Are you wasting money, time, and paper by using the wrong printer?

Before you buy your next printer, make sure it has the features every author needs. The wrong setup can cost you hundreds of dollars a year or, worse, stop working altogether when your Wi-Fi service fails.

In this week’s episode, you’ll learn:

• The critical printer features authors need
• How to cut your paper use (and clutter) in half
• How to make your printer more reliable and easier to use
• The subtle trap you must avoid when purchasing a home printer

Save money, space, and sanity by getting the right printer. Read the blog version to get links to my recommendations, or listen to the podcast to make your next printer purchase a smart one.

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Audiobooks have been the fastest-growing segment in publishing for a decade, and for many readers, an audiobook signals a real, human-written book. In fact, audiobook sales have recently outpaced ebook sales!

Now is the time to get your book on audio. But where do you even begin?

In this week’s episode, audiobook consultant Bryan Canter gives us an overview of the entire process of how ACX (Audiobook Creative Exchange) works and how to publish your book on audio without blowing your budget.

You’ll learn

• Who should (or shouldn’t) narrate your book
• How much it’s likely to cost (it might be less than you think!)
• How to get started (and who can help you!)

If you know you need an audiobook, listen in or read the blog version to learn the ACX basics, pick the right narrator, and avoid costly mistakes. Your future listeners are waiting. 🎧

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Many authors make the mistake of writing a book first and then trying to find readers. This is backwards and rarely works. However, if you follow these three steps, your book will be set up for success.

• Step #1: Identify your target reader.
• Step #2: Start growing an audience of readers like that person.
• Step #3: Launch your book.

But how do you find your Timothy? How do you grow your audience? And how do you write the kind of book they'll love?

In this week's episode, you'll hear from Josiah DeGraaf, a fantasy author and program director of the Young Writers Workshop, who did exactly that. He found his Timothy, added thousands of subscribers to his mailing list before publishing his first novel, and wrote the book his readers wanted. That strategy set him up for a wildly successful Kickstarter launch and a strong Amazon release.

In this interview, you'll discover

• How to determine who your target reader is
• Strategies to get you from 0 subscribers to 1,000+
• How to write a book that your readers feel was written just for them.

If you want to launch your book to an eager audience instead of crickets, listen in or read the blog version.

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

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The faster you write, the more books you can publish and the more money you can make from your writing.

We all type slower than we speak, and if you’re typing and creating a story at the same time, you type even slower. But what if you could regularly produce 50 words or more per minute? You’d be able to write a 120,000-word book in a 40-hour work week!

Authors who can write that fast all use dictation. So why do so many authors hesitate to use it?

If you’ve ever tried dictation and felt awkward, slow, or tangled up in the tech, you’re not alone. In this week’s episode, dictation expert Sarah Sawyer shows us the calm, practical way to ease into dictation so it feels natural and actually helps you write more.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

• Which tech tools make it easy? (Hint: You probably already have them!)
• Techniques that help synchronize your creativity, brain, and mouth
• How dictation can propel your writing and possibly save your health

Audio & Blog Versions

For authors, dictation can skyrocket writing speed. Listen in or read the blog version to find out which tools and strategies will help you master the skill and write faster.

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Giving away your hard work for free doesn’t seem to make good business sense. So why do authors give away ebooks for free?

What if “free” didn’t kill your revenue, but primed it? In this week’s episode, we’ll dig into the permafree strategy with Dale Roberts, author of Secrets of the Permafree Book.

You’ll learn:

• Where permafree works (and where it flops)
• How to make Amazon price-match a free book
• How to determine whether the permafree strategy is working for you
• Which kinds of standalone books might benefit from being permafree

If you’ve got a strong series and a tight budget, permafree may be the fastest path from obscurity to discovery. Listen in or read the blog version to see if it will work for your book or books.

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So you wrote a good book, but you can’t seem to get reviews. Do you just throw up your hands? Why do reviews and ratings even matter?

Well, the more reviews a book has, the better it will sell and the more reviews it will get. Without the social proof of reviews, readers scroll past your book listing, algorithms ignore you, and sales flatline.

So, how do you get more book reviews?

In this week’s episode, we’ll hear from Joe Walter of Independent Book Review. You’ll learn

• Three different kinds of reviews that can help your book gain visibility
• How ratings and reviews differ (and the easiest places to get each)
• Which tools can make the process of gathering reviews more efficient

No reviews = no trust = no sales. Find out how to fix that. Listen in or read the blog version and learn to use book ratings and reviews to increase your author credibility, book visibility, and sales.

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Most authors either avoid AI or use it badly. Let’s fix that.

Authors who learn to use AI find that they have more time to write better books.

In this week’s episode, Joanna Penn and I break down where to start, which tools are actually worth using, and how to get useful output instead of bland tasteless, voiceless, AI slop.

You’ll learn

• How to prompt ChatGPT like a coworker
• The best tools for images, deep research reports, audio, and marketing tasks
• Ways to use AI that you probably haven’t considered before
• The most important AI prompting tip you will ever learn

Listen now or read the blog version to learn how AI can do tasks you hate, sharpen your author voice, and give you more time to do the creative work you wanted to do when you first started writing.

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Every author needs editorial feedback. But not all feedback is good.

If you accept every edit, you risk losing your voice and writing something bland. If you ignore all edits, you risk writing something sloppy that readers won’t buy. So how do you know which edits to take and which to toss?

In this week’s episode, you’ll learn:

• 7 “Bewares” to help you sort out good and bad editorial suggestions
• Whether AI or human editors are helpful or hurtful
• How to develop good tastes that guide your writing voice
  
  
  

Editing is supposed to sharpen your writing, not smother your voice. Listen in or read the blog version to find out when you should (and shouldn’t) ignore feedback.

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Most writing conferences teach you how to write a better book or how to pursue a literary agent. But what if you have already written a great book and you need help selling it? Is there a conference for you?

Yes! Announcing the 2026 Novel Marketing Conference, a live, in-person event focused on helping you market and sell more books.

The 2026 conference is packed with innovations you won’t find anywhere else:

• 100% live, interactive sessions
• A small group of writers who write in your genre
• Guidance on creating a customized plan for your upcoming year
• Excellent teaching by experts

You’ll leave the conference with a 100-page workbook full of actionable steps to grow your author platform, increase book sales, and start the year with a clear plan.

🎟️ Early bird tickets are on sale now through September 30, 2025. Prices start at just $299, and our limited number of Super Tickets are going fast, so reserve your spot today at ​NovelMarketingConference.com​.

​Listen in​ to hear more details or ​read the blog version​ to see the tentative schedule as well as photos from past conferences. 

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

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If you write picture books, chapter books, or middle-grade fiction, you know the challenge: kids read your books, but adults buy them.

So how can you let young readers know about your books? Where can you connect with your readers? By meeting them in person in school classrooms!

In this week's episode, award-winning author Becca Wierwille shares how school visits became her best book marketing strategy and how you can start doing them too.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• How to get your first (and second!) school visit
• What to include in your presentation to keep students engaged and coming back for more
• How to make it easy for school administrators to say "Yes!" to your visit

School visits are fun! Listen in or read the blog version to discover how you can connect with young readers, positively impact schools, and sell more books.

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

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