Every single author is running a business, whether you like it or not.

Bryan Cohen runs Best Page Forward, a company that helps authors to learn, profit, sustain, and scale their author careers.

He’s helped over 30,000 authors through his Ad Challenges and his Sell More Books Show Podcast has run every week for over a decade. Bryan’s Author Ad Agency manages ads for authors selling millions of dollars in book sales per year.

In this conversation, Bryan and I discuss:

* Brian’s background: bestselling author, founder of Best Page Forward, deep focus on Amazon ads, positioning, and sustainable author income.

* How improv shaped his business and writing: faster decisions, “think on your feet,” scene/character/stakes instincts, and creativity as a daily tool.

* The core mindset shift: finishing the book is only part of the job; connecting it to an audience through marketing completes the circle.

* Self-publishing fundamentals: genre-true cover, strong description, credible reviews, and strategic back matter links.

* Book description “formula” + examples: hook/tagline logic, inciting incident + stakes for fiction, authority + transformation for nonfiction, plus cliffhanger/selling paragraph/call to action.

* Amazon ads: ads diagnose conversion issues. Focus on a few key metrics, ignore noisy stats, compare ad spend to royalties (“split screen method”), and watch settings that silently raise bids.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com