Self-Publishing Answers | Write, Market, & Sell Your Book!

Today's post continues the "5 Principles of Self-Publishing" discussion with #3: Always Add Value. Also, I answer a question about the marketing "silver bullet." (Hint: it doesn't exist...) As mentioned in the show, here are the links to the 10 (really 11) books I talked about:  The 4-Hour Workweek - Tim Ferriss $100 Startup - Chris Guillebeau Techniques of the Selling Writer - Dwight Swain Plot & Structure - James Scott Bell Story - Robert McKee How to Market A Book - Joanna Penn Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World - Michael Hyatt Let's Get Digital/Let's Get Visible - David Gaughran Your First 1,000 Copies - Tim Grahl Welcome Home - Nick Thacker Also, I mentioned that I'm re-releasing Welcome Home: The Author's Guide to Building A Marketing Home Base sometime later this year (hopefully), and that I hired a freelance designer to do it for me.  There's a cool story there, but I'll just make you wait ;-) Rest assured, I'll be posting about that release and my process here pretty soon! Well, what do you think? Leave a comment, and if you enjoyed the show, leave a review on iTunes!

You don't need an MBA, but you do need to be an entrepreneur.  This episode looks at the importance of "running your writing business," even we we, as authors, don't want to anything other than write. Your writing is your business, so you should take it seriously and build systems, set goals, and measure progress. If this all sounds boring, well, then, just wait for the question at the end: "How would you produce a book for $500?" Enjoy the show! Also, I'm getting tired of hearing my own voice -- would you consider sending a voicemail? Use the box on the side of the page at LiveHacked.com, or just call 978-48-ASK-ME and record your question!

In this episode, I cover the first principle of self-publishing: Write A Great Book.  I also answer a great question about finding your target readers. Don't miss out on this one! If you want to submit a question, just call 978-48-ASK-ME and leave a voicemail! I'll try to answer it during an upcoming show. 

Episode 1: Intro and Welcome In this first episode, I talk about what you can expect from the podcast. Basically:  I try to answer self-publishing and writing-related questions There's a new episode every week I'm the person talking, with some interviews thrown in for good measure How to submit questions: 978-48-ASK-ME I hope you enjoy this -- it's a big project, but it's been fun so far to work on the intros, outros, and content! First, a huge thank you to those of you who completed the 2014 Reader Survey! There has been GREAT feedback from everyone so far, and while I'll spend the next few weeks really crunching the data, it looks like there were a few major points from everything. Generally: You have questions/problems and want to know more You wouldn't be opposed to paying money for whatever that solution is, but would love more free advice, tips, and help I'm working on it.  As I mentioned in that post, I want to provide massive value to you, so that you are able to achieve your writing and authorship goals. I want to help with whatever it is you're struggling with.  Also, I want to really up the ante for the free information about self-publishing that's floating around here. For that reason, as you may have guessed from the title of the post, I'm launching a podcast.  What's a podcast? If you haven't heard of podcasting before, it's essentially an internet radio show that's syndicated and made available on podcast networks like iTunes, Stitcher, and BlackBerry.  You can subscribe and download episodes, save them for later, and generally play them at your leisure. There are podcasts on literally thousands of topics, each with a unique flavor, sound, and style.  "Self-Publishing Answers" is going to be hosted by yours truly, featuring questions sent in by you, the reader/listener. I've already got a head start on this thanks to the earlier blog-only Self-Publishing Answer series, so I already have content for the first six episodes.  How to subscribe The podcast isn't quite ready in iTunes yet, so you'll have to listen in your browser to this first episode (embedded below). In a few days though, do check out the iTunes page and subscribe to get the latest episodes sent right to your phone/computer/device.  I'll add a link to the podcast in the sidebar of the blog, and I'll be sending out an email to update everyone as well.  Let me know what you think! In the comments section, would you let me know what you think of all this? Will you subscribe and listen? What questions would you like to hear answered?