Podcast appearances and mentions of David Gaughran

In this week's episode, we take a look at professional development for writers, and examine both the benefits and the pitfalls. We also take a look at my advertising results for March 2025. This week's coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Dragonskull: Curse of the Orcs, Book #4 in the Dragonskull series (as excellently narrated by Brad Wills), at my Payhip store: ORCCURSE50 The coupon code is valid through April 25, 2025. So if you need a new audiobook for spring, we've got you covered! TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates   Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 246 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is April 4, 2025, and today we are looking at professional development for writers. Before we get to our main topic, we'll have Coupon of the Week, an update on my current writing and audiobook projects, Question of the Week, and then a look back at how my various ads performed for March 2025.   So let's start off with Coupon of the Week. This week's coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Dragonskull: Curse of the Orcs, Book Four in the Dragonskull series (as excellently narrated by Brad Wills) at my Payhip store. That coupon code is ORCCURSE50. As always, you can find the coupon code and the links to my store in the show notes. This coupon code is valid through April 25th, 2025. So if you need a new audiobook for spring, we have got you covered.   Now for an update on my current writing projects. I'm very pleased to report that the rough draft of Shield of Battle is done, 102,800 words written in 22 days. That will be the second to last book in the Shield War series. If all goes well, I'm still hoping to have that out and edited and published before the end of the month. I'm now working on a currently untitled short story that newsletter subscribers will get for free in ebook form when Shield of Battle comes out. So this might be a great time to sign up for my new release newsletter. I am also 10,000 words into Ghost in the Corruption and that will be my main project after Shield of Battle is out.   Recording is still underway for Shield of Deception and Ghost in the Assembly. That is Brad Wills and Hollis McCarthy narrating, respectively. So I am looking forward to having those audiobooks out for you to listen to and then Shield the Battle and Ghost in the Corruption available for you to read, but I just have to get back to work on them.   00:01:48 Question of the Week   Now it's time for Question of the Week. Question of the Week is intended to inspire enjoyable discussions of interesting topics. This week's question, what games (if any) are you currently playing? No wrong answers, including “I don't play video games”. The inspiration for this question was that the fact that Nintendo was having this big Switch 2 announcement on April 2, which is amusing to me personally on a meta level because people have been speculating wildly about a Switch successor for years. Baseless Switch 2 rumors have been a clickfarm industry for years. Probably Nintendo had to have it on April 2 so no one would think it was a really elaborate April Fool's Day joke. Justin says: Online it would be World of Warcraft Classic. Otherwise, it is Conquest of the New World. Like me, my games are old and dated.   I can relate to Justin because I'm currently playing a game that was first made in 1994, but more on that later.   Sam says: Currently dancing between two games, my long-term love game, Final Fantasy 14 and Dragon Age: the Veilguard. The Veilguard was a massive disappointment for me, unfortunately, but it still has its reasonably okay points, but man, the developers dropped the ball in the worst way since Cyberpunk's disastrous release.   That's interesting because I've actually encountered a couple different people who have played Dragon Age: Veilguard and they either love it or hate it. There is just no in-between. So that does seem to be the kind of game where you either love the thing or you just hate it. Todd says: Enjoying No Man's Sky, waiting for Light No Fire. Continuing to grind World of Warcraft retail. Recently played the re-release of Half Life. Today, I also installed Lands of Lore, gotta love Patrick Stewart as King Richard!   I had forgotten that Patrick Stewart voiced King Richard back in the ‘90s in the Lands of Lore game. His most famous video game part (I think) is playing Emperor Uriel Septim in the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.   JKM says: Monster Hunter Wilds and Star Citizen.   Jesse says: Been doing an on and off run on Enshrouded. The story hasn't hugely gripped me as yet, but the mechanics are fun if you like Breath of the Wilds-esque world exploration.   Michael says: I'm currently playing Star Traders: Frontiers, which is a 2D indie space trading/exploration/crew management game in a vaguely Dune-like setting. It has turn based squad combat in Darkest Dungeon style too. Originally a mobile game but mechanics are surprisingly deep. It's good fun.   Randy says: Wizardry Remaster. Ironic because I didn't play the original.   For myself, I am kind of alternating between three current games. I am playing the Master of Magic remake on the PC and I'm determined to finally beat a campaign at that. I am still playing Iratus: Lord of the Dead and drawing closer to the final level. And when I'm really tired and don't want to do anything else that requires a lot of brain power, I still fire up some Starfield and go really mess up the day of some procedurally generated space pirates.   So watch my website and Facebook for Question of the Week if you want to have your comment read on the show as well.   00:04:39 Ad Results for March 2025   Now let's look at how my ads for my books did in March 2025, which is interesting because I changed things up a fair bit for ads in March. The reason I did this is because the economy isn't great and not likely to improve for several years. I saw someone arguing that all the policy decisions in the Covid era will have a 15 year economic hangover into which we're only five years, and I think that argument might have some merit to it. So because of that, I thought it might be prudent to move some older series into Kindle Unlimited. So I did that with the Demonsouled books and with Cloak Games, though not with Cloak Mage, which will remain wide as new books come out. I might do it with Silent Order as well, but I haven't decided. My thinking is that as people are looking to economize, subscription services will probably offer better value than direct book sales.   So let's see how we did. For Facebook ads, I did Cloak Games/Cloak Mage and The Ghosts. For Games/Cloak Mage, I got $4.14 back for every $1 spent, with 10% of the profit coming from the audiobooks. For The Ghosts, I got back $8.73 for every dollar spent, with 6% of the profit coming from the audiobooks. Obviously the total for The Ghosts might be inflated because of Ghosts in the Assembly, which did well. Thanks, everyone! Without Ghosts in the Assembly, The Ghosts still would've done $3.68 for every dollar spent, with 15% for the profit coming from the audiobooks. So still pretty good.   For Amazon ads, I mostly focused on Half-Elven Thief. Remember that for an Amazon ad to be successful, it needs to get a sale or a complete Kindle Unlimited read for every six to eight clicks. So for Half-Elven Thief, I got back $3.41 for every $1 spent, with a sale or a complete KU read for every 0.84 clicks, which is a really good result. However, it was not all roses in Amazon ads because I gave up on advertising Stealth and Spells Online: Creation. I've realized I fundamentally misunderstood what readers in the LitRPG actually want. I'm still going to finish the series this summer with the final book. I am 75,000 words into it as of this recording, but I don't think I'm going to advertise the series anymore.   For Demonsouled, I did a combined Facebook/Amazon ads campaign and for a combined campaign like that, it's easiest just to track the return. So for Demonsouled, I got back $2.53 for every dollar spent on Facebook and Amazon ads. So that was pretty close to how it did in February.   I also did some BookBub ad campaigns for The Ghosts and Sevenfold Sword on Apple. For The Ghosts, we got back $9.24 for every dollar I spent and for Sevenfold Sword, I got back $6.76 back for every dollar spent. So those are some very good results.   Finally, I've begun experimenting with BookBub ads for Google Play. I tried out Sevenfold Sword first and for Sevenfold Sword on Google Play with BookBub ads, we got back $3.86 for every dollar. So that is a promising beginning and I might try more experiments with BookBub ads and Google Play in May. So a good month all in all. Thanks for reading, everyone. Hopefully I'll have more new books for you soon.   00:07:46 Main Topic: Professional Development   So our main topic this week will be part three of our series on writing adjacent activities, and that is professional development. As I mentioned on past episodes, I'm working on a new podcast series on what I call writing adjacent activities. What do I mean by this? I'm talking about the tasks that seem like they're a part of the writing process but really belong in a different category. These tasks are important, but they can also be a pitfall if you spend too much time on them or don't use that time correctly. In this series, we'll focus on a few of these tasks and how they can benefit or hinder your writing process, even though they seem like good uses of time and may in fact be beneficial in proper amounts.   In this episode, we'll talk about professional development for writers. Those working in education, healthcare, or the corporate world will be very familiar with this concept. For those who aren't familiar with professional development, let's explain what it is. What is professional development and what is it for writers specifically? Professional development generally means gaining skills or knowledge that can help someone stay current in their field and grow in their work. In some fields like teaching or healthcare, professional development is required and must be done regularly. Some examples of typical professional development tasks include learning a new programming language, attending conferences, and reading professional journals. Writers have many of these same opportunities. Ther are a slew of conferences, workshops, webinars, videos, courses, and books available for writers to hone their craft, pick up marketing skills, and learn the ever evolving technical skills needed to self-publish and have an online presence. Some of these options, especially conferences and retreats, can be very expensive and time consuming while others are free and quick to consume, such as blog posts or podcast episodes.   How can you benefit from professional development? There are five ways.   #1: You can learn information and techniques that can help you improve your writing. An example would be a workshop session presenting data on when readers typically give up when starting a new book, which can help you think about how your book is structured.   #2: You can learn about technology and software that can make your work more efficient or look more professional. An example of this would be tutorials on how to use formatting software to turn Word documents into a formatted ebook.   #3: In-person professional development can help you network with others in your field. For example, if one of your priorities is being added to group promotion, meeting other authors at a workshop or a conference could lead to more promising leads than just emailing people.   #4: You can keep up with the constant changes in the field and adjust your strategies and plans accordingly. For example, Amazon's policies for KDP change constantly, sometimes monthly, it feels like. Writing blogs and podcasts can often explain these changes in a practical way that's more efficient than trying to parse long legal documents yourself.   #5: Finally, and fifthly, some people find professional development motivational or it helps them to feel more excited about their work. An example is a phenomenon called the post conference high, when someone returns from a conference with a high level of excitement and a list of plans a mile long. It's easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day tasks of work and sometimes professional development can shake things up in a positive way.   So professional development can be a good thing, but there are ways it can hinder your writing process. So we'll look at four ways that professional development can get in the way of you actually sitting down and getting some writing done.   #1: One of the downsides of being a writer is that professional development must be self-funded or you must pursue your own scholarships or grants for it, which are pretty limited compared to professional development in other fields. It is quite easy to spend tens of thousands of dollars on it each year, so each opportunity must be carefully considered. It's important not to spend money without a clear plan for how to turn it into action and without researching less expensive (but still effective) options that might serve your purposes. It's also important to look carefully to see if you can find lower cost options before registering for something. For example, instead of going to a weeklong residential bootcamp to learn WordPress, you could find a community education class or a LinkedIn Learning class (which many libraries provide to their patrons). Do you need a full course offered by another author or are you only interested in one portion of it and can learn that information from a YouTube channel? There is a lot of nonsense on the Internet of course, but one of the advantages of living in the modern era is that there is an abundance of good free information. You just have to find it.   My podcast transcriptionist has something that she likes to call the Two Buck Chuck Principle. It is named after the store brand of wine from Trader Joe's. That's way back when it was $2 a bottle, hence the popular nickname for it. Many people refuse to stray from this cheapest available option at the store because they find it meets their alcohol related needs and refuse to buy more expensive bottles.   The point of this principle is that like those Trader Joe's shoppers, my podcast transcriptionist will search for the free and low cost option for something first and then see what is missing from them that a more expensive option offers before buying the more expensive option. For example, if you're just starting out as a writer, you may be tempted to pay $3,000 or $4,000 for consulting sessions about advertising strategies because you read a convincing testimonial. Realistically, if you only have one or two books with only a handful of reviews and you're not willing to throw thousands of additional dollars on a professional style ad campaign, this would be severe overkill.   Applying the Two Buck Chuck Principle to this person's ad spending, it would make more sense to learn the basics first through webinars and blog posts on the topic. Something like Brian Cohen's Five Day Amazon Ad Challenge would teach the basics of using the interface and some strategies that keep a rookie from overspending or straying from their target audience. Once a writer has a few years of sales and several books in the same series, then perhaps it might be wise to progress to something more advanced and expensive, like hiring a consultant.   For most professional development, if you're paying money, you're either paying for being in a physical location or you're paying for the time someone else took to assemble and present the knowledge for you (in the case of a conference or workshop, both). For the latter, you can usually apply this Two Buck Chuck Principle by taking the time to assemble the knowledge yourself or find others who have through blogs, podcasts, and lower cost books. Someone like Joanna Penn or David Gaughran provides a wealth of sensible advice through these types of much lower cost options.   #2: Professional development, like many other writing adjacent activities, can give you the illusion of progress. Knowing about something and actually doing it are very different things. You have to have a specific plan for how you will implement your professional development. The sooner you start after completing your professional development activity, the more likely you are to benefit from it. Even five minutes a day working on it helps keep the knowledge fresh and gives you the confidence to continue.   #3: The number of available options for professional development can be paralyzing and it can be easy to feel like you have to do it all. The fear of missing out is a very real phenomenon, but it's necessary to combat it by being intentional with your time. Start by making your goals for the next year and then seeing what professional development you need to further those goals. For example, if creating video content is not part of your goals for the year, then it doesn't make sense to watch webinars on creating Instagram Reels or TikTok videos, even if you feel like it might be useful or you have a fear of missing out on the information. Your professional development, your goals, and your output all need to be in harmony in order to progress as a writer.   I have talked before about how a certain degree of tunnel vision is necessary to write at the pace that I do. Because I want to publish frequently, I often ignore conference and workshop opportunities because travel actively hinders my main goal of getting down as many words as possible each day.   #4: Professional development can take up so much time that it keeps you from the priority of writers, which is actually writing. Like the other writing adjacent activities out there, they expand to the size you'll allow. Planning your professional development goals for the year when you've created your writing goals can help you be disciplined in choosing the activities that will serve you best and fit with the time you can give them.   For example, if your goal is to set up an author website in May, you can allocate a little block of time each day for that month to watching tutorials, reading instructions, checking out other author sites for inspiration, and testing out the software. You wouldn't want to attend a three week intensive writing retreat in May because that would likely derail your progress on your other goal.   So finally, what do I personally do for professional development? What has helped me? I think the biggest help I had in terms of writing advice was a book called Billion Dollar Outlines by David Farland. It's well worth reading and a good look at story structure and understanding story structure that I think would be very helpful if you're struggling to finish an outline and write a book. Most of my professional development since then has been aimed towards the goal of trying to sell as many books as possible. So I took the Self-Publishing Formula course on advertising for Facebook, which was very helpful. I read a couple of different books on Facebook advertising, which was helpful. What was really helpful was a course on Photoshop I took in 2020 and 2021 that really increased my Photoshop skills and gave me the ability to do my own covers, which is very helpful because you often have to book a cover designer out well in advance. So that was very useful. And beyond that, I keep an eye on the various writing podcasts and Facebook groups. I don't really participate in the Facebook groups because that can be a huge time sink. Arguing with random people over the internet is not a productive use of time, but it is a good way to keep an eye on news within the indie author space and what people are doing and what trends you can expect to see. So that's what I do.   In short, professional development, like so many other writing adjacent activities, is a good thing that can hinder your progress if it's not done with intentionality and clear goals. As I said earlier in the podcast, your professional development, your goals, and your output all need to be harmonized in order to progress as a writer.   So that is it for this week. Thank you for listening to the Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show useful. And a quick note of thanks to my podcast transcriptionist for helping me to pull together the research for this episode. A reminder that you can listen to all the back episodes on https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave your review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week.

In this week's episode, we take a look at seven attitude shifts for writers that will make them happier and more productive. TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 207 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is June 28th, 2024 and today we are discussing seven important attitude shifts for writers. Before we get into all that, we'll have an update on my current writing projects and then we'll do Question of the Week and then we'll move over to our main topic. For current writing projects, I am still in the first phase of editing for Shield of Darkness. I'm on chapter 20 of what I think is going to end up being either 27 or 28. A couple of my chapters were quite long, so I need to keep splitting them in half as I edit to not have, like 9,000 word chapters. So things are going pretty well with that and I am hoping if all goes well that the book will be out the second week of July, probably after the 4th of July holiday, because releasing new books on the 4th of July is not a great idea. So hopefully before too much longer, we will have that book out. I'm also 31,000 words into Half-Orc Paladin and that will be my next book once Shield of Darkness is done and that will hopefully be out in very early August. I'm also 14,000 words into Ghost in the Tombs. I'm not sure when that's going to come out. I'm very much hoping to have it out before October, but we'll see how things go in the next couple of months. In audiobook news, recording for Wizard Thief and Stealth and Spells Online: Leveling is underway. I believe both narrators started on recording this week. Spells Online: Leveling will be narrated by C.J. McAllister and Wizard Thief will be narrated by Leanne Woodward and they both did the previous books in the respective series. So if you want a sample, you can listen to the audiobook of Half-Elven Thief and Stealth and Spells Online: Creation. 00:01:50 Question of the Week (note: This section contains spoilers for multiple movies, including Casablanca and Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan) Now let's move on to Question of the Week. It's time for a Question of the Week, which is designed to inspire interesting discussion of enjoyable topics. This week's topic: what is your favorite ending to a movie? No wrong answers, obviously. The inspiration for this was that I've been editing Shield of Darkness, so I've been thinking a lot about what makes a satisfying ending and what does not. Obviously, I want to have a satisfying ending. We had some good comments with this one. Our first comment is from Justin, who says: I'll go with an oldie, Casablanca. Rick saves Ilsa, the woman he loves, and puts her on the plane to Lisbon with her husband. He puts morals above love and tells her that she would regret staying with him. Then he and Renault head off to join the Resistance. “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” Archetypes so powerful that you've used them. I'd argue that the Gray Knight's ending with Ridmark, leaving Calliande and go with Kharlacht is a variation on this. That is interesting because I meant that was not at all in my head when I wrote the ending of Frostborn: The Gray Knight, and I don't think I've ever consciously written anything that I would say had been influenced by Casablanca, though of course I have seen it and it is a great movie, which again shows it's a very interesting that people's interpretation of a particular piece of artwork can often have no connection to what the artist intended when he or she created the artwork, but both views are often valid. Our next come is from Michael, who says: probably the ending to The Illusionist, which is very satisfying or more infamously, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, which often reminds me of a story writing tip you have given in podcasts about good endings not necessarily needing to be a happy one. Our next comment is from Brandy, who says: the end of Serenity, where Summer Glau is checking everyone and stimming. Then her brother is badly hurt and you see that mental click and all the worry that she's going to hurt the one she cares about shifts to a feral “I will make this stop” and it's both feral and beautiful. When they break in, she's got this look like, yeah, test me. But she's perfectly willing to continue laying waste. It's just moving. Honestly having thought about it, go watch Hellsing Ultimate Abridged on YouTube. It's like a quarterly watch at my house, along a lot of true crime right now because my partner is trying to find an appropriately gruesome way to get rid of a character. I have to admit I've never actually seen Serenity or Hellsing myself, so maybe I'll put that on the to watch list. Our next comment is from John who says: Casablanca. Walking off at the end saying “this is beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Becca says V for Vendetta for me, I think. The ending scenes link key scenes, people, and phrases from earlier, then shows everyone from earlier, even those who died, and how they are linked to the change (with the voiceover). Our next comment is from Jenny, who says: no loose ends, no open to interpretation BS. Our next comment is from David who says: Son of Godzilla. When he goes back to his son in the snow-powerful. Scott says: The Mist. What a twist! Juana says: The Wrath of Khan. Fred says: Alien: Covenant. I think it's interesting that a couple of different people both said that Casablanca and Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan have very satisfying endings (I'm going to assume you've seen both those movies, so for next minute, actually next two minutes, if you haven't seen those movies, skip ahead If you want to avoid spoilers) because neither one of those movies has what would traditionally be called a happy ending. At the end of Casablanca, Rick doesn't get the girl, and at the end of Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan, Spock dies, saving the Enterprise. Of course, there's a level of happiness to the ending because Spock dies, but he dies saving the entire Enterprise crew from being destroyed by the Genesis device. And in Casablanca, Rick doesn't get the girl, but she goes off with her husband and escapes. The Nazis continue fighting, and Rick and Renault, the police inspector join forces to be in the Resistance to the Nazis in Casablanca, which in a sense is also a happy ending. So I think that reinforces yet again, that if you are writing something, you need to have an ending that emotionally satisfactorily resolves the conflicts in the of the story that were raised in the story itself. It doesn't have to be a happy ending, but does need to be a satisfying ending. And I think I think it's very fair to say that both Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan and Casablanca have satisfying endings. Also, as Jenny said, you probably want to avoid loose ends and open to interpretation endings, because they really do seem to irritate people. 00:05:44 Main Topic: Seven Important Attitude Shifts for Writers Now on to our main topic this week: seven important attitude shifts for writers. I decided to talk about this today because actually this I'm recording this on June the 28th and yesterday was the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign season and without, you know, going into too much detail on that, you see a lot of reactions from people that are very gloom and doom and the country is doomed and the civilization is going to fall and so forth, which overlooks the fact that none of us know what is going to happen tomorrow and might be good or bad or maybe a little bit of both. That got me to thinking about how much of life is essentially mindset. Very often, regardless of one's circumstances, happiness and contentment can be a choice, even in very extreme and extenuating circumstances, and it can be a choice that you reject if you're doing quite well. Like in the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible, the writer of the book talks about how a grievous evil he has seen under the sun is that there's a man with riches and palaces and food, and yet he's unable to enjoy any of them or derive any happiness for them, because he was not making the choice to, you know, appreciate the good things he had. He did not, in essence, have the mindset to appreciate the good things he had in his life. I've noticed this is very common for writers, probably because writing is such an intellectual activity that takes place significantly inside of one's own head, even before you start putting down words on the page. It's very easy to be your own worst enemy as a writer and develop beliefs that limit your ability to be effective or successful. I remember a long time ago when I was in college, I knew a couple of different people who said they didn't want to try very hard at things because one of them said the world was so evil that she thought the world was going to come to an end by before she was 30 and another one said that due to climate change and pollution, the world was going to come to an end before she was 30 as well. Well, I was the same age as them and I have not been 30 years old for a significant span of time. They were both wrong. The world has continued on for good and bad, for the significant span of time since we all would have been 30 years old. That is a good example of a mindset being self-defeating and not being in accordance with reality and essentially limiting what you can do because after all, if the world is going to end when you are 30 years old, there's no point in trying in your 20s and then suddenly you are hitting the mid-40s and upper 50s and like, hey, the world didn't end 20 years ago. So with that in mind, here are seven self-destructive attitudes I think both new and more advanced writers should train themselves out of. #1: the first destructive attitude: I should just sign up for one of those publishing services for writers because I don't have the time to figure all this stuff out. That is both a bad attitude and a very bad idea in general, because many of these services are predatory and don't offer very much for the large amount of money they're charging. It's better to pay in time than money when it comes to self-publishing. There are a lot of free resources online to help you learn to self-publish. Good ones include David Gaughran's newsletter that he gives that away for free. He has several free e-books on self-publishing. Bryan Cohen has what he calls his quarterly 5 Day Amazon Ads Profit Challenge. That is a very good way to start learning the intricacies of Amazon ads. Joanna Penn has a wide variety of free YouTube videos on the process of getting started with self-publishing and I think she has a free ebook on the topic as well. So there are all these free resources that you can use to just commit the time to learning the beginnings of self-publishing and not fork over thousands of dollars to do something. I mean granted in life, there are areas where it is probably better to hire experts. For example, I recently had to have a large tree taken down near my house because it was diseased and the bark was falling off. It was rotten and I was worried that it was going to fall on the house. Theoretically, I could have broken out my electric chainsaw and done it myself, but that would have been a very bad idea. It was better to hire experts who know what they're doing to do it safely to bring the tree down. However, self-publishing is not a giant tree that might fall on your house. It is relatively easy to learn the basics and to do so without paying money and you avoid predatory self-publishing companies as you do because you have to be licensed to run a tree removal company, at least in this state. You do not have to be licensed to buy a website and call yourself a self-publishing expert. So for all those reasons, I think this attitude is a destructive and harmful one, and it would be better for you to learn at least the fundamentals of self-publishing before you pay anyone for it. #2: Our second destructive attitude is: I should focus on building sales and a following for my first book before I bother starting the next one. I think this is a self-destructive attitude because it's what I call the decorating the bathroom before you've done dug the foundation of the house problem. If you want to have a writing career, or if you want to be a writer, actually doing writing needs to be the foundation of that. But writers tend to procrastinate and channel themselves into sort of writing adjacent activities, like working about their work on their website, or trying to build social media followers or building their newsletter or the other kind of things that can be important and useful for selling books but are nonetheless less important than actually writing the next book. I say that's like worrying about how your bathroom will be decorated before you've even dug the foundation of your house. You should really dig the foundation of the house, build that house, and then worry how the bathroom is going to be decorated before you start worrying about that. It's also very rare for a writer of any genre to have massive success on a first book. Everyone thinks about these debut novelists who released their first books and were big hits. However, if you look at the overall population of writers, these people are vanishingly rare in terms of percentages, like lottery winners. They just got lucky and found an agent who believed in the book, who passed it on to an editor who believed in the book, and the publisher believed in the book and decided to put a big marketing push behind it. That was enough to turn the book into a hit. This can happen to you, but it's about as likely as going to the gas station, buying a lottery ticket, and becoming a billionaire. It's probably not going to happen, and you're better off putting in the work yourself. So with all that in mind, if you're worried about the sales of your first book rather than getting your energies too diverted on the various writing adjacent tasks like newsletters and social media and websites and so forth, perhaps writing the next book might be a better use of your time. #3: The third self-destructive attitude we're going to talk about is “Ads and marketing aren't for me.  My book should stand on its own merits.” I recently heard of someone who attended a training session about ads where one of the other attendees refused to do any ads for their book but were frustrated that their sales had stalled. The person in question simply did not see the causal connection between these two events. It's a very cruel and very real fact that plenty of great books are never read because people never find them. It's important not to view ads as something dirty or shifty or uncouth. If you feel that way, you're probably doing them wrong. Ads are just a simple way to connect people with books that they're excited to read. It's as simple as that. You want to use ads as a tool where you will find the right reader for your specific book. It is intimidating to learn how ads work. I'd say Facebook is the most complicated and Amazon is the least complicated, but that's just matters of degree because they're both pretty complicated. There are free programs like Bryan Cohen's Author Ad Challenge for learning how Amazon ads work for writers, and this includes forums for asking questions and getting more help. As with just learning the basics of self-publishing, there are a lot of free resources and good resources out there that you can use to give yourself at least a basic competency with ads. That would be very helpful for your writing career. #4: Our 4th self-destructive attitude: It's a waste to spend money on ads. This can be true, with the caveat it's a waste to spend money on ads if you don't know what you're doing. It is very easy to aimlessly spend large amounts of money on Facebook and Bookbub ads. While it's much harder to aimlessly spend money on Amazon ads, you can do it. Taking the time to learn how these ads work and then starting out slowly and gradually building up the budgets is crucial to not wasting money. Amazon, Facebook, and BookBub's daily limits make it easy to budget how much you are spending on ads. Another reason people often think it's a waste to spend money on ads is because their targeting is way too broad. Like you hear about people saying Facebook ads don't work, and then you dig into their story a bit more and it turns out they set their category to “books” and that's it. They're just targeting everyone who liked books. That is indeed a waste of money, because with advertising in general and book marketing in particular, the more specific you can get your targeting down, the better you will do. This is most easily demonstrated in romance, where it's common for romance readers describe books as like, you know, a slow burn, enemies to lovers, sweet romance with a happily ever after ending. Which is like four different story tropes, but that's very commonly how romance authors talk about books. So if you wrote a book like that, you can dial down the advertising enough to target people who are just interested in that kind of book through comp authors or interests, then your ads have a much higher chance of being successful, so bear that in mind. It's only a waste to spend money on ads if you don't know what you're doing, and if your targeting isn't right. #5: The 5th destructive attitude is: if that my book wasn't successful right away, I'm a failure as a writer. No one ever does anything right the first time and you should beat yourself up over it. Additionally, many books do well after a re-edit, title change, or cover change. It's possible your book just needs one of those. I mean, I've written 150 novels and I still have that kind of thing.  I originally called my LitRPG series Sevenfold Sword Online, but that confused people with because they thought it was attached to the Sevenfold Sword series. Earlier this year I retitled it to Stealth and Spells Online, and it's done quite a bit better since that title change. The reality is that most first books don't sell well. It doesn't mean that you should give up. The solution is to keep writing. Keep reading books in your genre and keep learning what readers want to read. It's important to keep experimenting and keep trying new things. I'm currently reading a history of the Dune series as a franchise. Based on Frank Herbert's earlier career, you would not predict that he would have written one of the classics of sci-fi literature. In fact, what he was originally writing about that turned into Dune was a nonfiction article about how the state of Oregon was trying to control the sand dunes in the eastern part of the state and keep them from overrunning other lands. That was what Dune originally was, a nonfiction article about sand dune management and then he wasn't able to sell that article. He rewrote it into a fictional short story and it gradually turned into Dune. There's a joke that every overnight success takes 10 to 20 years to prepare, and it definitely seems to have been true in Frank Herbert's case. If you keep on writing, perhaps that will be true of you as well. #6: Self-destructive attitude number six: it's not worth self-publishing because people won't respect my book unless it's traditionally published. I always love this one because the prestige of being traditionally published is great. But do you know what prestige doesn't do? Pay bills! Would you rather have the prestige or the money and full control of your works? Like earlier this episode, I mentioned that I had to pay some people to bring a tree down in my yard. Can you imagine walking up to a bunch of guys and with chainsaws and telling them, hey, I'm going to pay with the prestige of being traditionally published, but not actual money? That would not work out very well. I have in fact been traditionally published a very long time ago and let me tell you, the money of self-publishing is so much better than the prestige of being traditionally published. Full control of your work and money, in my opinion, is much better than prestige. Additionally, if you do get the prestige of traditional publishing, you are paying for it quite a bit. Traditional publishing has been providing their authors with increasingly less editing, marketing, and creative control and are prone to giving you increasingly restrictive contracts in return. Royalties may take a very long time to arrive and more realistically, never arrive at all as many books don't pay out past their initial advance. Traditionally published authors are taking on an increasing amount of the workload of marketing and find that their books are often filled with typos because less attention and staffing are being provided to the editorial departments. Prestige is really the main thing that traditional publishing is still offering, and there's also the problem that that many people in traditional publishing are unethical. I mean obviously self-publishing has its fair share of scammers as well, but remember, traditional publishing is supposed to have prestige. Prestige doesn't keep out the scammers. Recently there was a meltdown on Twitter where a literary agent posted that she just read a great book and she liked the idea but she didn't like the author and so she thought about giving the idea of the book to another one of her authors to write for her. I suspect she was saying that jokingly, but it didn't come across that way and so all of literary Twitter fell upon her head. She followed the predictable course of deleting all her social media accounts and then getting fired from the agency from which she worked. If you talk to experienced traditional published writers off the record, very often they will admit that literary agents are often very sketchy people. So if you are self-published, one of the big advantages is that you don't have to deal with that. #7: The seventh and final most self-destructive attitude: I need to quit my day job to be a real writer. The answer to that is no, you don't. Just a few examples of authors who kept their day jobs: Franz Kafka worked in an insurance company, Anthony Trollope was a postal clerk who wrote for 2 hours in the morning every day before he went to work, and Toni Morrison was an editor. I don't think anyone in their right mind would claim that Franz Kafka, Anthony Trollope, and Toni Morrison were not real writers. Real writers usually still have a full-time job. The reality is that very few writers earn an income on their own larger than a salary and work benefits would be or if they do, they're not able to sustain that level of income over the span of their career. In an Author's Guild survey from a few years ago, even full-time authors were reporting a median yearly income of $20,300. There's nothing wrong with not being a full-time writer and nothing wrong with just doing writing as a side hustle that you enjoy. Now you might think this is hypocritical. Jonathan Moeller, you yourself are a full-time writer and have been for the last eight years. For my part, I didn't actually want to become a full-time writer at first. I found that I was obliged to do so because I needed to move for family reasons. It did work out in my case. And to be fair to myself, I have definitely hustled doing that. I mean, in the last eight years I've written like 80 new novels and at least half a dozen complete series in that time. Most days I am writing from about 7:30 in the morning to 5:00 in the afternoon with breaks for lunch and exercise and so forth. Then there's all the business stuff on the side and then audiobooks as well. So you can be a full time writer, but it is definitely a lot of work, which is what I've been doing for the last eight years. By no means should you consider yourself not to be a real writer if you also have a full-time job. If I had not been obliged to move for family circumstances, I probably would have kept my full-time job until my employer ran out of money (which would have been a real possibility a few years ago). So there we are, seven self-destructive attitudes that I think writers would do well to remove from their minds. So that is it for this week. Thank you for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show useful. A quick note of thanks to my transcriptionist for helping me to research and pull together a list for this episode. A reminder that you that you can listen to all the back episodes on https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week.

The Kindlepreneur shared an updated strategy for maximizing the seven backend keywords slots on KDP. Streetlib updated their terms and conditions. An author loses his mind over a review. And, so much more this week in the self-publishing news. Subscribe to The Self-Publishing Hub - https://TheSelfPublishingHub.com  Join Channel Memberships - https://DaleLinks.com/Memberships Join Me on Discord - https://DaleLinks.com/Discord  News Sources: BookBrush's Full Service Social Media Management Services - https://bookbrush.com/social-media-management/ | For the job opportunity, contact CEO Josh Wiley at josh@brushmediagroup.com. Streetlib's Updated Conditions and Terms - https://streetlib-agreements.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/StreetLib_Hub_20220824_en.pdf Self-Published Science Fiction Competition Issues Statement After Author Has Meltdown About Judge's Review - https://file770.com/self-published-science-fiction-competition-issues-statement-after-author-has-meltdown-about-judges-review/#comments  IngramSpark: Share & Sell Your Book (US only) - https://www.ingramspark.com/e-commerce  7 Kindle Keywords: Use All 50 Characters or Not? [UPDATED] - https://kindlepreneur.com/7-kindle-keywords/ eBookFairs: Book Cover Grader - https://ebookfairs.com/Home/Book-Cover-Grader Pod Pro Author Coaching - https://www.theindyauthor.com/services---pod-pro-author-coaching.html Lulu: How to Get Started Successfully as an Author - https://event.webinarjam.com/register/68/qrqmosmk Writing & Publishing Master Class with Andy Maslen | Reedsy Learning - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/writing-publishing-master-class-with-andy-maslen-reedsy-learning-tickets-808859890707 How to Get Started with Amazon Ads: Reaching More Readers Podcast - https://selfpublishingadvice.org/podcast-amazon-ads/ Self-Publishing with Dale Podcast Reviews: https://chartable.com/podcasts/selfpublishing-with-dale-l-roberts/reviews/d5Tm26oB Special thanks to these sources: LaterPress - https://LaterPress.com CraveBooks - https://CraveBooks.com Draft2Digital - https://Draft2Digital.com Findaway Voices - https://FindawayVoices.com David Gaughran - https://DavidGaughran.com  Where noted, some outbound links financially benefit the channel through affiliate programs. I only endorse programs, products, or services I use and can stand confidently behind. These links do not affect your purchase price and greatly helps to building and growing this channel. Thanks in advance for understanding! - Dale L. Roberts

An Informationen mangelt es heute wahrlich nicht – das Internet ist voll von ihnen. Aus der Vielzahl der Informationen diejenigen auszuwählen, die dich als Selfpublishing-Autor, als Selfpublishing-Autorin wirklich weiterbringen, ist daher essentiell. Ich habe dir 2018 mit einer Zusammenstellung von nützlichen Blogs und Podcasts für Autorinnen und Autoren einen Teil der Arbeit abgenommen: https://mission-bestseller.com/blogs-und-podcasts-die-du-als-self-publishing-autorin-oder-autor-kennen-musst-188/ Mittlerweile sind 5 Jahre vergangen, manche der Blogs/Podcast sind nicht mehr aktiv, andere empfehle ich nicht mehr mit der gleichen Überzeugung weiter wie damals. Demgegenüber stehen die Blogs und Podcasts für Autoren und Autorinnen, die immer noch hochwertigen Inhalt liefern und viele neue Blumen haben zu blühen begonnen. Grund genug dir eine neue, aktuelle Auswahl an Informationsquellen für Selfpublishing-Autoren und Selfpublisherinnen zu präsentieren, die du kennen musst.

Episode 179 / We dug into the archives this week and pulled out one of our early episodes with David Gaughran, which is full of helpful and relevant advice.David decodes Amazon and breaks down Bookbub ads for authors in addition to writing historical fiction and sci fi. David shares how his mistakes have shaped his decision to reboot his fiction and nonfiction books.Supporter chat Aug 27th at 3pm CST. 

Hoy nos visita JJ Fernández, con el que hablaremos de su carrera de escritor dentro de la autopublicación y cómo ha sido su evolución tras el éxito de "Una muerte imperfecta". También hablaremos de todos esos libros que nos pueden ayudar a crecer como escritores y de las herramientas que tenemos a nuestro alcance para lanzar un producto que atraiga a los lectores. Página del autor: https://jjfernandez.com/ Música de cabecera: Ashley Collins & Emmanuel North - Bright Star Música de cierre: Alan Walker & Sia - Faded/Cheap Thrills/Alive/Airplanes (feat. Hayley Williams, B.o.B, Sean Paul) Libros de los que hablamos en el programa y otros que aconseja JJ Fernández: ESCRITURA How to Write Dazzling Dialogue, de James Scott Bell She Sat He Stood, de Ginger Hanson Show, Don't Tell, de Sandra Gerth ESTRUCTURAR NOVELA Punching Babies: a how-to guide, de Adron Smitley ¡Salva al gato!, de Blake Snyder Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, de Jessica Brody Take Off Your Pants!, de Libbie Hawker MARKETING How to Market a Book, de Ricardo Fayet Newletter Ninja, de Tammi L. Labrecque CORRECCIÓN Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, de Renni Browne También hemos hablado de: David Gaughran: https://davidgaughran.com Chris Fox: https://www.chrisfoxwrites.com Joanna Penn: https://www.thecreativepenn.com

Are you an author looking for new ways to get the word out about your books? Or are you a reader wondering how authors go about marketing new releases? Well, look no further! Podcast co-hosts Tess Thompson, a USA Today Bestselling Author, and Karen McQuestion, an Amazon Charts Bestselling Author, have picked up a plethora of marketing tips and tricks over the years. Other authors have been instrumental in helping them along the way, so they've done this episode to pay it forward.They hope you find it informative and entertaining.  Kindlepreneur Dave Chessen: https://kindlepreneur.com/Kindlepreneur Book Description GeneratorBKlink--to check book categories: https://bit.ly/3xCf64BMarketing guru David Gaughran: https://davidgaughran.com/Method for Writing a Book Description: https://www.karenmcquestion.com/for-writersBookBrush: https://bookbrush.com/BookFunnel: https://bookfunnel.com/BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/launchAuthor Promotion: On Top of That Marketing  https://www.ontopofthatmarketing.com/Goodreads GiveawaysInkers ConKing Sumo (Giveaway hosting site): https://kingsumo.comA+ ContentBook: Write that Novel!  by Karen McQuestion

One of the hardest things about setting up a subscription as an author is getting readers to pay you for it. In this 2 hour workshop, we do a deep dive into Kyra Fox's subscription and help her grow it so that you can too.We are so grateful to Kyra and her bravery and time in doing this.Please check her subscription out: https://www.patreon.com/kyrafoxauthorAnd here's her website: https://kyrafoxauthor.com/And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kyrafoxauthor/Join the Subscriptions for Authors community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/subscriptionsforauthorsDon't miss out on the waitlist for Ream: https://ream.inkReview/rate Subscriptions for Authors on your favorite podcast distributor. You can also find the episode transcripts here: https://subscriptionsforauthors.com/podcasthomeEPISODE OUTLINE:0:00 - 3:00 Introduction and Context3:04 - 7:22 Kyra's Subscription and Writing Journey7:22 - 8:10 The Importance of Consistency in Subscriptions8:10 - 11:20 Kyra's Experience Starting Subscriptions11:20 - 13:20 Kyra's Dream Author Lifestyle13:20 - 20:15 Kyra's Goal with her Subscription for Readers20:15 - 25:18 The Lack of Discovery with Subscriptions25:18 - 32:08 Diving into Kyra's Subscription Tiers32:10 - 34:10 Emilia's Tier Feedback to Kyra34:10 - 36:10 Michael's Tier Feedback36:10 - 39:54 How Authors Can Maximize High-Price Tiers39:54 - 43:27 Making Subscription Benefits Clear to Readers43:27 - 47:25 Why $1 Tiers May be a Bad Idea47:25 - 54:08 How Kyra Promotes Her Books54:08 - 1:02:50 How Kyra Networked with Bestsellers + Advice1:02:50 - 1:06:40 How Kyra Built an Author Community on Instagram1:06:40 - 1:08:45 How Promotes her Subscriptions1:08:45 - 1:11:22 Why Community is a Superpower for Authors in Subscriptions1:11:22 - 1:13:10 The Superfan Funnel into Your Subscription1:13:10 - 1:18:50 How Kyra Builds Trust with her Readers1:18:50 - 1:24:10 The Email That Got Kyra 5 of her 7 Subscribers1:24:10 - 1:31:52 Giving Kyra Feedback on Her Subscription Launch Email1:31:52 - 1:42:15 Reviewing Kyra's Social Media Promotions1:42:15 - 1:44:16 Thinking like an Author Creator1:44:16 - 1:49:21 Reviewing Kyra's Reels1:49:21 - 1:52:27 How Kyra Has Fun With Marketing1:52:27 - 1:58:24 Escaping the Gamification of Creativity1:58:24 - 2:03:38 Running Your Indie Business on Your Own Terms2:03:38 - 2:06:34 Kyra's Takeaways and ConclusionLinks Referenced in PodcastEden Books: https://edenbooks.org/Superfans by David Gaughran: https://davidgaughran.com/books/strangers-to-superfans/Nebula: https://nebula.app/Michael's Article in The Tilt: https://www.thetilt.com/audience/content-curationPublish Press: https://www.thepublishpress.com/

Was klingt besser, als direkt auf Amazon Werbung zu schalten? Die Leute sind schließlich schon in Kaufstimmung, quasi auf der Suche nach deinem Buch und du musst nur noch im richtigen Moment auftauchen! Einfach eine Kampagne bei Amazon Advertising aufsetzen und zuschauen, wie die Bestseller-Listen erobert werden? So einfach ist es leider nicht. Freya & ich teile heute unsere Erfahrungen mit Amazon-Advertising mit dir und verraten, warum es viel Zeit und Arbeit kostet und was man beachten sollte, um nicht ganz schnell viel Geld zu verlieren. Hört also unbedingt rein in die neue Folge! ======================== Links aus der Folge (Werbung - du unterstützt mich, wenn du auf die Amazon-Links klickst) Amazon Decoded: A Marketing Guide to the Kindle Store von David Gaughran // https://amzn.to/3RbhTuo Amazon Ads for Indie Authors: A How-to Guide from an Industry Expert von Janet Margot // https://amzn.to/3R3xMTX Amazon Ads Unleashed: Advanced Publishing and Marketing Strategies for Indie Authors von Robert J. Ryan // https://amzn.to/3unqLUh Blutschuld von Freya von Korff - https://amzn.to/3faVf3A JOEY von THEA WiLK - https://amzn.to/3aKrvvv Schreib dein Buch jetzt von ANDREA WiLK - https://amzn.to/3xBfvpl Die Atlantis Saga von Freya von Korff - https://amzn.to/3Q95fvv Zepter aus Licht (AtlantisChroniken 1) von Marah Woolf // https://amzn.to/3nIGA3P ======================== Hashtags zur Folge: #amazonads #selfpublishing #buchmarketing #ams #autorenleben ======================== Hier findest du uns: FvK Website // https://freyavonkorff.com FvK Instagram // https://www.instagram.com/freya_von_korff/ FvK Facebook // https://www.facebook.com/freyavonkorff/ ADW Website // www.adwilk.de ADW Instagram // www.instagram.com/adwilk_autorin ADW Facebook // www.facebook.com/adwilkautorin Hast du Fragen zu meinem Podcast? Wünschst du dir spezielle Inhalte? Dann schreib mir unter andrea@adwilk.de oder auf Instagram unter @adwilk_autorin. Klick jetzt auf Abonnieren und verpasse keine neue Folge. Meine Bücher findest du hier: https://www.adwilk.de/shop/ Danke, dass du uns hörst und siehst! ======================== Eigenwerbung und unbeauftragte Werbung

When Karen McQuestion's publisher rejected her book, THE MOONLIGHT CHILD, she decided to self-publish it, then poured on the marketing to give it every advantage. Eventually the novel reached the #1 spot on the Amazon Kindle charts and was the #3 bestseller in Kindle for 2021. Listen in as she shares her strategies and chats with Tess about book marketing in general.  Mentioned during the podcast:Novelist and Editor Barbara Taylor Sissel: https://barbarataylorsissel.com/Kindlepreneur Dave Chessen: https://kindlepreneur.com/ BKlink--to check book categories: https://bit.ly/3xCf64B Marketing guru David Gaughran: https://davidgaughran.com/ Bryan Cohen's Amazon Ads course: https://bryancohen.com/

Maybe you've heard of Paid Email Marketing Websites, or promo sites or reader deal sites, but just don't know exactly what they are or where to begin. Whether you are marketing books for children, publishing your own book of short stories, or are you just starting to look at book promo strategies for your indie published book, you'll want to tune in to this episode of the Christian Indie Writers' Podcast. 2:08 - What's Up?21:03 - Today's Topic47:11 - Feeding of the Backs1:01:41 - What's Next?David Gaughran's list of Promo sites: https://davidgaughran.com/best-promo-... 30 Days of Writing Sprint Prompts: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MGR7431Visit our website: https://christianindiewriters.net/Learn more about the hosts...Tina: https://christinacattane.com/Rhonda: http://ddbouman.com/Jenifer: https://jenifercarlltong.com/Jamie: https://writingshorts.net/

For this week’s show, we divided it into two topics. In the first half, we talked about the importance of the sample pages (the first 10% of your book) in these e-reading digital times, and…

I find that Thanksgiving week is always a great week for contemplating all the things I'm grateful for. I've had a really great year as an indie author coach, author, and entrepreneur in general. But there's one thing that tops the list... In today's episode, I want to express my appreciation for all of the amazing people I've interviewed and had on the Author Revolution Podcast over the past two years. I'm going to give you a rundown of each person, so in case you missed their chat, you can go back and have a listen. Here we go... Be sure to check out the show notes by going to authorrevolution.org/108.

BookFace, MyTok, TikLer, TubSpace — trying to keep all the social networks straight is, well, a job for a pre-adolescent. If that's what you want, please do not listen to this episode. (Although we're doing our best, and our best may be worth listening to...). Also other cool author-related news, so it's not just about social media... ### - David Gaughran's email tips: https://preview.mailerlite.com/f6a5o1/1721075293411612367/i1h1/ - Congress going after Amazon? https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=4006&share=true#m52786 - Sci-Hub under attack, is freely available information also under attack? https://www.thepassivevoice.com/is-the-pirate-queen-of-scientific-publishing-in-real-trouble-this-time/ - TikTok? BookTok? https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tiktok-taking-book-industry-storm-retailers-are-taking-notice-n1272909

A shout out to Vanessa Riley's  AN EARL, THE GIRL, AND A TODDLER! Also, a bit more today on terrible email marketing approaches and how the author-reader relationship should be about the long term.You can see more about Vanessa Riley's AN EARL, THE GIRL, AND A TODDLER here (https://vanessariley.com/rogues.htm#earl)You can see the David Gaughran article I mention here (https://preview.mailerlite.com/y3z7r6/1685574612122867202/e7j1/).You can watch the You Tube video of the podcast here (https://youtu.be/3nCs3sZT4ao).First Cup of Coffee is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts!Support the show (http://paypal.me/jeffekennedy)

Episode Show Notes In this episode we cover:  What are the key elements you need to take into account when starting from zero Most common indie publishing mistakes new writers make What business and platform basics do you need in place before you publish What marketing should a writer do when they only have one book How do you continue to get sales after launch? This week's question is: What worries you about starting from zero? Recommendation of the week is: This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone Apple Kobo Amazon UK Amazon USA **This podcast uses affiliate links This is a link explaining how the book was written: A Conversation with Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone Links and events I mentioned: The Rebel Author Diaries Anthology Submissions are now open. Find out more here. Connect with David Gaughran: Website Youtube Twitter   Rebel of the Week is: VAL NEIL If you'd like to be a Rebel of the week please do send in your story, it can be any kind of rebellion. You can email your rebel story to rebelauthorpodcast@gmail.com or instagram me @sachablackauthor 1 new patron this week, welcome and thank you to Jennifer Thompson. And  of course, a big thank you to all my existing patrons. If you'd like to support the show, and get early access to all the episodes as well as bonus content you can from as little as $2 a month by visiting: www.patreon.com/sachablack   THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY KOBO WRITING LIFE Visit Kobo Writing Life here, read the Kobo Writing Life blog here, and listen to their podcast here.

What's going on over at KDP these days? A super-secret beta program? How to edit, according to David Gaughran. Links: - KDP Super Secret Beta Program - https://bestfilmstime.com/books/the-great-gatsby-glut/ - https://davidgaughran.com/editing-a-book/ - Why you should sell global (from Fussy Librarian Email) - Kevin2nick.com

Have you been thinking about your 2021 marketing strategies yet? There are a number of levers an indie author can use from free books to promo sites and, of course, paid advertising. In today's podcast episode, I'm interviewing indie author and marketing guru, David Gaughran. We'll be diving into indie author marketing topics like promo stacking, free books versus 99 cent deals, and much more. You definitely won't want to miss it! Be sure to check out the show notes by going to authorrevolution.org/69.

This is week three of the love-themed episodes in honor of V-Day. TB, stumbles right out of the gate on this episode because Clare claims TB is erotic. Naturally, the prude’s face went up in flames. TB has big news. The Love Project, her cowrite with Miranda MacLeod, has been published. Woot! In frustrating news, TB is in yet another battle with ACX over her London novella, The Setup. In I Heart Lesfic news, TB is organizing the next mega sale. Clare doesn’t know what to call ice, because in London, it hardly gets that cold. She calls it frozen water. Clare has commissioned two audiobooks and is considering avoiding ACX by using Findaway Voices. In writing news, she’s outlining Big London Dreams yet again, after pantsing 10K, which seems to be her magic number when starting a new project. She’s had to change her research methods, relying more on books since she’s still in lockdown in London. Finally, Roscoe is still alive! They move on to the main subject: romance vs. erotica. What’s the difference, and which should you write? Much like the romance vs. rom-com, the divide over romance and erotica is varied with a lot of crossover. Clare breaks things down into three categories. Both caution authors to promote the book accordingly to the heat factor and to make sure to deliver on that promise. Also, the duo agrees that writing erotica is not an easy challenge, and they are wowed when it’s done well. TB also shares the time she checked out Fifty Shades of Grey from a library in Dublin. Do you prefer romance, erotic romance, or erotica? And, what do you think the differences are? Head over to www.lesbianswhowrite.com, and leave a comment on the episode. Or you can email them at: lesbianswhowrite@gmail.com. Next week, they’ll be on week four of the love month, and they’ll be discussing how to handle emotions. Happy listening! Clare and TB Don’t miss this opportunity! Stockport Library has asked Clare to do an author reading and chat about her writing journey on February 25th at 7:00 p.m. The event is online, so anyone can come along! To register and book your free place, click here! Links: The Love Project: lesbianromancesbytbm.com/books/the-love-project/ The Setup: lesbianromancesbytbm.com/books/the-setup/ Big London Dreams: www.clarelydon.co.uk/books/big-london-dreams/ Stockport Library Event: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/author-evening-with-clare-lydon-tickets-139692011567 Book Covers Online: bookcoversonline.com/lesbian-premade-covers/ Successful Self Publishing by Joanna Penn: www.amazon.com/Successful-Self-Publishing-self-publish-market-Writers-ebook/dp/B019H38JL2 Let’s Get Digital by David Gaughran: www.amazon.com/Lets-Get-Digital-Self-Publish-Publishing-ebook/dp/B08BTS57PC/ I Heart Lesfic Mega Sale Invite: iheartlesfic.com/author-invite-for-march-mega-sale/

For many of us, the thought of overcoming the technology barriers to self-publishing can be overwhelming and cause us to delay (or not try) publishing. Many authors who've have likely heard publishers talking about the all-important "meta data" and "algorithms" like they're the bogeymen. Something to be avoided - and best done by someone else! WE GET IT. WE'VE BEEN THERE! But if we can do this, trust us, YOU can too! How we overcame our own barriers - mindset - you tube - courses - reading - group support - screwing up - unpublishing and republishing - out sourcing - pacing ourselves - facebook groups Useful links: David Gaughran talks with the SPA Girls http://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep225-amazon-decoded/ Identify Your Learning Style: https://www.uow.edu.au/student/learning-co-op/effective-studying/identify-your-learning-style/ You’ll find all the show notes and SPA Girls podcast episodes at: http://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/ Watch episode recordings on YouTube @ http://www.youtube.com/c/SPAGirlsPodcast

Once a month, I talk to another writer about their writing routine. We answer questions such as Are you a plotter, pantser, or somewhere in between? ,  Do you write every day? ,  Where does your inspiration come from?,  What's your beverage of choice?, and many more! At the end of each episode, the writers recommend their favourite book on writing and share their advice for establishing the right writing routine for you. This month, I talked to R.S. Williams, a fantasy adventure author from England. Her book recommendations are The Fantasy Fiction Formula by Deborah Chester, Let's Get Digital by David Gaughran,  and Business for Authors by Joanna Penn. Don't forget to check out the all-new library on my website for all book recommendations from these routine chats!***Come join The Writing Sparrow on its very own Facebook fan page or its very own Instagram account!You can learn more about Rhianne and her books on her website or support her directly via Patreon . You can also find her on Twitter and on Instagram.Find out more about Sarina and her books on her website, and find her on Instagram and on Facebook.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/sarinalanger)

Bestselling author William Bernhardt discusses the latest news from the world of books, offers writing tips, and interviews David Gaughran, book marketing expert and author of Amazon Decoded.Chapter 1: IntroductionTwo great new books on sale:Final Verdict (Daniel Pike Legal Thriller #6) by William BernhardtThe Jaguar Queen (Veritas Codex Paranormal Thriller #2) by Betsey KulakowskiChapter 2: Newsa) Publishers Weekly creates a new virtual book show.b) Josh Hawley finds a new publisher—distributed by Simon & Schuster.c) Publishers Marketplace reports that book deals increased in 2020.d) Ebook customers file antitrust lawsuit against Amazon.e) The new President and VP star in their own comic books.f) Braydon Harrington and Amanda Gorman (Inaugural Poet) have books forthcoming.g) Call the Poetry Hotline!Chapter 3: Writing TipsEvery author needs a good editor, and until the end of January, one of the best editors, Alicia Dean, is offering a great sale—only $200 for a content or developmental edit of the entire manuscript. Email Alicia@AliciaDean.com for details.Chapter 4: Interview Bernhardt talks to David Gaughran, author of a new edition of Amazon Decoded, on how writers can maximize their book sales in the current marketplace.Chapter 5: Parting WordsKeep writing!

Episode 046 / Founder of Reedsy and soon-to-be published author, Ricardo Fayet joins us to talk about how authors can work with Reedsy to find freelancers, get their books in front of reviewers, and find translators. We also touch on simple ways to improve your sales pages and reach international readers. Intro recap: Sara talked about what she’d learned from launching a special edition hardcover: 1) you need a long lead time so you don’t have to pay expedited shipping on the books, and 2) set up a sign-up page first to find out if anyone is interested, then set up a sales page with a “pre-order” before ordering the books from IngramSpark. Sara did the sign-up, but not the sales page and she’d do both if she does it again. Sara’s a founding author at BingeBooks, which recently launched. It’s a bookish site for readers to discover new books, keep track of books they’re reading, and connect with authors. They have a waiting list for authors who would like to claim their profile. Jami’s 99 cent sale is running and she’s directing clicks to her series page, which is one of David Gaughran’s recommendations for good conversions. Jami gives the tactic a thumbs up. Jami’s also running ads on Facebook and Bookbub. Come over and say hi to Jami and Sara in the WIKT Facebook group! You can find show notes and links at wishidknownforwriters.com. In this podcast episode, you’ll discover: How Ricardo came to create Reedsy, a marketplace to connect writers and freelancers Ricardo’s advice for authors who don’t like Facebook The difference between having an advertising presence and an organic presence on a social media site Common mistakes Ricardo sees authors making How Reedsy’s professional review service works Why focus and discipline are important for longevity Countries that are “ready” for translations and have a maturing digital market Reedsy’s translation assessment feature Growth of digital sales in Europe because of Covid and lockdown Connecting with international authors to market translations How to find and work with a translator on Reedsy Trends: more translation and continued growth of audio Ricardo’s tips for reaching an international readers Links/tips: Reedsy Direct Sales tips: Woocommerce and Paypal.com/shipnow Sara’s Snowflake Special Edition Hardcover David Gaughran’s Youtube channel BingeBooks BingeBooks Waiting List for Authors WIKT podcast with Patricia McLinn The Big List of Craft and marketing books mentioned on WIKT podcast episodes

Bestselling author William Bernhardt discusses the latest news from the book world, offers writing tips, and interviews David Gaughran, book marketing expert and author of Let's Get Digital.Chapter 1: IntroductionA complete power outage is no excuse to slack off.Chapter 2: Newsa) A debut author scores a $2 million deal with Doubleday.b) Book sales are soaring. Readers are buying 30% more eBooks.c) Experts warn that holiday shoppers will start early and buy more than half online.d) Molly Stern starts Zando, a publishing house the will focus on high-profile partners and promoters—not bookstores.e) Mike Shatzhin says publishers must shift their focus from bookstores to direct sales.f) A British six-year-old publishes a book: My Mummy is Autistic.Chapter 3: Writing TipsLara Bernhardt (The Wantland Files) discusses techniques for getting readers emotionally involved in your book.Chapter 4: InterviewDavid Gaughran discusses all the new tips and data in the new edition of Let's Get Digital, his guide to publishing and marketing eBooks.Chapter 5: Parting WordsJudge and Jury, William Bernhardt's fifth book in the Daniel Pike series, is now on sale. The next, Final Verdict, will be available in January.

Episode 040 / It’s Q & A time. We talk about how finding a critique group is similar to dating, how to prepare to go wide, and much more. Intro: Sara is planning a limited edition hardcover for the holidays and Jami is signing books for a subscription box. Plus Sara shares about an audiobook giveaway site. Reveal Book Box Library Thing Audiobook Giveaway Come over and say hi to Jami and Sara in the WIKT Facebook group! You can find show notes and links at wishidknownforwriters.com. In this podcast episode, you’ll discover: Developmental editing and critique groups Pros and cons of each Why finding a critique group is like dating Tips for publishing wide Mindset - long-term thinking Why you may need to save up “quit your job money” Go wide in format first -- audio, print, large print Try a perma-free, either a first book in series or prequeal Use smaller paid newsletter sites Check price points Advice for new writers Write your best book Don’t be in a rush Build a newsletter and draw readers to you that are interested in your specific genre Branding Marketing for writers Use ads and content marketing Newsletter Starting over in your author career Create new IP if you need to How to re-engage readers after you’ve been quiet for a while Risks of rapid release Scaling up Amazon ads Tactics: Bid high on Book One and get read through; start a new ad; courses Reader engagement Post one thing a day and then respond Dealing with FOMO Links: Story Alignment with H. Claire Taylor SPA Girls podcast David Gaughran’s Starting from Zero course Ads for Authors course Mystery Books Podcast WIKT Podcast with Amy Daws Nickolas Eric ad courses and resources Novel Marketing Podcast - Why Rapid Release is a Risky Book Launch Strategy

When you've been self-publishing over a decade, it's easy to see how things have changed for indie authors and where the opportunities lie for publishing and marketing our books. In this wide-ranging interview, David Gaughran discusses the shifts in the industry, starting from zero, book marketing tips, and more.   In the intro, Audible launches […] The post Starting From Zero And Success With BookBub Ads With David Gaughran first appeared on The Creative Penn.

The success stories episode will be recorded soon since TB and Clare wanted to give listeners time to share their triumphs. Don’t be shy. Let them know how awesome you are. TB sent Dagny to the editor, but she did it again. She put off a sex chapter and has to tackle it on the next draft. She’s started researching for the next book in The Miracle Girl series, and the things she’s learning are dark. Just what she needed for 2020, more darkness. Clare recorded in Whitstable, where she’s on her writing retreat. The place makes her so happy. She’s written two sex scenes this week, and she should complete the first draft of her Christmas novel. Also, she celebrated her birthday and watched a movie from a boat on a canal. The duo tackles writing mentors and challenges listeners to expand their definition. Both have learned so much from some of the big names in indie publishing, and so can you, by listening to successful authors’ podcasts, reading their books, subscribing to their newsletters, and taking online courses. We’re lucky to live in an age where you can learn from a broad range of experts. It’s important to have a growth mindset and be open to ideas. And never stop learning since the business constantly changes. What have you learned from your mentors? Head over to www.lesbianswhowrite.com, and leave a comment on the episode. Or you can email them at: lesbianswhowrite@gmail.com. Next week, the duo will discuss a mystery topic. Thanks so much for listening! Clare and TB Links: WMG Publishing Workshops: www.wmgworkshops.com/online/ The Creative Penn Podcast: www.thecreativepenn.com/podcasts/ David Gaughran: davidgaughran.com Indie Author Mindset: indieauthormindset.com The Tim Ferriss Show: tim.blog/podcast/

In this week's episode, I examine David Gaughran's Series Marketing Escalation Paradox, and consider how best to promote a long series of novels.  I also talk about finally finishing the main quest of THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM nine years after starting the game!

Episode 034 / Authors A.I founders J.D. Lasica and Alessandra Torre join Sara this week. Jami wasn’t able to join them for the recording. Sara, J.D., and Alessandra delved into the topic of artificial intelligence and how it can help authors. Come over and say hi to Jami and Sara in the WIKT Facebook group! You can find show notes and links at wishidknownforwriters.com. Sara’s news of the week is that her audiobook went live on Audible, which is about four weeks after upload through Findaway Voices (in case listeners are attempting to time an audio release). She’s also working on rebooting a podcast that’s been fallow for years. More on that later. Jami’s news is that she’s looking into using an audiobook production company. Sara says she stumbled into the benefits of working with an audiobook narrator who has their own following. Jami shares about the challenge of doing audiobooks when your have characters with Texas accents. Helpful news: -Findaway Voices launches retail links beta version -David Gaughran’s post about launching books - that post isn’t live at time of podcast upload, but check out David’s blog with tons of useful information on writing and publishing In this podcast episode, you’ll discover: J.D.’s background in journalism and how he transitioned to writing tech thrillers, inspired by living in the “start-up world” of Silicon Valley Alessandrea’s “boring” background in business and banking and how she shifted to writing romance and suspense Authors A.I.’s backstory with Matt Jockers, Ph.D., co-author of The Bestseller Code How the A.I., called Marlowe, reads and understands novels, and gives feedback to authors Fears around A.I. and whether or not authors should be afraid of the technology The difference between a human editor and Marlowe What level of author can use Authors A.I. What’s coming in the future with A.I., including how artificial intelligence can contribute book discovery and the upcoming book site for readers, BingeBooks, which is a mashup of GoodReads, Bookbub, and Netflix Links: Authors A.I. - Get 15% off with WITK15 BingeBooks Authors A.I. Twitter Authors A.I. Instagram Facebook Author Page

This episode we discuss our (very!) different newsletter strategies: what provider we use and why, how we build our lists, our content, how frequently we email subscribers and what tips have worked for us. We also cover where to start for newbies - ie, keep it simple and doable! Resources mentioned: Our interview with Larissa Reynolds (two parts): https://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep177-successful-newsletter-strategies-with-larissa-reynolds/ Our interview with Maria Luis (two parts): https://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep182-facebook-ads-with-maria-luis/ Our interview with David Gaughran: https://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep225-amazon-decoded/ Our interview with Tammi Labrecque : https://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep145-newsletter-ninja-tammi-labrecque/ Tammi's book: Newsletter Ninja: How to Become an Author Mailing List Expert Tammi L. Labrecque https://amzn.to/2Q9wZD5

In today's show, we will talk about how to build a following online – the three essentials of an online following and platform, how to define a platform, email marketing, and all the mistakes you can make with email marketing. We will talk about blogging, Google, SEO, YouTube, and also Chris Nolan and Sylvester Stallone. Here's where you can find David and more of his resources: https://davidgaughran.com ❤️ [SUBSCRIBE]: https://bit.ly/346R4l9

Amazon, Facebook, Google e Apple stanno attraversando un momento particolare che probabilmente avrà forti ripercussioni in futuro.Forse anche per noi autori indie.Ne parliamo oggi nella nuova puntata di RadioScrivo assieme a un gustoso aneddoto che mi ha coinvolto di recente con il famoso David Gaughran.Scarica GRATIS il Kit dello Scrittore 2.0 suhttps://scrivofacile.comLeggiti il mio libro Self-publishing Marketing per Scrittori 2.0https://scrivofacile.com/self-publishing-marketingCreati una mailing list con SendFox suhttps://scrivofacile.com/sendfoxTrova le keyword migliori con KdSpyhttps://scrivofacile.com/kdspy

Today's guest is David Gaughran, author of the historical adventures Liberty Boy, Mercenary & A Storm Hits Valparaiso, and has helped thousands of authors to self-publish their work via his workshops, blog, and books such as Let’s Get Digital, Let’s Get Visible, Amazon Decoded, Strangers to Superfans, BookBub Ads Expert, and Following. He has been featured in the Telegraph, the Irish Times, the Guardian, the Irish Examiner, the Sunday Times, Huffington Post, Business Insider, Forbes, Mashable, New York Observer, Newsweek Polska, il Giornale, The Star Malaysia, and a smattering of Wanted posters. In May 2020, he was one of the recipients of the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award along with John Picacio. SFWA President Mary Robinette Kowal said, “David Gaughran has been doing yeoman’s work for years, alerting indie writers about predatory schemes and warning them about changes in independent publishing. His work makes the science-fiction and fantasy landscape safer for writers.”   Read the Transcript Support the Podcast Follow on Facebook!   Links for David: Site: https://davidgaughran.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DavidGaughran Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavidGaughranWriter/ Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/david-gaughran   Ad Links: Vellum Now & Then by Sara Bennett Wealer

Episode 025 / Science fiction author Malorie Cooper joins Jami and Sara this week to talk about advertising as well as the pros and cons of co-authoring books. They also dive into how Mal created a massive literary universe and Mal’s non-fiction books for authors. You can find show notes and links at wishidknownforwriters.com. In the intro, Jami talks about her launch, which is happening today! (Congrats!) Jami also shared the title of a book Sara saw mentioned on The Creative Penn’s Twitter feed: 1000 character Reactions from Head to Toe by Valerie Howard. Sara can see the end in sight for the first draft of what she thought would be a “short 40,000” Christmas mystery. (Current word count is 45,000 and climbing!) Both Jami and Sara recommend the Six Figure Author podcast with David Gaughran, who has a new update out for Let’s Get Digital. In this podcast episode, you’ll discover: Why using tropes in ads can be game-changing How reading helped Mal learn how to write and meet reader expectations Challenges around using action tags Inexpensive ways to gain readers How Mal went against type with a cover style and how it paid off Testing Mal’s done around pricing Calculating read-through and using it to assess the best price points for books What Mal wishes she’d known about also-boughts as well as the importance of the quality of the traffic you send to your sales page Mal’s experiment of going wide Tips for working with co-authors How Mal created a sprawling literary universe Genres discussed include science fiction, space opera, military science fiction, and hard science fiction. Links: Malorie’s website Help I’m An Author series

David Guaghran is an author and inde-author influencer who pens works of fiction between guides to help the self-publishing community. In this interview, David talks about the benefits of marketing using Facebook and BookBub advertising. Find more about David and his work at https://davidgaughran.com///Draft2Digital is where you start your Indie Author Career//Looking for your path to self-publishing success? Draft2Digital is the leading ebook publisher and distributor. We’ll convert your manuscript, distribute it online, and support you the whole way, and we won’t charge you a dime. We take a cut of royalties on each sale you make through us, so we only make money when you make money!• Get started:  https://Draft2Digital.com Get insider info on indie author success from our blog.• Visit: https://Draft2Digital.com/blogTune in to our monthly livestreams and ask us anything!• D2D Live: https://D2DLive.comPromote your books with our Universal Book Links!• Books2Read: https://books2read.com//Get ahead of the Self-Publishing game with our Amazing Partners//Findaway Voices || Find a narrator, produce your audiobook, and distribute it to retailers worldwide, including Audible.com and Apple Books.• http://findawayvoices.com/d2dReedsy || Assemble your team of publishing professionals! Find editors, cover designers, marketing experts, ghostwriters and more.• https://reedsy.comBookBrush || Build graphics and video that help you market and promote your books.• https://bookbrush.com/d2d-mockups///Join the D2D Community Online//Facebook || https://facebook.com/draft2digitalTwitter || https://twitter.com/draft2digital 

Our guest for this week’s show is David Gaughran. He writes historical fiction and science fiction under another name, has helped thousands of authors publish their work through his workshops, blog, and writers’ books (Let’s…Continue ReadingSFA 044 – Amazon Sales Ranking, Achieving More Visibility, and More Effective Launches and Book Promos with David Gaughran

Bestselling author William Bernhardt discusses the latest news from the world of publishing, offers writing tips, and interviews Mag Dimond, author of the beautiful travel and meditation memoir, Bowing to Elephants.Chapter 1: Introductiona)Twisted Justice by William Bernhardt breaks new sales records.b)The Early Bird price for registering for WriterCon 2020 (Sept 4-6) expires on June 1.c)Bernhardt will lead a small-group writing retreat at the Writers Colony at Dairy Hollow on July 8-12.Chapter 2: Newsa)Apple Books creates a portal to allow writers to upload books directly.b)The president of Simon & Schuster passes.c)The Big Five are having problems. Macmillan releases employees while other major publishers post declining sales.d)Books-A-Million is reopening.e)Bernhardt predicts we are witnessing a milestone moment in the history of publishing, a decrease in the importance of New York publishing and an increased turn toward digital books, online sales, and print-on-demand.Chapter 3: Writing TipsBernhardt discusses a study by David Gaughran analyzing the Amazon Bestseller list versus the Amazon Popularity list and what it indicates. Writers should make sure their work sends a clear message about its genre and target audience. Covers matter, titles matter, and price matters.Chapter 4: Interview with Mag DimondThe author of Bowing to Elephants discusses what she has learned from her travels and the importance of mindfulness and mediation.Chapter 5: Parting WordsKeep safe, keep sane, and keep writing.For info about WriterCon: www.writercon.orgFor info about Bernhardt’s small-group writing retreat: www.williambernhardt.com/writing-retreats

Ruminations on dressing for video interviews and parties, including changing up my makeup. Also about the next big step I'm taking to up my career game. First Cup of Coffee is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts!Support the show (http://paypal.me/jeffekennedy)

Episode 008 / Renaissance man of the author world David Gaughran decodes Amazon and breaks down Bookbub ads for authors in addition to writing historical fiction and science fiction. He joins Jami Albright and Sara Rosett to discuss how his mistakes have shaped his decision to reboot his fiction and nonfiction books. You can find show notes and links at wishidknownforwriters.com. Jami and Sara are in the podcast timewarp because they recorded the episode intro early since Sara will be in London (hopefully) when it airs. Jami’s making progress on her work-in-progress, and Sara was interviewed on Nathan van Coops’ podcast, Book Faces Live. They also talk about how the coronavirus is impacting travel and how it has brought fist bumps and elbow bumps into vogue. Jami mentions The Daily podcast’s recent episode on the topic. In this podcast episode, you’ll discover: David’s Irish storytelling heritage and how conversation in the pub is a combat sport in Ireland His first mistake of writing “all over the map” in different genres while using the same author name The one thing that he wishes he could change David’s first big success and how he became an accidental nonfiction author Unlearning assumptions related to writing pretty sentences and the value of a good story that resonates with readers How Kindle Highlights can give you an insight to what readers value most What you can learn from books that are selling well--even if you don’t think they’re well-written Assumptions David made about ads and how important it is to question our assumptions Number chasing vs. knowing your readers David’s biggest gamble when he rebooted both his fiction and nonfiction career The value of long-term thinking and creating evergreen systems for your writing and marketing How the pressure of going full-time can impact you psychologically Why emailing too infrequently is a mistake and how David’s mindset about email has changed How David is using what he’s learned from his mistakes to reboot his writing career with pen names and book relaunches How to David has become more efficient with his time and finds multiple uses for content Writing a series vs. stand-alone books and how the challenges of writing a series surprised him The difference between historical fiction in US and UK charts and how David is shifting his writing to meet reader expectations How to meet the market halfway in both writing and marketing Trends in historical fiction, including orphan/holocost novels and WWII novels The importance of having a circle of friends Genres discussed include nonfiction, historical fiction, science fiction, action/adventure, and literary fiction. Links: David Gaughran’s website: https://www.DavidGaughran.com The Daily podcast: The Coronavirus Goes Global Book Faces Live podcast: Nathan van Coops' interview with Sara about writing a series and mystery books and plotting How to Write a Series by Sara Rosett Newsletter Ninja by Tammi Lebreque Take Off Your Pants by Libbie Hawker Murder Bot series by Martha Wells

Is Amazon just one big mystery that you're struggling to unravel? Then this is the podcast for you! David Gaughran gives us some tips and advice from his soon to be released non-fiction book, AMAZON DECODED.

Is Amazon just one big mystery that you're struggling to unravel? Then this is the podcast for you! David Gaughran gives us some tips and advice from his soon to be released non-fiction book, AMAZON DECODED.

Back in Florida to present at this year's NINC writers' conference, the SPF team recorded an edition of the Self Publishing Show in front of a live audience - a first - made up of indie authors and experts, including self publishing guru David Gaughran and Reedsy's Ricardo Fayet. It turned out to be a lively and informative affair!

What I’ve been up to in July, what I’ve learned, goals for August and your monthly tips.   What I’ve been up to, such as: Editing. Working out low cost launch plans for my new book, A Sleuth & a Charlatan. Reading fiction & non-fiction, including Big Magic, by Elizabeth Gilbert and David Gaughran’s BookBub Ads Expert. Reformatted A Thief & a Gentlewoman’s paperback size. Reviewed notes for Strangers to Superfans (also by David Gaughran) to plan what I need to implement.   I talk 20Books to Edinburgh, including: Delayed flights and working at the airport. Catching up with existing friends and making new ones. Feeling even more of a sense of belonging with my tribe. My first writing retreat – making a start on drafting my pirate books. Getting my arse kicked by mad people who get up at 5am. Getting my arse kicked/being made to cry in the nicest way by Lyz Kelley – all part of finding your inner, truest why, leading to your inner, truest brand. Cool plans for a potential collaboration … More information soon.   Links for the tips for this episode: 5am Writer’s Club: https://5amwritersclub.wordpress.com/ Big Magic [UK affiliate link: https://amzn.to/33dhPS8] [US affiliate link:https://amzn.to/2yA3BwB] BookBub Ads Expert, David Gaughran [UK Affiliate link: https://amzn.to/2KgYRTd] [US Affiliate link: https://amzn.to/2MCr8oB] Strangers to Superfans, David Gaughran [UK affiliate link: https://amzn.to/2M0pyxE] [US Affiliate link: https://amzn.to/2T9mwYr] Connect with me: Twitter @claresauthor, email clare@claresager.com.   Credits: Intro/Outro Music: “Inspired” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Bestselling author William Bernhardt (Court of Killers) discusses the latest news from the world of books, offers writing tips, then interviews David Gaughran, author of many works of fiction and nonfiction, including Let's Get Digital.Chapter 1: IntroductionChapter 2: Newsa) Bernhardt reports on a recent discussion by literary agents and editors of current trends in adult fiction.b) A report from the Cannes Film Festival on what books scouts are seeking for movie/tv adaptations.c) New NBD Bookscan data provides the latest information on book sales, what's selling and what's not.Chapter 3: Writing Tips. Bernhardt discusses the Kathleen Hale controversy resulting from Hale's response to a negative review on Goodreads--and what it should tell you about handling reviews.Chapter 4: Interview with David Gaughran. Bernhardt interviews the acclaimed author of Let's Get Digital about what online book marketing is most effective, whether to go wide or be Amazon-exclusive, and many other related topics.Chapter 5: Parting Words. Bernhardt, Gaughran, and many others will be at WriterCon, the annual writers conference in Oklahoma City over Labor Day weekend. Bernhardt's newest novel, Court of Killers, is now available for pre-order on Amazon.For information about WriterCon: www.writer con.orgFor information about Bernhardt and the Red Sneaker Writers Center: www.william bernhardt.comTo pre-order Court of Killers: https://amazon.com/Court-Killers-Daniel-Pike-Book-ebook/dp/B07TN2ZQ31/

MailChimp's recent pivot from an email marketing provider to a full-service marketing platform left many authors in the dust. Including us! We jumped ship and we have some key tips to help you move on... and preferably move up to something that will make organizing your email list and newsletter life in ways you never dreamed were possible. Check out David Gaughran's article on MailChimp's changes here. You can check out Convertkit HERE and the migration form HERE. Join us on Facebook! New videos EVERY single Monday. Make sure to subscribe: http://bit.ly/1WIwIVC PATREON! Many bonus perks for those who become a patron of the channel. https://www.patreon.com/AmWritingFantasy LET'S CONNECT! Closed Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AmWritingFantasy/ Blog and Courses: https://www.amwritingfantasy.com/ Podcast: http://podcast.amwritingfantasy.com/ Jesper on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SchmidtJesper Autumn on Twitter: https://twitter.com/weifarer Read the full transcript below. (Please note that it's automatically generated and while the AI is super cool, it isn't perfect. There may be misspellings or incorrect words on occasion). Autumn (1s): What the heck is going on with MailChimp. I've used it for years and it was slowly becoming more lost each time I logged in and it wasn't because I've crossed some invisible age threshold where software no longer made sense. I've never seen a company make a platform more difficult to navigate and use of every update so horribly. I treaded logging in this situation was unsustainable, not if I actually wanted to do you know, do business with a man and mailing list, but yes for and I had a plan. Autumn (38s): If you're a fantasy author, then you've come to the right place. My name is Autumn and together with Jesper we've published more than 20 novels. Our aim is to use our experience to help you writing marketing and selling books to fans all over the world. It started with little things like when I clicked on a campaign in MailChimp, the default action directed it to the stats instead of edits like it used to. I can't tell you how many times I groaned as I needed to back up, hit the dropdown menu to say I wanted to edit an automation sequence. Autumn (1m 12s): Instead of seeing, you know, the stats, years of doing things one way or so difficult to unlearn. Then my list disappeared and changed to audiences. It took two or three steps to burrow into the menu to find my formerly easily located lists and subscribers and the from there to go to items like subscription forms and emails. I was sorta like, what the fuck. But then I took a deep breath. I really don't rattle easily. I'm waking Lee adaptable. But then it got even worse. Autumn (1m 43s): My campaign menu's changed. Instead of seeing all the automations or recently sent email blasts, I could only see the ones that related to the audience I was currently viewing. So if I was working with a list for books in one Shondra, uh, wanted to see if I had email, I'd sent to a list that came in through like a giveaway. The search turned up, nothing, not a notice. There was a campaign like that attached to a different list. But thing. It was full panic mode a couple of times as surge just came up empty, like my entire history of emails had been erased. Old McGrumpy (2m 21s): Only worthless. Humans can mess up the beauty of code. Autumn (2m 26s): Oh hi or would make grubby. I should have guessed that our AI Cohoes you would take that view. Do I need to remind you that worthless humans invented computer code and some of it is all that beautiful, Old McGrumpy (2m 39s): but computers will perfect what you've begun Autumn (2m 43s): perhaps, but the last time I checked, there's still a lot of work to do now. Why don't you go chase down some redundant, outdated code of your own before you call humans too complicated. Old McGrumpy (2m 54s): I don't have time for this. Autumn (2m 57s): Where were we? Oh, right. MailChimp is the mailing list platform I've used since I first created an account as a new author. I recommended it to the writing courses I teach. At least I did until I didn't. I already didn't use about half of the platform because it was more than I needed to send newsletters out and organize a book launch or launch teams as MailChimp pivoted towards a new business model of a full service marketing platform and it left me in the dust. I don't use over half the platform normally, but when they transitioned to something entirely new where I wouldn't use over 80% of it but needed to pay for, well 100% I can only be happy that we jumped ship when we did, which was a full month before the new changes in pricing tiers. Autumn (3m 44s): I won't go into what MailChimp has been doing, but we'll billing to a very detailed article by David Koch ran in the show notes. That article is a great discussion in itself, which we've been doing in the amwritingfantasy closed Facebook group. We'd love to have you join us there and add your thoughts. The link is in the show notes. Yes. For night jumped out of MailChimp before getting out needed to happen ASAP and our account costs would have at least doubled if not tripled or more. Autumn (4m 15s): Part of the reason why we loved was I was tired of being frustrated with figuring out the platform when I just wanted to create a newsletter or just simply check the wording of it. Automation, a two minute task became 15 minutes Odyssey of frustration. Honestly, about a year ago I moved my reader lists out of MailChimp's to Miller Lite. Then Yesper and I decided this winter to move our author list to convert kit where he hosts his reader account. Don't get me wrong, I like Miller Lite. Autumn (4m 46s): It works fine for the reader newsletters, but convert kit is awesome. It is a whole level of organization and simplicity. I hadn't even known existed with mailing lists. If you have some pretty sophisticated automations, ConvertKit will not let you down. In fact, it will make your newsletter life upright so smooth that you'll be able to take the time to figure out any kinks in the flow and to get it all working better. One of my favorite things is we didn't have to do all the heavy lifting. If you have more than 5,000 subscribers, ConvertKit will migrate you to their platform for free. Autumn (5m 20s): You get a personal team who will work with you to translate what you used to do and to how it works in covid kit and give you the tour. Before handing over the keys. Our team was fantastic and asked lots of clarifying questions, which always boosts my confidence that they care and are taking their task seriously. Part of the process is completing a month migration form, which at first I felt so daunting. They wanted me to organize the chaos. I'd created a MailChimp. Autumn (5m 51s): Oh my gosh. I'll link to the migration forum too, but there are some key was of information you'll need. You'll of course near the main website you use the signup forms on, but if you are like us and have a few different sites, that isn't a problem. There is a spot for those too. You need your subscriber count, but approximate is fine, which is good because if you have duplicate emails you might not have as many subscribers as you think you do. You also need a list of all your subscriber forms in a very specific way. Autumn (6m 21s): That is one the URL, the optin to any thank you attached. Page three any lead magnet or freebie attached and for which list groups opt. It needs to view attitude. For me, that could look a little bit like this one, a photo link at this plebiscite to know thank you. Page three, PDF download, pound up this website and four goes to a free booklet. Not that bad except you need to do it for all of your opt-ins. I think it was at this point I realized I needed to do this exercise at a document and then copy and paste to the migration forum. Autumn (6m 55s): ConvertKit also leaves an entire section for you to type in anything odd or unique about your list or list management. For me, I listed the my website themes because I have one that wants stripped code in order to create a special pop-up signup form. They handle that. No problem. Next you need to know the name of your list tags and or groups that need to be moved. That makes sense. Especially for us, since I had some author lists and some Reno lettuce and well not everything was going to be in the same spot when it was all said and done. Autumn (7m 27s): The next really big piece of info you need is your automations and know how they are connected with lists sort of the whole way the puzzle fits together. They get written down like this. The arc reader onboard automation connects to the ArcSight of form and the arc reader list. There's also a place to list any integrations you use Zapier or a membership plugin as well as your timeline and any extra info you need to share after that you need to actually give a ConvertKit access to everything from MailChimp to your website, plugins and such because they actually go in and do all the switching for you. Autumn (8m 3s): I can't even begin to tell you how fantastic that was because I gave them some crazy long answers to all the above questions and they did it all and checked in to be sure they were moving it right and they do it in a very thoughtful way. The migration form has some fun examples and phrasing to take the, Oh my gosh, you need to meet to actually be organized and explain this to you. Pain out of the ordeal. Oh, and they give you a free tee shirt, which is kind of awesome too. Autumn (8m 33s): What about that MailChimp account you'll be leaving behind? You may still have subscribers coming through the old legs. Do you want to have them find a blank page? I didn't. So I figured out a few alternatives. One thing you can do is scrub all your list once you have them safely downloaded and then request MailChimp revert your account to free as long as you haven't done that before and now have less than 2000 subscribers if you have all is not lost. Another option is to pause your account. This is an option that's under your settings. Autumn (9m 4s): Hey, wait, wait, wait. Down at the bottom. Once your account is pause, you would not be billed and you cannot send whoever people could still sign up and so if they come in through an old link and then you can download that new site up and upload it to your new platform plow, you can view all of your account information like lists, campaigns and automations. It is actually a really great feature. Nothing's lost. You can still refer to it. I'd recommend that if you do pause the account though to change all of your subscription forms to say right there that the subscriber landed on an old link and a signup will not result in getting whatever it is they think they're signing up for, but not to worry and to follow the link provided to the correct sign-up spot. Autumn (9m 47s): Yeah, might use it through a few people through the jumble of link clicking, but you will have a better success rate than if a potential subscriber hits a dead link. If your questions are to ConvertKit migration and what is going on at MailChimp or some steps you can take, let us know in the show notes in the comments below. And if you're running an author newsletter, check out this video on using your email list to sell books for some tips. Stay safe out there and see your next Monday.  

Terri Reid published her first book. "Loose Ends - A Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery" in August of 2010. By the end of 2013, “Loose Ends” had sold over 200,000 copies. She has nineteen other books in the Mary O'Reilly Series, and more than 10 other novels, as well as a number of short stories and novellas. Reid has enjoyed Top Rated and Hot New Release status in the Women Sleuths and Paranormal Romance category through Amazon US. Her books have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese and German, and are also available in audio versions. Reid has been quoted in several books about the self-publishing industry including “Let's Get Digital 1 and 2” by David Gaughran, and “Interviews with Indie Authors: Top Tips from Successful Self-Published Authors” by Claire and Tim Ridgway. Terri has been a keynote speaker at writing conventions about the world of independent publishing, at women's conventions as an inspirational speaker, and at universities and schools on the basics of becoming an author.

This reprise of our interview with David Gaughran on his blockbuster book Strangers to Super Fans is part of our Summer Blast From the Past. This show was one of the most downloaded podcasts we've done in three years. You won't want to miss! In this episode, Chris interviews author David Gaughran about his new book, Strangers To Superfans. In the show Chris calls this "possibly the best book marketing book ever," a must-read for authors at every level. Links & Show Notes -Why it's important for authors to understand the "reader's journey" and how that knowledge informs the marketing process. -Why the "Discovery" piece of the journey is the "easiest problem to solve and also the easiest to screw-up." -Why authors need to understand the role that data plays in making marketing decisions. -Why most authors look at marketing their backlist backwards and how to fix it. -Why a smaller, more engaged mailing list is better than a huge disinterested one. -Why you need to pay attention to the production details of your book first: quality of writing, cover, blurb, keywords. Links - Click 'em, they're live Link to David Gaughran's new book, Strangers to Superfans.  Link to sign up for his regular newsletter and receive a free copy of his book, Amazon Decoded.

Part 2 of our mini-series on ad platforms, has bestselling author and self-publishing guru, David Gaughran, turning the spotlight on BookBub ads. Are they worth investing time, effort and money in?

Indie publishing activist David Gaughran discusses the benefits of BookBub in targeting specific markets such as Kobo and how much money authors should spend on advertising. David discusses the importance of creating a marketing strategy and how to revive a title with decreasing sales. Start self-publishing today with KWL. Join the platform that’s fast, free, easy. www.kobo.com/writinglife  

How to Use Bookbub to Sell More Books with David Gaughran The post How to Use Bookbub to Sell More Books with David Gaughran appeared first on Author Media.

David Gaughran is bestselling novelist and the author of a series of amazing guides on how to market books online. He has helped thousands of authors self-publish their books and we were delighted to welcome him to our live show for Patreon supporters to discuss the ins and outs of the mighty Amazon and he answers our Patreon listener questions. This episode is crammed full of great tips to sell more copies of your books. Here are the highlights! To support the show go to bestsellerexperiment.com/support Our novel Back To Reality is out now bestsellerexperiment.com/backtoreality

David Gaughran is bestselling novelist and the author of a series of amazing guides on how to market books online. He has helped thousands of authors self-publish their books and we were delighted to welcome him to our live show for Patreon supporters to discuss the ins and outs of the mighty Amazon and he […] The post EP184: David Gaughran – How Amazon Works appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.

This episode is the third of a three-part super series on how to become a BookBub ads expert with David Gaughran. If you haven't listened to episodes one and two, we recommend you start there. Here's the link to the first show in the series: https://cksyme.com/episode120 ******************************* In this episode Chris and expert guest David Gaughran talk about how to bid for success with BookBub ads. There may be a tiny bit of math involved, but keep calm and carry on. Show Notes & Links: -Why using CPM (cost-per-thousand impressions) bidding can be foreboding.  -The reasons why CPM bidding is better than CPC bidding (cost-per-click) on BookBub ads. -If you haven't optimized your ads through testing and your ad is bad, CPM might be a risk. -When should you use BookBub ads? -Is there a difference in effectiveness for authors on KDP-only or wide? -Why your success rate goes up when you test. -When BookBub ads are good for free books and when they are not -Be sure and listen for David's smarty pants tip to rule them all at the end of the show. Links (click 'em, they're live) -Get David's new book, BookBub Ads Expert here -David Gaughran website and blog -Becca Syme's new Quitcast Show; what to quit, what to keep, and what to question. Chris Syme's Facebook page  

This week, Chris starts a three-week series with David Gaughran, author of the new book, BookBub Ads Expert. In this first part, it's all about how to test for success and find a template you can use to replicate for success.  Show Notes & Links: -Why David wrote his new book and how he got his data. -Why testing is absolutely necessary for success. -Why conversions (sales) are a more important measure than click-throughs. Hint:clicks don't tell the right story. -Why you'll get the bet results with a discounted ad and why you should start there. -How a "deal" can hook a reader to buy a full price book. -Why testing helps you understand the nuances of the BookBub ad platform and how that works to your advantage. -Why targeting big name, bestselling authors for your ads on BookBub won't work like it does on Amazon or Facebook. Links (click 'em, they're live) -Get your copy of BookBub Ads Expert here -A link to David Gaughran's website--sign up for his email list and get his free book, Amazon Decoded. -Link to the BookBub Partner Dashboard blog (good resources here) -Link to Becca Syme's new videocast: The Quitcast. -Link to leave a comment or ask a question on the podcast page  

Bestselling author William Bernhardt (The Last Chance Lawyer) discusses the latest news that writers need to know, offers writing tips, and interviews David Gaughran, author of BookBub Ads Expert and the blog Let's Get Digital.News:1) Barnes & Noble earnings are flat, Amazon closes pop-up stores, Draft2Digital adds Google Play, PublishDrive adds Amazon Ads, Reedsy adds the Discovery program, and BookBub adds Chirp, a service to help writers promote audiobooks.2) A plagiarism scandal erupts in the world of romance fiction. Is Amazon to blame?3) Quillbot is a web-based program that offers to improve your writing. Can artificial intelligence give you sizzling style?Writing Tips1) A Twitter-storm arises and a forthcoming debut young adult author accused of racial insensitivity withdraws her book. Given the hyperactive online ecosystem in today's world, how can a writer avoid problems like this? And how should you deal with it if it arises?Interview:David Gaughran is an Irish author of fiction and nonfiction and an expert on online book marketing. He discusses his new work, BoobBub Ads Expert and how you can use BookBub, Amazon Ads, and other online opportunities to effectively increase the sales of your books.William Bernhardt's new novel, The Last Chance Lawyer, can now be pre-ordered online in ebook, print, and audio. This is the first novel is a new series of legal thrillers featuring lawyer Daniel Pike. The book will be released March 19, 2019.David Gaughran will be one of the featured presenters this year at WriterCon 2019, an annual writers conference in Oklahoma City held over Labor Day weekend. For more information, visit writer con.org.

In this episode, the discussion continues about the new marketing and where we need to be going in 2019 to optimize book sales and business growth (yes, author--you are a business owner). Chris also shares where the podcast is going in 2019 and changes listeners can expect as the show expands it content.  Links & Show Notes: "The biggest mistake we've made in marketing is ignoring the emotional connection that readers have to our stories." -Chris Syme -What's coming in 2019 and why you'll want to stay tuned. -Takeaways from Seth Godin's new book, This is Marketing. -Why advertising and marketing are not the same thing. -Why we need to quit telling people what they should be buying. -Why ads are no longer a go-to strategy for most authors. -Why you may want to take a second look at redefining "write to market." Links: Seth Godin's new book, This Is Marketing. David Gaughran's Strangers to Superfans book  

In this episode Chris interviews Tammi Labrecque, author of Newsletter Ninja on how to make email your go-to weapon for reader engagement.  Show Notes & Links: -Why email is the most important weapon in your marketing arsenal. -The podcast epiphany: Why you are not selling what you think you are.  -Using your email list for just selling your books? Why you're doing it all wrong. - Why building your email list backwards is the best thing to do. -How to help your readers make sure they are seeing your emails (deliverability tips). -Why being transparent is important to your readers. -How many David Gaughran mentions were in this podcast? Be sure and go to the podcast page on the website and leave your comments or questions. Click here.  -Link to Tammi's book, Newsletter Ninja. Buy it now. -More information about Tammi's online class.   

In this episode Chris discusses Amazon's new edition of their ebook bulk buy program--who may benefit and who might not give a hoot.  Included in the podcast are reflections on questions answered by Amazon's director of Author & Vendor Relations, Dan Slater. Show Notes & Links: -We'll talk about what the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) official post on the new program says and what it does not say. -Chris gets reactions from Amazon and BookBub. -Would a purchase of 100 ebooks count directly as 100 books to my sales rank?  -Unredeemed copies can result in a refund within 60 days of your purchase. -The new program involves sending the free codes through Amazon—they don't generate codes you send out via your email. -You will earn royalties based on the royalty options in place at the time of your bulk book order. If you buy books at 99 cents, you will earn a 99-cent royalty no matter what the price of the book when it is redeemed. -Pre-order books and free books are not eligible for the program. Links: Here is the post from Forbe's featuring comments from author and marketing expert David Gaughran. Here is the link to the explanation of the new program guidelines on KDP. Here is a link to find out more about The Content Formula. Remember, if you purchase The Content Formula before Aug. 1 you'll get an email invite to register for Chris' class, How to Set Up a Facebook Page That Sells More Books for free. ($49 value).  

In this week’s episode, I ramble on about Pokémon Go, before diving into writing advice and why I think it sucks. Then after trying to convince you that writing advice sucks, I then to proceed to give you some writing advice, which sucks. Guess I should have thought that more through… Oh well. Here are the people I mention at the end of the show who helped me in my writing journey. Nick Stephenson yourfirst10kreaders.com David Gaughran davidgaughran.com Sterling and Stone sterlingandstone.net Joanna Penn TheCreativePenn.com Film Riot filmriot.com Skip to the 14:00 mark for the writing advice.

David Gaughran is an Irish writer, living in Prague, who spends most of his time travelling the world, collecting stories. He runs the publishing blog Let's Get Digital and the South American history site South Americana, and his work has been featured in the Huffington Post, The Sunday Times and the Irish Times.MENTIONS:Rent a writer's retreat that can take you places! Check out my RV, now for rent via Outdoorsy, at bit.ly/rvwriter!Cover your nakedness and your shame with a Written World Tee, now with 100% more Kevin words! http://bit.ly/writtenworld-teesNew to Wordslinger Press, pick up Writing a Better Book DescriptionPick up a copy of Kevin Tumlinson's newest Dan Kotler archaeological thriller The Girl in the Mayan Tomb - https://books2read.com/mayan-tombCONNECT ONLINE:Website(s):Blog: https://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/Site: http://davidgaughran.com/Twitter handle(s): @DavidGaughranFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavidGaughranWriter/Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/David-Gaughran/e/B004YWUS6QTHIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWSBrought to you by Draft2DigitalTraditional ebooks are down, Indies are up — That’s according to a story in GeekWire, which presents the oddly confusing yet comforting statement “Ebook sales are dying. Ebooks are insanely popular.” The story cites PubTrack Digital’s research results, showing a 10 percent decline in ebook sales from 2017 over 2016. The 450 publishers included in the study saw ebook sales from from 170 million units to 162 million in that one-year span. A second study released by the American Association of Publishers seems to jive with those results, showing a 4.7 percent drop in ebook sales in 2017, from more than 1,200 publishers. But all is not lost—because the article points out that those studies are both focused entirely on traditional book publishing. Factor in indie publishing, and you get a revolution of ebook sales. Big numbers are hitting the board, including one from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos: “Over a thousand independent authors surpassed $100,000 in royalties in 2017, through Kindle Direct Publishing.” — http://bit.ly/151-ebooksShould we judge a work by its author? — In the wake of allegations of sexist misconduct, some are asking if we should ignore and invalidate work written by authors such as Junto Díaz, a Pulitzer Prize winner who was accused of forcibly kissing a woman years earlier. A recent editorial in the National Review argues that we shouldn’t dismiss a writer’s (or actor’s or comedian’s or artist’s) work because of that writer’s actions. I agree. Despite allegations, enough readers have resonated with Díaz’s work that it would be horribly dismissive to ban or boycott it. Instead, maybe we should consider that first all humans are capable of producing good work regardless of their past offenses, and second that we humans are not defined by the mistakes of our past. If we’re to grow and evolve, we have to accept that people can change. What do you think? — http://bit.ly/151-badwriterWhat Can Algorithms Tell You About Your Writing? — In a recent Wall Street Journal post, machine learning has come into the spotlight as potentially “your next editor.” Computer algorithms can now be used to determine everything from reading level to mood to the complexity of your ideas. Could this lead to a revolution in automated editing? Maybe. Though the technology gives some pretty handy insights into improving a writing sample, it doesn’t necessarily account for when a writer deliberately wants to break the rules. Imagine Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer run through this thing and you’ll get the idea. On the other hand, for writers who may be just learning to hone their craft, this could be a life (and budget) saver. Check out the story and even test some of your own writing. — http://bit.ly/151-algorithmLOOKING FOR SOME COOL T-SHIRTS WITH WHICH TO HIDE YOUR NAKED SHAME? Now you can get T-shirts with stuff I wrote on ‘em. Just hit http://bit.ly/writtenworld-tees to browse and buy!THIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY:Written World Writer’s Retreat - Rent a writer’s retreat that goes wherever you want to go. Check out my listing on Outdoorsy for the perfect writer’s retreat—my 38’ luxury motor coach! Go to http://bit.ly/rvwriter for details.Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslingerWordslinger Press—This is your chance to start your indie author career right. Pick up books and other products to help you build and grow a successful writing career. Start growing at http://wordslingerpodcast.comSupport this show: Subscribe and share!Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcastPick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673)

In this episode Chris interviews author David Gaughran about his new book, From Strangers To Superfans - described by Chris as a must-read for authors of every platform level.  Links & Show Notes -Why it's important for authors to understand the "reader's journey" and how that knowledge informs the marketing process. -Why the "Discovery" piece of the journey is the "easiest problem to solve and also the easiest to screw-up." -Why authors need to understand the role that data plays in making marketing decisions. -Why most authors look at marketing their backlist backwards and how to fix it. -Why a smaller, more engaged mailing list is better than a huge disinterested one.  -Why you need to pay attention to the production details of your book first: quality of writing, cover, blurb, keywords. Links - Click 'em, they're live Link to David Gaughran's new book, Strangers to Superfans.  Link to sign up for his regular newsletter and receive a free copy of his book, Amazon Decoded.

If you want to have a long-term career as an author, you need readers to care about you and want to buy your books over the years to come. So how do you turn strangers into superfans? I discuss this and more book marketing tips with David Gaughran in today's show. In the introduction, I […] The post Strangers to Superfans. Book Marketing with David Gaughran first appeared on The Creative Penn.

Ricardo Fayet is a founder and the chief marketing officer of Reedsy, a company that is changing the way books are published by giving authors and publishers access to talented professionals, powerful tools, and free educational content. Quotes To Remember: “If you’re looking to self-publish your book, first you need to do a lot of learning.” “Learn about the manuscript of revision.” “If you send your book out there and it doesn’t have the right cover, it’s just money that you’re gonna lose.” “You need to publish a lot if you want to make money in writing.”   What You’ll Learn: Making Your Books Look More Professional How Reedsy Helps Self-Published Authors Generating Revenue From Your Books Tips and Advices for Book Authors   Key Links From The Show: Ricardo’s Site Kindlepreneur   Recommended Books: Uncommon Stock:Version 1.0 by Eliot Peper Uncommon Stock:Power Play by Eliot Peper Uncommon Stock:Exit Strategy by Eliot Peper Metadata by Jeffrey Pomerantz Let's Get Digital by David Gaughran   Support Breakthrough Success On Patreon Please consider supporting Breakthrough Success on Patreon. I publish five episodes per week which I carefully prepare for, and I choose to not run ads in my podcast to enhance the listener experience. I offer my patrons various perks, and even a donation as small as $1/mo would make a big difference for growing and maintaining Breakthrough Success. You can support Breakthrough Success by going here.

‘Self publishing hasn’t just arrived, it’s taken over,’ says a man who knows. David Gaughran, champion of Indie authors, and author of several versions of Let’s Get Digital and Let’s Get Visible, has released a new bible for us, Strangers To Superfans, A Marketers Guide To The Readers’ Journey.  Think discoverability, visibility, consideration, purchase and advocacy, and you’ve got most things covered. The trouble is, most of us don’t think enough about these things, or at least, we haven’t until now. David talks us through failure points, optimising each stage of the reader’s journey to increase conversions, boosting sales, and best of all, passionate readers. ‘Writers need less convincing to self publish and more tools to do it effectively,’ says David, and being the man he is, he set about giving the rest of us the very tools we need. And just in case you’re interested, my favourite fiction novel of David’s is Mercenary, about Lee Christmas, a hard-headed drifter who changes the fate of a nation. How can you resist? You can find out more about superfans, getting visible and digital, and David’s fiction https://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/ (here.) You might also like to check out his blog. It’s got everything you need to know about Indie publishing, along with a great free guide, Amazon Decoded. Be prepared to stay awhile once you visit.   https://writerontheroad.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Pauls-Course-pic-e1523509076847.jpg ()     This week's sponsor is Paul Brodie's The Book Publishing For Authors Implementation Program. You can find out more http://www.brodieedu.com/services (here.)

We had a great chat with David Gaughran this week. He’s a historical fiction author who dabbles in science fiction now and then, and when he’s not writing fiction, he’s keeping an eye on the publishing scene and analyzing what’s working for authors who are going wide and selling well on Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, etc. and also what’s

Indy advocate, historical author, and all around awesome guy... David Gaughran joins the show to talk about his love of writing, helping out authors, and how to find your superfans. To learn more about David you can visit his site at: https://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/

Champion of indie author justice, David Gaughran joins James at the NINC conference to discuss his start in self-publishing, and what he’s observing lately in the industry. This week’s highlights include: How the fundamentals of indie publishing have not changed since 2011 The importance of different marketing strategies depending on whether an author is in […]

Amazon Senior Vice President Interview starts at 20:45 and ends at 43.37 “It was the first time we were building a device, so we had a lot to learn. After that the team and as a company we got better each time. So our second Kindle was developed more quickly, and now as you know that team is launching Kindles and Fire TVs and Fire tablets and Echos and more every year.” News Amazon Key “Amazon will start delivering packages into the homes of Prime members” by Jason Del Rey at Recode - October 25, 2017 “Amazon Key Flaw Could Let Rogue Deliverymen Disable Your Camera” by Andy Greenberg at Wired - November 16, 2017 “Amazon's Hall of Spinning Knives” by David Gaughran at Let's Get Digital - October 20, 2017 “Alibaba Singles' Day Racks Up $1 Billion in Sales in 2 Minutes” at Bloomberg - November 10, 2017 “Amazon's Prime Day Generates Estimated $1 Billion in Sale” by Spencer Soper at Bloomberg - July 12, 2017 “Alibaba's Singles Day Sales Hit New Record of $25.3 Billion” by Tiffany Hsu at The New York Times - November 10, 2017 Jeff Bezos 1997 interview by Richard Wiggins (YouTube) Amazon's Black Friday deals Tech Tips All-New Kindle Oasis My video review of the new Kindle Oasis Fawlty Towers Echo Show Garmin Speak Interview with Steve Kessel “Amazon SVP Steve Kessel returns from sabbatical to work on ‘super secret' project” by Tricia Duryee at GeekWire - February 4, 2015 “Meet the Guy Behind Amazon's Secret Retail Store Plans” by Jason del Rey - February 3, 2016 Harry Bingham on TKC 469 - July, 2017 X-Ray for Authors Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann Best Books of 2017 selected by Amazon Books editors “Amazon just revealed the most popular Kindle books of all time” by MJ Franklin at Mashable - November 14, 2017 Content A Look Back at Kindle Bestsellers Next Week's Guest Gabriella Page-Fort, editorial director for AmazonCrossing Music for my podcast is from an original Thelonius Monk composition named "Well, You Needn't." This version is "Ra-Monk" by Eval Manigat on the "Variations in Time: A Jazz Perspective" CD by Public Transit Recording" CD. Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!

David Gaughran is an Irish writer who spends most of his time travelling the world, collecting stories. He is the author of the Latin American historical adventures Mercenary and A Storm Hits Valparaiso, the short stories If You Go Into The Woods and Transfection, and the popular writers' guides Let's Get Digital and Let's Get Visible. He runs the publishing blog Let's Get Digital and the Latin American history site South Americana, and his work has been featured in the Huffington Post, The Sunday Times, and the Irish Times. I caught up with David at this year's Festival of Writing in York where he was giving several presentations about self-publishing.

David Gaughran is an Irish writer who spends most of his time travelling the world, collecting stories. He is the author of the Latin American historical adventures Mercenary and A Storm Hits Valparaiso, the short stories If You Go Into The Woods and Transfection, and the popular writers’ guides Let’s Get Digital and Let’s Get Visible. He runs the publishing blog Let’s Get Digital and the Latin American history site South Americana, and his work has been featured in the Huffington Post, The Sunday Times, and the Irish Times. I caught up with David at this year's Festival of Writing in York where he was giving several presentations about self-publishing. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/self-publishing-journeys/message

Author of Let's Get Digital and Let's Get Visible   Interview starts at 16:56 and ends at 44:39   If you look at stores like Barnes and Noble and Kobo and Apple, I don't think they've even caught up to where the Kindle Store was in 2011 or 2012 yet, let alone approaching where it is now in 2015. I still think they haven't grasped the core part of Amazon's philosophy, which is that they will always seek to recommend that they think you are most likely to purchase—not the one that a company has paid a certain amount, so they'll shove it under your nose.    News Amazon's second-quarter earnings release - July 23, 2015 “Investors React to Amazon's Shocking Earnings Beat” at Zack.com - July 24, 2014 “Another wake-up call from Amazon as they serve author interests better than publishers have” at The Shatzkin Files - July 23, 2015 About Amazon Follow FAQ from Amazon on anti-trust settlement credits   Tech Tip How to use Kindle FreeTime to manage your child's reading content The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer   Interview with David Gaughran Joanna Penn's interview with David Gaughran (video) at YouTube - January 22, 2012 “The Great Amazon Hysteria… Part 31” by David Gaughran at his blog - June 26, 2015 Author Earnings Open Road Media   Content Books by David Gaughran: Mercenary, an historical novel Let's Get Digital: How to Self-Publish, And Why You Should : Updated Second Edition Let's Get Visible: How to Get Noticed and Sell More Books   Next Week's Guest Chris Meadows, editor of TeleRead   Music for my podcast is from an original Thelonius Monk composition named "Well, You Needn't." This version is "Ra-Monk" by Eval Manigat on the "Variations in Time: A Jazz Persepctive" CD by Public Transit Recording" CD.    Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!