Author: Richard French

Richard French is a retired C-suite technology executive turned author, writing across genres from business leadership to fantasy fiction. His unique background combines 20+ years of corporate leadership with competitive GT racing.

Non-Fiction Comps: Get the Lane Right Before the Level

Stacks of leather-bound books on a wooden desk beside an open notebook and a gold desk accessory in a sunlit room, creating a scholar's workspace.

What happens when a devotional study gets shelved next to scholarly commentary? Readers expect Greek parsing and footnotes, get warm prose instead—and one-star reviews follow. The real culprit isn’t quality. It’s a lane problem hiding as a level one.

Fiction Comps: Get the Audience Right Before the Theme

Stacks of pastel-colored books on a desk with a gold magnifying glass and pen in the foreground, warm lamp in the background.

What’s the most expensive comp-title mistake a writer can make? It isn’t choosing a book that’s too famous—it’s choosing one written for an entirely different reader. Miscategorized audience follows a manuscript for years. Here’s why audience must come before theme, every single time.

Everything You Owe Before You Publish a Book

Desk cluttered with blank envelopes and papers, a laptop showing orange flames on the screen, and a brown notebook.

A finished manuscript is only half a book. Waiting behind it are roughly forty small written artefacts nobody warns you about—until a retailer upload form demands one at a time. What happens when you’re not ready to hand any of them over first?

Your Book Subtitle Is Probably Doing No Work

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Is your book subtitle silently sabotaging sales? One real listing reveals the sneaky trap every author falls into—and why you’re the last person who can spot it in your own work. Here’s what a subtitle actually needs to do—and why ‘Awakening’ isn’t.

BISAC and Thema Codes: Two Systems, One Shelf

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Your book could be flawlessly written and perfectly priced—yet still vanish on shelves readers never browse. Why? Three rival classification systems, BISAC, Thema, and Amazon’s own tree, quietly decide where your title lives, and they rarely agree.

Now Available: The Matthew Collection

Two paperbacks lying on a white surface: Expository Thoughts on Matthew by J.C. Ryle and The Gospel of Matthew: A 28-Week Study Workbook by Richard French, both with cream covers and navy title bands.

Indie Pen Press has released two companion titles on the Gospel of Matthew. Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Matthew (Annotated) is a modernized edition of J.C. Ryle’s 1856 commentary with a new foreword and documented biography. The Gospel of Matthew: A 28-Week Study Workbook is an original guided study for groups, individuals, and families. Both […]

How to Self-Publish with Craft and Intention

Overhead view of wooden desk with vintage typewriter, fountain pens, notebooks, and coffee for self-publishing

Think self-publishing means cutting corners? The most successful indie authors know it’s actually about elevating standards. Discover why intentional self-publishing demands more craft, not less—and how this counterintuitive approach

Why Self-Publishing Doesn’t Mean Settling for Less

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What if self-publishing isn’t the backup plan but the smart choice? Over 50% of indie authors now dominate Kindle’s Top 400, while 2,000+ self-published writers earn six figures. The publishing world has flipped—discover why.