Have you ever finished a book you loved, handed it to a friend, and heard back, "It was fine"?

That disconnect has nothing to do with the quality of the writing. It has everything to do with a principle C.S. Lewis understood well enough to write classics that have endured for decades.

In this week's episode, I sat down with bestselling novelist Angela Hunt to break down the four ancient loves that drive all fiction, and how mastering them can help you produce a bestseller and a classic.

You’ll learn

• The type of love almost every genre needs more of, and why the most violent stories need it most.
• How the loneliness epidemic is creating a massive hunger in readers, and which type of love lonely readers are yearning for.
• The type of love that makes for a classic but is hardest to write and easiest to botch. Get it wrong and your climax feels cheesy. Get it right and readers won't shut up about your book.

We also explore the dark side of each love and how to use that tension to propel your plot forward.

If the stakes in your story aren’t working or you’re sick of cheap, salacious storylines, listen in or read the blog version to learn how to incorporate these four types of love into your story. This one might change how you outline your next book or build your characters.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/the-four-loves-that-drive-fiction/

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The difference between making thousands of dollars on your next book and losing money can come down to a few cents per click.

If your ads generate even a few pennies of net profit, you can run them until you've sold tens of thousands of books. But if you're losing money, no amount of spending will fix it.

 In this week's episode, David Gaughran, a veteran of digital advertising, joins me to talk about how to make your book advertising actually pay you back.

Here's a taste of what you’ll learn:

• Why the authors spending the most on Facebook ads are often doing it wrong (and what to do instead)
• The marketing asset that makes every advertising endeavor more profitable
• How to reach your exact readers on Facebook now that author targeting is gone

Listen in or read the blog version to discover how to approach book advertising strategically. You will feel more confident about when to advertise and when to invest your time (and dollars) elsewhere.

Blog Link: https://www.authormedia.com/15-rules-for-book-advertising-with-david-gaughran/

Author Media.social link: (Live at 11:02 AM on May 6) https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/15-rules-for-book-advertising-with-david-gaughran

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We’ve arrived! It’s the 500th episode of Novel Marketing.

To celebrate, I’m giving away the MacBook Neo I reviewed a few episodes ago, but I’m also revealing my worst takes and biggest mistakes over the past 500 episodes.

Some of those takes were correct, but when circumstances changed, the advice was no longer good. But sometimes, I was wrong from the start. Gather ‘round and hear the tale of the evolution of the host and his book marketing advice.

Listen in or read the blog to find out which pieces of advice have stood the test of time (and always will) and which pieces you can cast off like a crumpled first draft.

And don’t forget to enter to win the MacBook Neo! You can find links and details on the blog or YouTube.

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Most authors can tell you their royalties but not their net profit per book. They spend money on ads, see sales come in, and assume things are fine. But are they? Sales and profit are not the same thing.

How can you find out if you’re making money or just making sales?

In this week’s episode, you’ll hear from Eiri Theodorou, founder of Publisher Champ, an analytics platform used by over 25,000 authors.

You’ll learn

• How one of Amazon’s metrics is somewhat misleading (and how to find the truth)
• How you can track real-world marketing (like speaking and interviews) in a dashboard
• How to find out if your best-selling book is masking problems with your other books.

If you want to stop guessing about your profitability, listen in or read the blog version. You’ll be able to invest in marketing with more certainty and become truly profitable.

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There’s a culture shift underway that most authors aren’t seeing. Even traditional publishers can’t figure out why their titles are resonating. If your book isn’t selling, it could be a cover or craft problem, but it might be a zeitgeist problem.  

In this week’s episode, you’ll hear from fantasy and LitRPG author Seth Ring. We discuss the biggest cultural shift in storytelling in two decades and what it means for your books.

You’ll discover

• What’s become of the morally conflicted anti-hero trope
• What readers are tired of and hungry for
• A sure-fire way to write a story that resonates for this new zeitgeist

This cultural shift puts authors in a uniquely strategic place. If you want to make an impact with your writing and bring hope and change to the world through stories, it’s your time to shine. Listen in or read the blog version to find out how.

Blog Link: https://www.authormedia.com/the-cultural-zeitgeist-shift-thats-making-indie-authors-rich/

AuthorMedia.social link:  https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/the-cultural-zeitgeist-shift-that-s-making-indie-authors-rich

YouTube Link:
https://youtu.be/zVz0pd-P3TU

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I bought and tested Apple's cheapest laptop so you don't have to.

I stress-tested the MacBook Neo with a 250,000-word document, ran every major writing app, and pushed the machine to its limits. Whether the Neo is right for you depends on what you use your computer to do, because authors do more than just type words into a word processor.

In this week's episode of Novel Marketing, you’ll learn

• What you should look for (and ignore) when buying a laptop in 2026
• Which laptops I recommend for authors, podcasters, and PC users
• Whether the MacBook Neo is the right choice for you as an author
• Which laptop I will not recommend in 2026

Listen in or read the blog version to find out which machine is the best bang for your buck and your use cases as an author.

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Your author friends are lying to you about your book cover.

Well, not on purpose. They can’t help it.

When authors are trying to pick a book cover, they often ask their friends which cover they like best. But that strategy doesn’t work because your friends look too closely. They think about your feelings. They vote based on which cover has more votes.

But your cover isn’t for your friends.

It’s for strangers.

In this week’s episode, we unpack why beautiful covers, which are loved by your friends, fail to help your book sell. You’ll hear how one author made his losing ads profitable without rewriting a single word of his book.

In this week’s episode you’ll learn

• What makes a cover “good”
• How you can get accurate data on what will make readers click to buy
• How much you’ll need to spend to get a cover that sells

If your ads aren’t working, it may be time to examine the elements of your cover. Listen in or read the blog version to find out how.  

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Many authors say reader magnets don’t work anymore. But when done right, a good reader magnet can grow your email list from zero to thousands of subscribers before your first book even launches.

In this episode, you’ll hear from author, podcaster, and producer of the Novel Marketing podcast, Laurie Christine, who built an email list of thousands using various reader magnet strategies, all while writing for Christian moms and middle-grade boys.

You’ll discover:

• How many reader magnets you actually need
• The surprising promotion strategy that yielded more than 500 solid subscribers
• How to create reader magnets that attract buyers, not just freebie seekers
• A tool to help you discover which reader magnets may work for you

You’ll also learn how you can use reader magnets to refine your message, craft, and audience before publishing your first book.

Listen in or read the blog version to learn techniques for building (or growing) an email list regardless of where you are in your writing journey.

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Do you ever wish you had a team of writing, publishing, or marketing professionals to consult? Do you wish you had an assistant to help with the business and marketing side of writing?

What if you could have both for less than the cost of a couple of lattes?

In this week’s episode, you’ll hear about the newest additions to the Novel Marketing Patron Toolbox, a growing suite of practical tools designed specifically for authors like you.

Inside this episode, you’ll discover:

• New editing tools that can help you at each stage of the editing process
• New business tools to help you create an overall strategy and analyze results
• New book promotion tools to help you connect with new readers
• And many more

Whether you’re producing an audiobook, building a fictional world, planning classroom resources, or have questions for an agent or a CPA, these tools are designed to save you time, sharpen your strategy, and give you a head start before working with real human professionals.

Listen in or read the blog version to learn more.

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Is your writing a hobby or a profession? The answer to that question changes everything.

Many authors claim to be professionals but act like hobbyists. They write what they want instead of what readers will pay for. They try to fit a finished book into a genre instead of studying the genre first. They publish without a marketing plan or budget and are shocked by low sales and few reviews.

They expect professional results from a hobbyist approach.

If that sounds familiar, there’s good news. You can choose the professional path.

In this week’s episode, you’ll hear from author and podcaster Joanna Penn, who hosts the longest-running indie publishing podcast.

You’ll discover:

• How to build a sustainable author career in an era of AI
• Which marketing activities you should choose and which to ignore
• Business principles that apply to your writing career
• How to use AI to do the business tasks you dislike so you have more time for creativity and storytelling

To learn how to build a sustainable author business in an era of rapid change, listen in or read the blog version.

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