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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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?

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Question of the Week: How would you create a high concept brand around your books?

This week, Bryan announced a million things (actually three things) to help indie authors, including his new free video training (go to http://authorcopy.com to get on his list), his attempt to hit the USA Today Bestseller List with his writing prompts box set) (get it on Nook at http://bit.ly/noblocknook ) and his new Selling for Authors Facebook Group ( http://bit.ly/sfagroup ). Don’t forget, he’s also got March to a Bestseller 3 coming up this Friday ( http://marchtoabestseller.com ). With the promotional parade over, Jim and Bryan talked tips and news after thanking their latest Patreon patrons (Susan Illene’s Stalked by Flames http://amzn.to/1Q80kFr ) and (Chris Syme’s SMART Social Media for Authors http://amzn.to/1JLTwYI ). The tips included the next level of marketing, Blab, and better author bios. The tumultuous twosome also talked Facebook Groups, a year-long marketing plan, to KDP Select or not to KDP Select, the evolution of authorship, and high concept branding. This week’s Question of the Week: How would you create a high concept brand around your books?

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Question of the Week: Should we keep the sounders? And how has KBoards helped you during your indie author career?

After introducing their latest patron, Michael Allen Peck and his book The Journeyman, Bryan and Jim tackled the latest tips and news. Tips included myths about author marketing, Draft2Digital’s new back matter feature, and passive book marketing. Stories focused on an Oyster update, the growing pay-per-page model, indie author post-production, the mahogany desk flu, the Author Earnings individual report, and the passing of an important figure in self-publishing. The Question of the Week is: Should we keep the sounders? And how has KBoards helped you during your indie author career?

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Question of the Week: Do you think Google will try to compete in the book subscription market? How else do you think Oyster’s integration will impact the Google Play store?

Jim and Bryan took on a big week of news in the self-publishing with their latest episode. After Bryan officially announced the latest March to a Bestseller event (available at http://www.marchtoabestseller.com ), the tag team re-featured one of their $3 patrons, Sandy Williams and her book Shades of Treason. They also took on tips about whining, selling on iBooks, and collaboration. The news stories included the ad-blocking iOS9 browser, the latest month of KU earnings, getting readers to finish books, Amazon’s server outage, and Google’s acquisition of Oyster. This week’s Question of the Week is: Do you think Google will try to compete in the book subscription market? How else do you think Oyster’s integration will impact the Google Play store?

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Question of the Week: Do you buy books at Walmart? How hard would you work to get your books on the shelves there?

Jim and Bryan brought the thunder in their landmark 75th episode! After the two talkers gave props to their latest Patreon supporters (Mark E. Cooper’s Merkiaari Wars Box Set, C. Steven Manley’s Awakened, Kate Curran’s She’s Out of His League, and Honoree Corder’s Prosperity for Writers), Bryan introduced his $1,000 Copywriting for Authors Giveaway. Enter and get his book description cheat sheet at http://authorcopy.com This week’s tips included solutions for top writer excuses, how to create an indie collective, and why you should track your marketing efforts. News stories focused on the Wall Street Journal’s piece on ebook pricing, Facebook marketing, Kindle Scout, judging books by their covers, more zombie publishing memes, and Jamie McGuire’s Walmart shelf placement. This week’s Question of the Week: Do you buy books at Walmart? How hard would you work to get your books on the shelves there?

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