Information, inspiration and interviews on writing, self-publishing, book marketing and making a living with your writing. If you need help with writing your book, or you want to learn how to navigate the new world of publishing and book marketing, then join Joanna Penn and her guests every Monday. Also covers the business of being a writer and how to make money with your books.
https://www.thecreativepenn.com/blog/
Starting From Zero And Success With BookBub Ads With David Gaughran
When you've been self-publishing over a decade, it's easy to see how things have changed for indie authors and where the opportunities lie for publishing and marketing our books. In this wide-ranging interview, David Gaughran discusses the shifts in the industry, starting from zero, book marketing tips, and more.
In the intro, Audible launches an unlimited audio service [The New Publishing Standard]; why this might impact author income [ALLi]; Spotify's impact on music and artists [Freakonomics]; and my thoughts on what you can do to mitigate any revenue drop from subscription services and make the most of the opportunities they bring. Plus, The importance of 1000 True Fans [ALLi Podcast]; Frankenstein in Bath [Books and Travel]
Useful stuff: If you're new to self-publishing, you can also check out Mark's 101 Course with everything you need to know about self-publishing. [Ad] If you want to learn more about podcasting, join me at the Virtual Podcast Movement conference. [Ad]
Today's show is sponsored by IngramSpark, who I use to print and distribute my print-on-demand books to 39,000 retailers including independent bookstores, schools and universities, libraries, and more.
It's your content – do more with it through IngramSpark.com.
David Gaughran is the author of non-fiction books for authors and also writes historical adventures as David M Gaughran. He's also an award-winning blogger and campaigner for indie authors against scammers and bad practices in the publishing industry.
You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript below.
Show Notes
* How self-publishing has changed in the last decade
* The importance of knowing what genre you’re writing in
* How we all start from zero and sometimes do that a number of times, especially when launching a new pen-name (as both David and I have done!)
* The value of being able to pivot as a self-publisher
* The importance of feeding Amazon clean data
* Why BookBub ads work for those who publish wide
* Why testing ads matters
You can find David Gaughran at DavidGaughran.com and on Twitter @DavidGaughran
Transcript of interview with David Gaughran