Tricks of the Trade

Over 250 pages of indie publishing terms, acronyms, and abbreviations, free to every author in PDF format. No more guessing what ARC, BISAC, or wide actually mean.

This resource library covers hundreds of articles, but doesn't tell you what order to actually do things in. This is that map, from first draft to launch day, with pointers to the right section at each stage.

Not every free font is actually free to use in a book you're selling. Here's where to find fonts that genuinely are, and how to avoid the licensing trap that catches authors who don't check first.

Unsplash, Pexels, and Pixabay all allow commercial use, but the real risk on free stock platforms isn't licensing, it's the missing model and property releases nobody checks for you.

A good map can sell a fantasy or historical novel before the first page. Here's where to build one, free or affordably, and the commercial-use licensing distinction most authors miss.

Sound design for a book trailer, audiobook intro, or promotional video doesn't require a budget, but free audio has more licensing landmines than people expect. Here's where to look and what to check.

EPUB, MOBI, AZW3, PDF: every retailer seems to want something slightly different, and most of the confusion is outdated information. Here's the current, accurate picture, plus where to convert safely if you need to.

The small operational shortcuts that experienced authors pick up over years and rarely write down. Amazon's free keyword research trick, current backend keyword rules, and efficient metadata workflows.

A lighter, faster companion to this resource library's full software guides: the keyboard shortcuts and small habits that save real time across the tools authors use every day.