Mark has a chat with Clayton Noblit, a senior marketing manager at Written Word Media.

Prior to the interview, Mark thanks Patrons, welcomes a few new Buy Me A Coffee buddies, shares a personal update, and shares a word from this episode's sponsor.

episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

In the interview Mark and Clayton talk about:

• What Written Media is (a book marketing/promotions company)
• Clayton's personal background as a marketer, and a big reader, but not an author
• The purposeful design of the Written Word Media dashboard to help authors schedule a marketing promotion in about 20 minutes then get back on to the other parts of their day
• The various Written Word Media reader-facing brands: FreeBooksy, BargainBooksy, Red Feather Romance, New in Books, and Audiothicket
• Their partnerships with other reader promo sites like eReader News Today, Book Barbarian, Hello Books, and others
• The strategy of promo stacking by spreading marketing promotions out over a series of 3 to 5 days
• How the Facebook Ads and Amazon Ads support at Written Word Media works
• The Written Word Media membership levels (Gold and Platinum) which offer a 10% discount on booking promos as well as additional exclusive promotion options and savings on other third party services
• The Limelight feature promotion option available for members
• The content that appears on the Written Word Media blog, including regular surveys of authors and industry trends
• A few of the responses from a survey conducted in late 2023
• A discussion of author's perceptions of AI and social media
• The importance of diversifying instead of being reliant on a single platform
• Advice Clayton offers to authors working on promoting and marketing their books

After the interview Mark reflects on just how much Written Word Media has grown over the years, by listening to authors, and adding tools and options to allow for greater efficiency in marketing. He also notes how authors are becoming more professional in their approach of planning ahead, and admits to not being as good at making those plans as he'd hoped.

Links of Interest:

• Written Word Media
• EP 008 - Author Promotions with Ricci Wolman from Written Word Media
• EP 185 - Promotion Results and Analysis
• EP 285 - Written Word Media's Top 10 Publishing Trends for 2023
• EP 342 - Publishing Trend Reflections for 2024
• DropCap Marketplace
  • Use coupon STARK20 to get 20% off
• Cruising Writers
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
  • How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds
• An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries
• The Relaxed Author
  • Buy eBook Direct
  • Buy Audiobook Direct
• Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
• An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
• Wide for the Win
• Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
  • This Time Around (Short Story)
  • A Canadian Werewolf in New York
  • Stowe Away (Novella)
  • Fear and Longing in Los Angeles
  • Fright Nights, Big City
  • Lover's Moon
  • Hex and the City
  • Only Monsters in the Building
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

Clayton Noblit is a senior marketing manager at Written Word Media. He is passionate about helping authors find their readers and finding ways to sell more books. When he's not working, he enjoys spending time with his family, playing sports, and making beverages.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0