The Career Author Podcast

The Career Author Podcast

By J. ThornBusinessCareers
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The Career Author Podcast episodes

  • Hosting Events and Attending Them

    On this week’s episode, J. and Zach talk about some of the reasons they host events, and what kind of work goes into them. Also, J. shares his experiences going to conventions and setting up tables to sell books and find new readers.

    Thanks to our newest Patron: Melissa Banczak, Randy Spears, and Jonathan

    Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.thecareerauthor.com

    News Links:

    More Tips From a Sly Fox

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKz2Wv28XSo

    A Romantic Follow-Up

    https://the-digital-reader.com/2018/05/22/amazon-continues-to-pay-unfairly-low-royalty-rate-in-audible-romance-but-is-finally-letting-authors-out-of-the-program/

    A Policy Up For Review

    https://the-digital-reader.com/2018/05/24/amazon-has-banned-arc-reviews-and-forgot-to-tell-anyone/

    Links:

    Night of the Writing Dead - http://www.nightofthewritingdead.com

    Authors on a Train - http://www.authorsonatrain.com Findaway Voices - http://www.findawayvoices.com


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    49 min
  • Multi-Author Box Sets, Anthologies, and One-Off Collaborations

    There are more ways to collaborate on a book than writing a novel with another author. Join Zach and J. this week as they discuss multi-author box sets, anthologies, and one-time collaborations.

    Thanks to our newest Patron: John Rindfleisch IX

    Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.thecareerauthor.com

    News Links:

    Ripples of Agitation

    https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2018/05/21/the-motivation-myth-how-high-achievers-really-set-themselves-up-to-win-with-jeff-haden/

    Modern Myth

    https://medium.com/@stevenspatz4/six-myths-and-one-fact-about-traditional-publishing-b3309f70fcb8

    Big Numbers

    https://www.geekwire.com/2018/traditional-publishers-ebook-sales-drop-indie-authors-amazon-take-off/

    Links:

    Night of the Writing Dead - http://www.nightofthewritingdead.com

    Authors on a Train - http://www.authorsonatrain.com

    Findaway Voices - http://www.findawayvoices.com

    The Petal to the Metal Podcast Episode #72 - http://thepetaltothemetal.com/ep072/ Inspired Author Designs by Miriam Greystone - http://www.inspiredauthordesigns.com


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    54 min
  • How We Do Genre Research

    On this week’s episode, Zach and J. discuss how they do genre research on both a story and a marketing level. They also talk about one author’s tips on how to sell 250,000 books.

    Thanks to our newest Patron: Angie Green

    Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.thecareerauthor.com

    News Links:

    250,000 and Counting

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKs_tGbNT6I

    My Worlds Is Falling Apart

    https://the-digital-reader.com/2018/05/15/amazon-to-shut-down-kindle-worlds/

    PSA: GDPR-pocalypse

    https://selfpublishingformula.com/episode-117/

    https://www.zdnet.com/article/gdpr-an-executive-guide-to-what-you-need-to-know/

    Links:

    Night of the Writing Dead - http://www.nightofthewritingdead.com

    Authors on a Train - http://www.authorsonatrain.com

    Findaway Voices - http://www.findawayvoices.com The Petal to the Metal Podcast Episode #70 - http://thepetaltothemetal.com/ep071/


    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

    43 min
  • What We Learned at Sell More Books Show Summit 2018

    On this week’s episode, Zach and J. reflect on some of their big takeaways from the great talks at Sell More Books Show Summit 2018, which was last weekend in Chicago. They also make a big announcement.

    Special thanks to Jim Kukral and Bryan Cohen for co-hosting SMBSS 2018 with us, and to the awesome summit sponsors: Kobo, Draft2Digital, BookFunnel, and Vellum

    Thanks to our newest patron: Barbara Kamm, David Powell, Michael Coon, Barbara McCollough, Joshua Harkin, and P.T. Hylton

    Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.thecareerauthor.com

    Links:

    Night of the Writing Dead - http://www.nightofthewritingdead.com Authors on a Train - http://www.authorsonatrain.com


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    51 min
  • The Importance of a Crisis

    Are you ready to raise the stakes? On this week’s episode, Zach and J. discuss the importance of identifying a strong act-level crisis in your story. And in the news, they talk about the rise of science fiction content at Netflix.

    Thanks to our newest patron: Daniel Willcocks

    Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.thecareerauthor.com

    News Links:

    Paperback Writer

    https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201499010

    45% More Value

    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/may/01/books-by-women-priced-45-lower-study-finds

    Sci-Fi And Chill?

    https://lrmonline.com/news/netflix-to-focus-on-more-original-sci-fi-and-fantasy-content/

    Other Links:

    The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne - http://books2read.com/u/49PEvW

    Authors on a Train - http://www.authorsonatrain.com Sell More Books Show Summit - http://www.sellmorebooksshow.com/summit


    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

    48 min
  • The Pete Rose Effect and Outliers

    On this week’s episode, Zach and J. discuss outliers and the danger in making decisions on your writing business around them. And in the news, they talk about Amazon giving controversial books special treatment, and a new group looking to give indie authors a voice.

    Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.thecareerauthor.com

    News Links:

    Special Treatment For Controversy

    https://gizmodo.com/only-verified-buyers-can-review-james-comeys-book-on-am-1825453226/amp

    Chinese Readocracy

    https://the-digital-reader.com/2018/04/19/prime-reading-launches-in-china/

    Come Together, Right Now, Indie Authors

    https://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/2018/04/22/giving-a-voice-to-indies/

    Other Links:

    Confirmation Bias - https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-confirmation-bias-2795024

    Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work That Lasts by Ryan Holiday - http://books2read.com/u/3yZq1Z

    Authors on a Train - http://www.authorsonatrain.com

    Sell More Books Show Summit - http://www.sellmorebooksshow.com/summit


    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

    59 min
  • Our Favorite Tools

    On this week’s episode, Zach and J. flip the script on their Choose Your News segment, putting J. in the driver’s seat and having him read headlines to Zach. And in the main topic, they go over their favorite productivity tools.

    Thanks to our newest Patron: Chad Lutzke, Philip Harris, Kevin G. Summers, Leenie Brown

    Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.thecareerauthor.com

     

    News Links:

    The Skull and Bones of YouTube

    https://goodereader.com/blog/digital-publishing/authors-can-take-advantage-of-piracy-via-youtube

    5X the Fire and Fury

    http://money.cnn.com/2018/04/13/media/a-higher-loyalty-publisher-book-sales/index.html

    AI – Amazon Internet

    https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/17/17249090/amazon-internet-web-browser-app-android-india

    Amazon vs. Comic Book Man

    https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/76598-comics-retailers-are-optimistic-despite-market-changes-sales-declines.html 

    Interesting but not newsworthy:

    https://consequenceofsound.net/2018/04/red-hot-chili-peppers-bassist-flea-is-publishing-his-memoir-this-fall/

     

    Our Favorite Tools:

    Slack - http://www.slack.com

    Google Drive - http://drive.google.com

    J.'s free Google Calendar and Gmail guide - http://theauthorcopilot.com/calendar

    Scrivener - https://www.literatureandlatte.com/

    Bookfunnel - http://www.bookfunnel.com

    Vellum - http://www.vellum.pub

    Draft2Digital Formatting - https://www.draft2digital.com/blog/draft2digital-introduces-professional-quality-ebook-templates/

    Dragon Dictate - https://www.nuance.com/dragon.html

    Grammarly - http://www.grammarly.com

    Zach’s Noise Canceling Headphones - https://amzn.to/2JVWvH7

    Zach’s Ergonomic Keyboard - https://amzn.to/2Hc1QZb

    Zach’s Ergonomic Mouse - https://amzn.to/2Ha1ZfC

    Zach’s iPad Keyboard Case - https://amzn.to/2H9ZwWv

    Zach’s Laptop Cart - https://amzn.to/2qJ0nCl

    Other Links:

    The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield - http://books2read.com/u/4NRKg6

    Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work That Lasts by Ryan Holiday - http://boo

    53 min
  • Writing To Market: Misconceptions and Truths

    On this week’s episode, Zach and J. discuss some of the biggest misconceptions around writing to market, and how you can find an audience and sell books while still writing the types of stories you love.

    Thanks to our newest Patron: James S. Aaron

    Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.thecareerauthor.com

    News Links:

    Dude, where’s my Amazon account?

    https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/04/amazon-customers-take-to-social-media-after-mysterious-account-closures/

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/781495321956934/permalink/1379173772189083/

    Your Tastes Reflect Your Format

    https://media.thinknum.com/articles/kindle-best-sellers-vs-printed-best-sellers-in-march/

    A.I., A.I., Uh Oh

    https://qz.com/1165775/googles-voice-generating-ai-is-now-indistinguishable-from-humans/

    Other Links:

    Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work That Lasts by Ryan Holiday - http://books2read.com/u/3yZq1Z

    Write to Market: Deliver a Book That Sells by Chris Fox - http://books2read.com/u/4NRMjG

    The Story Grid: What Good Editors Know by Shawn Coyne - http://books2read.com/u/49PEvW

    Authors on a Train - http://www.authorsonatrain.com Sell More Books Show Summit - http://www.sellmorebooksshow.com/summit


    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

    48 min
  • Our Biggest Mistakes and How We Learned From Them

    On this week’s episode, Zach and J. discuss some of their biggest mistakes they’ve made since they began publishing, and more importantly, how and what they’ve learned from them.

    Thanks to our newest Patrons: Prim Groover, Peter Dudley, Ben Fishbein, Harley Christensen, Lora Edwards

    Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.thecareerauthor.com

    News Links:

    The Great Amazon 50% Royalty Mystery is Solved

    https://the-digital-reader.com/2018/04/03/amazons-new-great-on-kindle-program-offers-50-royalty-to-non-fiction-titles/

    Strip Off Your Clothes, We’ll Strip Off Your Rank

    https://the-digital-reader.com/2018/03/29/amazon-has-shadow-banned-romance-titles-from-the-kindle-store/

    Other Links:

    Authors on a Train - http://www.authorsonatrain.com Sell More Books Show Summit - http://www.sellmorebooksshow.com/summit


    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

    57 min
  • Turning Off Your Creative Brain and Setting Boundaries

    On this week’s episode, Zach and J. talk about their struggles to shut off their brains, separate work from personal time, and offer solutions that have helped them feel less overwhelmed.

    There’s no Choose Your News segment this week, as Zach and J. were guests on this week’s Sell More Books Show where they discussed five publishing news stories. You can hear that episode at http://sellmorebooksshow.com/episode-208-subtitles-amazon-reviewers-and-up-lit/

    Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.thecareerauthor.com

    Other Links:

    Sell More Books Show Episode 208 featuring Zach and J.: http://sellmorebooksshow.com/episode-208-subtitles-amazon-reviewers-and-up-lit/

    When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel Pink - http://www.books2read.com/u/3RoA1v

    Daniel Pink on the Tim Ferriss Podcast - https://tim.blog/2018/03/25/daniel-pink/

    Authors on a Train - http://www.authorsonatrain.com Sell More Books Show Summit - http://www.sellmorebooksshow.com/summit


    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

    36 min

About The Career Author Podcast

From the publisher's feed

Becoming a full-time writer can be overwhelming. Join J. Thorn and Zach Bohannon as they help you improve your craft and find your audience, so you too can become…a career author. This is The Career…