Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

EP 324 - The Asset of Attention with Joe Solari

Sep 21, 2023

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In this solo episode, Mark interviews Joe Solari about his new book May I Have a Moment of Your Attention?

Prior to the main content, Mark shares comments from recent episodes and then reflects on the reasons why he canceled a trip he was supposed to take to Florida to attend NINC (Novelist's Inc.)

This episode is sponsored by the Patrons of the Stark Reflections Podcast.

In their conversation, Mark and Joe talk about:

Joe's winding experience path, the long journey he has been on, and how there's no way you could possibly train for the job that Joe does
The daily roadblocks that Joe had to overcome as he was beginning to learn about the complex writing and publishing business
The importance of not assuming that the person on stage actually knows what they're talking about
Also not assuming that what you "need" is what you're seeing presented on that "stage"
Joe's very first 20BooksVegas conference (which he has been to since the very beginning of it)
How Joe feels that we're still in the early stages of the entire self-publishing landscape
Understanding different formats, like audio, where the consumers aren't necessarily readers, but do enjoy story
The value of recognizing the assets in your business, which includes the asset of AUDIENCE and the related importance of DEMAND
How ads aren't scaleable, but that audiences are scaleable
Joe's latest book MAY I HAVE A MOMENT OF YOUR ATTENTION and how it's only available to buy direct from Joe
How the book was created, and how, in part of Joe building his brand is NOT just putting the book up everywhere
The audit statements in a survey that Joe asks readers of the book to complete
The way this survey and other assets help the reader get to "know, like, and trust" Joe and then be willing to purchase from him
How traffic to your Amazon page can be one of the worst things you do if that traffic doesn't convert to sales
The value of a customer retention system
The importance of feeling a special part of a brand's community
Focusing on serving your ideal reader rather than trying to sell more books
How author Chris Kennedy allows his fans to incorporate their own fan club about the worlds he has created and written
The way that people who spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on merchandise, cosplay, etc, are not even thinking about how much a book costs
Joe telling authors to try out his author marketing audit survey and to pay attention to it and see how they can steal his ideas for their own branding and marketing efforts
The free 20 minute calls that Joe offers
The critical importance of focusing on your audience, and not on what other authors are doing

After the interview Mark reflects on a couple of the things Joe talked about, including the advice on assumptions made about the person "on stage" offering advice, and on the critical value of focusing on how you can serve your ideal reader rather than focusing on trying to sell more books.

Links of Interest:

The introductory, end, and bumper 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