This YouTube interview (host TJ Walker with guest Dan Curran) discusses modern marketing strategies for authors—especially for those self-publishing or using hybrid publishers. Curran emphasizes that traditional marketing principles still apply but the "recipe" has changed: build an email list and pre-launch audience, leverage podcasts, speaking, and consultative channels, and use disciplined planning (spreadsheets/marketing plans) and sustained effort ("elbow grease"). The conversation also references advertising economics, the rise of independent content creators, and a plug for Chapters IO as a publishing option.
Chapters
You know, I come, you know, a couple of decades in the marketing world and have seen PR evolved and just, just like you said, you said it very well. It's, you know, the nomenclature. We use the same terms but they mean different things. Media means something different now than it did. And you know, Howard Stern was big. Well, he'll soon retire and be gone. Joe Rogan's big. Well, he'll soon retire. There'll be another Joe Rogan. There'll be, this stuff is just not going to stop and it'll be organic and go its own way. Saying all that back to podcast in general. I think they're amazing. I, I think if you really want to use a hybrid publisher, self publish, basically, you know, not going to the traditional publishers and creating a book mark. Publishing and marketing. Now, now's never been a better time. And tomorrow will be better than today. I think, I think it's, I was listening to this whole marketing podcast which is Joe Polizzi, it's this morning and they were, they were saying they are tired of brands complaining, big brands complaining they don't have enough budget to market. They were very articulate, more than I will be. But it was basically like, look at all these solopreneurs, these content entrepreneurs as they call them, individuals that are just exploding onto the. And you know what you do, it's still elbow grease. You know, you're not you. I know how much you're not you without all the elbow grease that you put into a brand. I know I don't know you that well, but I know how much work that goes into it. And, and that's, that doesn't leave. You're willing to work, create a marketing plan, have some sort of budget.
Let's go a little deeper in marketing because you're the, you're the former, you're the former president of the American Advertising Federation.
Well, I mean a regional.
Okay, so here's my big question for you. I'm hoping I'm wrong.
The traditional former for reasons, but go ahead. Okay.
The, the traditional article of faith in the publishing world is unless someone is a super famous, famous celebrity, you can't advertise for a book without spending more than what you would recoup from any sales. Now, there's a lot of different ways of doing it on Amazon these days. I know some people, at least for six month, eight month period.
Tell me.
Okay, TJ for every $5 I spent on ads, I did get $8 worth of sales. So it worked based on your background as a marketer. And advertising. Advertising expert. Do you have new techniques for how someone, you know, let's say I'm a business executive and I say hey, I want to write this book. 30,000 all in is okay, but you know what, if I could spend 10,000amonth on advertising and bring in 11,000 and you know back to me and not lose money, I would do that. Do you have any system of doing that with advertising for books?
Well, I have empirical evidence and that is the authors that we've worked with and that we are working with and a lot of other authors that come from like Greenleaf and so forth. Here's the big news. I don't have any new words to use. Every word I'm about to tell you is words that have been around. It's just the cake recipe has changed. One is good old fashioned email. So all of these publishers, I forgot who you mentioned like atomic habits and all this. I assure you he had email database started with one person that probably went to tens of thousands. But you have to start building that pre launch of your book friends and family podcast. You have to get all of that lined up. So at the end of the day it's a good old fashioned Excel spreadsheet or Google sheet and it's a marketing plan. And Whether you have $500 to spend or 50,000 or more, you break up that recipe and you work harder than you've ever worked to evangelize that book. If that is, if that's your purpose. And then from that, yes, speaking engagements and consulting jobs and everything. So the recipes are all there, but the elbow grease is the X fact.
The company is Chapters IO if you want to check it out and learn how they work. If you're thinking about publishing a book and the prospect of sending letters to literary agents for the next two years and not hearing anything doesn't appeal to you. You may want to check them out as a part of your due diligence in the publishing world. So special thanks to Dan Curran. Final message. You have final words for anyone thinking about becoming an author.
Yeah. So yes, again, I love the conversation today. So thank you again. My email is danaptersio and then you can find me on LinkedIn as well. If you'd like to talk about AI publishing, the ethics of everything. I could help connect you to self publishers or publishers. Just, just let me know. Don't, don't know if I can help, you know, check all the boxes. But I love talking about it and I just encourage people to, to capture their wisdom and write a book.
