Christmas is in the air, but Bryan and Jim are still telling it like it is. They started with Jim's big "guess the clip" giveaway! They continued with news stories like KU's international pages read change, indemnity clauses in trad pub contracts, publishing success, innovation in publishing, the myth of the Everyreader, and the adult coloring craze. Before the took on tips about Apple, staying fresh in a series, and mailing list growth, they re-featured their patron Honoree Corder and her book Prosperity for Writers ( http://bit.ly/honorpro ). This week's Question of the Week: What does realistic publishing success look like to you? Where do you see your publishing business in five years?

Jim and Bryan marveled at having lasted 87 episodes as they took on the latest news in self-publishing. After giving props to their latest patron, S.J. Pajonas and her book Removed (available at http://bit.ly/sjremoved ), they tackled tips on pseudonyms, Draft2Digitlal's email service, and long-term blogging. News stories included thoughts on the sharing economy, how Netflix and self-publishing relate, what trad pubs fail to understand about ebooks, where you'll see a self-pubbed book mentioned for the first time ever, and whether or not you should write to market. This week's Question of the Week: Do you write for passion or do you write to market? Why have you made that decision?

With Bryan back from his walkabout, he and Jim discussed the latest in the self-publishing sphere. After giving a hat tip to their patron Jonathan Small and his book Ascent ( http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013TH3N7M ), the death-defying duo covered tips on autoresponders, forging relationships, and what to ask a publicist. News stories included Amazon falling down on the job, the Authors Guild's fight against the "discount double-cross," Alan Moore's pro-self-publishing rant, Dean Wesley Smith's business advice, and the five-year anniversary of Marie Force's first self-published book. This week's Question of the Week: What's the deal with Amazon? Are they dropping the ball or are we just expecting too much and why?

With Bryan camping (living) in a van down by the river, your co-hosts taped a special show on the subject of email marketing. They re-featured patron Michael Alan Peck's book The Journeyman ( http://michaelalanpeck.com/books/commons-book-1-journeyman/ ) and talked tips on reviving your email marketing strategy, testing your emails, and the factors that go into the "perfect" marketing email. News stories included statistics about email marketing's supremacy, the success and failure of the biggest brands on Halloween, getting a better return on investment from your emails, how to collect leads at less than $1 each, and why this holiday season could be even bigger and more digital than usual. What have you done to increase your holiday book sales? What do you plan on doing this holiday season? Also, do you like the length of our show?

Councilman Elect Jim Kukral and Marshmallow Elect Bryan Cohen reunited for the latest episode of the show. After re-featuring Patron Susan Illene and her book Stalked by Flames ( http://amzn.to/1Q80kFr ), the determined duo took on tips about promoting sequels, co-writing, and using video marketing. News stories focused on the passing of a self-publishing godfather, HarperCollins' acquisition of The Midlist, Amazon's purge of books using certain keywords, opinions on Amazon Books, and whether or not we're living in the "post-content era." This week's Question of the Week: What value do you think Amazon is getting out of its latest retail venture? Would you want one in your city? Why or why not?

With Jim off winning an election (!!!), Bryan welcomed three of his early Selling for Authors students to the show. Dystopian new adult author Tarah Benner, nonfiction author Nathan Meunier, and dark fantasy author John L. Monk visited the podcast to talk tips, news, and Bryan's Selling for Authors course (which closes its doors on Thursday, November 5th, 2015 at 11:59pm EST). Learn more at https://www.sellingforauthors.com

After thanking new patron Chris Ayala (author of The Last Days at www.TheLastDaysTrilogy.com ) and returning patrons Kate Curran (She's Out of His League at http://bit.ly/shesout ) and Marc Gunn (Pirates vs. Dragons at http://bit.ly/pirdrag ), Bryan and the gang talked tips. The tips of the week focused on blurbs, writing like you talk, and using Facebook ads to grow your mailing list. News stories included Amazon's bookstore, a woman who reviewed 31,000+ books, the decline of eReaders, trad pub's international strides, Kris Rusch's opinion on agents, and trad pub testing out the permafree model. This week's Question of the Week: Should we be worried about trad pub trying out permafree? Why or why not? What do indies still have as a competitive advantage over trad pubs?

As Bryan dealt with the throes and joys of his Selling for Authors course launch (located at https://www.sellingforauthors.com ), the determined dyad took on the latest in indie publishing news. Jim and Bryan praised their latest Patron, Alan Frederick Hight, and his book Where The Leaves Wither ( http://eepurl.com/badxB9 ), and talked tips on card readers, Quotle, and Twitter giveaways.

The news includes stories on Ellora's Cave, indies in libraries, Amazon's future reviewer plans, Kobo's new promos for authors, trad pub authors going indie, and the influx of high-end author courses. This week's Question of the Week: What's something you're an expert on that you could teach a course about? How might you go about creating and promoting the course?