New Author Podcast

Jerry Evanoff
  • 5.0 (8)
  • Arts
  • Updated Weekly

First time authors Jerry Evanoff and Rich Kacy take you through their writing, publishing and marketing strategies. You'll get to hear every success and every mistake along the way.

  1. 2d ago

    Summer Library Chaos, Full Rewrites, and Author Panic | Ep 357

    This week, Jerry and Rich both show up looking like they’ve been dragged behind their own projects for a few miles. Rich is getting swarmed at the library now that school’s out and kids are pouring in for summer programs and free lunches, while Jerry is staring down the reality that Book 3 is no longer a revision job. It’s a full rebuild. So yes, this one has that fun “everything is under control if you don’t look too closely” energy from the jump. Jerry talks through where he is with the Sam Norris series, including the fact that Book 3 has basically been blown up and rebuilt from the foundation. The core murder setup, victim, and some character pieces are still there, but the structure, location, and a lot of the moving parts are changing. Which means he has about five months and change to write, revise, edit, and publish a brand-new version of the book. No pressure. Just the kind of light, relaxing summer challenge every writer dreams about when they make a preorder live too early. Rich, meanwhile, is deep in the weeds building AI writing agents to help him keep track of continuity, clue placement, character logic, and all the little details that try to sneak out the back door when you’re writing a mystery. He talks about the “co-author core,” the “continuity guardian,” the “puzzle keeper,” and how these tools are helping him revise The Dark We Hide one chapter at a time without turning the whole thing into bland machine mush. It’s actually one of the more interesting AI-for-writing conversations we’ve had, because this isn’t about having AI write the book. It’s about having AI act like the world’s most obsessive assistant editor. There’s also a lot of real-life author stuff packed in here: Jerry juggling a big weekend work install, golf finally returning after a wet spring, plotting at Buffalo Wild Wings, and playing old sports games whenever his brain needs a break; Rich trying to edit while the library turns into a summer zoo and while he keeps tinkering with 3D-printed train storage like a man who absolutely does not need another hobby. So this episode lands in a very honest place: writing is messy, revising is harder than drafting, and sometimes progress looks a lot like tearing the whole thing apart and trusting yourself to build it better the second time. Contact UsJerry EvanoffEmail: ⁠jerry@jerryevanoff.com⁠Website: ⁠https://jerryevanoff.com⁠⁠https://jerryevanoffauthor.substack.com/⁠ Rich KacyEmail: ⁠rich@richkacy.com⁠BlueSky: @RichKacy⁠https://richkacy.substack.com/⁠ Tagswriting podcastself-publishingindie authormystery writingbook rewritingdevelopmental editingAI for writerswriting toolsauthor lifelibrary lifeplotting novelssports simsgolfThe New Author Podcast

    52 min

  2. May 29

    Promo Stats, AI Agents, and a Microphone That Needed Viagra | Ep 356

    This week, Jerry and Rich show up for what Jerry calls “real podcasting,” which means no editing, a sagging microphone, and two writers trying to sound calm while both of them are standing in the middle of some very specific chaos. Jerry opens with the results of his recent promo run for Book 1: 98 total orders for the month, including 92 discounted copies of Book 1, 6 copies of Book 2, 1,037 page reads across the two books, and 4 preorders for Book 3. Not a moon landing, not a disaster, and very much the kind of real-world author math that can leave a person both encouraged and slightly annoyed at the same time. A big chunk of the episode is Jerry walking through what those marketing numbers actually mean. He talks about Facebook ads bringing in 286 clicks at about 33 cents each, a small number of direct sales from the ad, one sale from his email list, and the uncomfortable reality that Amazon rankings fall off a cliff the second the promo momentum slows down. There’s also a good conversation about cold email lists, pruning inactive subscribers, and the weirdness of trying to build real readers on Substack when the notes feed often looks like a convention of writers waving at other writers. Then the episode shifts into writing mode, and this is where things get spicy. Jerry is not gently revising Book 3. He is staring down what sounds an awful lot like a near-total rewrite. He talks about keeping the murderer, victim, and core backstory, but likely changing the setting and reshaping the whole thing into something more futuristic and AI-heavy, possibly involving a data-center-style environment and a trapped-in-place setup. So if you enjoy hearing an author describe the exact moment a book stops being “a draft that needs help” and becomes “a full summer project,” this episode absolutely has that energy. Rich brings his own form of chaos, which is much nerdier and honestly pretty great. He has gone deep into building custom AI writing agents, including a co-author core, a deep drafter, a continuity guardian, and a puzzle keeper. He explains how he’s feeding them system instructions, voice samples, genre guidance, and dynamic context so they can help challenge his writing, catch continuity problems, and track mystery clues instead of just smiling and telling him he’s brilliant. It is a very Rich Kacy update: part writing craft, part experiment, part beautiful descent into the weeds. There’s also some fun side-road stuff in here too: Jerry golfing between plot crises, buying unnecessary-but-clearly-necessary gear at Micro Center, playing old football board games, updating Etsy after a surprise multi-book order, and getting ready to appear on Dave Gardner’s gaming podcast. So this one lands in a nice honest place: part publishing recap, part writing reckoning, part AI lab experiment, and part two guys trying to keep all the plates spinning without dropping one on their own foot. Contact Us Jerry Evanoff Email: ⁠⁠⁠jerry@jerryevanoff.com⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠https://jerryevanoff.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://jerryevanoffauthor.substack.com/⁠⁠⁠ Rich Kacy Email: ⁠⁠⁠rich@richkacy.com⁠⁠ ⁠BlueSky: @RichKacy⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://richkacy.substack.com/⁠⁠⁠ Tags writing podcast self-publishing indie author Facebook ads Amazon attribution book marketing Substack AI writing tools Claude AI OpenRouter mystery writing book rewrite author life Etsy for authors The New Author Podcast

    1h 6m

  3. May 22

    Kindle Countdown Chaos and the Michigan Hawk Migration | Ep 355

    This week, Jerry is knee-deep in promo-stack numbers, Facebook ad stats, Amazon rankings, and the slow, humbling reality that book marketing rarely arrives like a fireworks show. Book 1 is in a Kindle Countdown deal, the promo sites are rolling, the emails are out, and the results are... fine. Not awful, not magical, and very much the kind of real-world author experience nobody puts on a motivational poster. Jerry breaks down what sold, what got clicked, what did not get opened, and why the long game still matters more than one big spike. Rich talks about his trip to the far north of Michigan, where he and his family watched hawk migration, saw thousands of blue jays, added a pile of lifers, and froze in weather that sounded more like late November than late May. So if you’ve ever wanted a writing podcast that can pivot from Amazon attribution links to birding in the Upper Peninsula, this episode has you covered. The writing side gets interesting too. Rich talks about building a Claude-based AI co-writer with system instructions, writing samples, and enough setup to make a normal person walk directly into the woods. He also experiments with Google Labs Flow to animate his book cover art for The Dark We Hide, which leads into a fun conversation about how weirdly good these tools are getting and how fast that shift is happening. It’s equal parts useful, exciting, and a little unsettling, which feels about right for AI in 2026. Jerry also gets into Book 3 plotting, feedback from Super Editor Cee, a possible paranormal edge to Chapter 1, and the ongoing process of trying to turn a decent mystery draft into something sharper and stronger before the real writing begins again. There’s also talk about Etsy orders, Amazon ads, an old babysitter buying books, and the possibility of going to Killer Nashville because apparently neither of these men knows how to have one hobby at a time. Contact Us Jerry Evanoff Email: ⁠⁠jerry@jerryevanoff.com⁠⁠ Website: ⁠https://jerryevanoff.com ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://jerryevanoffauthor.substack.com/⁠⁠ Rich Kacy Email: ⁠⁠rich@richkacy.com⁠ ⁠BlueSky: @RichKacy⁠⁠ https://richkacy.substack.com/⁠⁠ Tags writing podcast self-publishing indie author Kindle Countdown Deal Facebook ads Amazon attribution book marketing Claude AI Google Labs Flow Substack bird watching mystery writing author life Killer Nashville The New Author Podcast

    1h 13m

  4. May 11

    Plot Surgery, Promo Stacks, and a Very Productive Short Week

    This week’s episode is a shorter one, which in New Author Podcast terms means Jerry only reorganized half a novel instead of the whole publishing industry. He talks about taking a knife to Book 3, cutting scenes, moving key beats around, redefining the midpoint and pinch points, and finally starting to feel like the first half of the story has some real momentum instead of just politely standing there waiting to become a plot. If you’ve ever stared at a draft and realized the fix is not a tweak but a controlled demolition, this one will feel familiar. There’s also a lot of useful indie author talk packed into this shorter episode. Jerry gets into his call with his marketing consultant, the plan for his Kindle Countdown deal, how he’s handling the Facebook ad for it, and why wording like “limited time” still matters when you’re trying to get readers to actually click instead of thoughtfully doing nothing. He also talks through A+ content ideas, setting up comparison-style content across the series, getting his Book 2 paperbacks in hand, and finally being able to start thinking about Etsy because now there are actual physical books sitting on the floor instead of just dreams and browser tabs. Rich had a writing-light week, but not exactly a lazy one. He talks about spending more time on Substack, making connections with other writers, building a small community around his serialized novel, and realizing there’s something pretty fun about having actual people read your work and talk back. He also went on a full 3D-printing tear at work, cranking out buildings, tanks, silos, and assorted tiny railroad-world objects like a man who absolutely did not need another side quest but took one anyway. The episode also wanders, in the best way, through canceled golf, hawk migration trips, Browns heartbreak in a football replay game, Perry Mason recap planning, and the ongoing challenge of turning a solid mystery draft into one with sharper characters, cleaner escalation, and fewer vanilla stretches in the middle. So yes, it’s a short week. It just doesn’t sound like one. David Gaughran Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYacxyQJPxMContact UsJerry EvanoffEmail: ⁠jerry@jerryevanoff.com⁠Website: ⁠https://jerryevanoff.com⁠⁠https://jerryevanoffauthor.substack.com/⁠ Rich KacyEmail: ⁠rich@richkacy.com⁠BlueSky: @RichKacyhttps://richkacy.substack.com/⁠ Tagswriting podcastself-publishingindie authorbook plottingmystery writingcharacter developmentKindle Countdown DealFacebook ads for authorsA+ contentSubstackPerry Masonauthor marketingEtsy for authors3D printingwriter life

    37 min

  5. May 5

    Ep 353 | May the Fourth, Murder Mysteries, and an Encyclopedia Brown Midlife Crisis

    This week, Jerry shows up in a Star Wars shirt on May the Fourth, Rich brings the energy of a man enjoying spring fever a little too much, and the episode turns into a mix of writing therapy, publishing strategy, and the sort of side quests that somehow become the whole job. Jerry recaps the release aftermath for Book 2, the preorder setup for Book 3, the endless website and promo work, and the deeply glamorous reality of spending more time on blurbs, ads, links, and metadata than on actual new words. Because apparently “author” now means writer, marketer, web guy, ad tester, and part-time emotional support staff for one’s own career. A big chunk of the episode digs into Book 3, where Jerry realizes the story itself is not the real problem. The plot exists. The chapters exist. The murders exist. The issue is that the whole thing feels too vanilla, which is a rough realization when you are 50,000-plus words into a draft. So now the mission is to stop writing polite mystery people and start building characters with sharper motives, messier secrets, and more of that old-school Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest energy. In other words, less “a murder happened” and more “everyone in this building is hiding something and at least two of them deserve a slap.” There is also a fun stretch about Substack and Perry Mason, where Jerry talks about writing his recap posts ahead of schedule and then gets completely distracted by a fan-fiction idea about an older, washed-up Encyclopedia Brown. Not a parody. Not a joke. A real noir-ish, broken-down, adult Encyclopedia Brown story that he very much wants to write even though it lives in that dangerous “this is probably copyright trouble if I get too serious” zone. So naturally, this means he now wants to toss chapters onto Substack for fun and see what happens. Which is exactly how writers end up with twelve active projects and no free evenings. Rich, meanwhile, has a quieter week on paper and a very Rich week in practice. He finally gets his Substack moving, posting chapters from his work in progress. He also admits he’s been a slug thanks to the weather shift, which feels honest and relatable and a lot healthier than pretending every week is some blazing productivity triumph. They also talk about Amazon ads, promo stacks, A+ content, football games, golf getting rained out yet again, Dutch chocolate ice cream, and the weirdly exhausting process of trying to help an AI understand how readers might discover a mystery series. So this one is a good episode for writers who want the real version of author life, where half the battle is craft, the other half is marketing, and somewhere in the middle you start wondering whether your best idea this week is a noir remake of Encyclopedia Brown. David Gaughrin Link ⁠https://davidgaughran.com/best-promo-sites-books/⁠ Jerry Talks to AI about AI Searching ⁠https://jerryevanoff.com/aisearch⁠ Contact UsJerry EvanoffEmail: ⁠⁠jerry@jerryevanoff.com⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠https://jerryevanoff.com⁠⁠⁠⁠https://jerryevanoffauthor.substack.com/⁠⁠ Rich Kacy Email: ⁠⁠rich@richkacy.com⁠⁠ BlueSky: @RichKacy⁠⁠ https://richkacy.substack.com/⁠⁠ Tags writing podcast self-publishing indie author book marketing Substack Perry Mason mystery writing plotting novels character development Amazon ads BookBub author life book promotion fan fiction

    1h 9m

  6. Apr 24

    Episode 352 - A+ Content, AI Tools, and Other Ways Writers Make Life Harder

    This week, Jerry kicks things off on NFL Draft night in full Browns gear, ready to podcast, watch the draft, and somehow still pretend he’s focused. Rich opens with a writer personality quiz that includes Middlemarch, fountain pens, complicated mothers, and being from Ohio “in a very sad way,” which is honestly a strong start for two guys who then spend the next hour proving they absolutely do have writer personalities, even if one of them expresses it through obsessive to-do lists and the other through book donations and train videos. On the writing and publishing front, Jerry has one of those weeks where he somehow does everything except actual drafting. He gets Book 2 and Book 3 preorders moving, updates front and back matter, builds out Seven Four Press, launches the new website, orders ISBNs, sets up a PO box, wrangles BookFunnel and Draft2Digital, works through MailerLite automation emails, and dives into A+ content for Amazon without paying somebody the GDP of a small nation to do it for him. There is also a nice little subplot where jury duty hangs over all of this for two weeks and then never actually happens, which feels like the legal system trolling him for sport. Jerry also starts shifting his focus toward Book 3 in a smarter way this time around, building a chapter-by-chapter plot summary and character document before charging ahead, because apparently learning from previous pain is allowed. He talks about using NotebookLM to pull summaries and character information from the draft, then feeding all of that into his own writing app while he actively updates the app itself. So yes, he is using production data to test a writing tool while building a novel outline for the next book. Very calm. Very stable. Very programmer. Rich has a quieter but still productive week. He gets more editing done, keeps using 11 Labs to have chapters read back, talks about why it helps him hear clunky phrasing, and shares a couple of Substack rabbit holes on discoverability, AI behavior, and the increasingly weird future of writing and publishing. He also rebuilds a wood planer, survives library chaos, gets distracted by mystery book donations, and continues proving that writers will absolutely find seventeen side quests before sitting down to work on chapter twenty-two. There’s also golf, lawnmowers, estate paperwork, battery-powered adult purchases, and the ongoing reminder that writing books is somehow only a fraction of what authors actually do. This episode is a good one for anyone trying to balance writing, self-publishing, tech tools, marketing, and real life without setting fire to the whole schedule. Or at least without setting fire to it twice. Contact UsJerry EvanoffEmail: ⁠jerry@jerryevanoff.com⁠Website: ⁠https://jerryevanoff.com⁠⁠https://jerryevanoffauthor.substack.com/⁠ Rich KacyEmail: ⁠rich@richkacy.com⁠BlueSky: @RichKacy⁠https://richkacy.substack.com/⁠ Tagswriting podcastself-publishingindie authorbook marketingA plus contentMailerLiteBookFunnelDraft2DigitalNotebookLM11 LabsSeven Four PressNFL Draftauthor productivitywriting toolsmystery writing

    1h 11m

  7. Apr 16

    Episode 351 - Action Beats, Deadlines, and Other Ways Writers Torture Themselves

    This week, Jerry and Rich return under storm clouds, weak internet, and the comforting glow of Jerry trying to watch The A-Team while podcasting like the professional he absolutely claims to be. Rich opens with the joy of spending two hours on the phone with Bank of America while dealing with his mother’s estate, which sounds exactly as fun as you’d imagine. Jerry counters by explaining that he is currently trying to release a novella, prep a novel, set up a preorder for another novel, avoid jury duty, work a full-time job, play golf, and launch a publishing company at the same time. So, naturally, everything is going great. Jerry talks through finishing Book 1.5, expanding it with the first chapter of Book 2, and discovering that his writers club and editor were absolutely right about one thing: he uses “looked,” “glanced,” “smiled,” and other action beats like they’re being handed out for free. That leads into a funny but useful discussion about overwriting dialogue beats, how writers lean on visual tics when the scene already does the work, and how to fix that without turning every conversation into two floating heads in a void. So if you’ve ever had an editor politely tell you that your characters spend too much time looking at each other, congratulations, you are among friends here. There’s also a whole pile of indie publishing talk in this one. Jerry gets deeper into Seven Four Press, buys ISBNs, wrestles with Atticus formatting, builds out front and back matter, sets up BookFunnel delivery, works on a MailerLite automation sequence, and realizes Amazon still makes certain things harder than they need to be because apparently that is part of the author experience package. He also builds fake newspaper articles for Book 2, hides Easter eggs for future books, and gets caught by Rich after accidentally uploading a version with a blank Chapter 38. Which is not ideal for a murder mystery unless the killer was white space. Rich brings his own writer-life chaos to the table too. He gets some editing done, tests 11 Labs for read-aloud revisions, realizes his chapter one needs real work, gets distracted by train cams, buys enough canned fish to alarm coworkers, immediately undercuts the health kick with cookies, and somehow still makes progress. There’s also book club fallout from Dean Koontz, note-taking experiments in Obsidian, cucumber planting, and the ongoing mystery of how either of these guys ever finish a manuscript while constantly inventing new side quests. Contact UsJerry EvanoffEmail: ⁠jerry@jerryevanoff.com⁠Website: ⁠https://jerryevanoff.com⁠⁠https://jerryevanoffauthor.substack.com/⁠ Rich KacyEmail: ⁠rich@richkacy.com⁠BlueSky: @RichKacy⁠https://richkacy.substack.com/⁠

    1h 18m

  8. Apr 9

    Episode 350 - Find a Girl Scout and Roll Her for her Cookies

    In this episode, Jerry somehow turns one busy release week into six separate side quests. He finishes revisions on Book 2, gets the covers in, pushes the release back two weeks, works through the final pass on Book 1.5, discovers his big TV has died after only 18 months, survives a rough Columbus sports weekend, and then casually drops the kind of news that probably should have come with its own dramatic sting: he’s starting a publishing company. Because apparently editing one book, prepping another, and juggling release details was not enough chaos for one human being. There’s a lot here for writers. Jerry talks through the final cleanup on Book 2, what his editor caught, why complicated plots always come back to collect their debt, how he handled the last round of notes, and why he decided not to rush the release. He also gets into covers, formatting in Atticus, ISBNs, LLC setup, EINs, and the early nuts-and-bolts thinking behind building a small press that could eventually publish other authors. So yes, this episode includes actual useful indie publishing talk right alongside “my television died” and “I may have jury duty.” Which is, honestly, pretty on-brand for this podcast. Rich, meanwhile, contributes the steady wisdom of a man who got zero editing done, read a Dean Koontz novel that betrayed him halfway through, wrote some poetry for a workplace challenge that apparently leads straight into a desk drawer never to be seen again, and spent most of his week wrestling a greenhouse roof instead of a manuscript. It’s not exactly a productivity masterclass, but it is a strong reminder that writers are still people, and sometimes life kicks the writing plan in the teeth and then hands you a sonnet prompt. They also talk about Raymond Chandler, noir narration, book club reactions, reading taste, and the kind of voice that can make an old crime novel feel like a smoke-filled movie in your head. So this one lands in a sweet spot between practical publishing talk and two writers busting each other’s chops while trying to hold their projects together with caffeine, stubbornness, and whatever scraps of free time they can steal. Contact Us Jerry Evanoff Email: jerry@jerryevanoff.com Website: https://jerryevanoff.com https://jerryevanoffauthor.substack.com/ Rich Kacy Email: rich@richkacy.com BlueSky: @RichKacy https://richkacy.substack.com/

    57 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

First time authors Jerry Evanoff and Rich Kacy take you through their writing, publishing and marketing strategies. You'll get to hear every success and every mistake along the way.

Information

  • Creator
    Jerry Evanoff
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    330
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Jerry Evanoff
  • Show Website
    New Author Podcast

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