business

Build Belonging. Sell Identity.

Invent the System, Then Fill it.

One of the most common questions I get asked about The Author Ecosystems is, "Great. I know my ecosystem. What do I do now and why do I even care?"

We’ve talked a lot about ecosystems already, but knowing your ecosystem is only half of the Author Ecosystems equation.

In nature, ecosystems often blend at their edges, creating rich environments where two biomes coexist. For authors, these blended ecosystems represent a mix of creative tendencies and strategies.

At this point, it’s probably not hard to recognize that I’m a natural Tundra.

One of the most interesting ways to parse The Author Ecosystems is how each type deals with trends in the marketplace.

When authors start learning about the Author Ecosystems, they generally map it onto their own experience

The heart of any business is the sales and marketing engine.

Writing has always been a deeply personal journey, yet for decades, authors have been squeezed into narrowly defined boxes of genre, style, and approach.

We’ve all heard the expression “email is king”. When it comes to marketing, there is no better investment than building your email list.

Website sales are as simple as they are complicated. Webstores, for instance, are the thing most associated with direct sales in the author community.

If you’ve been following my career for any length of time, you probably learned about me through Kickstarter.

Building subscriptions into your business is one of the most important ways you can create stability as a writer.

Authors who know me probably learned of me through Kickstarter, but Kickstarter was a relatively small part of my business until 2017, and even then it wasn’t until 2020 when I started doubling down

Most authors I talk with ask some form of the question, “How did you succeed on Substack?” Of course, what they really mean is, “How can I succeed at Substack?”

If you’ve read this far, I want to thank you for your persistence and perseverance.