The Sell More Books Show: Book Marketing, Digital Publishing and Kindle News, Tools and Advice

The heat is on with this late summer episode of The Sell More Books Show. Jim and Bryan discussed tips on Smashwords Alerts, book bundles, and permafree books. After thanking their latest patron Barb Drozdowich (and her book Blogging for Authors http://bit.ly/authblogbd ), they dissected news on Penguin’s subscription aversion, the Kindle Reading Fund, Shatzkin’s ideas to right the Nook ship, Google’s mobile site penalties, the opening of the Arthur C. Clarke Award to indies, and Amazon’s gains in India over Flipkart. This week’s Question of the Week: What would you do to turn around the fortunes at Barnes & Noble? Do you think any of Mike Shatzkin’s ideas would help the company recover?

Direct download: 126.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:27pm EDT

The heat is on with this late summer episode of The Sell More Books Show. Jim and Bryan discussed tips on Smashwords Alerts, book bundles, and permafree books. After thanking their latest patron Barb Drozdowich (and her book Blogging for Authors http://bit.ly/authblogbd ), they dissected news on Penguin’s subscription aversion, the Kindle Reading Fund, Shatzkin’s ideas to right the Nook ship, Google’s mobile site penalties, the opening of the Arthur C. Clarke Award to indies, and Amazon’s gains in India over Flipkart. This week’s Question of the Week: What would you do to turn around the fortunes at Barnes & Noble? Do you think any of Mike Shatzkin’s ideas would help the company recover?

Direct download: SMBS_126.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:48am EDT

After a wild week, Jim talked AMC’s Reviewer Grabber and Bryan chatted up his Cinderella launch before they slammed into the latest tips and news. After thanking their patrons G.D. Leon (and his book The Frigorifio https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KPHK98A ) and Gillian Felix (and her service Plain Talk BM http://www.plaintalkbm.com/ ) the self-pub soulmates discussed trigger warnings, iBooks, and KDP Rocket. News stories included the New York Times’ self-pub advice, novels made from text messages, Kickstarter’s publishing prowess, how stacked ads helped Joanna Penn hit the USA Today list, and Wattpad’s new Futures ad program. This week’s Question of the Week: Would you read a book made up of text messages? Do you think Hooked will be the next big thing?

Direct download: SMBS_125.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:02am EDT

For this special Friday edition of the show, Bryan sat down and chatted about the launch of his new pen name with the fairy tale novel Cinderella Dreams of Fire ( http://bit.ly/cindydreams ). He’s challenged himself to launch a book into the Top 500 on Amazon and keep it in the Top 5,000 for 30 days. In this episode, Bryan goes through the writing strategy, marketing/launch strategy, promo schedule, and results of his promo, including some answers to questions you might have about his plan.

Direct download: SMBS_Bonus_Episode_Final_Sound_Bryans_Launch_Challenge.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:10am EDT

The returning champion (Bryan) re-emerged from Smith Mountain Lake as he and Jim tackled Amazon’s new Kindle in Motion feature and the rest of the latest news. After thanking their latest patron Megan Haskell (and her book Sanyere: The Last Descendent http://bit.ly/mhasksan ), the book bromance talked tips on book reviews, pop-ups, and sharing notes in Goodreads. News stories included retro London bookstores, the increase of the word “girl” in titles, Facebook’s rivalry with AdBlocker, Bob Mayer’s publishing predictions, and Kindle in Motion. This week’s Question of the Week: Do you think Kindle in Motion will be the next big thing in ebooks? Why or why not?

Direct download: SMBS_124_Sound_Post_Auphonic.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:07am EDT

Vinny O’Hare visited the show today while Bryan was on vacation. Vinny and Jim chatted Facebook, brand awareness, and writing more books, as well as the five latest news stories. After thanking the show’s latest patron, Kirsten Oliphant (and her book Email Lists Made Easy for Writers and Bloggers https://amzn.com/B01HLLYCA4 ), the Internet marketing powerhouses discussed stories on Virgin Airlines, VAT legislation, audio choose-your-own-adventure books, whether or not “too many books” is a good thing, and Wal-Mart’s purchase of Jet.com. This week’s Question of the Week: Will there ever be a point where there are too many books in the world and will that affect book sales in the future?

Direct download: SMBS_123_Sound_Post_Auphonic.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:12am EDT

Jim Kukral and the Magical Fishing Trip ended, allowing him to return to the show to chat about tips like hunting down book reviews, using Facebook Live, and learning what millionaire self-publishers have in common. After welcoming Derek Siddoway from Book Review 22 for a lab segment, and thanking their patron P.G. Kassel (and his book Black Shadow Moon http://bit.ly/brammistake), the dynamic duo took on the news. Stories included the recent Harry Potter launch, editing and moral rights clauses, faulty indie bookstore data, Universal Book Links, and the passion vs. purpose argument. This week’s Question of the Week, “When did you figure out that you were meant to be a self-publishing author, and what made you determine this?”

Direct download: SMBS_122_Sound_Post_Auphonic.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:26am EDT

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