My first DOS computer had no mouse. Its screen had two colors: green and white. Today, computers have mice and complex graphics, and there is no need to be a computer programmer in order to use a computer.Technology gets easier to use each year. Even though it's easier than it used to be, sometimes you still need help. Many authors find that the biggest obstacle keeping them from writing, publishing, or marketing is technology.Authors lacking technical sophistication often get pulled into ove...

A few months ago, we released an episode called The Starving Author: How to Market Books When You Have No Money.After the episode aired, several authors asked me a similar question: “What do we do if we do have money to spend?” You see, not all authors are starving. Some writers have spent years saving money, and they want to know how to get the best return on that money when they invest it in book marketing.So, how do you supercharge book sales if you have money to spend?In this week's episo...

Author Media has a list of over 10,000 subscribers, and around half of them open our emails, which means our open rates hover around 50%. That’s a high open rate!It’s partly because new subscribers join our email list through webinars I present for writers and authors. By the end of each webinar, attendees know enough to want to open emails from Author Media and me. Plus, the comments, questions, and polls associated with the webinar allow me to get to know my audience better.If you want to g...

An Uber driver's most valuable asset is his car. A photographer's camera is critical. An Uber driver with a broken car can't make money, and a photographer with a cheap camera will slowly starve.What is the critical tool for an author? What tool will help you earn money and keep you from starving?Your laptop!You write, edit, and promote your book on your laptop. A reliable, compatible computer is key to your success. Put another way, an old, unreliable computer is a terrible liability.Investi...

When readers browse Amazon, they have already decided to purchase a book. The only question is: Which book will they choose? What if there was a way to reach readers at this pivotal moment and persuade them to pick your book from the list they're considering? There is! It is called Amazon Advertising, and it has become one of the most popular forms of book promotion for indie authors. However, many authors feel intimidated by the idea of running Amazon ads. In this week's episode, you'll hear...

The tools we use for writing have evolved over the centuries, from quill and inkpot to the printing press, to the word processor to AI. Recent developments in AI tools for writers have sparked everything from laughable images to controversy and fear. Is AI evil? Is it safe? In this week’s episode, we’ll discuss what you need to know about AI in our current day. You’ll learn How (and how early) it developedWhat threats it poses to writersWhat advantages it offersHow to wield it for good in the...

Almost every traditionally published book goes up for preorder before it comes out. However, the advice surrounding preorders can be confusing for indie authors. Some indies say preorders are critical. Others say having a preorder for your book can hurt sales. Who is right? Should you set up a preorder for your book? Are preorders a good idea or a bad idea? Preorders can help or hurt, depending on what kind of author you are. In this week’s episode, you’ll learn: What kind of author is helped...

You’ve heard me talk about the Five Ps of Marketing, and in this week’s episode, we tackle the third P: Place. In other words, where should you sell your book? Many authors struggle to find the right place to sell their books. Whether you're an indie or traditional author, you must discover the best places to sell. So, how can you unlock the power of place for your book? In this episode, you’ll learn: Why the location where you sell your book is important and powerfulThree case studies on...

The term "self-publishing" doesn't mean that you sit in a cabin in the woods all by yourself and emerge with a published book as if you'd done it all singlehandedly. It's rare to find one person who has all the skills required to turn an idea into a physical book. We need cover designers, formatters, web designers, assistants, and more. You might be self-publishing, but you will need some help. But what if you don't know anyone who can help? Where can you find skilled professionals who can...

This year marks the end of an era. The Book Launch Blueprint is entering its seventh and final year. Since we began offering it in 2018, it has been one of our most popular courses. Launching a book is one strategy that works well for indie and traditional as well as fiction and nonfiction. But why is a book launch so important? In this week’s episode, you’ll discover Who needs a book launch (and who doesn’t)Other methods that work for some authorsWhat a successful book launch does for your...

How much money does it cost to become a professional author? Any profession will cost you when you're just getting started. If you're broke, I recommend listening to my episode titled The Starving Author: How to Market Books Without Money. Assuming you have some money, you need a spending plan. But how much money do you need to budget for the first five years of your writing career? I asked Kent Sanders, host of The Profitable Writer Podcast and founder of the Profitable Writer Community, a...

Email marketing is one of the most powerful tools for connecting with readers and selling books. Obviously, you want a lot of email subscribers, but it doesn't matter how many subscribers you have if they don't open and read your emails. How do you craft the kind of emails that capture your reader's attention and help you sell more books? In this week's episode, you'll learn Three elements that make readers open your emailsWhich element is least importantWhat to write in your email...

A few years ago, the popular buzzword in the author world was "tribe." Building a tribe of readers was seen as the key to success. Reader relationships are still important for authors, so why did the term "tribe" go out of fashion? Having a tribe of readers is still an incredible asset that will help you sell your books and raise your profile amongst readers, but you need to know how and where to build a tribe if you want it to grow. In this week's episode, you'll learn: The difference...

Two authors recently asked me the same question: “What should I do if I have no money for book marketing?" It’s a question that requires exploration and evaluation. If you have the same question, you may be at a crossroads. You have two options if you want to write but have no money for marketing. In this week’s episode, we’ll examine the two paths forward from the no-money conundrum. You’ll discover Whether money spent on writing is an expense or an investmentHow to turn the “expensive...

Are you thinking about quitting publishing or writing? You started full of energy and optimism, but it has been a hard road, and you feel tired. Should you quit? My answer may surprise you. Maybe you should. Publishing is an industry where almost everyone has a financial incentive to see you keep going. People in the publishing industry don’t earn money if you quit. But there is a lot of money to be made by telling writers exactly what they want to hear: “You will be the next bestseller and...

Do you long to see your story on the big screen? If so, I have good news. Every streaming platform is desperate for new content to give them the edge in the ongoing streaming wars, and traditional TV stations and movie companies are as prolific as ever. Even radio stations and theaters are looking for new content. But how do you turn a 100,000-word novel, which would be a 12-hour audiobook, into a two-hour movie? Is that even possible? Where do you begin? Few things boost a book's sales like...

Google Chrome is the most popular web browser, but if you're just using basic Chrome, you're missing out on some amazing time-saving tools and assistance. Wouldn't it be great if you had an assistant who could correct a typo in your email before you hit send? How much time would you save if you didn't have to think of a new password for every account? Would you get fewer headaches if you didn't have to scroll past obnoxious ads as you research? Chrome extensions are tools that can help solve...

For those outside the publishing industry, the inner workings of the industry are wrapped in mystery. How do books get published?Who decides which books to publish?How well are books selling?How much money do authors really make?In secretive industries, information is typically leaked through hacks, whistleblowers, and court cases. Cases involving big publishers rarely go to trial because big companies dislike having their secrets publicized. But when one of the largest publishers in the...

Did you know that one in five Novel Marketing listeners lives outside the United States? Authors living overseas view America as the land of plenty because there are so many American readers. However, foreign authors often struggle to sell their books in America. Why? These United States are made up of 11 ethno-geographic regions, each with its own culture. Your book will resonate with one region more than others, but how do you find out where it will sell? In this week’s episode, which will...

Most authors build their websites on WordPress, partly because of its powerful and enormous plugin repository. A plugin is like an app for your website. Each of WordPress’s nearly 60,000 plugins can add specific functionality to your website. But how do you know which ones you need and which to avoid? In this week’s episode, you’ll learn Three categories of WordPress pluginsHow to tell if a free plugin is good (or not!)Which plugins your author website needsWhich plugins you should avoidIf...

For the last 11 years, audiobooks have seen double-digit sales growth year over year. The audiobook market is now $1.8 billion. That means audiobooks are no longer an optional, nice-to-have feature when you launch your book. But how do you make an audiobook? Should you read it yourself or hire a narrator? In this week’s episode, Scott Sigler walks us through the steps of turning your book into an audiobook, and you’ll discover you have several good options. You’ll learn how to Write a...

When I was in college, I experimented with cooking Asian food, but my stovetop-cooked rice never tasted very good. Then, one of my Asian friends introduced me to the right tool for the job: a rice cooker. Its only function was to perfectly cook rice, and it worked every time. While I never got good at cooking Asian food, I always had great rice because I had the right tool for the job. When we're cooking up books, many of us waste time doing things the hard way because we don't have the right...

So you're thinking about self-publishing a book. You've heard self-published authors can make more money, control the content and design, and have better access to marketing data. But self-publishing a book can be daunting. There are so many factors involved: writing, editing, formatting, finding a cover designer, uploading to Amazon, setting up a sales page, and promoting your book. Self-publishing, also known as indie publishing, is not for the faint of heart. But sometimes the overwhelm...

Black Friday marketing phenomenon is an opportunity, but it's also a threat. In this week's episode, I share some powerful tips to supercharge your book sales! You'll learn What motivates people to buy books on Black FridayWhich book promotion tactics work best on the big dayThree mistakes to avoid when running your holiday promotionWhat to do if Black Friday marketing stresses you out!Black Friday isn't technically a holiday, but you can still maximize your book sales while readers are in...

There is a new scam targeting authors. An enterprising scammer can use AI to write a book similar to your writing style. They can use an AI-generated cover similar to yours, and publish the book with a pen name that also happens to be yours. Sometimes, Amazon even puts this fraudulent book in your Author Central account so customers see the AI book you didn’t write listed with the books you did write. The crazy thing about this attack is that it might not be illegal. It is such a new type of...