Sitemap - 2024 - The Author Stack
How partnerships change over time (and why we've been thinking about them all wrong)
11 steps to supercharging your writing career with our Author Stack framework
My wildest business chart yet?
How to be a more productive writer
Your first sale probably won't (and shouldn't) be your membership
[TIAFC 2024] 1 - Homepage experience
[TIAFC 2024] 5 - Prelaunch/Preview approval
Advanced Growth Tactics for Authors audiobook
How many unsubscribes should you expect
How many backers can you expect to return to your next campaign
The postcard trick when packing books
What to expect for your next campaign
When is your campaign considered over
How to deliver early bird, weekly perks, and your other rewards
How to spin bad news to your advantage
Bundling less popular titles to increase campaign value
How to debrief after a campaign
1 - Homepage Walkthrough (2024 TIAFC UPDATE)
2 - Basics (2024 TIAFC UPDATE)
3 - Rewards (2024 TIAFC UPDATE)
5 - Prelaunch/Preview approval (2024 TIAFC UPDATE)
DS1- Basics section (Russell's Dragon Strife campaign)
DS2 - Rewards (Russell's Dragon Strife campaign)
DS3 - Video analysis (Russell's Dragon Strife campaign))
DS4 - Writing Reward Descriptions (Russell's Dragon Strife campaign)
DS5 - Designing your Reward Tiers (Russell's Dragon Strife campaign)
DS6 - Explaining Premium Rewards (Russell's Dragon Strife campaign)
DS7 - Story (Russell's Dragon Strife campaign)
VC1 - Setting Up the Basics (Russell's Audio Drama Campaign)
VC2 - Building a Campaign Page (Russell's Audio Drama Campaign)
VC3 - Final Walkthrough (Russell's Audio Drama Campaign)
VC4 - Final Checks (Russell's Audio Drama Campaign)
VC5 - Behind the Scenes of the Backend of the Campaign (Russell's Audio Drama Campaign)
Russell's $40,000 Cthulhu is Hard to Spell walkthrough
Author Kickstarter launch checklist
Craig Price campaign breakdown
Balancing unsubscribes with new subscribers
How to use, reuse, and repurpose your launch content
How to change a reward once somebody backs
How many unsubscribes can you expect?
Russell's exact prelaunch and launch email sequence
How many prelaunch backers should you aim for?
Why is your campaign getting rejected?
Building less popular titles to increase campaign value
Building a stack for super premium rewards
Generating a good Kickstarter URL
Preview vs prelaunch page and how to find each
Why and how to justify premium pricing
Zombie cats campaign breakdown
How to use Kickstarter to land a publishing deal
How to Create a Killer Novel Kickstarter campaign
What to do when a campaign dies
Eileen Mueller campaign breakdown
Kimberly Gordon paralysis analysis
Joanna Penn Campaign breakdown
Jennifer Probst campaign breakdown
Simple perfect sales page walkthrough
Should I use Kickstarter surveys or Backerkit?
Cool marketing and cross promotion that can vastly increase your reach
How to change the direction of your Kickstarter messaging
Building a Backerkit walkthrough
What If You Do EVERYTHING and It Still Doesn't Work?
Will Kickstarter work for my project
Setting up successful products on your web store
The best way to figure out your messaging
FINAL Godsverse Chronicles Sales page and funnel design walkthrough + TEMPLATE!!!!!
Non-fiction pay-what-you-want offer walkthrough
Rinse and repeat - This is when it becomes fun!
Mailing list sequence offer design when you have multiple series
Making a sales page from a Kickstarter page through Flodesk
Setting up a pay what you want offer using Thrivecart, Bookfunnel, and Optimizepress
Setting up funnel upsells and downsells in Thrivecart
Making an offer from an email sequence
Setting up an OptimizePress sales page using messaging from a social post
The Social Media Secret Every Author Needs To Sell More Books
How to trick yourself into moving forward as a creator
How to Build a World Class Substack
How to Have a Successful Book Event
Creative Growth Strategies for a Sustainable Business
The problem circling sustainable productivity (that nobody's talking about)
The five time-tested adoption decisions
Fleabag Writes a Domestic Thriller
Secrets of Substack Bestsellers
4 - How to find the perfect model for your business
1 - Getting your mindset right
2 - What is an ideal customer avatar
3 - How to find your ideal customer avatar
6 - The magic relationship between customer and product
7 - How to survey your audience to find the perfect product for them
9 - Buying triggers and key decision points
11 - How to build out your funnel
12 - The psychology behind our email sequence
14 - How to cull an email list
13 - Constructing our funnel in Mailchimp
15 - Spokes in your promotional wheel
16 - Using social media effectively
17 - How to make content marketing work for you
18 - How to explode your audience with cross promotion
19 - The key to paid advertising
Author Nation understood the assignment
I made a weird goal this year...
10 Reasons Why Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) Is Essential for Every Writer
The publishing industry is broken, but it doesn't have to break us
Bouncing back: The defining feature of successful creators
Debrief of our $13,551 "12 Concepts for Authors to Make $8333/Month (6-Figures/Year)" campaign
Wannabe Press Income Report - Q3 - 2024
The growth-to-monetization parallel for writers
You build the structure for your next launch during your current launch
Are you running a low touchpoint or high touchpoint subscription?
Yes, writing a great book people read is marketing, too
Unlock Your Writing Freedom: Why Reedsy Studio is Your Secret Weapon
The. Only. Good. Marketing. Is. The. Marketing. You. Do.
Always sell the transformation
Platform, audience, and assets
Down and dirty character tricks
Find brand clarity & direction with a moodboard
Be interesting enough for long enough around enough people
"How do I market myself without feeling gross about it?"
Debrief of our $3,972 Bulletins at the End of the World Kickstarter campaign
It’s a good time to be a ghost(writer)
What's new on Kickstarter since Get Your Book Selling on Kickstarter came out
Debrief of the $18,348 How to Build a World Class Substack Kickstarter campaign
I know my Author Ecosystem. Why do I even care and what do I do now?
Prioritizing your business using a modified Eisenhower Matrix
How to supercharge your writing career with Kickstarter
Substack x Publishing 2024 virtual summit debrief
Most of your best readers haven't even been born yet
Outward success, inward turbulence
How to form strong strategic partnerships in publishing
The era of rapid trend cycles in publishing
Tana French's In The Woods and the allure of damaged characters
How to increase new subscribers by refreshing your publication
Wannabe Press Income Report - Q2 - 2024
Following along with the How to Build a World Class Substack campaign (part 1)
Following along with the How to Build a World Class Substack campaign (part 2)
Mastering the art of attention as a writer
The great Medium vs. Substack debate
Fling people past you as far and as often as possible.
The new Super Nintendo World at Universal Hollywood is peak late-stage capitalism
If a tree falls in your front yard...
[DIGEST] Not goodbye, just smell you later.
Time is a Flat Circle - Episode 1
Time is a Flat Circle - Episode 2
Time is a Flat Circle - Episode 3
Time is a Flat Circle - Episode 4
Time is a Flat Circle - Episode 5
Time is a Flat Circle - Episode 6
Time is a Flat Circle - Episode 7
Episode 6 - SLO and low; that is the tempo...for growing your direct sales, yo!
Ditch the Circus Act: Automate Your Indie Author Life (and Get Back to Writing!)
How each Author Ecosystem thinks about and uses trends
[DIGEST] "What if somebody steals my work?"
Episode 5 - I like big book launches, and I cannot lie.
Creating a sustainable Substack content plan that doesn’t take up a ton of time
[DIGEST] Success = intention + time
How to network at a conference
Episode 4 - WTF is “promo stacking” and why do we care? with Mike Hourigan from Written Word Media
Fighting the Green-Eyed Monster
Wannabe Press Income Report - Q1 - 2024
The Revenge Trope: Tightening the Ties that Bind in John Wick
Writer MBA 2024 virtual summit debrief
How Wannabe Press is structured
[DIGEST] Feeding people poisonous ice cream is prolly a bad business decision...
Episode 3 - A spicy Kickstarter launch with NYT bestselling author Melissa Storm
The NSFW Framework to Help You Market Your Book Better
WTF happened in the last two weeks...
Episode 2 - How Russell caused the Apocalypse
Building a team using Author Ecosystems
[DIGEST] The four main stages of Substack growth...
Episode 1 - A dumb, possibly brilliant idea
Intuitive brand strategy for writers
How to comp subscribers from your previous newsletter to your Substack publication
I have things to say about how creators talk about NSFW books
Death's Kiss $26,604 Kickstarter debrief
How to compile your blog into a book
Year 2 on Substack: Writing consistently without burning out (part 2)
Objectively good and subjectively your jam...
Beyond Bestsellers: Yes, People Still Buy Books
Year 2 on Substack: Creating Sustainable Growth (part 1)
How to build a sustainable and profitable subscription into your author business
[DIGEST] If all else fails, you are not a failure...
How I used Kickstarter to right the ship after a disastrous book launch
Selling one million books with international bestselling author Jodi Taylor
Notes on Cal Newport's Slow Productivity
Creating Accessible Content: Don’t Miss Out on Connecting with Your Audience
The evolution path of each Author Ecosystem
I’m a year 41 human and a year 23(ish) writer
[DIGEST] Do Substack economics work for most writers?
How I Accidentally Published an Activity Book For Kids
Hold tight to your golden thread
Are you finding arbitrage or building arbitrage?
[DIGEST] Will you do it, though?
The domestic maid trope in The Housemaid
How to build an email sequence for a book launch
[DIGEST] Walking through hummus...
How can we survive and thrive in the new media landscape?
Birthing a Substack and giving it life with doula Nikko Kennedy
Short circuiting the Substack burnout cycle
[DIGEST] Pure, unadulterated joy
Empower vulnerability with your audience
What I Would Tell My Younger Self
How to get over your sales phobia
[DIGEST] The Future of Publishing...
Writing Books for Netflix, Disney, Lucasfilm, and More
Why I'm Kickstarting my new book
Website sales for every Author Ecosystem
The things you cannot influence
“My Name Is Satya And I Am A Substackaholic.”
Memoirs have tropes?! Trope lessons from Maria Bamford's Sure, I'll Join Your Cult
What if you just want to write everything all the time?
[DIGEST] Gaslighting yourself...
How to quiet down your negative self-talk
Why (and how) I fell back in love with advertising
How to launch an $80,000 Kickstarter for a single issue comic
A technologist's perspective on whether AI will replace writers
How to build a basic, beautiful one page author website
[DIGEST] Wanna hear something wild?
Building a brand from the ground up
The Obsidian Spindle Saga: Complete portal fantasy series Kickstarter breakdown
Answering the need to tell your story
Kickstarter publishing category growth in seven charts
[DIGEST] Dog day afternoons...
How to write about trans people with respect
Subscriptions for each Author Ecosystem
Exposing Yourself For Fun and Profit
[DIGEST] Would it be so bad if the world owed us something?
Growth, (online) engagement, and the diamond ring
Lessons in Chemistry: Crafting 2023's Most Popular Read
The bullseye method for growing an audience
Funnels and Flywheels: In-depth Marketing Strategies for Kid Lit authors, with Russell Nohelty
How (and why) to build a personal brand to keep your books selling
Wannabe Press year one operating budget
How I grew my Tiktok to 130,000+ #booktok readers before the release of my newest book
How to figure out what Substack actually paid you in Stripe
Advertising and unsubscribe rate update - mid January 2024
Kickstarter comics Projects analysis September 2020
Culling non-opens from your email list
Every way I ever found money for my business
What I learned from setting (and reaching) a big goal
I was the biggest failure I knew...
You are more than a cog in their machine
The only thing you can control
Some stats on building a platform
The average book sells how many units?
Why it's so important to test ads
Your body does not want you to succeed
Successful people fail better than you
Turn into the skid of your skill level
You can post more than you think, if you remember this one thing
What you do today is predictive of your sales six weeks from now
How to stack processes on top of each other to become more efficient
The one question that changed everything for me
The best investment I've ever made...
An example of a creative business's sales funnel
Understanding the customer journey
Stop treating the symptoms of your problem
Turning a negative into a positive
You don't have to hate yourself
Big audiences are built with advertising
An example of justifying a price increase
Balance, and why it's important
Getting people to share your work
A brief history of the fraught relationship between creators and tech
Why you should email your audience as much as you dang well please...
Selling isn't pushy when your content is pure gold with Russell Nohelty
How to set up a one-time tip on Substack
Scale your author business like a startup
How to Psych Yourself Up to Sell your Art
I had a Great Month, so How is my Bank Account Still Going Down!?
The Five Biggest Mistakes You Will Make Before Launching Your Business
“I Wish I Had Money to Do What You Do” or All the Times I should Have Given Up
THINGS I WISH I ONLY KNEW WHEN PLANNING MY CAREER
8 Ways I Keep Going Even on Days I’m Super Depressed
What does a giveaway look like
Setting up your Google form and Facebook group
What are social media boosters?
Advantages of using social media boosters
Building your viral giveaway in KingSumo
Picking a target and finding Amazon prizes
5 Secrets to Running a Group Giveaway
My general process for funding a kickstarter
10 Keys to Start Building your Social Media Presence TODAY!
What should you get out of this course?
Why you shouldn't abandon ads quickly
Two profitable Facebook ad strategies
Setting up a business manager account
Facebook pixel conversion events
How to create Facebook custom audiences and lookalike audiences
How to add emojis and bold text to ads
Where to find effective ad imagery
How to effectively use carousel ads
How to use video ads effectively
How to use carousel ads for testimonials or reviews
How to request a manual review
How to edit a Facebook ad without losing social proof
A test of square vs. rectangular ads
How to market using other people's content using genius links
Ad placements and how to use them
How to build a big audience from many small audiences
How to use suggestions and browse to help define your audience
How changing targets can affect ad costs - A case study
How to bring old audiences into a new Facebook business manager account
How the right targeting can cut your costs in half
Setting up ads for effective scaling
How to ban someone from your Facebook page
Incremental vs. sideways scaling
Why you should always be testing multiple ads
How to create landing pages that sell
How to use Similarweb to get competitive intelligence on your competitors
How much should you pay for your Facebook ads?
How I cut and test ads once ad costs start to rise
Why I don't wait for 500 impressions before killing an ad
Why knowing your break-even cost is critical for scaling
How to narrow down your theme...
How to use Google Keyword Planner to find your theme and title your anthology
Creating and monitoring your Facebook production group
Making the title, credit, special thanks, and foreword pages
Secret Kickstarter anthology strategy that grossed me $25,000 for Pixie Dust
How to create video and imagery for your campaign
Campaign text and buyer intent
Setting your campaign timeframe
Maintaining hype after your campaign
Anthology convention strategies
How To Create a Campaign People Want to Back
How to Build up Your Press Contacts
Grow Your Network, Get More Backers
The Marketing You Should Focus On
Getting Your Product into Backer Hands
Get Your Kickstarter Into Retail Stores
Are more people backing Kickstarters at the digital level now?
More data on why reviews are predictive of very little
Why I will start recommending 17-day Kickstarter campaigns (with swipeable email calendar)
Give(away) and you shall receive
So you want to make $50,000...
13 Reasons Why the I Can’t Stop Tooting Kickstarter Barely Funded
How to Create a Professional Sounding Podcast for Only $221.00
Final analysis: Mailing list builders in 2018
Sometimes you have to delete 15,000 people from your email list
Why pricing could make or break your business
Do mailing list builders work?
My teachable revenue for the last three years...
Why you shouldn't care when somebody unsubs from your mailing list
My first publishing contract...
Reviews, gaming the system, and fake popularity
12 lessons from launching four Kickstarters in a year
How Iron Circus used pricing to boost revenue
New here or need help? Here's how to navigate this publication.
Russell Nohelty's $50,000 home renovation
[DIGEST] I never asked for a whole new year...
Kick in the Creatives (creativity experts)
Kristine and Colin Poole (artists)
Mark Reichers (podcast producer)
Melissa Pagliuca (comic creator)
Michael Kingston (comic creator)
Ray-Anthony Haight (comic creator)
Paul Kilpatrick (publishing expert)
Sean Maclaughlan (author and publishing expert)
Shelly Bond and Kris Simon (editors)
Travis Vengroff and Kaitlin Statz (podcasters)
Jane Friedman (publishing expert)
Greg Anderson Elysée (comic creator)
Ella Barnard (publishing expert)
Chrishaun Keller-Hanna (author)
Ben Templesmith (comic creator)
Amira Valliani (podcasting expert)
Sebastian Jones (comic creator)
Desiree Duffy (publishing expert)
AG Billig (author and publishing expert)
Monica Leonelle (author and marketing expert)
Nicholas Doan and Gwen Dreyer (editors)
Hillery Pastovich (publishing expert)
Richard Starkings (comic creator)
Kirk McKnight (non-fiction author)
Angela Lauria (publishing expert)
One cannot be a great writer if one does not read.
Sheri Fink (children's book author)
Steve Stormoen (comic creator)
Madeleine Holly-Rosing (comic creator)
Colleen Dunn Bates (publisher)
Michael Tanner (comic creator)
Angela Fullard (comic creator)
John Dover (comic creator and musician)
Afif Ghannoum (entrepreneur and writer)
Barbra and Bryant Dillon (publishers)
Alex Echols (marketing specialist)
Jasmine Sandler (branding specialist)
Christine Hipp and Mom (comic creators)
Amanda Meadows and Geoffrey Golden (publishers)
31 Kickstarter tips to help crush your campaign goals
Live @ WFC - How to dominate on social media in less than one hour a week_mixdown
How to Create a Killer Kickstarter campaign
Live at Eaglecon - The Economics of Creative Work
Live @ DIASP - How to Crush it on Kickstarter
How NOT to screw up your Kickstarter
Live @ CACE - How to build a rabid fanbase
Live @ WYRD - How to build an audience from scratch
Live @ LBCC - Develop a pitch workshop
Live @ LBCC - How to sell at conventions with Mark Waid, Dean Haspiel, and Amy Reeder
Live @ LOSCON - When to hire an editor with Leslie Ann Moore and Deanna Brady
Live @ PSCC - The Writer's Journey with Justin Kirkman
Live @ PSCC - Kickstart the future with Madeleine Holly-Rosing and Melissa Kirkman
Live @ SCVCC- How to make a career as an artist with Gwendolyn Dreyer and Norm Harper
Live @ LBCC - Crush it on kickstarter
MFDKH Miniseason - Episode 1 - Two weeks out
MFDKH Miniseason - Episode 2 - One week out
MFDKH Miniseason - Episode 3 - Launch Day
MFDKH Miniseason - Episode 4 - 2 Days After Launch
MFDKH Miniseason - Episode 5 - Inner Demons and Outer Critics
MFDKH Miniseason - Episode 6 - 10 Days In
MFDKH Miniseason - Episode 7 - Vertical Delineation
MFDKH Miniseason - Episode 8 - Focusing on Things that Work
MFDKH Miniseason - Episode 9 - The Fatigue Sets In
MFDKH Miniseason - Episode 10 - Five Days Left
MFDKH Miniseason - Episode 11 - Wrap up
Limiting beliefs that prevent success
The biggest lie we tell ourselves
I'm having success, why am I so depressed
All product launches fill me with fear
Getting up when the chips are down
Why the Can't Stop Tooting Kickstarter didn’t go as well as we thought
What I learned from doing four Kickstarter in one year
How to market yourself for big cons
How to Send Query Letters Without Sounding Like a Crazy Person
Point of view is more important than raw talent
Why would anybody want to work with you?
How to market yourself at a con as an attendee
How to stop suffering abysmal con sales
Behind the 2016 SDCC revenue numbers
The two levers that control your business
Do you like girls that kick butt or psychological mindscrews
How to get the word out about your project
Seriously, Where Do You Want To Go?
How to create a professional sounding podcast for only $221.00
Should you abandon your project?
How to build an audience from scratch
1 - How to cull your ideas and where to start your story
3 -Three methods for building character relationships
4 - Creating main characters and villains
5 - Making ancillary characters
10 - Putting your structure into practice
11 - Making prose work for you
12 - Examples of writing prose
16 - Short stories and novellas
1 - It Takes a Long Time to Be Great
4 - Idea Switching and Deep Work
8 - The Hard Thing about Hard Things
Part II - Mastering your content calendar: A 2024 goal guide for writers and authors
Part I - Mastering your content calendar: A 2024 goal guide for writers and authors