Novel Marketing Episode Archive

TikTok, Iran, and AI: What Authors Need to Know Now

Welcome to the Summer Solstice edition of Author Update, where co-hosts Thomas Umstattd, Jr. and Jonathan Shuerger unpack the headlines that matter to authors—from global conflicts to algorithm updates. In this jam-packed episode, they dig into the TikTok ban, the war...

Author Update: Is This the END of Google (for Authors)???

Major Shifts in Search and SEO for Authors Google's Market Share Slips Below 90% For the first time since 2015, Google's search market share has fallen below 90%, marking a potentially historic shift in how people find information online. This decline signals what...

Do 45% of Authors *Already* Use AI?! | Author Update

Thomas: Welcome to Author Update. I'm Thomas Umstead, Jr. And sometimes on this show, we don't talk about AI even a little bit. And today is not one of those days. What's our first story, Jonathan? Jonathan: And I'm Jonathan Scherger. This is not one of those shows....

KDP Royalty Changes & Invasion of the AI Audiobooks

https://youtube.com/live/GysHpqdThoQ Introduction (00:01.851) Thomas: KDP royalty changes and invasion of the AI audiobooks. This is Author Update. I'm Thomas Umstatt, Jr. Jonathan: I'm Jonathan Shuerger, and we're just gonna jump right into it today. Spotify and...

Tariffs Up & NaNoWiMo Closing Down | Author Update

Discover how rising tariffs and NaNoWriMo's closure impact authors in this Author Media update. Get insights and strategies to navigate these challenges and thrive as a writer. https://youtube.com/live/g2ip3Dm3vMY Thomas: Welcome to Author Update! I'm Thomas Umstattd...

Invasion of the AI Images | Author Update

Explore the rise of AI-generated images and their impact on authors in this Author Update. Learn strategies to adapt and leverage AI tools for your writing success. https://youtube.com/live/BlyEOTCl0-I Outline Amazon Ads Expansion Amazon has recently expanded its...

Did Meta Steal Your Book? | Author Update

Did Meta steal your book? This Author Media update investigates claims of content misuse, offering authors insights and steps to protect their work in the digital age. https://www.youtube.com/live/2HJYldahSqU?si=hf_NhVsMpBI-l9Kl Links: Novel Marketing Patreon How to...

Cyber Monday Deals for Authors

Every Cyber Weekend (Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday, Black Friday), I do my best to find the best deals for authors. Part of that means putting my own courses on sale. This post has a list of the top deals. You can find even more deals at...

How to Use Reverse Coupons 

Discover how you can do a kindness for your readers, help them take action, and sell more books at a higher price with a reverse coupon.

How to Create an Online Course

Learn how to transform your book into an engaging online course. Discover what types of content work best and how to maximize your course’s success.

Are Pen Names Going Away?

There are several great reasons (and several bad ones) to use an author pen name. Find out which reasons still make sense in the age of AI authors and bots.

How to Save Money as an Author

There's an old saying that the way to make a small fortune in publishing is to start with a large fortune. While the early days of publishing favored independently wealthy authors, things have changed. Publishing may be cheaper than it once was, but it’s not free....

Tools To Make Publishing Easier

We are in the process of replacing the dirt and rocks in our backyard with grass for the children to play in. At first, things went well using the shovel but then when we got to the final rocks, the shovel just did not work well. Then we tried a rake, and boom!...

Amazon Advertising

Amazon continually tests and changes their ads platform, and authors must stay up to date. Bryan Cohen reports on what’s changed this year.

Lessons from Blogging a Book

For years I’ve had Thomas Umstattd’s voice in my head telling me to blog my book. “Test out your ideas,” he said. “Start building your audience,” he said. “It’ll be easy,” he said. Well, maybe he didn’t say it would be easy. Blogging my book was, in fact, one of...

The Enclave Files

Get a behind-the-scenes look at what a traditional publisher’s marketing director does. Find out which strategies work and which don’t.

Bonus Book Launch Q&A

In this special bonus episode of Novel Marketing, we answer YOUR book launch and book marketing questions. You can watch a video version of the Q&A below. 

How to Use Facebook To Promote Your Book

In this episode we are going to talk about the right way to use Facebook to sell more books! Last week we talked about why Facebook is overrated for book marketing, but we didn’t say it’s completely useless, so today we’re going to talk about the ways Facebook CAN...

How to Sound Great As a Podcast Guest

Are you scheduled to come on a podcast as a guest? If you want to be invited back, or appear on any other podcast interviews for that matter, you need to have good audio. Many authors make the mistake of using their laptop's microphone and speakers. This will...

The Launch Your Book Blueprint

Your book is finished. Polished. Ready for the world to read. But then the questions enter your mind, yes, those questions … how do I launch my novel in the most impactful way possible?  How do I do it without feeling overwhelmed? And where do I find the time? We get...

Why American Authors Don’t Need to Worry About GDPR

Learn what GDPR is, why Americans don’t need to worry about it, and why you may want to follow it anyway. TL;DR: The EU is not the government of the world and it can’t force Americans to do anything. But you should follow some of the regulations anyway.

130 – Myths Authors Believe  

In this episode, we are going to talk about a few of the myths and lies writers are prone to believe which can derail us or send us in wrong directions or keep us from going in the direction we should be headed.  

What’s New in MyBookTable 3.1

MyBookTable, the most popular bookstore plugin on WordPress, just got better. MyBookTable 3.1 comes with several new features, including some that were previously available only in the paid Pro and Dev versions. Here's what's new. Added Universal Buy Button to...

How to Connect with Anyone in the World  

In this episode, we talk about connecting with anyone in the world that you want to. In the last two episodes, we talked about why Word of Mouth is not working and How to Make Word of Mouth Work for You by connecting with Mavens, Connectors, and Salespeople. But HOW do you meet these people?

125 – Why Word of Mouth Isn’t Working for Your Book

v In this episode of the Novel Marketing podcast, we’re going to talk about what has been consistently cited as the number one way to sell books … Word of Mouth.   You’ve heard that, yes? Studies have shown that Word of Mouth sells more books than any other marketing...

Episode 100 LIVE Extravaganza

Q Evelyn Williamson is going to kick us off with three questions. She says, “I’m working on my first novel and would like to know how much money I need once I publish … to promote my book. Also, she’ like to know what kinds of things are acceptable expenses to write...

093 – What Authors Can Learn from Bad Super Bowl Ads

Intro Paragraph: Expensive, but the REACH is unparalleled. 1967 the cost was $42,000 for a 30. Today 5 million   Spending that kind of money means you have to create a great ad Talking Points: Seahawks   One of the biggest TV shows in the world   If you...

090 – Q&A Extravaganza #7

Q Cadel Sterling says, “I found a local, self-published author, with a really cool sounding book premise, and I bought his e-book and told him I'd review it. It stinks. Just awful. Painful to read. So, what do I do now? Hide and pretend I never read it, or honestly...

085 – How to Sell More Books with MyBookTable 3

What is MyBookTable? WordPress Plugin Sell More Books New Features in the Free version MyBookTable 3 Updated Look MyBookTable book pages have been redesigned to be prettier, more mobile-friendly, and conversion-optimized. If you prefer the classic look, don’t worry--...

7 Website Visitors Every Author Needs to Thrill

Instead of discussing what you need to do for your website, we will profile the seven different kinds of readers who visit and how you can thrill them. If you can thrill them, they'll leave your website happy and may even purchase a copy of your book. Each visitor I...

080 – Q & A Extravaganza

  Intro Paragraph: (Thomas) Our first question comes from Runescape Gold dot com. No, that’s not his name but he or she didn’t give one. But I love this question. Do I have the guts to quit my job? Dave Smale I know it's never a good idea to get a friend (or a...

MyBookProgress 1.0 is Here!

I have a confession to make. Most author websites irritate me. I read a lot of books and the primary reason I visit an author's website is to check on the progress of their current Work In Progress. Not a single author website (other than Brandon Sanderson's) had a...

When Your Writing Career is Re-Storied

I had big dreams a decade ago. On the cusp of moving overseas to start a church in France, I landed two publishing contracts. Part of my worry of moving over there involved the very real fear that my publishing career would tank before it even started. Thankfully,...

Cyber Monday Deals from Author Media

We are excited to announce the following Cyber Monday deals: MyBookProgress: $5 FREE We are offering the base version of MyBookProgress for free for Black Friday. More Info | Download | Buy Upgrade MyBookTable: 50% off A WordPress plugin to boost your book...

070 — Q&A Lightning Round

Denica McCall, author of Flowers in the Darkness Question: While I do write novels, I have just put out a poetry book(my first published book). The book is partly being used to raise funds for a local organization fighting human trafficking. What I'm wondering is,...