( @Michael Culp: If this isn't appropriate for this group, I'll take it down.) For many of us, we have a KDP Account where we work with our books. Every so often, Amazon will ask you to verify your identity. This usually takes only a minute or two, and is quite painless. (They don't even draw any blood!) The consequences of NOT doing this, however, can be dire. Failure to verify will cause Amazon to cancel your account. Without recourse for recovery, as I understand it. For me, that would be quite painful. I have 22 items up on the Amazon Marketplace. Finding another place to list and sell these would be nigh onto impossible. (I can move them, yes; I have ISBNs for all my items. But still.) What's involved? First, check the information shown on their page. Name, address, etc. Then they want you to capture a photo of a government ID. There's a very nice "Continue on Another Device" option to take the photo; I used my smart phone, as my desk camera's bad at photos. You scan a QR code, take the photo, then take a photo of your (smiling!) face. The phone sends everything and you are returned to the computer page. After about 30 seconds, a "Verified" response comes onto the page, and you're done. I made sure my bank account and other info were all correct. Check your email for a new email from Amazon (usually in your Updates, if you use that tab). It will say "Your identity was successfully verified." Done! Easy Peasy. So if you get a request for verification from KDP, do this! Only: Check the URL first. It must come from https://account.kdp.amazon.com/identity. Otherwise, it's dodgy... Enjoy!

I'm going to pin this to the beginning of the page and would like it see if everyone wanted to post their books that they've written on here. You can post as many links as you want as often as you want. I'd like to celebrate wins for everyone!

I’m working on becoming a better and more consistent writer, and one of the reasons I joined this community was to connect with other authors who are figuring things out too. I’m interested in sharing ideas, talking about what’s working, being honest about the parts that are difficult, and learning from each other along the way. I just enjoy conversations about writing and the process behind it. What’s something you’ve been struggling with in your writing lately?

Friday Fixes | DragonWorks Publishing One fix. One Friday. This week: the bio nobody reads twice. The Problem Your author bio shows up more places than almost anything else you write. Amazon. Goodreads. Your website. The footer of every newsletter. The back matter of every book. A reader can encounter it five different times without ever reading a full chapter of your work. Most authors write it once, early, and never touch it again. That would be fine if the bio were doing its job. It usually isn't. There are two failure modes, and almost every weak bio falls into one of them. The first is the resume bio. A list of credentials, awards, associations, and career facts stacked in a row. "Jane Smith is a member of RWA and has published twelve novels across three genres. Her work has appeared in..." This bio is trying to prove the author is legitimate. It reads like a LinkedIn summary, and it does nothing to make a reader feel anything about the person who wrote the book they're deciding whether to buy. The second is the apology bio. Self-deprecating, hedging, minimizing. "I just write for fun and I'm still figuring this whole author thing out, but I hope you enjoy it!" This bio is trying to seem humble and relatable. Instead it quietly tells the reader not to expect much, right before asking them to spend money finding out. Neither bio is doing what a bio is actually supposed to do. What a Bio Is Actually For A bio has exactly three jobs, and none of them is "list your accomplishments." Build trust. The reader is deciding whether to hand you hours of their time and the price of a book. They want a reason to believe you can deliver the experience the cover and blurb promised. Signal genre fit. A reader in your genre wants a fast, unconscious confirmation that you're one of them, someone who understands the genre from the inside, not an outsider dabbling in it. Create warmth. Readers who like an author's bio are more likely to follow that author, join their newsletter, and buy the next book. A bio that feels like a real person is doing marketing work a spec sheet never will.

I've been working on Both BookWeaver's this week making needed changes and the Attached is a How to Ebook from a youtube video as a source. I have done no editing and only scanned it. The information is good and much it contains has already been discussed here. There are at least two chapters I will be completely rewriting as they are not very author friendly, but overall pretty good for a completely automated Non Fiction How to Guide. I have purchase and read much worse. Let me know what you think. All told I spent less than 30 minutes of my time so far and the cost was less than $5 to create it.