So for anyone who's considered doing a Subscriber Surge Giveaway / Bargain Booksy Giveaway through WrittenWordMedia to build their list for their non-fiction book... here's my update two weeks in: So far I've had 80 email opt-ins saying they want to be on my author newsletter list (though they get an extra raffle entry for choosing to be on my newsletter, and the checkbox up top is a "select all" to join ALL the newsletters... See photo.) ~26% confirmed their email address directly with me (A "double opt-in" meaning they really do want to hear from me) The campaign still has another 41 days left, so I'm guessing I'll see a total of ~250 email addresses opt-in and maybe ~60 double opt-in... ? The lead quality feels LOW, especially since they get raffle entries to win a kindle and a bunch of ebooks if they opt-in, but... we'll see... All of the opt-ins, once they double opt-in directly with me, go into a welcome/nurture/indoctrination sequence and then - as requested - onto my newsletter list which has a daily email. Here's the page if you want to see it: https://www.bargainbooksy.com/self-help-ebook-and-kindle-giveaway-december-1st-2025/ I'll share more as we get towards the close as it's too early to say if it was worth participating vs not... Open to any questions / feedback if you got 'em!

Hey, y'all, join me in my nomination of @Julie Broad for the IBPA Jack D. Rittenhouse Award. 👉 https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HJ99NS7 The Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) is now accepting nominations for The Rittenhouse Award, an annual honor historically given by PubWest in memory of Jack D. Rittenhouse, the West’s legendary bookman. Nominations will be open from December 1st through January 31st. The award committee will review the candidates in February and select a proposed winner to be shared with and approved by IBPA’s Board of Directors. I submitted my nomination the other day, and today is YOUR chance to submit yours. The is only open to fellow IBPA members, so if you're not already a member of the IBPA... you may want to consider joining. Share how you feel Julie has "made a significant and lifelong contribution to a pioneering and independent spirit of books and book publishing." I can think of a dozen ways, but that's what I put in my nomination. Yours should be in your own words, not mine. If you have any questions about the form, the IBPA, or the nomination, comment here or DM me. It's a short form, will only take you a minute or two to complete, and will help honor Julie's lifetime commitment to us fellow authors. 👉 https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HJ99NS7

Just in from KDP: Starting January 20, 2026, Amazon will make it easier for readers to enjoy content they have purchased from the Kindle store across a wider range of devices and applications by allowing new titles published without Digital Rights Management (DRM) to be downloaded in EPUB and PDF format. If you take no action, the DRM-status of your previously published titles will not change but the EPUB and PDF downloads will not be enabled for existing DRM-free titles. If you want to allow reader downloads for these titles, follow the directions below on or after December 9, and select the option not to apply DRM.

While I’m off at the world’s largest Turkey Trot this morning – for real, it’s a record breaking 23,000+ runners this year – I’ve been reflecting a lot the past many weeks on how fortunate we are to live in a world where we can make our own way. This past year has been full of book writing, learning, prelaunching, publishing, and all things book related for me. It’s been a literal new chapter in my life. Looking back, I had the naive idea that I’d write up my book, print to PDF, upload to Amazon, and in a very Silicon Valley way, ship a book in one Sprint. Hah! Fortunately, in that short 3 week sprint, I discovered some excellent books on non-fiction writing, which lead me to communities of warm and welcoming non-fiction authors, which led to wonderful new friends, and in turn more books and courses on publishing. Each time I thought I was a step closer to publishing… I discovered a new chasm of knowledge I didn’t know that I didn’t know about. And each time I dove in, I came out better for it. I’m immensely grateful for not just having the opportunity to write and publish a book, but for having an incredible team of experts (editor, keyword researcher, cover designer, photographer, coach, etc), advisors, authors, advanced readers (my ARC team!), launch partners, early reviewers, community leaders, and more at my side each step of the way. I so enjoyed writing up the acknowledgements section of the book knowing that the names of those who helped me get to where I am would be forever in print in the Library of Congress, the US Copyright Office, bookstores, libraries, classrooms, and the bookshelves of business owners around the globe. How lucky we are that we can each stretch our fingers out to the keyboard, write our thoughts, and share what we’ve learned with the world. Thank you for being part of that journey with me. I absolutely could not have gotten to where I am without your love, support, encouragement, early feedback, reviews, book purchases, referrals, media invitations, ratings, subscriptions, and more.

With the Amazon Launch behind us for both ebook and paperback, wider distribution has now been coming online for Your Business Growth Playbook! IngramSpark moves glacially slow in approving things, printing, packaging, and shipping, BUT… they are the gateway to the entire book world. With my book now approved and setup for distribution, most anywhere you can buy books now has access to my paperback and ebook! Of note, you can now buy Your Business Growth Playbook at Barnes & Noble, and if you’re local here in San Jose, at my favorite bookstore, Hicklebees in Willow Glen! On the other end of the spectrum, it also means I’m in the big stores like Walmart and available for bulk purchase through BookPal! 🍏 If you’re an Apple person and buy your books on Apple Books, we’re approved and online with Apple Books. 🤓 If you’re a Google person and like reading your books through Google Play, we’re also finally approved on Google Play, too! 🇦🇺 Even some of the international stores are starting to make my book available, like Booktopia, Australia’s home for books!