People judge books by their covers every day. Your cover has a very important job to do, so are you sure it’s up to the job? For this year’s annual cover design event, we  invited Steve Rustad, long time graphic designer and illustrator. We had our usual cover design contest, and there was a panel of Steve Rustad, John Byrne Barry, and David Kudler who provided live feedback of over six BAIPA authors’ book covers. The panel was moderated by Ruth Schwartz. Here are Steve’s presentation slides. Here is the chat. About Our Speaker: Steve Rustad Steve Rustad is a Creative Director, Graphic Designer, Filmmaker, Copywriter, Cartoonist, Veteran, and former Sky Marshal. He had the good fortune to be mentored in graphic design by some legitimate “Mad Men & Women” and he enjoys passing on that knowledge. He is passionate about graphic design, branding, and applying these skills to author’s [...]

There’s been an explosion of interest in self-publishing, and with it, a tremendous amount of confusion about the various options available to authors who want to self-publish. Some advocate hiring a full service self-publishing company. Others say “hybrid publishers” are the way to go. Still others suggest that it’s best to find your own team of freelancers. Who’s right? It depends. There’s no right way to self-publish and each author will make a different decision based on their skills, goals, and individual circumstances. In this presentation, we’ll explore the various self-publishing pathways using the self-publishing decision tree created and presented by Joel Pitney. We’ll explore the pros and cons of each to give authors the information they need to choose the path best suited for them. BAIPA chat, 11-01-25 Key Takeaways include: Access to a downloadable “self-publishing decision tree” Gaining a detailed understanding of the various self-publishing pathways: hiring a [...]

Ruth will cover the latest news from Amazon/KDP etc, as well as with IngramSpark, including best practices for self-publishing your book. BAIPA chat 7.15.25_Ruth Schwartz Ruth’s Slides Key Takeaways include: Changes with KDP royalties and color print pricing KDP is making it a bit more challenging to talk or chat with a real person. Increase in IngramSpark print pricing IngramSpark only allowing three categories (like KDP) About Our Speaker: Ruth Schwartz Ruth Schwartz Ruth Schwartz is the founder and CEO of Wonderlady Books, helping self-publishing authors turn finished manuscripts into well-published books, complete with professional cover design, interior layout, and ebook editions—all up online and available for sale around the world. Ruth brings over 50 years of book publishing, design and printing industry experience to every author’s project and has worked on over 250 independently-published books since 2012 when print on demand technology enabled the current indie publishing revolution. She has [...]

Whether you already have an audiobook or wish you did, this program will provide you with the key information you need to make your audiobook investment a success. – Learn how to leverage your audiobook through a strategic pre-production process. – Find out how to launch and sell your audiobook to massively increase your royalties and retain control over your pricing. – Discover the secrets of increasing sales with promotions and discount codes. – Build your following and community by knowing how to develop and access your list of customers. – Get the inside scoop on new production and distribution options. Already have an audiobook? Great! Discover how you can earn more, regain control, and guarantee yourself a return on your audiobook investment. New distribution opportunities mean an audiobook investment makes more sense than ever before. We’ll go into detail on how to approach the decisions you face for both [...]

The Business of Being a Writer To earn a living from writing and publishing, most writers must look beyond book sales. BAIPA chat_5.3.25 Few authors are transparent about their book sales and some take offense if you ask. But most aren’t earning a living through book sales alone. So where does the money come from? Find out. Getting a book published is a major milestone that every author should celebrate, each and every time it happens, yet it rarely leads to the kind of success or earnings that everyone hopes for. Few authors are open and transparent about what they earn and most will take offense if you ask. Because of the taboo surrounding earnings, it’s easy to assume everyone is doing better than you. But they probably aren’t. Few people make a living solely by writing and publishing books, unless they have a big platform or a long career [...]