hostile) yard where it needs constant water, love, and care.

Sometimes the sod doesn’t make it. The new owner doesn’t give it enough water, or they over-water it; the heat bakes it or the cold freezes it to death; mischievous children walk on it too much; raccoons dig it up to eat grubs underneath; a powerful thunderstorm drowns the roots; or, the original disturbance in the sod’s life proved too great. And even if it survives, the new owner’s yard will never be as nice as the farm.

The sod has to learn how to grow again. When it is successful, it’s because its root system pushes through and establishes itself into the soil of its new environment. After a while, the sod blends in so well with the yard that you can barely tell it was never there in the first place.

Ideas are like sod. Every idea exists in a perfect state until it is time to execute them. Then, we whisk them off to the land of reality. Some ideas fall apart. Others morph into new ideas. And a final, small amount works beautifully and challenges the status quo. They might even change people’s lives and the course of history.

Don’t mistake me for arrogant. These ideas may not catch hold. I’m not immune to the brutal demands of practicality. For every idea in this book, there are a thousand reasons why it might not be successful. But that shouldn’t stop us from imagining the type of world we want to live in and pass down to the next generation of authors.

I just want to leave the publishing world better than I found it. If an idea in this book helps just one person win, then I’ve done my job.

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Why I’m Qualified to Write This Book

I'm the author of over 50 science fiction and fantasy novels and self-help guides for writers. I receive fan-mail every single day from readers who were touched by my work.

I run the popular YouTube channel for writers, Author Level Up, which, at the time of this writing, has over 30,000 subscribers and over one million lifetime views. Every minute of every day, someone is watching one of my videos on YouTube.

I've spoken about writing to crowds of over 1,000 people: 20 Books Vegas and multiple Writer's Digest conferences. I've also been a featured guest

Reviews for Authors, Steal This Book

[dragonquillca · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very useful and highly relatable. Have a pen & paper nearby, because you'll want to make notes!