Episode 216 – Kindle Worlds, Shopping Actions, and Social Media Stories

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Question of the Week: Did Amazon end the Kindle Worlds program because of something major behind the scenes or was it the result of underperformance? What’s your reasoning for your choice?

Is something sinister afoot with the recent ending of Kindle Worlds or simply poor ROI for Amazon? Bryan welcomes his guest cohost Rachael Herron and offers listeners a heck of a summer deal on book Happy Book Reviews from the Author Marketing Club. And Bryan is still running his sale on book descriptions through May 30th. Rachael and Bryan offer up a huge thanks to this week’s Patrons – Angelborn, Dad’s Girls, and Black Shadow Moon. Hot tips of the week include how to get more reviews, why friends are not the best editors, and what to do about online bullies. This week’s top five news stories take us through who needs a morality clause in their contract, how to use social media Stories to your advantage, what are the pros and cons of direct sales, which author is most recently under attack from pirates, and why is Kindle Worlds getting the Deathstar treatment from the Amazon galaxy. Question of the Week: Did Amazon end the Kindle Worlds program because of something major behind the scenes or was it the result of underperformance? What’s your reasoning for your choice

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Episode 215 – Summit Recap, LitRPG Sneak Attack, and the Trademark Rebellion

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Question of the Week: What would you do if your KDP account was suspended? How would you protect your account in the future?

Are you prepared to handle something like having your KDP account suspended? Jim and Bryan discuss the fabulous feedback from the Summit and Bryan offers a Book Description coupon to give folks a chance to get in at the lower price before the increase at the end of the month. Jim shares an update on his journey into the fiction world. The guys offer up a big thanks to the Patrons – Prometheus, The Dragon Rustler, and Monkey Justice. This week’s “must try” tips include Rachael Herron’s approach to streamlining revisions by keeping theme in mind, how authors can create one thousand true fans, and why offering a prequel novella may be the best way to draw readers into your series. This weeks top five news items will show you how you stack up with your social media marketing efforts, what benefits can be earned through a flagship series, why novelists face a different dilemma from their nonfiction counterparts, who is rebelling against the latest trademark-gate, and which authors are feeling the heat from Amazon’s scam filters. Question of the Week: What would you do if your KDP account was suspended? How would you protect your account in the future?

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Episode 214 – Title Trademarks, Jami Albright, and Escape Artists

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Question of the Week: What should the indie community do to avoid a mob mentality in the future? Subquestion: What level of sound effects would you like in the show? More than this week, the same amount, or less?

How can we avoid picking up torches and joining the mob in the future? Bryan and Jim give a delightful summary of the fantastic Summit. It’s always a pleasure to thank our Patrons – Removed, Thawed, and the Hat Trick Series. This weeks hot tips include how authors can use ghostwriting to quit their day job, what authors should do to prepare for self-publishing 3.0, and which apps writers should download before their next conference. This week’s news is filled with HOT topics and surprising developments including Amazon’s new plan to reach out to young bookworms, the latest movie deal signed by one Wattpad author, interesting ways short fiction podcasters are monetizing their shows, one author made over $40,000 with only two published books, and how a steamy trademark dispute is dividing the indie community. Question of the Week: What should the indie community do to avoid a mob mentality in the future? Subquestion: What level of sound effects would you like in the show? More than this week, the same amount, or less?

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Episode 213 – Romance Retracted, Spotify, and Monkey Selfies

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Question of the Week: If we have a Sell More Books Show Summit in 2019, where should we have it and what should we cover?

What is your top pick for the location of the 2019 Sell More Books Show Summit? Jim and Bryan started things off by thanking their wonderful patrons – The Outline Book, A Curse upon the Saints, and The Last Days. The guys have some great tips this week, including how to banish author burnout, why connecting with other indie authors through social media can build a better community, and what is the secret to success with Facebook groups. This week in news the guys dive into who can claim copyright violation by exploring the funky monkey case, learn more about trickle down royalties on Spotify and how that could be an omen for indies, uncover the truth behind the impostor syndrome on Amazon, explore Joanna Penn’s idea that authors could survive on micro payments, and discover what the traditional romance publishing industry is doing to move away from indie authors. Question of the Week: If we have a Sell More Books Show Summit in 2019, where should we have it and what should we cover?

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Episode 212 – KU Pirates, Rugby Co-Authors, and the Rise of Nonfiction

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Question of the Week: Do you think nonfiction is a more reliable (slow and steady) earner than fiction? If you write fiction, have you considered writing nonfiction to supplement your income?

Do you have to write nonfiction to make it as an author? Is nonfiction a more steady earner? Bryan and Jim are both a little under the weather but the excitement of the upcoming Summit in Chicago fuels them on! They thanked their generous patrons – Mayhem & Murder, Cubicle Jail to Laptop Lifestyle, and Where The Leaves Wither. Next the guys jump into some useful weekly tips, including how to cut editing costs, how making friends with the competition can payoff, and choosing the best price point for your next promo! This week in news hear the winning story of an unlikely writing team, find out how breaking the rules seems to work, discover the growing power of indie authors in the Author Support Network, learn more about modern-day pirates and their affect on indie authors, and get the details on why trad publishers are putting their bucks behind nonfiction. Question of the Week: Do you think nonfiction is a more reliable (slow and steady) earner than fiction? If you write fiction, have you considered writing nonfiction to supplement your income?

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Episode 211 – GDPR, Hacked on Createspace, and the Benefits of One-Star Reviews

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Question of the Week: What do you do to secure your passwords for your author business?

How secure our your “author” passwords? Bryan and Jim are excited about the ramp up to the Summit and they took a moment to thank their generous patrons – Stalked by Flames, Sell More Books With Less Social Media, Peaks of Passion: Pleasure Point Series Book One. The guys jumped right into this weeks tips, which include how to keep a long series profitable and when to end it, how to turn bad reviews into learning opportunities, and how to choose the right POV for your marketing copy. This week in news, discover some important things to consider before expanding your business, learn why is Publishers Weekly scrutinizing indie publishers, understand how AI search engines interact with books, listen to Bryan’s tale of getting hacked on Createspace and how to prevent the same thing from happening to you, and delve into one author’s thoughts on the new GDPR policy. Question of the Week: What do you do to secure your passwords for your author business?

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Episode 210 – Missing Pages, Tacotron, and Great on Kindle

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Question of the Week: If someone jailbroke all the ebooks in the world and posted them online for free, how would your author business change?

How would your life as an author change if someone posted all ebooks online for free? Jim and Bryan are back for more fun in the world of publishing. They start of by thanking their generous patrons: Shades of Treason: An Anomaly Novel, Ten Little Bridesmaids, and Time Code: The Best Collection of 52 Stories You Should Be Reading This Year. This week’s hot tips include why authors should use every tool at their disposal to promote their audiobooks, how authors can craft their marketing strategy by understanding website analytics, and how authors can increase production and decrease adverse health effects with proper use of dictation. In the news, Kindle Create’s new version now includes support for formatting books in a number of new languages, the writers at Quartz found out Google’s new text-to-speech system sound indistinguishable from a human voice, why Amazon has filed suit against a UK self-publisher, and how multiple authors are losing thousands of dollars after a massive readjustment in earnings this past week. Question of the Week: If someone jailbroke all the ebooks in the world and posted them online for free, how would your author business change?

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Episode 209 – The Romance Dungeon, Freelancing, and the End of Kindle Scout

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Question of the Week: Should Amazon be able to judge which books are too “filthy” to sell? Why or why not?

Do we really want Amazon deciding what is “too filthy” for readers? Bryan is back from his mysterious absence last week and he took a moment with Jim to thank their generous patrons – Write! Shonen Manga, WordPress Security 101: How to Secure Your Website Against Hackers, and The Commons. Book 1: The Journeyman. Afterwards, they jumped right into this weeks tips, which include how authors can improve sales by testing their book covers, how authors can boost their productivity, and how you can fortify your Facebook security settings. This week in news, discover why readers and authors should give Google Play another try, learn more about the world of BookTubing with Ariel Bissett, find out how to boost your business with tips from Jane Friedman, learn if Barnes & Noble can win over readers with its new app, why we think Amazon is shutting down Kindle Scout, and how Amazon’s recent change filtered out adult-themes titles from main category rankings. Question of the Week: Should Amazon be able to judge which books are too “filthy” to sell? Why or why not?

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Episode 208 – Subtitles, Amazon Reviewers, and Up Lit

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Question of the Week: How do you approach subtitle metadata for your book? What’s your take on the ethics of using genre-related keywords for your subtitle? Bonus: What was Bryan doing this week instead of co-hosting the show?

Genre related keywords in your subtitles: yay or nay? This week, Jim is joined by J. Thorn and Zach Bohannon who are filling in for a vacationing Bryan Cohen. They kick off this week’s episode with a quick “thank you” to they generous patrons: Rebel Song, Cowgirl, Unexpectedly, and Kiss Kill. This week’s tips include how authors can attract new audiences on Kickstarter, how writers can use short stories to build their fanbase and skills, why authors should simplify their calls to action. News items include Overdrive celebrating an historic milestone, Smashwords and Findaway Voices partner up, how authors can gain insight into Canadian readers, the rise in popularity of “Up Lit” novels, why Britain’s Book Industry Communication organization is calling for authors to stop using promotional content in subtitles, and how Amazon is making it a little more difficult to find reviewers and land publishing deals. Question of the Week: How do you approach subtitle metadata for your book? What’s your take on the ethics of using genre-related keywords for your subtitle? Bonus: What was Bryan doing this week instead of co-hosting the show?

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