Question of the Week: What do you think was the biggest news story of 2015? How did it make a major impact on indie publishing?

A new year is upon us as Jim and Bryan creep closer to the show century mark! After Bryan announced his temporary course opening ( https://www.sellingforauthors.com/lastchance ) and Jim announced his AMC Lifetime Membership contest winner, they went on with the show. Michael La Ronn and his YouTube channel Author Level Up is the latest show patron (check it out at http://www.authorlevelup.com ) and the dazzling duo is giving him and all the other patrons some awesome new bonuses! With hankies in hand, Bryan and Jim discussed memories of 2015 and some of their favorite tips, including author branding, virtual assistants, and paid advertising. The trends of the year included trading places, cracking down, indie statistics, the KU-pocalypse, and multiple major indie success stories. This week’s Question of the Week (the final one of 2015!) is: What do you think was the biggest news story of 2015? How did it make a major impact on indie publishing?

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Question of the Week: What does realistic publishing success look like to you? Where do you see your publishing business in five years?

Christmas is in the air, but Bryan and Jim are still telling it like it is. They started with Jim’s big “guess the clip” giveaway! They continued with news stories like KU’s international pages read change, indemnity clauses in trad pub contracts, publishing success, innovation in publishing, the myth of the Everyreader, and the adult coloring craze. Before the took on tips about Apple, staying fresh in a series, and mailing list growth, they re-featured their patron Honoree Corder and her book Prosperity for Writers ( http://bit.ly/honorpro ). This week’s Question of the Week: What does realistic publishing success look like to you? Where do you see your publishing business in five years?

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Question of the Week: Do you think Amazon should do something about books taking over categories they don’t belong in? Or should indies just take advantage of the category situation?

The pair of publishing podcasters have a new nickname (and you’ll have to listen to find out)! After praising their patrons Kathy Coatney (Dad’s Girls http://www.kathycoatney.com/dads-girls/ ) and Tara Ross (Cubicle Jail to Laptop Lifestyle http://amzn.to/1ZNNHWl ), they took on a trio of tips about Netline, genre fiction, and building your dream team of employees. News stories focused on Ilona Andrew’s self-published novella, British literary festivals, category coups, Flipkart’s bow, the rise of audio, and taking risks vs. gambling. This week’s Question of the Week: Do you think Amazon should do something about books taking over categories they don’t belong in? Or should indies just take advantage of the category situation?

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Question of the Week: How far in advance do you plan your publishing schedule? How do you (or could you) use pre-orders to improve your pre-planned releases?

Jim and Bryan have reached over 100 reviews on iTunes! You can still leave a review to enter Bryan’s book description giveaway contest before December 31st. In their latest show, they touched upon tips about keeping book reviews, building a better website, and spending less time on Twitter. They also thanked their latest patrons Geoff North (author of Thawed: Cryers http://bit.ly/thawcry ) and J. Rutger Madison (author of A Curse Upon the Saints http://bit.ly/curssaint ). News stories included ebooks in Kenya, Jane Friedman’s content marketing success, the addictiveness of self-publishing control, how publishers and authors can work together, Smashwords latest publishing poll, and the new Author Earnings Amazon UK report. This week’s Question of the Week: How far in advance do you plan your publishing schedule? How do you (or could you) use pre-orders to improve your pre-planned releases?

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Question of the Week: Do you write for passion or do you write to market? Why have you made that decision?

Jim and Bryan marveled at having lasted 87 episodes as they took on the latest news in self-publishing. After giving props to their latest patron, S.J. Pajonas and her book Removed (available at http://bit.ly/sjremoved ), they tackled tips on pseudonyms, Draft2Digitlal’s email service, and long-term blogging. News stories included thoughts on the sharing economy, how Netflix and self-publishing relate, what trad pubs fail to understand about ebooks, where you’ll see a self-pubbed book mentioned for the first time ever, and whether or not you should write to market. This week’s Question of the Week: Do you write for passion or do you write to market? Why have you made that decision?

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 Question of the Week: What’s the deal with Amazon? Are they dropping the ball or are we just expecting too much and why?

With Bryan back from his walkabout, he and Jim discussed the latest in the self-publishing sphere. After giving a hat tip to their patron Jonathan Small and his book Ascent ( http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013TH3N7M ), the death-defying duo covered tips on autoresponders, forging relationships, and what to ask a publicist. News stories included Amazon falling down on the job, the Authors Guild’s fight against the “discount double-cross,” Alan Moore’s pro-self-publishing rant, Dean Wesley Smith’s business advice, and the five-year anniversary of Marie Force’s first self-published book. This week’s Question of the Week: What’s the deal with Amazon? Are they dropping the ball or are we just expecting too much and why?

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Question of the Week: What have you done to increase your holiday book sales? What do you plan on doing this holiday season? Also, do you like the length of our show?

With Bryan camping (living) in a van down by the river, your co-hosts taped a special show on the subject of email marketing. They re-featured patron Michael Alan Peck’s book The Journeyman ( http://michaelalanpeck.com/books/commons-book-1-journeyman/ ) and talked tips on reviving your email marketing strategy, testing your emails, and the factors that go into the “perfect” marketing email. News stories included statistics about email marketing’s supremacy, the success and failure of the biggest brands on Halloween, getting a better return on investment from your emails, how to collect leads at less than $1 each, and why this holiday season could be even bigger and more digital than usual. What have you done to increase your holiday book sales? What do you plan on doing this holiday season? Also, do you like the length of our show? read more

Question of the Week: Should we be worried about trad pub trying out permafree? Why or why not? What do indies still have as a competitive advantage over trad pubs?

With Jim off winning an election (!!!), Bryan welcomed three of his early Selling for Authors students to the show. Dystopian new adult author Tarah Benner, nonfiction author Nathan Meunier, and dark fantasy author John L. Monk visited the podcast to talk tips, news, and Bryan’s Selling for Authors course (which closes its doors on Thursday, November 5th, 2015 at 11:59pm EST). Learn more at https://www.sellingforauthors.com After thanking new patron Chris Ayala (author of The Last Days at www.TheLastDaysTrilogy.com ) and returning patrons Kate Curran (She’s Out of His League at http://bit.ly/shesout ) and Marc Gunn (Pirates vs. Dragons at http://bit.ly/pirdrag ), Bryan and the gang talked tips. The tips of the week focused on blurbs, writing like you talk, and using Facebook ads to grow your mailing list. News stories included Amazon’s bookstore, a woman who reviewed 31,000+ books, the decline of eReaders, trad pub’s international strides, Kris Rusch’s opinion on agents, and trad pub testing out the permafree model. This week’s Question of the Week: Should we be worried about trad pub trying out permafree? Why or why not? What do indies still have as a competitive advantage over trad pubs?

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Question of the Week: What’s something you’re an expert on that you could teach a course about? How might you go about creating and promoting the course?

As Bryan dealt with the throes and joys of his Selling for Authors course launch (located at https://www.sellingforauthors.com ), the determined dyad took on the latest in indie publishing news. Jim and Bryan praised their latest Patron, Alan Frederick Hight, and his book Where The Leaves Wither ( http://eepurl.com/badxB9 ), and talked tips on card readers, Quotle, and Twitter giveaways. The news includes stories on Ellora’s Cave, indies in libraries, Amazon’s future reviewer plans, Kobo’s new promos for authors, trad pub authors going indie, and the influx of high-end author courses. This week’s Question of the Week: What’s something you’re an expert on that you could teach a course about? How might you go about creating and promoting the course?

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Question of the Week: How do you get your book reviews? What are some ways you might use to gather more?

Bryan and Jim headed deep into autumn with their latest episode on Amazon’s Fiverr reviews lawsuit, building giant email lists, and a comparison between indie and trad pub income. After thanking their wonderful Patrons for the week, Jennifer Evans Kochalka’s Grand Theft Auto and Other Misdemeanors ( http://amzn.to/1GRIzFb ), Tara Ross’ Cubicle Jail to Laptop Lifestyle ( http://amzn.to/1ZNNHWl ), and Mark Cooper’s Merkiaari Wars Box Set ( http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FU5LSME ), the stalwarts of self-publishing news took on a trio of tips about word count, writing productivity, and getting more reviews. The news stories included million-reader email lists, indie author advice from the CEO of Hachette, Google book scanning project, Sela Lyons’ indie success, and Amazon’s lawsuit against Fiverr book reviewers. This week’s Question of the Week: How do you get your book reviews? What are some ways you might use to gather more?

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