Hey,

I have a love/love relationship with Black Friday. The only bit I don't like is when it ends! The rest of the year is spent dealing with cold turkey, in one of the universe's enduring jokes.

In those sad times bereft of deals I busy myself by making lists - things I want and need for myself or my business... and then I swoop on Black Friday like some kind of bargain hungry pterodactyl.

"How do you cram so many deals into one newsletter?" asks anyone who doesn't realise how many deals I cut to ensure that I only bring you the tastiest and most creative morsels from the Deals Smorgasbord.

In that vein, he says, tapping the mic and eyeing the restless crowd, I have ten killer deals for you today, to help you avoid the dreaded Crevice of False Bargains.

Your trusty Deals Sherpa has brought you a selection of enticing offers covering the key building blocks of your publishing business: cheap fonts and sexy keyboards and half-price book covers and… oh, you’ll see.

I make no apology for extended gushing over various keyboards.

In the interest of transparency - and, like, ethics or whatever - some of these deals are affiliate links. That means I get a small cut if you buy something and bupkis if you don't. But most are not – just recommendations of things I use, and think you might find value in. It doesn't affect what you pay - indeed in some cases the discount codes will make your purchase even cheaper.

Anywho, those affiliate links are marked with (aff) so you can decide that for yourself. Please use this power wisely.

Keyboards For Your Hands

If you have zero interest in great deals on some of the best keyboards in the world, then skip to the next section – but perhaps ask yourself this first: “Why do you hate your hands?”

I have to be physically restrained from adding to my collection whenever a new keyboard comes out. But I wasn’t born this way.

I used to work on… whatever was handy. Years spent as a hotdesking temp had trained me to use whatever was available and not to be fussy. And the peripatetic lifestyle at the beginning of my writing career meant whatever was handy was usually a built-in laptop keyboard.

With the hours I was clocking in the word mines, that setup was asking for trouble. And trouble duly arrived: I developed pains in my hands and even worse issues with my shoulder and back – the perfect storm of poor posture, bad ergonomics, and substandard tools.

If you are supposed to be a professional writer, this really isn’t good enough (this is a more polite version of what my doctor said to me).

The solution was one I hope you are familiar with: raising my screen to eye level, learning how to sit in a chair like an adult (boo!), and using a proper keyboard – which doesn’t have to be expensive, you just need to take a little care when selecting the right one because a lot of the big-name brands are subpar, quite frankly.

I have since become a keyboard obsessive and have several in my office now. My workhorse is the Das Keyboard 2 – which has enough heft to take down a home intruder. Perfect for marathon writing sessions, or penning angry missives, it can really take a pounding. Like the rest of the Das Keyboard range, this model is a high-profile, German-built, wired, full-size mechanical keyboard, with lovely clicky clacky keys and a volume dial on the side which is my favorite thing – why doesn’t every keyboard have one of these?

My alternate is the Nuphy Air60 air which is very different: small, low-profile, wireless – perfect for travel. It has an aluminum chassis so it’s still quite sturdy even though it is very light indeed. It pairs quickly and easily with any device over wifi or bluetooth, so no faff or frustrations when on the move, I can happily report. And it’s pretty – which never hurts.

I’m comfortable recommending anything from Das Keyboard or Nuphy range and both are running great Black Friday sales across their range.

If you specifically want that small, light, mobile, low-profile keyboard, the Nuphy Air60 retails for $99.95 but if you use the code BF20 at checkout you will get a tasty 20% off. You can also sign up to their mailing list for another $10 reduction, meaning you can pick up my favorite mobile keyboard for less than $70 – which is a cracking price for a high-quality, wireless, mechanical keyboard. Those keys are hotswappable too if you have a taste for customization.

​Get the Nuphy Air60 here. (Aff link, discount code: BF20)

The Air60 is my preferred choice from Nuphy – if I’m going for a light/mobile keyboard, I want the smallest layout that doesn’t result in a cramped typing experience.

But if you can’t live without a numpad, or want dedicated function keys, or feel more comfortable with a keyboard sitting higher on your desk over this kind of low-rise, low-profile model, then Nuphy has a range of options here which are all highly regarded, depending on your personal peccadilloes.

Note: there is a V2 of the Nuphy Air60 which launched very recently, and only costs $10 more but – as far as I can tell – the only new feature of note is the ability to reprogram your keys, so if that’s not of interest, I don’t really see the point in going for it over the original. It does have some more options for switches and keycaps and things like that if you are a keyboard obsessive though. (Yes, I thought about it…)

If you want even more options again, there are a whole range of Keychron deals on Amazon this weekend. I can’t relate any personal experience with Keychron keyboards but after watching seven thousand YouTube videos I can say they are highly regarded, and the next keyboard I buy will probably be a Keychron. (I’m eyeing the V3, if you’re curious).

As always, you need to watch out for imitators on Amazon, but after sidestepping those you have a whole bunch of Keychron options – mostly in the sub-$100 range – depending on whether you want high/low profile, compact layout or full keyboard, wired or wireless and so on.

Another in the sub-$100 range is one retro gaming fans might fall in love with: the NES-inspired 8Bitdo Retro Mechanical Keyboard, which comes with a big red button. (Why doesn’t every keyboard come with a big red button?)

However, the Das Keyboard I spoke about up top is my recommendation if you have a little more to spend, and your primary focus is on hitting deadlines… and home intruders.

My Das Keyboard 2 is still in great condition after 5 years of hammering away but if I was replacing it today I’d grab the latest model – the Das Keyboard 6 Professional – which retails at $199 but is worth every penny in my opinion. I think that dial is reprogrammable too which I find strangely exciting. Plus, you can get 20% off this weekend with the code DASBFCM.

That might sound like a lot of money for a keyboard, but trust me, you will feel the quality (and the heft!) when it’s delivered. It’s like going from a push-bike to a tank.

There are a range of options on the DasKeyboard site, just make sure you get one of the models with a volume dial – you won’t know how you lived without it. There are US and Euro versions of their site – just make sure you’re on the right one or it will tell you they can’t deliver to your location.

Finally, in kinda-keyboard news, Remarkable has a variety of bundles, including the Keyboard Folio I was raving about, for $60 off today. It’s still expensive, but if you were waiting for a deal… here ya go.

Warning: This Deals Email May Contain Email Deals

You know how important email is to your marketing operation. You probably already know which provider you like, and what you pay (and how much less you would prefer to pay!).

I'm not going to try and convince you today to go with this company or that one. What I will say is that the two email marketing services I use and recommend - ConvertKit and MailerLite - both have significant savings today if you are tempted to change provider, switch to an annual plan, or upgrade your plan.

They won't simply reward you if you keep on truckin' – alas.

MailerLite

Apologies for dropping the wrong MailerLite link last week. This is the correct one:

Check out M​ailerLite’s Black Friday Deal Page (aff link)

MailerLite deals include 90% off new monthly plans which start at $1 a month, 33% off advanced plans which start at $2 a month, and discounts for switching from monthly to annual – although please note these deals only apply to the New platform, not the Classic.

These deals run until December 7 – in case you want to engage in some pondering.

ConvertKit

The other email marketing service I use and recommend is ConvertKit – which powers this here newsletter.

ConvertKit is a more premium service with a more premium price – but the extra features might be of interest to non-fictioneers, authors who sell courses, digital products, or who have expanded into direct sales, or indeed anyone with more complex authomation needs or advanced email marketing requirements. For example, non-fiction peeps might be interested to know integrates much more neatly with my course platform Thinkific – and there’s a deal on that below too).

Anyway, the headline deal here is a chunky 30% off the yearly Creator plan (aff link, up to 10k subscribers).

These deals won’t appeal to as wide a range of authors as MailerLite but for those weighing both options, take note that it ends earlier: November 28.

Lowkey Marketing Mayhem

No hard sell needed - these marketing deals sell themselves. As in, they are either relevant to how you run your business and you will want them, or they aren’t and you won’t - no sweat.

Set Sail Studios

Design nerds: this is my favourite place to buy fonts. Did you see me use a cool font that you can't find in Canva or Google or the other usual places? There's a 90% chance that Set Sail Studios made it.

Anyway, the fonts are good, and today they are half price. They also have further discounts if you sign up to their list, and a bunch of freebies too.

Publisher Rocket

Okay, so this isn't a deal as such - in that you are not getting a discount off the sticker price of $97 (I have never seen a discount on this BTW). But you do get a Black Friday-exclusive freebie thrown in this weekend – a course on Mastering Keywords and Categories, which is normally priced at $49.

Grab PublisherRocket for $97 and your free course here (aff link).

It's a super handy tool if you want help choosing categories and keywords for Amazon, or just learning more about what customers actually search for (my favorite use).

I'd give that a bit more welly for non-fiction authors too: it really changed the way I title (and subtitle) my books. Knowing what terms people actually use when they search on Amazon is super interesting to me.

GoOnWrite.com

€25 pre-made covers from the most popular vendor of pre-made covers in Indieland. Need I say more? Well, I probably should say that's around $27, and save you some Googling.

Thinkific

OK so this is just for non-fiction peeps or anyone who might fancy having their very own course but the platform I use and love - Thinkific - is doing 50%+ off today which is big enough to make it worth mentioning, even if it's only relevant for a handful of you, because these platforms can be pricey.

There are a few decent options these days, but I specifically chose Thinkific as it was a little more flexible than others when it comes to doing things like a free course, which was really great for boosting my mailing list. It also integrates neatly with ConvertKit, which is handy.

So if you were planning your own course... check it out; these are some big savings. (The second plan on that page might be of most interest.)

DepositPhotos

I love this deal so much I want to have its babies - and it appears I've done just that because it regularly appears at my door, looking for a re-up.

This deal comes around twice a year, is what I'm saying, and creates what you can only describe as a frisson of excitement in the author community when it releases.

If you use stock photos in your marketing efforts than you have already stopped reading this email and you are over at AppSumo grabbing this deal:

​100 DepositPhoto credits for $39 at AppSumo.

(Aff link – please note that you might still be able to get a further 10% off this deal if you sign up to AppSumo’s mailing list.)

If you don't use stock photos to sell more books… then I guess you can ignore this one. Or maybe read my adventures building a brand-new brand identity in two hours and consider falling in love with the idea.

I had some authors emailing asking about the license for DepositPhoto pics – primarily whether you can use them in things like book covers. It’s a fair concern as many stock photo sites have the most laborious and fiddly restrictions you can imagine.

But one of the reasons I recommend DepositPhotos over alternatives is that the Standard License is extremely wide-ranging and you will basically only have to spring for an Extended License if you sell more than 500,000 print copies of your book. I think that’s officially a First World Problem – but you can read more about the license on the AppSumo sales page linked above, should you wish, where you can also note that these credits never expire, and you can stack as many as you like.

That’s all he wrote! I’m off to continue packing because we finally make The Big Move on Monday. Eek!

Dave

P.S. Music this week is Canned Heat with On The Road Again.