by Stephen Campbell | Jan 27, 2015 | Podcasts
Think for a minute about the book you’re reading right now. How did you find it? If it’s an author you’ve read before, how did you originally discover her work?
The current word for how our work is found by readers is discoverability. As authors, we want to make our books as discoverable as possible, so they stand out from the millions of other books that are currently for sale.
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Kristine Kathryn Rusch is an award-winning and USA today bestselling author who writes across multiple genres. She’s also a prolific blogger, a teacher, a business woman, and the author of DISCOVERABILITY.
In this episode, we talk about the different components of discoverability, and what we, as authors can do to put ourselves in the best possible position to have our books discovered by readers.
It’s both a thrill and an honor for me to have Kris as a guest on The Author Biz. Much of my interest in the fascinating business of publishing has come from reading the Business Musings articles she regularly posts on her website, KrisWrites.com. Her site is must read material for both traditionally published, and self-published authors around the world.
In this 60-minute interview, Kris and I discuss several aspects of discoverability, including:
- The genesis of her book, DISCOVERABILITY.
- The importance of what Kris calls Passive Marketing.
- The challenges of understanding your genre.
- Covers are important in three ways.
- The importance of branding for both you and your books.
- The use of pseudonyms as a form of branding.
- The different types of readers
- The importance of long-term planning to your business as an author.
- The importance of having a well thought out pricing strategy.
- Kris describes the components of a good author website.
- Fiction authors and blogging - should they or shouldn’t they?
- How to encourage word of mouth
- Kris and her husband, Dean Wesley Smith, offer a series of lectures and workshops designed for authors of all skill levels.
Click here to listen to The Author Biz no. 28
by Stephen Campbell | Jan 19, 2015 | Podcasts
Writing titles for blog posts and podcasts can be tricky. I could have called this How to Sell 1,000,000 books in your first 3 1/2 years. Or, how to write over 35 books in 42 months, and both would have been great “link bait” type titles, but neither would capture the value provided in this episode by Russell Blake.
Russell Blake
You see, Russell has discovered one of the great secrets to success as an author. Writing. A lot of writing. He calls that content creation, which is the part of his business where he’s most focused.
His most recent book, JET - Survival, is a great example the type of fast-paced thrillers he writes that appeal to sophisticated readers around the world. JET - Survival, is the 8th book in his bestselling Jet series.
He has several other series running as well and is currently co-authoring his second book with publishing legend, Clive Cussler. The first book they wrote together, THE EYE OF HEAVEN, debuted near the top of the New York Times Bestseller list when it was released in September.
As you’ll hear in the interview, the primary driver of Russell’s success is that he spends 85% of his time creating content (writing books). He spends the remaining 15% on things like quality control, marketing, sales, and writing for his blog, which is read by writers of all types.
In this 52-minute episode Russell and I discuss:
- His initial business plan
- His first, sub $20 Royalty payment and how long it took to exceed $1,000 in monthly royalties
- The genesis of his highly entertaining and bestselling Jet series.
- The value of experimentation
- Russell looks at his Author Business as two separate operations.
- His pricing philosophy.
- His social media strategy/philosophy.
- The value of word-of-mouth sales to his brand.
- The team that helps him to be so productive.
- The benefits of working with a publishing legend like Clive Cussler.
- The importance of knowing your value proposition
- The value of focus to success in any field.
Click here to listen to The Author Biz no. 27
by Stephen Campbell | Jan 12, 2015 | Podcasts
Have you ever posted a book on Amazon and wondered whether or not you’ve chosen the best keywords, and categories for your book? Do you have a small worry tickling at the back of your mind that you haven’t done everything you can do to optimize your book for the Amazon platform? If so, this episode should be of great interest to you.
My guest, Emilee Annine Moeller, is an actress, an environmental attorney, and a self-confessed Kindle Geek. She’s also the author of two Amazon non-fiction Bestsellers, EAT, PRAY, HCG and HCG DIET RECIPIES.
In addition to writing and publishing her own books, Emilee is the co-founder of KindleCoachPro.com where she coaches other authors how to self-publish and promote their books on Amazon. She has an amazing success rate helping her author clients hit the Amazon bestseller lists.
I had a blast and learned a lot in this 50-minute chat with Emilee. You can listen to it here:
Click here to listen to The Author Biz no. 26
by Stephen Campbell | Jan 5, 2015 | Podcasts
The dream: You write, edit and polish your manuscript to the point where it shines like a diamond, then send it to a big time agent who begs to represent you. She submits it to the big five publishers, all of whom want your book. There’s a bidding war and the winner pays you an advance that’s large enough for you to quit your day job and begin writing full time.
The fact: If you’re not already the star of a reality television program, this probably isn’t happening.
But what if there was another way to become a full-time writer? What if you could use your storytelling skills to earn money doing freelance work while spending the rest of your time working on your novels.
Chris Orcutt has been supporting himself as a professional writer for nearly 20 years, by doing just that, but not in the ways you might expect. He’s become a specialist in writing speeches and as you’ll hear in the interview, even screenplays for corporations.
He uses the skills he’s developed over the years as a writer, to help support his work as a novelist. And it’s working. In the past twelve months, Chris has published two books, including the latest in his Dakota Stevens Mystery Series, A TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION. In March of last year, he published the award-winning 100 MILES FROM MANHATTAN.
I really enjoyed this 48-minute interview with Chris. You can listen to it here:
Click here to Listen to The Author Biz Episode No. 24
by Stephen Campbell | Jan 1, 2015 | Personal, Success
I’ve heard more than one writer say that some of what we write is to clarify our thinking. This two-part series on my focus for next year is an effort to refine my thinking as the calendar turns to 2015. If you didn’t read the previous post, you can find it here.
Man plans, God laughs
–Yiddish Proverb
How many decisions do you make in a given day?
- Should I turn right here to miss the traffic light or keep going and hope it stays green?
- I planned to get up and run this morning, but I was up late last night. Should I hit the snooze button?
- My budget for the new car is $250 a month, but the navigation system is awesome, and it’s only $11 a month more. What’s $11 a month?
We make decisions ranging from the inconsequential to the life changing, every day. And for the most part we make them on the fly, with little thought. But what about the important decisions? How should we make those?
Decision filters based on goals have always worked well for me. Most of us use them, but we may not think of the decisions in terms of goals. Want to lose 10 pounds before your friends wedding? Skip the ice cream. Want to save money for a two-week ski trip to Aspen? Go to a less expensive restaurant on Saturday night with your friends.
But what about the goals themselves? What kind of decision filters do we use to decide on our goals?
For the past two years, my measurable goals have been non-existent. Oh sure, I’ve wanted to lose weight, mostly when I catch a surprise glimpse of myself in the mirror, or when my feet hurt after a run. Or, I wished I had the ability to write as quickly as those authors who crank out four books a year. But those are simply wants, not goals. They’re a stimulus reaction.
Deciding what you want to accomplish over the coming days, weeks, months or even years isn’t something that should be based upon what others are doing. These are the important decisions. The ones that require thought, and in my case they’re best made with a decision-making framework. The framework I’m using to evaluate my personal and professional goals are the three words I’ve chosen as my touch points for 2015. Simplify, Multiply and Monetize.
Simplify
I’d love to have a way to quantify the amount of time I wasted making decisions on things that meant nothing to me in 2014. Did I think the new iPhone was a significant leap forward, and if so should I get one? Should I buy a new computer? Is this to-do list program better than the one I’m using now? All these random thoughts require answers and the answers require decisions.
Time is an increasingly scarce commodity in our lives. Should we really spend it on things like evaluating the value of the latest phone/watch combination gadget?
Simplification for me in 2015 means limiting options, making fewer decisions, and saying no a lot more often than I say yes.
Multiply
Since time is limited, generating the best possible results in 2015 will come from multiplying my efforts. Spending an extra hour building a system or a template, which can be used multiple times is worth the effort. Doing something that can only be used once is probably not.
I’m in the creation business, but not everything needs to be created from scratch. As a quick example, a single blog post can be expanded to become a series of posts, which can become an ebook, that can be used as an incentive to get people to sign up for an email list.
Multiplication for me in 2015 means executing on creative ideas that can serve multiple purposes.
Monetize
There are two forms of investment in any activity - time and money. For the past two years I’ve spent both time and money learning the work I’m currently doing, but time is becoming scarce now. I need to be able to multiply (ah, there’s that word again) my efforts, which will require more money and that money should be coming from the work I’m doing now. Not the work I did five years ago.
Publishing rather than creating endless drafts is monetizing. Creating products that add value to the audience of The Author Biz brand is also monetizing. If writing and The Author Biz are to be businesses then I need to monetize the work I’m doing with each of them.
Monetization for me in 2015 means publishing and selling books, as well as the creation and sale of products and services through The Author Biz brand.
Will these three simple words make a measurable difference in what I achieve in 2015? Well . . . yeah - I think they will. There’s nothing magic about the words, but there may just be some magic when they’re used to make the decisions that determine what gets done over the coming year.
Thanks to Chris Brogan for the idea of using three words as a focal point for the coming year and thanks to you for indulging me with this bit of reflection as we move into the new year. And remember, if God laughs at your plans next year, you’re not alone.
by Stephen Campbell | Dec 30, 2014 | Blogging, Short Stories, Strategy
For the past several years, I’ve enjoyed reading Chris Brogan’s January 1st post where he shares his three words for the new year. These are the words that will drive the focus of his goals and efforts for the coming year. I’ve decided to do the same thing for 2015, but before I share mine allow me to provide some background.
Earl Nightingale produced an audio essay years ago on Goal People and River People. In its most simple terms, he saw successful people falling into those two categories. Goal people, who pursue specific goals on their road to success, and river people, who throw themselves into a “river of interest” that can last a lifetime.
I’ve always been a goal person, but for the past two years I’ve tried to throw myself into a river of interest, writing. My success as a river person has been mixed, at least in terms of accomplishment. The river has carried me into writing classes, books on the craft of writing, writing conferences and the completion of several manuscripts and multiple short stories. But of all that work only one thing has been published. A short story titled GONE TOMORROW.
During that period, I launched two different writing-related podcasts, including my current show, The Author Biz, through which I’ve met many of my writing heroes. I learned a great deal from the guests on those shows, and from what I hear from listeners, others have as well.
I accomplished much over the past two years, but if I’d been tracking goals, I think I’d have published more, because publishing would (should) have been a primary goal.
The River of Interest has been educational and fun, but for the baseball fans among you it’s like spending two years in spring training and only playing one game.
I did finish what I was certain would be my first published novel, but both professionals and I found it lacking in several areas. This disappointment caused a period of doing anything but writing, which included the launch of The Author Biz. That took time, learning and practice as I developed a style and format for the show. But I am happy to report that it’s finding an audience more quickly than I expected.
As for the writing, I did begin again with what I’d hoped would be a short story, which turned into a short novel, featuring Reno Hart. I like Reno, but her character is still being developed through a series of short stories, that should be finished by now, but I allowed life to interrupt.
We all have issues in life that throw down obstacles between where we are now and where we want to be. Sometimes these come disguised as opportunities, sometimes as problems, and sometimes they look like relaxation. For me, the primary issue is a problem. The health of a family member took a dramatic turn for the worse last year and that dramatically altered my plans in the last quarter of 2014.
These problems aren’t going away in 2015. In fact, problems like these are likely to appear more often as friends and family age. I can’t ignore these problems, and I need to refocus on my work.
Does dealing with problems make me unique in some way? Nope. People deal with problems every day and still do amazing things. It’s what separates the accomplished from the rest of the world.
Much of my success in life has come from the ability to keep the different parts of my life separate, and to focus on the task at hand. I’ve done that by maintaining a schedule that’s been consistent for years. It’s been so consistent that I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to change it to meet my current needs. But it requires change, and the best way for me to make changes is by using goals. So I’ve decided to pull myself out of the warm, rolling waters of the River of Interest and back onto shore so I can set some goals that are meaningful and measurable in 2015.
To meet those goals, I need to be able to focus on my work when the time allows, rather than when my schedule tells me it’s time. Can I do it? Of course. You probably do this already. Mothers with small children do it every day. They work when the kids are asleep, or at a play day with friends. They work in 10 to 30-minute increments when time allows. It’s not the way I’ve worked in the past, but it’s going to have to be a component of how I work going forward.
So . . . that’s the background. Now on with my three words for 2015. The words that I’ll use to drive the focus of my goals and efforts for the coming year.
- Simplify
- Multiply
- Monetize
I’ll explain what the words mean to me and how they’ll impact my 2015 goals in my next post.
by Stephen Campbell | Dec 22, 2014 | Podcasts
Is there really only one way to build a business as an author? Must we spend time building a platform before we can write and publish a book? Do we have to be on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and every other social media site? These are the rules, right? At least that’s what the experts tell us.
But what if there are no rules?
Author, Speaker, and Entrepreneur Jane Friedman just released a book with the title PUBLISHING 101. One of my favorite lines of the book comes in the introduction where she says, “I teach the rules, even though there aren’t any.”
Jane also co-founded Scratch Magazine, The Digital Magazine for Writers, with Manjula Martin. As you’ll hear in the interview, this is something I read from start to finish with each new issue, normally in one evening. If you’re a regular listener of The Author Biz podcast, I think you’d enjoy Scratch.
In this episode Jane and I discuss things like author platforms, the value of consistent blogging in her career and her surprising views on blogging for authors, finding the right publication path for an authors books and some of the many challenges and opportunities facing authors today.
Click here to Listen to The Author Biz Episode No. 24
by Stephen Campbell | Dec 11, 2014 | Writing
When I start a story, I typically have no idea what my character’s names will end up being. As proof, I offer the working title of a novel I’m currently editing. The file name in Scrivener is Smith One.
This book started with two primary characters. Smith and Hart. For the sake of simplicity, I used John Smith and Jessica Hart. Why Jessica and John? For some strange reason when I need to come up with first names quickly, they always begin with the letter J.
After getting a few chapters into the story I changed Smith to Adler, so my protagonist (at the time) was now John Adler. Still lame, but better. He was starting to come to life. Unfortunately, the female character was not. My plan was for her to be Robin to Adler’s Batman, or maybe Watson to Adler’s Holmes, but it wasn’t happening. Did she need a better name?
Scrivener has a first name generator, but it didn’t help. I kept changing her name, but she kept shaking her head no.
Let me describe this character for you. She’s a 5’7″ ball of energy with long, nearly uncontrollable red hair. A former military police officer, she left the army after six years and turned into a corporate security drone. Then something happened that flipped her life completely upside down. She’s a strong woman, and she wasn’t going any further until she had a valid name.
Here’s where the story completely stalled out for me. Could a character’s name really be this important during this early stage of the writing process?
I pondered this for an hour or so, then I remembered a conversation I had with Peter Leonard earlier in the year. He shared some advice he received from his well know father, Elmore, about character (more…)
by Stephen Campbell | Dec 10, 2014 | Podcasts
It’s December – a month filled with family, friends, food, shopping AND if you’re an author/businessperson a great time for planning.
In this episode author, Elizabeth Spann Craig takes us through her method of setting up a production plan. It’s a complicated process that breaks down into easy to understand components during this podcast.
In March of last year, Elizabeth wrote my single favorite blog post of 2014, Creating a Production Plan. It’s something that I’ve kept and referred to often.Elizabeth is a hybrid author, with two cozy mystery series published traditionally, and one series that she publishes on her own. As you’ll hear in the interview, she built her production schedule process out of the need to keep herself, and her support team focused and on target.
She’s a prolific content creator, and her award-winning blog is focused exclusively on providing useful information to writers.
In this interview, Elizabeth and I focus primarily on building an easy to use production plan, but we veer off into blogging and social media, specifically twitter, where Elizabeth has a unique presence.
Click Here to Listen to The Author Biz Episode No. 23
Or, you can get it at iTunes.
by Stephen Campbell | Jun 12, 2014 | Listening, Personal
I’m launching a new podcast that will focus on the nitty-gritty business details of being an author. Guests on the show will include authors who are well established as well as those who may be unrecognized by the big publishing houses, but totally kicking it through self publishing.
However, this is not just another author interview podcast.
We’ll spend time covering the craft of writing, but we’ll also have guests who will speak on topics like business plans for authors, editing, cover design, audio book creation, business structures, taxes, publisher contracts, formatting, marketing, self publishing, and dealing with social media.
Think of The Author Biz as a writer’s conference with multiple tracks. One that you can attend each week without the need for packing, travel, and putting on makeup. The show will be delivered each Monday beginning June 30th and be available through iTunes and other podcast outlets. It can also be streamed from the website, which is www.theauthorbiz.com.
Why this podcast and why me? Two reasons.
First, this is information I’m extremely interesting in learning. Each step (more…)
