Tonight, we will be speaking to John O’Brien and Shawn Chesser regarding the success that they have found promoting the works of other authors. Yes, you read that right.
John and Shawn have joined with several other authors, all writing in the same genre, to promote each other’s work to their respective fans. This has expanded the reach of every author involved in the partnership and has helped launch careers. Together, they have released boxed sets and done several other things to garner attention for the group. Join us tonight to find out all of the many ways that they have promoted their work and maybe get some ideas for new things that you can try to promote your own work.
Is it too early to bring up bearding?
RemarkableReads Never too early. Surprised you haven’t already.
RemarkableReads Why would you want to start a discussion about Carl’s insecurity and attempts to overcompensate?
Just embedded the video. If you refresh your browsers, you’ll see it.
good evening/afternoon/morning wherever you are
Welcome, all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1tj2zJ2Wvg
Evening all
I’m running late. I get to troll my own show from the comments for 15 minutes! Yesssssss #bearding
xgranville Just trying to sneak it in wherever you can?
Did y’all reschedule Matthew Mather perchance?
shroudbetween xgranvilleIf Carl is going to troll, so shall I.
Ronny Khuri Yes, should be in two weeks.
85 and sunny here in Orygun
writerwade equally lovely in the Carolinas
ArcherCaldwell Yuss.
ArcherCaldwell Hey Archer.
Jeff Golblum as The Joker.
ArcherCaldwell That was such a good movie!
PatrickStemp What’s up Patrick?
Or Goldblum. Whichever.
writerwade 75 degrees in san fran and people are PANICKING
angry beards
Carl Sinclair But nothing compared to the sequel. I want to move to Nilbog
ArcherCaldwell PatrickStemp Ready for the weekend. I can’t believe it’s only Thursday.
Ronny Khuri writerwade Canada is thawing, ladies and gentlemen. All is not lost.
PatrickStemp ArcherCaldwell Friday here. Future wins.
xgranville Looks like Mimi from the Drew Carey show.
Carl Sinclair Dear God. It’s skinny John Rhys-Davies.
PatrickStemp xgranville You’re thinking of Ms. Piggy.
Carl Sinclair PatrickStempArcherCaldwell Timey wimey.
Carl Sinclair PatrickStemp ArcherCaldwell Yeah. And I’m a little pissed. The DVD I’ve been waiting for in the mail finally arrived. It’s region is 0 which should play everywhere. Got sound, no video. Grrrrrrr. Have to troubleshoot tomorrow.
PatrickStemp Carl Sinclair next time don’t drink before you try to watch a dvd
ArcherCaldwell PatrickStempCarl Sinclair #ohcanada
ArcherCaldwell PatrickStemp Carl Sinclair I said no video, not double video 🙂 Beer goggles is an acceptable way to watch
Technical issues of course
PatrickStemp ArcherCaldwell Carl Sinclair Having problems with DVD tech? Lucky it’s so new and confusing…. oh wait….
Carl Sinclair resemblance much?
writerwade
ArcherCaldwell Carl Sinclair They ate my mom! Now they’re eating me! OH MY GOOOODDD!!!
Carl Sinclair PatrickStemp ArcherCaldwell Apparently it’s PAL encoded which not all DVD players handle. Stupid. Plays on the computer fine but I want surround sound. First World Problems.
I’m late one week and you can’t even start a hangout… what’s going on @jwardx
PatrickStemp Carl SinclairArcherCaldwell VLC through an HDMI cable connection from PC to TV. That’s the best I can think of.
Carl Sinclair One of the guests is having technical issues. We’re going to start.
PatrickStemp Carl Sinclair Yeah, tell me about it. I bought this flip book that the guy told me would be fantastic to watch the stick figure man pick up the stick figure woman. I guess i don’t flip the pages fast enough for the action scene to make sense
jlward Carl Sinclair Anarchy!
ArcherCaldwell PatrickStempCarl Sinclair I’ll take an order of turtle soup, and make it snappy.
xgranville jlward Carl Sinclair It’s a coup!
Please leave questions here.
writerwade is the plan to continue cross promoting within the genre, or would they consider other types of authors?
Is there a structure to the cross-promotion? Or do you just support each other with social media and whatnot?
i see on Amazon they have a collection from the full 7. have they individually seen success from the intro set?
Carl Sinclair I have to say…I’m a little frightened.
Interesting. I’m the opposite. I read everything I can get my hands on in the genres I work in.
BuddyGott Carl Sinclair Come to the darkside….
PatrickStemp I think it’s a really good idea to understand your genre, what is being written in it, what readers like about it and what is being sold well.
PatrickStemp I read pretty much only in my genre.
Carl Sinclair PatrickStemp plus, there are only 36 dramatic situations. kind of hard to not tell a story that’s never been told
Carl Sinclair PatrickStemp I think it’s crucial to read both in and out… But to try to avoid accidentally “stealing” an idea seems like a waste of energy
Carl Sinclair PatrickStemp I’ve heard a lot of authors say they don’t read at all! I’m of the double school of King (if you don’t read you can’t write) and Kleon (Steal like an arist). Can’t avoid the cliches if you don’t know what they are.
Hello everyone
Ronny Khuri Carl Sinclair PatrickStemp Definitely a little of the in and out. I read most genres except high fantasy and romance/active romance.
David Anson Hi Dave.
writerwade – another question: if they were going to try another genre (I think they mentioned that) would it be something similar or are they willing to move far from apoc. horror?
PatrickStemp Carl Sinclair Cliches are best when they are understood and used to their greatest impact. Study of the genre helps exploit the cliches in their best possible fashion.
xgranville PatrickStemp Carl Sinclair yes. can’t break the rules if you don’t know the rules
David Anson Welcome Dave.
ArcherCaldwell writerwade They answered this. The video may not have caught up to it yet. They both said they’d like to write thrillers.
ArcherCaldwell writerwade John said he’d like to write scifi and fantasy as well.
ArcherCaldwell xgranville PatrickStemp Carl Sinclair Or you’ll be breaking them all but not in a good way (tongue in cheek, parody…)
jlward ArcherCaldwell writerwade yeah, thanks
ArcherCaldwell writerwade I’d say they write zombie fiction. Post Apocalyptic is a much broader genre than zombies.
Ronny Khuri o__O
PatrickStemp Carl Sinclair Anyone who writes and doesn’t read anything is making a huge mistake.
? – do they feel promotion would be a detriment to their growth? is the market they cater to driven away by ads?
Carl Sinclair ArcherCaldwell writerwade good point
I’m watching the baby while listening, so sorry if they’ve already mentioned this and I missed it, but knowing now what they do, what would they say was the best way to reach out to create a group like this?
ArcherCaldwell Isn’t everyone at some level aversive to advertisements? We recognize them immediately, and try to ignore them.
I’m not sure what you’re asking Archer
shroudbetween Know a guy who does a thing.
writerwade it just seems that they were so opposed to dave’s comment about email lists. realized the vagueness but have to wait 3 minutes to edit
I prefer to ignore all social networks and pretend like that’s a good call.
Carl Sinclair PatrickStemp Fooling themselves for sure.
xgranville ArcherCaldwell maybe ads, but list building or growing your tribe shouldn’t be viewed as “adverts”. Has to be a balance, no
RemarkableReads Except for Twitter.
This is really interesting. There’s some tension because these guys aren’t living up to the self-publishing mold of the Authorpreneur or whatever you wanna call it, but they’re basically proving that you can make it to full time writing by just writing full time? It’s not what we expected, I think, but it’s worth thinking about/exploring.
only 88 comments? you guys slack when I’m not here
The Beard Indie Mount Rushmore–Chuck Wendig, Nathan Lowell, Russell Blake, and Konrath
JayChastain Chastain…
RemarkableReads With their leader. Carl Sinclair
Ronny Khuri i agree. hard to take the pulse of the room. not resistance, but definitely tension
Carl Sinclair JayChastain The Texan returns. Duh duh duh dude
Carl Sinclair RemarkableReads I need an application to the Beard Guild
ArcherCaldwell xgranville It depends on exposure. Through the repetition of reading the same subject matter over and over again, it gets to the point that a heavy reader might not read the text and quickly decide between signing up to the list or not without thinking about it. Nonsense, really.
RemarkableReads Carl Sinclair JayChastain STRAIGHT OUT OF COMPTON!
Ronny Khuri Carl Sinclair RemarkableReads You are most welcome. carlsinclairauthor.com/bearding will get you started. Then just tweet at us with the hashtag #bearding
xgranville RemarkableReads that’s a social network? i thought that was just an excuse to tell jokes
JayChastain RemarkableReads Carl Sinclair That vaunted compton, texas. yee haw suckas
RemarkableReads xgranville Tough question. Go smoke some weed about it.
Carl Sinclair Ronny Khuri RemarkableReads i want to see if ronny lives up to his profile pic in the afterparty. dude looks like he could give xavier granville a run for his doobie money
Carl Sinclair Ronny Khuri RemarkableReads
Interesting comment
ArcherCaldwell Ronny Khuri No tension. Bit of confusion maybe.
RemarkableReads JayChastain Carl Sinclair LOLOL
RemarkableReads Carl SinclairRonny Khuri Cough cough….What?
JayChastain RemarkableReads Carl Sinclair chastain, you are a legend…in carl’s mind
xgranville RemarkableReads you mean you actually saved some for me this time
RemarkableReads JayChastain Carl Sinclair Just bc of our late night chats…alone
RemarkableReads JayChastainCarl Sinclair Isn’t existence just a split second of a single atom of one of Carl’s dreams?
xgranville RemarkableReads JayChastain Carl Sinclair hearthstone brings two dude bro’s together again. ah, the bromance
RemarkableReads xgranville Sorry, I forgot.
xgranville RemarkableReads Carl Sinclair Ronny Khuri by the way, Xavier–meet Ronny’s rockstar avatar
RemarkableReads Carl Sinclair Ronny Khuri i almost panicked and cut it off this morning. i thought a mouse was crawling into my mouth
Konrath’s name been said three times. That is how you summon him isn’t it?
SPRT drinking game. Drink a shot whenever Konrath is mentioned.
Ronny Khuri RemarkableReadsCarl Sinclair Keep the dream alive (Me 3 years ago). #metal
Carl Sinclair martin = slam the beer
xgranville Ronny Khuri RemarkableReads Carl Sinclair a beard is a man’s best friend. never forget that.
ArcherCaldwell Carl Sinclair Sanderson = Heroin.
Carl Sinclair Candyman, Candyman, Candy — ack!
RemarkableReads xgranvilleRonny KhuriCarl Sinclair It is your shadow’s shadow.
xgranville ArcherCaldwell Carl Sinclair Bryan Sanderson FTW!
thedavidwwright Carl Sinclair No! NOT THE BEES!
why is it obvious to be in the same genre? I’m not saying erotica and children’s books, but could you move around a little?
xgranville RemarkableReads Ronny Khuri Carl Sinclair by the way Armand has a Master Beard
Portland Oregon. Say hi to Jason Gurley
thedavidwwright Carl Sinclair
ArcherCaldwell sci fi and fantasy could work, but a lot of genres don’t have crossover audiences.
RemarkableReads Jason Who?
Carl Sinclair RemarkableReads Gason Jurely
Go Oregon!
xgranville Carl Sinclair RemarkableReads Oh him.
ArcherCaldwell I’m sure it could work in many respects, but I think the obvious answer is that the Optimal Approach is same genre cross promo. You don’t have to sell a customer on a new genre
I’m imagining an epic relam keepers cross promotion
I am having a meet up with two of our regular viewers in about 30 minutes. Erica (who is over in Perth) and Demelza who lives here.
Ronny Khuri ArcherCaldwell It makes sense when a certain publication company cross promotes between authors mindless of genre, but I haven’t seen many indie groups do it.
Ronny Khuri ArcherCaldwell Fair point, but I think that gentle/adjacent types of stories could bring in writers that like the voice of the author
Give a man a match, and you can keep him warm for a night. Set a man on fire, and you keep him warm for the rest of his life.
Carl Sinclair I knew you three were plotting something. You have the advantage, you’re all a day ahead of us!
shroudbetween Would you like the original recipe, or extra crispy?
shroudbetween you must have had a really sad childhood
xgranville Carl Sinclair We are planning the zombie apoc
Carl Sinclair xgranville so much mermaid talk coming your way.
Hey guys
ArcherCaldwell Ronny Khuri It depends on if you’re simply cross promoting, or acting as an indie publishing company.
crissymoss Hey Crissy!
xgranville ArcherCaldwell Ronny Khuri xavier, you clearly don’t read much romance
ArcherCaldwell Ronny Khuri I think an author group could come together for sure. And if the audiences trusted the authors it could work from there, but it would definitely require some trust
xgranville ArcherCaldwell Ronny Khuri noted. i see your point
RemarkableReads xgranvilleArcherCaldwellRonny Khuri How dare you accuse me of such things.
ArcherCaldwell Ronny Khuri i dont have true fans, so i dunno 🙁
xgranville Ronny Khuri RemarkableReads Carl Sinclair If I saw that pic and didn’t know it was you I’d have guessed it was John Petrucci.
PatrickStemp xgranville Ronny Khuri RemarkableReads Carl Sinclair i was thinking petrucci also. it’s the arms
PatrickStemp xgranville Ronny Khuri RemarkableReads Carl Sinclair those 24 inch petrucci pythons
i’m waiting for the perth bearding convention
Ronny Khuri PatrickStempxgranvilleRemarkableReadsCarl Sinclair Polyrhythms FTW
crissymoss You feeling any better?
RemarkableReads shroudbetween Or an AWESOME one. There was a mighty hobo shortage during the summer of ’93, I can tell you that. Completely unrelated factoid, of course…
crissymoss You guys should book these guys (maybe more of their group) for STP Crissy!
shroudbetween RemarkableReads somehow you managed to make the conversation even more sad
David Anson crissymoss A little. Went and got a burger with my kids. They are cheering me up.
ArcherCaldwell i’m waiting for a roundtrip ticket to perth
RemarkableReads ArcherCaldwell It’s coming your way.
crissymoss David Anson What’s wrong Crissy?
Carl Sinclair crissymoss That’s Garrett’s job. I haven’t even been able to keep my PC working long enough to be on the hangouts lately. Getting a new mother board soon, hope that fixes things.
Carl Sinclair crissymoss David Anson Broke up with my boyfriend of two and half years because he isn’t ready to go any farther in our relationship. Sucks. Love him to death, but I can’t just sit there waiting for him.
crissymoss David AnsonI was gong to be in Seattle all next week but it got canceled… I’m bumbed
you just want to see me get attacked by a koala
David Anson crissymoss Oh bummer. Anyone shows up here they can totally buy me a beer, lol.
RemarkableReads I do indeed
Ronny Khuri ArcherCaldwell you need to write a biographical rockstar romance
crissymoss David AnsonDeal. I think I will be there in June.
Carl Sinclair RemarkableReads bastard. i’ve spread the gospel of bearding for you and me betray me this way
crissymoss Carl SinclairDavid Anson Sorry to hear that. It sucks!
RemarkableReads no. wait for a hug from one of these
David Anson crissymoss Carl Sinclair yep. But for the better.
ArcherCaldwell RemarkableReads i love quokka’s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Quokka_family.jpg
RemarkableReads ArcherCaldwell Carl Sinclair it’s the stretch goal for Carl’s bearding kickstarter
RemarkableReads Carl Sinclair xgranville Mermaid? Sure! I’ve got a whole novel with mermaids in it almost done.
I’m disturbed by the complete lack of an afterparty. where am i supposed to get my bearding fix?
this just goes to show how everything falls apart when carl sinclair is gone
Ronny Khuri I wasn’t able to bring it up during the show, but I believe the value of the approach that they are using is that they are in contact with their fans on a daily basis via Facebook. In some ways, that method is better than a mailing list because it allows you to stay in touch with your readers regularly instead of once a month.
I think you should have a mailing list, but I can understand the approach that they are using as well.
RemarkableReads I had to go meet up with Demelza and Erica. There will be an after party next week.
jlward Ronny Khuri Facebook certainly has power in direct communication. I do believe not containing that audience you build with a newsletter (that some authors are using weekly Dave for example) is an easier place to get across what you want people to buy. It is interesting to see they are making a go of FB though.
RemarkableReads xgranville JayChastain Carl Sinclair Well met.
Carl Sinclair RemarkableReads Yeah, we were more important 😛
RemarkableReads Ronny Khuri ArcherCaldwell it’s usually the same genre cause it works like Amazon’s people who also bought this book also bought this….but I’ve not watched this episode yet so don’t know if they do back matter cross promotions where this is usually a common thing.
Man, I have so many questions that could have been asked >.<
1) the multi-author bundle: what kind of a contract was drawn up to deal with copyright licencing and royalty splits?
2) what have the guests learned from their time on this episode that they think they might use going forward, both for themselves and the author group they have?
3) have you considered cutting back on your FB time so you can use that time for other ways of (cross) promoting your books? ie: mailing lists (easier to track what the recipient/fan does), paid advertising like Bookbub
4) boxers or briefs?
Wow, I am so sad that I could not watch this live last night for so many reasons that I don’t think need to be said.