This week audiobook publisher, award-winning podcast producer, and internationally acclaimed speaker, Tina Dietz, took a timeout to chat with me about her passion for helping authors grow their audiences, why you should produce an audiobook, and the bright future of audio content.(Podcast on The Writer Files, December 4, 2018)
Tina is an entrepreneur and content marketing expert who has been featured on ABC, Inc.com, Huffington Post, and Forbes (to name a few), and her company, StartSomething Creative Business Solutions, helps authors and entrepreneurs expand their audiences with audio content.She is an award-winning podcaster and an expert in leveraging and repurposing content, and her company specializes deeply in audiobook production and publishing for one simple reason …
Tina and her cohorts love to help authors expand their audiences, income, influence, and opportunities.
Audible is offering our listeners a free audiobook with a 30-day trial membership. Just go to audibletrial.com/writerfiles and browse the unmatched selection of audio programs – download a title free and start listening. It’s that easy. Go to audibletrial.com/writerfiles to get started today.
In Part One of this file Tina Dietz and I talk about:
The Renaissance of audiobooks, the fastest growing format in publishing
When authors should start thinking about audiobook production
The importance of reading your book out loud for editing
Tina’s twisty journey from voice acting to helping authors’ tell their own stories with audio
Why audiobooks are more popular than ever
And who can benefit the most from publishing an audiobook today
Audiobook sales will top 3 billion dollars in 2018. We’re going to give you some tips and ideas you can use to promote your audiobook masterpiece!
So you’ve decided to publish an audiobook version of your book – great idea! Audiobook sales will top 3 billion dollars in 2018. BUT, guess what?
That also means you need to (gasp!) market your audiobook. Many authors think of marketing as a big scary thing you have to do in order to avoid failure, but think about your marketing time as time spent getting to know your readers and finding out what interests them.
Whether you’re promoting online, in print, or by word of mouth, there are many different options you can use to help in this process. To help get you started, we’re going to give you some tips and ideas you can use to promote your masterpiece!
Connect with Amazon
After your audiobook has been completed, the first thing you should do is look your book up on Amazon to ensure that the audiobook version is listed on the book’s page. If your audiobook is not listed, contact Amazon to request that the editions get combined. This is particularly helpful because some people exclusively listen to audiobooks, and if they are looking for the book, they will see the audiobook available on the same page in one easy search. Whispersync can also help here, because it synchronizes the Audible audiobook and the Kindle e-book so that you can switch between them with ease. You can go from reading your book in the living room to jumping in the car and listening right where you left off in the story.
Social Media
Promoting your work online and via social media is a must for any author. Based on who your reader is, focus your efforts on using the social media platform that your readers most use. Do you have an author page on Facebook if that’s where your readers are most? If it’s Twitter, use hashtags wisely so that people who are searching for your book or general book genre can identify your project by interest. Facebook also allows you to promote your post by adding a filter to it to enable traffic with the specific interest. Overall, posting on social media sites using videos created to promote your audiobook (with a snippet of your 5 minute retail sample) or quote memes pulled from your audiobook’s content will bring attention and will also be great for your book’s search engine optimization efforts by back linking to your book’s sales pages.
Promote to Audio Listeners via Podcasts
Just as you wouldn’t want to waste time pitching your audiobook to a paperback only crowd, you don’t want to promote your audiobook to them either. You want to focus on the audio listeners and the best place to find them is through podcasts! Podcast audiences are already listening and therefore they’re more likely to also be listening to audiobooks. Listen to some podcasts that would be a good fit for your audiobook and take some notes on the audience, jot down contact info, and contact podcasters about what you could bring to the show as a guest. Special giveaways or an inside view of your creative or writing process are good hooks to get listeners to tune in. You can also use your 5 minute audiobook retail sample in your podcast interview or in the episode’s “show notes” to give listeners a preview-both creating interest and generating traffic back to your audiobook’s sales page.
Be Their Guest
Being featured on someone else’s website as a guest blogger is a great way to get noticed and promote your work. In addition to guest blogs, consider Tweet chats, local radio stations, and YouTube interviews. You can reach out to hosts in the same friendly and value-oriented way that you would to ask to be on a podcast. If your audiobook narrator has a blog, ask them if you can guest blog and then host your narrator on your own blog for an article or interview. The more channels you appear on, the more you get the word out about your work. You can even write a blog that interviews the main character of the story and publish this on sites that engage with your readers and audience. This is a fun way to get attention, and it engages your readers in even more.
Free Audiobook Sample
Giving people an easy, risk-free way to sample your audiobook will peak their interest and have them craving more. When you create your audiobook, you have a “5 minute retail sample” that is featured on your audiobook retail pages so that potential listeners can have a taste of your work. You can use the 5 minute audio clip as a free sample that you can embed on your website in blog posts and on all social media platforms.
Reviews
Just as there are reviewers for standard print books and e-books, there are also reviewers who specialize in audiobook reviews. By using a google search or checking directories you can find publications, websites, bloggers, and many others that you can submit your audiobook for a review. As these reviews start pouring in, use the positives to your advantage. Post or share these reviews on your websites or social media accounts to draw in more attention, and to spread the word. If you use ACX to produce your audiobook, you can email ACX to receive 25 free promo codes that can be used to send your audiobook to potential reviewers in exchange for a review.
Video Book Trailer
Sometimes people make their audiobook trailers too long and it can lose the listener’s interest or make them feel as if they have already learned all there is to know already about the book. You want to keep it edgy and have the audience eager to know more or find out what happens next. Also, keep in mind that most people are always in a hurry and only have but a minute or two to spare, so try to get as much detail as you need squeezed into a video that’s two minutes or less. To make it easy, you can again use the 5 minute retail sample of your audiobook to help create your book trailer. Make sure to feature your trailer on your website, social media sites, and even in your e-mail signature.
There are hundreds of ways authors and narrators can market audiobooks, but it’s important to focus on making a connection with readers. Learn where your readers spend their time the most, and that will help you determine where you should focus on sharing about your work. If you offer valuable content and engagement, you will see the same in return, and remember that listening is the new reading, so promoting your audiobook and doing it well is worth it.
Want help creating & promoting your audiobook? My team and I have the expertise you need to unleash your masterpiece
In this week’s episode, Mark speaks with Tina Dietz who is an award-winning and internationally acclaimed speaker, audiobook publisher, podcast producer, and content marketing expert.(Podcast on Stark Reflections, October 12, 2018)
Prior to the interview, Mark shares a few personal updates that include the launch of his new traditionally published book Macabre Montreal, and how that book launch interfered with attending the NIGHT OF THE WRITING DEAD event in Pittsburgh that same weekend.
The link between writing/expression and entrepreneurship
How writing (particularly in print) can be an enduring format as a tangible legacy
Tina’s introduction into podcasting and audiobook production
Tina’s Forbes article “Do You Sound Like a Leader?” that focuses on the relationship between vocal qualities and how a person is viewed as a leader
Getting used to and comfortable with the sound of one’s own voice
Breathing techniques and facial exercises used for voice or singing voice
Food and drink to avoid when doing voice work (dairy and citrus, for example)
The coaching Tina does helping authors getting ready to do interviews for radio or podcasting
The difference between forms of media like television, radio and podcasting
Trends in the audiobook industry that authors might not be familiar with
The concept that anything you create needs to be an asset and not a burdenThe free download that Tina has on her website that helps demystifies the audiobook process – www.launchyouraudiobook.com
Things to consider when deciding between narrating and producting an audiobook yourself or outsourcing that
How Tina’s clients often “come for the audiobooks and then stay for everything else”
The pre-interview Tina sent to Mark ahead of the podcast which made things so much easier for Mark
In the post-interview reflections, Mark talks about how Tina’s info PDF made his job as an interviewer so much easier and he also shares a link to a WORD document template that authors can download and modify so they have something similar to use for their own podcast or radio interviews.
Tina Dietz is an award-winning and internationally acclaimed speaker, audiobook publisher, podcast producer, and content marketing expert who has been featured on media outlets including ABC, Inc.com, Huffington Post, and Forbes. Tina’s podcast, The StartSomething Show, was named by INC magazine as one of the top 35 podcasts for entrepreneurs. Tina’s company, StartSomething Creative Business Solutions, connects leaders, entrepreneurs and experts with larger audiences, resulting in expanded influence and income. Tina divides her time between the US and Costa Rica, where she’s part of a leadership team building a conscious community called Vista Mundo.
The music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Interested in learning more about audiobooks and howyou can be using audio in your writing career ?
The popularity of devices like Alexa have created a rise in the demand for audio to educate and entertain commuters and laundry-folders alike. James talks to Tina Dietz about creating audiobooks from both our fiction and non-fiction work.(Podcast on Self Publishing Formula, September 14, 2018)
This week’s highlights include:
The importance of creativity in every type of business
How creativity makes us more productive
The different approaches to audiobooks by fiction and non-fiction authors
Thoughts on narrating your book yourself
The range of costs for producing an audiobook, including what you can expect to pay a narrator
Auditioning narrators to find the right voice for your book
Providing character information to narrators to find a good fit
Reading your book out loud yourself to get a sense of your characters’ voices
The three reasons for starting a podcast
Resources mentioned in this episode:
PATREON: Self Publishing Formula Podcast’s Patreon page
She gives us the low down on audiobooks, how to get them recorded, how they fit into the marketing of your other book formats, and how to promote/market them to your audience.
She also talks about the expanding audiobook industry and why we should all be considering adding audiobooks to our inventory of books.
Tina gave us some amazing ideas for how to promote audiobooks, or even just using audio to promote your print or ebook versions of your book. She’s a very smart marketer, with a strong grasp of the audio market, and this is a must-listen episode for anyone who’s thinking of getting into audiobooks, or who already has audiobooks on sale. (Or in fact anyone who thinks they could use audio in any way to help with the marketing of their books. ???? )
About Tina
Tina Dietz MS, NCC is an award-winning and internationally acclaimed speaker, audiobook publisher, podcast producer, and content marketing expert who has been featured on media outlets including ABC, Inc.com, Huffington Post and Forbes. Tina’s podcast, The StartSomething Show, was named by INC magazine as one of the top 35 podcasts for entrepreneurs.
Tina has been building businesses for over 20 years and is the owner of StartSomething Creative Business Solutions, a company committed to connecting experts, authors, and entrepreneurs with their ideal audiences through audio branding and marketing with a deep specialty in audiobook publishing, podcasting, and thought leadership.
When you turn your book into an audiobook, you do so in the hopes that it will bring in more income. Have you heard about the audible bounty program?
When you set off to turn your book into an audiobook, you do so in the hopes that it will bring in more income from the book you spent so much time and energy writing and publishing. Many authors assume that the only way to make money from publishing an audiobook is through sales, but there’s also another, lesser known way to make money with your audiobook.
ACX is a marketplace for professional narrators, agents, publishers, and rights holders to create audiobooks and distribute them to Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. Just recently, they have announced a new version of their Bounty Referral Program, which will increase payout to its members and provides many member benefits.
What is the Bounty Referral Program, you might ask? It allows those who are selling audiobooks another option for making money off all their hard work. Through the Bounty Referral Program, members can earn up to $75 each time a new Audible listener becomes a member using your referral link, plus any royalties earned from the sale of the audiobook itself.
When an audiobook has been produced on ACX, the rights holder will receive trackable referral links that is unique to each of the audiobooks published. For those who entered into a Royalty Share agreement with a narrator, (as opposed to paying the narrator up front for their services) $50 will go to the creator of the audiobook, and $25 will go to the narrator for each bounty.
When marketing your audiobook, you’ll want to make sure you use your unique ACX tracking URL to bring any listeners straight to the book without any delay. If that user isn’t currently registered on Audible, that $75 bounty will be added right to the audiobook creator’s account. This means it’s important to share with your email list, social media followers, and friends and family. As an audiobook creator, you’ll want to make sure you let everyone know how very magical it can be to listen to a book rather than read it when listening to a story.
Particularly when listening to non-fiction, it can be helpful for listeners to do something at the same time as listening, such as taking notes or even multi-tasking (we all know people who prefer it!). When including your book URL in marketing efforts, you can also include clips of your audio, your retail sample, a book trailer, or a good, old-fashioned book synopsis. Even those who have read your book may be interested in listening to the book to hear it differently.
The ACX Bounty Referral Program not only gives you a chance to bring even more listeners to Audible to listen to each audiobook you publish, but it also will bring you additional income with each new Audible member who comes in with your unique link.
Considering publishing an audiobook on ACX? The Bounty Referral Program might encourage you further. Need help? Our team at StartSomething Creative Business Solutions can take care of the whole production and publishing process for you or help you along the way!
Need help producing and publishing your audiobook?
When Tina Dietz was handed a tape recorded at 2 years old, that was that, she developed a life long love affair with speaking. Today she is a speaker, audio-book publisher, podcast producer, and an internationally acclaimed business coach who has been featured on ABC, Inc.com, Forbes and Huffington Post. Her company, Start Something Creative Business Solutions works with authors, experts and entrepreneurs who want more than just a business and more than a routine life. They want a business oasis.
Summary
Tina discusses being a podcast guest, and the difference between being an average guest, and a good guest. She also talks about showing up to have a real conversation, instead of just to promote something.
She shares the single easiest way to get onto a podcast, and how simple it really is. She also stresses the importance of making sure the shows you appear on are the right fit for you.
Dana and Tina talk about evergreen content, and how it's very beneficial when it comes to sharing and promoting podcast episodes. They also discuss strategic hiring and how it can help immensely, even early on.
Tina gets into the key pieces and takeaways for someone who is looking into being a podcast guest. She gives practical tips, as well as insights to keep in mind as you move into being a guest.
Quotes
“There's being a guest, and then there's being a good guest.”
“People come for the topic, but they stay for the host.”
“It's not all about you, it's about you getting involved with that hosts' community.”
“Every interview you do is a marketing asset.”
“Show up prepared.”
“Having a podcast means that you have a platform to share influence with other people.”
Are you ready to grow your business? Are you ready to focus on and leverage your Zone of Genius?
If you said yes to either of the two questions above, if you’re hanging out in Overwhelm City or Burnout Alley and there aren’t enough hours in the day and you always feel like you’re scrambling, you need systems.
Even if you’re not a “systems person,” I guarantee you have systems… even if your system is something like:
Step 1. Get ready to do a task
Step 2. Try to remember how you did it the last time (whenever that was)
Step 3. Stop trying to remember and invent a new way to get it done
Step 4. Rinse and repeat.
I call this the “Non-Systems-System.”
Systems are simply consistent ways of getting things done that are made up of a mix of people, technology, and processes that create an intended outcome. It’s a structure that’s created to hold all the parts of your business together so work can flow. Ideally, this is set up to be like a wide-flowing river – not a creek with lots of beaver dams on it.
Better and more effective systems are the train tickets out of overwhelm city. You’ll find that you know what’s going on, what needs to happen, get to do more of the stuff you love in your business AND you work less while making more money.
You might have a blogging system that you follow to create high quality content on a consistent basis. Or a client on-boarding system that sets up your clients to have an amazing experience EVERY TIME they work with your business.
In systems are embedded culture, values, creativity, your essence… The systems of your business create a microcosm, an ecosystem that can reflect your unique way of being and working.
Building systems is simply about bringing consciousness to the process of how you (and your team) get things done in your business. In this process of bringing greater consciousness, what’s not working, what could be working better, and what could be simplified comes to light. You also find out ways to work more joyfully and more in alignment, which makes the process of running and growing a business all the more enjoyable.
Why Systems Rock!
Unless you’re building systems, it’s easy to stay in a place where you feel like you’re always racing against the clock. Talk about hanging out on the burnout path.
By getting clear about where you are, you can let go of any need to be polished and perfect and simply be clear about where you’re going and keep building without all the mental runaround.
With systems, it’s easier to add on and change the business without it being a huge hassle – that’s what systems are for.
When you have insight into what IS working, you won’t have to dedicate extra energy or resources into what’s already solid.
You’ll gain back extra brain space because you’re no longer trying to hold all the details. Since you have places for all that knowledge and insight to go to be actioned, you can trust you won’t lose momentum when you step away.
You might even find that you can take weekends and lunch breaks! Not in front of the computer, but away from it and you might not even think about work for hours or days at a time.
Imagine being able to work the same amount of hours (or less!), but do MORE of what you love doing in the business while being able to serve more people that need your particular sauce of brilliance.
You will be able to slow down and enjoy the ride, rather than the process feeling like a drag.
When you expand what you’re able to do without YOU having to work more, you enable yourself to be able to make more money, expand your impact, increase your creativity in business, while kicking that annoying overwhelm gremlin out.
That is why systems are awesome and worth making work for you.
Business Systems Are Like an Ecosystem
Your business is like an ecosystem. There are lots of different parts that interact to create something bigger than just each one of the parts individually. There's a symbiotic relationship that happens when these pieces work well together.
When you think about your business as an ecosystem, how you create systems is informed by the way you do things and why you make certain decisions.
Think about a river. There’s a lot of potential energy in a river. But if the river didn’t have banks, it would be diffused everywhere. The water wouldn’t be channeled.
You are the river. Your systems are the river banks, the roots of the trees that prevent erosion on the banks, and the rocks and bends that slow the water at certain locations along your trajectory. All of these parts support your journey and help you flow. Without a container for the river, the fish and other aquatic critters wouldn't have a home.
Systems operate in a continuum. There's no wrong place to be, you are where you are. Just like ecosystems. They are where they are in their development. There are no “have to’s” and there are no “shoulds.” There are no places that you're supposed to come out at on the other end. It's just about you having the opportunity to explore and decide what kind of journey you want to have and where you want to go. With systems, there's no done and there's no perfect.
When you align your systems you support your creativity and amplify your impact. You can improve the way you're working so you're more effective with your time and the way that you showing up on a day to day basis. You can have the impact that you want and do meaningful work without going to a place of overwhelm or burnout or spreading yourself too thin.
This process of building systems is about consciously choosing what needs your attention, effort and investment of resources. Ultimately that starts within, that starts with you making those choices.
Ready to level up your business systems? My brilliant colleague Justine Sparks is offering a free online workshop called Level Up Your Business Systems. During the event, you'll work through a framework to pinpoint the current level of your systems in personal organization and planning, financial management, sales, and marketing.
It's an opportunity to reduce your overwhelm and increase your business results in real time: 20% Theory, 80% Action. It's going to be a lot of fun and super practical and actionable.
With a background in business management, corporate social responsibility and marketing, Justine is your soulfoul systems designer. Her mission is to give you the tools that will allow you to support yourself on the journey. Justine brings high level strategic and systems thinking to the work she does with business owners. She received her BS in Business Management from an all women’s college, Simmons, in Boston, with a concentration in Leadership. Learn more about her.
Birds are chirping, flowers are blooming, and apparently writers are writing!
May is a big month for events in the nonfiction world, and for books and writing in general. I’m pretty sure that as the weather improves, writers emerge from their blankies, blinking at the sun and needing human contact, so event organizers plan accordingly.
3 Events for Nonfiction Writers in May
Nonfiction Writers Conference – Virtual – May 4-6
The opening session features a conversation with Gretchen Rubin, New York Times bestselling author of The Four Tendencies, Better Than Before, and The Happiness Project. Additional sessions cover how to write, publish, promote and profit with nonfiction books.
Participants can also register for our popular Ask-a-Pro sessions, free 15-minute consultations with industry pros. A private Facebook group is also available for all attendees to gather and exchange ideas.
CLICK HERE for the event website and more information.
Self-Publishing University “Less Talk, More Action” Conference – Virtual – May 31
A one day online conference focused on book marketing and increasing sales!
This conference offers 10 international Speakers ready to pour into you the help you need and have been searching for around the vital topic of Book Marketing!
The aim of this conference is to bring authors, agents and publishers in one place to have a hearty, healthy and value added discussion on the issues facing authors today and how they can better prepare themselves for success in the near future. Straight to the point, no sales, no fluff and taking action is the order of the day.
CLICK HERE for the event website and more information.
Book Expo America – New York City – May 31-June 1
THE BIG KAHUNA! I have colleagues who attend and work this event every year, and they quite literally train for it because it’s so huge. Tons of events, tons of exhibits, the scope will blow your mind and give you ideas, info, and contacts for the entire next year to work with.CLICK HERE for the event website and more information.
**HINT: if you’re a blogger or show host with a show about publishing, books, etc. consider applying for a press pass for this show.Remember the pen IS truly mightier than the sword, and getting your creative juices flowing is key to getting your work and message out into the world. Is writing and publishing already part of your world, or are those areas emerging for you? What motivates you in this arena, or what stops you from publishing? Sound off in the comments!
Podcast interview from The Entrepreneur Way where we talked about how you can expand your audience, influence and increase your income(Podcast on The Entrepreneur Way, Mar 28, 2018)
Tina Dietz is an internationally acclaimed speaker, podcast producer, audiobook publisher, and creative business expert who has been featured on ABC, Inc.com, Huffington Post and Forbes. Her podcast, The StartSomething Show, was named by Inc magazine as one of the top 35 podcasts for entrepreneurs, and her company, StartSomething Creative Business Solutions, connects experts, authors, and entrepreneurs all around the world with their ideal audiences through podcasting, audiobooks, and thought leadership marketing. Tina splits her time between the US and Costa Rica where she’s part of a team building a community of entrepreneurs and conscious leaders.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
Pitchmen
When business started difficulties overcame:
“Surrendering to the fact that I was an entrepreneur. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the godfather movies but it was in the godfather 3, the least interesting of all the movies, Al Pacino has this moment where he goes they keep bringing me back, and that is what it felt like to me becoming an entrepreneur, I really resisted it for a long time” …[Listen for More]
“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul”
Recommended Online Resources:
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Title Generator – create 700 headlines with ONE CLICK, Content Ideas, Catchy Headlines, Ad Campaign E mail Subject Lines, Emotional Titles, Simple, Efficient, One Click
Words to Time Calculator – Use Edge Studio’s words to time calculator as a script timer to give accurate estimates and invoices of your voice over scripts to your customers
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“Engage your curiosity. Curiosity will get you through a lot. We get so fixed sometimes on how something looks or how something should be or we worry about if something is going to turn out a certain way, what other people are going to think about us it goes on and on and on. Whatever circumstance that you’re in if you can shift from whatever state of being you’re in that has you feeling diminished or concerned or angry or upset or any of those states of being, if you can shift yourself into curiosity then that is a bridge to be much more positive and making decisions from a place that’s not based in fear or anger”…[Listen for More]
“Adult life is dealing with an enormous amount of questions that don’t have answers. So I let the mystery settle into my music. I don’t deny anything, I don’t advocate anything, I just live with it.” Bruce Springsteen
Other Quotes From the Chat with Tina Dietz:
“I don’t know if there are secrets, there’s just stuff you haven’t learned yet”
“Setting ideas aside, I don’t have to act on all the ideas”
“It’s a little bit like the matrix, are you going to take the blue pill or the red pill because if you take that blue pill you’re going to go down a road that you’re going to follow for some time”
Did you like what you heard?
If you liked this podcast, please leave a review on iTunes! Visit to discover the iTunes page. If you found value in this episode why don't you help a friend out and share this episode on Social Media
Learn how how you can expand your audience, influence andincrease your income
