Book Marketing Tips and Author Success Podcast

Author Marketing Experts
  • 4.8 (106)
  • Books
  • Updated Weekly

Book marketing podcast for authors covering how to market a book, self-publishing, Amazon for authors, proven strategies to sell more books, and how to survive in this industry. Join bestselling author and book marketing maven Penny Sansevieri and savvy publishing insider Amy Cornell for lively, no-nonsense conversations filled with smart strategies, creative inspiration, and publishing know-how you can actually use. Whether you’re self-published, traditionally published, or somewhere in between, this podcast delivers real-world advice to help you sell more books, build your platform, and thrive in the ever-evolving publishing landscape. From clever promo hacks to critical industry insights, each episode is designed to move the needle on your success. Fresh ideas. Actionable tips. Unfiltered talk. If you’re serious about your author career, hit subscribe and tune in—your next big breakthrough could be one episode away.

  1. 1d ago

    20,000 Views. Three Book Sales. Here’s What Went Wrong.

    Imagine spending $44,000 on a book launch and selling three books. Or generating 20,000 views and walking away with three preorders. Those aren’t hypothetical numbers—and they expose one of the biggest problems in book marketing right now: attention is not the same thing as buyer intent. Authors are constantly told they need more visibility, more followers, more views, more reach, more buzz. But what happens when all of those numbers go up…and book sales don’t? In this episode, we’re unpacking some eye-opening book launch stories and looking at what went wrong—not to pile on the authors involved, but because there are lessons here that every author needs to understand. We talk about why a massive audience can still be the wrong audience, why follower counts and video views can create a very expensive illusion of success, and why even traditionally published authors can get caught assuming that a big platform, a major publisher, or an expensive marketing campaign will automatically create demand. Because visibility only works when there’s a clear bridge between who is seeing your book and why they should care about it. We’ll dig into: Why reach without reader alignment rarely convertsThe difference between an audience and an actual book-buying audienceWhy launch month is far too late to start building reader interestWhat authors should really be asking when a marketing company promises impressive numbersThe reality of influencer campaigns—and when those big view counts actually matterWhy positioning, messaging, and reader relevance need to come before amplificationHow podcast guesting can create stronger, higher-trust visibility when the audience fit is rightAnd perhaps most importantly, we talk about the question authors should be asking before spending another dollar on marketing: Will this put my book in front of more people—or more of the right people? Because you can go viral. You can rack up thousands of views. You can have an enormous following. And you can still sell three books. If you’re ready to stop chasing impressive-looking numbers and start focusing on the marketing that actually gives readers a reason to buy, this episode is for you. Send us your feedback! Order Penny's latest book, Think Local Sell Global and start building a book sales strategy you have more control over! 📱 Text Penny & Amy: Send your marketing questions, show feedback, and episode ideas. Text PODCAST to (888) 402-8940 to join and get new episode alerts. Save our number! ⭐ Enjoying the show? Please follow the podcast and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your reviews help more authors discover the show! 💬 Don't use Apple Podcasts or Spotify? Email your review to info@amarketingexpert.com and we'll feature it on our website.

  2. Aug 28

    Bookstore Events Have Changed: What Authors Need to Know

    Are Barnes & Noble author events going away? Not exactly. But the days of walking into a bookstore, asking for a signing, and expecting the store to supply the audience are rapidly disappearing—and that may actually be good news for authors who know how to create a compelling event. In this episode, we unpack what’s really happening with Barnes & Noble events and the much bigger shift taking place in bookstore marketing. Because bookstores still want authors. They still want events. What they increasingly don’t want is a table, a stack of books, and an author waiting for random shoppers to stop by. The question authors need to answer has changed from “Will you host me?” to “Why will people come?” And that distinction matters. We talk about why bookstores need authors to approach events as business partnerships rather than free promotional opportunities, what makes an event worth putting on the calendar, and why the traditional solo signing is often one of the weakest formats you can pitch. Then we get into what does work. For fiction authors, that might mean creating a multi-author genre night, themed reader event, or conversation that gives fans more than one reason to attend. For nonfiction authors, it could be a workshop, panel, demonstration, or locally relevant discussion tied to an issue your community already cares about. We also break down what belongs in a strong Barnes & Noble event pitch—including the piece far too many authors leave out: your plan for getting people there. That means local media, community calendars, book clubs, organizations, newsletters, social promotion, partnerships, and the local relationships you’ve already started building. And if Barnes & Noble isn’t saying yes yet? We explain why libraries, indie bookstores, book clubs, community organizations, and smaller venues can become the proof that makes the next bookstore much more willing to take a chance on you. Because local book marketing compounds. One successful event can lead to another. Booksellers talk. Librarians talk. Communities remember authors who show up prepared, promote professionally, and bring something worthwhile to the room. If bookstore events are part of your marketing plan, this episode will help you stop thinking like an author asking for space—and start thinking like an event partner a bookstore actually wants to work with. If you find this episode useful, subscribe, share it with an author who’s trying to land more bookstore events, and leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Send us your feedback! Order Penny's latest book, Think Local Sell Global and start building a book sales strategy you have more control over! 📱 Text Penny & Amy: Send your marketing questions, show feedback, and episode ideas. Text PODCAST to (888) 402-8940 to join and get new episode alerts. Save our number! ⭐ Enjoying the show? Please follow the podcast and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your reviews help more authors discover the show! 💬 Don't use Apple Podcasts or Spotify? Email your review to info@amarketingexpert.com and we'll feature it on our website.

  3. Aug 21

    What’s In, What’s Out: The Book Marketing Edition

    Every so often, book marketing needs a good cleanout. So in this episode, we’re doing our own book marketing “In & Out” list—the strategies, habits, and author expectations we’re happily carrying forward, and the ones we think need to be shown the door. And yes, we have opinions. Out: stuffing keywords everywhere they’ll fit. Trying to show up on every social media platform because someone told you that you “have to.” Obsessing over follower counts that look impressive but don’t necessarily sell books. Treating launch week like your one and only shot at success. And spending money on flashy marketing assets simply because they look like marketing. In: reader-first copy that actually sounds human. Clear book positioning. Choosing marketing channels based on where your readers are—not where everyone else is shouting the loudest. Building reviews, visibility, and word of mouth over time. Growing a newsletter and reader base you can bring with you from book to book. And making smarter decisions about where your time, energy, and budget will actually have an impact. We also tackle one of the biggest author-marketing myths: that more is always better. More posting. More platforms. More tactics. More noise. It isn’t. The goal isn’t to do everything. It’s to know which things matter for your book, your readers, and where you are in your publishing journey. We’ll also talk about why long-tail marketing deserves a permanent spot on the “in” list, why reader retention may matter more than chasing a one-week bestseller spike, and why simple, authentic author video can often do more for reader connection than an expensive book trailer. Consider this your permission slip to keep what works, ditch what doesn’t, and stop feeling guilty about all the marketing tactics you were never going to enjoy doing anyway. If the episode helps, subscribe, share it with an author friend, and leave us a review so more writers can find practical book marketing advice that actually fits the way readers discover and buy books today. Send us your feedback! Order Penny's latest book, Think Local Sell Global and start building a book sales strategy you have more control over! 📱 Text Penny & Amy: Send your marketing questions, show feedback, and episode ideas. Text PODCAST to (888) 402-8940 to join and get new episode alerts. Save our number! ⭐ Enjoying the show? Please follow the podcast and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your reviews help more authors discover the show! 💬 Don't use Apple Podcasts or Spotify? Email your review to info@amarketingexpert.com and we'll feature it on our website.

  4. Aug 14

    Why Authors Avoid Marketing—and What’s Really Keeping You Stuck

    If you’ve ever put off your book marketing, disappeared down another research rabbit hole, or told yourself you’ll get serious about promotion after the next book is finished, this episode is for you. And no, we’re not here to call authors lazy. Because what looks like laziness is often something else entirely: overwhelm, uncertainty, perfectionism, fear of making the wrong decision, or simply not knowing what to tackle first. Book marketing has a lot of moving parts, and when everything feels important, it’s surprisingly easy to do nothing—or keep doing the comfortable things while avoiding the decisions that would actually move the needle. We start with one of the biggest examples: authors who describe their target audience as “women,” “people who like to read,” or, our personal favorite, “everyone.” It may feel safer to cast a wide net, but vague reader targeting creates problems everywhere else. Your audience influences your Amazon categories, keywords, book description, positioning, retail presentation, publicity opportunities, and ultimately whether the right reader recognizes that your book is meant for them. Specificity doesn’t shrink your market. It gives your marketing somewhere to go. We also dig into the behaviors that keep authors caught in what we call the marketing spin cycle: endless preparation, waiting to feel motivated, putting off uncomfortable tasks, worrying so much about wasting money that you wind up doing nothing at all, and convincing yourself that one more book—or one magical marketing tactic—is going to solve the problem. And sometimes the smartest investment isn’t paying someone to do more tasks. It’s paying for perspective, clarity, and expertise that helps you make better decisions in the first place. We’ll also share a lesson from our own recent pre-order campaign about why genuinely useful reader value can outperform another piece of swag—and why paying attention to what your audience actually wants matters far more than simply doing what everyone else is doing. If your book marketing has stalled, this episode isn’t about making you feel guilty. It’s about figuring out what’s underneath the avoidance, simplifying the decisions in front of you, and getting back to the kind of consistent, intentional action that actually builds visibility, reviews, and book sales. Subscribe so you don’t miss future book marketing tips, share this episode with an author who may be feeling stuck, and leave us a review wherever you listen so more authors can find the show. Send us your feedback! Order Penny's latest book, Think Local Sell Global and start building a book sales strategy you have more control over! 📱 Text Penny & Amy: Send your marketing questions, show feedback, and episode ideas. Text PODCAST to (888) 402-8940 to join and get new episode alerts. Save our number! ⭐ Enjoying the show? Please follow the podcast and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your reviews help more authors discover the show! 💬 Don't use Apple Podcasts or Spotify? Email your review to info@amarketingexpert.com and we'll feature it on our website.

  5. Aug 7

    What Bestselling Authors Know About Getting Readers to Click Buy

    Top authors are not successful simply because they write good books or have bigger marketing budgets. The strongest authors understand something many writers overlook: readers are constantly deciding whether a book feels worth their time, attention, and money—and those decisions often happen before the first page is ever read. In this episode, we unpack what top-performing authors understand about reader choice and how newer, midlist, and independent authors can apply those same lessons without trying to imitate a celebrity bestseller’s career. From Amazon and Goodreads to BookTok, newsletters, podcasts, social media, subscription platforms, and AI-powered recommendations, readers now discover books through more channels than ever. But the core question remains the same: when a reader sees your book alongside dozens of others, what makes them choose yours? We break down the practical signals successful authors use to build reader confidence. That includes clear genre positioning, covers that immediately communicate the right reading experience, compelling retail descriptions, consistent series branding, strong author presentation, and messaging that makes it easy for readers to understand exactly what they are getting. The most successful books are rarely confusing. They are clear about their audience, their promise, and the emotional or entertainment experience waiting inside. We also talk about the smartest way to study successful authors. Instead of comparing yourself only to household names with decades of visibility, legacy media coverage, and enormous reader bases, look for your true market neighbors: rising authors, successful midlist writers, and indie authors who are steadily gaining traction with readers now. Their categories, cover choices, series pages, pricing, descriptions, reviews, and reader conversations can reveal valuable clues about what is working in your genre today. You’ll learn why readers often need familiarity before they are willing to take a chance on originality, why clarity consistently outperforms cleverness on a retail page, and how professional, cohesive branding reduces the perceived risk of trying a new author. Readers are not only choosing where to spend their money. They are choosing where to spend their time. The takeaway is not that you need to become a copy of a top author. It is that you need to understand the reader-confidence strategies top authors use so you can make better decisions about how your own book is positioned, presented, and marketed. Send us your feedback! Order Penny's latest book, Think Local Sell Global and start building a book sales strategy you have more control over! 📱 Text Penny & Amy: Send your marketing questions, show feedback, and episode ideas. Text PODCAST to (888) 402-8940 to join and get new episode alerts. Save our number! ⭐ Enjoying the show? Please follow the podcast and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your reviews help more authors discover the show! 💬 Don't use Apple Podcasts or Spotify? Email your review to info@amarketingexpert.com and we'll feature it on our website.

  6. Jul 31

    The Amazon AI Search Update That Could Change Your Book Sales

    Amazon is changing how readers discover books, and authors who understand the shift now will be in a much stronger position than those who wait for the results to become obvious. Search is becoming more conversational, recommendations are becoming more context-driven, and AI is increasingly influencing how books are matched with reader interests, moods, questions, needs, and expectations. In this episode, we break down what those broader AI changes mean for your Amazon presence and why the old approach to retail copy is no longer enough. A book description cannot simply sound polished. Your subtitle cannot rely on vague promises. Your categories, keywords, author bio, and book-page messaging all need to work together to clearly communicate what your book is, who it is for, and why the right reader should choose it. We talk through the biggest mistakes authors still make on Amazon, including generic descriptions, keyword stuffing, unclear genre signals, overly salesy subtitles, and back-cover copy that never tells readers what kind of experience they are actually buying. You will hear practical ways to strengthen your book’s positioning, clarify its themes and reader promise, and make your retail page more useful for both human readers and AI-driven discovery tools. We also look at the overlooked areas that can either support or weaken visibility, including your Author Central bio, the per-title “About the Author” section, and the language you use to describe your audience. As Amazon search becomes more intelligent, the authors who win will be the ones who make it easy for the platform to understand their books—and easy for readers to recognize that they have found exactly what they were looking for. Subscribe, share this episode with an author friend, and leave a review to help more writers find the show. Send us your feedback! Order Penny's latest book, Think Local Sell Global and start building a book sales strategy you have more control over! 📱 Text Penny & Amy: Send your marketing questions, show feedback, and episode ideas. Text PODCAST to (888) 402-8940 to join and get new episode alerts. Save our number! ⭐ Enjoying the show? Please follow the podcast and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your reviews help more authors discover the show! 💬 Don't use Apple Podcasts or Spotify? Email your review to info@amarketingexpert.com and we'll feature it on our website.

  7. Jul 24

    Should You Sell Books Direct? The Truth About Leaving Amazon Behind

    Selling direct to readers can sound like the ultimate author-business upgrade: higher royalties, faster payouts, more control, and a customer list you actually own. But is it the right move for your book right now? In this episode, we unpack the real tradeoffs behind selling books from your own website—and why launching a direct-sales store before you have the audience, systems, or offers to support it can become an expensive distraction. Amazon may take a bigger cut, but it also delivers something many authors underestimate: reader trust, familiar checkout, Prime shipping expectations, and an enormous built-in shopping habit. We break down what direct sales actually require behind the scenes, from inventory, shipping, sales tax, customer service, refunds, and fulfillment to the not-so-small challenge of convincing a reader to pay shipping when Amazon has trained them to expect it fast and free. Then we get into the more important question: when does selling direct make sense? You’ll hear what successful direct-selling authors tend to have in place first, why your email list is the real engine behind direct revenue, and which offers give readers a reason to buy from you instead of defaulting to Amazon—think signed books, exclusive editions, bundles, bonuses, and companion products. We also answer a listener question about beta reader feedback: what you can ethically use, what should stay private, and how to turn powerful reader comments into marketing assets across your Amazon page, website, email newsletter, and social media. Before you build a store, make sure you understand what will actually move the needle. Listen now, subscribe for more practical book marketing guidance, and share this episode with an author who is wondering whether direct sales are worth the effort. Send us your feedback! Order Penny's latest book, Think Local Sell Global and start building a book sales strategy you have more control over! 📱 Text Penny & Amy: Send your marketing questions, show feedback, and episode ideas. Text PODCAST to (888) 402-8940 to join and get new episode alerts. Save our number! ⭐ Enjoying the show? Please follow the podcast and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your reviews help more authors discover the show! 💬 Don't use Apple Podcasts or Spotify? Email your review to info@amarketingexpert.com and we'll feature it on our website.

  8. Jul 17

    Paid Author Newsletters: Smart New Income Stream or Expensive Distraction?

    Could your author newsletter become a new income stream—or will charging readers create more work than revenue? Paid newsletters are everywhere right now, especially with platforms like Substack making it look easy to turn emails into monthly income. But for authors, the question is not whether someone is making money with a paid newsletter. It is whether your readers have a compelling reason to pay for yours. In this episode, we break down what actually works: the types of exclusive content readers may value, why a strong mission or niche can matter more than a large subscriber count, and how expert curation, analysis, behind-the-scenes access, or special offers can help a paid tier feel worthwhile. We also get honest about the parts no one likes to talk about: the ongoing content demands, the pressure to keep subscribers engaged every single month, and the conversion math that can quickly change the revenue picture. With free-to-paid conversion rates often landing around 3%, authors need to understand what it really takes to make this model profitable before building an entirely new content machine. You’ll also hear why your free newsletter should remain the foundation of your reader relationship, even if you decide to test a paid option—and what to consider before moving your audience to Substack or another platform that could pull attention away from your website, SEO, and broader author brand. Plus, we answer a listener question about book relaunches: when a relaunch makes sense, what separates it from simply “always promoting,” and how to use new momentum—like an award win, fresh positioning, or an updated edition—to give a book another real shot at visibility. Before you put your newsletter behind a paywall, listen to this episode. It could save you time, help you protect your reader relationship, and give you a clearer path to building income that actually supports your author career. Send us your feedback! Order Penny's latest book, Think Local Sell Global and start building a book sales strategy you have more control over! 📱 Text Penny & Amy: Send your marketing questions, show feedback, and episode ideas. Text PODCAST to (888) 402-8940 to join and get new episode alerts. Save our number! ⭐ Enjoying the show? Please follow the podcast and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your reviews help more authors discover the show! 💬 Don't use Apple Podcasts or Spotify? Email your review to info@amarketingexpert.com and we'll feature it on our website.

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About

Book marketing podcast for authors covering how to market a book, self-publishing, Amazon for authors, proven strategies to sell more books, and how to survive in this industry. Join bestselling author and book marketing maven Penny Sansevieri and savvy publishing insider Amy Cornell for lively, no-nonsense conversations filled with smart strategies, creative inspiration, and publishing know-how you can actually use. Whether you’re self-published, traditionally published, or somewhere in between, this podcast delivers real-world advice to help you sell more books, build your platform, and thrive in the ever-evolving publishing landscape. From clever promo hacks to critical industry insights, each episode is designed to move the needle on your success. Fresh ideas. Actionable tips. Unfiltered talk. If you’re serious about your author career, hit subscribe and tune in—your next big breakthrough could be one episode away.

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