In this week’s episode, Jim and Bryan discussed a trio of tips on where you should focus your marketing, the Awesome Indies Project and using an ACX alternative. The news stories included an audiobook subscription service, product placement in novels, temporary library cards at the airport, self-publishing services contracts and the health of the publishing industry. We also chatted about the launch of Author Marketing Institute and this week’s March to a Bestseller event. Check out the event on Friday, November 7th at http://bit.ly/marchtab2 Music: Smoke Gets In Your Eyes from Daddy_G’s Memory Music, Creative Commons License. Question of the Week: Have you ever paid a company to self-publish for you? If so, were you happy with your experience and why?
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Episode 30 – Negative Reviews, iBooks and Amazon’s Favor
In the landmark 30th episode of the Sell More Books Show, Jim and Bryan geared up for the impending March to a Bestseller 2 event, which will be held on Friday, November 7th. Check out the lineup and the two-dozen prizes you can win at http://bit.ly/marchtab2
The tips of the week included how to get into Costco and specialty stores, ways to increase your writing speed, and planning ahead for holiday publicity opportunities. Jim and Bryan also chatted about the Dear Author lawsuit, the Guardian reviewer stalking piece, five marketing mistakes most beginning fiction writers make, why Amazon is doing the world a favor, and several new features for the iBooks platform. Jim also offered up a 60-minute consultation as one of the giveaways for March to a Bestseller.
This week’s Question of the Week: Have you ever approached a reviewer? If so, how did it turn out?
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Episode 29 – Backstories, WattPad and Barbara Freethy
Our most jam-packed show yet! After discussing the journey into ACX, Jim and Bryan talked social media cheat sheets, social media sins to avoid, and sharing your backstory. There was so much news this week that we left Kindle Scout and the Amazon/Simon&Schuster deal out of the top five. The top five stories included news on a WattPad success story, publishing advances, Kobo vs. Amazon, the Kindle Unlimited Author Earnings report, and Barbara Freethy’s print deal. The Question of the Week: How do you decide how to spend your time as an author?
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Episode 28 – Content Events, Permission and Series Success
As part of Bryan’s birthday show, the guys discussed tips on promoting a standalone novel, growing website traffic and creating content events. Jim and Bryan announced their big Friday, November 7th multi-author event: March to a Bestseller 2. The event will feature at least 16 books on writing and marketing for just 99 cents with real-time Q&A with the authors.
You can join the event at bit.ly/marchtab2
The news included stories on Paulo Coelho’s indie author mindset, how to write a successful series, Amazon’s physical store in Manhattan, print book statistics and how to change your author business. Jim and Bryan went in-depth on why authors shouldn’t wait for permission to move forward in their careers. This week’s Question of the Week: What would you do if you stopped asking for permission in your author career? How would your books, marketing, and life change? Subscribe to The Sell More Books Show on iTunes! =&0=&Episode 27 – WriteOn, AuthorRise and Algorithms
Jim and Bryan discussed how the publishing world is adapting to the digital landscape in the latest episode. We examined how the Washington Post is continuing to trash self-published books, HarperCollins is raising royalty rates for authors who sell direct and how Amazon is testing out its own WattPad clone, WriteOn. Our trio of tips included the AuthorRise analytics tool, using a Book Marketing Canvas and programming Buffer to do your social media. Other stories included the new InkCase for iPhone5 and Rachel Aaron’s theories on the Amazon algorithm. This week’s Question of the Week: How do you connect with your early adopters?
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Episode 26 – Keywords, Accountability and BookBub UK
Bryan, the bright-eyed optimist, and Jim, the grizzled veteran, went toe-to-toe on Amazon keyword SEO in the latest installment of the show. They also discussed tips on early readers and creating better infographics. The five news stories focused on ideas for content creation, how to disrupt the dinosaurs of retail, improving the self-publishing industry, BookBub’s expansion into the U.K. and advice from bestselling author Bella Andre. Bryan also discussed the success of his first finished novel, and how his 5-6 unfinished novels helped to pave the way for “overnight” success. This week’s Question of the Week is: Have you used keywords to improve your on-page Amazon SEO? If so, have you noticed an increase in sales or free downloads?
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Episode 25 – Exclusivity, iBooks and Pinterest
It’s been 25 weeks since Jim and Bryan decided to give podcasting a go. We kept things rolling along with tips about Pinterest, changing your social media perspective and advanced email list building. After touching briefly on Nook’s continued tailspin, Jim and Bryan chatted about KDP Select, giving up blogging, iBooks and Smashwords, Amazon’s new crowdsourcing program and Amazon and Apple’s family sharing plans. Our Question of the Week: Do you use Pinterest for your marketing? If so, what kind of results have you had?
Episode 24 – KDP All Stars, The Decline of Nook & More
As Jim and Bryan neared the quarter century mark, they talked at length about Amazon’s recent announcement of the KDP Select All-Stars program. Before they got to that, Jim chatted more about live events and the two of them took on a trio of tips about Gmail productivity, editing, and videos for book club questions. The top five news included stories on Apple’s U2 free album promotion, J.A. Konrath’s 15 tips to increase sales, Joanna Penn’s three-year author-entrepreneur anniversary, the decline of Nook and Amazon’s new $2.7 million KDP Select All-Stars program. This week’s Question of the Week: Will the new All-Stars program get you to go exclusive on KDP Select? Why or why not?
Episode 23 – Author Marketing Live (Featuring Sean Platt, Johnny B. Truant and More)
We had a very special edition of the Sell More Books Show this week featuring many of the speakers from Jim’s Author Marketing Live event. J. Thorn, Andrea Vahl, Hunter Boyle, Derek Murphy, Vinny O’Hare, Deborah Carney, Julia Kline, Steve Scott, Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant all stopped by to take one tip and news story each! Our guests lent their expert opinions to a trio of tips on a Twitter ePub reader, an author site checklist and a Google Chrome plug-in for building your brand. We also touched on author productivity, Espresso Book Machines at Barnes & Noble stores, Google’s disbanding of the Authorship program, Kindle Unlimited and the Kindle Kids Book Creator. Whether you attended Author Marketing Live or not, take this opportunity to hear the speakers in action!
Episode 22 – Live Events, Cliffhangers and Reviews
With Jim’s Author Marketing Live event just a few days away, we talked about what it takes to run a live event. Bryan and Jim chatted about this week’s tips: cliffhanger pricing, incorporating video into your platform and when to use KDP Select. The news stories included a publishing company that successfully dropped Amazon, the condensing of non-fiction classics, how audiobook listeners consume content, and the recent Guardian $6,000 self-publishing story. We discussed the importance of getting reviews in depth, which formed the Question of the Week: How do you get reviews on your books?