Podcasts Episodes

In this episode, I talk to former Print Production Manager Leslie Johnson about getting your self-published book printed and understanding print terminology to get a better idea of how to manage the printing of your book.

In this episode, I talk to Little Professor bookseller and Nanowrimo winner Sara Glassman about how writing a draft for this year’s National Novel Writing Month could be a great first step to writing your book. We also talk about Little Professor’s recent move to a new building, decorating a bookstore for the holidays, and mistakes self-published authors often make when trying to get independent bookstores to carry our books.

In this episode, I talk about my own book tour which stretched from New Orleans to New York. I share how I booked the signings, what I packed to take to signings, what discount I offered on my books, and which mistakes most self-published authors make that keep them from being able to schedule in-store signings.

In this episode, I talk to Katie Kelly about how to look great while traveling on a book tour, how to keep your skin looking its best and how to create a consistent look that will photograph well on your tour.

In this episode, I talk to the stylists behind Irrelephant blog — Joanna Ballentine and Molly Stilley — about how to prep for headshots, how to find a stylist, and which makeup and hair products are their favorites.

In this episode, I talk about why most independent booksellers dislike Amazon and why partnering with Amazon by publishing through CreateSpace isn’t the best idea for self publishers who hope to be found on bookstore shelves someday. I also read an excerpt from my book, The Localist.

In this episode, I talk with former bookseller Michelle Phillips of Church Street Coffee & Books about how self-published authors often botch their bookstore pitches. We also talk about how to make the best of your book signing and tone down the awkwardness of a signing or meeting.

In this episode, I share my experience as a website copywriter with tips for how to create an author website, including which pages your website should include, where to link your books for sales, and how to process payments.

In this episode, I interview photographer Kelly Cummings about how to design a social media campaign for your self-published book and book tour. We discuss how to use hashtags, how to deal with Instagram changes and how to spin a lackluster book signing into social media gold.

In this episode, I interview Jonathan Walls, the web designer and developer who built the website for The Localist. We talk about whether you should hire a web developer to design your author website or use a template, when to install Google Analytics, the pros and cons of WordPres and Squarespace, and which pages and functionality your book’s website will need.