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Reader, Any other serious Catan players out there?
3 Secrets For those that are newer to the publishing world, here’s a secret (is it really a secret?): most editorial reviews are written by the author of the book being reviewed. We don’t have to pretend that’s not what’s happening. An author reaches out to a notable friend or colleague and asks for a review. The bigger the name, the busier they most likely are and might reply asking you to draft something they can just sign off on. It might be because they already know your work and don’t need to read the book. Whatever the reason, we can be mad about the system but that doesn’t change it from being true. So here’s the tip: If you reach out to someone for an editorial review and they ask you to draft something up for them to approve…write a dang good editorial review that’s really going to attract readers! If they are asking you to write the editorial review on their behalf, take what you write seriously. Most potential readers will ignore your editorial reviews unless there’s something recognizable about its source. But if the reader does recognize the reviewer, this is your chance to write some great copy that’ll convert the reader right there on the spot. I’m not a master copywriter but I’ve found this book (first released in 1941) to be a useful resource in writing words that sell. I personally read every book I provide editorial reviews for so here’s one I recently wrote to use as an example: I genuinely believe this author’s book to be an extremely useful tool and want people to read it, so here’s two examples of how I crafted my review with intention: 2. For those running your author business with a team Have AI fatigue? Skip this secret if you wish but here’s a practical way our team has recently used it to build a better organization for our authors. Every quarter our team gathers for a multi-session review of everything in the business that needs to be improved. After we throw out everything in the business that needs to be fixed or improved in order to serve our customers better, we then brainstorm and decide what our 5-7 top priorities are for the next quarter. Here’s the truth: I’ve never run a company this big before and don’t have decades of experience to fall back on when brainstorming how we fix our problems. So when we finished the first part of our last quarterly meeting (where we discuss everything that we could improve) I uploaded the transcript to [insert AI chatbot here] and asked it to research how similar companies have solved these problems and then offer multiple solutions for each of the issues the team brought up. Instead of staring at our issues and spinning my wheels, I’m now working off research done on companies that have faced the same issues and how they’ve solved those issues. We no longer have to re-invent the wheel with well studied and recorded issues people have faced. One example is our onboarding process isn’t as clean and supportive for our authors as we want it to be. Instead of spinning our wheels we don’t have a ton of experience in, we were able to get a menu of potential options that could solve that problem. Gather an absurd amount of information and context by having your team talk about their issues during a 2-hour zoom call and then feed that in as data, asking for a menu of options that would fix them. I’m not telling you to let AI solve your problems, but it certainly helps speed up your problem solving by providing you with more options than you previously had to solve the problems you’re facing based on industry data. Struggling to gain visibility for your book? You could also record yourself talking through the problems you’re facing as an author and asking to receive a menu of options on how authors in your position have previously solved those problems. We don’t have to start from zero anymore trying to solve problems we have no experience with. Again, I’m not advocating you just rely on AI to solve your problems, I’m advocating for using it to do research on how people in your position have previously solved that problem. 3. Are your books in any bookstores? Go sign those copies. In an upcoming BTB episode with 3,000,000+ copies-sold author Mark Wolynn of It Didn’t Start with You, we talk about how one of his early strategies was to go into any bookstore that carried his book and sign it. Bookstores aren’t dead (B&N is opening 60 new locations in 2026). Readers are seeking an experience in these bookstores. Whenever you’re traveling, check into local bookstores carrying your title, and sign those copies. Even if a reader is leaning towards a competitors book, they might buy your book too because it’s a one-of-a-kind signed edition. Mark attributes part of his success to this personal approach with the reader. Is your book in airport bookstores? Do you travel a lot? Pop into those stores and ask the staff if they’re okay with you signing the books they have in stock. 2 Links
1 Book Originally recommended to me from Dan Pink during an episode of BTB, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott is a great reminder to not be overwhelmed by the mountain we’re climbing but instead just focus on the next step without the stress of it needing to be perfect. 5 stars.
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