Howdy! Welcome to the home for All Erin Wright Author Knowledge. 😄 Here are current, happening-now offerings:
One-on-one Consultations – If you'd like to book a consultation with me where you and I sit down via Zoom for an hour and we discuss everything you want to know about being a successful Wide author, this is where you'll make that happen. I offer both 30-minute and 60-minute consultations. I've chatted with over 500 individual authors, helping them take their Wide career to the next level. I'd love to chat with you too!
Foundations of Kickstarter– Curious about Kickstarter but don’t know where to start?
Pledges, stretch goals, and backers, oh my! Let’s take the mystery out of crowdfunding with a hands-on, beginner-friendly class created just for authors.
This is the class I'm currently teaching. It is a mini class and thus only costs $39. (Woot!)
If you want to receive email updates on new class announcements, openings in my calendar, and anything else I think you might find useful as a Wide author, be sure to sign up for my author email list by using the sign-up form to the right 👉
Or, keep reading for summaries of all of my past classes, and information on how to take replays that are currently available...
Sign up for my author email list below! 👇
Classes Available for Replay
I began teaching classes via Zoom starting in March of 2023, systematically working my way through the knowledge that authors need to be a successful Wide author. This is an ongoing process, but as I finish teaching each class live, I then make the class available for replay. The replays are offered through our online community, so you do have to join said community before you can take these classes.
Here are the steps:
- Sign up for Wide for the Win (this membership is completely free!)
- After you're sign up, you'll need to be logged into the group
- From here, you can:
- Click on Courses on the top of the page (you can also find the direct link to Courses here); or
- Click on a specific course that you're interested in below
- You'll pay for the course inside of our community, and access all course materials and replays there too
Here are the classes currently available for replay:
Wide Foundation Course – $59
- Distributor vs direct – what I suggest in which situation
- Wide algos vs Amazon’s algos – why long preorders are such a boon on Wide platforms; why switching between KU and Wide causes so many problems (both in terms of algos and working with Wide storefront employees)
- The four parts of the metadata that is always search indexed, and why that matters
- The fifth part of the metadata that is sometimes search indexed and sometimes not, and how to use that info when uploading books to storefronts
Wide Intermediate: Part 1 – $79
- How searches work across platforms (demonstrated in real time)
- What you (probably) didn’t know about Kobo Plus
- In-house promos on Apple, Kobo, and BN, both for released books and preorders
- Promotions tab on GP to boost in-house sales + GP optimization tips
- Overdrive promos (whether you get to them through Kobo or D2D)
- Pricing your ebooks for libraries (a handy-dandy rule of thumb)
Wide Intermediate: Part 2 – $79
- The why behind the success of free first-in-series promotions specifically for Wide authors
- How to advertise your free first in series (FIS) and keep the downloads coming (including paid newsletters, in-house promos, and cross-promos with other authors)
- Should you rotate between free FIS? How many should you have at a time?
- What is the difference between permafrees and newsletter magnets? Should you use the same book for both purposes?
- Using multi-author boxsets to promote your catalog to new readers
BookBub Prep Class – $99
- Applying for a BookBub Featured Deal – the kind that tends to be the most useful, how to increase your chances of getting one, etc
- Now that you have one, how to prepare. Should you stack other paid newsletters around it? Should you discount other books in the series? Should you change backmatter? What about in-house promos? Swapping with other authors? Let’s go through it all
Radish Tips & Tricks – $49
- Take you from knowing nothing to thriving on Radish in less than 90 minutes
- Give you every tip and trick Fiona uses to succeed on the platform
- Set you up for success on the site
NOTE – this class is for:
- Steamy romance authors – the steamier, the better
- People who are new to Radish – either already on the platform and making bupkis, or not even on the platform yet
- Authors who have a large back catalog and are wanting to maximize the income from those books, instead of just letting them languish
GooglePlay Tips 'N Tricks – $99
- Why it is that GooglePlay operates so differently from any other platform out there – why it is that what you do on Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, etc, does not work at all on GooglePlay, and what you can do to work with the GooglePlay platform instead of against it
- Optimization tips specifically for your books on GooglePlay
- Learning how to use spreadsheets to make changes to book listings faster, easier, and more accurately
- Using the tools that GooglePlay offers to organically increase your visibility of your books
- How information off the GooglePlay platform changes search results on the GooglePlay platform
- NOTE: These tips are useful for books in any language, in any genre, and in either ebook or audiobook form (human or AI). GooglePlay does not sell print books, so this class does not touch on optimizing your print catalog
Audiobooks on YouTube – $149
- Why you'd want to upload your audiobooks (human narrated or AI narrated) to YouTube to begin with (HINT: Because you can make a lot of money doing it!)
- How uploading to YouTube will increase your visibility and sales on other platforms too
- The best upload schedule to maximize your visibility
- How to optimize your video listings so YouTube shows them to the right viewers
Print 101: Print Foundation – $59
PLEASE NOTE: It is not necessary to take this class before moving onto Print 201, as long as you have a firm grasp of the following concepts:
- What is an ISBN?
- Where do I get an ISBN? Do I need to purchase one, or can I use a free one?
- Do I need to purchase a barcode?
- Should I have the price of the book on my covers?
- Which of the Big Five ebook stores also sell print books?
- What is Print on Demand (POD) vs Offset Printing?
- Why is print not nearly as dominant in the indie world as it is in the trad pub world?
- What is case laminate vs dust jacket?
- What is library binding – is that the same as hardcover?
- How much and what kind of backmatter (and front matter) should I include in my print books?
- Should I put out a discreet version of my print books? (This question is specifically geared towards romance authors)
- What should the dimensions of my adult fiction print book be?
- How do I format the interior of a print book – Atticus? Vellum? InDesign? Use D2D? Hire someone?
- What is a gutter? A margin? What numbers should I put where in Vellum? What font type and/or font size should I pick?
- Why does my cover designer care what paper type I choose (white vs cream)? And what is this groundwood option in Ingram?
- Is a cover designed using Amazon’s template also usable on Ingram, or vice-versa?
- Why is there this concept in the print world that I should give discounts and allow returns? Where did that start and why does it continue?
- NOTE: Please understand that I am going to be explaining the reason why discounts and returns exist, not if you should allow them for your own books (and if you do choose to allow them, what settings you should select). That part comes in Print 201. Speaking of...
Print 201: Print Options & Distribution – $79
- There are two main types of Print on Demand (POD) print companies out there:
- Those that are focused on helping you sell in bookstores, libraries, and other retail spaces
- Those that are focused on helping you sell directly off your website
- Understanding which companies do which is VERY helpful, so let's get clear on that!
- Speaking of, we're going to discuss the pluses and minuses of each of these companies:
- IngramSpark
- KDP Print
- D2D Print
- BN Press
- Lulu
- BookVault
- We'll put together a distribution strategy to get your books into both physical bookstores and onto book websites (such as Amazon, Waterstones, etc)
- Which print book formats (paperback, hardcover, regular print, large print) should you focus on getting stocked in physical bookstores?
- We'll go through the discount and return policy choices available, and which options make sense in which situation
- Which combination of site(s) should you use (IngramSpark and/or Amazon and/or BN Press and/or D2D Print and/or Lulu and/or BookVault) to reach your goals? We'll make sure you have a clear answer by the end of the class
- We'll finish up by discussing a preorder strategy for Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and IngramSpark
Print 202: IngramSpark Optimization – $79
- Step-by-step process for uploading to IngramSpark to maximize your visibility on the site, and thus organically maximize your earnings
- IngramSpark is one of the most complicated platforms out there to upload to, but it doesn't have to cause you to pull your hair out! Let's go through it together, and I'll help you figure out which fields to focus on, and which ones to skip
- If you want your books to be picked up by libraries and/or bookstores, uploading to IngramSpark is a must. This class will make the process as simple as possible
Print 203: Large Print Creation – $49
NOTE: If your readership skews a little older, large print may be a very useful format to put your books into! I sell more large print books than I do regular print books, and I make more per sale too. This mini class can get you on your way quickly
- How to create a large print version of your book – what needs to be changed and what doesn't
- How to minimize page count and maximize royalties
- What trim size to use
- Where to upload the large print versions once you've created them
- Hardcover? Soft cover? We'll talk about it all
Selling More Books by Selling to Libraries – $99
So many classes and books out there focus on how to sell to readers. This class teaches you how to sell to libraries. In it, we discuss...
- Why you'd even want to get your books into libraries to begin with (hint: Getting your books into libraries increases your readership)
- Libby vs Overdrive
- Indie Author Project – what it is and why you might want to participate
- IngramSpark vs Baker & Taylor
- Who to talk to at a library about purchasing your books
- What a one-sheet is, and how to make one
- Go through three approaches you can take to get your books considered by libraries that ranges from easy to difficult
- We discuss all three format types (ebooks, audiobooks, and print books)