Joanna Penn is an award-winning author, New York Times and USA Today bestseller, and host of The Creative Penn podcast. With experience spanning both fiction (under J.F. Penn) and non-fiction, Joanna has built a sustainable writing business over nearly two decades. After leaving her IT consultant career in 2011, she's created multiple income streams from her writing and writing-adjacent activities while publishing over 50 books. Her latest fiction release is "Death Valley," and she's currently working on the 4th edition of "Successful Self-Publishing."

In this episode:

• Joanna's journey from IT consultant to full-time author
• How her definition of success evolved over time
• Multiple income streams for both fiction and non-fiction authors
• Strategies for making a living with writing beyond just book sales
• The importance of building an email list from day one
• Her "50 books by 50" milestone and creating a body of work
• Discovery writing vs. plotting approaches
• Using AI tools to enhance creativity and productivity
• The "great splintering" of indie publishing business models
• Creating premium products like special editions for higher income

Resources mentioned:

• The Creative Penn Podcast
• Books and Travel Podcast
• Scrivener: https://scrivener.app/
• ProWritingAid: https://prowritingaid.com/
• Google Notebook LM: https://notebooklm.google/
• Midjourney: https://www.midjourney.com/
• ElevenLabs: https://elevenlabs.io/
• PickFu - https://www.pickfu.com/
• Patreon https://www.patreon.com/

Book Recommendations:

• "Successful Self-Publishing" (4th Edition coming soon): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F66QLTL9?&linkCode=ll1&tag=pubperf-20&linkId=400c65572fa1761b41f901ed6233057c&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
• "Death Valley" - Her latest thriller: https://jfpenn.com/deathvalley
• "How to Write a Novel" : https://www.amazon.com/dp/1915425093?&linkCode=ll1&tag=pubperf-20&linkId=400c65572fa1761b41f901ed6233057c&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

Connect with Joanna Penn:

• Fiction website: https://jfpenn.com/
• Non-fiction website: https://www.thecreativepenn.com/
• The Creative Penn Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-creative-penn-podcast-for-writers/id309426367
• Books and Travel Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/books-and-travel/id1454367912

Connect with Teddy Smith:

• @teddyagsmith
• Website: https://publishingperformance.com/?ref=ywm3mtc
• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/publishingperformance/
• Pinterest - https://nz.pinterest.com/publishingperformance/
• Instagram - https://instagram.com/publishingperformanceinsta
• Youtube -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHV6ltaUB4SULkU6JEMhFSw
• Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/publishing-performance/

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Aurora Winter is the founder of SamePage Publishing and author of "Turn Words into Wealth." With a background as a film and television executive producer and award-winning screenwriter, Aurora now helps entrepreneurs, experts, and business leaders leverage books to grow their businesses. Her "Spoken Author Method" helps clients create high-quality books faster by speaking their content, which is then polished by her team. Aurora focuses on strategic book creation that can generate a 10X return on investment through backend products, speaking opportunities, and premium client acquisition.

In this episode:

• Seven blueprints for creating seven-figure income from your book
• Using short books as lead magnets to test market demand
• Building a business beyond just book sales
• Developing a speaking career through strategic book positioning
• Creating premium client funnels through targeted books
• Importance of proper book testing before publication
• Effective book launch strategies for maximum impact
• Tips for becoming more charismatic as a speaker
• The importance of ongoing business improvement
• Benefits of independent publishing vs. traditional publishing

Resources mentioned:

• Turn Words into Wealth - Aurora's comprehensive book - https://turnwordsintowealth.com/
• Marketing Fast Track
• Publisher Rocket - https://publisherrocket.com/
• Klytics - https://k-lytics.com/
• PickFu.com - https://www.pickfu.com/
• BookCall.biz - https://bookcall.biz/

Book Recommendations:

• The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle - https://www.amazon.com/dp/055380684X?&linkCode=ll1&tag=pubperf-20&linkId=400c65572fa1761b41f901ed6233057c&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

Connect with Aurora Winter:

• Website: https://aurorawinter.com/
• Publishing company: https://samepagepublishing.com/
• Free ebooks: https://turnwordsintowealth.com/
• Book a call: https://bookcall.biz/

Connect with Teddy Smith:

• @teddyagsmith
• Website: https://publishingperformance.com/?ref=ywm3mtc
• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/publishingperformance/
• Pinterest - https://nz.pinterest.com/publishingperformance/
• Instagram - https://instagram.com/publishingperformanceinsta
• Youtube -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHV6ltaUB4SULkU6JEMhFSw
• Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/publishing-performance/

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I had the pleasure of hosting this special panel edition of The Publishing Performance Show, bringing together four brilliant publishing industry experts to discuss book launch strategies. The conversation covered everything from hard vs. soft launches to advertising strategies, review acquisition, and genre-specific approaches.

Our incredible panel featured:

Craig Martelle - A publishing veteran with over 200 books published who runs some of the largest indie conferences in the world. Craig shared his unique approach of soft-launching a 10-book series in just 9 months, selling a quarter million dollars worth of books with minimal marketing.

Dale L. Roberts - YouTube expert and author who specializes in Amazon ads and book marketing strategies.

Alexa Bigwarfe - USA Today bestselling author and founder of Write. Publish. Sell, who offered insights into both children's books and romance marketing.

Julie Broad - Amazon bestselling author and founder of Book Launchers, who specializes in non-fiction book marketing.

In this panel:

• Hard launches vs. soft launches and when to use each approach
• Pre-order strategies and series launch considerations
• Building and managing ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) teams
• Generating book reviews without giving away free copies
• Genre-specific launch strategies for fiction, non-fiction, and children's books
• Amazon ads vs. Facebook ads for different book types
• The importance of email lists over social media followers
• Traditional vs. indie publishing distribution considerations
• Common launch advice myths and misconceptions
• Current and upcoming book projects from each panelist

Resources Mentioned:

• Book Funnel: https://bookfunnel.com
• Story Origin: https://storyoriginapp.com
• Book Sprout: https://booksprout.co
• NetGalley: https://www.netgalley.com
• American Library Association: https://www.ala.org
• Written Word Media: https://www.writtenwordmedia.com
• Kirkus Reviews: https://www.kirkusreviews.com
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com
• Amazon KDP: https://kdp.amazon.com
• IngramSpark: https://www.ingramspark.com

Connect with our panelists:

• Craig Martelle: https://craigmartelle.com
• Dale L. Roberts: https://selfpublishingwithdale.com
• Alexa Bigwarfe: https://writepublishsell.co
• Julie Broad: https://booklaunchers.com

Connect with Teddy Smith:

• @teddyagsmith
• Website: https://publishingperformance.com/?ref=ywm3mtc
• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/publishingperformance/
• Pinterest - https://nz.pinterest.com/publishingperformance/
• Instagram - https://instagram.com/publishingperformanceinsta
• Youtube -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHV6ltaUB4SULkU6JEMhFSw
• Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/publishing-performance/

Support the show