I help authors build their brands and grow their online presence through clear offers, stunning websites, and effective LinkedIn management.

You’re struggling to get your book and profile noticed.
Selling and promoting yourself feels overwhelming, and you have too many things to focus on.

Most authors, speakers, and experts hit the same wall: They write the book but don’t know how to turn it into real opportunities.
Without the right strategy, your message gets lost in the noise.

If you're facing:

A lack of visibility and struggling to reach your audience

Uncertainty about how to market yourself effectively

Difficulty turning your book into speaking or consulting work

You’re not alone. And you don’t have to figure it out alone either.

I Offer Two Author Marketing Packages
Built to help you grow your audience, build authority, and turn your book into a lead magnet, not a dead end.

Marketing Power Pack PRO
A proven system to clarify your offer, upgrade your brand, and turn your book into a business.

What’s Included:

#7 Newsletter Strategy – Start and grow an audience through consistent email marketing.
#8 Content Strategy – Regular guidance on content themes, hooks, and publishing rhythm.
#9 YouTube Brand Building – Develop a presence on YouTube with strategic content, optimization, and positioning.
#10 LinkedIn Content & Profile Management – We fully manage your profile, post content, and grow your reach.
#11 Website Management – We keep your site updated, optimized, and aligned with your goals.
#12 Lead Capture + Email Automation – Build funnels that attract, engage, and convert.

Proven Success
I've helped over 150 authors transform their brands, land paid speaking gigs, grow consulting income, and finally turn their books into assets. My process is shaped by lessons learned working with names like Tucker Max, Charlie Hoehn, and Miles Rote. It’s built to get you seen, booked, and paid.

How to Get Started
We begin with a conversation. No pressure. Just clarity. Message me. Let’s talk.

https://www.rising-authors.com

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Hussein Al-Baiaty — Founder of Rising Authors, a platform that helps nonfiction authors build their brand, websites, and media systems.

Hussein Al-Baiaty

𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆-𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀

I’m a professional book designer helping experts, memoirists, and indie authors turn their manuscripts into credible, well-crafted non-fiction books that support their authority and positioning.

With over 20 years in print, design, and book production (and a lifetime of loving books), I bring commercial printing discipline and thoughtful design to the self-publishing world — from cover design to interior layout and typesetting.

I’ve always been drawn to how words and visuals work together to transport, educate, and connect us. A well-designed book doesn’t just look good — it earns trust, invites reading, and reflects the seriousness of the author behind it.

It’s not just about design for me. It’s about empowering independent authors because I know firsthand how daunting the self-publishing journey can feel.

That’s why I strive to be more than a designer — I’m your partner.

I walk alongside you, combining technical expertise and creative vision to ensure your book not only reflects your hard work but also resonates with readers and positions you professionally in your field.

⸻

𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗜 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵

Business & Thought-Leadership Authors
You’ve written to inspire and educate. Let’s create a book design that strengthens your authority and impact.

Memoirists
Your personal story matters. I’ll help frame it with a design that honours your journey and invites readers in.

Family & Company Historians
Whether personal or institutional, preserving history in book form deserves care. I help create legacy books that preserve your family or company history with clarity and respect.

⸻

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗜 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽

From the first pencil sketch to the final proof, I guide you through the book design and production process with clarity and calm.

⸻

𝗠𝘆 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀

Custom Book Cover Design
Professional covers that capture the heart and positioning of your book.

Interior Layout & Typesetting
Clean, readable interiors that elevate the reading experience and meet publishing standards.

Marketing Materials
Bookmarks and launch graphics that help your book get noticed.

⸻

Every author deserves to feel proud of their book.

That’s why I take care in delivering designs that reflect your story and turn your manuscript into a professional publishing experience.

Ready to bring your vision to life?
DM me to schedule your Author Chat, and let’s create a book your readers will trust and love.

⸻

Toni Serofin

A funny thing happened while I was adding connections on LinkedIn.


I started to care about the people. 

These are seven who make it impossible to stay away from LinkedIn. There are many more.

Self-proclaimed “Disney Adult,” Jonathan Jordan is the proud dad of two adopted boys. Every Olympic year, I wait for his posts about the Games. I also appreciate his stories about being a parent and his poignant posts about living with mental health challenges.

American ex-pat Jordan Ring and his wife live in Portugal. He wears “toe shoes” in public and doesn’t care what you think about that. He’s also unconcerned about being a sleep-deprived dad to twin daughters. (I have questions.)

The embodiment of purpose is Hussein Al-Baiaty, a refugee turned entrepreneur whose content is an exercise in giving back. He has an ease about himself (I’m sure his clients would agree) that I find very reassuring as a regular consumer of his content.

My “geographically suitable” pal, Anna Ludwinowski, is a former equestrian show jumper devoted to helping her clients when she’s not wrangling two dogs and her backyard chickens — two of whom are named Bert and Ernie.

Insightful writer, marketer, and book launch expert, Dianne Volek is a Parkrun (look it up) devotee who volunteers with cats at the BC SPCA. I think Dianne studies felines to understand humans because her observations are always spot on. We have plenty to gab about in our real life visits. Good luck following the conversation if you should happen by.

Cancer survivor Yvonne DiVita integrated her joy of being an author and book coach into her treatment plan (between naps) because work is what makes this woman happy. She is a force — I’d want Yvonne in my corner if I were a writer.

James Gibbons wears bow-ties and cool hats and writes his memoir when he’s not writing convincing ad copy for his clients. He’s the kind of person I always wanted to be around in my 20s and now I am — 50 years later.

These are a few of my LinkedIn connections. It doesn't feel right to call them that. 

I call them friends.

📚 I’m Toni. I design books for people worth knowing.

Helping Experts Publish Authority-Building Books | Professional Book Covers & Interiors | 20 Years in Print & Design

First-time authors are overwhelmed and tired. 


Tired of online searches for “how much does book design cost” that yield sponsored links to websites that don’t quote starting prices. 

Tired of asking for advice in Facebook author groups and being told, “Do it yourself, it’s easy.” 

Tired of not knowing what questions to ask — and not knowing if the designer they found understands book design and production, or is trying to cash in on the self-publishing boom.

When an author books a call with me, I know they want someone to make their self-publishing experience easier.

Here’s what I listen for because it usually tells me where the project is headed:

“I just need a simple layout” prompts me to ask questions to understand what they think they need versus what they really need. Price is a reasonable concern. But cost and scope have to be figured out together. 

When the launch date is firm, but the manuscript isn’t finished, I know the timeline will compress the work. I’ve passed on projects where the schedule made quality impossible. It’s not a decision I make lightly — but a rushed book doesn’t serve anyone.

When an author sends me cover examples that seem to have nothing in common, I don’t see a problem — I see a starting point. I ask what they like about each one. I look at the colours, the typefaces, the feeling. Then I read the manuscript summary and look for a theme to build on. The visual direction usually reveals itself in my process.

None of these are red flags. For me, they’re where the work begins.

Budget matters, and it always will. But the authors who end up happiest aren’t necessarily the ones who spend the most. They’re the ones who were upfront about their budget and asked the right questions to find a designer whose process made self-publishing feel less overwhelming.


📚 I’m Toni. I help niche indie authors design books through calm, considered collaboration.

The pitch slap is alive and well.


You know the move. A connection request or a message arrives from a stranger with zero context and an ask — usually dressed up as a “collaboration opportunity.”

I’ve been on LinkedIn long enough to know what’s really happening. 
Someone wants access to my clients. The authors I’ve worked with, the editors and book coaches who trust me enough to send their people my way. 

I’ve spent years earning a place in the networks of people who trust me enough to send their clients my way. That trust isn’t something I take lightly — or will trade away for a finder’s fee.

I have referral relationships with publishers and other book professionals that I respect. Those relationships didn’t start with a pitch. They started with a conversation. Sometimes several and over months.

If you’re in the book publishing space and think there might be something worth exploring between us — I’d love to hear from you. 

Read a few of my posts. See if what I do resonates.
Then say hello like you mean it.


📚 I’m Toni. I help niche indie authors design books through calm, considered collaboration.

Book sales won’t make you rich…


The indie authors I work with know this going in. They’re memoirists and thought-leadership authors whose books exist because someone experienced something worth sharing.

Their book was never meant to pay for itself through sales. It’s meant to do other things.

It lends authority. It opens doors to speaking engagements. It creates networking opportunities that wouldn’t exist without it. For business authors especially, a well-designed book can be the thing that lands the coaching client, the keynote, or the consulting contract. Most authors understand this when they decide to publish.

What I didn’t know until recently was that there’s a layer beneath all of that — a specific kind of infrastructure that can be built around a book to make those doors open systematically, not just occasionally.

Last month, I had an informative call with James Ranson, who ghostwrites educational email courses for self-published business authors. 

His clients are coaches and consultants who’ve already published and want their book to generate clients, not just compliments. 

James builds a sequence of emails drawn from a book’s content that teaches something valuable and moves readers toward booking a discovery call.

I’d never encountered anyone doing exactly this. It’s a niche I didn’t know existed until we spoke.

If you’re wondering what comes after the book, James is worth talking to.

If you’re still working on getting the book design done — that’s where I come in.

📚 I’m Toni. I help niche indie authors design books through calm, considered collaboration.


📸 Laughing it up at a distillery tour. (I was there for the Negronis.)

Last week, I read a post declaring unequivocally that the person had no interest in connecting with people who use GenAI.

After I stopped taking it personally, it gave me pause.

My clients are authors. It’s safe to say that many of them are experimenting with AI — outlining, brainstorming titles, testing structure, refining language. Some are using it to sketch out marketing plans and research promotion ideas. Like me, most are still figuring it out.

I’ve been in graphic design long enough to remember when desktop publishing was declared the end of “real design.”

Printers trained on offset equipment sounded the alarm that print-on-demand would destroy quality. Indeed, quality wasn’t great for a few years until the technology improved. Now, most people can’t spot the difference between the two.

At the company where I spent decades, we approached new technology with curiosity and learned to adapt. I chose to keep learning, and I’m still learning. (Ask me about my futile attempts to master Photoshop beyond the basic techniques.)

Back in the day, a colleague who declined to train on the new digital plate-making equipment eventually rendered himself obsolete. As it turned out, keeping your job depended less on your opinion of the technology than on your willingness to learn it.

Using AI has forced me to think differently. Using it as a collaboration tool has made me a better writer. I’ve become more fluent in the tells, and I reword my content until it sounds like me — because it is me. 

I’ve never used a tool that made me more accountable for my own thinking.

When I hear that someone in the book publishing space wants to disconnect from everyone who uses AI, I worry for them. I worry they’ll lose proximity to decision-makers, authors, publishers, and collaborators who are already deep into using AI. I worry about their livelihood.

Listen, you don’t have to love every new technology. I certainly don’t. But pretending AI isn’t part of the ecosystem we all operate in won’t make it disappear.

I care about creativity and original thinking. Whether an author brainstorms with a pen and paper or a large language model doesn’t matter to me. What matters is whether someone brings integrity and sound judgment to their work.

AI isn’t going away.


📚 I’m Toni. I help niche indie authors design books through calm, considered collaboration.

Our small coastal town has a few characters.
And they're not all old sailors named Rudy (nothing against Rudys).

This morning I watched “Crow Girl” escorted through the community centre parking lot by corvids. They flew above and beside her as she loped along, holding what looked like a small tin of cat food.

I’ve seen the young lady before. She looks to be in high school, so I assumed she was on her way to classes three blocks away.

I watched in delight as she tossed food aloft and waved instructions for the birds to fly ahead for more.

Crows are remarkably intelligent, and I have no doubt Crow Girl is part of their mob. Crows are also known for loyalty within their family units. It’s obvious they have formed a bond with this interesting human.

I delighted in seeing a teen who behaves unlike anyone else in town. She wasn’t performing for an audience. She was doing something she loves, for the creatures who showed up when she did.

The professionals in my network who send clients my way don’t do it because I pitch them. They do it because I’ve shown up consistently and genuinely, over time. I’ve learned what they care about, refer people when I can, and never treat their trust as a transaction.

None of this happens by accident. You show up, you pay attention, and sometimes you reach out first.


📚 I’m Toni. Let’s get to know each other.


📸 How could I NOT use a classic Moria Rose GIF for this post?

Authors trust me…
Even about things not in my wheelhouse. 

One of them reached out last week for direction about finding a literary agent.

Finding an agent is harder than it sounds — especially in the “body-mind-spirit” niche where the pool is small and the submission process varies by agent and agency.

So I put the question to my LinkedIn network and you came through with a solid list of resources. 

I learned that a strong query letter matters more than most authors realize. And that the size of the audience an author has already built is the first thing an agent wants to know.

I gathered everything up and sent it to the author. And then I pointed her to my LinkedIn connections with an invitation to “poke around.” I do count agents among my connections — I just don’t know if they’re the right ones for this second-time author.

If you know a literary agent who represents body-mind-spirit books, or have advice for an author navigating this process for the first time — please DM me and I’ll pass it along.

When you’re connected to a generous network and someone needs a hand, this is what you do. 

Ask and you shall receive. That’s LinkedIn at its best.


📚 I’m Toni. I help niche indie authors design books through calm, considered collaboration.

You’re proud of your newsletter. 
I get it—I love good writing too. 

But every time you post a Substack link with no context, it feels like a trap door.

I’m here for a reason so if your post’s main goal is to make me leave LinkedIn, I probably won’t.

Give me a taste, a takeaway, a reason to engage here first—and then, maybe.


Who else here ignores Substack links unless you’re tempted with a real takeaway first?

You know when you’re driving at night and are blinded by oncoming traffic?


Scary, right?

In Ontario, a woman was involved in a crash after being blinded by headlights from an SUV. To avoid what she thought was going to be a head-on, she swerved onto the shoulder which caused her to crash into a large rock!

The driver of the SUV drove on without knowing what had they had just caused. This is only one example of the problem of too-bright headlights on modern vehicles.

North American headlight brightness has doubled in a decade. Despite widespread driver complaints, regulatory loopholes have “allowed manufacturers to increase brightness because of outdated federal standards.”

Sure, we all want to feel safe when driving at night — but it shouldn’t be at the risk of causing harm to others.

Transport Canada has issued a survey to gather information about Canadian drivers’ experiences with bright headlights. (link in the comments)

I’m hopeful this is the first real step in making driving safer for everyone.

If you were the author of a body-mind-spirit book, how would you find a literary agent?


Asking for a friend. 

Please DM me.

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taplio

The Battle

Hussein Al-Baiaty

Toni Serofin

Followers

Posts

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Performance ScoreToni Serofin's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Hussein Al-Baiaty

Toni Serofin

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Toni Serofin's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreToni Serofin's LinkedIn Performance