Latest NEWS from The Book Shepherd this week / Sell Your Books in Grocery Stores

Practical Publishing Advice and Guidance for Authors

I create books authors never have to apologize for …

In this Issue

1. Discover … Use -We Transfer

2. Meet and Discover ... The Authors Guild

3. New Webinar … Sell Your Books in Grocery Stores

4. Ask Judith … March 20

5. Hot podcasts for March … Add to your calendar and listen

6. Bestseller time … April brings Amazon Bestseller workshops.

7. Salons for the New Year … March and April are open to register

8. Question of the week … When do I create an Author Central account on Amazon?

9. Smile time … Johnny and Robin yuk it up

Everywhere I look, I see promises of green and budding. For us here in Colorado, it’s a bit of an “oh-oh” … we’ve had little snow, and promises of a major drought are in the air … unless Mother Nature decides that she needs to drop in a whopper of a blizzard to make it up to us … to the many who rely on the water we share.

What a week, coming down from the Publishing at Sea cruise and workshops, I walked into a celebration of friendship—a big birthday one. So much to be surrounded by friends for an afternoon lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Pappadeaux’s. A special menu, delicious food, and fun stories. Each was asked how I met them. My favorite response, “I met Judith at a protest…” So like me!

1. March 5 Podcast … Sponsorships

2. March 12 Podcast … How to Sell Books in Grocery Stores

3. March 14 AuthorYOU Salons – both online and in-person

4. March 14 How to Sell Your Books in Grocery Stores

5. March 19 Podcast … Publicity Basics

6. March 24 Webinar … How to Sell Books in Grocery Stores

7. March 26 Podcast … Fire Horse Author Swag

8. April 1, 8, 15, 22 ... Amazon Best Seller Workshops

9. April 11 Author Salons … online only

10. April 11 BN Book Fair, Lakewood

11. April 25 BN Book Fair, Fort Collins

12. April 26 BN Book Fair, Colorado Blvd

13. May 2 BN Book Fair, Southlands

14. May 9 BN Book Fair, Loveland

One of my favorite FREE tools is WeTransfer. Oh, you can upgrade and pay—but you don’t need to 99% of the time. Here’s what I love about WeTransfer: you can send big files—or lots of them at the same time—of up to TWO gigabytes. That’s huge! Think graphics, files with lots of color …you name it, via the website to the recipient. All you need is their email. They are notified that files are ready to download in seconds.
WeTransfer is fast and efficient. On my top 10 fav tools to use. Discover the convenience and ease at www.WeTransfer.com

Authors Guild Expands "Human Authored" Certification Program to All Authors Nationwide
We’re excited to announce the official public launch of our Human Authored certification program with a modified logo. Human Authored allows you to certify that your book is created by a human and not generated by AI.

More than 1,250 authors have signed up and certified nearly 4,000 books since we launched the Human Authored beta exclusively for members in January 2025. Today, we’re expanding Human Authored to all books published in the United States and introducing a new simplified logo that will work with any cover art.
As one of the original adopters of the Human Authored certification mark, we wanted to say thank you—and let you know what this means.

Certification logo: You can continue to use the old version of the certification mark, or choose to replace it with the new version. Both versions are available for you to download in the Human Authored portal.
Registration number: The new logo does not include the unique registration number issued provided for each title. This is to allow the mark to be printed at smaller sizes. We recommend including the registration number on the book’s copyright page if practicable.
Usage guidelines: We’ve issued updated usage guidelines for the new logo. Read them here.
Costs and ID verification: We’ve implemented an identity verification requirement and a $10/title fee to support the program, but both these requirements are waived for Authors Guild members. You can continue to use the certification mark and register new titles (up to 10 per year) at no cost.

Visit the Human Authored portal to view and download the new certification mark.

Judith Briles is YOURS for 60 minutes on Friday, March 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, March 20 at 3 MT (2 PT, 5 CT, 5 ET)

March 24, 2 pm MT (1 PT, 2 CT, 4 ET)

What does the Kroger grocery store empire have in common with authors and books? Lots … and now you can discover another alternative portal to sell your books. 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 over 60 percent of the retail book price. There are over 20 states Kroger stores are in welcoming authors.

Register for FREE Webinar: https://bit.ly/GroceryBooks

The Authors In Grocery Stores program CEO Ray DePew will reveal the whys and how to be included and featured in a Kroger grocery store for a few hours. Got questions? He’s got answers.

Why it makes dollars and sense to add grocery stores to your book marketing mix.
How to be invited into the program.
What an author needs to have at a grocery signing event.
How to create your author book-selling tour.
How you get paid and how often.
Guidance.

Register now. https://bit.ly/GroceryBooks The session will be recorded and all registrants will get a copy with 24 hours of the completed webinar.

Can you get results?
Can you grab #1 for more than an hour, like many of these campaigns?
Yes, YES you can. And so has EVERY participant in the Amazon Bestseller program. Every. One. Of. Them. Many are grabbing multiple spots on the international lists as well. Often, I decide to be a guinea pig myself, along with the rest of the participants who are on the quest, taking old books and dusting them off. New life happens … even dominoing to sales of print and audiobooks.

The bonus? I get behind your campaigning. Helping you rewrite your pushes and then promoting YOU on all my social media platforms. I’m part of your marketing team to make this happen.

One of the “power” points of the How to Create an Amazon Best Seller is to set EVERYTHING up weeks in advance so authors can continue with whatever their routine is … a “set it and forget it” strategy … which was what I positioned every participant to do and experience.

Some pooh-pooh Amazon bestseller status. Don’t. It does add credibility to your brag sheet. You can post on your details page on Amazon your achievement. You can write a press release. It will put a smile on your face. And who knows, you can fall in love with your book again and put energy behind it—bringing new life. That’s a good thing.

For this April’s class, I’ve got my eye on a possible combo of The Author’s Walk and How to Avoid Book Publishing Blunders … or just one of them. Typically in book stores, book buyers buy both.

Decision TIME for you … If you want to spend 90 minutes with me each Wednesday afternoon at 4 MT during January, register for How to Create an Amazon Best Seller. I would love to have you …

When—April 1, 8, 15, 22
Time—4 pm to 5.30 Mountain
Cost—$299
Alumni Cost—$150

REGISTER NOW: https://thebookshepherd.com/create-an-amazon-bestseller/

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/

About Judith Briles, The Book Shepherd ™

Book Publishing expert Judith Briles, aka The Book Shepherd, has shepherded more than 1,000 authors and created 500 best-sellers and award-winning books. She knows publishing inside and out from both the traditional and independent sides. Judith is an advocate for authors within her blogs, podcasts and speaking engagements. What’s her pet peeve? Two words: publishing predators.

She hosts the podcast AuthorU-Your Guide to Book Publishing which generates over 250,000 downloads a month. Her website is www.TheBookShepherd, email: JudithBriles.com and phone: 303-885-2207.