Reading time: ~Seven* Super September minutes 🍂
*Just kidding. It's the usual 2 minutes.
Welcome back to the Weekly Book Business Brief—your weekly shot of strategy, tools, and real talk for authors building a book-based business.
Can you believe it's September, Reader?!
Last week we talked about finding someone who's where you want to be, and getting in the room with them. More on that this week, too, but first ...
There's a lot to do this time of the year: it's the "2nd New Year," the 3rd quarter is almost over, and before too long, it'll be time for the Magic Holiday Trinity (Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Hanukkah/Christmas). You know, the most wonderful time of the year!
To keep it fast and fun, this week I've got something for you that's small enough you can finish it before lunch (today)—and it's one of the most-skipped assets in an author's entire book business. 💥
📚 THE AMAZON PAGE THAT SELLS ALL YOUR BOOKS AT ONCE
When I finish a book I love, I go looking for the author. What can I find out about them? What else have they written? Do they have a newsletter?!
I type their name into Amazon first and see if they've fully filled out their Amazon Author Page. (Hint: they usually haven't.)
What's an Amazon Author Page, you say? Ooh, I'm so glad you asked!
It's your very own Amazon real estate that you can fully trick out, fill in and max out, and optimize to your heart's content.
If you've never claimed yours, then your page is a photo-less, bio-less dead end (oh no!)—and the reader who was ready to buy three more of your books goes back to scrolling. #holymissedopportunityBatman
Your Author Page is free(!), it takes about twenty minutes, and it does three jobs at once: it gathers every book you've written in one place (once you claim them), it tells the reader who you are, and it provides the very cool Follow button.
Are you wondering what happens when someone follows you? Well, my friend, Amazon emails them every time you release something new. Yes, Amazon does your book marketing. For free.
Cool, right? Yeah, I know. So you're gonna want to do ...
🎯 THE 4-PART AUTHOR PAGE TUNE-UP
Uno. Claim every one of your titles. Go to author.amazon.com, sign in with your KDP account creds, and claim your books by searching for the titles. Be sure to include anthologies, workbooks, and the one you co-wrote in 2019 and forgot about. If a book isn't on your Amazon Author Page, it can't be selling all of your books from it.
Dos. Write a bio that sells the next book. Talk about yourself in the very important "Third person," using four short paragraphs or so: one line of credibility (numbers!), one line about what you help readers do, one line of personality, one line telling them what to read next. Try this AI prompt: "Here's my bio and my book list. Rewrite my Amazon Author Page bio in third person, under 200 words, for a reader who just finished [BOOK] and is deciding whether to buy another one of mine."
Tres. Add your photo. 'Nuff said.
Quatro. Do it today. Most authors don't do this. But, you're not most authors. 😉
👑 IT'S TIME FOR YEAR NINE. AND I'M SUPER PUMPED.
Do you know about the Empire Builders Mastermind (a.k.a. EBM)? Well, I haven't talked about it very often to you here, Reader, because usually every single spot goes to returning members, referrals, and personal invitations. This year, I kept the room to just three people.
I'm pretty protective of who's in it, because EBM participants get access. To me, my processes and procedures, allll the things (including my home, my husband's brisket, and in 2027, something really freaking special).
If you've ever read about it and thought "I'd love to be in that room," you're not alone. Over the years, readers have told me it's been on their vision board, goals sheets, and wish lists. Others have said they were sorry they missed their chance to get in.
As we head into our ninth year—nine years of members building easy, lucrative, and fun income streams from their knowledge and expertise, guided by me (someone who's built eighteen 6- and 7-figure income streams of her own), I'm doing something I've never done: opening the remaining seats of the Class of 2027 to you, my readers, first.
And one more detail—my favorite one: the Class of 2027 will gather in person, and the exact location is super secret and strictly need-to-know. You'll need to know the moment your application is approved. I'll say only this: I chose it personally, it means something to me, and it is not a hotel conference room.
Returning members have already claimed their spots. Five seats remain. Enrollment closes November 1st, or when the last seat fills—and given how these seats have historically moved, I wouldn't plan on the calendar being the deadline.
See the full program, calendar, and application here—and if the room I just described sounds like the one you've been missing, let's find a time to talk about whether it's a fit.
📚 BOOK BIRTHDAY MONTH SPOTLIGHT: STOP TRYING SO F*CKING HARD
Later this month—on September 23rd, which also happens to be my birthday—Stop Trying So F*cking Hard turns eight. And here's something cool: the month after that book was born, I was inspired to create the Empire Builders Mastermind, for authors and aspiring authors who want an empire—one they own that doesn't own them. It was fully in my Zero Foxes Given t-shirt era for sure.
In the eight years since, I've written more books and created more courses—and I've been proud to mentor, coach, and (lovingly) cajole Mastermind members to go for it in every way as they've written their own books, crafted their own courses, spoken, trained, and launched masterminds of their own. All of it traces back to this book.
👉 Grab Stop Trying So F*cking Hard and don't let the saucy language fool you. It just might be the pep talk / kick in the keister you need right now!
Have a wonderful week claiming your Amazon Author Page--and I'll see you next week!
To your success!
