Self-publishing Answers

Today, the guys talk about what resources they used (and still use) to be not sucky at writing. There are many tools out there, and thousands of books to read, and there's certainly not enough time in the day to study them all.

Pixar has "22 Rules of Story" (stop and read that right now if you haven't already), and Stephan Vladimir Bugaj decided to analyze them. The result is a great resource for writers of all types: Pixar's 22 Rules of Story Analyzed as a PDF eBook, available for free on Stephan's website. This week, Kevin and Justin (Nick was feeling lazy today) interview Stephan and talk story!

The guys (Kevin Tumlinson, Justin Sloan, and Nick Thacker) chat about book pricing: ebooks, hardcover, paperback, etc. You, as an author, have certainly already had this debate, at least internally. Now listen to three authors have the same debate out loud! And, as always, feel free to give us a ring at 978-48-ASK-ME any time.

The guys (Kevin, Justin, and Nick) talk through damaging mindsets, not "feeling" it, and what to do about it, like discussing this stuff with your writing network. Don't have a writing network? That's step one. Then we start discussing some things you should be focusing on while you're working on your first book: Build your list! We use Author.Email (currently in beta), but WAY better (and WAY cheaper) than any other option, and designed specifically for authors. Write that book! This is even more important in some ways as building your list. Develop a writing relationship with one or more people Writer/critique groups, find like-minded people. (Nick's dead-simple hack: find someone who has the same sense of humor as you) Books mentioned (affiliate links): The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary by Gary Keller 7 Habits for Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey Creative Writing Career by Justin Sloan The Hero's Journey by Joseph Campbell Self-Editing for Fiction Writer

Okay, this is the one we KNOW you've been asking for, so we bit the bullet and gave it to you. If you know what "d-bag" really means, are okay hearing it a lot, and are an author, this one's for you. ...No other introduction needed, really. Probably NSFW, for what it's worth...

We discuss how to get into speaking publicly, why you should, what to expect, and what you should try to get out of going to these shindigs.

Want to launch a book, and actually make sales? This is the episode for you! Some things Kevin and Nick mention: "Stuff at the Back of the Book" - Kevin's strategy for launching the next book in the series Launching a book can certainly be done with big, epic, things, but for most of us small changes can lead to big wins: Sending emails to friends/family/acquaintances, asking them to support me in some small way Slowly building a mailing list from scratch ASK PEOPLE to do the things you need them to do! Best strategies for launching a book with no list: Guest posts Interview posts Build that mailing list! There's much more hidden in this episode, so give it a listen! When you're finished, give us a review on iTunes! Check out our new offering - the BEST email service provider for authors. PERIOD. www.author.email or www.authoremail.com (both go to the same place)

Need more reviews? We all do. In this episode of the Self-Publishing Answers Podcast, we discuss a few different to generate more reviews for your books. There are a handful of "proven" methods to gain reviews, and there are some other "best practice" methods. All of them work, and all of them are strategies you should be implementing! Listen the episode by clicking "play" below, or subscribe to the entire show using your favorite podcast player app and visiting us on iTunes!

From past to present to future, Kevin and Nick discuss what has come before and what (we think) will come next in self-publishing (and books and publishing in general). Some ideas include better "recommendation engines" for discoverability, Amazon's using reading speed to recommend books to readers (and possibly all kinds of other scary things), and more! Don't miss this episode of The Self-Publishing Answers Podcast, back after an all-too-long absence! And don't forget to leave a review on iTunes: spapodcast.com.

In today's episode of The Self-Publishing Answers podcast, Kevin and I answer a great question from Jackie Bolen about "niche" markets, and whether or not she should focus in on a smaller niche or broaden the spectrum and make the niche bigger. We think we did a decent job answering it, even though Nick's baby whined the entire time and he sounded like he was a late-night radio show host on NPR. Kevin, once again, saved the day.

Last week, Kevin and I shared our best tips for designing a book cover, or at least what to look for in a great self-published book cover. We spent most of the time talking about fonts and typefaces, and some tips and tricks for getting them to "pop" off the cover without being cliche, obvious, or cheesy. As we promised, this week we'll spend most of the time talking about the imagery on the cover -- that is, everything else that's not typeface or font. From where to find those images/pictures to tips and tricks to making them look great with your title and author name, and special announcement about a sweet new service we created!

Today we're discussing book cover design. The first of two (at least) episodes, this one's about typeface/font choice for DIY cover design (and what to look for if someone else is doing it for you).

Kevin and Nick are back! We continue our (long overdue) discussion about story structure and crafting great books.

Today Kevin and Nick discuss one of their favorite topics (no, not themselves): story structure. Specifically, they get into the details of the Three-Act Play structure, how it really seems like four acts, and then get into some granular topics like scenes, sequels, and writing with conflict. Story by Robert McKee Screenplay by Syd Field Larry Brooks - StoryFix.com Kevin's Resources Page Hemingway: Hills Like White Elephants The Hero of a Thousand Faces

Yannick Nelson works at a nifty place called Azoogma, a company specializing in translation and localization. As authors interested in translating our own works, we thought it would be helpful to interview Yannick and ask about the differences between "translation" and "localization," why both (or neither) are important for authors, and her thoughts on "bargain-priced" options like Babelcube. Don't miss this episode!

How Kevin makes jerks into his best friends. The biggest professional networking mistake Nick has ever made. And how Kevin talks Nick off the ledge when he wants to lash out and punch people in the face.

Productivity 101. Want to be a productive writer? Write.

This week Kevin and I have the pleasure to chat with Sarah Juckes of CompletelyNovel.com, specifically about self-publishing as an indie author, how to do it, what it means, and a "completely novel" way to do it (see what I did there?).

Generating book ideas... how we do it (not that YOU should do it this way too)...

Very important episode today, based on this question: What are you doing to secure your author future in international markets?