A new creative journey awaits 🎨

Oh and I'm going live on YouTube shortly  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Hey, I have a bunch of fun things today including: the return of the most popular deal I've ever shared, and a livestream with me starting in less then - checks watch - THREE HOURS (surprise!). That livestream will give you an opportunity to ask your questions on book marketing and I'll kick things off with some interesting announcements, he says cryptically. Fun things. New things! First, the most popular deal around: 100 DepositPhotos credits for $39. ​ That's an affiliate link – meaning that I make a small commission if you decide to purchase, which helps subsidize all the free things I build for writers. It doesn't affect the price you pay – indeed, this is the historically lowest price. And as you will read in a moment, I'm recommending this deal not just because I'm an affiliate and it's very cheap, but because I grab it myself all the time – and this has led me down some very interesting creative paths, which I'll share mroe about in a moment. For all of you who know about this deal – which runs twice a year and usually gets totally swamped – all you need is the purchase link above. In fact, you're probably gone already because you know this is the best deal around, especially at that price. (Just remember to come back!) If you have no interest whatsoever in stock photos, author branding, ordesigning your own website graphics and Facebook ads, then skip below to read about today's livestream. But for anyone who is interested in those topics, let me make the case. This is 100 stock photo credits at DepositPhotos – which has a selection of 195 million photos and vector graphics which you can easily browse – for just $39, which saves you a whopping 92% off the sticker price of $500. The good news doesn't end there either: The AppSumo guarantee means you can get a refund within 60-days if you change your mind. Credits last forever – you can stock up while they are cheap and use at your own speed. You can stack as many credits as you like. Woo! All photos and graphics are cleared for standard commercial use – something that's not always the case with other stock photo sites, and is certainly questionable about AI-generated images. And what will you do with all these stock photos? Let me share my own personal experience. I've been getting this deal myself since 2017 and I have endless uses for stock photos now, from putting together a design brief for my cover designer (or even designing my own reader magnet covers!), to things like merch, website graphics, landing pages, blog posts, social media posts, dank memes, and so on. The list is endless. One of my favorite uses for stock photos is making up a "vision board" for whatever book I'm working on, so I can get into the right mindset for my writing session. It's infinitely better than random images from the internet because then I can spin that out into blog posts or covers or newsletter pictures or ad images or whatever – starting from the same vision board which helped me write that book. Using stock photos is way better than using random online images for many of those things, especially anything public. You wouldn't be the first indie to get sued for thousands of dollars for inadvertently using the wrong image in something as innocuous, and borderline commercial, as a simple blog post. Yeah, that happened. Sure, there are some royalty-free sites out there – but the quality is pretty mixed and the selection much more limited. You'll spend a lot of time wading through sub-par images and will still have that worry lurking in the back of your mind that the photo you choose hasn't been cleared for the use you need. Not to belabor the point, but you also wouldn't be the first indie forced to change a bestselling cover because of a rights entanglement that wasn't your fault – such a pain after you have found something readers really respond to. These are the kinds of considerations which encouraged me to first jump on this deal – and it did tick those boxes. And then some. Because I had plonked down the money, I felt compelled to use the credits. That drove me to download Canva – which set me off on a parallel creative journey to my writing career. I'll be talking about this a little in the livestream later, and showing you some of the things I have been up to, but that first step, buying those stock photos – as dumb as that sounds – got me into all sorts of creative and artistic endeavors. All of this feeds back into my author business too, of course, making my operation look much more professional. It has made me some money too, but the biggest benefit is less tangible and more personal. Honestly, it has been so creatively satisfying – I can't even explain it. I think I like graphic design so much because I can start a project and finish it that day (and feel great about it). Which is the opposite of how a book often goes 😅😅😅 There's just something so satisfying about sending out a newsletter with a graphic I designed, or making money from a Facebook Ad which I put together myself, or designing merch for readers from start to finish all on my own – and then using that to sell more books. It all feels part of the same creative whole to me and I love doing everything in house. Anyway, that's me – maybe it's not you. But if you do have a similar itch, if you think there's something there you could potentially explore… my advice is to pull that thread and see where it leads. ​Get 100 DepositPhotos credits for $39 before AppSumo runs out (they always do – you have been warned!). OK! Before I give you all the private, exclusive, subscriber-only info about the livestream starting in less than THREE HOURS, here's a quick word from this month's sponsor – which happens to be another company I personally use all the time myself, and who has a creator conference coming in June. In partnership with Craft + Commerce​ ConvertKit's Craft + Commerce conference is happening June 8-10 in Boise, ID – and tickets are going fast ​ This three-day event is designed to help you connect with fellow creators, learn from experts, and discover tools and strategies to grow your business. Craft + Commerce includes inspiring keynotes, workshops, meetups, live ConvertKit support, and social events. This is the perfect opportunity to gain valuable insights, network with your peers, and have a blast doing it. Right now, you can take $50 off your Craft + Commerce ticket. Want to bring a friend? You'll save even more! ​Register Now​ OMG Livestream in 3 Hours!!! So yes I'm totally doing a Livestream in 3 hours. Sorry for the short notice – I didn't get much myself! Don't worry if you can't make it live, the replay will be available on the same link so you can catch up later. This is a private livestream – technically an unlisted stream, so you can still comment and participate, but it is Decoders-only. You guys, I mean. You don't need to be a YouTube subscriber or even have a YouTube or Google account to watch this stream. All you need is this link: ​I Demand Answers – Episode Zero – join me on YouTube today at 5pm GMT/12pm Eastern. ​ You might remember me talking about #IDemandAnswers before – if not, don't worry, just come along and we'll get into it. Bring your questions on anything to do with book marketing. I will be doing more streams soon, and you'll get lots more notice in the future. You can also invite your author friends if you like, just please don't post the link publicly - I'm keeping this one more private. The reason for that is so you guys get first dibs on answered questions, but also so I can do some technical tests with my fancy new gear in a more forgiving environment, and make some fun announcements in that more exclusive setting – and get feedback from you guys on all of that. Come along! I'll probably crack a beer… and say something I shouldn't. Share This Post While I go powder my nose, please feel free to share this Facebook post about the DepositPhotos deal. Shares help more than you know. In fact, this is something I'll be talking about in the livestream too – and how I'm going to be able to start rewarding you guys for all this sharing, in a super fun way… very soon. With exclusive downloadable content and real-world merch which I've designed myself. Oh yes. Something I couldn't imagine saying 6 years ago before I started this creative journey – just to close the circle in a satisfying manner, which will please anyone who is a little bit OCD, just like me. Dave P.S. Writing music this week is Love with Alone Again Or. Broomfield Business Park, Malahide, Co. Dublin K36 AT04 ​Unsubscribe | Update your profile​