If a reader Googled your name right now, what would come up? An abandoned LinkedIn profile from a career you left behind? A neglected Goodreads page? An insurance agent in Albuquerque who happens to share your name?

There's only one number-one spot on Google,  and if you don't claim it for your name, someone else will. The good news is that your most powerful tool for winning that spot is the one piece of the internet you fully control. It’s your author website.

In this week’s episode, you’ll hear from Jason Barnard, digital marketing expert who has spent more than a decade teaching Google and AI who people are.

You'll learn:

• The overlooked page on your website that Google checks first.
• The Wikipedia alternative that is easier to write and curate
• How you can get Jason’s robust SEO audit of your site, for free

Whether your website needs a little fine tuning or you’re building one for the first time, listen in or check out the blog version to find out what you should prioritize and what you can stop stressing about.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/seo-for-author-websites-the-only-guide-you-need-in-2026/

AuthorMedia.social link:

YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/PNpmOklWm8M

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You know you need an email list. You've heard about reader magnets and maybe you even have one, but you're stuck at a handful of subscribers, wondering how other authors build lists of tens of thousands of engaged readers who actually buy their books.

Damon J. Courtney knows how. He's an author and the creator of BookFunnel, a service that helps authors grow their email lists and deliver many types of digital products to readers.

In this week’s episode, you’ll learn 

• Whether you need a "lead magnet" or a "reader magnet" (there’s a distinction nobody talks about)
• How readers can get tech support when downloading your ebook or audiobook
• How to give a free copy of your ebook or audiobook when you’re meeting people in person
• How to tip the scales toward having readers buy directly from you rather than Amazon (so you can keep more profit)

Whether you’re looking to grow your email list, distribute ebooks and audiobooks, or sell directly from your own website, listen in or read the blog version to discover how BookFunnel can make each of those author tasks easy.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/the-comprehensive-guide-to-bookfunnel/

AuthorMedia.social link: https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/the-comprehensive-guide-to-bookfunnel/

YT Link: https://youtu.be/qLxqq4bKh1g

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Every month, traditional publishers lose more ground to indie authors.

One reason it’s happening is that in trad publishing, a committee or the highest-paid person in the room makes the call on book covers, marketing copy, and even what they suppose readers might like. Both get it wrong far more often than they want to admit.

Most indie authors aren't much better off. They just swap the highest-paid person’s opinion for their own, and trust their own gut on covers, titles, and blurbs.

But savvy authors skip this guessing game entirely. They test everything, and they're outselling everyone else.

In this week’s episode, USA Today best-selling author Steve Piper sits down with Thomas to break down exactly how split testing works.

You’ll discover:

• How many ideas you should test to find a viable one
• What kinds of book-related assets work for split testing
• The sneaky metric that fools most authors into thinking their split-tested ads are working

If you need help choosing a title, cover, or copy, or if you’re wondering why your ads aren’t working, listen in or read the blog version to find out how you can know for sure what will work.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/why-your-cover-blurb-and-hook-are-all-just-guesses/

AuthorMedia.social link: https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/why-your-cover-blurb-and-hook-are-all-just-guesses

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For most of publishing history, creating an audiobook meant writing a check for thousands of dollars and hoping you'd earn it back in sales. Because of the expense, many authors decided it wasn't worth the risk. So, they skipped audio entirely.

Here's the problem. That decision now backfires in a way nobody saw coming.

The number one sign that a book was written by AI isn't bad writing. It's the missing audiobook.

In this week’s episode, audiobook expert Derek Doepker will map out exactly how to avoid that trap. We discuss the five tiers of audiobooks.

You’ll discover

• Why skipping the priciest tier might be the smartest move for some authors
• Which budget-friendly option still makes your book look unmistakably human-written
• The tier almost no author is using, even though it’s cheaper and sounds like a full production

Listen to the full episode to get the complete map of all five audiobook tiers, so you can pick the right one for your book and your sales goals.

Blog link: 

https://www.authormedia.com/the-5-tiers-of-audiobooks-which-one-should-you-publish/

Authormedia.social link:  https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/the-5-tiers-of-audiobooks-which-one-should-you-publish

YT Link:
https://youtu.be/oEYxV2iE-iM

YT Collab Link: https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCB_jQHE1Jz8f2Gq40_zZz2w/collaboration/UCT-0HmBAtZpaLX2liUNebiQ

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You will die. 

It could be today, it could be 15 years from now, but no one lives forever. Your books, however, can outlive you. In fact, seventy years after you're gone, they’ll live in the public domain.

That means your grandchildren's grandchildren could end up responsible for your intellectual property. Most authors have done zero planning for what happens to their books, passwords, and royalties when they're no longer around to manage them.

In this week’s episode, attorney Kelley Way (one of the rare lawyers who practices both estate planning and copyright law) joins us to map out exactly what every author needs to know before it's too late.

You'll learn:

• The one document your heirs are powerless to undo, even if they hate the deal you made with your publisher.
• Why giving your book away for free after you die might be the single best thing you can do for it.
• The unglamorous, ten-dollar-a-month tool that prevents more estate disasters than any will or trust ever could.

Listen in or read the blog version to make sure your books don't end up in a paper prison, where your hard work can no longer make an impact.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/estate-planning-for-authors-how-to-protect-your-books-and-your-family-after-you-die/

AuthorMediaSocial link: https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/estate-planning-for-authors-how-to-protect-your-books-and-your-family-after-you-die

YT Link: https://youtu.be/eJjYPCqKPbw

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What do you do if your Amazon account gets suspended but you didn’t do anything wrong? 

Unfortunately, Amazon doesn't care if you're innocent.

That's not pessimism. It's strategy.

Once you understand what Amazon cares about (hint: it's not you, the law, or fairness), you can start speaking a language they respond to.

In this week’s episode, I spoke with Lesley Hensell, co-founder of one of the largest Amazon consulting firms in the world. She has helped thousands of authors claw their accounts back from suspension, and she knows Amazon's enforcement machine like the back of her hand.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• The one thing you must include in the first two sentences of any email to Amazon (skip it and they won't even look up your account)
• Whether you should admit to something you didn't do to get your account reinstated
• The subject line trick that makes Amazon's executive team read it, and why most authors do wrong

If your account has never been suspended, this episode is still for you. Prevention is easier than recovery. Listen in or read the blog version to find out what you’re doing right now that could get you flagged.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/why-amazon-is-terminating-innocent-authors/

Author Media social link: https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/why-amazon-is-terminating-innocent-authors

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Is hiring a publicist a waste of money or not?

A typical book publicist charges between $3,000 and $10,000 per month, and they often require a three-month minimum. At $3 of profit per book, you'd need to sell 5,000 copies just to break even. Most PR campaigns don't come close to selling 5,000 copies.

But the publicist gets paid either way, while the author takes all the risk.

Here's what most authors don't know: the access publicists used to sell is now free.

There are tens of thousands of podcasts looking for guests, and you don't need a gatekeeper to get in. You just need to know how to pitch a podcast.

In this week's episode, Podcast Hall of Famer Dave Jackson shares exactly how to do that. You’ll learn

• What makes a host delete your pitch after reading one sentence
• How to identify podcasts that will yield the best results for sales and growing your readership.
• How to nail the interview and get invited back (hint: you’ll need the right microphone and the right content)
• Which tools can save you time and headache

If you want to spread the word about your book but don’t want to spend the money hiring a public relations professional, listen in or read the blog version to discover how you can.

Blog Link: https://www.authormedia.com/authors-pr-playbook-how-to-get-media-coverage-without-a-publicist/

Guest: Dave Jackson (School of Podcasting, Podcast Hall of Fame) Topic: Earned media for authors, with podcast guesting as the core strategy

YT Link: https://youtu.be/r14ixF0WLJU

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Do you feel like an imposter as a writer?

You probably are. Most authors who experience imposter syndrome are imposters, but they don't have to be!

As the saying goes, “There are no good writers; just bad writers who didn’t quit.”

Every author starts off as a bad writer. To make a living at writing you must improve through hard work, determination, and training. 

In this week’s episode, you’ll hear from Chris Fox, author of over 80 books and three million copies sold. 

You'll learn:

• Why not knowing your reader's emotional motivation is costing you sales
• How word order affects your readers experience
• How Grammarly is making your writing worse
• How authors accidentally protect their characters and ruin their books.

If something isn’t clicking with your writing, listen in or read the blog version to find out what you should be looking for and how you can fix it.

Blog Link: https://www.authormedia.com/how-to-level-up-your-writing-with-chris-fox/

Authormedia.social:  https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/how-to-level-up-your-writing-with-chris-fox

YT Link: https://youtu.be/DanstjzQs6A

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Are your book sales stuck? Maybe sales have slowed. Maybe your launch never took off. Or maybe you're spending money on ads without seeing results.

This week on Novel Marketing, Amazon ad specialist Bryan Canter explains how "promo stacking" can revive a struggling book and put it in front of new readers.

You'll learn:

• What promo stacking is and why it works
• Which promotions deliver the best ROI for your genre
• The ideal order and timing for each promotion
• How promo stacking can generate more reader reviews

Whether your book launched last month or five years ago, you’ll learn how promo stacking can rescue a dead book and reach new readers when you listen in or read the blog version.

Blog Link: https://www.authormedia.com/how-to-revive-a-dead-book-with-a-promo-stacking/

AuthorMedia Social Link: https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/how-to-revive-a-dead-book-with-promo-stacking

YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/v2KN46pdbRw

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Instead of a guest interview or a marketing deep-dive, in this week’s episode I'm inviting you to something I've spent years building for authors who want to be taken seriously.

You’ll discover:

How you can get lifetime access to my $249 course this month for $0

How you can get your questions answered by me live on a monthly basis

How you can get my digital doppelgänger (ie. AI Thomas) to answer your questions faster and (sometimes better) than I can.

Listen to this short episode or read the blog version to take advantage of these benefits before the end of the month.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/why-im-giving-away-a-249-course-this-month/

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A writers conference with no pitch appointments, no breakout tracks, and no recordings? What’s left? A conference that sold out last year! The Novel Marketing Conference is different, and every single attendee that responded to our survey said they were glad they came in 2026.

In this week's episode, I break down exactly why I removed those traditional writers conference elements and what we added instead. Here are three things you'll learn:

• Which feature past attendees consistently name as the most valuable part of the entire weekend.
• Which parts of the Novel Marketing method you can only learn in person at the conference.
• What we’re adding to Thursday night’s ice-cream social in 2027!

The 2027 conference is already filling up. Super tickets are gone, but standard and gallery tickets are still available. Don’t wait to secure your spot. There's a live count of available tickets at NovelMarketingConference.com. When they're gone, they're gone.

Listen to the full episode, read the blog version, or watch on YouTube to get the complete schedule and see why this might be the best investment you make in your writing career this year.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/announcing-the-2027-novel-marketing-conference/

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