One of the biggest downsides to publishing on Amazon is that you don't own the customer relationship. When someone buys your book, Amazon doesn't give you their name, email address, or any other contact information. Amazon owns the customer—you simply earn a royalty from the sale. That means someone can absolutely love your book... and you may never have a way to reach them again. That's why I always recommend having a strategy to connect with readers beyond Amazon. At the beginning of your book, introduce yourself and let readers know who you are and what they'll get from the book. Then include a QR code that leads them to the next step. That next step could be: - Your Skool community - A free resource - Your email list - Another book in the same niche - Your website or social media The goal is to turn a one-time reader into someone who becomes part of your community. One tool I really like for this is @Jeff Baer mini webpage. It's much more powerful than a QR code alone because you can introduce yourself, showcase your books, highlight your community, collect contact information, and point readers to multiple resources—all from one simple page. It's a low-friction way for readers to get to know you, whether they purchased a paperback or downloaded a free Kindle book. Don't let your relationship with your readers end at the final page of your book. Give them an easy way to stay connected—you'll build a stronger audience and create more opportunities for future book sales. 👉 Start Building Your Page Here (Below is an image of what my mini landing page looks like or you can see the full version for yourself.)

Share whatever you’re working on or proud of right now. This community is full of creators, authors, and entrepreneurs, and sometimes the best thing we can do is help each other get a little more visibility. 💡 IDEAS ON WHAT YOU COULD SHARE: • Yourself and what you do • Your Skool community • A book you're writing or recently published • A project you're building • A shoutout to another member • A video, post, or resource • Affiliate links (yes, those are allowed) The goal is simple: help our members get seen. Just one request so this stays valuable for everyone. 👉 1 RULE: If you share something, please also leave a thoughtful or helpful comment on someone else’s post. Support goes both ways, and when we all participate, the whole community benefits. Now let’s see what everyone is building 👇

Last week I had a great 1:1 strategy call with @Robert Redden - He was able to book a private call with me because he reached Level 5 in the community and unlocked access to my personal calendar. You all know I'm pretty protective of my schedule. Between my full-time job, family life, and everything else I have going on, I don't spend all day on Skool. My time is valuable, so this is one of the ways I give back to the members who are actively participating and serious about growing their publishing business. Here are some of the rewards you can unlock as you level up: ⭐ Level 2 – Guest Expert Replay Events ⭐ Level 3 – AI Prompts to Speed Up Your Book Writing ⭐ Level 4 – My Self-Publishing Checklist ⭐ Level 5 – 1:1 Strategy Call with Me ($60 Value) The best part? You don't have to buy anything extra. Just comment, engage, ask questions, support other members, and contribute value to the community. As you participate, you'll naturally earn points, level up, and unlock bonus content along the way. What level are you currently at? Drop it below! 👇

I'm still not sure how I feel about the new audiobook royalty changes. Technically, I don't have to enroll my titles right now. I could wait until the end of the year and make a decision later. On the other hand, if you choose to opt out completely, it appears that you'd need to remove your audiobooks from Audible altogether. Rather than making a decision based on emotion or speculation, I've decided to run a test. I enrolled five of my lower-performing audiobooks into the new program. These are titles that haven't generated a significant number of sales or listens, so I feel comfortable using them as a test group while protecting the books that are already performing well. My thinking is simple: if these audiobooks become available through the all-you-can-listen membership, they may get exposure from listeners who otherwise never would have discovered them. More listeners could potentially mean more engagement, more reviews, and hopefully more revenue. Over the next few months, I'll be tracking downloads, listens, and earnings to see what actually happens. If the results are positive, I may consider enrolling additional titles. If not, I'll be glad I tested with my underperformers first instead of risking books that are already selling. For now, I'm taking a "measure first, decide later" approach. 👉 Are any of you planning to enroll your audiobooks, opt out, or wait and see what happens?

Close your eyes and picture yourself walking into a busy author conference. You can hear conversations happening around you, people laughing, books being flipped through, and excitement in the air. You see rows of tables, banners, and other authors sharing their stories. Now notice yourself standing confidently in that space. You are smiling because today is different. In your hands, you're holding your book. Not an idea. Not a future goal. A real published book with your name on it. Feel the weight of it in your hands. Look at the cover details, the colors, the title, and your name printed on it. Run your fingers across the cover and realize, 'I actually did this.' Picture someone walking toward you and saying, 'Wait... you're the author of that book? I've heard about it.' Feel that moment. Feel the pride, excitement, and gratitude. Imagine taking photos holding your book, talking with readers, signing copies, and sharing why you wrote it. Notice how confident you feel because you didn't just think about becoming an author... you became one. Stay in that moment for a few seconds and ask yourself: (WRITE YOUR ANSWERS IN THE COMMENTS!) ➡️ What does this version of me believe? ➡️ How does this version of me show up? ➡️ What actions did I take to get here?