Thomas Umstattd Jr.

Jami Albright and Sara Rosett had me on the Wish I’d Known Then podcast. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the rapid changes in the publishing world especially regarding Artificial Intelligence you are not alone. In a recent episode of the Wish I'd Known Then podcast, we talked about everything from the importance of physical health to the specific AI tools that can save you hours of work. Here is an episode summary generated by Gemini 3 Pro: The Novel Marketing Conference: A Different Kind of Gathering Thomas kicked things off by discussing his upcoming Novel Marketing Conference, which stands out in a sea of writer events for one specific reason: no recordings. Unlike many conferences where sessions are recorded for later viewing, Thomas designed this event to be fully immersive and interactive. He describes it as “almost more of a workshop than a conference,” where attendees work in small “writer’s groups” and leave with a physical, actionable plan for selling more books in the coming year. The goal is to create a space for honest, unrecorded conversation and deep work, rather than just passive listening. The Foundation of Creativity: Your Health One of the more surprising but vital topics discussed was the role of physical health in an author’s career. Thomas shared his personal journey of prioritizing health, noting that “your body is the machine that your brain lives in”. He pointed out that many authors try to optimize their time but neglect their energy levels. You might carve out an hour to write, but if you are exhausted or brain-fogged, that hour won’t be productive. By treating health as a business asset, authors can improve not just their longevity but the quality of their creative output. Navigating the AI Revolution The centerpiece of the conversation was AI. Thomas offered a refreshing, balanced perspective that avoids both the “doom and gloom” and the “blind hype” often seen online. He noted that people tend to oscillate between thinking AI is “the end of humanity” or that it “creates nothing but slop”. His philosophy is simple: Don’t give AI the work you enjoy; give it the drudgery. A Practical Dictation Workflow For authors looking to speed up their drafting or note-taking, Thomas shared a specific workflow he uses to capture ideas while on the go: Hardware: He uses AirPods, which isolate his voice from background noise. App: He records using an app called “Just Press Record” on his Apple Watch or phone. Processing: He uses a tool called “Chapterize” to transcribe the audio. AI Cleanup: He then feeds that transcript into an AI tool (like ChatGPT or Claude) with a prompt to clean up the grammar and remove “umms” and “ahhs.” This stack allows him to dictate high-quality content while walking or driving, turning “dead time” into productive writing time. The Author Toolbox Thomas has developed a suite of tools specifically for writers, available at AuthorMedia.com. Some of the standout tools mentioned include: Book Cover Analyzer: Helps determine if your cover fits your genre conventions. Design Brief Generator: Creates a professional brief to send to cover designers. Character Namer: Tools that generate culturally and historically accurate names for characters (e.g., Victorian era names). Fact Checkers: Specialized tools for checking historical facts or checking medical facts without getting lost in a Google research rabbit hole. These tools are designed to work within “guardrails,” using pre-written prompts to ensure the AI gives you exactly what you need without requiring you to become a “prompt engineering” expert. Optimizing for the Future of Search A crucial insight Thomas shared is the shift from optimizing for search engines (SEO) to optimizing for AI. In the past, authors focused on getting their websites to rank on Google. Today, readers are increasingly asking tools like ChatGPT for book recommendations. Thomas explained that these AI models “read” the internet, including sites like Goodreads and Amazon. To ensure your book is recommended, you need to provide content that helps the AI understand who your book is for. He suggested adding “Director’s Commentary” or “Behind the Scenes” content to your book pages on your own website. This unique content differentiates your site from Amazon and gives the AI more context to recommend your book to the right readers. The Art of Pruning: Easiness, Joy, and Revenue Finally, the group discussed the challenge of having too much to do. Thomas introduced a framework he used in a mastermind group to decide what tasks to cut. He lists all his activities in a spreadsheet with three columns: Easiness: How easy is this task to do? Joy: How much joy does it bring me? Revenue: How much money does it make? By scoring activities on these metrics, it becomes clear which ones should be “sunsetted” or pruned. Just as the Texas legislature creates agencies with an expiration date (“sunsetting”), authors should regularly review their commitments and kill off the ones that are difficult, joyless, and unprofitable. Conclusion This episode was a reminder that while technology changes, the core needs of an author—health, focus, and connection with readers—remain the same. Whether you are using AI to write blurbs or auditing your schedule to find more joy, the goal is to build a sustainable and fulfilling writing career. For more from Thomas, you can check out the Novel Marketing Podcast or visit AuthorMedia.com to access the tools mentioned in this post.

Alex Strathdee had me on his podcast Before the Bestseller to talk about AI. Here is an AI summary: In the rapidly evolving landscape of book marketing, authors have long been told to master Search Engine Optimization (SEO). But as we move deeper into the age of artificial intelligence, a new, perhaps more critical, strategy has emerged: AI Optimization (AIO), sometimes called Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). In a recent episode of Before the Bestseller, host Alex Strathdee sat down with the legendary Thomas Umstattd Jr.—host of the Novel Marketing Podcast and a self-described “book marketing hero”—to uncover the strategies, struggles, and secrets behind getting AI to recommend your book over the competition. This isn't just about keywords anymore; it's about training the digital brain of the internet to recognize your authority. Here is a deep dive into the insights Thomas shared on how authors can navigate this new frontier. The Rainforest Cafe Lesson: Why AI Recommendations Matter To understand the power—and the quirks—of AI optimization, Thomas shared a telling anecdote from a recent family trip to San Antonio, Texas. When planning the trip, he didn’t turn to Google or Yelp; he asked an AI to build an itinerary for his family, specifically requesting fun activities for children. The AI recommended the Rainforest Cafe on the famous Riverwalk. While the Riverwalk is known for authentic Tex-Mex, the AI prioritized the Rainforest Cafe because it offered “animatronic animals,” fitting the specific prompt for “fun activities for kids”. When Thomas arrived, there was a 40-minute wait, while better, more authentic restaurants nearby were actively soliciting customers. The food at the Rainforest Cafe was, in Thomas's words, “awful,” but the establishment was thriving because it was the kind of place ChatGPT would recommend. The lesson for authors is stark but valuable: The goal isn’t to trick AI into selling a bad product, but to realize that AI recommendations can drive massive traffic. If you want your book to be the one readers find when they ask ChatGPT, “What should I read next?”, you need to understand how the AI thinks. How Does AI Know About Your Book? If you ask an AI model to recommend a book based on a photo of your bookshelf, it can do so with shocking accuracy because it analyzes the books in its Large Language Model (LLM). But how does your specific book get into that model? According to Thomas, one major source is piracy. Recent court cases have revealed that AI companies often train their models on massive datasets downloaded from pirate websites. While this sounds alarming, the courts have generally ruled this as “fair use” because the AI's reading of the text is considered transformative. Thomas offers a controversial take for nonfiction authors: piracy might actually be beneficial. If pirated copies lead to a million people reading your book and establishing you as a thought leader, you will likely make more money in the long run through speaking engagements and podcast invites than you would have from book sales alone. In the world of nonfiction, the idea itself is often less valuable than the execution and the authority of the author. However, AI training data usually cuts off at the top 7 million most popular books. If your book is new or hasn’t reached that threshold, the AI might not “know” it exists in its core training data. In these cases, the AI relies on external sources it can read, such as Goodreads. The Sycophancy Problem A major pitfall for authors testing their AI visibility is the “sycophancy” of current models. If you ask ChatGPT about your own book, it will often flatter you, telling you exactly what it thinks you want to hear. It might even hallucinate that your book is a bestseller when it isn’t. To combat this, Thomas developed a suite of “AI Knowledge Checkers” in his Patron Toolbox. These tools are designed to blind the AI from the live web, forcing it to answer only from its internal context window. This reveals whether the AI actually knows who you are or if it's just quickly Googling you to be polite. The Foundation of AIO: Your Author Website If you want to rank in AI recommendations, you must stop relying solely on Amazon or social media. You need a robust author website. Thomas emphasizes that the principles of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and AIO are nearly identical. If you have been ignoring your website, you are already behind. Thomas highlighted three specific areas of your website that need to be optimized: 1. The Homepage Your homepage needs to be technically sound and content-rich. Thomas's toolbox includes a scanner that acts like a “curmudgeonly webmaster,” giving you a brutally honest score on your homepage's effectiveness. 2. The Book Page A common mistake authors make is having a single page listing all their books. For AIO, every single book needs its own dedicated, robust page. This page shouldn’t just be a sales link; it should be a service center for the book. It needs to include: Discussion guides. Sample chapters. Links to podcast interviews about the book. High-resolution maps (for fantasy authors). Editorial reviews. 3. The About Page Most authors write about pages that are too short and written in the first person (e.g., “I started writing when…”). AI struggles to rank the word “I.” Thomas advises rewriting your bio in the third person to create a narrative the AI can easily ingest and cite. A robust About page also protects your reputation, ensuring your website is the primary source of your life story rather than a third-party article. Off-Page Optimization: Earning the “Vote” Just like Google uses hyperlinks as “votes” of authority to rank websites, AI models determine what is true and important based on citations and links from reputable sources. This is “Off-Page AIO.” Podcasts as Backlinks For nonfiction authors, being a guest on podcasts is the most organic way to generate these authority signals. Every time you appear on a show, the show notes link back to your website. These non-reciprocal links are high-value currency for AI algorithms. Local Media and Journalism Don’t overlook local news. Local TV stations often publish articles without paywalls, making them easy for AI bots to scrape and index. Furthermore, major publications like The Wall Street Journal constitute high-authority sources because they have signed licensing deals with AI companies. Getting mentioned in these “legacy” media outlets tells the AI that you are a figure of importance. The “Timothy” Principle: Don’t Lose the Human Amidst all the talk of algorithms, scanners, and bots, Thomas ended the conversation with a vital reminder: AI does not buy books. Humans do. Thomas advises against creating corporate-style “customer personas.” Instead, he advocates for the “Timothy” strategy—identifying a specific, actual human being who represents your target reader. When you focus on thrilling that one real person, you avoid the trap of writing for a stereotype. You can talk to “Timothy,” ask him for feedback, and ensure your marketing actually resonates. Ultimately, the best marketing strategy is to love and serve your reader. If you do that, the algorithms—and the sales—will follow. Next Steps for Authors To help authors navigate this technical landscape, Thomas has made his suite of tools available at PatronToolbox.com. These include the website scanners, the AI knowledge checkers, and even a “hook identifier” that helps you find news angles for your book PR. As we look toward 2025, the authors who succeed will be those who balance technical optimization with genuine human connection. Tune in next week to Before the Bestseller when we are joined by Veronica Yager to discuss what it takes to make a book thrive in the coming year, including high-impact calls to action and the secrets of Kindle Unlimited.

I joined the Writing Off Social Podcast as a guest for Episode 73 AI Tools for Authors. We explored AI tools' good sides. We covered bad and ugly sides too. I shared how these technologies democratize writing. They are like the typewriter or word processor. They boost productivity. We discussed Grammarly, ProWritingAid, Scrivener, ChatGPT, and […]

Joanna Penn, host of the Creative Penn Podcast had me on to talk about:

Join author Ryan Gutierrez as he sits down with Thomas Umstattd Jr., for an insightful conversation about storytelling, publishing trends, and literary traditions. In this episode, we explore: Key takeaway: “Having the courage to say ‘I'm not for everyone, but I am for this group of people' and making something they absolutely love—if you have […]

The Arbiter of Worlds YouTube Channel had me on yesterday to talk about marketing for their new podcast ACKS to Grind. The host, Alexander Macris and I talk for over […]

In this episode of Writing of Social Sandy, Mary K. and I talk about what kind of marketing actually works for authors. About Writing off Social Sandy and Mary believe […]

In this episode of Writing of Social Sandy, Mary K. and I talk about the history of social media an authors. When and why did it work? And more importantly […]

The Profitable Writer Podcast is dedicated to helping authors make more money. In this episode, Kent Sanders and I discuss:

Last week, the blog version of an episode of Christian Publishing Show went viral, or at least it sparked a lot of discussion. Mostly here and here. In that episode, I talked about how Morality is key to making a book sell across both culture and time. Muddled morality is why newer superhero movies are […]

Mark Dawson & James Blatch recently had me on the Self Publishing Show to discuss author websites, marketing data, Christian publishing, advertising, AI, and more. You can find the episode here. There is also a video version you can find here:

In this episode of Cary and Cooper Have Words, we talk about the process of writing a novel, how to do it, and what pitfalls to look out for.

Thanks to Joanna Penn of the Creative Penn podcast for having me on as a guest! In this episode, we talk about: You can find the blog version of the interview here. If you don't yet listen to the Creative Penn podcast, you should check it out. It is one of the best publishing podcasts […]

In this episode you will learn: Advice for authors who worry “if I start talking about my book NOW, no one will buy it when it releases LATER” How to maximize the back of your book to build your email list and sell more books How podcast hosts can collaborate on one episode to air […]

In this episode of Fantastical Truth, E. Stephen Burnett, Zackary Russell, and I talk with me about how Christian authors can and should navigate secular publishing markets. Specifically, we talk about the myth that long ago, Christians and publishing companies lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when evangelicals got fearful and/or legalistic, so they chose to leave […]

In this episode of Your Best Writing Life, Linda Goldfarb and Thomas Umstattd Jr. discuss why and where authors should start Creating Online Courses. Plus common mistakes writers easily make. Learn the first steps an author should take before creating a course, the common mistakes course creators make, how to attract students to your course, how to […]

In this episode of The David Lee Martin Show, David and I talk about how to use podcasts to bless listeners.

Have you ever found yourself so busy that life just feels out of control?  What if you had to lay down some of your responsibilities to find a bit of sanity again?  Could you do it? In this episode of God in the Ordinary, Sharon Tedford interviews me about my mental breakdown and recovery. I […]

In episode 084 of the Wish I'd Known Then . . . For Writers Podcast I talk with Sara Rosett and Jami Albright about mistakes authors make with social media and how to avoid them. We delve into the world of ubiquity and scarcity and discuss how to use scarcity to sell your books. He's […]

Erin and Karen had me on the Write from the Deep podcast to talk about courage. Without it, your writing will never touch hearts. You can find a link to the original episode (as well as subscribe links) here.

In this episode of Kingdom Writers, Shelley Hitz and I talk about how you can use the power of podcasting to reach more readers and sell more books. Links You can find the show notes and the video version of this podcast here. You can find my gear guide here.

I was recently a guest on the Your Best Writing Life podcast. Authors’ platforms – what a platform is and how to build yours. Where should you build your platform? Linda’s guest, Thomas Umstattd Jr. is here to answer our questions. Thomas is the founder of Author Media and the host of the Novel Marketing […]

In this episode of Buzz on Book Biz. host Richelle Wiseman talks with me about platform building, book promotion, and the pros and cons of indie vs traditional publishing.

The 20 Minutes of Influence podcast explores the secrets to getting others to market and sell on your behalf. You can find my interview with Greg Jamison here.

In this episode of Chad Cargill’s ACT Test Prep Podcast, Chad and I talk about how to get published and how to write a great book. You can find the original post here. Chad Cargill took the ACT test 18 times in high school raising his score 13 points and scoring in the 99.5 percentile. […]

We talk about publishing, crowdfunding, and more. You can listen to part 1 and part 2 on the All Things Indie website.

We talk about publishing, crowdfunding, and more. You can listen to part 1 and part 2 on the All Things Indie website.

On Good Friday my church, Hope Chapel has a special service where people share testimonies reflecting on one of the last words of Jesus. This year, I shared a testimony reflecting on the phrase “Father forgive them, the don’t know what they are doing.” This is the recording of that testimony.

In this episode of the Nice Guys on Business Podcast,  Doug Sandler and I talk about podcasting and specifically, how to make money with podcasting using platforms like Patreon. 854 Thomas Umstattd: Growing Famous and Rich

In this episode, Jamie Jenson and I talk about crowdfunding for creative projects. You can find out more about her podcast here. Some Takeaways Include: How many ways you can use crowdfunding for your projects Understanding the difference between failure and intentionally failing How to find the type of customer that defends you The best […]

In this episode of Sales Unscripted, Jim Padilla and Thomas Umstattd discuss: The power of a well-articulated mission. How a crowdfunding campaign works and how it can be a benefit to you. The power of the right focused audience. Advertising on podcasts. Key Takeaways: Test your assumptions before you go all in with all of your […]

In this guest interview on the Millenial 2 CEO Podcast, I talk about how to manage and motivate millennial workers. We also talk about crowdfunding and Kickstarter. Questions We Discuss: How to test the market for your product on Kickstarter? How to hire and motivate millennials? How to manage millennial?

In this episode of the Halfway There podcast, I talk about Crowdfunding and Courtship with Eric Nevins.

In this episode of the Pastor Writer Podcast, Chase Replogle and I discuss how writers should think about marketing and how they can get started even before they’re published.

As you may know, I do a lot of guest interviews on radio shows and podcasts around the web.  So now, I am going to bring them all together in one place. If you would like to subscribe to get future episodes you can find subscribe links here:  

Write from the Deep (June 2018) Haters. They’re out there, lurking. Waiting to attack. All it takes is for you to write something that they dislike, and they strike with vicious words designed to tear you, your work, your reputation—even God—apart. Guest Thomas Umstattd Jr. knows haters all too well. Hard not to when tens of […]

How I Built It (May 2018) Thomas Umstattd is a plugin and agency owner who’s has great success in crowdfunding his products. His take is a fantastically interesting one and he offers lots of great advice – so much that we even have a bonus over on Patreon. This is definitely one of my favorite conversations […]

Scarlet Virgins Podcast (May 2018) In this episode, Rebecca Lemke interviews Thomas Umstattd Jr., author of Courtship in Crisis. They discuss a variety of topics pertaining to courtship including the varying definitions it has, trying to find relationships after having been immersed in the courtship model, the differences between generations and how they view relationships and […]

The Fire Show (April 2018) Talked about courtship and how communication technology has changed over the last 50 years.

Cool Things Entrepreneurs Do  (March 2018) Thom Singer and I talk about how to transition from solopreneur to entrepreneur.

I recently started hosting the afternoon drive radio show on Austin’s 1120AM The Bridge. One of my earliest guests was Joshua Harris, author of the book I Kissed Dating Goodbye. As you probably know, I’ve had a few things to say about his book over the years. This was the first time we spoke over the phone, […]

Restory Show (February 2017) Mary DeMuth and I talk about my journey of writing Courtship in Crisis and Why Courtship is Fundamentally Flawed.

Proposify Podcast (February 2017) We talked about Agile Project Management and how to take a marketing agency agile. I talk a fair amount about my work with Fahrenheit.

Homeschooling in Real Life (September 2015) We talk about my book Courtship in Crisis.