Podcasts about kdp

Want a simple, concrete way to sell more books on Amazon? We're taking you inside A+ Content—the image modules beneath your description—and showing how smart visuals, tight copy, and brand consistency can raise conversions, reduce returns, and make your page feel like a pro built it. Together we map the shopper's journey down the page: how the cover earns the scroll, how A+ tiles anchor expectations, and how crisp visuals plus one-line hooks close the gap between browsing and buying. We share real numbers from Amazon (yes, A+ content can help you sell more books!). You'll learn the most common mistakes, the right way to quote reviews, and why fewer, stronger modules beat filling every slot.We also cover the nuts and bolts of access—KDP's Marketing tab for indie authors, and how to coordinate with your publisher if they control the page. For series authors, we explain how to showcase world-building and covers without turning your tiles into a tech spec sheet. Finally, we tackle a listener question: should you use an author photo or a brand logo on your Amazon Author Page? We weigh trust signals, genre expectations, and when a logo makes sense for pen names or corporate-facing nonfiction.If you're ready to turn your Amazon detail page into a conversion engine, this walkthrough gives you the blueprint. Subscribe, share with an author friend, and leave a quick review telling us the one A+ change you'll make this week.And here is the article on the KDP changes we mentioned at the start of the call: https://www.ibpa-online.org/news/717526/Amazons-2026-eBook-Download-Update-A-Reader-First-Change-that-Publishers-Should-Understand.htmSend us your feedback!Help shape our 2026 content by taking our 30-second listener poll!

Get Swole - Metal Workout Mix - Vol 4 by KDP - 2025 by Kurlee Daddee Productions

Ready to learn how Leslie transformed her KDP frustration into a luxury Bible study? Today I am teaching you how she created her dream journal using the Print School process.   Video Summary: In this episode, Polly interviews Print School alumni Leslie Martinez, creator of the SOAP Bible Study. Leslie shares how she went from overwhelmed on Amazon KDP to producing a custom, high-quality journal she's proud of. She opens up about her faith journey, restoring joy, and why Print School gave her the clarity, support, and confidence to finally create what God put on her heart.  

Coca-Cola's leadership change. PepsiCo's post-activist playbook. KDP's upcoming strategic re-organization. The commoditization of bottled and sparkling water. MAHA's regulatory shakeup. Refocusing the consumer on sports drinks. As we start 2026, Duane Stanford and John Sicher dive into the hottest industry inflection points.Text us thoughts, questions, or topic suggestions.

What does 2026 hold for indie authors and the publishing industry? I give my thoughts on trends and predictions for the year ahead. In the intro, Quitting the right stuff; how to edit your author business in 2026; Is SubStack Good for Indie Authors?; Business for Authors webinars. If you'd like to join my community and support the show every month, you'll get access to my growing list of Patron videos and audio on all aspects of the author business — for the price of a black coffee (or two) a month. Join us at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn. Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author as J.F. Penn. She's also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. (1) More indie authors will sell direct through Shopify, Kickstarter, and local in-person events (2) AI-powered search will start to shift elements of book discoverability (3) The start of Agentic Commerce (4) AI-assisted audiobook narration will go mainstream (5) AI-assisted translation will start to take off beyond the early adopters (6) AI video becomes ubiquitous. ‘Live selling' becomes the next trend in social sales. (7) AI will create, run, and optimise ads without the need for human intervention (8) 1000 True Fans becomes more important than ever You can find all my books as J.F. Penn and Joanna Penn on your favourite online store in all the usual formats, or order from your local library or bookstore. You can also buy direct from me at CreativePennBooks.com and JFPennBooks.com. I'm not really active on social media, but you can always see my photos at Instagram @jfpennauthor. 2026 Trends and Predictions for Indie Authors and Book Publishing (1) More indie authors will sell direct through Shopify, Kickstarter, and local in-person events — and more companies like BookVault will offer even more beautiful physical books and products to support this. This trend will not be a surprise to most of you! Selling direct has been a trend for the last few years, but in 2026, it will continue to grow as a way that independent authors become even more independent. The recent Written Word Media survey from Dec 2025 noted that 30% of authors surveyed are selling direct already and 30% say they plan to start in 2026. Among authors earning over $10,000 per month, roughly half sell direct. In my opinion, selling direct is an advanced author strategy, meaning that you have multiple books and you understand book marketing and have an email list already or some guaranteed way to reach readers. In fact, Kindlepreneur reports that 66% of authors selling direct have more than 5 books, and 46% have more than 10 books. Of course, you can start with the something small, like a table at a local event with a limited number of books for sale, but if you want to consistently sell direct for years to come, you need to consider all the business aspects. Selling direct is not a silver bullet. It's much harder work to sell direct than it is to just upload an ebook to Amazon, whether you choose a Kickstarter campaign, or Shopify/Payhip or other online stores, or regular in-person sales at events/conferences/fairs. You need a business mindset and business practices, for example, you need to pay upfront for setup as well as ongoing management, and bulk printing in some cases. You need to manage taxes and cashflow. You need to be a lot more proactive about marketing, as you won't sell anything if you don't bring readers to your books/products. But selling direct also brings advantages. It sets you apart from the bulk of digital only authors who still only upload ebooks to Amazon, or maybe add a print on demand book, and in an era of AI rapid creation, that number is growing all the time. If you sell direct, you get your customer data and you can reach those customers next time, through your email list. If you don't know who bought your books and don't have a guaranteed way to reach them, you will more easily be disrupted when things change — and they always change eventually. Kindlepreneur notes that “45% of the successful direct selling authors had over 1,000 subscribers on their email lists,” with “a clear, positive correlation between email list size and monthly direct sales income — with authors having an email list of over 15,000 subscribers earning 20X more than authors with email lists under 100 subscribers.” Selling direct means faster money, sometimes the same day or the same week in many cases, or a few weeks after a campaign finishes, as with Kickstarter. And remember, you don't have to sell all your formats directly. You can keep your ebooks in KU, do whatever you like with audiobooks, and just have premium print products direct, or start with a very basic Kickstarter campaign, or a table at a local fair. Lots more tips for Shopify and Kickstarter at https://www.thecreativepenn.com/selldirectresources/ I also recommend the Novel Marketing Podcast on The Shopify Trap: Why authors keep losing money as it is a great counterpoint to my positive endorsement of selling direct on Shopify! Among other things, Thomas notes that a fixed monthly fee for a store doesn't match how most authors make money from books which is more in spikes, the complexity and hassle eats time and can cost more money if you pay for help, and it can reduce sales on Amazon and weaken your ranking. Basically, if you haven't figured out marketing direct to your store, it can hurt you.All true for some authors, for some genres, and for some people's lifestyle. But for authors who don't want to be on the hamster wheel of the Amazon algorithm and who want more diversity and control in income, as well as the incredible creative benefits of what you can do selling direct, then I would say, consider your options in 2025, even if that is trying out a low-financial-goal Kickstarter campaign, or selling some print books at a local fair. Interestingly, traditional publishers are also experimenting with direct sales. Kate Elton, the new CEO of Harper Collins notes in The Bookseller's 2026 trend article, “we are seeing global success with responsive, reader-driven publishing, subscription boxes and TikTok Shop and – crucially – developing strategies that are founded on a comprehensive understanding of the reader.” She also notes, “AI enables us to dramatically change the way we interact with and grow audiences. The opportunities are genuinely exciting – finding new ways to help readers discover books they will love, innovating in the ways we market and reach audiences, building new channels and adapting to new methods of consuming content.” (2) AI-powered search will start to shift elements of book discoverability From LinkedIn's 2026 Big Ideas: “Generative engine optimization (GEO) is set to replace search engine optimization (SEO) as the way brands get discovered in the year ahead. As consumers turn to AI chatbots, agentic workflows and answer engines, appearing prominently in generative outputs will matter more than ranking in search engines.” Google has been rolling out AI Mode with its AI Overviews and is beginning to push it within Google.com itself in some countries, which means the start of a fundamental change in how people discover content online. I first posted about GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) in 2023, and it's going to change how readers find books. For years, we've talked about the long tail of search. Now, with AI-powered search, that tail is getting even longer and more nuanced. AI can understand complex, conversational queries that traditional search engines struggled with. Someone might ask, “What's a good thriller set in a small town with a female protagonist who's a journalist investigating a cold case?” and get highly specific recommendations. This means your book metadata, your website content, and your online presence need to be more detailed and conversational. AI search engines understand context in ways that go far beyond simple keywords. The authors who win in this new landscape will be those who create rich, authentic content about their books and themselves, not just promotional copy. As economist Tyler Cowen has said, “Consider the AIs as part of your audience. Because they are already reading your words and listening to your voice.” We're in the ‘organic' traffic phase right now, where these AI engines are surfacing content for ‘free,' but paid ads are inevitably on the way, and even rumoured to be coming this year to ChatGPT. By the end of 2026, I expect some authors and publishers to be paying for AI traffic, rather than blocking and protesting them. For now, I recommend checking that your author name/s and your books are surfaced when you search on ChatGPT.com as well as Google.com AI Mode (powered by Gemini). You want to make sure your work comes up in some way. I found that Joanna Penn and J.F. Penn searches brought up my Shopify stores, my website, podcast, Instagram, LinkedIn, and even my Patreon page, but did not bring up links to Amazon. If you only have an author presence on Amazon, does it appear in AI search at all? Do you need to improve anything about what the AI search brings up? Traditional publishers are also looking at this, with PublishersWeekly doing webinars on various aspects of AI in early 2026, including sessions on GEO and how book sales are changing, AI agents, and book marketing. In a 2026 predictions article on The Bookseller, the CEO of Bloomsbury Publishing noted, “The boundaries of artificial intelligence will become clearer, enabling publishers to harness its benefits while seeking to safeguard the intellectual property rights of authors, illustrators and publishers.” “AI will be deeply embedded in our workflows, automating tasks such as metadata tagging, freeing teams to focus on creativity and strategy. Challenges will persist. Generative AI threatens traditional web traffic and ad revenue models, making metadata optimisation and SEO critical for visibility as we adjust to this new reality online.” (3) The start of Agentic Commerce AI researches what you want to buy and may even buy on your behalf. Plus, I predict that Amazon does a commerce deal with OpenAI for shopping within ChatGPT by the end of 2026. In September 2025, ChatGPT launched Instant Checkout and the Agentic Commerce Protocol, which will enable bots to buy on websites in the background if authorised by the human with the credit card. VISA is getting on board with this, so is PayPal, with no doubt more payment options to come. In the USA, ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Free users can now buy directly from US Etsy sellers inside the chat interface, with over a million Shopify merchants coming soon. Shopify and OpenAI have also announced a partnership to bring commerce to ChatGPT. I am insanely excited about this as it could represent the first time we have been able to more easily find and surface books in a much more nuanced way than the 7 keywords and 3 categories we have relied on for so long! I've been using ChatGPT for at least the last year to find fiction and non-fiction books as I find the Amazon interface is ‘polluted' by ads. I've discovered fascinating books from authors I've never heard of, most in very long tail areas. For example, Slashed Beauties by A. Rushby, recommended by ChatGPT as I am interested in medical anatomy and anatomical Venuses, and The Macabre by Kosoko Jackson, recommended as I like art history and the supernatural. I don't think I would have found either of these within a nuanced discussion with ChatGPT. Even without these direct purchase integrations, ChatGPT now has Shopping Research, which I have found links directly to my Shopify store when I search for my books specifically. Walmart has partnered with OpenAI to create AI-first shopping experiences, and you have to wonder what Amazon might be doing? In Nov 2025, Amazon signed a “strategic partnership” with OpenAI, and even though it's focused on the technical side of AI, those two companies in a room together might also be working on other plans … I'm calling it for 2026. I think Amazon will sign a commerce agreement with OpenAI sometime before the end of the year. This will enable at least recommendation and shopping links into Amazon stores (presumably using an OpenAI affiliate link), or perhaps even Instant Checkout with ChatGPT for Amazon. It will also enable a new marketing angle, especially if paid ads arrive in ChatGPT, perhaps even integrating with Amazon Ads in some way as part of any possible agreement, since ads are such a good revenue stream for Amazon anyway. The line between discovery, engagement, and purchase is collapsing. Someone could be having a conversation with an AI about what to read next, and within that same conversation, purchase a bookwithout ever leaving the chat interface. This already happens within TikTok and social commerce clearly works for many authors. It's possible that the next development for book discoverability and sales might be within AI chats. This will likely stratify the already fragmented book eco-system even more. Some readers will continue to live only within the Amazon ecosystem and (maybe) use their Rufus chatbot to buy, and others will be much wider in their exploration of how to find and discover books (and other products and services). If you haven't tried it yet, try ChatGPT.com Shopping Research for a book. You can do this on the free tier. Use the drop down in the main chat box and select Shopping Research. It doesn't have to be for your book. It can be any book or product, for example, our microwave died just before Christmas so I used it to find a new one. But do a really nuanced search with multiple requirements. Go far beyond what you would search for on Amazon. In the results, notice that (at the time of writing) it does not generally link to Amazon, but to independent sites and stores. As above, I think this will change by the end of 2026, as some kind of commerce deal with Amazon seems inevitable. (4) AI-assisted audiobook narration will go mainstream I've been talking about AI narration of audiobooks since 2019, and over the years, I've tried various different options. In 2025, the technology reached a level of emotional nuance that made it much easier to create satisfying fiction audio as well as non-fiction. It also super-charges accessibility, making audio available in more languages and more accents than ever before. Of course, human narration remains the gold standard, but the cost makes it prohibitive for many authors, and indeed many small traditional publishers, for all books. If it costs $2000 – $10,000 to create an audiobook, you have to sell a lot to make a profit, and the dominance of subscription models have made it harder to recoup the costs. Famous narrators and voice artists who have an audience may still be worth investing in, as well as premium production, but require an even higher upfront cost and therefore higher sales and streams in return. AI voice/audio models are continuing to improve, and even as this goes out, there are rumours on TechCrunch that OpenAI's new device, designed by Jony Ive who designed the iPhone, will be audio first and OpenAI are improving their voice models even more in preparation for that launch. In 2026, I think AI-narrated audio will go mainstream with far-reaching adoption across publishing and the indie author world in many different languages and accents. This will mean a further stratification of audiobooks, with high quality, high production, high cost human narrated audio for a small percentage of books, and then mass market, affordable AI-narrated audio for the rest. AI-narrated audiobooks will make audio ubiquitous, and just as (almost) every print book has an ebook format, in 2026, they will also have an audio format. I straddle both these worlds, as I am still a human audiobook narrator for my own work. I human-narrated Successful Self-Publishing Fourth Edition (free audiobook) and The Buried and the Drowned, my short story collection. I also use AI narration for some books. ElevenLabs remains my preferred service and in 2025, I used my J.F. Penn voice clone for Death Valley and also Blood Vintage, while using a male voice for Catacomb. I clearly label my AI-narration in the sales description and also on the cover, which I think is important, although it is not always required by the various services. You can distribute ElevenLabs narrated audiobooks on Spotify, Kobo Writing Life, YouTube, ElevenReader, and of course your own store if you use Shopify with Bookfunnel. There are many other services springing up all the time, so make sure you check the rights you have over the finished audio, as well as where you can sell and distribute the final files. If they are just using ElevenLabs models in the back-end, then why not just do that directly? (Most services will be using someone's model in the back-end, since most companies do not train their own models.) Of course, you can use Amazon's own narration. While Amazon originally launched Audible audiobooks with Virtual Voice (AVV) in November 2023, it was rolled out to more authors and territories in 2025. If your book is eligible, the option to create an audiobook will appear on your KDP dashboard. With just a few clicks, you can create an audiobook from a range of voices and accents, and publish it on Amazon and Audible. However, the files are not yours. They are exclusive to Amazon and you cannot use them on other platforms or sell them direct yourself. But they are also free, so of course, many authors, especially those in KU, will use this option. I have done some for my mum's sweet romance books as Penny Appleton and I will likely use them for my books in translation when the option becomes available. Traditional publishers are experimenting with AI-assisted audiobook narration as well. MacMillan is selling digital audiobooks read by AI directly on their store. PublishersWeekly reports that PRH Audio “has experimented with artificial voice in specific instances, such as entrepreneur Ely Callaway's posthumous memoir The Unconquerable Game,” when an “authorized voice replica” was created for the audiobook. The article also notes that PRH Audio “embrace artificial intelligence across business operations—my entire department [PRH Audio] is using AI for business applications.” And while indie authors can't use AI voices on ACX right now, Audible have over 100 voices available to selected publishing partnerships, as reported by The Guardian with “two options for publishers wishing to make use of the technology: “Audible-managed” production, or “self-service” whereby publishers produce their own audiobooks with the help of Audible's AI technology.” In 2026, it's likely that more traditional publishers — as well as indie authors — will get their backlist into audio with AI narration. (5) AI-assisted translation will start to take off beyond the early adopters Over the years, I've done translation deals with traditional publishers in different languages (German, French, Spanish, Korean, Italian) for some fiction and non-fiction books. But of course, to get these kinds of deals, you have to be proactive about pitching, or work with an agent for foreign rights only, and those are few and far between! There are also lots of languages and territories worldwide, and most deals are for the bigger markets, leaving a LOT of blue water for books in translation, even if you have licensed some of the bigger markets. I did my first partially AI-translated books in 2019 when I used Deepl.com for the first draft and then worked with a German editor to do 3 non-fiction books in German. While the first draft was cheap, the editing was pretty expensive, so I stopped after only doing a couple. I have made the money back now, but it took years. In 2025, AI Translation began to take off with ScribeShadow, GlobeScribe.ai, and more recently, in November 2025, Kindle Translate boosting the number of translated books available. Kindle Translate is (currently) only available to US authors for English into Spanish and also German into English, but in 2026, this will likely roll out to more languages and more authors, making it easier than ever to produce translations for free. Of course, once again, the gold standard is human translation, or at least human-edited translations, but the cost is prohibitive even just for proof-reading, and if there is a cheap or even free option, like Kindle Translate, then of course, authors are going to try it. If the translation gets bad reviews, they can just un-publish. There are many anecdotal stories of indie success in 2025 with AI-translated genre fiction sales (in series) in under-served markets like Italian, French, and Spanish, as well as more mainstream adoption in German. I was around in the Kindle gold-rush days of 2009-2012 and the AI-translation energy right now feels like that. There are hardly any Kindle ebooks in many of these languages compared to how many there are in English, so inevitably, the rush is on to fill the void, especially in genres that are under-served by traditional publishers in those markets. Yes, some of these AI translated books will be ‘AI-slop,' but readers are not stupid. Those books will get bad reviews and thus will sink to the bottom of the store, never to be seen again. The AI translation models are also improving rapidly, and Amazon's Kindle Translate may improve faster than most, for books specifically, since they will be able to get feedback in terms of page reads. Amazon is also a major investor in Anthropic, which makes Claude.ai, widely considered the best quality for creative writing and translation, so it's likely that is used somewhere in the mix. Some traditional publishers are also experimenting with AI-assisted translation, with Harlequin France reportedly using AI translation and human proofreaders, as reported by the European Council of Literary Translators' Associations in December 2025. Academic publisher Taylor and Francis is also using AI for book translation, noting: “Following a program of rigorous testing, Taylor & Francis has announced plans to use AI translation tools to publish books that would otherwise be unavailable to English-language readers, bringing the latest knowledge to a vastly expanded readership.” “Until now, the time and resources required to translate books has meant that the majority remained accessible only to those who could read them in the original language. Books that were translated often only became available after a significant delay. Today, with the development of sophisticated AI translation tools, it has become possible to make these important texts available to a broad readership at speed, without compromising on accuracy.” (6) AI video becomes ubiquitous. ‘Live selling' becomes the next trend in social sales. In 2025, short form AI-generated video became very high quality. OpenAI released Sora 2, and YouTube announced new Shorts creation tools with Veo 3, which you can also use directly within Gemini. There are tons of different AI video apps now, including those within the social media sites themselves. There is more video than ever and it's much easier to create. I am not a fan of short form video! I don't make it and I don't consume it, but I do love making book trailers for my Kickstarter campaigns and for adding to my book pages and using on social media. I made a trailer for The Buried and the Drowned using Midjourney for images and then animation of those images, and Canva to put them together along with ElevenLabs to generate the music. But despite the AI tools getting so much easier to use, you still have to prompt them with exactly what you want. I can't just upload my book and say, “Make a book trailer,” or “Make a short film.” This may change with generative video ads, which are likely to become more common in 2026, as video turns specifically commercial. Video ads may even be generated specifically for the user, with an audience of one, maybe even holding your book in their hands (using something like Cameos on Sora), in the same way that some AI-powered clothing stores do virtual try-ons. This might also up-end the way we discover and buy things, as the AI for eCommerce and Amazon Sellers newsletter says about OpenAI's Sora app, “OpenAI isn't just trying to build a TikTok competitor. They're building a complete reimagining of how we discover and buy things …” “The combination of ChatGPT's research capabilities and Sora's potential for emotional manipulation—I mean, “engagement”—could create something we've never seen before: an AI ecosystem that might eventually guide you through every type of purchase, from the most considered to the most impulsive.” In 2026, there will be A LOT more AI-generated video, but that also leads to the human trend of more live video. While you can use an AI avatar that looks and sounds like you using tools like HeyGen or Synthesia, live video has all the imperfect human elements that make it stand-out, plus the scarcity element which leads to the purchase decision within a countdown period. Live video is nothing new in terms of brand building and content in general, but it seems that live events primarily for direct sales might be a thing in 2026. Kim Kardashian hosted Kimsmas Live in December 2025 with a 45 minute live shopping event with special guests, described as entertainment but designed to be a sales extravaganza. Indie authors are doing a similar thing on TikTok with their books, so this is a trend to watch in 2026, especially if you feel that live selling might fit with your personality and author business goals. It's certainly not for everyone, but I suspect it will suit a different kind of creator to those who prefer ‘no face' video, or no video at all! On other aspects of the human side of social media, Adam Mosseri the CEO of Instagram put a post on Threads called Authenticity after Abundance. He said, “Everything that made creators matter—the ability to be real, to connect, to have a voice that couldn't be faked—is now suddenly accessible to anyone with the right tools.” “Deepfakes are getting better and better. AI is generating photographs and videos indistinguishable from captured media. The feeds are starting to fill up with synthetic everything. And in that world, here's what I think happens.Creators matter more.” It's a long article so just to pick a few things from it: “We like to talk about “AI slop,” but there is a lot of amazing AI content … we are going to start to see more and more realistic AI content.” I've talked to my Patreon Community about this ‘tsunami of excellence' as these tools are just getting better and better and the word ‘slop' can also be applied to purely human output, too. If you think that AI content is ‘worse' than wholly human content, in 2026, you are wrong. It is now very very good, especially in the hands of people who can drive the AI tools. Back to Adam's post: “Authenticity is fast becoming a scarce resource, …The creators who succeed will be those who figure out how to maintain their authenticity [even when it can be simulated] …” “The bar is going to shift from “can you create?” to “can you make something that only you could create?” He talks about how the personal content on Instagram now is: “unpolished; it's blurry photos and shaky videos of people's daily experiences … flattering imagery is cheap to produce and boring to consume. People want content that feels real… Savvy creators are going to lean into explicitly unproduced and unflattering images of themselves. In a world where everything can be perfected, imperfection becomes a signal. Rawness isn't just aesthetic preference anymore—it's proof. It's defensive. A way of saying: this is real because it's imperfect.” While I partially love this, and I really hope it's true, as in I hope we don't need to look good for the camera anymore I would also challenge Adam on this, because pretty much every woman I know on social media has been sent sexual messages, and/or told they are ugly and/or fat when posting anything unflattering. I've certainly had both even for the same content, but I don't expect Adam has been the target for such posting! But I get his point. He goes on:“Labeling content as authentic or AI-generated is only part of the solution though. We, as an industry, are going to need to surface much more context about not only the media on our platforms, but the accounts that are sharing it in order for people to be able to make informed decisions about what to believe. Where is the account? When was it created? What else have they posted?” This is exactly what I've been saying for a while under my double down on being human focus. I use my Instagram @jfpennauthor as evidence of humanity, not as a sales channel. You can do both of course, but increasingly, you need to make sure your accounts at places have longevity and trust, even by the platforms themselves. Adam finishes: “In a world of infinite abundance and infinite doubt, the creators who can maintain trust and signal authenticity—by being real, transparent, and consistent—will stand out.” For other marketing trends for 2026, I recommend publicist Kathleen Schmidt's SubStack which is mostly focused on traditional publishing but still interesting for indies. In her 2026 article, she notes: “We have reached a social media saturation point where going viral can be meaningless and should not be the goal; authenticity and creativity should. She also says, “In-person events are important again,” and, “Social media marketing takes a nosedive… we have reached a saturation point … What publishers must figure out is how to make their social media campaigns stand out. If they remain somewhat uninspired, the money spent on social ads won't convert into book sales.” I think this is part of the rise of live selling as above, which can stand out above more ‘produced' videos. Kathleen also talks about AI usage. “AI can help lighten the burden of publicity and marketing.” “A lot of AI tools are coming to market to lessen the load: they can write pitches, create media lists for you, send pitches for you, and more. I know the industry is grappling with all things AI, but some of these tools are huge time savers and may help a book more than hurt it.” On that note … (7) AI will create, run, and optimise ads without the need for human intervention Many authors will be very happy about this as marketing is often the bane of our author business lives! As I noted in my 2026 goals, I would love to outsource more marketing tasks to AI. I want an “AI book marketing assistant” where I can upload a book and specify a budget and say, ‘Go market this,' then the AI will action the marketing, without me having to cobble together workflows between systems. Of course, it will present plans for me to approve but it will do the work itself on the various platforms and monitor and optimize things for me. I really hope 2026 is the year this becomes possible, because we are on the edge of it already in some areas. Amazon Ads launched a new agentic AI tool in September 2025 that creates professional-quality ads. I've also been working with Claude in Chrome browser to help me analyse my Amazon Ad data and suggest which keywords/products to turn off and what to put more budget into. I'll do a Patreon video on that soon. Meta announced it will enable AI ad creation by the end of 2026 for Facebook and Instagram. For authors who find ad creation overwhelming or time-consuming, this could be a game-changer. Of course, you will still need a budget! (8) 1000 True Fans becomes more important than ever Lots of authors and publishers are moaning about the difficulty of reaching readers in an era of ‘AI slop' but there is no shortage of excellent content created by humans, or humans using AI tools. As ever, our competition is less about other authors, or even authors using AI-assisted creation, we're competing against everything else that jostles for people's attention, and the volume of that is also growing exponentially. I've never been a fan of rapid release, and have said for years that you can't keep up with the pace of the machines. So play a different game. As Kevin Kelly wrote in 2008, If you have 1000 true fans, (also known as super fans), “you can make a living — if you are content to make a living but not a fortune.” [Kevin Kelly was on this show in 2023 talking about Excellent Advice for Living.] Many authors and the publishing industry are stuck in the old model of aiming to sell huge volumes of books at a low profit margin to a massive number of readers, many of them releasing ever faster to try and keep the algorithms moving. But the maths can work for the smaller audience of more invested readers and fans. If you only make $2 profit on an ebook, you need to sell 500 ebooks to make $1000, and then do it again next month. Or you can have a small community like my patreon.com/thecreativepenn where people pay $2 (or more) a month, so even a small revenue per person results in a better outcome over the year, as it is consistent monthly income with no advertising. But what if you could make $20 profit per book? That is entirely possible if you're producing high quality hardbacks on Kickstarter, or bundle deals of audiobooks, or whole series of ebooks. You would only need to sell to 50 people to make $1000. What about $100 profit per sale, which you can do with a small course or live event? You only need 10 people to make $1000, and this in-person focus also amplifies trust and fosters human connection. I've found the intimacy of my live Patreon Office Hours and also my webinars have been rewarding personally, but also financially, and are far more memorable — and potentially transformative — than a pre-recorded video or even another book. From the LinkedIn 2026 Big Ideas article: “In an AI-optimized world, intentional human connection will become the ultimate luxury.” The 1000 True Fans model is about serving a smaller, more personal audience with higher value products (and maybe services if that's your thing). As ever, its about niche and where you fit in the long long long long long tail. It's also about trust. Because there is definitely a shortage of that in so many areas, and as Adam Mosseri of Instagram has said, trust will be increasingly important. Trust takes time to build, but if you focus on serving your audience consistently, and delivering a high quality, and being authentic, this emerges as part of being human. In an echo of what happened when online commerce first took off, we are back to talking about trust. Back in 2010, I read Trust Agents: by Julien Smith and Chris Brogan, which clearly needs a comeback. There was a 10th anniversary edition published in 2020, so that's worth a read/listen. Chris Brogan was also on this show in 2017 when we talked about finding and serving your niche for the long term. That interview is still relevant, here's a quick excerpt, where I have (lightly edited) his response to my question on this topic back in 2017: Jo: The principle of know, like, and trust, why is that still important or perhaps even more important these days? Chris: There are a few things that at play there, Joanna. One is that the same tools that make it so easy for any of us to start and run a business also allow certain elements to decide whether or not they want to do something dubious. And with all new technologies that come, you know, there's nothing unique about these new technologies. In the 1800s, anyone could put anything in a bottle and sell it to you and say, this is gonna cure everything. Cancer — gone. And the bottle could have nothing in. You know, it could be Kool-Aid. And so, the idea of trying to understand what's behind the business though, one beautiful thing that's come is that we can see in much more dimensions who we're dealing with. We can understand better who's the face behind the brand. I really want people to try their best to be a lot clearer on what they stand for or what they say. And I don't really mean a tagline. I mean, humans don't really talk like that. They don't throw some sentence out as often as they can that you remember them for that phrase. But I would say that, we have so many media available to us — the plural of mediums — where we can be more of ourselves. And I think that there's a great opportunity to share the ‘you' behind the scenes, and some people get immediately terrified about this, ‘Ah, the last thing I want is for people to know more about me,' but I think we have such an opportunity. We have such an opportunity to voice our thoughts on something, to talk about the story that goes behind the product. We were all raised on overly produced material, but I think we don't want that anymore. We really want clarity, brevity, simplicity. We want the ability for what we feel is connection and then access. And so I think it's vital that we connect and show people our accessibility, not so that they can pester us with strange questions, but more so that you can say, this person stands with their product and their service and this person believes these things, and I feel something when I hear them and I wanna be part of that.” That's from Chris Brogan's interview here in 2017, and he is still blogging and speaking at writing at ChrisBrogan.com and I'm going to re-listen to the audiobook of Trust Agents again myself as I think it's more relevant than ever. The original quote comes from Bob Burg in his 1994 book, Endless Referrals, “All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like and trust.” That still applies, and absolutely fits with the 1000 True Fans model of aiming to serve a smaller audience. As Kevin Kelly says in 1000 True Fans, “Instead of trying to reach the narrow and unlikely peaks of platinum bestseller hits, blockbusters, and celebrity status, you can aim for direct connection with a thousand true fans.” “On your way, no matter how many fans you actually succeed in gaining, you'll be surrounded not by faddish infatuation, but by genuine and true appreciation. It's a much saner destiny to hope for. And you are much more likely to actually arrive there.” In 2026, I hope that more authors (including me!) let go of ego goals and vanity metrics like ranking, gross sales (income before you take away costs), subscribers, followers, and likes, and consider important business numbers like profit (which is the money you have after costs like marketing are taken out), as well as number of true fans — and also lifestyle elements like number of weekends off, or days spent enjoying life and not just working! OK, that's my list of trends and predictions for 2026. Let me know what you think in the comments. Do you agree? Am I wrong? What have I missed? The post 2026 Trends And Predictions For Indie Authors And The Book Publishing Industry with Joanna Penn first appeared on The Creative Penn.

Happy New Year 2026! I love January and the opportunity to start afresh. I know it's arbitrary in some ways, but I measure my life by what I create, and I also measure it in years. At the beginning of each year, I publish an article (and podcast episode) here, which helps keep me accountable. If you'd like to share your goals, please add them in the comments below. 2026 is a transitional year as I will finish my Masters degree and continue the slow pivot that I started in December 2023 after 15 years as an author entrepreneur. Just to recap that, it was: From digitally-focused to creating beautiful physical books; From high-volume, low cost to premium products with higher Average Order Value; From retailer-centric to direct first; and From distance to presence, and From creating alone to the AI-Assisted Artisan Author. I've definitely stepped partially into all of those, and 2026 will continue in that same direction, but I also have an additional angle for Joanna Penn and The Creative Penn that I am excited about. If you'd like to join my community and support the show every month, you'll get access to my growing list of Patron videos and audio on all aspects of the author business — for the price of a black coffee (or two) a month. Join us at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn. Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author as J.F. Penn. She's also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. Leaning into the Transformation Economy The Creative Penn Podcast and my Patreon Community Webinars and live events Finish my Masters in Death, Religion, and Culture Bones of the Deep — J.F. Penn Add merch to CreativePennBooks.com and JFPennBooks.com How to Write, Publish, and Market Short Stories and Short Story Collections — Joanna Penn Other possible books Experiment more with AI translation Ideally outsource more marketing to AI, but do more marketing anyway Double down on being human, health and travel You can find all my books as J.F. Penn and Joanna Penn on your favourite online store in all the usual formats, or order from your local library or bookstore. You can also buy direct from me at CreativePennBooks.com and JFPennBooks.com. I'm not really active on social media, but you can always see my photos at Instagram @jfpennauthor. Leaning into the Transformation Economy I've struggled with my identity as Joanna Penn and my Creative Penn brand for a few years now. When I started TheCreativePenn.com in 2008, the term ‘indie author' was new and self-publishing was considered ‘vanity press' and a sure way to damage your author career, rather than a conscious creative and business choice. It was the early days of the Kindle and iPhone (both launched in 2007), and podcasting and social media were also relatively new. While US authors could publish on KDP, the only option for international authors was Smashwords and the market for ebooks was tiny. Print-on-demand and digital audio were also just emerging as viable options. While it was the early era of blogging, there were very few blogs and barely any podcasts talking about self-publishing, so when I started TheCreativePenn.com in late 2008 and the podcast in March 2009, it was a new area. For several years, it was like howling into the wind. Barely any audience. Barely any traffic, and certainly very little income.  But I loved the freedom and the speed at which I could learn things and put them into practice. Consume and produce. That has always been my focus. I met people on Twitter and interviewed them for my show, and over those early years I met many of the people I consider dear friends even now. Since self-publishing was a relatively unexplored niche in those early years, I slowly found an audience and built up a reputation. I also started to make more money both as an author, and as a creative entrepreneur. Over the years since, pretty much everything has changed for indie authors and we have had more and more opportunity every year. I've shared everything I've learned along the way, and it's been a wonderful time.  But as self-publishing became more popular and more authors saw more success (which is FANTASTIC!), other voices joined the chorus and now, there are many thousands of authors of all different levels with all kinds of different experiences sharing their tips through articles, books, podcasting, and social media. I started to wonder whether my perspective was useful anymore. On top of the human competition, in November 2022, ChatGPT launched, and it became clear that prescriptive non-fiction and ‘how to' information could very easily be delivered by the AI tools, with the added benefit of personalisation. You can ask Chat or Claude or Gemini how you can self-publish your particular book and they will help you step by step through the process of any site. You can share your screen or upload screenshots and it can help with what fields to fill in (very useful with translations!), as well as writing sales descriptions, researching keywords, and offering marketing help targeted to your book and your niche, and tailored to your voice. Once again, I questioned what value I could offer the indie author community, and I've pulled back over the last few years as I've been noodling around this. But over the last few weeks, a penny has dropped. Here's my thinking in case it also helps you. Firstly, I want to be useful to people. I want to help. In my early days of speaking professionally, from 2005-ish, I wanted to be the British (introvert) Tony Robbins, someone who inspired people to change, to achieve things they didn't think they could. Writing a book is one of those things. Making a living from your writing is another. So I leaned into the self-help and how-to niche. But now that is now clearly commoditised. But recently, I realised that my message has always been one of transformation, and in the following four areas.  From someone who doesn't think they are creative but who desperately wants to write a book, to someone who holds their first book in their hand and proudly says, ‘I made this.' The New Author. From someone who has no confidence in their author voice, who wonders if they have anything to say, to someone who writes their story and transforms their own life, as well as other people's. The Confident Author. From an author with one or a handful of books who doesn't know much about business, to a successful author with a growing business heading towards their first six figure year. The Author-Entrepreneur. And finally, from a tech-phobic, fearful author who worries that AI makes it pointless to create anything and will steal all the jobs, to a confident AI-assisted creative who uses AI tools to enhance and amplify their message and their income. The AI-Assisted Artisan Author. These are four transformations I have been through myself, and with my work as Joanna Penn/The Creative Penn, I want to help you through them as well. So in 2026, I am repositioning myself as part of The Transformation Economy. What does this mean? There is a book out in February, The Transformation Economy by B. Joseph Pine II, who is also the author of The Experience Economy, which drove a lot of the last decade's shift in business models. I have the book on pre-order, but in the meantime, I am doing the following. I will revamp TheCreativePenn.com with ‘transformation' as the key frame and add pathways through my extensive material, rather than just categories of how to do things. I've already added navigation pages for The New Author, The Confident Author, The Author-Entrepreneur, and The AI-Assisted Artisan Author, and I will be adding to those over time. My content is basically the same, as I have always covered these topics, but the framing is now different. The intent is different. The Creative Penn Podcast will lean more heavily into transformation, rather than just information — And will focus on the first three of the categories above, the more creative, mindset and business things.  My Patreon will continue to cover all those things, and that's also where I post most of my AI-specific content, so if you're interested in The AI-Assisted Artisan Author transformation path, come on over to patreon.com/thecreativepenn I have more non-fiction books for authors coming, and lots more ideas now I am leaning into this angle. I'll also continue to do webinars on specific topics in 2026, and also add speaking back in 2027. It's harder to think about transformation when it comes to fiction, but it's also really important since fiction books in particular are highly commodified, and will become even more so with the high production speeds. Yes, all readers have a few favourite authors but most will also read a ton of other books without knowing or caring who the author is. Fiction can be transformational. Reader's aren't buying a ‘book.' They're buying a way to escape, to feel deeply, to experience things they never could in real life. A book can transform a day from ‘meh' into ‘fantastic!' My J.F. Penn fiction is mostly inspired by places, so my stories transport you into an adventure somewhere wonderful, and they all offer a deeper side of transformative contemplation of ‘memento mori' if you choose to read them in that way.  They also have elements of gothic and death culture that I am going to lean into with some merch in 2026, so more of an identity thing than just book sales. I'm not quite sure what this means yet, but no doubt it will emerge. I'll also shape my JFPennBooks.com site into more transformative paths, rather than just genre lists, as part of this shift. My memoir Pilgrimage always reflected a transformation, both reflecting my own midlife shift but I've also heard from many who it has inspired to walk alone, or to travel on pilgrimage themselves. Of course, transformation is not just for our readers or the people we serve as part of our businesses. It's also for us. One of the reasons why we are writers is because this is how we think. This is how we figure out our lives. This is how we get the stories and ideas out of our heads and into the world. Writing and creating are transformative for us, too. That is part of the point, and a great element of why we do this, and why we love this. Which is why I don't really understand the attraction of purely AI-generated books. There's no fun in that for me, and there's no transformation, either. Of course, I LOVE using Chat and Claude and Gemini Thinking models as my brainstorming partners, my research buddies, my marketing assistants, and as daily tools to keep me sparkly. I smiled as I wrote that (and yes, I human-wrote this!) because sparkly is how I feel when I work with these tools. Programmers use the term ‘vibe coding' which is going back and forth and collaborating together, sparking off each other. Perhaps that I am doing is ‘vibe creation.' I feel it as almost an effervescence, a fun experience that has me laughing out loud sometimes. I am more creative, I am more in flow. I am more ‘me' now I can create and think at a speed way faster than ever before. My mind has always worked at speed and my fingers are fast on the keys but working in this way makes me feel like I create in the high performance zone far more often. I intend to lean more into that in 2026 as part of my own transformation (and of course, I share my experiences mainly in the Community at patreon.com/thecreativepenn ). [Note, I pay for access to all models, and currently use ChatGPT 5.2 Thinking, Claude Opus 4.5, and Gemini 3 Pro). So that's the big shift this year, and the idea of the Transformation Economy will underpin everything else in terms of my content. The Creative Penn Podcast and my Patreon Community The Creative Penn Podcast continues in 2026, although I am intending to reduce my interviews to once every two weeks, with my intro and other content in between. We'll see how that goes as I am already finding some fascinating people to talk to!  Thank you for your comments, your pictures, and also for sharing the episodes that resonate with you with the wider community. Your reviews are also super useful wherever you are listening to this, so please leave a review wherever you're listening this as it helps with discovery.  Thanks also to everyone in my Patreon Community, which I really enjoy, especially as we have doubled down on being human through more live office hours. I will do more of those in 2026 and the first one of the year will blearily UK time so Aussies and Kiwis can come. I also share new content almost every week, either an article, a video or an audio episode around writing craft, author business, and lots on different use cases for AI tools.  If you join the Patreon, start on the Collections tab where you will find all the backlist content to explore. It's less than the price of a coffee a month so if you get value from the show, and you want more, come on over and join us at patreon.com/thecreativepenn My Books and Travel Podcast is on hiatus for interviews, since the Masters is taking up the time I would have had for that. However I plan to post some solo episodes in 2026, and I also post travel articles there, like my visits to Gothic cathedrals and city breaks and things like that. Check it out at https://www.booksandtravel.page/blog/  Webinars and live events Along with my Patreon office hours, I'm enjoying the immediacy and energy of live webinars and they work with my focus on transformation, as well as on ‘doubling down on being human' in an age of AI, so I will be doing more this year. The first is on Business for Authors, coming on 10 and 24 January, which is aimed at helping you transform your author business in 2026, or if you're just getting started, then transform into someone who has even a small clue about business in general!Details at TheCreativePenn.com/live and Patrons get 25% off. In terms of live in-person events, it looks like I will be speaking at the Alliance of Independent Authors event at the London Book Fair in March, and I'll attend the Self-Publishing Show Live in June, although I won't be speaking. There might be other things that emerge, but in general, I'm not doing much speaking in 2026 because I need to … Finish my Masters in Death, Religion, and Culture This represents a lot of work as I am doing the course full-time. I should be finished in September, and much of the middle of the year will be focused on a dissertation. I'm planning on doing something around AI and death, so that will no doubt lead into some fiction at a later stage! Talking of fiction … Bones of the Deep — J.F. Penn The Masters is pretty serious, as is academic research and writing in general, and I found myself desperate to write a rollicking fun story over the holiday break between terms. I've talked about this ‘tall-ship' story for a while and now I'm committing to it. Back in 1999, I sailed on the tall-ship Soren Larsen from Fiji to Vanuatu, one of the three trips that shaped my life. It was the first time I'd been to the South Pacific, the first time I sailed blue water (with no land in sight), and I kept a journal and drew maps of the trip. It also helped me a make a decision to leave the UK and I headed for Australia nine months later in early 2000, and ended up being away 11 years in Australia and New Zealand. I came home to visit of course, but only moved back to the UK in 2011, so that trip was memorable and pivotal in many ways and has stuck in my mind. The story is based on that crossing, but of course, as J.F. Penn my imagination turns it into essentially a ‘locked room,' there is no escape out there, especially if the danger comes from the sea. Another strand of the story comes from a recent academic essay for my Masters, when I wrote about the changes in museum ethics around human remains and medical specimens i.e. body parts in jars, and how some remains have been repatriated to the indigenous peoples they were stolen from. I've also talked before about how I love ‘merfolk' horror like Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant, All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter, and Merfolk by Jeremy Bates. These are no smiling fantasy mermaids and mermen. They are predators. What might happen if the remains of a mer-saint were stolen from the deep, and what might happen to the ship that the remains are being transported in, and the people on board?  I'm about a third in, and I am having great fun! It will actually be a thriller, with a supernatural edge, rather than horror, and it is called Bones of the Deep, and it will be out on Kickstarter in April, and everywhere by the summer.  You can check out the Kickstarter pre-launch page with photos from my 1999 trip, the cover for the book, and the sales description at JFPenn.com/bones Add merch to CreativePennBooks.com and JFPennBooks.com I've dipped my toe into merch a number of times and then removed the products, but now I'm clear on my message of transformation, I want to revisit this. My books remain core for both sites, but for CreativePennBooks, I also want to add other products with what are essentially affirmations — ‘Creative,' ‘I am creative, I am an author,' and variants of the poster I have had on my wall for years, ‘Measure your life by what you create.' This is the affirmation I had in my wallet for years! For JFPennBooks, the items will be gothic/memento mori/skull-related. Everything will be print-on-demand. I will not be shipping anything myself, so I'm working with my designer Jane on this and then need to order test samples, and then get them added to the store. Likely mid-year at this rate! How to Write, Publish, and Market Short Stories and Short Story Collections — Joanna Penn I have a draft of this already which I expanded from the transcript of a webinar I did on this topic as part of The Buried and the Drowned campaign. It turns out I've learned a lot about this over the years, and also on how to make a collection, so I will get that out at some point this year. I won't do a Kickstarter for it, but I will do direct sales for at least a month and include a special edition, workbook, and bundles on my store first before putting it wide. I will also human-narrate that audiobook. Other possible books I'm an intuitive creative and discovery writer, so I don't plan out what I will write in a year. The books tend to emerge and then I pick the next one that feels the most important. After the ones above, there are a few candidates. Crown of Thorns, ARKANE thriller #14. Regular readers and listeners will know how much I love religious relics, and it's about time for a big one! I have a trip to Paris planned in the spring, as the Crown of Thorns is at Notre Dame, and I have some other locations to visit. My ARKANE thrillers always emerge from in-person travels, so I am looking forward to that. Maybe late 2026, maybe 2027. AI + religion technothriller/short stories. I already have some ideas sketched out for this and my Masters thesis will be something around AI, religion, and death, so I expect something will emerge from all that study and academic writing. Not sure what, but it will be interesting! The Gothic Cathedral Book. I have tens of thousands of words written, and lots of research and photos and thoughts. But it is still in the creative chaos phase (which I love!) and as yet has not emerged into anything coherent. Perhaps it will in 2026, and the plan is to re-focus on it after my Masters dissertation.  I feel like the Masters study and the academic research process will make this an even better book, But I am holding my plans for this lightly, as it feels like another ‘big' book for me, like my ‘shadow book' (which became Writing the Shadow) and took more than a decade to write! How to be Creative. I have also written bits and bobs on this over many years, but it feels like it is re-emerging as part of my focus on transformation. Probably unlikely for 2026 but now back on the list … Experiment more with AI translation AI-assisted translation has been around for years now in various forms, and I have experimented with some of the services, as well as working with human narrators and editors in different languages, as well as licensing books in translation. But when Amazon launched Kindle Translate in November 2025, it made me think that AI-assisted translation will become a lot more popular in 2026. AI audiobook narration became good enough for many audiobooks in 2025, and it seems like AI-translation will be the same in 2026. Yes, of course, human translation is still the gold standard, as is human narration, and that would be the primary choice for all of us — if it was affordable. But frankly, it's not affordable for most indie authors, and indeed many small publishers. Many books don't get an audiobook edition and most books don't get translated into every language. It costs thousands per book for a human translator, and so it is a premium option. I have only ever made a small profit on the books that I paid for with human translators and it took years, and while I have a few nice translation deals on some books, I'm planning to experiment more with AI translation in 2026. More languages, more markets, more opportunities to reach readers. More on this in the next episode when I'll cover trends for 2026. Ideally outsource more marketing to AI, but do more marketing anyway You have to reach readers somehow, and you have to pay for book marketing with your time and/or your money. Those authors killing it on TikTok pay with their time, and those leaning heavily on ads are paying with money. Most of us do a bit of both. There is no passive income from books, and even a backlist has to be marketed if you want to see any return. But I, like most authors, am not excited about book marketing. I'd rather be working on new books, or thinking about the ramifications of the changes ahead and writing or talking about that in my Patreon Community or here on the podcast. However, my book sales income remains about the same even as I (slowly) produce more books, so I need to do more book marketing in 2026. I said that last year of course, and didn't do much more than I did in 2024, so here I am again promising to do a better job! Every year, I hope to have my “AI book marketing assistant” up and running, and maybe this will be the year it happens. My measure is to be able to upload a book and specify a budget and say, ‘Go market this,' and then the AI will action the marketing, without me having to cobble together workflows between systems. Of course, it will present plans for me to approve but it will do the work itself on the various platforms and monitor and optimize things for me. We have something like that already with Amazon auto-ads, but that is specific to Amazon Advertising and only works with certain books in certain genres. I have auto-ads running for a couple of non-fiction books, but not for any fiction. I'd also ideally like more sales on my direct stores, JFPennBooks.com and CreativePennBooks.com which means a different kind of marketing. Perhaps this will happen through ChatGPT shopping or other AI-assisted e-commerce, which should be increasing in 2026. More on that in trends for the year to come in the next show. Double down on being human, health and travel I have a lot of plans for travel both for book research and also holidays with Jonathan but he has to finish his MBA and then we have some family things that take priority, so I am not sure where or when yet, but it will happen! Paris will definitely happen as part of the research for Crown of Thorns, hopefully in the spring. I've been to Paris many times as it's just across the Channel and we can go by train but it's always wonderful to visit again. Health-wise, I'll continue with powerlifting and weight training twice a week as well as walking every day. It's my happy place! What about you? If you'd like to share your goals for 2026, please add them in the comments below — and remember, I'm a full-time author entrepreneur so my goals are substantial. Don't worry if yours are as simple as ‘Finish the first draft of my book,' as that still takes a lot of work and commitment! All the best for 2026 — let's get into it! The post My 2026 Creative And Business Goals With Joanna Penn first appeared on The Creative Penn.

GRATIS el libro "Escritor de éxito" ➡️https://www.letraminuscula.com/suscribirse-lista-de-correo/ SI deseas PUBLICAR escríbenos : contacto@letraminuscula.com Lláma☎ o WhatsApp: +34640667855 RESUMEN: Descubre los principales motivos por los que Amazon puede cerrar tu cuenta de KDP: cuentas duplicadas, manipulación de comentarios, infracción de copyright y publicación masiva de contenido de baja calidad. Aprende qué prácticas evitar para proteger tu cuenta y mantener la calidad en la plataforma. ⏲MARCAS DE TIEMPO: ▶️00:00 Cuentas duplicadas en KDP ▶️01:18 Peligros de usar pseudónimos ▶️02:37 Infracciones de copyright ▶️03:53 Uso indebido del término best seller ▶️05:17 Libros de bajo contenido y spam ▶️06:38 Contenido duplicado y generado por IA ▶️07:59 Crear buenos libros y evitar sanciones

#197 - Forbidden stories aren't just about shock—they're about truth we're often afraid to name. I sat down with author Bria Rose to explore how dark romance gives readers a safe place to wrestle with power, consent, and grief, and how a reimagined Beauty and the Beast can turn survival into self‑love. Bria shares how childhood bullying and a lifelong bond with Belle's courage shaped her voice, then opens the doors to Her Dark Promise, where Belle is the Beast, the castle is in France, and the magic is human: trauma, desire, and the choice to heal on your own terms.We move from Disneyland memories to real‑world cast life—4 a.m. shifts, sunrise yoga at the castle, and the electric joy of cast previews that remind grownups why Walt designed the park for them, too. Then Bria breaks down dark romance with clarity: morally gray leads, explicit trigger notes, and tropey pressure cookers that challenge comfort zones without glamorizing harm. She explains how to retell a classic without infringing copyright—keeping essence, ditching replicas—and why nods like “the gray stuff” land best when anchored by character depth.The publishing journey is a masterclass: a three‑month draft, two years of rewrites, a decisive pivot to self‑publishing, and a learning curve through KDP, keywords, ISBNs, and design. Sixty cold emails led to one yes and a special edition—proof that you only need one door to open. Along the way, Bria centers representation and found family: all types of characters, sign language, and a castle that becomes a refuge for anyone told they don't belong. We wrap with new projects—an audiobook, a HarperCollins imprint deal, a spicy Pinocchio retelling—and practical advice for aspiring writers: write the words, then make them better.If this conversation sparked something in you, tap follow, share it with a friend who loves retellings, and leave a quick review. Your support helps more curious listeners find the show and keeps these stories moving.To learn more about Bria and her books check out www.authorbriarose.com and give her a follow on Instagram @authorbriarose. Give me a follow on Instagram @journeywithjakepodcast and learn more about my personality and what I love.Want to be a guest on Journey with Jake? Send me a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/journeywithjake Visit LandPirate.com to get your gear that has you, the adventurer, in mind. Use the code "Journey with Jake" to get an additional 15% off at check out. Visit geneticinsights.co and use the code "DISCOVER25" to enjoy a sweet 25% off your first purchase.

In Türchen 18 wird's strategisch: Tom & Jonathan sprechen mit René – einem langjährigen Wegbegleiter und festen Bestandteil des Verlagsniveau Teams. Als Experte für Copywriting sorgt René mit seinem Feedback und Know-how dafür, dass Buchprojekte auf Amazon maximal konvertieren.Doch seine Reise begann ganz anders: Von ersten KDP-Projekten neben dem Angestelltenjob bis hin zur eigenen Selbstständigkeit – inklusive fünfstelliger Monatsumsätze. Heute teilt René seine Erfahrungen, Learnings aus 2025 und einen ganz konkreten Tipp für deinen Erfolg.Du lernst unter anderem:Wie René mit Copywriting & KDP den Weg in die Freiheit gefunden hat Warum auch kleine Buchprojekte große Wirkung haben können Wie du KI sinnvoll für Texte und Buchprojekte nutzt Warum eine E-Mail-Liste dein wichtigstes Asset als Selfpublisher:in ist Wie du mit LinkedIn gezielt Sichtbarkeit aufbaust – z. B. für Expertenkooperationen

What happens when Hollywood decides smart, fearless women don't sell? We sit down with Kay A. Oliver, award-winning author and former industry insider, to explore how she turned that “no” into twelve page-turning novels, a loyal readership, and growing momentum toward the screen.Kay shares a writing process built for consistency and flow: visualizing the opening and ending, stopping mid-scene to avoid writer's block, and using novellas to test ideas, master KDP formatting, and later expand into full-length novels. She explains how deep research fuels her globe-trotting mysteries, why accuracy builds reader trust, and how Road to Elysium weaves grief, mentorship, and second chances with the emotional resonance of Gran Torino and A Man Called Ove.Then we get tactical. Kay breaks down a repeatable indie marketing system: submitting to the right book awards for credibility, investing in press releases that can generate 40k–60k impressions, and running targeted ads where readers already are. We talk platform choice by audience and timing, tracking ROI through the Amazon dashboard, creating cinematic book trailers, and using BookFunnel and KU promos to grow your newsletter through shared audiences. If you're an indie author looking to write faster, market smarter, and build a catalog that lasts, this Have a comment? Text me! Support the show****************************************************************************Connect with Natasha If you're ready to write your book, I'd love to help you bring your story to life.

In Episode 518, Ryan and Jose discuss the recent phsical release of Hellraiser 2022, plus some other Hellraiser-related news and a chance to win an autographed Clive Barker Book. .  This is the Clive Barker Podcast, where long-time fans Ryan and Jose interview guests, bring you the news, and take deep dives into Barker-related stuff. Sponsor : Don Bertram's Celebrate Imagination | Pinterest | ETSY Store Check out his recent paintings, "Self Acceptance",  Fireflies,  The Waiting Room II, Sponsor : Ed Martinez YouTube Channel 1992 Fangoria Weenend of Horrors, Chicago Costume Contest Sponsor : The Now Playing Podcast Catching Up News From The Reef Booksweeps: Enter to Win 10 Books Hellraiser 2022 4K Blu-Ray set : Order Here Prop Dude replicas of the Hellraiser 2022 Lament Configurations on Etsy Simon Bamford on Scream Princess Podcast Coming Next Book Club of Blood: Rawhead Rex Portrait Study 2025 In Review Patreon Members Shout-Out (Become a Patron) David Anderson Erik Van T' Holt Daniel Elven Amanda Stewart Bradley Gartz Matthew Batten Bennett Jesse Clara Leslie Timothy Ramakers Terry Murdock Sponsor: Don Bertram's Celebrate Imagination Sponsor, Ed Martinez YouTube Channel Sponsor : The Now Playing Podcast New from Patreon Extended interview with Peter Atkins Texas Frightmare Memories The Lost World of the EctoSphere And this podcast, having no beginning will have no end.  web www.clivebarkercast.com Apple Podcasts,  Android,  Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, Libsyn, Tunein, iHeart Radio, Pocket Casts, Radio.com, and YouTube and Facebook: | BarkerCast Listeners Group | Occupy Midian  BlueSky | Reddit | Discord Community Support the show Buy Our Book: The BarkerCast Interviews Occupy Midian  Hardcover | Kindle | Apple Become a Patreon Patron | Buy a T-Shirt Music is by Ray Norrish All Links and show notes in their Entirety can be found at https://www.clivebarkercast.com AI Summary Summary Hellraiser News Page Updates Ryan and José discussed updates to a news page, including a book sweep promotion and details about a Hellraiser release. They explored a website for a Turbine release and discovered Etsy listings for 3D-printed Hellraiser prop replicas. José planned to add a link to the Etsy shop to the news page. Hellraiser Lament and Podcast Updates The team discussed the Hellraiser 2022 lament configurations and a potential impact on a shop owner. They reviewed updates on Simon Vanford and Nicholas Vince, including an upcoming podcast appearance. José and Ryan expressed frustration about the complexity of coordinating with various platforms and people for episode planning. They also discussed an Ultra HD Blu-ray release, noting its region-free status and the challenges of international shipping. The conversation concluded with a brief mention of starting to record episode 518 of the Clive Barker Podcast. Clive Barker Book and Blu-ray News Ryan and José discussed two main topics: a book sweep contest offering autographed Clive Barker books, and the announcement of Hellraiser 2022 on Blu-ray. They noted that Book Sweeps was running a contest to win 10 autographed books, including one by Clive Barker, and shared their own experiences with collecting signed editions. Regarding Hellraiser, they reported that a German website was offering a steelbook Blu-ray edition priced at 34.99 euros, which included Ultra HD and bonus features, though they expressed uncertainty about international shipping and customs costs. Hellraiser 4K Release Discussion Ryan and José discussed the upcoming 4K Ultra HD release of Hellraiser, which will include multiple covers, a 56-page booklet, and exclusive bonus materials. They admired the artwork and discussed the different versions available, including steelbooks and media books. José mentioned receiving a private commission poster for Hellbound and expressed interest in obtaining a copy of the Hellraiser release. They also briefly touched on the recent merger of Shout Factory and Filmrise, and discussed the lack of a physical release for Hellraiser in the United States. Etsy Puzzle Boxes and Podcast José shared information about a vendor on Etsy selling various geometric puzzle box configurations, including the Leviathan, Lament, and other shapes, with prices ranging from $65. Ryan and José discussed the different shapes and sizes of the boxes. José also mentioned that Simon Bamford would be appearing on the Scream Princess Podcast on Christmas Eve, where he would discuss his role in the upcoming movie and potentially share new stories from his time in Romania. Rawhead Rex Project Updates Ryan and José discussed upcoming projects related to Rawhead Rex, including a short story, graphic novel, and audio commentary, scheduled for release in 2025 and 2026. They expressed gratitude to Patreon members and sponsors and confirmed that Bennett had responded to the questionnaire. José mentioned a call from Michael Plumities about his upcoming book release and potential podcast appearance, which Ryan approved. They also noted the completion of Kickstarter rewards and the need to finalize details for the second printing of the book. Book Adaptation Project Discussion José and Ryan discussed a book project that started as a TV show script, became a novel, then a graphic novel, and is now returning to being a novel. José mentioned that the author is working on a second book and plans to adapt the first book into a graphic novel. They agreed to schedule an interview with the author around January or February, allowing Ryan time to read the book first. José noted that the author is open to discussing the connection between his work and "Nightbreed," though they want to avoid making it seem too derivative. Rawhead Rex Episode Postponed Ryan and José discussed that they would inform Ed that they would not be doing a Rawhead Rex episode this week due to David's absence, opting instead to produce a news episode. They also talked about how the movie adaptation of Rawhead Rex significantly changed the story, including altering the city's name and the characters' backgrounds. José mentioned finding some interesting information about the original art sketches and the reasons behind Eclipse Comics' closure, and planned to share these findings with Ryan. Rawhead Rex Artwork Analysis José and Ryan discussed the artwork for Rawhead Rex, including a fan-made poster for $25 and the challenges of finding certain websites. They analyzed the movie's design choices, noting the unnecessary armor and boots that obscured the character's human shape. José shared a blog post explaining why the Rawhead Rex graphic novel was never made, involving Neil Gaiman and a contract issue. They also briefly touched on José's work on the Barcocast book. Second Printing ISBN and Barcode Discussion José and Ryan discussed a second printing for multiple formats of a book, including Apple Books, Kindle, paperback, and hardcover, each requiring specific ISBNs and barcodes. They agreed on a cost of around $350 for the ISBNs and barcodes. José mentioned needing to save a document and continue working on the second print, while Ryan planned to have dinner and address malware issues on the website. They agreed to continue discussions later in the week about further steps. Book Second Edition Planning Meeting José and Ryan discussed the second edition of a book, including corrections and distribution across various platforms. They reviewed recent sales data from KDP and considered the financial implications of the second printing. They agreed to reschedule a meeting with David to the 17th and planned to review additional information about ISPNs.

Get Swole - Metal Workout Mix - Vol 3 by KDP - 2025

In this week's episode, we take a look at six software tools for indie authors to help them write and improve their workflow. This coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Cloak of Blades, Book #4 in the Cloak Mage series, (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy) at my Payhip store: BLADES2025 The coupon code is valid through December 15, 2025. So if you need a new audiobook this winter, we've got you covered! TRANSCRIPT [This episode's content is not sponsored. Jonathan has not received any compensation for these reviews and has not received any free products or services from the companies mentioned in this episode. He does not currently use affiliate links for the products mentioned.] 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 280 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is a very snowy December 5th, 2025, and today I'm discussing six software tools that are useful for indie authors. Before we get into that, we will have Coupon of the Week and then an update on my current writing, publishing, and audiobook projects. So first up, Coupon of the Week. This week's coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Cloak of Blades, Book #4 in the Cloak Mage series (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy), at my Payhip store. And that is BLADES2025. And as always, the coupon code and the link to my Payhip store will be available in the show notes for this episode. This coupon code will be valid through December the 15th, 2025. So if you need a new audiobook for this winter or for your Christmas travels, we have got you covered. And now for an update on my current writing and publishing projects. As I mentioned last week, Blade of Shadows is out and it's available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, Apple Books, Smashwords, and my Payhip store, and it's been doing quite well and gotten a good response from everyone. So thank you for that and I am looking forward to continuing that series. Now that Blade of Shadows is done, my main project is the fifth book in the Half-Elven Thief series, which is Wizard-Assassin. I had originally planned to name it Elven-Assassin, but decided Wizard-Assassin sounded a bit punchier, so I went with that instead. I am 46,000 words into it, which puts me on chapter 10 of 16. The final draft will have more chapters because one of the chapters is 11,000 words. I'm going to have to cut it up. I've also noticed that readers in general these days seem to prefer shorter chapters, so I've been trying to lean more into doing that and having books with shorter chapters. I think the rough draft is going to be about 70 to 75,000 words, give or take. So I'm hoping I can finish that next week, and I am cautiously optimistic I can have the book published before Christmas. If I can't get it published before Christmas, it is going to slip to my first book of 2026. But at the moment, and of course, barring our old unwelcome friend unexpected developments, I am cautiously optimistic I can have it out by Christmas 2025. So watch my website and listen to this space for additional news. My secondary project is Blade of Storms, which will be the third book in the Blades of Ruin series and the direct sequel to Blade of Shadows. I am about 6,000 words into that, and once Wizard-Assassin is done, that will be my main project. I'm hoping to have that out at the end of January, but if Wizard-Assassin slips to January, then Blade of Storms will [of necessity] slip to February. In audiobook news, Blade of Flames, the audiobook of the first book in the Blades of Ruin series, is now out and you can get that at Audible, Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Google Play, my own Payhip store, Spotify, and all the other usual audiobook stores. So if you're looking for something else to listen to during your Christmas travels this year, I suggest checking out Blade of Flames (as excellently narrated by Brad Wills). Cloak of the Embers, the 10th book in the Cloak Mage series (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy)…the recording of that is done and it is being proofed right now, so I am hopeful we can hopefully have that out before Christmas (if all goes well). In fact, after I record this podcast episode, I'm going to have to convert the ebook cover of Cloak of Embers into an audiobook cover for Cloak of Embers. So that is where I'm at with my current writing and publishing projects. There is definitely a lot going on. 00:03:40 Main Topic: 6 Helpful Writing Tools for Indie Authors in 2025 [All Prices referenced are USD.] Now we're going to move on to our main topic this week, which is six helpful writing tools for indie authors in 2025. Last year in 2024, I did a roundup of popular software tools for writers and I thought I would give a quick update for it. Some of these tools like Calibre and LibreOffice I use, while others like Scrivener and Notion just aren't great fit for my workflow, I still want to talk about them anyways since just because I don't use them doesn't mean that they're not good and a lot of writers do in fact use them. Many writers also have complex systems for organizing their files and would benefit from tools like that. Without further ado, here are six pieces of software used for writing and writing adjacent tasks. I should mention before we get going as well that none of these tools are explicitly generative AI tools because as you know, if you've listened to the podcast over the years is my opinion of generative AI remains mostly negative. I have and continue to do some marketing experiments with generative AI elements, but I remain overall unimpressed by the technology. So with that in mind, none of these software tools I'm going to mention are explicitly AI tools. Some of them do have AI elements that you can plug in and use if you want to, but they aren't part of the core functionality of the application unless you specifically seek it out. With that in mind, let's get to it. #1: The first one we will talk about is Scrivener. Scrivener is of course essentially a word processor and project management system specifically designed for creative or nonfiction writing, unlike a traditional word processor like Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, or Apple Pages. It features tools for outlining, for breaking documents into chapters, tracking word count goals and et cetera. One of the major benefits of it is a one-time cost instead of as a subscription because it seems like everything is a subscription nowadays, but Scrivener is still $60 a pop. They also offer a free trial and student discount and occasionally [it will] go on sale during peak times like the holidays. The downside of this is that Scrivener has a sharp learning curve. For myself when I write, I write either in Microsoft Word or Libre Office and I just sit down and write. When I write an outline, it's one Word document and the rough draft is another document that I write until I'm done. Scrivener is definitely a more complex software application, which I have to admit is funny to say because Microsoft Word is ridiculously complicated and has, in my opinion, far more functionality stuffed into it than it really needs. But Scrivener is a different kind of functionality and therefore the learning curve could be quite high for that. Additionally, this may not be the right software tool to work with your style of writing or how you organize your files. A couple extra thoughts with that is it's important to know yourself. Will you actually use the extra features included with Scrivener or do they just look cool and shiny? Scrivener probably is best for those who take extensive notes on their work, especially if trying to organize research based on chapters where it's needed. So if you're a nonfiction writer or if you're a historical fiction writer or a thriller writer who is very concerned about accuracy in your books, this may be useful for you so you can put in notes about the proper way to address a duke in 19th century England or what caliber of ammunition your thriller hero's preferred firearm takes. It's maybe the best for the kind of people who enjoy curating their Notion and Trello accounts and are able to think about their book in a very visual way without letting that process be an excuse to keep them from writing. I'd also say it's good for people who extensively revise blocks of text within a chapter and move chapters around a lot. #2: Canva. Canva has been around for a long time and it is a platform that makes it easy to create visual content using a drag and drop interface that provides a variety of templates, fonts, and designs to use for things like social media posts. They currently have two tiers for individuals, a limited free option, and Canva Pro, which is $12.99 a month. Some of the pros for Canva are it is well-suited for using templates for writers to create images for social media posts and book marketing material. The learning curve is not very steep, especially compared with something like Photoshop. If you've used PowerPoint before, you can definitely handle Canva. The cons: although some people use it to create book covers, many books have been flagged by Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and some of the other publishing platforms for doing so. I would advise you to avoid Canva for creating book covers because of the potential for issues that could keep your book out of ebook stores. At the very least, read Canva's terms of use and the rules of KDP and the other ebook publishers very, very carefully before you would even begin to consider using Canva for this purpose. Many of the free features have been folded into the pro version such as sharing template links. The editing and design features are basic compared to something like Photoshop, though that may change as we're going to discuss a little bit here. Because Canva is so popular, there's a certain amount of snobbery out there about using its designs without significant modification. You may have encountered on social media or the Internet people who react very negatively to the presence of AI generated images and this exists to a lesser extent with Canva templates. "Looks like it was made in Canva" is sometimes used as an insult. If you want a unique style and look for your images, you'll have to work a little more to achieve that using Canva. Canva is quick for great one-time things like Facebook or BookBub ads, but I wouldn't recommend using it for book creation or book covers at this time because of the potential problems that can arise from that. For myself, I don't usually use Canva. I've had enough practice with Photoshop that I'm pretty confident in making whatever I want in terms of ad images or book covers in Photoshop, and I use Photoshop for that. However, since I organized the notes for this episode, there is a major caveat to that. Recently, Canva acquired a program called Affinity Photo Editor, which is essentially a much lower cost alternative to Photoshop. When this happened, there was a great deal of negativity around it because people thought Canva was going to jack up the price or make it into an overpriced subscription. But what Canva did surprised a great many people in that they made Affinity totally free and essentially are using a freemium model with it where you can use Affinity Photo Editor for free. It used to be, I believe like $79, possibly $69, and then any of the other features like downloading additional content from Canva would cost part of your Canva subscription. So I have to admit, I'm sufficiently curious about this, that when I write the tie in short story for Wizard-Assassin, I may use Affinity Photo Editor to assemble the cover for it just to see if it would work for that or not, because as I've said, I use Photoshop, but Photoshop is very expensive, Adobe frequently does business practices that are a bit shifty, and the idea of a freemium alternative to Photoshop is not necessarily a bad idea. So when I write a tie in short story for Wizard-Assassin later this month, I think I will attempt to make the cover in Affinity Photo Editor and see if that is something that would be good for my workflow or not, and I will report on that later. #3: Number three is Notion, which can be used to organize information, links, calendars, and reminders into one central dashboard. They have two plans for individuals, a free plan and a Plus plan, which is currently $10 to $12 per month (depending on whether you want a monthly or an annual plan). The Plus version offers unlimited file uploads, greater customizations, and integrations with Slack and Google Drive. The pros for using Notion is that it is popular with writers and content creators for being able to have project planning tools, notes, lists, links, trackers, and reminders all in one dashboard. If you enjoy customization and getting something set up exactly the way you want, you might enjoy setting up your lists, calendars, trackers, and notes through Notion. You can add images and adjust the layout and colors for a more "aesthetic" experience. It is easy to find customized templates [online], especially for writers and for things like storyboarding, word counts, and keeping tracks of sources for nonfiction writing. These Notion templates are shared by individuals, not the company and can be free or paid. Now, some of the cons with Notion. It didn't used to use very much AI, but the company is leaning increasingly heavy into AI, both as a company and in its features on the boards, if that is a concern. The amount of customization options and detail can be absolutely overwhelming. Someone who gets decision fatigue easily or doesn't want to customize a lot and might not enjoy using it. Some people are increasingly complaining that the software is getting too overloaded with features and is slow. For people who value being organized and love having complex and highly visual systems, Notion might be helpful. The downside is that maintaining your Notion boards can easily turn into what I call a "writing-adjacent activity" that gives you the illusion of productivity because of the time you spend managing and updating it aside from the business of getting actual writing done. So once again, this is a good example of "know thyself." If this is something that would be helpful for you, go ahead and pursue it. But if it's something that could turn into a tool for procrastination, it's probably better to avoid it. For myself, I am old enough that when I need to make lists and keep track of things, I have a yellow legal pad on my desk that I write things down on. #4: The next piece of software we're going to look at is LibreOffice. It is an open source piece of software that closely matches Microsoft Office, including Microsoft Word. Pros: It's free and open source. There's a minimal learning curve for those already familiar with Microsoft Word. The interface is a little different, but it's pretty easy to figure things out if you're familiar with Word or Excel. Some swear that that LibreOffice is faster than Word. It depends on the kind of document you're working on and the kind of computer you're using. So that's an area where your mileage may vary. It is also the best word processing option for privacy advocates, especially for those who are concerned about Microsoft and Google storing their work and possibly harvesting it for AI because by default, LibreOffice doesn't work with any AI elements. If you want it to work with any AI elements, plugins are available but they are not included. It's great for the writer who doesn't want to support Microsoft for any reason but still wants to be able to easily save documents in Microsoft file formats like .docx. It works. I've written entire books using it. I wrote all of Soul of Serpents and Soul of Dragons in it, and that was 13 years ago now, and the software has only improved since then. I wrote Silent Order: Eclipse Hand [using it] in 2017 and was very happy with the results, and I still use it for various projects every week, and I found a couple times if something was screwed up in the formatting of Microsoft Word, if I opened it up in LibreOffice, I could fix it pretty easily and much easier than I could in Word. It does have a few cons. The user interface compared to Word or something like Apple Pages does look a bit dated, but it's still navigable. It doesn't have any cloud storage functionality. You would need to piece it together with another storage option if you want to be able to backup stuff to the cloud. But overall, if you can't afford the Microsoft Office Suite, don't want to support Microsoft, and value your privacy, this is your best bet for word processing. Some people may not like its interface, but it's still an extremely solid piece of free software. #5: And now let's move on to our fifth software tool, which is Calibre. Calibre is a tool for ebook management. It can be used for file formatting, changing your books' metadata, or changing file formats. Many use it to create a custom ebook library. Pros include: the product is free and open source. It is easy to generate different file formats for book publication. Do you want to categorize and organize your books in a very specific way? Calibre works for that. The cons: some people find the interface a little clunky and it comes with a bit of a learning curve. To be honest, the interface does look like it came from Windows 2000 and some of the features rely on knowledge of HTML and CSS. Editing and formatting of the book itself is better done using other software. Final thoughts on that? The software is trustworthy, reliable, and has been maintained over the years. It does exactly what it says it does, without any real style but plenty of substance. And I've been a regular Calibre user for like 15 years now, and whenever I get a new computer Calibre is usually one of the very first things I install on it. #6: And now for our sixth and final tool, Inkarnate. Inkarnate is a very useful piece of software that is designed for creating maps. I believe it was originally intended to create maps for role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder and so forth. But it's also very useful for creating maps for fantasy novels. As I may have mentioned on the podcast a few times before, I really don't like making maps. I find it constraining and it makes the writing feel a bit crabbed at times. That said, I write primarily in the fantasy genre and people in the fantasy genre love maps, so I'm kind of on the hook for making maps. I used to draw the maps by hand and then import it into Photoshop and add all the locations and add colors and so forth. But that is a lot of work, I have to admit. Inkarnate makes it a lot easier, and I've used it for the last couple of maps I've made. The map of the city of Tar-Carmatheion in the Half-Elven Thief books came from Inkarnate. The map of Owyllain for Blades of Ruin came from Inkarnate, and the map of New Kyre and adjoining regions for Ghost Armor also came from Inkarnate. It's very affordable too. The subscription, I believe, is only $30 a year, and I've been using for a few years now and have never regretted it. So I'd say all the pros are all the ones I've already listed. The cons are that the learning curve is a little bit sharp, but there are excellent YouTube videos and tutorials for that. So, final thoughts. If you find yourself needing to make maps and don't enjoy the process of making maps, then Inkarnate is the software product for you. So those are six tools, software tools for indie authors that I hope will make you more productive and make your work easier. So that is it for this week. Thank you for listening to the Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show useful. A reminder that you can listen to all the backup episodes at 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 session, going wide, suspension/terminations on KDP and ACX, wrapping up 2025 projects and looking forward to 2026, storytelling and mythology.

While most Big CPG brand portfolios restructure, realign, and refocus…GHOST is making those strategic efforts by its parent company Keurig Dr Pepper a bit more complicated! After its recent M&A transition (involving JDE Peet's) closes, KDP plans to separate into two independent public companies…currently given generic “Global Coffee Co.” and “Beverage Co.” placeholder names. And this corporate restructuring move will significantly improve the previous KDP “refreshment beverages” segment by sharpening focus of decision-making, tailoring capital allocation strategies, and (overall) enhancing strategic optionality. But why did GHOST see that last point around “enhancing strategic optionality” and jump straight into launching a new product format…essentially complicating that KDP portfolio simplification process? Well…if you haven't seen the leaked images yet, GHOST is launching a Protein Bar this month at that's reminiscent of a Twix bar. And for those ignorant enough to think GHOST really is that impulsive, I can remember having strategic conversations surrounding “protein bars” with their co-founders dating back to 2018. And while all product innovation roads were destined to eventually lead back towards the protein bar category, GHOST proved (once again) it won't settle for swimming in the “Sea of Sameness” when distinctiveness is a powerful tool to gain a competitive edge.

The History  I started my shopify store around the 10th December 2023 after a viral video on TikTok on December 8th. So I integrated with Bookvault and stayed with POD shipping until February 2025. Since February 2025, I've been distributing and fulfilling all orders from my website in my own warehouse. These are the lessons I've learned from the last ten months of running my own website sales and distribution. And yes, I will talk numbers, but I'm making you wait till the end! Please note, I will talk about finances, systems and the occasional legal thing. Absolutely nothing I say is financial, legal or tax advice. You must seek advice from professionals in your own countries and tax territories. I recognise that this model is not for 99% of authors. It's a LOT of work. It's a lot of logistics, a lot of peopling, team building, paperwork and problem solving. This is as far removed from sitting behind a desk and writing 24/7 as you can get.  Do not listen to this with an open heart. Be skeptical, that will keep you on the right track for creating a business you love. But know that I do love this and I am framing these lessons learned from that perspective. Why Direct? I'd always had a transactional website for Sacha Black work but it barely did £20 a month. So I knew the work I was about to scramble to do for Ruby may be for nothing. But I didn't want to be beholden to TikTok the way I'd been beholdened to other sources of income and I knew if I'd gone viral once, I could do it again and that would lead to relying on TikTok. What do I mean why? Two reasons: why should you as an author have a direct store but also why should readers come to you? For you, you can earn more per sale. POD companies integrating with shopify automatically give you more as there are no hidden fees. But when you shift to print runs you more than half the cost of printing each book. Of course you also give yourself a host of other problems like fulfillment and overheads, but you gain a lot more product flexibility and potential meaning you have the opportunity to make bigger profit. BUT and this is a big but, you have to work out what you want your business to look like. That said, there are consequences. I usually write and publish 3 books a year and this year I've dropped to 2 published. Though I will have written a 3rd and a short story by the end of the year. But I wasn't able to get that third one published. Despite that, this is going to be my biggest year ever for income. It already beat last year in 7 months. Which goes to show that you don't have to be rapid releasing anymore to make good money. The fact I've not published three, is a direct consequence of the warehouse and also the increasing team size and the need to train staff. Thankfully due to the Kickstarter, some rights deals an big increase in direct sales of products and merch, I haven't seen a dip in income. Which goes to show that you don't have to be rapid releasing anymore to make good money. There are other benefits like reader loyalty because you're treating them better, you are able to provide higher quality books and with extra goodies and sign all the books for example. And that's really the heart of the mindset shift you need to have and how you should frame thinking about a direct store. Why should a reader bother coming to you when they can get next day shipping for free on Amazon? Can you answer that before you set up your store? For me this looks like three promises: Every book that leaves the warehouse is handsigned by me (I do this in batches and sign for 4-5 hours and get several thousand books signed in one go so it doesn't disturb writing time.) They get extra bonuses for ordering directly like stickers, bookmarks and character art. Last, if they preorder a book in any format I have for sale on the website, it will get shipped BEFORE the public release date. We aim for delivery a couple of weeks prior but it depends on print runs and me hitting deadlines. Things to consider before leaving POD direct and moving to self fulfillment: Where are you going to stock your books? Do you have local warehousing facilities or somewhere you own you can use? Stock requires more space than you think. Because it's not just books you need space for, it's packaging, and space for parcels before collection and space for a computer and printer etc. What is your cash flow like? Do you have the capital that you can risk losing to spend on investing in this? Thanks to great advice from one of my closest author pals, I didn't buy shipping containers for conversion to put on family land which was a circa 40k investment. Instead I rented a warehouse so that I was only risking the cost of one year's rent circa 9k and I'd also be able to up and leave and close everything down if it went wrong. What's your problem solving resiliency like? Solving problems, if it's not your bag, is relentlessly exhausting. Problems arise in all areas of this business, from shipping to label printing to packaging to import and export paperwork, to sourcing products, VAT, pricing, website, delivery issues. Etc. The list is long. Honestly? There's rarely a day without some kind of issue that needs resolving. How does that make you feel? Excited or horrified? Pay attention to those emotions. The only business you should be building is one that brings you joy. Last, is the reality that if you want to fulfill direct yourself you *will* need staff—if you want to continue to write that is. If you think about it, POD direct staff your website for you. They have teams packing the boxes, printing labels and shipping everything for you. So no matter which way you cut it, whether it's you organising staff or your printers, someone has to do the leg work. Mindset shifts eCommerce  Yes I'm an author, but running your own fulfillment from website sales means you also run an eCommerce business. And over and above that, I now run a physical product business because we have merchandise. Those combined make for a very, very different business structure and set of problems compared to the old school models of being an indie author. Traffic Direction First of all and most basic of all. I direct all traffic to my website without exception. My primary links on social media are my website. If people ask where they can buy my books, it's my website. If they say they can't then I'll direct them online to a more well known store.   Schedules are a bitch.  When you're writing in a solo business and uploading your books online, your schedule is essentially your own. When you then bring on a team, they are reliant on you delivering on time to make sure they can do their job. How does that make you feel? Knowing you *have* to deliver for someone else? For a long time I really hated being beholden to deadlines—probably a corporate spill over. But being responsible for a team and needing to deliver for them is very different. I adore my team, I love them and care about them and I *want* to deliver on time for them. This is a total re-framing for me. It's the right kind of pressure and responsibility attached to a deadline. Does that mean my creativity needs to show up on time? Sure, but I find this motivating because it's the right people around me. However, the first book post warehouse opening, we were all still learning and mistakes were made. I delivered one book late. That pushed everything and made a lot of the timelines difficult including getting the printed books delivered on time. For Architecti there were two main problems: a solid 20% of the order arrived damaged by rain. But we'd already sold almost all the initial print run so we couldn't spare 20% and thus didn't have enough stock to cover our preorders. So this caused a lot of anxiety. Under ordering stock is a terrifying prospect. As is over ordering because do you have enough space for it and what if you then don't sell it?  The second mistake was releasing a book without checking the diaries of the warehouse team who happened to be on holiday during the fulfillment process. Which in a bout of shit timing, my mum then got sick in the crucial week. Meaning I had to stop writing and fulfill 1000 preorders single handedly. It was grueling physically, mentally and emotionally doing it on my own. We're never having that cluster fuck again.  So we've produced a heat map style document with everyone's leave, delivery dates, deadlines for me, product ordering dates, prepping dates and fulfillment periods etc. This was an enormous lesson in logistics of both a warehouse and people. Exclusivity Kindle Unlimited works for a reason. It has books exclusive to Amazon, you literally cannot get them anywhere else. Meaning you're forced to get them there. If that worked for Amazon, you can bet you're arse it works for others.  So I stole the idea. I have four novellas /short stories that I publish exclusively on my website. Does that mean a huge risk for loss of visibility and potential sales? Absolutely. No rank, no visibility in the biggest algorithm machine in the world. But it is also one of the key sales tactics I've used to get readers over to me. And boy has it worked. I make sure it's content I know they'll want, I flash the extra books on my reels and videos and then the questions flood in — how do I get those books… Well I'll tell you…! Preorders Preorders are both a gift and a logistical nightmare. How to get them? We ran an enormous campaign for Architecti. Ending up with 1027 paperbacks, 323 hardbacks and 193 ebooks. For a total 1543 preorders on my website. Plus over 1000 ebooks on Amazon. So the total preorders were in excess of 2500 preorders. Firstly you have to ask why should readers preorder direct to you? As mentioned earlier we make three promises: Everything is signed They get extras and goodies including a Roe-Mantics popsocket, series sticker and bookmark and an art print. As well as a Ruby Roe reading tracking and reading order and some stickers. They get the books delivered early (ebook and physical) We promoted the shit out of these three facts and I do believe this is the reason we did so well. That, plus almost two years of pushing direct sales and building reader trust. I won't go into all the marketing we did as this is a podcast about the warehouse. But we pushed HARD. We made a couple of mistakes: We didn't order enough books. We ordered 1000 paperbacks and ended up having to do a second print run because we sold over 1000 and obviously knew we needed stock on hand for general sales — a good problem to have obviously. But if we had ordered a higher quantity from the start we would have had a better price per book and saved ourselves some money and increased profit. That's a tough lesson to learn as we're always having to balance cashflow. The second mistake was packaging. We pride ourselves on making sure the books arrive in pristine condition. The consequence of that is how long it takes to package. The primary damage a book can fall prey to is the rain, or being dropped. We were individually wrapping each book in foam or bubble wrap before putting them inside bookwraps with the goodies to ship. This took me almost two weeks to do for circa a thousand parcels. I spoke to my warehouse neighbour who is a book box subscription company and discovered that they ship 1000 parcels in a couple of days because they uses origami boxes with packing peanuts and a plastic exterior envelope bag for water protection. This results in them working at a significantly faster rate than us. And has led us to get boxes designed and we're in the process of ordering 10k boxes. Customer Communication Customer communication has been an absolute maelstrom. The more products we create, the more complex everything gets. Becca used to be primarily a scheduler for me. Now, she's moved to be a customer services manager. Major issues include: when they preorder a book and put a published book into the same order. This is a means we have to email them to let them know they have two options: either we refund and they order separately or they wait for both their books. This is a huge problem as there are a number of preorders live at any one time and thus a ton of customer communication needed. It has gotten better as we have educated our repeat customers, put messages and labels on the site. But it is an ever present problem. We have decided to commission a coder to write some code for shopify so that we can charge two lots of shipping and split ship. We've also had so many communications about the tariffs. This has been so difficult because we are not the ones charging but we are the first point of call. It is in large part due to the team being incredible that we got through this. Last, I still receive an email for every single order. So I do one additional thing. I make a point to keep an eye on when someone has ordered multiple times in short succession and then send them to the team to refund duplicate postage.  Protecting Writing Time This is so vital. And has been the hardest part of having a warehouse. I definitely feel like I lost 6 months of writing time. It's the reason I barely managed to get Architecti done, and the reason I didn't meet my primary goal of getting ahead of production this year. Staffing means interruptions. But more than that, having the discipline to put my phone on do not disturb or muting team chats while I write. Now that we're up to speed, refining processes and we have SOPs in place, I am finding it easier and easier to not go to the warehouse. We also stopped having the smaller deliveries sent to my house and instead they're going to my team's houses or direct to the warehouse. Regulations and Tariffs  With a physical product business there are so many more regulations and acronyms and pieces of law that you have to deal with. The level of bureaucracy is quite astonishing and has caused a number of headaches. These headaches are not the type of headaches that most authors would want to deal with. You have to choose the poison you want to drink and I genuinely recognise that 99% of authors would not want this headache. The other matter here is that the regulations have required a colossal amount of time spent on them. More time than we anticipated. Something new is always being thrown at us and usually things that we do not have knowledge on. So we're constantly in a state of adapting and learning. This is both wonderful and also a little gruelling.  As there's not many people doing this we don't have many options for checking we're on the right path, so having to trust ourselves that we've done the best we can with the knowledge we have. And also recognise that it's okay to not know everything. Logistics There's been a lot of logistic lessons learned too. Firstly, that shipping providers are a nightmare. They're massive organisations and that means corporate bureaucracy. Lots of being passed between departments and having to wait for responses. You're probably going to need additional app integrations some of which will cost. Just pay for the apps because it will make your life simpler. We have a DPD integration app that makes handling and managing preorders and labels considerably easier. Batch as much as you can: like signing books, preparing freebie packets, cutting foam and pre-building boxes. Batch packaging, in particular for preorders. For example, all the UK paperbacks then all the UK hardbacks etc. It's easier to do the same thing over and over and then task switch than it is to do it higgledy piggledy. Timelines  Understanding the timelines for launches has been quite the challenge. When you're a solo indie you are in charge of your own time. When you have a team, and other people do parts of the publishing process, you're no longer working on your own schedule. Combined with the fact that a huge percentage of my turnover comes from physical book sales. This means we have to do print runs. Instead of loading up to KDP or the POD services and knowing it will be live the next day or a few days later after a proof copy. Print runs take a couple of days to finalise the files (up to several months for international printers) and then 2-3 weeks to print and deliver to the warehouse for UK printers, and several weeks to months for international. We then have to unpack them and check the quality and then I have to sign them. I am pretty fast at signing now and choose to sign in long batches 4-5 hours at a time and usually manage 1-2000 books in that time. The other timelines that need to be considered are how long things take to pack. But I've already talked about that. But it is something that needs to be considered when planning preorder fulfillment. The more preorders we get, the more significant the time it takes, that or we need more people to help pack. The Money This is the bit everyone is interested. All costs are in GBP.  Set up costs for the warehouse were approximately £4-5000. This included the deposit, racking, furniture etc. In total, I've spent 100k on printing this year. However a significant portion of that was on the Kickstarter. So I don't count that in the costs for the warehouse. Those sit at £61,171. We are still holding a huge amount of stock in the warehouse so this spend should start to even out. In December 2023 I started the shop around 10th December, I made just shy of £1700 which I think was mostly due to the viral TikToks. In the month of May 2024 I broke £5000. November 2024 I broke 10k for the first time and in December 2024 I broke 15k. That was the month I knew I needed to take advantage of what I was building. I knew I wanted to do more for readers who were clearly willing to buy direct. In 2024, the website turned over £73.5k. I collected keys for the warehouse of January 31st. It took a couple of weeks to set the warehouse up and then we had print runs delivered around the 17th and started shipping on Feb 20th 2025. That was a £16k month, and the first time my Shopify sales beat my Amazon, only by a couple hundred pounds, but it still beat it. It wasn't lost on me that it was the first month I had taken control of distribution. April eclipsed Amazon at 29k and I've stayed between 15 and 29k a month since — Finally in November 2025, I surpassed 30k. As of 21st November we're standing at 222k for the year. I suspect we will end up with turnover somewhere between 230 and 250k for 2025.  Creating definitive turnover and net profit calculations are difficult. What I can tell you is that between the warehouse, staff for the warehouse, utilities and insurances I spend approximately 18-1900 a month (21-23k per year). Shipping varies between 500 and 1500 a week on average but on preorder weeks it can spike to 8k. The highest month for shipping was 11k. I suspect for the year it will be roughly 45-55k.  So for print costs, staffing, rent and shipping the total is approximately £133,971. I estimate 4-7k on other costs like packaging and freebies. So let's estimate £140k spend for £222k turnover. So I estimate approximately £82,000 in profit - to which I'll then have to pay tax. That's a 36% profit. Not as high as I'd like, but also it's year one and spend is always higher in year one because of set up. I expect that as we move into year two that will grow and my aim is to reach 45% but the ultimate goal will be 50% I'm not sure if this is possible but we will try. We have a lot of stock that we can sell without having to spend out anymore.  In terms of granular costs to give you an idea of profit on the detail level: The cost of each book is loosely £2.20 per paperback for which we charge £10.99 on average. We allow for £1 of that to cover packaging and freebies. Meaning £3.20 of costs. Though this doesn't include a % for warehouse overheads. I don't have any advertising costs. I have bought all customers in from my mailing list, TikTok and Instagram. On average my returning customer rate is 35%. However, in months where I set up a new product preorder, that rate shoots up. For November 2025 it's 56%. Similarly, my average conversion rate is 5.83% conversion rate. What's interesting is that in those early months my conversion rate was 3.18%. This month it's 8.53%. I think this increase is twofold. First, I have a high returning customer rate, this automatically increases the conversion rate as your customers want what you're providing. Second, I think my marketing has gotten better and better. We're providing more books, stories and products that my audience wants and we're also getting better at marketing to market. Cash Flow One of the best things I did was create multiple pots and accounts. For a long time I'd lived under the assumption you could only have one business bank account. That was bad advice from an accountant. I have since left them and now have an excellent accountant. I've also had lots of advice from a dear friend who knows far more about money and systems than me.  Cash flow can either sky rocket or cripple a business. And when you run a physical business the numbers you run with are so much higher that you can easily crush your company. One of my favourite tactics is to create mini pots and split money up. For every preorder we run I create a pot in my bank, like a mini bank and every week I put the amount earned for that preorder product into the pot. If the product requires a print run, I pay for it out of that pot. If we have to buy wholesale merch, I take it from that pot etc. I also set aside money for tax each month. I move both personal tax money and corporation tax money and set it aside in a high interest savings account. The biggest outflows for running a distribution warehouse are staffing, warehouse rent, shipping and print runs.  For Architecti specifically, we had to do two print runs because we under ordered books. Meaning I had to outflow huge amounts of money twice. The print runs totalled £11,630. Plus 11,000 in shipping fees for that month. If I didn't have the money set aside for this, it could easily have pushed me into debt. One of the main things I did to help prevent cashflow issues, is have dozens of pots inside my bank accounts.  Every week the team calculates the income for orders and shipping for each product we have on preorder (there are always usually 2 to 3) and then I transfer that money to individual pots. Meaning I save all the money from preorders right up until launch. I then take the money for the print runs from this pot and for the shipping. What's left is the profit which is taxable so I move the tax money into my tax pot and then keep the rest. This is the safest way I've found for managing cashflow and ensuring I don't spend money that needs to be saved for specific things. I also have an entirely separate account for my shopify. So all print runs are paid for out of the shopify account. All shipping payments go out of that account. All printing for freebies etc comes from that account. It becomes totally self managing and over time it increases. Then if I want to take out chunks of profit, I do and keep the account at 20k. This is the equivalent of the average monthly turnover for the shopify. So should cover all bills or worst case scenarios.  I also have a tax pot where I move money each month. My accountants have a report that generates each month and estimates my tax. I then place my tax in a high interest account and leave it to earn some money before I have to pay it. Next Steps Business infrastructure. I recently visited Author Nation – the Las Vegas conference that was once 20books. There are so many areas for growth and improvement and I realised that I have essentially brut forced my way to the position I'm in. Upsell app Integration with better email upsell marketing system Possibly advertising Branded packaging

Amazon rolled out a new KDP feature that could change how authors reach global readers. This roundup walks through what happened and why it matters without spoiling anything. If you publish through KDP or go wide, you need to know what just launched. Stay sharp and stay informed. KDP: Introducing Kindle Translate in Beta - https://www.kdpcommunity.com/s/article/Introducing-Kindle-Translate-in-Beta-Translate-eBooks-into-multiple-languages?language=en_US KDP: Kindle Translate FAQs - https://www.kdpcommunity.com/s/question/0D5at00000VrSMkCAN/kindle-translate-faqs?language=en_US&topicId=0TOat0000001UnFGAU&count=3 Amazon: Simple tips to spot impersonation scams - https://www.amazon.com/b?node=206290002011&ref_=pe_158999060_1300845330 Draft2Digital – https://DaleLinks.com/D2D (referral link) Draft2Digital: Clean Up Your D2D Account with Merge Tools - https://authoremail.com/email/campaigns/mt7177wad57c8/ Draft2Digital Content Guidelines - https://draft2digital.com/content-guidelines/ IngramSpark – https://IngramSpark.com IngramSpark's Share & Sell Giveaway - https://www.ingramspark.com/share-sell-giveaway Bookvault – https://Bookvault.app Apple Books for Authors – https://authors.apple.com Spotify for Authors: Introducing Audiobook Recaps - https://authors.spotify.com/blog/recaps The Bottom Line (subscription required): A Deep Divide Emerges between AI Users and Nonusers – https://DaleLinks.com/TheBottomLine Spoken.Press – https://spoken.press Twin Flames Studios: The State of AI Audiobooks in 2025 - https://twinflamesstudios.com/the-state-of-ai-audiobooks-in-2025 Dibbly Create – https://DaleLinks.com/DibblyCreate (affiliate link) Dibbly Create: Book Layout Studio Webinar - https://dibbly.com/join-free-webinar/ Dibbly – https://DaleLinks.com/Dibbly (affiliate link) ProWritingAid: Novel November – https://DaleLinks.com/NovNov (affiliate link) ProWritingAid Black Friday Deal – https://DaleLinks.com/ProWritingAid (affiliate link) Book Award Pro – https://DaleLinks.com/BookAwardPro (affiliate link) Get Authentic Book Reviews – https://GetAuthenticBookReviews.com DropCap Marketplace - https://dropcapmarketplace.com/pricing Behind the Scenes at Author Nation 2025 - https://www.buzzsprout.com/2121723/episodes/18169217 Author Nation 2025: My Honest Review - https://youtu.be/AmmElopRJJY?si=xG915vwoZ1hf_q-q Amazon Ads Insights with Dale L. Roberts - https://booklinker.mykajabi.com/AmazonAdsDale The First 2 YEARS Sucked! Self-Publishing Secrets with Dale L. Roberts - https://youtu.be/K8iSpCkV4C0?si=Yk1q8Z9MDpTeh5r5 Subscribe to The Self-Publishing Hub - https://TheSelfPublishingHub.com Subscribe to my email newsletter - https://DaleLinks.com/SignUp  Join Channel Memberships - https://DaleLinks.com/Memberships  Join Me on Discord - https://DaleLinks.com/Discord Check out my main YouTube channel  - https://www.youtube.com/@dalelroberts My Books - https://DaleLinks.com/MyBooks Wanna tip me? Visit https://dalelroberts.gumroad.com/coffee. 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

Madrid or Bust - A Hip-Hop Mix by KDP - 2025 by Kurlee Daddee Productions

Boom Bap Basics Vol. 12 by KDP - 2025 by Kurlee Daddee Productions

Crear libros en Amazon no se trata solo de escribir: se trata de entender el negocio detrás del contenido. Lilibeth Fernández lo sabe muy bien. Como especialista en el ecosistema de Amazon y fundadora de varias marcas, ha convertido su conocimiento en una guía para quienes buscan generar ingresos desde Latinoamérica. "Puedo crear libros, pero lo que es siempre importante es el capital. Eso ayuda al emprendedor a animarse a crear un producto basado en libros, conocer cómo es Amazon", sostiene. Para Lilibeth, el gran potencial de KDP está en que permite experimentar, aprender y escalar dentro del ecosistema: "Siempre les digo a las personas que están en Amazon KDP… si realmente saben crear un producto, crear un buen listado, posicionar el producto, que es lo más difícil para los vendedores, ya están listos para ir a Amazon FBA o a donde ellos deseen dentro de la plataforma y yendo a nichos más grandes". KDP es, en su visión, una puerta de entrada accesible y estratégica para cualquier emprendedor que quiera dar sus primeros pasos en e-commerce. Su enfoque está basado en la data. "Lo que utilizo es Helium 10 y Data Dive, donde analizamos los nichos, qué es lo que está en tendencia actualmente en Amazon con el tema de libros, ya sea de bajo o medio contenido", cuenta. Lilibeth clasifica los libros según su nivel de complejidad: bajo contenido para cuadernos y planificadores; medio contenido para libros para colorear o recortar; y alto contenido para obras literarias. Pero más allá de la categoría, lo esencial es saber leer el mercado. "Me gusta analizar los libros que se han lanzado en los últimos dos años, porque me permiten entrar a competir con vendedores medios y no con editoriales mejor posicionadas", aclara. Ese análisis profundo le permite identificar oportunidades antes de que un nicho se sature. "Ahora los planificadores están saturados, porque la gente está creando más de lo mismo y no está dando un valor agregado dentro de los libros de planificación, a menos que vayas a un subnicho", asegura. Lo mismo ocurre con los libros de mándalas o mascotas, donde recomienda explorar variantes más específicas que respondan a intereses puntuales del público: "Hay mucho material por hacer pero hay que saberlo estudiar". El diseño también juega un papel clave en la estrategia. Lilibeth presta especial atención a los detalles técnicos que pueden marcar la diferencia en la visibilidad de un libro: "El título del libro es indispensable que esté dentro de la portada… porque Amazon lee las palabras que están dentro de las etiquetas y dentro de las portadas de los libros". Cada elemento visual, desde la tipografía hasta el color, puede influir en el algoritmo. Por eso, además de analizar keywords, utiliza herramientas como PickFu: "Las portadas las testeo mediante PickFu, donde hago encuestas en vivo… pero no basado en lo que a mí me gusta, sino en lo que la gente está pidiendo". Una vez que el libro está listo, llega el momento de darle visibilidad. "Con 150 dólares podemos hacer la publicidad del producto en Amazon. A mí me gusta lanzar campañas en automático para ver qué es lo que la gente está buscando y cómo te encuentra", comenta nuestra invitada. Según explica, entender la data publicitaria permite después combinar estrategias más precisas con campañas de targeting o palabras clave. Pero Lilibeth también hace una distinción fundamental entre crear libros y construir una marca: "Si quieres crear un libro lo que vas a ganar es muy poco… pero si quieres crear una marca nos vamos a diferentes segmentos a vender, ya sea TikTok Shop, otras redes sociales, Pinterest". Para ella, el verdadero potencial está en trascender el formato y construir una identidad propia. Porque al final, como dice, "la persona te compra a ti". Instagram: @lilibeth_fernandezoficial Youtube: @lilibeth_fernandezoficial LinkedIn: @lilibeth-fernandez80

Show me the incentive…and I'll show you the outcome! So, based on the timing…you might assume that introductory statement indicates something about how $7 billion in new private equity financing would sweeten the Keurig Dr Pepper business spilt, support the JDE Peet's deal, or maybe even feed off an activist investor. Though, it's important to recall I'm not an equity analyst or KDP individual investor, which means I admittedly wasn't super concerned about certain negative consequences of the transaction…or how using a tax-free Reverse Morris Trust would've been more favorable to shareholders compared to the agreed upon structure ultimately benefitting JAB Holding Company. And while I obviously understand “an elevated debt load” is interconnected (and influential) to the “North Star” transformation work required to establish two strong, successful companies…I intentionally looked past capitalization strategies and will do so again this content piece. Instead, I'll draw upon my last 15+ years of deep domain expertise…being prominently positioned within the emerging and intersecting CPG categories of food, beverages, and dietary supplements, to uncover a critical misalignment that could cause major long-term KDP “Beverage Co.” concerns. As mentioned within its recent Investor Day presentation, KDP wants to establish growth platforms in large and attractive categories. Since “energy” is the fastest growing $10B+ liquid refreshment beverage category…it's obviously the most important inside KDP. And we're going to focus exclusively on dynamics between Nutrabolt and GHOST that I originally brought up in October 2024 when KDP announced it was acquiring GHOST Lifestyle. But maybe within that content piece (or at least shortly after), I expressed my belief that KDP would eventually seek corrective measures…most likely fixing any potential incentive misalignment through further investment in Nutrabolt. However, since last year's KDP and GHOST deal announcement…A LOT has happened from Bloom Sparkling Energy drinks becoming a categorical superstar and (as a result) Nutrabolt acquiring majority stake in Bloom Nutrition to the beforementioned complicated KDP business separation plans. And there's another interesting tidbit popping up but (either way) change at this level predictably raised questions recently from you guys (and beverage industry trade publications) asking if I had an evolved theory surrounding how KDP might design a new system where Nutrabolt and GHOST have aligned incentives. And since I wouldn't expect any substantial "Beverage Co." investment activity until the KDP and JDE Peet's transaction is complete (and subsequent separation event occurs), I'll discuss if Nutrabolt should be strategically “patient” or “aggressive” as the “future optionality” window opens after KDP “Beverage Co.” matures independently. But despite obvious competitive similarities, this shouldn't be interpreted as some kind of “GHOST versus Nutrabolt” content piece, as each company is defining their future through different strategic vectors. Instead, I hope you recognized the “hidden risk” regarding how Big CPG continues to reshape its portfolio architecture. Today, Big CPG wants an increasingly larger amount of exposure to this four-way intersection of taste, convenience, nutrition, and functionality. We are currently at the stage where Big CPG portfolios acquire (or partner with) multiple sports nutrition competitors across growth platforms…and could create the type of challenges outlined within this content piece.

Over the years we've seen literally thousands of people using a couple dozen different strategies to try to earn a great income from the world's largest e-commerce platform.   Today we explore several of the options you have and then explain why we feel so strongly about one particular strategy. It's the foundational strategy taught in the ProvenAmazonCourse.com new seller modules.   The strategy we are most excited to start all new students with is called Replens, and right now is arguably the best time ever to get started based on obvious trends, software that is now available as well as Amazon‘s own efforts to smooth the process of being a reseller.   Several other opportunities are discussed today as well including building a brand, KDP books, selling used books, drop shipping and others.   Check out our sponsor Stick around at the end of the episode to hear about an inventory sourcing tool that's really gaining momentum in our community! It's called Arbisource - get the special free seven-day trial at SilentJim.com/arb   Show note LINKS: 3pmercury.com/friends 3pmercury.com/webinar: Recording of a webinar that breaks down the two steps to reselling with 3PMercury   Email Jim personally anytime at JimCockrum@gmail.com   SilentJim.com/keepa - Keepa is the only tool you need when starting off selling. Our Keepa podcast episode is number 369 at https://SilentJim.com. It is a great intro to what Keepa is and why it's our recommended super inexpensive tool.   Tactical Arbitrage SilentJim.com/ta : Part of Seller 365 at SilentJim.com/365 Arbisource: SilentJim.com/arb : A sourcing tool gaining popularity in our community Nepeto: SilentJim.com/oaleads : A sourcing tool used and loved by many in our community   My Silent Team Facebook group. 100% FREE! https://www.facebook.com/groups/mysilentteam - Join 82,000 + Facebook members from around the world who are using the internet creatively every day to launch and grow multiple income streams through our exciting PROVEN strategies! There's no support community like this one anywhere else in the world!   SilentJim.com/bookacall - Schedule a FREE, customized and insightful consultation with my team or me (Jim) to discuss your e-commerce goals and options.   ProvenAmazonCourse.com - The comprehensive course that contains ALL our Amazon training modules, recorded events and a steady stream of latest cutting edge training including of course the most popular starting point, the REPLENS selling model. The PAC is updated free for life!                

In this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi Member Q&A podcast, hosts Michael La Ronn and Sacha Black discuss how indie authors can balance the creative work of writing with the ongoing demands of marketing and business management. Other questions include: Is it smart to include QR codes in your e-books and print editions, and what's the best way to use them? How can an author with a traditionally published background reach a wider audience for a self-published book? What's the best way to synchronize publication dates across KDP and IngramSpark? Can IngramSpark produce a book that's already published through Amazon KDP? How should authors handle distribution when a book appears on Amazon through Ingram? What are the pros and cons of outsourcing versus handling all publishing tasks solo? And More! Find more author advice, tips, and tools at our Self-Publishing Author Advice Center, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. About the Hosts Michael La Ronn is ALLi's Outreach Manager. He is the author of over 80 science fiction & fantasy books and self-help books for writers. He writes from the great plains of Iowa and has managed to write while raising a family, working a full-time job, and even attending law school classes in the evenings (now graduated!). You can find his fiction at www.michaellaronn.com and his videos and books for writers at www.authorlevelup.com. Sacha Black is a bestselling and competition winning author, rebel podcaster, speaker and casual rule breaker. She writes fiction under a secret pen name and other books about the art of writing. When Sacha isn't writing, she runs ALLi's blog. She lives in England, with her wife and genius, giant of a son. You can find her on her website, her podcast, and on Instagram.  

Im the Juggernaut, BEEOOOTCCHHHH - A Hip-Hop Mix by KDP - 2025 by Kurlee Daddee Productions

KDP just expanded its print distribution to new global markets, giving authors more reach than ever before. Meanwhile, Amazon Ads opened up Sponsored Brands access for every author, even if you only have one book. There's also plenty happening around the publishing world, from major events to author opportunities you won't want to miss. Tune in for the latest industry updates, insights, and surprises in this week's Self-Publishing News. The Final 3: Your Publishing Playbook, Rewritten (Kickstarter) - https://DaleLinks.com/Kickstarter MK Williams - https://1mkwilliams.com/ KDP Forum: Distribute your print books in the Republic of Ireland and Belgium marketplaces - https://www.kdpcommunity.com/s/article/Distribute-your-print-books-in-the-Republic-of-Ireland-and-Belgium-marketplaces?language=en_US&forum=KDP%20Forum Book Bounty:

Horror author and editor Taryn Womack joins Rich and co-host Kayla Deickman to talk ghost hunting in Gettysburg, haunted dolls, and her short-story collection Down a Dark Road. She opens up about writing vs. editing, the reality of self-publishing and marketing, and why campfire-style micro-stories can still deliver big chills. You'll also hear actionable ideas for audiobook production, gift-shop placement, and turning local legends into page-turners. Sponsored by Harford County Living Guest Bio:  Taryn Womack is a Maryland-based horror author and editor with a B.A. in English (creative writing & publication) from the University of Baltimore (2019). Her collection Down a Dark Road (2023) gathers campfire-style short horror stories inspired by hauntings, mines, and eerie objects; she's currently drafting a romantasy novel and developing a haunted-antiques concept. When she's not writing or editing, Taryn explores historic sites (hello, Gettysburg) and works in Bel Air, MD—often swapping critiques (and jokes) with best friend and illustrator Kayla Deickman. Main Topics: ·         “Down a Dark Road”: concept, timeline, and favorite stories (“The Mines,” “The Doll,” “Snowman”)·         Ghost-tour inspirations: Gettysburg's Jenny Wade House & the Orphanage, Alcatraz daytime tour·         Haunted dolls & The Conjuring universe; why real porcelain/Raggedy Ann-style dolls are scarier than movie props·         Writing vs. editing: process, drafts, beta reads, and Taryn's editing style/preferences·         Self-publishing realities (IngramSpark vs. KDP), royalties, and why buying direct helps authors·         Marketing on a budget: podcasts, campground gift shops, seasonal bundles, audiobook casting ideas·         Overcoming writer's block; why “the first draft always sucks” and how to push through·         Local-legend story ideas: Chessie, Black Aggie, Maryland folklore, Havre de Grace/Jerusalem Mill angles  Resources mentioned: ·         Down a Dark Road by Taryn Womack (short horror collection; 2023)·         Gettysburg ghost tours; Jenny Wade House; the Orphanage (story “The Doll” inspiration)·         Alcatraz (day tour)Send us a textDonate HereSupport the showRate & Review on Apple Podcasts Follow the Conversations with Rich Bennett podcast on Social Media:Facebook – Conversations with Rich Bennett Facebook Group (Join the conversation) – Conversations with Rich Bennett podcast group | FacebookTwitter – Conversations with Rich Bennett Instagram – @conversationswithrichbennettTikTok – CWRB (@conversationsrichbennett) | TikTok Sponsors, Affiliates, and ways we pay the bills:Hosted on BuzzsproutSquadCast Subscribe by Email

In this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi Member Q&A podcast, hosts Michael La Ronn and Sacha Black discuss how a debut author can promote a first audiobook without an existing platform. Other questions include: How can an urban fantasy with an unrequited-love subplot be marketed without signaling it's a romance? Can authors obtain a tax exemption when purchasing author copies on KDP? Where should a charity's endorsement logo go on a children's book cover, and what permissions are required? What's the best ebook format and software—and how do ISBNs factor in? Any practical tips for generating usable AI images for author projects? How do ALLi members find the current IngramSpark revision code? And More! Find more author advice, tips, and tools at our Self-Publishing Author Advice Center, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. About the Hosts Michael La Ronn is ALLi's Outreach Manager. He is the author of over 80 science fiction & fantasy books and self-help books for writers. He writes from the great plains of Iowa and has managed to write while raising a family, working a full-time job, and even attending law school classes in the evenings (now graduated!). You can find his fiction at www.michaellaronn.com and his videos and books for writers at www.authorlevelup.com. Sacha Black is a bestselling and competition winning author, rebel podcaster, speaker and casual rule breaker. She writes fiction under a secret pen name and other books about the art of writing. When Sacha isn't writing, she runs ALLi's blog. She lives in England, with her wife and genius, giant of a son. You can find her on her website, her podcast, and on Instagram.  

Behind Dr Pepper's Fansville Gameplan with Ben SylvanNo brand collaboration is as synonymous with college football as Dr Pepper, and that's by no mistake. Now in its eight season, the leaders behind Fansville's effervescent brand story are running all new plays.In this episode of Brand Insider, Kate Terhune goes 1:1 with Ben Sylvan, SVP of Connected Media at Keurig Dr Pepper, to unpack how he's retooling a modern CPG media engine around one interconnected strategy.Fresh from The Trade Desk, Ben walks through why KDP moved from a “Chipotle assembly line” of channel owners to a true PESO formation—one integrated lead tackles everything from the biggest screen to the IRL interaction at point of sale. He talks team structures that empower success and measurement playbooks that allow for real time refinements.Ben's north star is simple: growth. The gameplan? Precision, personalization, and partnerships—from Jerry Jones in an “away game” cameo to RC Cola's legacy with the Chicago Bears. If you're building connected media for outcomes—not org charts—this conversation is your playbook.

Welcome to another episode of the Cookbook Love Podcast. I just finished enrolling new students into Cookbooks on KDP and wanted to share something with you based on my conversations with aspiring cookbook authors. When I talk to successful cooks, bakers, dietitians, chefs, and others who have a ton of kitchen experience to share, I hear them say things like: “I don't have time.” “I'm not techie enough.” “Do I need an audience first?”  “I'm not a dietitian”. But underneath those words is something we all face, what I call Doubt Soup. In this episode, I explore how doubt shows up in disguise, why it keeps so many cookbook dreams on hold, and what we can do instead of sit in the Doubt Soup.  Things We Mention in This Episode: Join the waitlist for the 2026 cohort of Cookbooks on KDP 

https://triunfacontulibro.com/Hay entrevistas que te reconcilian con el porqué de escribir. La de hoy es una de esas.  Estela Moreno Bermúdez tomó una experiencia dura y la convirtió en Pepuka, un proyecto que ayuda a los niños a poner nombre a lo que sienten y a los docentes a identificar lo que a veces ocurre en casa… para poder actuar.  En la conversación no hablamos de épicas, sino de decisiones terrenales que cualquiera puede tomar si quiere contar su historia para ayudar y lograr que llegue a muchas manos.  ¿Cómo eliges el formato sin edulcorar ni asustar? ¿Qué pasa después de la lectura para que los niños se atrevan a hablar? ¿Cómo se gana la confianza de un claustro que no te conoce? Y la pregunta que todos pensamos en secreto: ¿cómo haces que ese libro circule de verdad? Lo que te llevas al escuchar (sin destripes) El enfoque que convierte un testimonio en un libro que acompaña. Por qué el cuento funciona a distintas edades sin perder profundidad. El “después del libro”: un taller–debate que abre conversaciones necesarias. Pistas para que los peques sepan a quién contarle lo que les pasa. Claves para que los docentes reconozcan señales y activen ayuda. Cómo empezar pequeño (tu cole, tu barrio) y multiplicar el boca-oreja. La combinación que da alcance y control a la vez: KDP + tirada propia. Cuándo crear materiales de apoyo para que los centros adopten tu libro. Un lanzamiento sin humo: comunicar antes de publicar. “Las historias dan las palabras que a veces nos faltan.” — Estela Si llevas tiempo dándole vueltas a tu libro —y te frena el pudor, el tiempo o el “¿y quién me va a leer?”— esta charla es para ti. No necesitas un altavoz gigante: necesitas personas reales escuchando, preguntando y recomendando. Y eso se construye con empatía, método y constancia. Al final del episodio tendrás claro por dónde empezar hoy: cómo encarar tu historia sin caer en el dramatismo, qué formato escoger, con quién hablar primero y qué ofrecer para que tu libro no se quede en la estantería. Lo demás llega solo: cuando una historia sirve, circula. Escucha la entrevista completa con Estela Moreno Bermúdez y descubre el cómo paso a paso. (Enlace al podcast)  

With its original investment thesis proven accurate, Nutrabolt has decided to expand its strategic partnership with Bloom Nutrition. So, this content will provide you with the legitimate “insider” deep dive insights needed to really understand the nuance behind why Nutrabolt and Bloom Nutrition both decided to expand their strategic partnership, what it unlocks for Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP), and how it could impact the energy drinks market going forward. So, why is this such big news? Comparatively speaking, there isn't a single (early stage) brand (in my opinion) currently displaying the same level of beverage industry upside potential…especially within such an important large category like energy drinks. And while that original strategic growth capital obviously fueled and accelerated many key areas like (most notably) product innovation…I can say with complete confidence that the record-setting explosive growth year of Bloom Sparkling Energy (or the initial breakout success of Bloom Pop) would not have happened without Nutrabolt. Also, I'm not even referencing any impact from the Nutrabolt and KDP strategic partnership either…as the biggest value Nutrabolt provided to Bloom was ensuring “Icarus” didn't fly too close to the sun. The truth is…Bloom already had the vision, but it needed that trusted “big brother” to help with the recent brand evolution. But the expanded investment strengthens the commercial partnership between Bloom and Nutrabolt, thus by proxy also strengthens the commercial partnership between Bloom and KDP (which has played a valued role in the Bloom retail strategy). And for those living under a rock…let me backtrack and mention that KDP acquired a significant minority equity stake in Nutrabolt about three years ago. Similarly, I can say with complete confidence, whether in terms of new categories, expanding usage occasions, attracting a broader consumer base…or just indirectly providing Nutrabolt with a much-needed kick in the ass around brand marketing, the “powerful step-change growth opportunity for Nutrabolt,” would not have happened without Bloom. The truth is…Nutrabolt already had the strategic discipline, but it needed that passionate energetic “little brother” to help with the recent company evolution. Nutrabolt is now on pace to exceed $1 billion in annual revenue on a consolidated basis…and has transformed into one of the fastest-growing and most talked-about global active health and wellness companies. But where does that take Nutrabolt next? Does becoming the majority owner of Bloom (strengthen or weaken) my Nutrabolt IPO prediction from several years ago? I've always felt Nutrabolt becoming a public company would be advantageous for KDP as well…as I've been mentioning this proxy strategic investment vehicle concept for years. Obviously, the recent CELSIUS, Alani Nu, Rockstar Energy, and PepsiCo transaction further confirmed the importance of this “strategic category captain” structure. So, my conviction should be stronger than ever around KDP utilizing Nutrabolt as the “active nutrition” category captain, but that would require me turning a blind eye to the recent announcement that KDP would acquire JDE Peet's (and subsequently separated into two separate independent companies…currently given generic “Global Coffee Co.” and “Beverage Co.” placeholder names). And while KDP streamlining itself doesn't necessarily diminish the chances of a Nutrabolt IPO, it likely complicates the beforementioned idea of being the “KDP Beverage Co.” active nutrition category captain.

KDP has quietly confirmed a huge change to the Select program, and we've got the update. Plus, big audiobook news from ElevenLabs, a lifetime discount on Authorbase, and a special report from Jane Friedman on the past decade of publishing. All that and more in the Self-Publishing News for September 9, 2025. The Final 3: Your Publishing Playbook, Rewritten - https://DaleLinks.com/Kickstarter Email Marketing for Books - https://DaleLinks.com/EmailBook  Sources: KDP: How to enroll in KDP Select - https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/GD9PMU58BV24QFZ7#enroll Kindlepreneur: ghost categories. - https://kindlepreneur.com/how-to-choose-the-best-kindle-ebook-kdp-category/ Publisher Rocket - https://DaleLinks.com/Rocket (affiliate link)  Amazon Ads - https://advertising.amazon.com Writer Beware: If Your Publisher Promised to Register Your Copyright, Check Your Registration Now - https://writerbeware.blog/2025/08/29/if-your-publisher-promised-to-register-your-copyright-check-your-registration-now Jane Friedman: How Publishing Has Changed Since 2015 - https://janefriedman.com/how-publishing-has-changed-since-2015/  GeniusLink - https://DaleLinks.com/Genius (affiliate link) ALLi's 2025 Author Income Survey - https://allianceindependentauthors.org/survey (deadline September 17, 2025) MailerLite: Free plan update: What you need to know - https://www.mailerlite.com/help/free-plan-update-faq MailerLite - https://dalelinks.com/mailerlite (affiliate link) Author Nation - https://DaleLinks.com/AuthorNation (affiliate link)  ElevenReader - https://elevenreader.io/ AuthorBase - https://DaleLinks.com/AuthorBase (affiliate link) Lock in 20% off for life till September 30th.  September 2025: Creating Multiple Income Streams from Your Book - https://twinflamesstudios.com/monetize?partnerid=r1397 (affiliate link) Draft2Digital's Self-Publishing Insider: Catching Up with Dale Roberts - https://www.youtube.com/live/WRG4SfnhDKg?si=JY2_3R4oSxEeCSlv Subscribe to The Self-Publishing Hub - https://TheSelfPublishingHub.com Subscribe to my email newsletter - https://DaleLinks.com/SignUp  Join Channel Memberships - https://DaleLinks.com/Memberships Join Me on Discord - https://DaleLinks.com/Discord Check out my main YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@dalelroberts My Books - https://DaleLinks.com/MyBooks Wanna tip me? Visit https://dalelroberts.gumroad.com/coffee. 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

Send me a Text!Lauren shares the heart behind her book, Winston and the Missing Apples, and invites you to consider writing your own.In this inspiring and practical episode, you'll learn:Why storytelling matters in books and in businessWhat it really looks like to write and publish your own children's bookHow to find an illustrator, get an ISBN, and choose between KDP and PrintNinjaSimple ways to promote your book and start sharing it with readersWhether you're an educator, a parent, or a creator with a story to tell—this is your sign to start.

Send us a textDr. Pepper is making an $18 billion play in the global coffee market, acquiring Dutch giant JDE Peet's and splitting into two standalone companies. The deal creates a new coffee contender set to rival Nestlé.Jenny Rae and Namaan break down why Dr. Pepper is betting big, what the move says about synergies and strategy, and why investors sent KDP's stock down.They also explore what this means for global beverage competition and whether Dr. Pepper can truly challenge Nestlé's dominance.Links:Reuters: Keurig Dr Pepper brews coffee challenge to Nestlé with $18 billion JDE Peet's takeoverRelated Market Outsiders episodes you'll love:PepsiCo Earnings Surprise (July 2025) – Shares jump as Pepsi's diversification strategy pays off, with implications for the broader drinks market.Coca-Cola's Growth Challenge (June 2025) – How Coke is managing slowing soda sales while leaning into new categories.Join Market Outsiders live every weekday at 9:15AM ET on LinkedIn and YouTube.Subscribe to the Market Outsiders feed for daily episodes (Apple, Spotify).Follow Management Consulted on LinkedIn and subscribe on YouTubeConnect with Namaan and Jenny Rae on LinkedInListen to the Market Outsiders podcast, the new daily show with the Management Consulted teamConnect With Management Consulted Schedule free 15min consultation with the MC Team. Watch the video version of the podcast on YouTube! Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest updates and industry insights! Join an upcoming live event - case interviews demos, expert panels, and more. Email us (team@managementconsulted.com) with questions or feedback.

Authors are buzzing over a new discovery in Audible's terms—and it could mean major changes to royalties and transparency. From audiobooks and AI tools to record-breaking sales and hidden fine print, this week's news covers it all. Don't miss your chance to act on limited-time offers and stay ahead of the curve. One overlooked line in KDP could explain everything. Sources: My Kickstarter Campaign - https://dalelinks.com/thefinal3 Daniel Greene: Nail in Audible's coffin - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BJIZA_OpDw&list=PLXCkkWHluK4Cr5gtRbFDrnkix22aFLwQI&index=1&t=2s Convince Audible to revise it's New Royalty Model - https://www.change.org/p/convince-audible-to-revise-it-s-new-royalty-model Jane Friedman's The Bottom Line - https://janefriedman.com/the-bottom-line-janes-publishing-industry-newsletter/ Voices by INAudio - https://www.voicesbyinaudio.com/ Fast Company: Spotify just redesigned the way you'll ‘listen' to audiobooks - https://www.fastcompany.com/91383062/spotify-follow-along Spoken - https://ihave.spoken.press/ Writer Beware: Author Complaints, Conflicts of Interest at Fortis Publishing - https://writerbeware.blog/2025/08/22/author-complaints-conflicts-of-interest-at-fortis-publishing/ ALLi News Podcast: AI-Generated Fake Books Resurface on Amazon - https://selfpublishingadvice.org/podcast-ai-generated-fake-books/ Latest Smashwords Sale Breaks Records - https://www.smashwords.com/about/updates  Tax updates for books sold in Brazil and Romania. - Apple Books for Authors - https://authors.apple.com ALLi: Why Amazon Book Launches Fall Flat—and What to Do Instead: Publishing for Profit with Joe Solari - https://selfpublishingadvice.org/podcast-amazon-book-launches/  Author Nation – https://DaleLinks.com/AuthorNation (affiliate link) ProWritingAid Storyteller's Sale - https://DaleLinks.com/ProWritingAid offer good through August 28, 2025 (affiliate link) Dibbly Summer Sale - https://DaleLinks.com/Dibbly - use SUMMERSALE12 for 12% off - good until September 8, 2025 (affiliate link) Get Authentic Book Reviews - https://GetAuthenticBookReviews.com - $1 sale is good ONLY in August 2025 Booklinker: Fix Your Book Description in Four Steps - https://booklinker.mykajabi.com/Book-description Subscribe to The Self-Publishing Hub - https://TheSelfPublishingHub.com Subscribe to my email newsletter - https://DaleLinks.com/SignUp Join Channel Memberships - https://DaleLinks.com/Memberships Join Me on Discord - https://DaleLinks.com/Discord Check out my main YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@dalelroberts My Books - https://DaleLinks.com/MyBooks Wanna tip me? Visit https://dalelroberts.gumroad.com/coffee.  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

By now, you've undoubtedly heard the business news that Keurig Dr Pepper entered into a definitive agreement to acquire JDE Peet's worldwide portfolio of beloved coffee brands. Under the terms of the agreement, KDP will purchase all outstanding ordinary shares of JDE Peet's…valuing the all-cash transaction at approximately $18.3 billion. And you might be thinking, “wow I didn't realize KDP was Mr. Money Bags,” especially after I mentioned in content recently that the almost $2 billion GHOST Lifestyle acquisition last year was its largest deal to date. But to understand what's really going on…it requires a history lesson that begins with Johann Adam Benckiser founding an industrial chemicals business in 1823. Though, the real business history nerds will recognize the initials of Johann Adam Benckiser for another reason. JAB Holding Company was formed in 2012, as a partner-led investment firm, with the consolidation of all business assets. During that early formation process, JAB Holding Company created the Coffee & Beverages Investment Platform via the take private transactions of Peet's Coffee and D.E Masterblenders. Then, a few years later…that investment platform expanded when it merged with the coffee division of Mondelez International (essentially creating the JDE portion of JDE Peet's). But in 2016, JAB Holding Company was involved in another coffee-related “take private transaction,” this time acquiring Keurig Green Mountain for $13.9 billion. Then, in 2018, Keurig Green Mountain acquired Dr Pepper Snapple Group for $18.7 billion…with JAB Holding Company owning (at the time) 73% of the combined Keurig Dr Pepper company. And while ownership percentages have fluctuated greatly over the years (especially on the KDP side), all roads still lead back to JAB Holding Company (even though you will see only a minor mention of it buried within the JDE Peet's transaction details section of the press release). So, what I'm saying is JAB Holding Company basically created both JDE Peet's and KDP…and thus, JAB Holding Company can essentially recreate JDE Peet's and KDP! After the M&A transaction closes, KDP plans to separate into two independent, U.S.-listed publicly traded companies…currently given generic “Global Coffee Co.” and “Beverage Co.” placeholder names. Yet, with a portfolio of iconic and emerging brands (generating more than $11 billion in annual net sales), a differentiated and expanding DSD distribution system, and a proven, capital-efficient “build, buy, partner” growth model, “Beverage Co.” will ACTUALLY not change much (at least initially). Instead, “Beverage Co.” will significantly improve due to sharper focused decision-making, tailored capital allocation strategies, and enhanced optionality overall. Essentially, the previous KDP “Refreshment Beverages” segment gets better through simplification. In just two short years, KDP went from getting its categorical ass whipped to controlling the most intriguing “active nutrition” brand portfolio by (1) acquiring a large stake in the maker of C4 Energy, (2) strategically partnering with Electrolit and Black Rifle Coffee, (3) acquiring GHOST, and (4) getting access to Bloom Nutrition through a proxy investment by Nutrabolt. But then, for the final part of my latest first principles content piece, I'll reconsider an element from my previous KDP “active nutrition” brand portfolio content…and examine possible new contagion effects from this separation announcement.

Welcome to another episode of the Cookbook Love Podcast. Today on the podcast I share three questions that came up during Recipe Week LIVE 2025: how to ethically adapt recipes, how to move from passive learning to active doing, and how to price a self-published print cookbook on Amazon with confidence. Today on the show, I share: Adaptation & attribution: Why ingredient lists and basic processes aren't generally copyrightable and how your expression (voice, headnotes, tips, stories, history, technique rationale) creates protectable originality. Simple, honest “inspired by/adapted from” credit keeps you on solid ethical ground. From learning to doing: Why passive learning feels comfortable, and how small, courageous actions (blank page → draft → test → iterate) build momentum. Use tools like a Pre-Recipe Tool or documentation is the bridge to capture ideas and start writing. Pricing with confidence: Why $25–$40 is common for premium print cookbooks, how color and page count affect your KDP print costs, and why price is a signal of value and not a race to the bottom with a lost cost book. Consider your margin and own your profit goal. Things We Mention in This Episode: Join the waitlist for Cookbooks on KDP (September 2025 enrolling soon) KDP Printing Cost & Royalty Calculator  

Publishing a paperback book through Amazon KDP can seem straightforward, but producing a professional, print-ready title involves a lot of behind-the-scenes work. In this week's episode of Fully Booked, author Michael Pickard joins Craig and Roland to break down the KDP paperback process. From formatting your manuscript and solving layout challenges to working with cover designers and preparing final files for upload, Mike shares the key steps many first-time authors overlook. With more than a dozen titles to his name, Mike offers practical advice drawn from years of self-publishing experience and from guiding other authors through the process. He explains how to avoid costly formatting mistakes, manage ISBN decisions, and ensure that your book meets professional standards before it goes live. Along the way, he shares lessons learned from proofing, coordinating with designers, and navigating KDP's print-on-demand limitations. For anyone beginning their print book journey, this conversation delivers a clear and realistic guide to creating a high-quality paperback without traditional publishing support.   Michael Pickard https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B000APFNIO   Hidden Gems Need our help publishing or marketing your book? https://www.hiddengemsbooks.com/author-services/ All episode details and links: https://www.hiddengemsbooks.com/podcast  

In this episode, let's talk about all things KDP. How can you utilize it for your own Amazon brand, help boost your sales, and create your own books for another source of income. ► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast ► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension ► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup  (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life) ► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft ► Watch The Podcasts On YouTube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos Unlock these secret strategies for Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and transform your Amazon entrepreneurial journey with insights from our conversation with Shivali Patel. You'll discover how KDP can become a powerful tool for brand expansion, offering sustained royalties with much less hassle than traditional publishing. Shivali shares her incredible path from a teenage entrepreneur to a successful KDP author and Amazon FBA seller, emphasizing the importance of creative control and the freedom from traditional publishers that KDP provides. Throughout the episode, we tackle the nuances of maximizing success on the KDP platform. From the necessity of thorough research in the Kindle Store to the savvy use of tools like Helium 10, we provide a roadmap for aspiring authors. Learn from industry veterans like Dominic, who has mastered the art of selling over 1.5 million paperbacks, and uncover strategies for identifying trends, optimizing keywords, and breaking into lucrative niches. Whether it's conducting manual research or harnessing AI tools for book creation, this episode is packed with practical techniques to elevate your publishing game. The conversation takes a strategic turn as we explore keyword optimization and competitor research to enhance book visibility. With the assistance of Helium 10 tools like Cerebro and Magnet, we dive into methods for refining search results and selecting high-impact keywords. Explore how AI can streamline the writing process, from organizing content to crafting compelling descriptions. By integrating creativity with data-driven insights, this episode serves as your guide to capitalizing on KDP's potential and achieving lasting success in the publishing world. In episode 692 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Carrie and Shivali discuss: 00:01 - Utilizing KDP for Online Sales 01:58 - Leveraging Amazon KDP for Passive Income Potential 10:22 - Analyzing Kindle Store for KDP Books 13:20 - Researching Book Niches for Success 16:09 - Inconsistent Revenue Data on Amazon 17:46 - Strategic Approach to Amazon Keywords 23:35 - Competitor Research With Helium 10's Chrome Extension 29:04 - Keyword Research For KDP With Magnet and Cerebro 34:09 - Custom GPTs for Brand Promotion 39:13 - Benefits of Enrolling in KDP Select 44:02 - Utilizing KDP As An Amazon Seller

We recently had the pleasure of hosting international bestselling author J.L. Witterick on The Writing Community Chat Show, a show recently ranked among the top 10 writing podcasts in the UK. In a wide-ranging and insightful conversation, Jennifer, a master of emotional depth and compelling narratives, shared her journey from a high-stakes career in finance to becoming a globally recognized author. The interview offered a glimpse into her creative process and the powerful themes of her work.Check out her website here.From Finance to Fiction: A Journey of PassionJL Witterick's career path is a story of its own. She was a successful professional in the investment world, even co-founding her own firm, before a documentary inspired her to make a life-altering change. She revealed that her motivation stemmed from the profound emotional connection her books created with readers, a feeling she found more meaningful than the world of finance. Her belief that "anyone can learn to do anything if they want it badly enough" is a powerful message for aspiring writers from any background. Her debut novel, My Mother's Secret, was a testament to this, becoming a worldwide sensation and being translated into 10 languages.The Creative Process: Authenticity and EmotionDuring our chat, JL offered some invaluable advice for other authors. She emphasized that her writing is driven by passion rather than strategy, and that every story, regardless of genre, must feel authentic and be well-researched. She believes the key to a successful novel is creating characters that readers truly care about. She also revealed that her next novel, Stronger, is about 80% complete and is based on a true story from Taiwan. When asked for her most important advice to writers, she offered a classic truth: "everyone's first draft is shit," reminding everyone that perseverance is key.Exploring "The Truth"The conversation also delved into her latest book, You Can't Take the Truth, a young adult dystopian romance. JL described the novel as being about the "transformational power of love." The story is set in a society where people use a dream-inducing drug called "The Truth" to escape their mundane reality. She explained that the love story between the main characters, Flo and Day, serves as the anchor for the plot, which explores themes of appearance versus reality. Her writing style is fast-paced and focuses on the core identity of her characters, making her books accessible and engaging for a broad audience. The book is available now on Amazon. BUY IT HERE.Watch the interview here! Or head over to YouTube. Please consider liking the video, leaving comments, and subscribing. It will help like-minded people find us.

In this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi Member Q&A podcast, hosts Michael La Ronn and Sacha Black discuss whether media liability insurance is worth the cost for memoir authors and explain how it differs from errors and omissions coverage. Other questions include: What printers offer special features like sprayed edges and foil for print books? How can authors effectively run a presale campaign from their own website? What should I do if Amazon terminates my KDP account? How do Genius Link and Books2Read compare for universal book links? Is it time to reevaluate Findaway Voices now that it's part of Spotify? When do audiobooks become a worthwhile investment of time and money? And More! Find more author advice, tips, and tools at our Self-Publishing Author Advice Center, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. Sponsor The Member Q&A podcast is proudly sponsored by Bookvault. Sell high-quality, print-on-demand books directly to readers worldwide and earn maximum royalties selling directly. Automate fulfillment and create stunning special editions with BookvaultBespoke. Visit Bookvault.app today for an instant quote. About the Hosts Michael La Ronn is ALLi's Outreach Manager. He is the author of over 80 science fiction & fantasy books and self-help books for writers. He writes from the great plains of Iowa and has managed to write while raising a family, working a full-time job, and even attending law school classes in the evenings (now graduated!). You can find his fiction at www.michaellaronn.com and his videos and books for writers at www.authorlevelup.com. Sacha Black is a bestselling and competition winning author, rebel podcaster, speaker and casual rule breaker. She writes fiction under a secret pen name and other books about the art of writing. When Sacha isn't writing, she runs ALLi's blog. She lives in England, with her wife and genius, giant of a son. You can find her on her website, her podcast, and on Instagram.  

Let's talk about how the most intriguing “active nutrition” brand portfolio isn't controlled by some legacy supplement company. Instead, in just two short years, Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ: KDP) went from getting its categorical butt kicked in the “three-headed monster” of active nutrition beverages (aka energy drinks, sports drinks, and protein shakes) to now controlling the most intriguing “active nutrition” brand portfolio by (1) acquiring a large stake in the maker of C4 Energy, (2) strategically partnering with Electrolit and Black Rifle Coffee, (3) acquiring GHOST, and (4) getting access to Bloom Nutrition through a proxy investment by Nutrabolt. And this positive momentum is most evident within the energy drinks market, as the four brands controlled by KDP (e.g. C4 Energy, GHOST Energy, Bloom Sparkling Energy, and Black Rifle energy drinks) now combine to represent over $1 billion in annual run rate net sales…and are scaling rapidly. And in in aggregate…the KDP energy drink portfolio grew about one percentage point of share in 2025 thus far. And after experiencing more than 30% YoY retail sales growth in Q2, KDP holds a 7% share in the U.S. energy drinks market…which only trails the brand portfolio of Monster Beverage, Red Bull, and expanded Celsius Holdings brand portfolio. But having near-term aspirations of hitting a double-digit share position within the fast-growing $26 billion U.S. energy drinks market, KDP must surgically allocate meaningful resources to ensure (1) brand distinction between GHOST and C4 remains mission-critical and (2) Bloom Sparkling Energy gets ample support throughout its scaling phase. Then, in terms of hydration…Electrolit is currently the fastest-growing scaled brand and fourth-largest brand overall in the sports drink category. Benefitting from strong velocities, DSD enabled distribution expansion, and product innovation…Electrolit experienced retail sales growth over 30% YoY and gained more than 1.5 points of market share in Q2. And though I'd argue Electrolit is only scratching the surface of its long-term potential in the U.S. market, the KDP hydration portfolio also contains GHOST. Also, while these “enhanced waters” aren't technically included within this analysis…I'd be silly to not mention the huge rebound of the Bai brand, which has been powered recently in part by the “Sydney Sweeney effect.” KDP also recently acquired Dyla Brands, a manufacturer of powdered drink mixes and liquid water enhancers that should help those active nutrition brands build individual serving stick pack format presence in additional functional beverage categories. And then finally, I'll breakdown the KDP protein beverages platform…which is undoubtedly their laggard within the “three-headed categorical monster” of active nutrition beverages. Yet, in saying that…it might also be the category that sees the most upcoming “build, acquire, and/or partner” business activity. GHOST could (and should) look at relaunching its RTD protein beverages, C4 was rumored to be working on RTD protein beverages leveraging its Hershey's licensing partnership, and Bloom Nutrition could easily extend into RTD protein beverages (giving its female customers a fun mainstream clear whey innovation). But by controlling an intriguing brand portfolio and actively growing its go-to-market prowess and commercial playbook, I believe KDP is well-positioned to continue winning in this important “active nutrition” beverages space.

Today on the podcast, I'm joined by Daen Lia — home cook, recipe creator, and the author of Garlic, Olive Oil + Everything Mediterranean. You may know Daen from her wildly popular social channels under @daenskitchen, where she shares comforting Mediterranean-inspired recipes with over 6 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. Daen Lia learned to cook from her Spanish and Italian mother and grandmother. With the smell of garlic and roasted tomatoes wafting through the kitchen, Daen discovered the alchemy of a few simple ingredients: garlic, olive oil, and whatever is fresh, whether a vegetable or protein, or both.  In this episode, we explore: Why garlic confit is the foundation of nearly every recipe in her cookbook—and how to make it yourself How one simple batch of garlic and olive oil can transform everyday meals The journey from social content to print publishing The six essential ingredients that structure her book: GARLIC, OLIVE OIL, BUTTER, BREAD, CRUMBS, and EGGS Daen's tips for creating content for social media Whether you're new to Mediterranean cooking or a seasoned home cook, Garlic, Olive Oil + Everything Mediterranean offers approachable techniques, bold flavor, and heartfelt inspiration from a kitchen rooted in love and simplicity. Things We Mention in This Episode: Garlic, Olive Oil, + Everything Mediterranean Daen's Kitchen Join the waitlist for Cookbooks on KDP for September 2025 Diana Henry's How to Eat a Peach Matty Mattheson's  Soup, Salad, and Sandwiches: A Cookbook  

Matty Dalrymple talks with David Wogahn about PRINT STRATEGIES FOR INDIES, including the pros and cons of using platforms like IngramSpark and KDP for print-on-demand services, sharing insights on costs, logistics, and strategies for maximizing print book sales. David highlights the technical challenges of producing high-quality print books and the dynamics of managing discounts and pricing. The conversation covers the complexities of print runs, hardcover editions, large print books, and the importance of aligning one's distribution strategy with specific goals and budget.   Interview video at https://bit.ly/TIAPYTPlaylist Show notes at https://www.theindyauthor.com/show-notes   If you find the information in this video useful, please consider supporting The Indy Author! https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple   David Wogahn is the founder and president of AuthorImprints, which is a Partner Member of the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and has taught self-publishing classes for Writer's Digest University, Jane Friedman, ALLi, the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), and the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, among other publishing professional organizations. David is the author of six books about self-publishing, including the Countdown to Book Launch® series. In 2012, he became the author of the first LinkedIn Learning course on the topic of self-publishing.   Matty Dalrymple is the author of the Lizzy Ballard Thrillers, beginning with ROCK PAPER SCISSORS; the Ann Kinnear Suspense Novels, beginning with THE SENSE OF DEATH; and the Ann Kinnear Suspense Shorts. She is a member of International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime. Matty also writes, speaks, and consults on the writing craft and the publishing voyage, and shares what she's learned on THE INDY AUTHOR PODCAST. She has written books on the business of short fiction and podcasting for authors; her articles have appeared in "Writer's Digest" magazine. She serves as the Campaigns Manager for the Alliance of Independent Authors.

In this episode of the Cookbook Love Podcast, I'm joined by Suzanne Lenzer, food stylist, writer, and author of Peckish: Suggestions for the Sophisticated Snacker. Suzanne's approach to food and cooking invites us to consider not just what we eat, but how and why, with more spontaneity and less convention. Suzanne shares how she structured Peckish around “vessels” like On Toast, In Jars, Napkins Only, and more, making it easier (and more fun) to plan a night of grazing or to turn an afternoon snack into a small ritual of care. In today's show we talk about:  What mindful snacking actually looks like Why “Girl Dinner” became a cultural moment How to structure meals (or non-meals!) around what you're really craving The beauty of Peckish as both a guide and an invitation If you've ever felt the joy of assembling a little plate that speaks to what you want in that moment, this conversation is for you. Let's celebrate the joy of eating well, one thoughtful snack at a time. Things We Mention in This Episode: Peckish: Suggestions for the Sophisticated Snacker Connect with Suzanne Lenzer Join the waitlist for Cookbooks on KDP for September 2025 Diana Henry, How to Eat a Peach  

Amazon may have just changed the game by letting you collect Vine reviews before your product launches. Project X is back with the $10,000 casting call, and KDP sellers are finally getting in-browser sales data inside the Chrome extension. ► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast ► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension ► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup  (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life) ► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft ► Watch The Podcasts On YouTube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos We're back with another episode of the Weekly Buzz with Helium 10's Senior Brand Evangelist, Shivali Patel. Every week, we cover the latest breaking news in the Amazon, Walmart, and E-commerce space, talk about Helium 10's newest features, and provide a training tip for the week for serious sellers of any level. Get Amazon Vine reviews before your product launch https://sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-news/articles/QVRWUERLSUtYMERFUiNHUkVFTDNBUEtNVEdTUFlZ Project X Casting Call - h10.me/px2 New Product Announcement: Introducing Amazon Ads Enhanced Video Generator https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jeffreycohen_amazon-ads-launches-enhanced-ai-powered-video-activity-7345838124293345280-AjIG/ Tariff Pressure Hits Temu and Shein in U.S. as European Growth Accelerates https://www.modaes.com/global/companies/temu-and-shein-users-plummet-in-the-us-over-tariffs-rise-in-europe US user base of Chinese E-commerce platforms Temu & Shein plummets amid US-China trade conflict https://www.koreapost.com/news/articleView.html Alternative options when West Coast ports are congested https://sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-news/articles/QVRWUERLSUtYMERFUiNHQ1ZMS0JMVjNDR1JUWjRO Maximum box length for FBA orders to increase https://sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-news/articles/QVRWUERLSUtYMERFUiNHRExXTTMyVVhTVEdFNUM2 TikTok Shop opens for business in Japan as US fate hangs in balance https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3316505/tiktok-shop-opens-business-japan-us-fate-hangs-balance Trump says he has 'a group of very wealthy people' to buy TikTok https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20nqdl5ydjo From insightful updates to valuable KDP tools, this episode is packed with everything you need to navigate the evolving e-commerce landscape. (Time Stamps) -  In this episode of the Weekly Buzz by Helium 10, Shivali covers: 00:50 - Prelaunch Vine Reviews? 02:16 - Project X Casting Call 03:47 - Ads AI Video Generator 05:16 - Helium 10 New Feature Alert 08:33 - Temu & Shein Tariff Fallout 10:17 - Port Congestion Warning 11:18 - FBA Box Dimension Change 13:28 - TikTok Shop Japan 14:37 - TikTok US Buyer Found? 16:41 - Training Tip of The Week