Nick Thacker's Blog, page 2

SPA 43: How Not to Suck at Writing (Resources, Podcasts, and Books)

Today, the guys talk about what resources they used (and still use) to be not sucky at writing. There are many tools out there, and thousands of books to read, and there’s certainly not enough time in the day to study them all.

So, in addition to some great ideas for books to read, podcasts to listen to, and resources to use, we chat abouthow to make the best of these things, as well aswhen to use this stuff and when to PBIC (put butt in chair) and write.

Example resources:

Podcasts Books Co...

SPA 42: Analyzing Pixar’s 22 Rules of Story with Stephan Bugaj

Pixar has “22 Rules of Story” (stop and read that right now if you haven’t already), and Stephan Vladimir Bugaj decided to analyze them.

The result is agreat resource for writers of all types: Pixar’s 22 Rules of Story Analyzed as a PDF eBook,available for free on Stephan’s website.

This week, Kevin and Justin (Nick was feeling lazy today) interview Stephan and talk story!

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The post SPA 42: Analyzing Pixar’s 22 Rules of Story with Stephan Bugaj is copyright 2013...

5 Common Self-Publishing Fears and How to Throw Them Out

Believe it or not, self-publishing has helped a lot of writers put forth valuable knowledge and information that wouldn’t otherwise have been easily accessible if the old-fashioned route was taken. In the past, it was necessary to get your work approved through several channels before you could take it to crowd. Nowadays, however, thanks to technology and a wide range of publishing tools, publishing your own book is just a few clicks away.

Sometimes, authors are forced to use this method to “...

SPA 41: Pricing is a Tricky Thing

The guys (Kevin Tumlinson, Justin Sloan, and Nick Thacker) chat about book pricing: ebooks, hardcover, paperback, etc.

You, as an author, have certainly already had this debate, at least internally. Now listen to three authors have the same debate out loud!

And, as always, feel free to give us a ring at 978-48-ASK-ME any time.

Leave us a review on iTunes here!

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The post SPA 41: Pricing is a Tricky Thing is copyright 2013 by Write Hacked.

SPA 40: First Book? What You Need to be Focusing On

The guys (Kevin, Justin, and Nick) talk through damaging mindsets, not “feeling” it, and what to do about it, like discussing this stuff with your writing network. Don’t have a writing network? That’s step one.

Then we start discussing some things you should be focusing on while you’re working on your first book:

Build your list!

We use Author.Email (currently in beta), but WAY better (and WAY cheaper) than any other option, and designed specifically for authors.

Write that book!

This is even...

SPA 39: How Not to Be A D-Bag Author

Okay, this is the one we KNOW you’ve been asking for, so we bit the bullet and gave it to you. If you know what “d-bag” really means, are okay hearing it a lot, and are an author, this one’s for you.

…No other introduction needed, really.

Probably NSFW, for what it’s worth…

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The post SPA 39: How Not to Be A D-Bag Author is copyright 2013 by Write Hacked.

SPA 38: Panels, Signings, and Guest Appearances

Question from David:

“Amazon pays out 70% up to $9.99 and half that for ebook prices above. Why would anyone ever charge between $10 and $20 for an ebook, when the author gets less from amazon (and presumably sells fewer at a higher price)?

Thanks,

David”

Our response: Probably not worth it to price higher than $9.99. Obviously there a few exceptions, but generally keeping your stuff within that “Amazon-approved” range of $2.99 to $9.99. Here’s a post from Nick that describes his pricing stra...

SPA 37: Crafting a Killer Book Launch

Want to launch a book, and actually makesales? This is the episode for you!

Some things Kevin and Nick mention:

“Stuff at the Back of the Book” – Kevin’s strategy for launching thenextbook in the series

Launching a book can certainly be done with big, epic, things, but for most of us small changes can lead to big wins:

Sending emails to friends/family/acquaintances, asking them to support me in some small way Slowly building a mailing list from scratch ASK PEOPLE to do the things you need t...

SPA 36: How to Get Reviews for Your Books

Need more reviews?

We all do.

In this episode of theSelf-Publishing Answers Podcast,we discuss a few different to generate more reviews for your books. There are a handful of “proven” methods to gain reviews, and there are some other “best practice” methods.

All of them work, and all of them are strategies you should be implementing!

Listen the episode by clicking “play” below, or subscribe to the entire show using your favorite podcast player app and visiting us on iTunes!

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SPA 35: The Future of Self-Publishing

From past to present to future, Kevin and Nick discuss what has come before and what (we think) will come next in self-publishing (and books and publishing in general).

Some ideas include better “recommendation engines” for discoverability, Amazon’s using reading speed to recommend books to readers (and possibly all kinds of other scary things), and more!

Don’t miss this episode ofThe Self-Publishing Answers Podcast, back after an all-too-long absence!

And don’t forget to leave a review on iT...