Begin Self-publishing Podcast

In this episode, I talk to Facebook expert Andrea Vahl about Facebook advertising.  She is the co-author of  Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies.  In some ways this is too big a topic for just one episode, but I think this interview gives a good overview of what is available in terms of Facebook advertising. Show notes are available at http://beginselfpublishing.com/fundamentals-facebook-ads-andrea-vah

In this episode I talk to Mark Coker who is the head of Smashwords, the biggest and longest-established of the eBook aggregators.   It is the last (for now) of the eBook aggregator interview series.  It's been a long ride.  I've you've missed the other shows here are the links to them: PublishDrive with Kinga Jentetics Discovering Streetlib with Giacomo D’Angelo Pronoun with Justin Renard (UPDATE NOv 17: THEY ARE NO LONGER TRADING) How to Use Draft2Digital with Dan Wood   You can find the transcript of this show at: http://beginselfpublishing.com/smashwords-mark-coker

In this show I talk to Mark Schaefer, international speaker and multiple best-selling author about his efforts to get the rights back to his book, the Tao of Twitter, from McGraw-Hill.  As a publisher they weren't keen to do a new edition of the book, which for a social media book, Mark thought was unacceptable.  In addition we also talk about the lessons self-publishers can learn from his new book Known.  Show notes and and a full transcript are available at http://beginselfpublishing.com/reclaim-rights-mark-schaefer

In this show I talk to Dan Wood from Draft2Digital, probably the second best known eBook aggregator after Smashwords.  I talk to him about their current offerings and some interesting changes they are making in terms of new efforts to help authors with their marketing. Show notes are available at http://beginselfpublishing.com/draft2digital-dan-wood

This episode was much more opportunistic than most.  I saw on Adam Croft's facebook profile that he was number 1 on Amazon in both the UK and US eBook stores, so I thought it would be interesting to interview an author at the "peak of their powers" to find out how he got to number 1 on Amazon.  It's an interesting journey from being a self-published author to being picked up by an Amazon imprint to getting to number 1 in the whole Amazon US store. You can find show notes at http://beginselfpublishing.com/number1-adam-croft

*UPDATE (24-Nov 2017): Pronoun are no longer trading, so this show should be considered for historical purposes only. Continuing my series of interviews with eBook aggregators, in this show I talk to Justin Renard of Pronoun.  EBook aggregators are companies that allow you to submit your eBook to multiple eBook stores (like Apple, Kobo and Barnes and Noble) and often provide other features as well.  Pronoun have been in the news as they are very competitive compared to the other eBook aggregators, especially in the US and Canadian markets for Amazon.  They actually pay better rates for some books than going direct via KDP direct.

Tired of being told that you can't grow a Facebook Page without spending money?  Holly Homer has built up her Quirky Momma page to have over 3 million fans in only a few years organically.  Learn about Organic Facebook Growth with Holly Homer. Show notes at http://beginselfpublishing.com/organic-facebook-holly-homer

Streetlib is an eBook aggregator, publishing services and POD company that's been relatively unknown (being an Italian company) in the US and UK but offers interesting services and is expanding into the US.  I interview Giacomo D'Angelo CEO of Streetlib USA to find out more. Show Notes are available at http://beginselfpublishing.com/streetlib-giacomo-dangelo

Steve Dotto is a TV presenter turned YouTube businessman, and he reveals the secrets of his success in using YouTube in this interview. You can find show notes here: http://beginselfpublishing.com/youtube-steve-dotto

An eBook aggregator service takes your eBook and submits it to multiple eBook stores, such as Apple, Nook and Kobo. The reason why these services are useful is it means you don't have to manage several different system dashboards and in some cases it allows you to get into stores where there isn't even a direct route for self-publishers into that store (for example Google Play). I must admit that I thought Smashwords and Draft2Digital were the only major eBook aggregator companies, but after joining the International Indie Authors Facebook group, I heard about a whole host of new and international companies, primarily PublishDrive, Streetlib and Pronoun. I've decided to try and get representatives from these companies on to the show to learn a bit more about them. This week I talk to Kinga Jentetics from PublishDrive. You can find show notes at http://beginselfpublishing.com/publishdrive-kinga-jentetics

It's a new year and it's time to get that hit book published. I know a lot of people have "publish a book" as a New Year's goal. So I thought I would do a quick summary of the advice I would give someone who has this resolution, from my own humble experience. Show notes for this episode are available at http://beginselfpublishing.com/publish_hit_book

In this show I talk to Alisa Meredith, who is an expert and speaker on Pinterest and is, to my mind, the world authority on Pinterest's advertising platform, Promoted Pins. Show notes can be found at http://beginselfpublishing.com/promoted-pins-alisa-meredith

In this show I discuss how I have started using a new technique using tailored audiences to allow me to start making successful use of Twitter Adverts. The post How to Unlock the Magic of Twitter Adverts appeared first on Begin Self-Publishing.

While listening back to the audio of the last show I realised that I have gone a bit native in the world of Marketing Buzzwords, happily talking about "Return-On-Investment Rates" with no extra explanation as to what that means. So I'd thought I'd do a quick show on explaining this and some of other business/sales/marketing related terms and what they all mean. The post What Do All these Marketing Buzzwords Mean? appeared first on Begin Self-Publishing.

In this show I talk to the author of "How to Get A Meeting With Anyone", Stu Heinecke, about what he calls Contact Marketing. This is where you focus on a small number of customers/influencers and personalise campaigns towards them. The Return on Investment of this can be amazing. The post Getting that Meeting with Stu Heinecke appeared first on Begin Self-Publishing.

Well I've completed NaNoWrimo again! 50,000 words of a first draft written in November. But more significant than that is that it is the final book in my three book Magpies and Magic series. So now I am faced with a common problem : what to work on next. In this show I discuss the options and my thinking as to which to use. The post Choosing your Next Project appeared first on Begin Self-Publishing.

In this show I talk to David Neal, who is someone I met on now defunct #futurechat publishing chat. He has self-published the appBook Alice Winks and has quite a large amount of experience with Richer Media books, that is those books that contain more than just text and pictures. They can contain interactive elements (that is choices), videos and other graphical elements. The post Rich Media Books with David Neal appeared first on Begin Self-Publishing.

I'd heard about Dave Chesson and Kindlepreneur quite some time ago, but have always been slightly put off by companies with Kindle in the title, as they have tended to be get-rich-quick schemes. However I heard an interview Dave Chesson gave on the EOFire podcast, and with a recommendation from another friend, decided to have Dave on the show. It turns out Dave knows a lot about SEO, and Amazon SEO in particular! The post Amazon SEO with Dave Chesson appeared first on Begin Self-Publishing.

In this episode I talk to Twitter expert, and host of the #TwitterSmarter twitter chat, Madalyn Sklar. Personally I had great success building up publishing industry specific twitter followers by taking part in the now defunct #futurechat Twitter chat. In this show I talk to Madalyn about what twitter chats are and how to use them. The post Twitter Chats with Madalyn Sklar appeared first on Begin Self-Publishing.

Why I do NaNoWrimo. For the uninitiated NaNoWrimo is an event coming out of the US that challenges writers to write 50,000 words in the month of November. I've done it the last two years and in fact the majority of the last two books I've written have been in NaNoWrimo. In this episode I tell you why I do it. The post Why I Do NaNoWrimo appeared first on Begin Self-Publishing.