The Career Author Podcast

Latest Episodes:

How We Do Genre Research May 17, 2018

Show notes

On this week’s episode, Zach and J. discuss how they do genre research on both a story and a marketing level. They also talk about one author’s tips on how to sell 250,000 books.

Thanks to our newest Patron: Angie Green

Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.thecareerauthor.com

News Links:

250,000 and Counting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKs_tGbNT6I

My Worlds Is Falling Apart

https://the-digital-reader.com/2018/05/15/amazon-to-shut-down-kindle-worlds/

PSA: GDPR-pocalypse

https://selfpublishingformula.com/episode-117/

https://www.zdnet.com/article/gdpr-an-executive-guide-to-what-you-need-to-know/

Links:

Night of the Writing Dead - http://www.nightofthewritingdead.com

Authors on a Train - http://www.authorsonatrain.com

Findaway Voices - http://www.findawayvoices.com The Petal to the Metal Podcast Episode #70 - http://thepetaltothemetal.com/ep071/

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What We Learned at Sell More Books Show Summit 2018 May 10, 2018

Show notes

On this week’s episode, Zach and J. reflect on some of their big takeaways from the great talks at Sell More Books Show Summit 2018, which was last weekend in Chicago. They also make a big announcement.

Special thanks to Jim Kukral and Bryan Cohen for co-hosting SMBSS 2018 with us, and to the awesome summit sponsors: Kobo, Draft2Digital, BookFunnel, and Vellum

Thanks to our newest patron: Barbara Kamm, David Powell, Michael Coon, Barbara McCollough, Joshua Harkin, and P.T. Hylton

Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.thecareerauthor.com

Links:

Night of the Writing Dead - http://www.nightofthewritingdead.com Authors on a Train - http://www.authorsonatrain.com

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Importance of a Crisis May 03, 2018

Show notes

Are you ready to raise the stakes? On this week’s episode, Zach and J. discuss the importance of identifying a strong act-level crisis in your story. And in the news, they talk about the rise of science fiction content at Netflix.

Thanks to our newest patron: Daniel Willcocks

Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.thecareerauthor.com

News Links:

Paperback Writer

https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201499010

45% More Value

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/may/01/books-by-women-priced-45-lower-study-finds

Sci-Fi And Chill?

https://lrmonline.com/news/netflix-to-focus-on-more-original-sci-fi-and-fantasy-content/

Other Links:

The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne - http://books2read.com/u/49PEvW

Authors on a Train - http://www.authorsonatrain.com Sell More Books Show Summit - http://www.sellmorebooksshow.com/summit

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Pete Rose Effect and Outliers Apr 26, 2018

Show notes

On this week’s episode, Zach and J. discuss outliers and the danger in making decisions on your writing business around them. And in the news, they talk about Amazon giving controversial books special treatment, and a new group looking to give indie authors a voice.

Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.thecareerauthor.com

News Links:

Special Treatment For Controversy

https://gizmodo.com/only-verified-buyers-can-review-james-comeys-book-on-am-1825453226/amp

Chinese Readocracy

https://the-digital-reader.com/2018/04/19/prime-reading-launches-in-china/

Come Together, Right Now, Indie Authors

https://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/2018/04/22/giving-a-voice-to-indies/

Other Links:

Confirmation Bias - https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-confirmation-bias-2795024

Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work That Lasts by Ryan Holiday - http://books2read.com/u/3yZq1Z

Authors on a Train - http://www.authorsonatrain.com

Sell More Books Show Summit - http://www.sellmorebooksshow.com/summit

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Our Favorite Tools Apr 19, 2018

Show notes

On this week’s episode, Zach and J. flip the script on their Choose Your News segment, putting J. in the driver’s seat and having him read headlines to Zach. And in the main topic, they go over their favorite productivity tools.

Thanks to our newest Patron: Chad Lutzke, Philip Harris, Kevin G. Summers, Leenie Brown

Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.thecareerauthor.com

News Links:

The Skull and Bones of YouTube

https://goodereader.com/blog/digital-publishing/authors-can-take-advantage-of-piracy-via-youtube

5X the Fire and Fury

http://money.cnn.com/2018/04/13/media/a-higher-loyalty-publisher-book-sales/index.html

AI – Amazon Internet

https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/17/17249090/amazon-internet-web-browser-app-android-india

Amazon vs. Comic Book Man

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/76598-comics-retailers-are-optimistic-despite-market-changes-sales-declines.html

Interesting but not newsworthy:

https://consequenceofsound.net/2018/04/red-hot-chili-peppers-bassist-flea-is-publishing-his-memoir-this-fall/

Our Favorite Tools:

Slack - http://www.slack.com

Google Drive - http://drive.google.com

J.'s free Google Calendar and Gmail guide - http://theauthorcopilot.com/calendar

Scrivener - https://www.literatureandlatte.com/

Bookfunnel - http://www.bookfunnel.com

Vellum - http://www.vellum.pub

Draft2Digital Formatting - https://www.draft2digital.com/blog/draft2digital-introduces-professional-quality-ebook-templates/

Dragon Dictate - https://www.nuance.com/dragon.html

Grammarly - http://www.grammarly.com

Zach’s Noise Canceling Headphones - https://amzn.to/2JVWvH7

Zach’s Ergonomic Keyboard - https://amzn.to/2Hc1QZb

Zach’s Ergonomic Mouse - https://amzn.to/2Ha1ZfC

Zach’s iPad Keyboard Case - https://amzn.to/2H9ZwWv

Zach’s Laptop Cart - https://amzn.to/2qJ0nCl

Other Links:

The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield - http://books2read.com/u/4NRKg6

Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work That Lasts by Ryan Holiday - http://boo

Writing To Market: Misconceptions and Truths Apr 12, 2018

Show notes

On this week’s episode, Zach and J. discuss some of the biggest misconceptions around writing to market, and how you can find an audience and sell books while still writing the types of stories you love.

Thanks to our newest Patron: James S. Aaron

Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.thecareerauthor.com

News Links:

Dude, where’s my Amazon account?

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/04/amazon-customers-take-to-social-media-after-mysterious-account-closures/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/781495321956934/permalink/1379173772189083/

Your Tastes Reflect Your Format

https://media.thinknum.com/articles/kindle-best-sellers-vs-printed-best-sellers-in-march/

A.I., A.I., Uh Oh

https://qz.com/1165775/googles-voice-generating-ai-is-now-indistinguishable-from-humans/

Other Links:

Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work That Lasts by Ryan Holiday - http://books2read.com/u/3yZq1Z

Write to Market: Deliver a Book That Sells by Chris Fox - http://books2read.com/u/4NRMjG

The Story Grid: What Good Editors Know by Shawn Coyne - http://books2read.com/u/49PEvW

Authors on a Train - http://www.authorsonatrain.com Sell More Books Show Summit - http://www.sellmorebooksshow.com/summit

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Our Biggest Mistakes and How We Learned From Them Apr 05, 2018

Show notes

On this week’s episode, Zach and J. discuss some of their biggest mistakes they’ve made since they began publishing, and more importantly, how and what they’ve learned from them.

Thanks to our newest Patrons: Prim Groover, Peter Dudley, Ben Fishbein, Harley Christensen, Lora Edwards

Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.thecareerauthor.com

News Links:

The Great Amazon 50% Royalty Mystery is Solved

https://the-digital-reader.com/2018/04/03/amazons-new-great-on-kindle-program-offers-50-royalty-to-non-fiction-titles/

Strip Off Your Clothes, We’ll Strip Off Your Rank

https://the-digital-reader.com/2018/03/29/amazon-has-shadow-banned-romance-titles-from-the-kindle-store/

Other Links:

Authors on a Train - http://www.authorsonatrain.com Sell More Books Show Summit - http://www.sellmorebooksshow.com/summit

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Turning Off Your Creative Brain and Setting Boundaries Mar 29, 2018

Show notes

On this week’s episode, Zach and J. talk about their struggles to shut off their brains, separate work from personal time, and offer solutions that have helped them feel less overwhelmed.

There’s no Choose Your News segment this week, as Zach and J. were guests on this week’s Sell More Books Show where they discussed five publishing news stories. You can hear that episode at http://sellmorebooksshow.com/episode-208-subtitles-amazon-reviewers-and-up-lit/

Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.thecareerauthor.com

Other Links:

Sell More Books Show Episode 208 featuring Zach and J.: http://sellmorebooksshow.com/episode-208-subtitles-amazon-reviewers-and-up-lit/

When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel Pink - http://www.books2read.com/u/3RoA1v

Daniel Pink on the Tim Ferriss Podcast - https://tim.blog/2018/03/25/daniel-pink/

Authors on a Train - http://www.authorsonatrain.com Sell More Books Show Summit - http://www.sellmorebooksshow.com/summit

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Calls to Action Mar 22, 2018

Show notes

On this episode, Zach says R.I.P. to Toys R’ Us, the guys discuss a fun news story, and they talk about why they feel less is more when it comes to your book’s back matter.

Special thanks to our newest Patrons: James, Caimh McDonnell, Tom Fowler

Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.thecareerauthor.com

News Links:

All Hail Discoverability: BookBub Recommendations, and Draft2Digital Author Pages and Book Tabs - https://draft2digital.com/blog/introducing-author-pages-and-book-tabs/

4,000 Words and an Oil Change - https://www.buzzfeed.com/farrahpenn/this-woman-kept-going-back-to-a-tire-store-to-writ?utm_term=.jlGJnPoOe#.aiOgmqDb9

Kindle iOS App Gets Update With Some Very Welcome Features - https://the-digital-reader.com/2018/03/19/kindle-app-for-ios-gains-support-for-infinite-scrolling-split-view-on-ipad-and-more/

Other Links:

The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, Revised Edition - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000TDGGVU/

Authors on a Train - http://www.authorsonatrain.com Sell More Books Show Summit - http://www.sellmorebooksshow.com/summit

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Couch Time Collaboration Mar 15, 2018

Show notes

On a special episode of The Career Author Podcast, Zach and J. have a rare sit-down and face to face discussion about their collaborative process. They reflect on how they got started collaborating with each other, talk about the things they’ve learned along the way, discuss the goals and purpose of Molten Universe Media, and offer tips to creatives who are interested in collaboration. Special thanks to our newest Patron: William Oday Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.thecareerauthor.com Other Links: Authors on a Train - http://www.authorsonatrain.com Sell More Books Show Summit - http://www.sellmorebooksshow.com/summit OMG Books w/ William Oday - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/omg-books-with-william-oday/id1308534866?mt=2

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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