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?
Podcast
Episode 88 – Control, Planning, and the Amazon UK Store
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?Subscribe to The Sell More Books Show on iTunes!
Episode 87 – Pen Names, Dark Matter, and Writing to Market
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?Subscribe to The Sell More Books Show on iTunes!
Episode 86 – Alan Moore, Marie Force, and the Discount Double-Cross
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/Subscribe to The Sell More Books Show on iTunes!
Episode 85 – The Email Marketing Show
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/
Episode 84 – BookPerk, Co-Writing, and the Post-Content Era
Question of the Week:
What value do you think Amazon is getting out of its latest retail venture? Would you want one in your city? Why or why not?
Councilman Elect Jim Kukral and Marshmallow Elect Bryan Cohen reunited for the latest episode of the show. After re-featuring Patron Susan Illene and her book Stalked by Flames ( http://amzn.to/1Q80kFr ), the determined duo took on tips about promoting sequels, co-writing, and using video marketing. News stories focused on the passing of a self-publishing godfather, HarperCollins’ acquisition of The Midlist, Amazon’s purge of books using certain keywords, opinions on Amazon Books, and whether or not we’re living in the “post-content era.” This week’s Question of the Week: What value do you think Amazon is getting out of its latest retail venture? Would you want one in your city? Why or why not?Subscribe to The Sell More Books Show on iTunes!
Episode 83 – Selling for Authors, Permafree Trad Pub, and Amazon’s Bookstore
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?Subscribe to The Sell More Books Show on iTunes!
Episode 82 – Courses, Quotle, and Card Readers
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?Subscribe to The Sell More Books Show on iTunes!
Episode 81 – Reviews, Lists, and Indie Opportunity
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/Subscribe to The Sell More Books Show on iTunes!
Episode 80 – Translations, More VAT, and the Ebook Market
Question of the Week: Which non-Amazon ebook retailer would you like to see at #2 in the market and why?
This week, Bryan and Jim tackled another wild week in publishing, including stories on the VATmess expanding, the Author Earnings ebook market report, and the Amazon Crossing announcement. First, Bryan talked about the successes and failures of his insane last week activities, such as an attempt to hit the NY Times list with a BookBub and his March to a Bestseller 3 event. You can opt-in to get his free training course for authors at http://sellingforauthors.com Our Featured Patron of the week was Thomas Umstattd of the Novel Marketing Podcast (http://www.novelmarketing.com ). Jim and Bryan also covered tips on free book promotions, pre-orders, and writer’s block. This week’s Question of the Week: Which non-Amazon ebook retailer would you like to see at #2 in the market and why?Subscribe to The Sell More Books Show on iTunes!