Episode 239 – Data Guy Revealed, Mac Dictation Roadblocks, and Taking Your Own Advice

Question of the Week: Have you ever given advice to another author you haven’t taken yourself? How has it felt when that advice worked like gangbusters?

Do you give great advice? Do you wish you’d take it? Bryan reports on the benefits of his mental health day last week. Jim talks about preparing for a speaking road-tour in 2019. This week’s Happy Book Reviews feature winner is S.J. Pajonas. Bryan thanks our featured Patrons: Stone Cold, Dorothy and the Cane of Destiny: Book One in the Elderly Chronicles, and The Life Actionbook: Tools and Actions for Personal Development. The Hot Tips you need include how to set home office boundaries to increase productivity, why pre-planning can help you reap more benefits from writer’s conferences, and why writing stories of different lengths can broaden your audience. Our Honorable Mention news story is a great new subscription bundle which includes Scribd with the New York Times. The top News stories affecting indie authors this week include how Dragon Professional has abandoned the Mac platform, why James Patterson is adding Facebook Messenger to his next book launch, what happened to some authors buy buttons on Amazon, who unmasked Data Guy, and how John Logsdon leveraged his writing into a $20K per month business. Question of the Week: Have you ever given advice to another author you haven’t taken yourself? How has it felt when that advice worked like gangbusters? read more

Episode 238 – Revitalizing, Repurposing, and Realistic Consequences (with Alex Newton from K-Lytics)

Question of the Week: Have you, or would you ever, write a book into a genre you knew wasn’t selling that well? And if so, why?

Would you knowingly write a book in a poorly selling genre? Jim welcomes his cohost Alex Newton from K-Lytics. This week’s winner of the Happy Book Reviews feature is Katherine Bogle. Jim thanks the featured Patrons: Achieve Anything In Just One Year, Dead Still, and The Busy Busy Author: Writing Faster and More Efficiently to Fit Around your Busy Life. The Hot Tips this show are why you need a good quality author photo, what path do readers take to find your titles and become superfans, and how a good author bio can strengthen your brand. The big News stories for the indie author world this week include how audiobooks are taking off in Canada, how will a mega-store closure affect traditional publishing, why tiny niche markets can be great for sales, what is Kobo gaining by working with Walmart, and an author success story on rebranding and revitalizing. Question of the Week: Have you, or would you ever, write a book into a genre you knew wasn’t selling that well? And if so, why? read more

Episode 237 – Backlist Bonanza, Apple’s Next Big Thing, and Price Elasticity

Question of the Week: Which unexpected advertising keywords and targets have provided you with results for your books and why didn’t you think they’d work?

Have you stumbled across some unusual keywords that have given you surprisingly positive results? “Happy Birthday!” to Bryan, who celebrated this past weekend. This week’s Happy Book Reviews Feature winner is Dan Thompson. Bryan and Jim share a hilarious post from William Oday—the ultimate Sell More Books Show spinoff—Bigfoot Big Heart: A Steamy Cleaned Romance. Bryan thanks the Patrons – Cold War: Alien Incursion and Guardian of the Grail. The Hot Tips include why the best keywords may not be your first choice, new ways to win back old email subscribers, and why price pulsing on ebooks can be an effective strategy. The Top News stories that matter to indies this week include the pros and cons of Barnes and Noble’s new print book pre-order feature, how recent changes at Apple could affect authors and increase income, author Katherine Bogle’s success story on rapid release and writing to market, Jim’s thoughts on Apple’s opportunities in the audiobook market, and how author Elana Johnson made massive financial gains in a single year. Question of the Week: Which unexpected advertising keywords and targets have provided you with results for your books and why didn’t you think they’d work? read more

Episode 236 – Spinoff to Market, D2D POD, and Non-Sleazy Selling

Question of the Week: What would be your Spinoff to Market? Also, what would be a Spinoff to Market for Jim and Bryan with the Sell More Books Show? (i.e. Shawty and the Hustla in the Wild Wild West)

If you had the opportunity to pick a spinoff for a specific market from one of your series, which one would you choose? Jim is still scheduling 15-minute consultations over on AuthorAccelerate.com, hop on over and set up your one-on-one. Bryan had a great time on Smart Passive Income with Pat Flynn and shares his awesome experience. This week’s Happy Book Reviews winner is RJ Beam. Bryan and Jim thank our featured Patrons: We Own the Sky, Faster Than Falling, and Leaving Eva. The Hot Tips include how to sell books without selling your soul, why Google docs could be the workflow solution you’ve been searching for, and why NaNoWriMo is worth a try. The News stories that matter most to Indies this week are how a change in VAT could line your pockets with extra cash, what issues will likely cause Wattpad’s token system to fail, how Kyla Steinkraus reached $5k in monthly earnings with a write-to-market spinoff, what’s up at Draft2Digital and why you should care, and how author Aidy Aaward exploded her income with a few key strategies. Question of the Week: What would be your Spinoff to Market? Also, what would be a Spinoff to Market for Jim and Bryan with the Sell More Books Show? (i.e. Shawty and the Hustla in the Wild Wild West) read more

Episode 235 – Category Strings, Wide Berths, and The Wonky Donkey

Question of the Week: Amazon may be getting rid of longer category strings on your sales pages. What do you think is the next big change Amazon will put into practice?

If Amazon is willing to ditch long-string categories, what else do you think they will jettison? Jim welcomes Bryan back from his West Coast mastermind retreat. The guys celebrate their 700,000th podcast download. This week’s Happy Book Review feature winner is David Mark Brown. Bryan thanks the featured patrons God and Gigs, Star Flame, and Peppermint Mocha Murder. The top Tips this week include how to successfully schedule the habit of writing, how stats can help you master paid advertising, and why author endorsements might not be out of your reach. Here are the News stories you won’t want to miss: How the subscription model of book sales is flourishing in Sweden, why the Wonky Donkey kicked Fear from the top spot, which tips Craig Zerf followed to double his income in August, Dave Chesson explains what is happening with Amazon categories, and how going wide helped J.D. Brown gain a big boost for a backlist series. Question of the Week: Amazon may be getting rid of longer category strings on your sales pages. What do you think is the next big change Amazon will put into practice? read more