Self Publishing Podcast #125 – Bookstrapping Your Way to a Bestseller with Tucker Max

Summary: This week the guys talked to Tucker Max about his new book, “Bookstrapping Your Way to a Bestseller.” Whether you’ve read the book or not, there was a lot of good stuff in this episode. First, the show began with the new SPP intro, along with an explanation for why SPP needed a new intro. The key difference is the disclaimer (“…mileage may vary…”). Always keep in mind that the decisions these guys make in their self-publishing business isn’t necessarily the best decision for everyone. Pay more attention to why they do what they do and never follow blindly. A bit of news: The “Scrivener for Beats” videos are up on Udemy, and the folks who supported Fiction Unboxed at a level high enough to get that will also get a code to see the videos directly from Udemy. Why use Udemy? The guys are hoping to have a lot more stuff up there in the future, so they’re racing to break into the new market now. While waiting for Tucker to appear, the guys also talked about the restaurants they went to at last week’s summit, a conversation that only turned into a rant when Tucker got on. His opinions about restaurants are as ranty as they are entertaining. Ah, finally, the guys started talking about self-publishing half-way through the episode. Tucker told the story behind his new “Bookstrapping” book, which he admits will be most helpful to nonfiction writers. He also ranted about the supposed “book marketing gurus” that have never launched a true bestseller themselves. Tucker’s advice really has to do with baking marketing into your book from the start and having in mind your ideal reader. Even though he focuses mostly on nonfiction, the group did talk about the differences in marketing fiction and non and what a fiction author can do to get more exposure. They also mused about how we need a better system for book referrals, a problem someone will hopefully solve one day soon. All in all, this show gets an A+ for ranty hilarity and helpful insights on marketing from a gang of pros.