Michal has a great question about what Steve would do if he only had five dollars to start his book business. In this episode, Steve outlines a 10-step plan for launching his first Kindle book and explains how he would bootstrap the entire proc

SPQ 080: KDP Select Free Promotions: How Many Days Should I Use?

Nov 6th, 2015 7m 48s

Chris just published his first book and wants to know if he should use a five-day promotion (via KDP Select) or break it into two different campaigns.

SPQ 079: What Types of Links Should Be Included in Kindle Books?

Nov 6th, 2015 8m 28s

Stan is about to publish his first book for his website, TheHiringTips.com, and he wants to put a link at the bottom of each page of his Kindle book. In this episode, Steve talks about using links in books and offers suggestions on how to find

SPQ 078: Fiction vs. Nonfiction: Which Should I Pick?

Nov 6th, 2015 11m 7s

Kamal is a new author, and he's stuck on deciding which market to enter: fiction or nonfiction. In this episode, Steve weighs the pros and cons of each market and offers tips to help with this crucial decision.

SPQ 077: What is the Minimalist Marketing Plan for Selling Books?

Nov 6th, 2015 10m 17s

Lawrence wonders about the process for making a modest income with self-publishing. He wants to know how to generate $1,000 to $2,000 per month. In this episode, Steve breaks down his one-hour book marketing plan for authors who have a limited

SPQ 076: How Do You Balance Book Marketing with Writing?

Nov 6th, 2015 7m 38s

Marie asks how you balance marketing activities with writing new books. In this episode, Steve explains the importance of building a book catalog while you market your existing books.

SPQ 075: My Failed Kindle Niche Experiment

Nov 6th, 2015 11m 39s

In this episode, Catherine asks Steve about his decision not to continue with his line of children's books. She asks him to explain why children's books are so difficult to sell and share any lessons he learned in what turned out to be a failed

SPQ 074: Ghostwriting - How Do You Find Quality Writers for Kindle Books?

Nov 6th, 2015 10m 58s

Tobias asks if it's possible to outsource Kindle books and have the quality remain at a high level. In this episode, Steve gives his opinion on outsourcing the production of Kindle books, plus a few strategies for hiring people.

SPQ 073: Five Questions: Non-U.S. Reviews, Author Follow Button, Media Liability Insurance, Formatting, and Udemy

Nov 6th, 2015 13m 17s

It's time for another Five Questions segment. In this episode, Steve covers a variety of topics including finding your international reviews, if the Author Follow button works, media liability insurance, formatting, and putting a product on Ude

SPQ 072: Should You Pay to Launch a Free Book (and What Sites Get the Best ROI)?

Nov 6th, 2015 7m 45s

Daemon is interested in doing a free book promotion, so he's wondering if it's worth spending the money on advertisements. He also wants to know which sites generate the best return on investment. In this episode, Steve covers a few paid advert

SPQ 071: How Do You Research and Write a Book on an Unfamiliar Topic?

Nov 6th, 2015 9m 47s

William is just getting started with Kindle ebook publishing. He asks about how to research a topic when it’s an area where he doesn’t have a lot of personal experience. In this episode, Steve covers three strategies for creating a compelling b

SPQ 070: 13 Essential Tools All Authors Need

Nov 6th, 2015 9m 59s

In this episode, Steve answers a question from Thomas about his preferred tools and resources for authors. He lists marketing tools, websites, and apps that can help anyone running a self-publishing business.

SPQ 069: Teams 101 - The Best Way to Scale Your Author Business

Nov 6th, 2015 12m 21s

Gregg asks a great question about building a staff around a book-based business. In this episode, Steve talks about the specific team members he employs, what they do, and how this business evolves.

SPQ 068: Perma-Free Book - Do I Need to Pull the Others From KDP Select?

Nov 6th, 2015 8m 29s

Zach wants book one of his series to be perma-free, but he doesn't know if that means the rest of the series should come out of KDP Select. In this episode, Steve talks about perma-free, its impact on KDP Select, and how to use it to get more b

SPQ 067: 3 Books - Should I Launch Them All Together?

Nov 6th, 2015 11m 11s

Dekel has three books he would like to launch. He wants to know if he should do them together or launch them a few months apart. In this episode, Steve talks about how to launch a free book for maximum exposure and to generate the greatest numb

SPQ 066: Free PDF vs. Kindle Book

Nov 6th, 2015 8m 7s

Chris asks if he should take his free PDF and convert it to a Kindle book as well. Steve discusses the difference between the two and explains how to use each to build an email list.

SPQ 065: Facebook Ads: 5 Ways to Target Your Ideal Book Reader

Nov 6th, 2015 14m 4s

Tim asks about Facebook advertising and how it can be used to sell books. In this episode, Steve goes over five Facebook strategies he’s currently testing and talks about how to try this platform without losing a lot of money.

SPQ 064: 6 Common Mistakes Many Authors Make

Nov 6th, 2015 11m 17s

Adam is a first-time Kindle author, so he's wondering what common pitfalls he should avoid as he's getting started. In this episode, Steve goes over six mistakes many authors make and explains how to avoid them.

SPQ 063: How Many Words Are in a Standard eBook?

Nov 6th, 2015 7m 33s

Both Nicholas and Josiane asked about the word count of a Kindle book. In this episode, Steve discusses his experience with writing different word counts, how customers receive books of different lengths, and his plans moving forward for the le

SPQ 062: Street Teams: The Key to Advanced Reviews and Initial Buzz for Your Books

Nov 6th, 2015 10m 21s

Not only will street team members leave those important initial reviews, they also help build buzz for your new books. In this episode, Steve talks about how to cultivate your street team and get members to take action for your next launch.

SPQ 061: Five Questions: Multiple Accounts, Uploading New Books, Proofreading, Different Author Pages, and Amazon Ad Campaigns

Nov 6th, 2015 11m 37s

This is a new segment in which Steve answers five questions in a rapid-fire manner. Today's topics include setting up multiple KDP accounts, losing reviews if you upload new content, creating different author pages, proofreading, and using Amaz

SPQ 060: Foreign Translations: 4 Ways to Reach a Foreign Market

Nov 6th, 2015 16m 41s

Eric has a few questions about translating books. Specifically, he wants to know what languages work well, if it's a smart strategy for self-published authors and how to get started. In this episode, Steve discusses 4 strategies to leverage fo

SPQ 059: Updating a Book: Can You "Fix" a Traditionally Published Book Full of Mistakes?

Nov 6th, 2015 8m 55s

Marcella traditionally published her book in March 2014, but it is full of typos and mistakes. She can't pull it from the market. Now she wonders what she can do to fix or update it. In this episode, Steve recommends a few different strategie

SPQ 058: Amazon Marketing Services: Does it Help Sell Books?

Nov 6th, 2015 13m 30s

Jon asks a question Amazon Marketing Services, specifically it's worth trying and if it can help sell books. In this episode, Steve discusses his limited experience with AMS, how it's currently limited, and what Amazon can do to improve the se

SPQ 057: Repurposing Content: Does it Violate the Rules of KDP?

Nov 6th, 2015 7m 57s

In this episode, George asks about reusing content from a Kindle book. He has a niche site idea using affiliate marketing that is based on the content from one of his books. He wants to know if he’s allowed to copy and paste chapters as blog po