Blank Page to Best Seller

What Metrics Should I Know When Marketing? With the upcoming holiday season (literally days away now!), we wanted to talk about the ways authors can maximize their sales and marketing impact. We talk about some of the tactics and metrics you should know in the Biz Buzz segment this week. Then, Colleen and Peter talk with Sarah Rose about the importance of a brand voice for business owners.  Biz Bu...

Get Paid For Your Book Before You Publish  How can you get paid for your book before you even finish writing it? We talk about crowdfunding options in this week's Biz Buzz segment with a special focus on Kickstarter. Then, Peter talks with author assistant Doreen DeJesus-Harper about the publishing industry, marketing, and how it all ties together.  Plus, Doreen, is one of our first members of The...

Why Industry Standards Matter What are industry standards? Why do they matter?  Colleen, Peter, and CaZ talk about the importance of standards in any industry but specifically the publishing industry in this week's Biz Buzz segment. Understanding these standards can protect both authors and services providers so everyone is on the same page with a project.   What standards do you use? Let us know!...

Gearing Up For Holiday Sales Don't look now but the holiday season is almost upon us! In this week's episode, Peter, Colleen, and CaZ take a look at the upcoming holiday season and how authors can best capture momentum during this time. From sales pricing to proper planning and everything in between, we make holiday sales easy for anyone to use.   Timestamps Biz Buzz: Capturing Holiday Sale Succes...

Reminiscing On 2 Years of the Blank Page to Best Seller Podcast! Join us as the three of us, Peter, Colleen, and CaZ reminisce on two years hosting the Blank Page to Best Seller podcast! We talk about everything from our favorite guests to what it is like hosting a show with multiple people.  Plus, we talk a little about our new way for you support the show - becoming a Friend of the Show! And liv...

Celebrating 2 Amazing Years! Come and celebrate our second anniversary with us today! We look back on our best segments of the last 2 years in this week's episode.  What is your favorite episode of the show? Who was your favorite guest? What is something new you learned through the show? Timestamps Top Biz Buzz segment: Our Favorite Memories Working in Publishing (5:55) from Episode 074 Top YouTub...

Is My Book Ready to Publish? This week, the three of us answer the question, "Is my book ready to publish?"  While the question sounds straight forward, the answer is a little more complicated than yes or no. Deciding on when to hit publish takes into consideration many different aspects like editing, reviews, and marketing. We look at some of the calculus behind the answer so you can make the bes...

What Are Little Free Libraries? Have you ever wondered what those little colorful boxes are in your neighborhood? Or in the park? Or by the front of a school? Little Free Libraries are are places for people to drop off and pick up free book for their neighbors to read!  We talk all about the Little Free Libraries and what they might mean for readers and authors alike in this week's episode! Timest...

Biz Buzz Memories of Our First Clients The three of us, Peter, Colleen, and CaZ look back at some of our first clients and how e each got into the industry. We cover each of our starts, how we have maneuvered through an ever-changing industry, and how the three of us came to meet.  Guest Interview Janet Kassalen  A look back at a previous episode, we talk with Janet Kassalen one of the first autho...

Your Book Is NOT Your Business Card Biz Buzz Beta Readers v. Street Teams v. Arc Readers What are Beta readers? What about ARC readers? Or a street team? These are all different variations on a theme: how writers can leverage their fans to help their book succeed. But these terms are often misused and have some blurred lines as to their actual usage. So we clarify each of these terms in this week'...

A Bit of Reading Fun What are some of your favorite reading memories? Did you stay up late reading way past your bedtime? Did you take a vacation with a backpack overflowing with books? Or maybe you visited to local library every summer afternoon. We each share our favorite reading memory in a fun discussion for this week's show. Let us know what your favorite memory of reading is in the comments!...

The Importance of Your Author Brand This week's show is all about your author brand and Colleen is main character of this week's show. Colleen begins with her third segment in the Building Your Author Brand series. Miss out on the first two episodes? Check out the links below!  Then, in our Guest Interview segment Colleen talks with designer AK Westerman. AK is a book cover artist and she talks wi...

Biz Buzz Segment A Case Study In Publishing - And How To Spot a Fraud Recently, news came out about missed royalty payments from Unbound (now known as Boundless). With the news of the missed payments, there came some great informative articles which took a look at Unbound. On this week's episode, we lay the groundwork for the Unbound (now known as Boundless) saga. In the second part of the segment...

Biz Buzz Segment Questions From Around the Industry Each of us answers a question we've heard asked from around the publishing industry. From trusted places to publish to the best type of format for your book and how you can tie it all together with your business.  What questions do you have in the publishing industry? Timestamps Biz Buzz: Questions From Around the Industry (2:28) The Author's Voi...

Biz Buzz Segment Selling Your Book Online How do authors sell their book online? From Amazon to their own website to book box and more, there are many avenues authors can take to reach readers online. Amazon has recently reworked their royalty rates for print books priced below a certain price and we began by covering that change. We also talk about how authors can sell both hard copies and ebook...

How do you sell your book? This week we discuss two separate avenues for book sales - bookstores and audiobooks.  Biz Buzz Segment Bookstores and Authors Peter and CaZ talk about how authors can work with bookstores to sell their book. With a particular focus on brick and mortar stores, and indie bookstores specifically, authors can work with their local bookstores to promote their book. There is...

This week we talk about bookstores and libraries. The Biz Buzz segment covers how authors and libraries can work together. Then Peter takes a look at the book, The Bookshop by Evan Friss for this month's book review segment.  Biz Buzz Segment Libraries and Authors How can libraries ad authors work together? Libraries are great places for readers to discover new books, fall in love with stories, re...

This week's theme on the show is Reader Magnets. What are they and why are they important for authors to create in their marketing plan?  Biz Buzz Segment The Best Reader Magnets Reader magnets are ways that authors can attract new readers. Colleen begins the segment with a look into the different kinds and versions of reader magnets. Then the three of us talk more in-depth about the reader magnet...

In this week's episode we talk popularity. They say that life is not a popularity contest but it certainly is in the publishing world! This week we talk about the popularity of print books and share what makes some characters so popular.   Biz Buzz Segment The Popularity of Print Books There is nothing quite like cracking open a fresh book . Whether it's a hard back treasure or an easy reading tra...

Biz Buzz Segment Was your book used to train AI?  Peter, Colleen, and CaZ talk about the recent news, originally from The Atlantic, which published a database of books Meta used to train their AI. This news came about from a lawsuit filed against Meta alleging they trained their AI using Library Genesis (LibGen) which is a collection of books, journals, articles, etc. which is normally paywalled b...

Biz Buzz Segment Intro to Marketing What does it take to market you book?  It's never too early to begin to market your book and it's not too late start either! We talk about the entry-level marketing tactics that every authors should look at when marketing their book.  Conversations with Colleen Building Your Author Brand - Part 1 Colleen is back with a brand new Conversations with Colleen segmen...

Biz Buzz Segment What It Takes To Be A Bestseller Do you know what it means to be a bestseller? Did you know there are a variety of bestseller lists? Is the author a bestseller or the book? We dive into the many facets of bestseller lists in this week's Biz Buzz segment. Whether you are a writer or a reader, it's important to understand what the term bestseller means.  Tales and Threads Storytelli...

Did Amazon remove their downloads? Amazon recently made a change to how readers can download books but it's not as bad as some might think.  Biz Buzz Segment Catching Up On Amazon So what the heck is going on with Amazon? This week we take a closer look at some big news which may not really be big news coming from Amazon - They are no longer allowing you to download ebooks to devices through the u...

What does it take to publish your book? We have a great episode for authors this week! Our Biz Buzz breaks the myth behind going wide in distribution and Tara Hayes joins Colleen for a special guest interview.  Biz Buzz Segment Going Wide Vs. Stay Exclusive What does it mean to go wide in publishing? What does being exclusive mean? When talking about self-publishing, especially in terms of distrib...

Biz Buzz Segment What's On Your Back Cover? How do you sell your book, especially your physical book? YOUR COVER! This week's Biz Buzz segment is a from an older episode where we talk about what goes on the back of your book. Colleen takes the non-fiction perspective and CaZ shares the fiction perspective. There are a few common areas readers look for on the back of your book and even if you only...