Novel Marketing

In my recent episodeThe Shopify Trap, I explained why selling direct doesn’t always pay off for authors. When you’re selling dozens of books instead of thousands, monthly fees and sales tax paperwork can eat your profits. Meanwhile, Amazon takes a substantial cut of every sale.

So, is there a better way to sell directly to readers without giving up your margins or adding another monthly bill?

I asked Greg Keogh, co-founder of Curios, a direct-sales platform used by thousands of authors. Greg and his team built Curios to handle the headaches that often come with selling direct, from sales tax to customer service.

In this week’s episode, you’ll learn

• Three advantages you have over Amazon if you’re selling direct
• One Curios data feature that no other platform is giving authors
• How Curios saves you from having to be a tax expert and tech support (two things authors generally despise!)

Listen to the full episode or read the blog version to discover whether selling direct makes sense for you and the many features and benefits Curios offers authors.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/is-curios-the-shopify-killer-for-authors/

Author media social link:

Youtube link: https://youtu.be/G_1qrunlZkg

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Most authors know only one kind of Kickstarter campaign, and for many of them, it isn't the best one.

This week on Novel Marketing, you’ll hear from Russell Nohelty, a USA Today bestselling author of over 70 books who has run dozens of successful Kickstarter campaigns. Russell wrote the book on the subject, How to Launch Your Book on Kickstarter, and he didn't hold back, even when he disagreed with me.

Inthis week’s episode, you’ll learn

• Five different types of Kickstarter campaigns you can run
• Which campaign work best for your career stage and situation
• The Kickstarter reward you should never offer

The right Kickstarter campaign will give you far more information about your readers and launch than your readers can even articulate to you.Listen in or read the blog version so you don't pick the wrong kind of Kickstarter for your book.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/the-5-kinds-of-kickstarter-campaigns-for-authors/

Guest: Russell Nohelty Topic: The five kinds of author Kickstarter campaigns, and how to pick the one that fits your career

YT Link: https://youtu.be/TzyWQdmR1P8

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The chatbot told him his manuscript was brilliant. The humans gave his manuscript a C.

That's what happened to one author who trusted AI as his editor. If you use AI to help with your editing, it's probably lying to you too, and not just once in a while.

In this week’s episode, I talked with Matthew Bowman, a freelance science fiction and fantasy editor who has worked with authors for 16 years and runs the Novel Ninja blog. Matthew helped me develop many of the anti-flattery techniques behind the Patron Toolbox, and he's spent the past year testing which prompts actually get AI to tell the truth.

Here's some of what we cover.

• What happens when you tell the AI someone else wrote your chapter?
• Which two-word phrase flips every major AI into a mode where it tells the truth?
• What's the one small fib that makes an AI ruthlessly critical of the work you show it?

Listen in or read the blog post before your next draft goes out, so your first honest feedback doesn't come from a one-star review.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/ai-is-lying-to-you-about-your-book/

Authormedia.social link:

YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/htdXu0-xjR0

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Your book may not be dead. As Miracle Max would say, it might only be mostly dead. A book that flopped three years ago could sell better today than it did on launch day, but only if you fix what actually broke.

This week, I talked with Julie Broad, founder of Book Launchers and host of BookLaunchers.TV. Julie is a #1 Amazon bestselling author, and her team has helped more than 400 authors write, publish, and market their books. When her clients publish second editions, her team moves their reviews over all the time.

In this episode, you'll discover

• Whether a book that sold well at launch is a candidate for relaunch.
• The review pattern that tells you if a relaunch will waste your money.
• The one change that makes it impossible to keep your reviews when you relaunch.

Listen in or read the blog version before you spend a dime on a new cover, so your relaunch doesn't repeat the mistakes that stalled your book the first time.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/how-to-relaunch-your-book/

Authormedia.social link

YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/0CjW9JmGAxI

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The slowest way to write a novel is to start writing a novel.

It sounds backward, but it’s not.

In this week’s episode, you’ll hear from Joanna Penn of The Creative Penn. She’s spent years exploring short fiction as both craft practice and creative outlet, and she pushed back a bit on my claim about the slowest way to write a novel.

You’ll learn

• What Joanna considers the main benefit of short stories
• Where and how she comes up with ideas for short stories (and novels)
• An unconventional way to start analyzing your favorite short stories (and where to find good ones!)

Listen in or read the blog version so you don’t make rookie mistakes that end up baked into your 300-page novel.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/how-to-write-short-stories-with-joanna-penn/

Social link:

YT Link: https://youtu.be/uufSPHkketQYT Collab Link: https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCdug0jLfpkayiiRyU4WqPPQ/collaboration/UCT-0HmBAtZpaLX2liUNebiQ

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Authors on KDP Select get access to $700 million a year in the Kindle Unlimited fund. One login, one dashboard, one algorithm, one company to deal with.

But that same company won't let you talk to a human with authority when something goes wrong, and it runs an algorithm that can end your career without telling you why.

So which is it? More money, or more freedom?

In this week's episode, you’ll hear from Kris Austin, CEO and co-founder of Draft2Digital, to figure out the real answer, and it isn't the same for every author.

Here's what you'll learn:

• Why the "safe" choice on Amazon can turn into the riskiest
• How Draft2Digital can simplify every aspect of going wide
• A little-known change that lets KU authors do something that was off-limits until recently

Listen in or read the blog version to find out which path is best for you and your book.

YT Link: https://youtu.be/cPyv2iIztwo

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Authors have historically lamented all the administrative, technological, and marketing tasks that go along with being a writer. How many times have you sighed and said, “But I just want to write!”

We have just gone through a massive transition in how authors use AI. You can now have AI agents do tasks for you, which means you can delegate all your non-writing tasks to a bot. You tell the bot what to do, and it does it!

It might sound like magic, but in today’s episode, I’m going to show you it is real. You’ll learn the step-by-step process of creating your own Grok Bot AI agent, and you’ll be shocked to find out how easy it is.

This is a shorter episode and a bit different from our regular format. You’ll likely get the most out of this episode by watching the video on YouTube. You’ll see exactly what the screen looks like and how I prompt GrokBot. You’ll also be able to find the exact wording for each of my prompts in the blog version of this episode.

Let me know what you think of this episode in the comments of this post’s thread on AuthorMedia.social. If there is interest, I will make more tutorials to help you leverage AI agents to give you more time to write.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/get-more-time-to-write-by-using-a-grok-bot/

Authormedia social link: https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/get-more-time-to-write-by-using-a-grok-bot/

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It's 1:30 in the morning, and a woman in Cleveland has just finished your book. She meant to go to bed hours ago, but she just couldn't put it down, and now she's at the end, feeling that particular ache that comes from finishing a book you loved. She turns the page to see what you have for her next.

What does she find?

Your book’s last pages might be quietly costing you thousands in sales, subscribers, or readers. They might even be getting your ebook banned on Amazon. But they should be thrilling your readers and propelling your sales.

In this week’s episode, you’ll hear Laurie Christine talk about making the most of those pages at the very end of your book.

You’ll learn

• The one call-to-action you should choose for your first book, which seems to contradict the Novel Marketing method
• What kinds of links are prohibited in Kindle books (and what to use instead)
• The easiest way to thrill your readers while increasing your page reads and profitability by 10%

Listen in or read the blog version to make sure your back matter is working for you instead of putting your book at risk.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/will-your-back-matter-get-your-book-banned-on-amazon/

AuthorMedia.social link:

YT Link: https://youtu.be/EIANWV02sTM

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If a reader Googled your name right now, what would come up? An abandoned LinkedIn profile from a career you left behind? A neglected Goodreads page? An insurance agent in Albuquerque who happens to share your name?

There's only one number-one spot on Google, and if you don't claim it for your name, someone else will. The good news is that your most powerful tool for winning that spot is the one piece of the internet you fully control. It’s your author website.

Inthis week’s episode, you’ll hear from Jason Barnard, digital marketing expert who has spent more than a decade teaching Google and AI who people are.

You'll learn:

• The overlooked page on your website that Google checks first.
• The Wikipedia alternative that is easier to write and curate
• How you can get Jason’s robust SEO audit of your site, for free

Whether your website needs a little fine tuning or you’re building one for the first time,listen in or check out the blog version to find out what you should prioritize and what you can stop stressing about.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/seo-for-author-websites-the-only-guide-you-need-in-2026/

AuthorMedia.social link:

YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/PNpmOklWm8M

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You know you need an email list. You've heard about reader magnets and maybe you even have one, but you're stuck at a handful of subscribers, wondering how other authors build lists of tens of thousands of engaged readers who actually buy their books.

Damon J. Courtney knows how. He's an author and the creator ofBookFunnel, a service that helps authors grow their email lists and deliver many types of digital products to readers.

In this week’s episode, you’ll learn

• Whether you need a "lead magnet" or a "reader magnet" (there’s a distinction nobody talks about)
• How readers can get tech support when downloading your ebook or audiobook
• How to give a free copy of your ebook or audiobook when you’re meeting people in person
• How to tip the scales toward having readers buy directly from you rather than Amazon (so you can keep more profit)

Whether you’re looking to grow your email list, distribute ebooks and audiobooks, or sell directly from your own website, listen in or read the blog version to discover how BookFunnel can make each of those author tasks easy.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/the-comprehensive-guide-to-bookfunnel/

AuthorMedia.social link: https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/the-comprehensive-guide-to-bookfunnel/

YT Link: https://youtu.be/qLxqq4bKh1g

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Every month, traditional publishers lose more ground to indie authors.

One reason it’s happening is that in trad publishing, a committee or the highest-paid person in the room makes the call on book covers, marketing copy, and even what they suppose readers might like. Both get it wrong far more often than they want to admit.

Most indie authors aren't much better off. They just swap the highest-paid person’s opinion for their own, and trust their own gut on covers, titles, and blurbs.

But savvy authors skip this guessing game entirely. They test everything, and they're outselling everyone else.

In this week’s episode, USA Today best-selling author Steve Piper sits down with Thomas to break down exactly how split testing works.

You’ll discover:

• How many ideas you should test to find a viable one
• What kinds of book-related assets work for split testing
• The sneaky metric that fools most authors into thinking their split-tested ads are working

If you need help choosing a title, cover, or copy, or if you’re wondering why your ads aren’t working, listen in or read the blog version to find out how you can know for sure what will work.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/why-your-cover-blurb-and-hook-are-all-just-guesses/

AuthorMedia.social link: https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/why-your-cover-blurb-and-hook-are-all-just-guesses

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For most of publishing history, creating an audiobook meant writing a check for thousands of dollars and hoping you'd earn it back in sales. Because of the expense, many authors decided it wasn't worth the risk. So, they skipped audio entirely.

Here's the problem. That decision now backfires in a way nobody saw coming.

The number one sign that a book was written by AI isn't bad writing. It's the missing audiobook.

Inthis week’s episode, audiobook expert Derek Doepker will map out exactly how to avoid that trap. We discuss the five tiers of audiobooks.

You’ll discover

• Why skipping the priciest tier might be the smartest move for some authors
• Which budget-friendly option still makes your book look unmistakably human-written
• The tier almost no author is using, even though it’s cheaper and sounds like a full production

Listen to the full episode to get the complete map of all five audiobook tiers, so you can pick the right one for your book and your sales goals.

Blog link:

https://www.authormedia.com/the-5-tiers-of-audiobooks-which-one-should-you-publish/

Authormedia.social link: https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/the-5-tiers-of-audiobooks-which-one-should-you-publish

YT Link:
https://youtu.be/oEYxV2iE-iM

YT Collab Link: https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCB_jQHE1Jz8f2Gq40_zZz2w/collaboration/UCT-0HmBAtZpaLX2liUNebiQ

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You will die.

It could be today, it could be 15 years from now, but no one lives forever. Your books, however, can outlive you. In fact, seventy years after you're gone, they’ll live in the public domain.

That means your grandchildren's grandchildren could end up responsible for your intellectual property. Most authors have done zero planning for what happens to their books, passwords, and royalties when they're no longer around to manage them.

In this week’s episode, attorney Kelley Way (one of the rare lawyers who practices both estate planning and copyright law) joins us to map out exactly what every author needs to know before it's too late.

You'll learn:

• The one document your heirs are powerless to undo, even if they hate the deal you made with your publisher.
• Why giving your book away for free after you die might be the single best thing you can do for it.
• The unglamorous, ten-dollar-a-month tool that prevents more estate disasters than any will or trust ever could.

Listen in or read the blog version to make sure your books don't end up in a paper prison, where your hard work can no longer make an impact.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/estate-planning-for-authors-how-to-protect-your-books-and-your-family-after-you-die/

AuthorMediaSocial link: https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/estate-planning-for-authors-how-to-protect-your-books-and-your-family-after-you-die

YT Link: https://youtu.be/eJjYPCqKPbw

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What do you do if your Amazon account gets suspended but you didn’t do anything wrong?

Unfortunately, Amazon doesn't care if you're innocent.

That's not pessimism. It's strategy.

Once you understand what Amazon cares about (hint: it's not you, the law, or fairness), you can start speaking a language they respond to.

Inthis week’s episode, I spoke with Lesley Hensell, co-founder of one of the largest Amazon consulting firms in the world. She has helped thousands of authors claw their accounts back from suspension, and she knows Amazon's enforcement machine like the back of her hand.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• The one thing you must include in the first two sentences of any email to Amazon (skip it and they won't even look up your account)
• Whether you should admit to something you didn't do to get your account reinstated
• The subject line trick that makes Amazon's executive team read it, and why most authors do wrong

If your account has never been suspended, this episode is still for you. Prevention is easier than recovery.Listen in or read the blog version to find out what you’re doing right now that could get you flagged.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/why-amazon-is-terminating-innocent-authors/

Author Media social link: https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/why-amazon-is-terminating-innocent-authors

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Is hiring a publicist a waste of money or not?

A typical book publicist charges between $3,000 and $10,000 per month, and they often require a three-month minimum. At $3 of profit per book, you'd need to sell 5,000 copies just to break even. Most PR campaigns don't come close to selling 5,000 copies.

But the publicist gets paid either way, while the author takes all the risk.

Here's what most authors don't know: the access publicists used to sell is now free.

There are tens of thousands of podcasts looking for guests, and you don't need a gatekeeper to get in. You just need to know how to pitch a podcast.

Inthis week's episode, Podcast Hall of Famer Dave Jackson shares exactly how to do that. You’ll learn

• What makes a host delete your pitch after reading one sentence
• How to identify podcasts that will yield the best results for sales and growing your readership.
• How to nail the interview and get invited back (hint: you’ll need the right microphone and the right content)
• Which tools can save you time and headache

If you want to spread the word about your book but don’t want to spend the money hiring a public relations professional,listen in or read the blog version to discover how you can.

Blog Link: https://www.authormedia.com/authors-pr-playbook-how-to-get-media-coverage-without-a-publicist/

Guest: Dave Jackson (School of Podcasting, Podcast Hall of Fame) Topic: Earned media for authors, with podcast guesting as the core strategy

YT Link: https://youtu.be/r14ixF0WLJU

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Do you feel like an imposter as a writer?

You probably are. Most authors who experience imposter syndrome are imposters, but they don't have to be!

As the saying goes, “There are no good writers; just bad writers who didn’t quit.”

Every author starts off as a bad writer. To make a living at writing you must improve through hard work, determination, and training.

In this week’s episode, you’ll hear from Chris Fox, author of over 80 books and three million copies sold.

You'll learn:

• Why not knowing your reader's emotional motivation is costing you sales
• How word order affects your readers experience
• How Grammarly is making your writing worse
• How authors accidentally protect their characters and ruin their books.

If something isn’t clicking with your writing, listen in or read the blog version to find out what you should be looking for and how you can fix it.

Blog Link: https://www.authormedia.com/how-to-level-up-your-writing-with-chris-fox/

Authormedia.social: https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/how-to-level-up-your-writing-with-chris-fox

YT Link: https://youtu.be/DanstjzQs6A

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Are your book sales stuck? Maybe sales have slowed. Maybe your launch never took off. Or maybe you're spending money on ads without seeing results.

This week on Novel Marketing, Amazon ad specialist Bryan Canter explains how "promo stacking" can revive a struggling book and put it in front of new readers.

You'll learn:

• What promo stacking is and why it works
• Which promotions deliver the best ROI for your genre
• The ideal order and timing for each promotion
• How promo stacking can generate more reader reviews

Whether your book launched last month or five years ago, you’ll learn how promo stacking can rescue a dead book and reach new readers when you listen in or read the blog version.

Blog Link: https://www.authormedia.com/how-to-revive-a-dead-book-with-a-promo-stacking/

AuthorMedia Social Link: https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/how-to-revive-a-dead-book-with-promo-stacking

YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/v2KN46pdbRw

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Instead of a guest interview or a marketing deep-dive, in this week’s episode I'm inviting you to something I've spent years building for authors who want to be taken seriously.

You’ll discover:

How you can get lifetime access to my $249 course this month for $0

How you can get your questions answered by me live on a monthly basis

How you can get my digital doppelgänger (ie. AI Thomas) to answer your questions faster and (sometimes better) than I can.

Listen to this short episode or read the blog version to take advantage of these benefits before the end of the month.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/why-im-giving-away-a-249-course-this-month/

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A writers conference with no pitch appointments, no breakout tracks, and no recordings? What’s left? A conference that sold out last year! The Novel Marketing Conference is different, and every single attendee that responded to our survey said they were glad they came in 2026.

In this week's episode, I break down exactly why I removed those traditional writers conference elements and what we added instead. Here are three things you'll learn:

• Which feature past attendees consistently name as the most valuable part of the entire weekend.
• Which parts of the Novel Marketing method you can only learn in person at the conference.
• What we’re adding to Thursday night’s ice-cream social in 2027!

The 2027 conference is already filling up. Super tickets are gone, but standard and gallery tickets are still available. Don’t wait to secure your spot. There's a live count of available tickets atNovelMarketingConference.com. When they're gone, they're gone.

Listen to the full episode,read the blog version, or watch on YouTube to get the complete schedule and see why this might be the best investment you make in your writing career this year.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/announcing-the-2027-novel-marketing-conference/

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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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