This week, Jerry is deep in the author bunker, trying to finish approximately seventeen publishing tasks at the same time. Book 1.5 is nearly done, Book 2 is buried under editor notes, Book 3 needs a preorder, covers are still in motion, front matter and back matter still exist to ruin a perfectly good afternoon, and the release calendar is getting close enough to feel personal. He walks through the real behind-the-scenes mess of getting books ready to go live, from revision passes and Grammarly cleanup to preorder planning, newsletter setup, pricing strategy, and trying to figure out how many moving parts one human can juggle before turning into a stress goblin.

Rich talks about his own editing process on his work-in-progress and how he’s been using Claude to help him stay focused during revisions without flattening his voice into robot oatmeal. The guys get into the difference between useful AI help and the kind that makes writers want to throw laptops into traffic, plus the weird mess of AI detection, why some tools seem determined to accuse humans of being computers, and why author voice still matters more than whatever some checker says.

They also get into book descriptions, Amazon’s algorithm, natural-language search, newsletter strategy, Substack versus MailerLite, free reader magnets, and the ongoing indie author question of how to market books without becoming the kind of person who talks like a LinkedIn post. There’s also talk of golf, greenhouse repairs, Girl Scout cookies, Perry Mason recaps, and the usual proof that writing podcasts are never only about writing. But the core of this episode is one thing every writer will recognize: the book might be written, but that does not mean the work is done. Not even close.

Jerry Evanoff
Email: [email protected]

Website: https://jerryevanoff.com

Rich Kacy
Email: [email protected]