Amy Teegan joined Jim this week as Bryan relaxed in a lake. After thanking their patrons A Band Director’s Guide to Everything Tuba, Gone, and The Cordova Vector, Amy and Jim discussed cultivating ideal readers, relaxation, and experimenting with Amazon Ads. News stories included a new mobile fiction app, Scribd’s changes to its service, Amazon Books backlash, Amazon Charts backlash, and Joanna Penn’s annual ebooks revenue review. This week’s Question of the Week: When it comes to subscription services, would you rather have unlimited content per month, or limited access?

Want to meet Bryan for an all-expenses-paid trip? Learn more about his Blurbs in Chicago Sweepstakes in this episode. Also, go read The Grey Nebula by Laura and Daniel Martone at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0725VW88M and then listen to our latest episode!  This week, Jim and Bryan took on tips about making your workstation more ergonomic, writing spinoffs, and employing word of mouth marketing. The news stories included Prime Reading UK, the 15-year novel, BookBub’s rejection policies, calculating your readthrough rate, indie authors getting TV deals, and Amazon Charts. This week’s Question of the Week: If you were creating a name for an Amazon bestseller list, what would you call it and why?

Brian Meeks filled in for Jim this week as the two Bryans tackled Amazon Ads and other important stories of the week in a jam-packed episode. After thanking their patrons Covermint Design, The Efficient Writer, and The Prosperous Writer’s Guide to Making More Money, B&B discussed tips on Kindle Unlimited, the Smarter Artist Summit, and branding. News stories included KFC romance novels, the California autograph law, magic adjectives for book descriptions, writing for exposure, and how to truly analyze Amazon Marketing Services ads. This week’s Question of the Week: What’s your experience been like with Amazon Ads thus far? Which of Brian Meeks’ tips do you think you’ll apply to your author business and why?

Are ebooks doomed? While that’s what CNN would like you to believe, Jim and Bryan are here to tell you otherwise. This week, after thanking their patrons The Ten-Year Turnaround, Hypercage, and Sell More Books with Less Social Media, the publishing powerhouses talked tips on working with experts, activating your readers, and getting your also-boughts working for you. News stories included EU antitrust proceedings against Amazon, Tor’s audio experiment, an incentive for authors published through Amazon imprints, buy boxes going to the lowest bidder, and fake news about ebook sales being down across the board. This week’s Question of the Week: What are some ways you could activate your true fans to become evangelists for your books? How do you think your readers would react?

With one more episode until finishing a full baseball season, Jim and Bryan took on the latest news, tips, and happenings in the indie world. After thanking their patrons The Author’s Guide to Ebook Bundling, More Than Monsters, and What Sells Books, the pair of publishing pundits talked tips on short stories, Amazon Author Central, and writing on planes. News stories included a survey on Chinese readership, 99 Designs moving into book, story rights, breaking the indie rules, and ACX’s crackdown on new international accounts. This week’s Question of the Week: What do you think is a fair price for a custom book cover? What have you spent on covers in the past?

Jim stepped in as chief news readers again this week as he and Bryan took on news about Kickstarter’s pledge change, Amazon’s scorched earth policy in Australia, and your new favorite self-publishing metaphor. Bryan’s Selling for Authors course is now open again for a limited time and available at https://www.sellingforauthors.com/invest17 (available through May 2nd). After thanking their patrons Sanyare: The Last Descendant, Plain Talk Book Marketing Blog Tours, and Blogging for Authors, Bryan and Jim tackled tips on Facebook ads, spreading out your KDP Select free days, and KDP Print. Other news stories included Scribl, Amazon Subscribe, and a peach farming mentality to publishing. This week’s Question of the Week: Do you think Kickstarter’s new feature to let guests contribute without signing up will increase the chances of funding for publishing projects? Why or why not?

J. Thorn joined the podcast this week in our latest lab segment as the trio chatted about Audible’s removal of the gifting feature and Written Word Media’s KU survey. After thanking their patrons Wanderer’s Escape, 5 Numbers of Destiny, and Email Lists Made Easy for Writers and Bloggers, J., Jim, and Bryan discussed tips on avoiding mistakes, turning your mistakes around, and taming your dictation dragon. News stories included another word on Amazon Cash, why you shouldn’t fight piracy, the classic future of indie titles, new changes to Kindle Worlds, Audible losing a feature, and an insightful KU feature. This week’s Question of the Week: Do you think Kindle Unlimited will be significantly larger in 3-5 years? If so, how will it impact indie authors going forward?

Why hasn’t Amazon fixed the Page Flip feature? Bryan and Jim featured this question as the top story in another news-filled week of self-publishing. After thanking their patrons The Final Arrangement, Nightblade, and 31 Days of Wisdom, the self-pub stalwarts discussed connecting with C-list influencers, using Google Analytics to understand your demographics, and the two different types of author newsletters. This week’s news stories included Kobo’s acquisition of Shelfie, the launch of the Windows e-bookstore, Kindle Create, the Prime Reading “advance,” Amazon Cash, and the continued issue of the Page Flip feature on Kindle devices. This week’s Question of the Week: Why hasn’t Amazon fixed the Page Flip feature after six months of it being an issue?

Bryan & Jim started their “senior year” off right with stories about Amazon’s acquisition of Souq, the new Amazon Influencer Program, and the debate about slow vs. fast writing. After thanking their patrons Slow Burn: Zero Day, Divorced Dad, and Vanguard, the “big men on campus” tackled tips on souped-up email signatures, back matter, and audiobooks. News stories focused on Kobo’s latest innovations, Hachette’s new content site, slow vs. fast writing, the acquisition of Souq, and Amazon’s new affiliate program. This week’s Question of the Week: Do you feel like a slow writer can succeed in the self-publishing world? Why or why not?

Happy third podcast anniversary to Bryan & Jim! With three years under their belt, they were free to take on tips about book descriptions and author mindset after thanking their patrons Somebody’s Darling, Hitler Out of Time, and Guerrilla Tactics Against Passive Aggression in the Work Place. The top stories included Amazon Books in Chicago, Amazon Author Insights, a peek behind Data Guy’s curtain, indie bookstores as small publishers, and four writers on a train. This week’s Question of the Week: Who would your dream author collaboration be with and where would you go to write?