If I'm Being Honest: Straight Talk About Book Publishing & Promotion

The First Question Every Author Needs to Answer

Most authors spend a lot of time thinking about what they want to write. Far fewer spend time thinking about why they're writing it in the first place. Yet that single question influences almost every publishing decision you'll make—from the path you choose to publish, to how you market your book, to how you define success once it's out in the world. In this episode of If I'm Being Honest, we explore the motivations that drive people to write books and why understanding your "why" can save you time, money, and frustration. We discuss the realities of writing for profit, including the economics of book sales, royalties, and production costs. We also look at legacy projects—memoirs, family histories, and personal stories written to preserve experiences and pass them on to future generations. We tackle a motivation that many authors feel but few openly discuss: recognition. Whether you dream of seeing your book on a shelf, earning industry credibility, or simply proving something to yourself, your goals matter—and they should influence your publishing strategy. We also explore books written to create impact, support a cause, build a business, attract clients, increase speaking opportunities, or establish authority within a field. For fiction writers and career authors, we discuss the long game of building a readership and creating a body of work that grows over time. And for those who simply love writing, we make the case that creating and sharing your work as art is a worthy goal all on its own. If you're writing a book—or thinking about writing one—this conversation will help you clarify your goals, make smarter publishing decisions, and create a definition of success that actually aligns with what matters most to you. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0ZwlmfNnEw85u5vRhka2AQ] Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/launchmybook/] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/launchmybook] Learn more about Launch My Book [http://www.launchmybook.com]

From Podcast to Published Book with Jared Maher

What happens when a successful podcast becomes a bestselling book? In this episode, I sit down with Jared Maher, lead producer at The Lever and co-author of The Master Plan, to unpack the journey from investigative podcast to independently published book. We explore how years of reporting, research, and storytelling were transformed into a long-form product that could reach readers in a completely different way. Jared shares the behind-the-scenes decisions that shaped the book's launch, including why the team chose a DIY publishing approach, how they leveraged an existing audience, and what they learned about turning listeners into readers. We dive into the realities of self-publishing, including presales, print-on-demand production, distribution through IngramSpark, Amazon KDP strategy, direct sales through Shopify, and the importance of owning your customer relationships. We also discuss what creators often get wrong about book launches, how a built-in audience changes everything, and why their most important metric is not just book revenue but membership conversion in a reader-supported business model. Whether you're a first-time author, an entrepreneur writing a book to grow your business, or a content creator considering a publishing project, this conversation offers practical lessons you can apply immediately.   If you're interested in self-publishing, book marketing, audience growth, podcast-to-book strategy, and building sustainable revenue beyond launch week, this episode is packed with insights. Subscribe for more straight talk about book publishing and promotion, share this episode with an author who could benefit from it, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0ZwlmfNnEw85u5vRhka2AQ] Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/launchmybook/] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/launchmybook] Learn more about Launch My Book [http://www.launchmybook.com]

How to Use AI to Beat Writers Block and Write More with Plot Drive

The hardest part of writing a book is rarely “coming up with ideas.” It’s the thousand tiny moments that break your focus: hunting for a detail you wrote weeks ago, second-guessing whether you already told that story, losing track of character threads, or getting pulled into email while you search across messy folders. That’s where my conversation with Jay Rosencrantz, founder of Plotdrive, gets interesting fast. We talk about Plotdrive as a clean writing studio that blends the simplicity of a word processor with the organization writers expect from serious book writing software. Your draft stays front and center, while a simple sidebar holds folders and documents for foundations, character notes, locations, drafts, and edits. The AI layer is optional and controlled: you can toggle context on or off per document, so the model only sees what you want it to see. Jay also explains how Plotdrive connects to multiple large language models, including GPT, Claude, and Gemini, so you can choose the best tool for brainstorming, structure, or revision. The big takeaway isn’t “let AI write your book.” It’s using AI for writers as a block-breaking partner that reduces friction and keeps you in flow. We dig into Co-Writer as a coach and developmental editor, how LLMs can help with structure and tropes for fiction, and how nonfiction authors can use natural language to check redundancy and consistency without derailing a writing session. We also get real about the fear and ethics around AI, and why the healthiest frame might be support over replacement. If you’re curious about a Scrivener alternative, a Google Docs alternative, or just a better way to finish the draft you keep restarting, listen now and tell us what part of the process blocks you most. Subscribe, share this with a writer friend, and leave a review so more authors can find the show. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0ZwlmfNnEw85u5vRhka2AQ] Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/launchmybook/] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/launchmybook] Learn more about Launch My Book [http://www.launchmybook.com]

Own Your Book Marketing

You can hire help for book promotion, but you cannot outsource the one thing that actually sells books: an author who shows up, believes in the work, and leads the marketing. We see the same trap over and over, across self-publishing and traditional publishing. Writers assume a publisher, a PR firm, or a marketing company will take it from here, and then they feel stuck when nothing moves. We break that myth down and replace it with a simple, realistic approach you can run yourself. We start with the most overlooked lever in book marketing: your existing network. Friends, family, coworkers, and community connections are not “beneath” a serious launch, they are how serious launches begin. We talk about building early traction, asking for reviews, and using one opportunity to create the next by ending conversations with a powerful question: “Who else should I talk to?” That grassroots momentum is often what makes later media, partnerships, and bigger visibility possible. From there, we dig into author platform building in a way that does not require you to become someone you are not. “Platform” can be a newsletter, Substack, blog, podcast, or video, as long as it is consistent content for a clear target audience and it is something you can sustain. We also cover why you should start slow, stop comparing your first posts to someone else’s fifth year, and avoid giving up before the compounding effect has time to kick in. Finally, we get honest about spending money on marketing. Ads and promotions work best after you have soil, not before: a basic platform, some proof like reviews, and a next step for readers. That might be a second book, a series, a course, consulting, or a clear way to stay connected. If you want a smarter book launch strategy and a long-term plan for book sales, hit play, then subscribe, share this with an author friend, and leave us a review. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0ZwlmfNnEw85u5vRhka2AQ] Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/launchmybook/] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/launchmybook] Learn more about Launch My Book [http://www.launchmybook.com]

How AutoCrit Helps You Plan and Finish Your Book with Bekah Brinkmeier

You don’t need a robot to write your book. You need clear feedback, a smarter revision process, and a way to see what your draft is really doing on the page. We’re joined by Becca Brinkmeier, partnerships and project manager at AutoCrit, plus a full-time author and ghostwriter with dozens of books behind her, to talk about how AI-assisted editing can support real writers without generating content or stealing your voice. We dig into what AutoCrit is built for: planning, writing, editing, analyzing, and formatting manuscripts for publication. Becca breaks down the Story Analyzer and how it delivers developmental-style feedback on plot threads, foreshadowing, POV, pacing, and worldbuilding. We also talk line editing reports that surface patterns like tense consistency issues and other habits that quietly weaken prose, plus how comparing your style to genre bestsellers can help you meet reader expectations while staying authentically you. For planners and discovery writers alike, we explore tools like Story Builder and reverse outlining with Backwards Blueprint, including how those features can help nonfiction authors fix structure, cut redundancy, and reorganize chapters without rewriting from scratch. We also cover Market Fuel for market analysis, keywords, and positioning, and why that matters for self-publishing and even for a traditional book proposal. Privacy comes up for ghostwriters and anyone working with sensitive drafts. Becca shares how the platform approaches secure access and consent, and we end with practical workflow wins like collaboration, offline mode, and high-velocity dictation for getting more words without living at your desk. If this helps, subscribe, share it with a writer friend, and leave a review so more authors can find the conversation. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0ZwlmfNnEw85u5vRhka2AQ] Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/launchmybook/] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/launchmybook] Learn more about Launch My Book [http://www.launchmybook.com]