SPQ 018: Prolific Writing – What Tools and Processes Do You Use to Write On a Daily Basis?

SPQ018: Prolific Writing – What Tools and Processes Do You Use to Write On a Daily Basis?

The Question…

What tools and processes do you use to help you be a prolific writer?

Biggest Takeaway…

[Tweet “When it comes to being a prolific writer, it’s all about habits.”]

Steve’s Answer…

Prolific writing makes things a lot easier for your book-based business. When it comes to being prolific, it’s all about habits. The right habits help you take large projects and break them down into doable daily processes.

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SPQ 017: URL Forwarding – The #1 Way Readers Can Find Your Author Page

SPQ017: URL Forwarding – The #1 Way Readers Can Find Your Author Page

It’s not easy to get readers to check out your author page, especially when the Web address is full of letters, numbers, and assorted characters. In this episode, Steve details his URL forwarding strategy to kick off a new series called Simple Book Marketing.

The Question…

Instead of answering a question today, Steve is introducing his Simple Book Marketing segment. He’ll discuss an actionable strategy you can immediately apply to your book-based business.

Biggest Takeaway…

[Tweet “Create some simple URLs to help people find your books. Use URL forwarding.”]

Simple Book Marketing: URL Forwarding

Your Amazon author page is a landing page. It is used to promote all of your books and show your authority in a particular niche. Your author page even pulls up content from Twitter and your blog. When people land on your author page, they see a lot of information that can help you sell more books.

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SPQ 016: How Much Does it Cost to Publish My First Book?

SPQ016: How Much Does it Cost to Publish My First Book?

The Question…

How much is the start-up cost of publishing my first Kindle book? How much is okay to invest for marketing?

Biggest Takeaway…

[Tweet “Treat a book-based business like any other start-up company.”]

Steve’s Answer…

Steve recommends treating a book-based business like any other start-up company. Be smart about not wasting your money by tracking expenditures and spending money only when necessary.

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SPQ 015: How Does Price Pulsing Work with Kindle Books?

How Does Price Pulsing Work with Kindle Books?

The Question…

Jo is interested in using price pulsing. She wants to know how it works and how authors can use it to their advantage.

Biggest Takeaway…

[Tweet “Pulsing is a good strategy for helping you increase awareness of your books. “]

Steve’s Answer…

Pulsing refers to dropping a book’s price to get more sales and increase visibility on Amazon. This isn’t necessarily a great strategy for generating revenue, but it is a good strategy for helping you increase awareness of your books. Many authors price their books at 99 cents during this type of promotion.

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SPQ 014: Pretty Link vs. Bit.Ly — Why is Pretty Link Better for Authors?

SPQ 014: Pretty Link vs. Bit.Ly – Why is Pretty Link Better for Authors?

The Question…

A listener wants to know why Steve recommends Pretty Links instead of Bit.ly for shortening links.

Biggest Takeaway…

[Tweet “Shortening links makes it easier to direct people to specific pages on your site. “]

The Answer…

It’s difficult for people to remember URLs with a lot of slashes or dashes. Shortening links makes it easier to direct people to specific pages on your website. Pretty Links and Bit.ly both shorten links and track clicks, but Steve prefers Pretty Links for several reasons.

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SPQ 013: Author Platform — What’s the Step-By-Step Plan to Build an Audience?

Author Platform: What’s the Step-By-Step Plan to Build an Audience?

The Question…

Jane is a new author who wants to build her platform while she writes a book. She wants to know a simple step-by-step plan for building and maintaining an author platform.

Biggest Takeaway…

[Tweet “Your book interior is the perfect place to let people know about your email list. “]

Steve’s Answer…

Steve feels all of his success is due to having an established author platform.

He recommends following the 80/20 rule when building a platform: focus on what works and ignore what doesn’t. Steve says the focal point of every independent author’s platform should be an email list.

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SPQ 012: How Do I Find a Book Editor?

How Do I Find a Book Editor?

The Question…

Eric of ThirtybyForty.com wants to know how to find an editor and how much money to budget for editing.

Biggest Takeaway…

[Tweet “Investing in a good editor will turn an average book into a great book. “]

Steve’s Answer…

Finding an editor is one of the most important things you can do as a self-published author. In fact, Steve says it is one of the two best investments you can make (the other is cover design). Investing in a good editor will turn an average book into a great book.

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