Book Marketing and Publishing Tips for Authors

Newsletter Issue #446– July 22, 2026
Publisher: Judith Briles

Practical Publishing Advice and Guidance for Authors

I create books authors never have to apologize for …

In this Issue

1. Discover ... Free Book Report

2. Attend ... Meet and Do the Authors Grocery Stores

3. Get Registered … BookBrush’s Book MarCon-Free: July 24-26

4. New Webinar … 30 Book Marketing & Publishing Tips in 60 Minutes

5. Get Registered for Summer AuthorYOU Food Fest … Happening on August 15

6. Hot Podcasts for July … Add to your Calendar and Listen

7. Question of the Week … I want to write a thriller, but …

8. Smile Time … "Ode to Joy” 

This Week Under The Book Shepherd’s ® Roof

Hello and Good Publishing Day to YOU …

Lot’s happening this week. Welcoming Mary Salas to my editing team—her detail skills are so welcome—for me … and my clients. Because of Mary’s input on my latest book… gulp, another one will bubble from her insights. Hello SAUCES!

Starting to set up the Barnes & Noble Book Fairs for fall. Sunday October 25 with be Southlands day. And I’m down for a few days while I get a new hip that has been on my radar for almost two years.

And, the transition from final lay out, cold eye read through … and moving Appetizers with Judith to print. Next is setting up the book launch which will include an event at the Denver Women's Press Club on August 13 and an afternoon soiree on August 28^th in my home where I could do a tasting spreading on what’s inside the pages. With the two “foodie” books, I will be doing Appetizers and Cooking as a duo rollout forward. BN Southlands manager said, “Let’s do that here, too.” Allrighty—a full fall calendar is all about books!

Saturday, at the Southlands Barnes & Noble in Aurora, Colorado, I was with Joseph Caldara.  We had an awesome day. Between the two us, we sold over 80 of our books! Joseph writes for middle school grade kiddos. I’m for adults. I can’t say enough how important it is to have a book selling buddy that is an opposite of your genre.

Did you increase  your KDP accounts TODAY to adjust the price of your eBooks? Amazon has lifted the range for eBook prices at the 70% payout range for all eBooks between $2.99 and 12.99. I increased mine.

Definitely make sure you add Saturday, August 15^th starting at 4 pm to your calendar. The location is my home … it’s the Author Gathering Food Fest—formerly the Author BBQ— food, author friends, and catch up. Get registered. Details below.

Last week's blog focuses on creating a special circle of who becomes an advisory board—ready to give you pushback… and feedback.

I call it the Author’s Inner Circle.

This week's focuses on As I Put the Final Touches on My Author Gift is all about acknowledging and using the gifts you have that you bring to your writing. Make sure you take a few months to read.

Listen in at: http://bit.ly/BookPublishingPodcast or via
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrJudithBrilesTheBookShepherd

Have you ever explored the network website where I store all my podcasts? … Holy Moly … over 22 million downloads now of various podcasts since the podcast started six years ago.

You can select which podcast is for you from over 600 shows … the latest will always be posted on top of the podcast home page: http://bit.ly/BookPublishingPodcast ... it goes directly to the Show Page, where you can view all podcasts at once—just scroll … you’ve got a lot to pick from to expand your learning and how to curve.

1. July 23 Podcast … How to Use the Inner Method to Soar Your Writing … Viki King

2. July 30 Podcast … How to Grow Your eMails with the Ultimate Opt-In … Judith Briles

3. August 1 Author Gathering, Online Only

4. August 6 Podcast … Author Mindfulness … Heather Elliott

5. August 13 Podcast … Building Community with Communicating …Terri Murphy

6. August 15 AuthorYOU Gathering Food Fest … Judith's Home

7. August 20 Podcast … How to Write a Movie in 21 Days …Viki King

8. August 27 Podcast … How to Write a Memoir … Dan Janal

1. Discover … Book Report

Organize your sales data with a few clicks, and turn that data into actionable insights. There is a cost—but, if your book sales are less than $1,000 and month, it’s a freebie.

Trusted by thousands of indie authors and publishers.

No credit card required. Five-minute setup.

It’s here: https://www.getbookreport.com/

2. Meet … Authors in Grocery Stores ... and do it.

Hey Authors … Get Books Feature in Grocery Stores

If you haven’t watched the webinar I did with Ray Depew and the Authors in Grocery stores program, schedule an hour to do it.

Here’s the replay: https://vimeo.com/1176893354

You will discover the secret sauce that many authors are using to connect with their local communities and sell more books.

• Do you want to sell more books? Learn how one author sold 2200 books within two years with the help of his grocery stores.

• Become part of an alternative why to sell your books with a twist.

• All book sales are paid with 10 days.

• Lots … and now you can discover another alternative portal to sell your books.

• Annual membership cost is $100 – if you join now, you will get a $25 webinar discount. Use code JUDITH25

The Authors in Grocery Stores program is available in half the states in the US … that is if you are working within the portal that 220 authors are using, selling over 30,000 books and retaining 62 percent of the retail book price.

Within the webinar, you will learn:

• How to take advantage of Special Displays in stores.

• How to coattail on ongoing seasonal activities to sell more books.

• Why it makes dollars and sense to add grocery stores to your book marketing mix.

• How to get an invite to feature you and your book(s).

• Musts haves for a grocery signing event.

• How to create your author book selling tour.

• How you get paid and how often.

Questions? Contact Ray at GroceryAuthors@gmail.com or 845-699-6664

3. Register for Book MarCon … It’s FREE to you!

It’s time for Book Brush’s annual BookMARCon … three days of author and marketing successful available to you … and it’s all FREE this year. Slated for this month, a Friday afternoon July 24, and 9 to 4:30 Saturday July 25 and Sunday July 26. To grab your FREE spot, you need to register for the day/days you desire. There's both a speaker page and full schedule page, too.

Each day has a separate registration. For paid up Book Brush Members, you will get an automatic pop-up to register. If you are an unpaid member, fill out the form on Home page to get information to participate on each day. There's also a spot on the account page under "Webinars" to "Opt-in" for BookMARCon and the team there will get them registered. Make sure you review the schedule and register for what you want. 

For more details, go to the BookMARCon Homepage: https://bookbrush.com/bookmarcon/

You will find it here to meet the SPEAKERS: https://bookbrush.com/bookmarcon-speakers/

Create your SCHEDULE:

https://bookbrush.com/bookmarcon-schedule/

4. Get 30 Publishing Tips via

6 Publishing Pros … Calling All Authors and Aspiring Authors !

30 + Publishing Tips in 60 Minutes from the Publishing at Sea Faculty

Join us for a webinar on WEDNESDAY, August 5, 2026, for 4 PT | 5 PM | 6 CT | 7 ET

Are you an author or an aspiring author? Get 30+ Essentials Tips in 60 Minutes for author and publishing success via the wisdom of six publishing pros. Participants will take away a variety of snap, crackle, and pop ideas to juice up their marketing, writing, publicity, and social media influence from the Publishing at Sea faculty. If that's on your TO DO list, get registered NOW. It's happening on Wednesday, August 5 at 5:00 pm MT.

Register NOW for 30 + Publishing Tips in 60 Minutes from the Publishing at Sea Faculty on Aug 5, 2026, 5:00 PM MDT at: https://bit.ly/30SizzlingTips

5. Summer AuthorYOU Gathering Food Fest … Happening on Saturday … are you coming?

Come to the Annual Summer AuthorYOU Gathering Food Fest 

When: August 15, at 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM MDT
Where: Judith’s Home. 8122 S. Quatar Cir. Aurora, CO 80016

Join your fellow authors for some great food, fun and networking at the annual AuthorYOU Food Fest. There will of course be plenty of beer and wine.

Singles: $20
Duos: $30

Grab your spot: https://bit.ly/AuthorFoodFest

6. Hot Podcasts Slated for July

Ranked in the Top 10 podcasts for book marketing for authors by FeedSpot.

July 2 Top 2026 Book Design Trends … Nick Zelinger

July 9 How to Get Your Book Reviewed … Jim C0x

July 16 Secrets to Writing Enticing and Killer Book Marketing Copy … Casey Demchak

July 23 How to Use the Inner Method to Soar Your Writing … Viki King

July 30 How to Grow Your eMails with the Ultimate Opt-In … Judith Briles

7. Question of the Week ... I would like to write a thriller novel.

What should I write about?

My Answer: Oh boy … if you don’t know what your general storyline is, you have a problem. So, I’ll ask this: Why do you want to write a thriller? Do you read them? Do you watch thriller/action movies? What’s your favorite author? Book? What do you like about him/her and the book? If you have to ask someone “what should I write about” … maybe you aren’t the writer for the genre.

8. Smile of the Week

Love it when I find a fun shorty—a quick smile, a laugh out loud, a learn something new, and a sip of tea … and back to work—perfect. Smile time.

A magic moment with Andre Bocelli and his magnificent voice bringing you three minutes of “Ode to Joy” that was birthed in Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

https://youtu.be/eqhjKGpTskc?si=ItC8TuJnFPnQeT7S

Enjoy a few minutes … and ooh and ahh … my two bits.

Author Friendly Friday this week! 

Join Author Friendly Fridays: a fun, sharing and dynamic closed group. You can join in the next week.

It’s a full hour when you can ask questions—any question. And, I always include a few strategies to get your authoring life ahead of the competition.

It’s for paid subscribers ONLY and we do it on Zoom.

This is how each call starts: I share a few strategies, tips, and tools that attendees can immediately start to use. All share … and ask plenty of questions. They get answers. Definitely an excellent way to start a Friday. Those of you who aren’t participating, you are making a mistake. I love the variety of books and authors who have chosen to participate. What’s also fun, is the energy that can be felt with what everyone is working on. Love it!

Here’s the link to take advantage of it and subscribe: https://thebookshepherd.com/author-friendly-fridays/

This is called a “consult” and I would be delighted to schedule time with you for “just you and your many questions” that need answers.

You can book time with me at: http://bit.ly/JudithCoaching

Podcast has expanded to 11 networks … Follow us and learn … new shows every Thursday.
GO to the SHOW page and select which podcast is for you… the latest will always be posted on top: http://bit.ly/BookPublishingPodcast

And, if you have listened, support our podcast, and post a review. Thank you!

The AuthorU – Your Guide to Book Publishing podcast is available on all major podcast channels. How cool is that? Listeners can tune into the weekly (always new – no repeats) show on: 

Get the latest #AuthorU-Your Guide to #Book #Publishing #podcast with @MyBookShepherd via iTunes here:  http://bit.ly/BookPublishingPodcast

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