Want straight-up answers about writing, publishing, and marketing books without all the fluff? You’re in the right place.
I’m Dale L. Roberts, an award-winning author and self-publishing advocate. I help indie authors learn how to self-publish a book, publish through Amazon KDP, distribute wide with platforms like Draft2Digital, IngramSpark, and Bookvault, build an author platform, get more book reviews, and market books without wasting time or money.
You’ll find step-by-step self-publishing tutorials, honest platform reviews, book marketing strategies, publishing news, and practical advice for new and experienced authors.
Whether you’re publishing your first book or building a full-time author business, my goal is to help you make smarter decisions, avoid costly mistakes, and keep moving forward.
Subscribe for clear, practical self-publishing advice.
Dale L. Roberts
I’m teaming up with BooksGoSocial for a Holiday Season Makeover Challenge.
One author will be selected to receive a holiday-season book makeover, including help with their cover, book description, pricing, Amazon presentation, promotion, and more. I’ll also be documenting the process as a case study for the channel.
There’s no fee to apply and no purchase necessary.
Apply by October 1st:
DaleLinks.com/HolidayMakeover
7 hours ago | [YT] | 4
View 0 replies
Dale L. Roberts
Two days before launch, you discover a mistake in your book that requires changing several pages.
What do you do?
Tell me why in the comments.
14 hours ago | [YT] | 7
View 5 replies
Dale L. Roberts
🏗️📚 Build-A-Story: Week 1
We’re starting a completely new story from scratch.
Give me ONE idea for any of these:
- Genre
- Protagonist
- Antagonist
- Setting
- Main conflict
- Subplot
- Secret
- Trope
You do NOT need to fill out the whole story. Pick one category and throw an idea into the mix.
You can submit more than one idea, but keep each one in a separate comment so everyone can vote by liking their favorites.
Next week, I’ll pull from the community’s ideas and we’ll build the foundation for our new story.
1 day ago | [YT] | 5
View 3 replies
Dale L. Roberts
Just for fun. Neither choice is career advice. You have to pick one.
Would you rather...
2 days ago | [YT] | 11
View 10 replies
Dale L. Roberts
Write a two-sentence back-cover blurb for a novel inspired by this scene.
3 days ago | [YT] | 3
View 3 replies
Dale L. Roberts
🔥 Share Your Book Sunday 🔥
This week's spotlight:
The Starlight Within
by AC Burrows
The warden of an asteroid mining prison navigates an increasingly dangerous conspiracy that could destroy both the inmates’ chance at reform and the station itself.
Now share yours in the comments:
- Title
- Author name
- One-sentence blurb
Please, no links. YouTube sometimes sends comments containing links straight to spam, and I check every submission anyway.
One book gets spotlighted each week, so keep sharing even if yours hasn’t been selected yet.
While you’re here, check out some of the other indie authors in the comments. If a book catches your attention, give their comment a like and look them up.
4 days ago | [YT] | 2
View 0 replies
Dale L. Roberts
What’s his name, and why does he keep a photograph of a city that hasn’t been built yet?
5 days ago | [YT] | 8
View 7 replies
Dale L. Roberts
Write the first sentence of a story inspired by this scene.
6 days ago | [YT] | 9
View 8 replies
Dale L. Roberts
A book you barely promoted suddenly starts selling well in a country you never targeted.
What do you do first?
Tell me why in the comments.
1 week ago | [YT] | 18
View 8 replies
Dale L. Roberts
🏗️📚 Build-A-Story: Week 3
We’ve reached the final week of this community-built story.
Here’s everything we’re carrying forward:
- Genre: Contemporary fantasy horror mystery
- Protagonist: A homeless young woman haunted by memories of an ancient apocalypse
- Antagonist: A mysterious counselor and enforcers from a scientific organization determined to hide the truth
- Setting: The countryside in December 1999
Main conflict: Seeking shelter from the winter, the protagonist becomes one of eight people caught in a deadly game that sends them through different eras to recover objects capable of changing history, including a magical butterfly trapped in amber and unearthed in 1946.
Subplot: The government has known for decades that another catastrophe may be coming and may have already made a deal to protect a select group of survivors.
Secret: No one saw the protagonist violently kill her dog two years earlier, but she remembers it all too well.
Trope: The apocalypse may be unavoidable. It cannot be stopped, only survived.
Title: The Things We Leave Behind
Description:
The past is a caged beast, and in December 1999, a homeless young woman seeking shelter is pulled into a deadly game with seven strangers, each forced across time to recover objects that could reshape history. Haunted by memories of an ancient apocalypse and pursued by a scientific organization determined to bury the truth, she must discover whether humanity can change a catastrophe that has happened before, or only survive it again.
Now we need the opening line.
One sentence. That’s it.
Drop your opening line in the comments, with one entry per comment so everyone can vote by liking their favorites.
1 week ago | [YT] | 5
View 1 reply
Load more