Novel Marketing

Every month, traditional publishers lose more ground to indie authors.
One reason it’s happening is that in trad publishing, a committee or the highest-paid person in the room makes the call on book covers, marketing copy, and even what they suppose readers might like. Both get it wrong far more often than they want to admit.
Most indie authors aren't much better off. They just swap the highest-paid person’s opinion for their own, and trust their own gut on covers, titles, and blurbs.
But savvy authors skip this guessing game entirely. They test everything, and they're outselling everyone else.
In this week’s episode, USA Today best-selling author Steve Piper sits down with Thomas to break down exactly how split testing works.
You’ll discover:
How many ideas you should test to find a viable one
What kinds of book-related assets work for split testing
The sneaky metric that fools most authors into thinking their split-tested ads are working
If you need help choosing a title, cover, or copy, or if you’re wondering why your ads aren’t working, listen in or read the blog version to find out how you can know for sure what will work.
Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/why-your-cover-blurb-and-hook-are-all-just-guesses/
AuthorMedia.social link: https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/why-your-cover-blurb-and-hook-are-all-just-guesses
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For most of publishing history, creating an audiobook meant writing a check for thousands of dollars and hoping you'd earn it back in sales. Because of the expense, many authors decided it wasn't worth the risk. So, they skipped audio entirely.
Here's the problem. That decision now backfires in a way nobody saw coming.
The number one sign that a book was written by AI isn't bad writing. It's the missing audiobook.
In this week’s episode, audiobook expert Derek Doepker will map out exactly how to avoid that trap. We discuss the five tiers of audiobooks.
You’ll discover
Why skipping the priciest tier might be the smartest move for some authors
Which budget-friendly option still makes your book look unmistakably human-written
The tier almost no author is using, even though it’s cheaper and sounds like a full production
Listen to the full episode to get the complete map of all five audiobook tiers, so you can pick the right one for your book and your sales goals.
Blog link: 
https://www.authormedia.com/the-5-tiers-of-audiobooks-which-one-should-you-publish/
Authormedia.social link:  https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/the-5-tiers-of-audiobooks-which-one-should-you-publish
YT Link:
https://youtu.be/oEYxV2iE-iM
YT Collab Link: https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCB_jQHE1Jz8f2Gq40_zZz2w/collaboration/UCT-0HmBAtZpaLX2liUNebiQ
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You will die. 
It could be today, it could be 15 years from now, but no one lives forever. Your books, however, can outlive you. In fact, seventy years after you're gone, they’ll live in the public domain.
That means your grandchildren's grandchildren could end up responsible for your intellectual property. Most authors have done zero planning for what happens to their books, passwords, and royalties when they're no longer around to manage them.
In this week’s episode, attorney Kelley Way (one of the rare lawyers who practices both estate planning and copyright law) joins us to map out exactly what every author needs to know before it's too late.
You'll learn:
The one document your heirs are powerless to undo, even if they hate the deal you made with your publisher.
Why giving your book away for free after you die might be the single best thing you can do for it.
The unglamorous, ten-dollar-a-month tool that prevents more estate disasters than any will or trust ever could.
Listen in or read the blog version to make sure your books don't end up in a paper prison, where your hard work can no longer make an impact.
Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/estate-planning-for-authors-how-to-protect-your-books-and-your-family-after-you-die/
AuthorMediaSocial link: https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/estate-planning-for-authors-how-to-protect-your-books-and-your-family-after-you-die
YT Link: https://youtu.be/eJjYPCqKPbw
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What do you do if your Amazon account gets suspended but you didn’t do anything wrong? 
Unfortunately, Amazon doesn't care if you're innocent.
That's not pessimism. It's strategy.
Once you understand what Amazon cares about (hint: it's not you, the law, or fairness), you can start speaking a language they respond to.
In this week’s episode, I spoke with Lesley Hensell, co-founder of one of the largest Amazon consulting firms in the world. She has helped thousands of authors claw their accounts back from suspension, and she knows Amazon's enforcement machine like the back of her hand.
In this episode, you'll learn:
The one thing you must include in the first two sentences of any email to Amazon (skip it and they won't even look up your account)
Whether you should admit to something you didn't do to get your account reinstated
The subject line trick that makes Amazon's executive team read it, and why most authors do wrong
If your account has never been suspended, this episode is still for you. Prevention is easier than recovery. Listen in or read the blog version to find out what you’re doing right now that could get you flagged.
Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/why-amazon-is-terminating-innocent-authors/
Author Media social link: https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/why-amazon-is-terminating-innocent-authors
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Is hiring a publicist a waste of money or not?
A typical book publicist charges between $3,000 and $10,000 per month, and they often require a three-month minimum. At $3 of profit per book, you'd need to sell 5,000 copies just to break even. Most PR campaigns don't come close to selling 5,000 copies.
But the publicist gets paid either way, while the author takes all the risk.
Here's what most authors don't know: the access publicists used to sell is now free.
There are tens of thousands of podcasts looking for guests, and you don't need a gatekeeper to get in. You just need to know how to pitch a podcast.
In this week's episode, Podcast Hall of Famer Dave Jackson shares exactly how to do that. You’ll learn
What makes a host delete your pitch after reading one sentence
How to identify podcasts that will yield the best results for sales and growing your readership.
How to nail the interview and get invited back (hint: you’ll need the right microphone and the right content)
Which tools can save you time and headache
If you want to spread the word about your book but don’t want to spend the money hiring a public relations professional, listen in or read the blog version to discover how you can.
Blog Link: https://www.authormedia.com/authors-pr-playbook-how-to-get-media-coverage-without-a-publicist/

Guest: Dave Jackson (School of Podcasting, Podcast Hall of Fame) Topic: Earned media for authors, with podcast guesting as the core strategy

YT Link: https://youtu.be/r14ixF0WLJU
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