Summary: Today, we had as our guest the bestselling author and RABID Self Publishing Podcast fan -- who may or may not have credited all of her success to the three of us on this podcast -- CJ Lyons. CJ gave us a ton of very practical enhancements and details on some familiar themes, explaining that she's not good at business while Sean drooled at how good CJ is at business. Here are a few of the high points: Treat your fans like royalty When CJ got started, she hand-mailed around 300 books to fans. Those fans loved her, spread the word, and became super-loyal. She loves her fans, and you should too. Be awesome to them and they will be awesome with you. Build a mailing list CJ credits her huge mailing list for her ability to reach her fans... to let them know about sales, new releases, and so on. When you command the attention of a lot of people and can drive sales quickly, you'll move up the rankings... and Amazon's exposure will do the rest. To learn how to build a list, go here. Write more good stuff What's the best way to sell more? Why, it's to write more books! CJ says that she will have written or turned in 7 manuscripts this year. Hell, I'll be at five myself, and next year I'll be at Sean-and-Dave levels of production. Understand that there is no magic bullet... but that there is a magic formula Sorry to be a tease, but the magic formula actually just underscores the fact that there is no magic bullet. CJ's formula is 1) write great books, 2) give it time to find an audience, 3) encourage that audience to tell their friends, and 4) repeat. Not easy... but simple. CJ also talked with us about her success in walking the fine line of the "hybrid model" of publishing, as someone who publishes both traditionally and as an independent author, how to make use of an agent, how to use editors, and a ton more. To view the video version of this episode, go to: Self Publishing Podcast #32 - How to Sell a Metric Crap-Ton of Books, with CJ Lyons
