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

Many authors publish audio as an afterthought and miss a major income and discoverability channel. This episode gives a concise, actionable 5-step audiobook-first playbook that fits an 8-minute monologue: design the book with audio in mind, produce professional audio efficiently, launch audio to amplify discoverability, convert listeners into buyers and subscribers, and squeeze extra revenue from...

Authors often treat price as an afterthought. This episode gives you a disciplined, five-step pricing experiment you can run in one week to find the sweet spot between sales volume and per-sale revenue. You'll get a clear hypothesis framework, how to set up price cohorts on KDP (and when to use Countdown Deals), how to isolate traffic sources with low-noise ad pockets, and how to use simple AI rev...

{"title":"Micro-Test Ads Matrix: Find a Winning Amazon Ads Setup Under $50","one_liner":"A step-by-step, budget-friendly playbook to validate Amazon Ads creatives and targeting with a $50 micro-test matrix so you can identify a scalable, profitable ad setup before you overspend.","description":"Stop guessing which Amazon Ads setup will move the needle. In this 8-minute tactical monologue Dan Desma...

Most authors treat their cover as a creative finish line instead of a conversion tool—then wonder why traffic doesn’t turn into sales. This episode gives a compact, tactical 5-step playbook for A/B testing covers without breaking the bank: define your conversion metric, design targeted variants using cover psychology, validate with low-cost channels (ads, social polls, reader panels), interpret th...

Metadata is the quiet engine behind every book that finds readers. In this 8-minute, monologue-style episode you'll get a practical, five-step playbook for turning raw manuscript assets into search-optimized metadata that actually moves the needle on Amazon. I walk through how to combine AI-assisted keyword discovery, competitive ASIN mapping, correct BISAC/category selection, subtitle and blurb c...

Learn a tactical, five-step system to design short books and series that maximize Kindle Unlimited (KU) page reads and per-reader revenue. In eight minutes you'll get clear steps: 1) optimal book length and chapter breaks for KU pacing, 2) micro-cliffhangers and read-through hooks, 3) metadata and series ordering to funnel traffic, 4) pricing and enrollment timing for KU, and 5) sequencing promoti...

Stop treating your manuscript as a single product. This episode teaches a repeatable 5-step Chapter-to-Product Pipeline authors can use to extract multiple revenue streams from every book they publish. You’ll get a clear checklist for identifying chapter candidates, repackaging content for short ebooks and workbooks, creating fast audiograms and micro-audio products, serializing chapters into emai...

This episode teaches a practical, author-friendly playbook for building a repeat‑buyer machine using a five‑part story arc in your email funnel. You’ll get a clear framework that blends narrative marketing, format cross‑promotion (ebook, paperback, audio), and simple AI prompts to speed copywriting while keeping everything human‑reviewed. I break down subject-line hooks, timing, microoffers (previ...

Most authors treat a published book as a single product. This episode reframes a title as a rights portfolio you can optimize. In 480 seconds Dan Desmarques walks you through a practical, four-step playbook—rights inventory, prioritized translation/localization, audio splits and international distribution, and format-specific packaging and pricing—so you can multiply income streams without wasting...

Stop treating books as one-offs. In this episode you'll get a clear, tactical 5-step formula for designing a book series that creates catalog momentum, increases lifetime reader value, and makes cross-format production (ebook, paperback, audiobook, mini-workbooks) a repeatable play. I'll explain how to choose the ideal entry point, structure series cadence, stack formats for maximum per-reader rev...

Many authors treat audiobooks as an afterthought. This episode flips the script: an audiobook-first funnel turns spoken-word assets into your primary marketing engine — driving reviews, newsletter subscribers, and cross-sales for ebook and print. In an eight-minute, highly tactical monologue you’ll get five numbered steps that cover choice of narration approach, low-cost production checks that pro...

Many authors see a burst of downloads on launch day, then tumble into silence. This episode gives a practical recovery plan you can implement in a single week to convert that stalled momentum into an evergreen sales engine. I walk through five numbered fixes—page conversion, targeted paid micro-buys, an audiobook snippet test, a low-cost promotional cadence, and a one-email funnel repair—explainin...

Most authors focus on a single price or a one-off promo and miss the bigger opportunity: a coordinated price ladder across formats that turns one reader into multiple purchases. In this 8-minute monologue you'll get a clear 3-step framework for mapping reader value, choosing three strategic price points across ebook, print, and audio, and running low-cost tests that prove what actually increases l...

Many authors publish and wait—then wonder why their book isn’t selling. This episode gives a tactical, numbered 10-point audit you can complete in one sitting to diagnose and fix the most common conversion leaks on an Amazon book page. I walk through metadata, cover psychology, blurbs, formatting signals, pricing, categories, keywords, review hygiene, audiobook cross-signals, and a fast ad micro-t...

Before you spend on ads or rewrite your entire book, your ARCs hold the fastest signals to improve launch performance. In this compact news-recap Dan and Aria walk listeners through an ethical, low-cost "ARC Sprint": a repeatable workflow that uses AI to synthesize reader notes, quantify sentiment, and translate feedback into three high-impact actions you can ship in 48–72 hours. We cover how to c...

Authors obsess over covers and ads but often overlook the goldmine in public reviews. This episode teaches a repeatable, ethical workflow for using AI to analyze competitor reviews, cluster common complaints and praise, and translate those signals into concrete updates: blurb tweaks, sample rewrites, micro-edits in the opening chapters, and targeted backmatter. Dan and Aria walk through a three-pa...

Too many indie launches fail because metadata — title, subtitle, cover, blurb, price — is chosen by guesswork. This episode teaches a practical, repeatable 'Pre-Launch Metadata Lab' authors can run in a week to validate the single metadata combo that will convert best on Amazon. Dan and Aria explain which off‑Amazon channels give the clearest signals (email polls, targeted micro-surveys, BookTok/R...

Authors often pick a single price and hope for the best. This episode teaches a repeatable, ethical way to run short, controlled pricing windows on KDP using AI to generate test hypotheses, predict elasticity, and interpret signals (sales velocity, conversion rate, BSR, and KU read trends). Dan and Aria explain how to plan 48–72 hour price windows, what traffic and metadata to hold constant, how t...

Many authors treat the Amazon 'Look Inside' preview as an afterthought. In this episode Dan and Aria show how to use AI plus human editing to treat your sample as a high-converting sales asset. You'll get a practical, ethical approach: choose the best excerpt, use AI to tighten hooks, pace chapters for mobile readers, add micro-cliffhangers and a soft backmatter CTA, and align sample text with you...

This episode teaches indie authors how to expand book sales beyond English readers using a practical, low-risk approach: AI-assisted translation + native editing + market-tailored metadata and covers. In 8 minutes Dan and Aria explain how to pick the highest-leverage markets, run cheap translation + quality control workflows, and optimize localized keywords, pricing, and cover art so your translat...

This episode breaks down a practical, publisher-friendly approach to creative split‑testing for Amazon/KDP ads using AI as a productivity partner — not a replacement. Dan and Aria recap recent examples and translate them into a repeatable system: how to prompt AI for multiple headline variants, craft short persuasive copy for ad creatives, and pair each creative with three cover/image variations f...

Most authors treat backmatter as an afterthought. In this episode we treat it like a sales asset: how to design end-of-book funnels that convert readers into newsletter subscribers, audiobook listeners, and repeat buyers without paid ads. Dan and Aria unpack the anatomy of high-converting backmatter—sequencing the next-read pitch, sample sequels, audiobook upgrade bumps, and an opt-in offer that r...

This episode breaks down a repeatable, low-cost strategy for indie authors: mining high-engagement newsletter threads, Substack essays, and long-form social posts to create short, tightly themed micro-books that act as discovery engines for your author funnel. Dan and Aria explain why clusters (3–6 short titles linked by theme) outperform standalone releases for search and recommendation algorithm...

This episode teaches indie authors a repeatable, low-friction micro‑funnel that turns short, free mini‑guides into paid preorders and launch sales without heavy ad spends. Leo and Aria unpack the components (mini‑guide opt‑ins, 2–3‑email nurture sequences, 60–90s audiobook/audio teaser clips, and a limited micro‑preorder offer) and why each element moves readers down the funnel. You’ll hear one co...

This episode teaches a compact, repeatable launch model authors can use without paid ads: a serialized short-read release (micro-novella or nonfiction short) distributed for free or through newsletter drip, paired with a podcast-style audiobook teaser—one narrated chapter released as audio to hook listeners and drive KDP/Audible conversions. Dan and Aria break down why short serialized content low...