Writing fiction can get lonely and, like most entrepreneurs, we’re often misunderstood. Getting one novel after another published and going through the work of marketing can be exhilarating, and yet tedious.

My writing partner and I released our fifth novel in mid-November and I was determined that we were finally going to sell books. I had been aware of various authors who were helpful, but for some reason the advice just didn’t stick in my head.

I also hit the wall during our third and fourth novels of thinking, “I’ve done everything and yet our books don’t sell.”

I set out to change that — and had success in December when we sold almost 100 copies of our first novel, Tom Stone: A Nitty Gritty Christmas and had several dozen downloads of our short story that we made free on Amazon — The Smoke Shop Shootout.

Each of the authors listed below will lead to other useful resources, too. My suggestion is to find an area where you want to improve and look for help specifically related.

This isn’t in any particular order and you can find which ones and topics are most helpful for you. I also don’t have any affiliate relationships with any links on the YouTube channels or related products like books.

David Gaughran

He came to mind first because his videos and his books are incredible resources at no to low costs. He truly offers tremendous value and is honest.

His website is David Gaughran.com and his free resources are exceptional.

His YouTube channel is incredibly helpful and I used his book on Bookbub Ads step by step to learn the platform. I ran ads that generated helpful click through rates and sales for the first novel in our series and others.

His book is $ 3.99 and is worth hundreds of dollars in consulting value, if not thousands.

20Books to 50K Live Events and Craig Martelle

The premise of this group, co-founded by indie author Craig Martelle, is that if you write 20 books you can generate $50,000 per year. That’s how I understand it.

Check out the YouTube channel because they have incredibly useful videos on a variety of important topics stretching back a few years.

Also, Craig Martelle does a 5-minute focus every day. Lots of practical info to implement right away at any stage of an indie fiction writing career — and non-fiction, too.

Ask to join the 20booksto50K Facebook group, as well.

Alliance of Independent Authors with Orna Ross

Excellent in-depth videos and a website for self-published authors around the globe.

Topics range from productivity for authors to the business side of writing and marketing. An extensive resource with plenty of free information.

These three resources listed above have hundreds of hours of help. You’ll get plenty of questions answered and can chart your direction as an author.

However, there are more:

Chris Fox

A successful indie author. Check his YouTube channel for plotting, advertising — or not advertising — and writing efficiently. He has plenty of books on writing but they’re all low cost and you can easily choose what will help you.

Self-Publishing School

Numerous topics you can scan with lots of videos. The YouTube channel is well-organized and the topics are easy to skim, find and listen to.

Sometimes you don’t know just what it is that you need to learn. I’ll put that into another article. But writing and marketing is a process of discovery.

Remember, there are thousands of hours of teaching in all the above resources. They give excellent principles and solutions.

Go through them before you dish out money to other experts and gurus. You’ll also come across other helpful resources like Brian Meeks on Amazon Ads.

Learn, write, edit, publish, market — and succeed. Maybe soon you’ll be a resource that other indie authors will look to.