Let's talk covers. Cover design might be one of the most stressful parts of being an indie author. There's so much riding on that one image - genre signals, reader expectations, years of your work distilled into a thumbnail. Some authors work with designers from the very beginning. Some wait until the book is done. Some buy premades, some go fully custom, some have made every mistake possible and lived to tell the tale. I want to know yours. How do you approach covers? Do you come in with a clear vision or hand it over and hope for the best? Have you ever loved a cover that didn't sell, or been surprised by one that did? Tell me everything. This is a safe space for cover horror stories too. 🫣 😵‍💫 😬

Sometimes tracking data can feel cumbersome and exhausting! So I always recommend authors keep it super simple. A small handful of things you can actually check regularly like: - Email list growth - KU Reads - Royalties - Traffic (social media, website, etc.) - Words written It doesn't need to be fancy. But it needs to be able to tell you if something is working or if something needs your attention. I'm curious what you track or whether you track anything at all. No judgment if the answer is "nothing yet." That's more common than you'd think. So tell me: what metrics do you actually keep an eye on in your author business? And is there anything you wish you understood better?

Every author has a reason! I’d love to hear even the ones that maybe feels a little embarrassing to say out loud. Was it a book you read as a kid that made you feel less alone? A story that lived in your head for so long you finally had to let it out? A hard season of life that needed somewhere to go? Share with us below. 🖤

Spring cleaning your author business is so much easier when everything lives in one place. If you've got notes in three apps, a newsletter you've been "meaning to set up," and a marketing plan that lives mostly in your head my Notion Template for Authors was built for exactly that. It's the central hub where your books, your email list, your launch plans, and your ideas all finally live together. If a fresh start sounds good right now, this is a solid place to begin! https://www.lornakbailey.com/notion-template

A) Ahead of where I expected to be B) Behind, but still moving C) Completely stalled and not sure why D) What goals? I'm just surviving Share with us in the comments below!