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May 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Going Beyond the Written Word | Books & Beer

Jeffrey Powers runs Geekazine and a pile of other “azine” properties. He’s a videographer, interviewer, podcaster and content creator that’s found an interesting creative outlet in all things digital media. He’s got some great ideas that should-be authors would do well to adopt, and he shares them with us on this 15-minute episode of The Books & Beer Hangout.


And there was the obligatory drinking of beers. Tonight’s choices: Goose Island Summertime, a Stone Enjoy By IPA (5.17.13), and an Old Chub by Oskar Blues. Tasty!

The Books & Beer Hangout is broadcast as a Google+ Hangout on Air and on YouTube Live! Circle ePublish Unum on Google+ to watch live, and to join The Books & Beer Hangover right after the show to chat with hosts and participants live!

Can’t see the video embedded above? Download the video or watch it on YouTube.

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April 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Survival Tactics for Shipwrecked Authors | Books & Beer

shipwrecked-authorKimberly Chapman is a shipwrecked author. Her previous publisher is no longer in business, and she finds herself suddenly an indie author, figuring out the world of self-publishing. Sound familiar? Probably. And she has some lessons to pass along to the rest of you. Here’s what you’ll find in 15 minute so this episode of The Books & Beer Hangout:

  • Why not all traditional publishing deals are created equal. Or even good.
  • The good parts of traditional publishing, and how we can recreate it in an indie world
  • The better parts of indie publishing, and how they beat traditional publishing
  • But you’ll have to pay, indie author–Kimberly will tell you how much
  • Balancing the risk with the reward, when it’s all on your shoulders
  • Why you can and must professionally publish as an indie author
  • Avoid “fredited” at all costs and pay for a professional editor
  • Finding innovative ways to market your book
  • Tips on taking the plunge into indie publishing for those who’ve been on the other side

And there was the obligatory drinking of beers. Tonight’s choices: Mother Road’s Roadside American Ale and Epic Brewing’s Big Bad Baptist. The puppet had a Sweet Action by Sixpoint.

The Books & Beer Hangout is broadcast as a Google+ Hangout on Air and on YouTube Live! Circle ePublish Unum on Google+ to watch live, and to join The Books & Beer Hangover right after the show to chat with hosts and participants live!

Can’t see the video embedded above? Download the video or watch it on YouTube.

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March 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Publishing through Serial Fiction

serializedThis week, our guest is Claudia Hall Christian. She writes the Denver Serial series, a traditional serial fiction that she’s been writing six days a week, for almost five years. But she does more than that, actually publishing–and selling– books along the way. How does that work? Pretty well, as you’ll learn in this 15 minutes of The Books and Beer Hangout!

  • The good and the bad of hooking writers on your storytelling
  • The size of the audience interested in serial fiction
  • Writing arcs within a continuing story
  • Should you write well in advance, or on a daily basis
  • What it takes to keep a long-term serial story going
  • How serial fiction and full-length novels can be written at the same time
  • The complexity of keeping multiple storylines straight in serial fiction
  • How Claudia makes money selling the same stories she gives away for free
  • Why this will work for you, too.

And there was the obligatory drinking of beers. Tonight’s choices: Session Black , some homemade mead, and a Lagunitas Brown Shugga

The Books & Beer Hangout is broadcast as a Google+ Hangout on Air and on YouTube Live! Circle ePublish Unum on Google+ to watch live, and to join The Books & Beer Hangover right after the show to chat with hosts and participants live!

Can’t see the video embedded above? Download the video or watch it on YouTube.

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March 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Kobo Writing Life for the Indie Author | Books & Beer

Writing-LifeMark Lefebvre is the Director of Self-Publishing & Author Relations for Kobo. He’sbeen a bookseller for 20 years, an author for 30 years and a book nerd ever since he chewed on his first book as a toddler. We brought him on to cover Kobo Writing Life and to talk about the state of the ebook industry beyond Amazon.com. Here’s what we covered on this 15 minute episode of The Books & Beer Hangout:

  • A quick history of Kobo–and why you should use it!
  • How Kobo partners with independent booksellers in the U.S.
  • How independent bookstores support Kobo authors
  • Why Google got it wrong with ebooks
  • How independent bookstores benefit when customers buy Kobo books
  • The interoperability of books purchased from Kobo
  • How you can read books from Kobo on your ebook reading device
  • How to gain an international audience with Kobo
  • The realities of short-term exclusivity

And there was the obligatory drinking of beers. Tonight’s choices: Church-Key Brewing’s Northumberland Ale, Big Bad Baptist Imperial Stout by Epic, and the Goose Island IPA. Tasty!

The Books & Beer Hangout is broadcast as a Google+ Hangout on Air and on YouTube Live! (almost) every Monday night at 6:00p PT. Circle ePublish Unum on Google+ to watch live, and to join The Books & Beer Hangover right after the show to chat with hosts and participants live!

Can’t see the video embedded above? Download the video or watch it on YouTube.

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March 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment

eBooks and Libraries | Books & Beer

librariesDaniel Messer is with Maricopoa County Library District. He’s worked in libraries for almost 20 years. As an author, he’s keenly interested in the interplay between libraries and ebooks, and has some intersting insight to share with you in 15 minutes on this edition of the Books and Beer Hangout:

  • How libraries acquire ebooks for lending to patrons
  • Vagaries of antiquated licensing systems that continue to plague libraries, even in ebooks
  • Working with Overdrive and Freeding
  • How DRM adds a new layer of complexity
  • How you can check out books from the library and read them on your ebook reading device
  • Yes, Amazon does play (nicely?) with your library
  • But in the world of $.99 and free ebooks… will libraries survive?
  • Conversations about the great fear publishers have of piracy from libraries, and why that’s stupid
  • How indie authors can get their books in the public library

And there was the obligatory drinking of beers. Tonight’s choices: Sex Panther by Santan Brewing and the last of Evo’s Bell’s Hopslam.

The Books & Beer Hangout is broadcast live as a Google+ Hangout on Air and on YouTube Live! Circle ePublish Unum on Google+ to watch live, and to join The Books & Beer Hangover right after the show to chat with hosts and participants live!

Can’t see the video embedded above? Download the video or watch it on YouTube.

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February 27, 2013 by Leave a Comment

How to write awesome sales copy for your book

Last week, I published a book called Writing Awesome Sales Copy. It’s the first Modern Indie Author’s Guide, and we have quite a few planned. In 8,000 words, this book shows indie authors how to successfully craft “sales copy”. Because let’s face it: Most authors suck at writing sales and marketing copy for their own books. Not because they’re terrible writers, but because writing copy is completely different from writing a book.

But that’s not what I want to talk about with you. Rather, I’d like to share with you how I ate a lot of my own dog food and fully embraced digital publishing at every phase.

First, I wrote the whole thing in Google Drive. This easily let me share my progress with the rest of the ePublish Unum crew. And before that, the book was born as an outline created and shared with WorkFlowy. Conception to written–all online.

And because the book was written in Drive, it made it easy to share with my editors. Jeff served as technical editor, and the fantastic Karen Conlin provided copy editing for the final draft. Oh, did I mention I found Karen online, and the whole process was carried out via email, document revisions, and Google Hangouts? She lives near the North Pole, and I live in the desert southwest. Yet proximity was never a problem.

Writing Awesome Sales Copy coverCover art was provided by Krista Alexander, whom I’ve also never met. Instead, we exchanged emails while she was in China, I sent her a few book covers I liked, and she went through several rounds of revisions before the final product was created.

Publishing–specifically the creation of the ebook files themselves–was done with Pressbooks. As a long-time WordPress user, I found the interface intuitive and the final outcome exceptional. And I didn’t have to worry about any strangeness added by a word processor.

My promotion is obviously something I’m doing online. This is part of it, but I also sent free copies to a handful of influencers who I thought might like the book and share with their networks. That’s happened, and I’m pleased with the results. But I also didn’t have outrageous expectations, as this is just the first book in the series. That, and it’s highly focused.

Interacting? Well… that’s the easiest part for me. I’d love to know what you think about the book or this entire concept of a series of short, highly focused books aimed at underserved needs of indie authors.

And yes, I actually did force myself to go through the process outlined in the book to write the sales copy that accompanies the book on all the major marketplaces!

Stay tuned. Two more books are in development, and the pool of topics from which we can pull more topics is literally endless. Here’s to many more!

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February 15, 2013 by 2 Comments

Living the digital freelance writer lifestyle | Books & Beer

Living the lifeC.C. Chapman has successfully made the shift from wage-slave to freelance writer. With two books from a traditional publisher under his belt, a successful consulting career, and ongoing speaking engagements, he’s truly living the dream. But is it all it’s cracked up to be? We’ll cover that in 15-minutes on this episode of The Books and Beer Hangout:

  • The realities of a real publishing deal
  • Out of pocket expenses required even with a traditional publishing deal
  • Right-sizing your fantasy of a “fat advance”
  • When you might expect to make a living only writing books
  • How to make additional income as an author, but not from your books
  • When to write to further your career, and when to write because you have to write
  • Why it’s important to networking with professionals–and keep them informed
  • Making the transition from wage-slave to freelance writer
  • The realities of hustling to keep the money flowing
  • Moving from “starving artist” to “contributing to the family interest artist”
  • The importance of knowing what you do and who you are before you go freelance
  • The role of understanding basic business skills before you go off on your own

And there was the obligatory drinking of beers. Tonight’s choices: Kona’s Big Wave Golden Ale, Bell’s Hopslam, and the last Palate Wrecker from Green Flash.


The Books & Beer Hangout is broadcast live every Thursday night at 6P/9E as a Google+ Hangout on Air and on YouTube Live! Circle ePublish Unum on Google+ to watch live, and to join The Books & Beer Hangover right after the show to chat with hosts and participants live!

Can’t see the video embedded above? Download the video or watch it on YouTube.

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February 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Google+ Communities for Authors | Books & Beer

building-communitiesThe Writing Discussion Group has almost 10,000 members and is the largest GPC (Google+ Community) focused on writing books. So much for the ghost town claims. Even our modestly-sized Digital Publishing community is pushing 2,500. The opportunity to get good information and connected to super smart people in the writing/publishing world is very real. John Ward joins us on this episode of The Books & Beer Hangout for a 15-minute chat on the ins and outs of starting, joining and maintaining successful GPCs focused on writing and publishing. Among other things, you’ll find out:

  • Why sharing to GPCs is better than sharing to circles
  • How to keep your community on track
  • Going niche without staying small
  • How to grow your community quickly
  • The need for and amount of moderation required for a successful community
  • The great need for even more communities for authors
  • How to get active and involved with existing communities
  • How to grow your own personal network with good engagement in GPC
  • Check out The Siglerverse as an example as a community focused on a single author

And there was the obligatory drinking of beers. Tonight’s choices were a Traquair 2020 & a Bell’s Hopslam.

The Books & Beer Hangout is broadcast live every Thursday night at 6P/9E as a Google+ Hangout on Air and on YouTube Live! Circle ePublish Unum on Google+ to watch live, and to join The Books & Beer Hangover right after the show to chat with hosts and participants live!

Can’t see the video embedded above? Download the video or watch it on YouTube.

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February 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Quest For a Perfect Book Cover | Books & Beer

book-coverAh, book covers. A pain in the butt for most authors, and often understood. Or ignored. Bad idea. On this episode of The Books and Beer Hangout, first-time author Rose Gonsoulin walks us through four different book covers she went through before deciding on her final. This really shows the progression of an idea through concept. From amateur effort to final professional cover. It’s a fascinating journey, and here’s what you’ll learn in the 15-minute long video:

  • Why your nephew who fancies himself a designer probably isn’t the best choice
  • Why your spouse probably isn’t right–even if they know Photoshop
  • Why “regular artists” probably aren’t what you need either
  • Why you need a real cover artist
  • The value of making a book look great at the size of a postage stamp
  • How serendipitous meetings can lead to great partnerships
  • Key things to remember when working with a talented designer
  • How to give constructive feedback to get the design you want–that works
  • When to let go and trust your designer–and when to stick to your convictions
  • Recommendations to help finding your cover artist–the first time.
  • Char Adlesperger did the work

And there was the obligatory drinking of beers. Tonight’s choices: Leinenkugel’s Red Lager, Left Hand Nitro Milk Stout, and a Hopslam by Bell’s Brewery.

The Books & Beer Hangout is broadcast live every Thursday night at 6P/9E as a Google+ Hangout on Air and on YouTube Live! Circle ePublish Unum on Google+ to watch live, and to join The Books & Beer Hangover right after the show to chat with hosts and participants live!

Can’t see the video embedded above? Download the video or watch it on YouTube.

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January 18, 2013 by Leave a Comment

How to Kill a Word | Books & Beer

kill-a-word-2Patrick McLean helps people and companies with their writing and communication. He is an accomplished author and writing coach with decades of experience. We covered a lot of excellent ground in this 15 minute episode of The Books & Beer Hangout, like:

  • Why so many people are terrible at writing
  • A shift in collegiate standards of writing in the 1950s
  • And writing has become more complex, for no good reason
  • Becoming a purposeful writer
  • Cultivating efficiency in your writing
  • Why all adjectives and adverbs have to die
  • And that’s not just your editor’s job
  • Why you might need a writing coach
  • The value of writing collaboratively
  • … but knowing when to not trust your collaborators.
  • When is the right time to start killing words?
  • The importance of a visual structure
  • Why you should read everything you write out loud
  • Bonus materials:
  • A free microsite where you can submit samples of your writing and get feedback from Patrick. For free.
  • A collaborative rewriting video with prior B&B guest Brand Gamblin, showcasing the death of some words in a real-world writing coach setting.
  • A screenbook that helps with rewriting. Helpful and hilarious.

And there was the obligatory drinking of beers. Tonight’s choices: Tenaya Creek Old Jackalope Barleywine, Dale’s Pale Ale by Oskar Blues, and some Maker’s Mark. No, not beer. But close enough!

The Books & Beer Hangout is broadcast live every Thursday night at 6P/9E as a Google+ Hangout on Air and on YouTube Live! Circle ePublish Unum on Google+ to watch live, and to join The Books & Beer Hangover right after the show to chat with hosts and participants live!

Can’t see the video embedded above? Download the video or watch it on YouTube.

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