Book Marketing and Publishing Tips for Authors

Newsletter Issue #459– October 21, 2026
Publisher: Judith Briles

Practical Publishing Advice and Guidance for Authors

I create books authors never have to apologize for …

In this Issue

1. Use and Take Advantage ... Colors Are YOU!

2. Discover and Use ... Stratira, the Ultimate Book Marketing Tool

3. Book Fair ... Join us this Sunday at the B&N Southlands Store in Aurora

4. ASK Judith ... November 20

5. Join in Author Gathering ... November 21 Online

6. Author Holiday Party ... It’s Linner Time on December 6th!

7. Want to Claim #1 on Amazon? ... November Workshop Sold - February is Open to Register!

8. Hot Podcasts for October ... Smart Authors for Successful Authors

9. Question of the Week ... Do You Have Any Craft’s Show Tips?

10. Smile Time ... Tim & Carol: You Light Up My Life

This Week Under The Book Shepherd’s ® Roof

Hello and Good Publishing Day to YOU …

Last Friday’s ASK JUDITH Friday on Zoom was jammed packed with participants and their questions. Outside of the U.S, Canada was represented and Germany. It was a great way to end Friday afternoon. I recorded it and sent it out to all participants.

My September Amazon Bestseller participants are rolling out their books. This week, from today through Friday, Kathleen Flanagan’s Awakening welcomes your download. Combine spirituality with a bit of NewAge and Hope, you can download it here NOW: https://bit.ly/4ekQW4J

NOTE … the Amazon Bestseller workshop is sold out for November. The next one will open up in February 2027 and is posted on TheBookShepherd.com website under Events. The Amazon Bestseller workshops are selling out two to three weeks before their start dates. If you are interested, note the dates on your calendar February 3, 10, 17, 24 and make the commitment.

I’m starting to noodle my all new book marketing intensive:

How to Soar Book Marketing  
Create. Execute. Succeed.  

The date will be announced soon. It will be a full DAY experience and IN-PERSON only, lunch included.

Apps we will be using include BookBrush and Stratira—live. I will also have one of my VAs live to show you some nifty behind the scenes tips on both platforms. If there is any chance that you want to participate in the How to Soar Book Marketing … make sure you grab the super discounted Stratira before the 30th. Details below.

October is my Foodie Rejoice Month throughout the month. Throughout the month, I will share fun quotes from well known foodie lovers.

Last week's blog was all about book marketing tools that I think every author who wants to be successful should immediately add to the author success tool kit. http://thebookshepherd.com/author-success-tool/

Get registered for the November 21^st Author Gathering ONLINE Zoom meeting. Details below. Identify that you “are coming” … and make sure copy the link for the Zoom gathering. 

Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/93931497233pwd=GPjy72qizD0mDsSlyFJb8wfq8A5bzx.1

Passcode: AU

Heads up for anyone, November Amazon Bestseller workshop is SOLD OUT. You need to wait till February. Next series in 2027 is February 3, 10, 17, 24.

If this is for you, get signed up. Details are on TheBookShepherd.com website under Events. Space is always limited so that I can do one-on-one coaching as well as group within each session. Over four weeks, you will be ready to set up your Amazon Bestseller campaign and claim it for your marketing forward. Strongly encourage you to get registered for the February round … that is if you want an Amazon Bestseller … and block the four Wednesday afternoons from 4-5:30 pm MT to work with me.

Last week's blog focuses on the essential book marketing tools for successful authors. The Ultimate Author Success Tool at Huge Discount!—don't miss out on this quick read!

This week's focus on the different ways authors can sell their books and reach more readers. Author Portals for Selling Books.

Make sure you take a few moments 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. October 22 Podcast … Loosening Book Buyers Lips … Ellen Naylor

2. October 25 B&N, Southlands in Aurora … Book Fair

3. October 29 Podcast … Book Design Planning and Costs … Nick Zelinger

4. November 4, 11, 18, 25 Amazon Bestseller Workshop … Zoom

5. November 5 Podcast … Crowdfunding

6. November 7 B&N, Ft Colins … Book Fair

7. November 12 Podcast … How to Sell More Books When You Hate to Sell

8. November 14 B&N, Colorado Blvd in Glendale … Book Fair

9. November 15 B&N, Denver West in Lakewood … Book Fair

10. November 19 Podcast

11. November 21 Author Gathering … Online

12. November 26 Podcast … Author Gratefulness

13. December 6 Author Holiday Party

14. December 13 B&N, Denver West in Lakewood

1. Discover and Use … Colors Are YOU!

Colors count. What are yours … personal favorites and for your author and book branding? Do you know your color palette? Use the color palette generator–it’s a freebie—and know what your opposite range is for word popping display on posters, slides, and any imaging that you create forward.

Check it out here: https://coolors.co/ 

2. Discover … Get the Ultimate Book Marketing Tool: Stratira

The short version is that you upload your book and about four minutes later you are looking at an entire marketing campaign built around it. Not suggestions, and not a list of ideas you still have to execute but finished work you can publish the same afternoon. Here is some of what you get.

1. The book-to-marketing machine
You upload your manuscript, you wait about four minutes, and what comes back is a complete promotional ecosystem built around your actual book rather than a template with your title dropped into it:

• A fully designed book webpage, ready to upload

• Scroll-stopping ad creatives and promotional graphics

• Social posts written around your characters, your world and your themes

• Email campaigns, written and sequenced

• Outreach emails for podcasts, reviewers and influencers

• Book review graphics and street team toolkits

• Blog posts built around what your readers are already searching for

It is the kind of work agencies charge $5,000 to $15,000 for, except that you do not wait six weeks for it, you do not sit through strategy calls to get it, and you do not pay again when you run your second book through it.

2. The genre authority system
Most authors think they are competing on Amazon, when in truth they are competing on Google, because everyday readers in your genre type question into a search box and land on a Reddit thread or somebody else's blog instead of on your site. 

Stratira builds the structure that puts you there instead: one flagship pillar guide of the kind that actually ranks, forty or more supporting articles underneath it, internal linking, search-optimized formatting, a publishing sequence, and a visual map of the whole thing so you can see what you are building.

3. The expansion engine

One book should never be only one product, and this is the part that turns a title into a catalogue. From the same upload it will generate companion guides, book club kits, reader magnets, behind-the-scenes exclusives, mini-courses, multi-module programs with slides and scripts and worksheets, and full eBook manuscripts with covers and structure, each one with its own promotional campaign built around it.

4. The campaign engine that does not run out
In a single session it will produce thirty, sixty or ninety days of blog posts with images, social calendars across every platform you use, email sequences and funnels, ad variations, seasonal campaigns and holiday tie-ins, all of it aligned and on brand, so that you never open a blank content calendar again.

That is the core of it. There are also a social media studio and a personal brand studio, a book cover designer, a lead magnet creator, podcast and course playbooks, Amazon A+ content in several visual styles, support for multiple languages, and the one I think matters most, writing profiles.

Writing profiles are worth a sentence of their own, because the standard complaint about every tool in this category is that everything it produces comes out sounding similar to everyone else. You set up a profile once and the output follows your voice instead of defaulting to that flat machine tone, which is the difference between content you publish and content you quietly delete.

Get Stratira for just $197 during this promotion—one payment, no subscription, but don’t wait: the price goes up at midnight on October 30th. 

See Stratira in action by clicking the link below and watching the videos covering the features. You will be impressed by what it can do.

Here’s your special link of open discount: https://bit.ly/Stratira

3. Join us this Sunday at the B&N Southlands Store in Aurora … Book Fair

The Fall Book Fairs at several Barnes & Noble. Start this weekend.

This is where several of the AuthorU.org authors sell their books and BN donates a percentage of store wide sales to the Colorado Authors Hall of Fame. Join us this Sunday at the Southlands store in Aurora! Say hello— we are right at the main door.

Shop and support BN. It supports us!

4. Ask Judith ANYTHING about Book Publishing and Book Marketing on Friday November 20 …  The Book Shepherd is YOURS in 60 Minutes!

Ask Judith ANYTHING on ZOOM this Friday … think Book Publishing and Book Marketing … The Book Shepherd is YOURS for 60 Minutes!

Judith Briles is YOURS for 60 minutes on Friday, November 20 at 3 pm MT to ask any question you have about book publishing, book marketing, writing a book … or just getting a “little juice” to start your engines after the Holiday rush from the past few weeks.

Post your questions as soon as you come on … Judith will come to you LIVE and bring you on the mic to respond to YOU and possibly ask additional questions.

It’s 60 minutes to start smoke ‘em your Author Success … and why not? Grab your favorite beverage; just listen in … or ASK, ASK, ASK! It’s time to re-juice and rekindle your author energy!

Join Zoom Meeting – click on it or copy/paste
https://zoom.us/j/95000476418?pwd=SH5vWqz0SkvVIZIgnC95lHCmCAi2km.1

Password: authors

Add to Your Calendar: Friday, November 20 at 3 MT (2 PT, 5 CT, 5 ET)

5. Join in Author Gathering Happening on Saturday 8am MT … Zoom only for Publishing and Book Marketing Answers in November 21st. Have Questions? Get Answers. And, it’s a Freebie!

ONLINE on Saturday November 21^st at 8 am … you must register to get your name on the approved list to participate. The date is delayed due to the various Book Fairs at Barnes & Noble bookstores.

Think of The Author Gathering as a combo MASTERMIND and personal Advisory Board for Aspiring and Achieving Authors. And JOIN AuthorU.org today.

Join Zoom Meeting:
Link: https://zoom.us/j/93931497233?pwd=GPjy72qizD0mDsSlyFJb8wfq8A5bzx.1
Passcode: AU

Delivered 8 months a year ONLINE for global and housebound members and 4 times IN-PERSON for those in Colorado. Registration happens on the Author Gathering Meetup site.

To register for November 21^st FREE session starting at 8.00 am MT, use this link to register for the November ONLINE Zoom sessions: https://www.meetup.com/authorgathering/

Your host is Dr. Judith Briles, The Book Shepherd and the Author Gatherings are held two ways: on ZOOM ONLINE from 8 to 9.30 am AND IN-PERSON in her home in the southeast Metro Denver area from 9 to 11.30 am. They are a benefit as a part of the paid AuthorU.org membership. A member can bring a Guest who can attend ONE Author Gathering. After that, you must be a member of AuthorYOU.org. Bring a snack to share.

Note: There must be a minimum of 5 participants (not including Judith) registered by NOON MT the day before for any session to BE A GO. If not, the session will be canceled and all members will be notified by an email announcement via Meetup.

6. Author Holiday Party ... Linner on December 6th 

It’s LINNER time … a combo of late lunch and early dinner at our annual Author Holiday Fest. Slated for Sunday, December 6th … come for great food, author catching up and of course the wacko gift exchange.

Date: Sunday, December 6th from 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM

Bring: One unmarked gift per person to exchange in the off-the-wall Wacko Pick and Steal after LINNER. If there are two in your party, bring two, please.

Location: Judith and John’s Home: 8122 S Quatar Cir, Aurora, CO 80016, USA

Cost: $25 for Singles or $40 for Duos

Gifts: We do an exchange–the Wacko Pick and Steal exchange to be exact; please keep your cost value to less than $15—hot items in the past: wine; nifty gadgets from Home Depot and Costco; sports stuff; movie tickets; goofy and quirky can be fun … as long as it isn’t an obvious reject from a past gift exchange.

Get Registered Now:

https://thebookshepherd.com/its-our-annual-ho-ho-ho-holiday-party/

7. Create an Amazon Bestseller Campaign for Your eBook Online Course in 4 weeks! ... NOV SOLD OUT

Next series in 2027 is February 3, 10, 17, 24

If you want to create this: Sign up for our next session for February 2027!

The Create an Amazon Bestseller Campaign for Your eBook Online course is the later. I will take you through each step during the four weeks.

Times: 4.00 P.M. to 5.30 P.M. MT

Cost: $299  special Alumni rates at $199

Register: https://thebookshepherd.com/create-an-amazon-bestseller

8. Hot Podcasts Slated 

for October

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

October 1 Podcast … GoodJelly Productivity for Authors and Writers … Christine Carron

October 8  Podcast … Scams Are Multiplying … Deb Eckerling

October 15 Podcast … Book Marketing Using Unique Days … Judith Briles

October 22 Podcast … Loosing Book Buyers Lips … Ellen Naylor

October 29 Podcast … Book Design Planning and Costs … Nick Zelinger

9. Question of the Week ... Do you have any tips and strategies for selling books at bookfairs, craft’s festivals, and conventions?

My Answer: Plenty. In one of my previous blogs, I identified 28 tips and strategies to use. If you haven’t read, take a few minutes to do so. I called it The Authors’ Guide to Mastering the Art of Book Festivals and Crafts Fairs. It’s here: https://thebookshepherd.com/bookfestivalsandcraftsfairs/

10. 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.—Oooh, I loved this— Smile time—and Optimism time. Take a minute and revisit the Carol Burnett show segment where Tim Conway takes a bubble bath.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPdB4dZfyII

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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