Cheat Sheets

Cheat Sheets

Do you need cheat sheets? Why, of course you do! As an indie author, here are some bite-sized nuggets of information on a wide variety of topics. Just click on any image to get to the actual infographic/sheet!

Let’s Cut to the Chase, Already!

Is everything I have been writing about kind of all too much to keep track of? Just like for pretty much anything else, cheat sheets can help you cut to the chase.

But the images I have created are, perhaps, a bit more like cheat sheets, as opposed to infographics, as I do not really use them for the purpose of getting across graphical information (e. g. a set of bar charts), not even the Facebook cheat sheet.

Hence this is a way of communicating concepts about social media for independent authors.

I conducted a survey of NaNoWriMo writers. And I found they needed less help in setting up a network such as Facebook or X (Twitter).

Instead, they were far more interested in what to do once everything was set up. My adviser at Quinnipiac, and even my scholastic peers all suggested the same thing: make some cheat sheets.

Plus these images are all free for you to use and share. All I ask is for you to keep my identifying information on them. But otherwise, if you want to print or tweet or share any or all of them, then have at it. However, I do not recommend a tattoo!

Don’t ask how I know this. 😉

Plus if there is a topic I have not yet covered, stay tuned, or please feel free to ask for it. Because I am more than happy to add more subjects as time permits.

Social media is everywhere, and it keeps changing. So let’s keep up together.

In the meantime, I hope these help you, the independent author.

Blogging Cheat Sheets

The cornerstone of your social media presence should generally be a blog. You are a writer. Hence blogging should come naturally.

But it is a rather different style from, say, essay writing in school. Still, one thing about blogging holds true—you get better the more you do it.

Copyright

It’s so easy to be tripped up by copyright considerations, So here’s some help.

Trust me when I tell you that you do not want to be on the receiving end of a lawsuit, particularly when the plaintiff is a large corporation.

As in Disney.

Don’t mess with the Mouse.

Covers

Since covers are important (yes, we all judge books by them!), here is some basic help. In a lot of ways, your cover can make or break your book’s success.

If you have a limited budget, spend it on two things: covers and editing.

Facebook Cheat Sheets

If you are not on Facebook, then you are missing out. Over two billion people use it every single day. Yes, folks, that is a billion, with a B.

Facebook has been winning at social media for several years now. Quite simply, nearly everyone is on it. Even the cool kids who try to tell you that they are not.

They are absolutely there. At the absolute, barest minimum, they are there for schoolwork and to chat with the older generation.

X (Twitter)

X can feel alien to a lot of people. So here are some basics.

As it changes under Musk’s tenure, a lot of the fundamentals remain the same as when we still called it Twitter. And don’t forget rivals like Bluesky. The advice here can work there as well.

Polishing Your Work

If you think you can just publish unedited work, think again. Here are some tips on how to polish that prose.

Oh, and if it is at all possible, try to get other people to read your work before you fling it out to the universe. Some typos can be devilishly tenacious.

The more people who check your work, the better. Usually.

Promotions

You see, it’s not enough to just publish. You need to get people to download and buy.

Because, like it or not—and even if you simply give away every single piece of prose that you write—you are now a small business owners.

So, congratulations?

YouTube

YouTube had been the perfect medium for readings, critiques, and interviews. But the God’s honest truth is that TikTok is eating YouTube’s lunch. At least, when it comes to short reels.

It does not hurt that folks can cross-post their TikTok videos as Facebook reels.

Shorter, more bite-sized videos are ideal in our busy, hurry-up world.

Cheat Sheets, Infographics, and Takeaways

You tell me. What did I miss? What do you need to see more of? And what’s confusing? Please let me know in the comments.