The 22 Lions Podcast: AI, Self-Publishing and Book Empire Secrets

This episode walks authors through a practical, low-cost preorder framework that creates early discoverability signals for Amazon and Audible without gaming systems or risky shortcuts. Dan and Aria explain how to structure a 7–21 day preorder campaign that uses targeted keyword seeding, lightweight bonus micro-products (one-page workbook, checklist, audio teaser), and timed audiobook snippets to g...

Most authors treat backmatter as an afterthought — a short bio and a thank-you. In this 8-minute monologue, Dan Desmarques lays out five high-ROI backmatter revenue layers that convert readers into buyers, subscribers, and repeat customers. You’ll get a compact framework and exact placement guidance for KDP files: frictionless lead magnets that grow your list, low-price digital upsells (workbooks,...

Many authors leave audiobook revenue on the table because production and distribution feel complex. This episode breaks the process into five practical steps you can execute in days—not months—so your book earns on Audible, ACX, and beyond. I walk through preparing a manuscript for narration, choosing between a human narrator or high-quality AI voice, a compact production checklist to hit ACX spec...

Most authors treat covers as artwork, not conversion engines — and pay for that with lower sales. In this episode Dan Desmarques gives a practical, publisher-focused playbook: five low-cost, KDP-safe split-tests you can run before launch to choose a cover that actually sells. You’ll get step-by-step guidance: how to benchmark your category, design three purposeful variants (genre-accurate, bold di...

Many authors optimize cover, price, and ads—but lose readers in the first 10% of the book. In this episode Aria Pride walks through a conversion-first system for your book opening: how to write, polish, and test the exact pages Amazon shoppers read before buying. You’ll get five precise steps: craft a conversion-first opening, reshape the Kindle "Look Inside" sample, add a low-friction in-book lea...

The Pre-Sell Sprint gives authors a tight, actionable system to move readers from interest to paid preorder before a book ever launches. In this episode you get five numbered steps: craft a low-friction preorder offer, build a single high-converting landing page, run a sequenced email sprint that converts subscribers into buyers, use micro-content (excerpts, short audio teasers, and targeted socia...

Most authors chase ads and social when the highest-intent audience is already inside their books. This episode shows a practical, ethical back-matter funnel that turns your book's final pages into a tiny, automated revenue machine. Dan and Aria explain why back-matter converts better than external traffic, share two short examples of authors who lifted list growth and audiobook upsells, and walk t...

This episode delivers a practical, repeatable system authors can use to turn a single published title into a predictable subscriber engine. In a clear five-step monologue you'll learn how to design a low-friction in-book lead magnet, place compact calls-to-action inside backmatter and your Amazon product page, build a one-click delivery funnel that respects KDP rules, drive targeted readers with o...

Stop guessing what readers want and build your book from validated micro-content. In this episode Dan Desmarques delivers a five-step, test-driven process to turn short social posts, newsletter snippets, and micro-chapters into a market-ready manuscript that sells. You’ll get clear, numbered tactics for designing low-friction micro-tests, capturing high-signal metrics, pivoting a concept before wr...

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Many authors have good books but leave money on the table by publishing single standalone titles without a reader ladder. In this episode you'll get a practical, execution-first plan to design a series and bundle strategy that converts casual buyers into repeat customers. I break the process into clear, ordered decisions: how to pick which books to tie into a series, how to architect pacing and cl...

Many authors stall because a manuscript is ‘almost there’ but never reaches publish quality. In this focused 8-minute monologue Dan Desmarques walks you through a repeatable 5-step '90-Minute Book Polish' that combines practical AI passes with quick human edits so you can finish faster without sacrificing quality. You’ll get a fast structural scan to fix pacing, an AI-driven clarity pass that pres...

Most browsers decide within the first three lines. This episode shows authors how to optimize Amazon's "Look Inside" and the book's opening to convert casual samplers into buyers. Dan and Aria break down why hook placement, front-loaded stakes, pacing, and even audiobook first-minute repurposing change KDP conversion rates. You'll get a reproducible three-step framework: (1) diagnose weak openings...

Stop leaving revenue in the margins of your book. In this episode Aria walks you through a practical, five-step playbook to convert any nonfiction or how-to manuscript into recurring revenue streams—courses, memberships, and high-converting micro-products. You’ll learn how to map chapters into course modules, extract lead magnets and micro-lessons (using AI responsibly to speed production), build...

Covers remain the single biggest visual gatekeeper between your book and a sale. This episode delivers a compact, execution-first 5-step system authors can run in a single week to find a higher-converting cover. You’ll get a clear testing framework (hypothesis, control, variants, metrics), practical instructions for using low-cost Amazon Sponsored Product campaigns as a split-test engine, guidance...

Stop guessing which audiobook elements actually move buyers. In this episode Dan Desmarques delivers a compact, action-first playbook authors can run in days: set measurable conversion goals and baselines; create clean test variants for narrator voice, sample length, and price; run experiments across platform pages and paid channels; interpret results with simple statistical rules; and implement w...

This episode gives authors a concise, execution-first five-step playbook to use a paid beta-reader cohort as a measurable launch engine. You’ll get a clear ethical workflow for recruiting the right readers, setting scoring criteria, running a fast feedback sprint, converting testers into verified reviewers and testimonials, and sequencing an email + preorder funnel that captures sales and subscrib...

Many authors underuse Amazon preorder as a passive placeholder instead of a strategic launch lever. In this focused 8-minute monologue Dan Desmarques lays out a five-step preorder playbook you can execute this week: set up metadata and delivery expectations correctly, run a targeted ARC campaign for early reviews, design a deliberate pricing ladder and release-date cadence, warm your audience with...

This episode shows indie authors how to expand revenue by launching localized editions for three new language markets using AI plus lightweight human checks. Leo and Aria break down a practical workflow: identify the highest-ROI markets from simple data signals, use AI to translate and adapt title, subtitle, blurb, and keywords, create localized covers and pricing windows, and ship separate KDP ed...

Many authors leave predictable, long-term revenue on the table because they treat audio and foreign rights as one-off projects. This episode breaks that gap with a practical five-step playbook you can execute in a week and scale over months. You’ll get clear criteria to evaluate licensing offers, a low-risk pilot agreement template approach, how to package files and metadata for narrators and part...

Most authors optimize cover, price, and ads — then wonder why readers don’t convert. This episode teaches a practical, step-by-step system to design a book around reader intent so chapters become conversion engines: sell the next book, sign up newsletter subscribers, or move readers into a high-margin course. In five concise steps you’ll map buyer intent, redesign chapter openings and endings for...

You published a book but Amazon impressions and sales are flat — instead of guessing, run targeted diagnostics. In this episode Dan Desmarques walks a professional, step-by-step 5-test system authors can run in under a week to pinpoint visibility bottlenecks on KDP: metadata integrity, category and keyword mapping, pricing and conformance signals, creative conversion signals (cover/title/descripti...

Stop leaving discoverability and repeat exposure to chance. This episode teaches authors a practical, five-step system to squeeze 30 ready-to-publish social and audio clips from a single manuscript—clips optimized for Amazon, podcast snippets, Reels, Shorts, and audiobook promos. You’ll get a clear extraction method to find high-impact moments; lightweight production templates using AI narration a...

Many authors publish great books but never get found because their category and keyword strategy is scattershot. In this episode Aria walks through a practical, numbered 5-step playbook—informed by strategies Dan Desmarques uses with 22 Lions authors—that turns listing metadata into a traffic engine. You’ll get a clear method to pick the highest-opportunity niches, build a layered keyword hierarch...

Struggling to get a single book to pay the bills? This episode walks through a practical, five-step system to convert one idea into a high-performing book series and a backlist that sells consistently. You’ll get a clear framework for niche selection and validation, series architecture and release pacing, an AI-accelerated production workflow to publish faster, a repeatable launch + backlist funne...