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]
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
Joanna: David Gaughran is the author of historical adventures and nonfiction books for authors. He's also an award-winning blogger and campaigner for indie authors against scammers and bad practices in the publishing industry. Welcome back, Dave.
David: Thank you very much for having me, Joanna. Good to be back.
Joanna: It's good to talk. And you and I have been around for way too long now.
I want to start with Let's Get Digital because you are now on the fourth edition.