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Sean started this episode off by giving a great teaser for a movie. Apparently Sara Silverman is on a couch delivering lines and it’s so funny. I mean, shit, I’m sold for sure.
Creepy voicemail
The first of our voicemail was creepy because Mike totally worked it, hitting such show favorites as Dean Fucking Koontz, goths in trees, and Justin Bieber. He then said that we were awesome and worked in a question toward the end (though it was totally tacked on,) about which platform he should use for a first nonfiction book.
We said Amazon. Or iBooks, done through Lulu.com, which would be good for nonfiction. (There was more discussion, but this was the heart of it.)
The second voicemail from Cassandra was creepy because she expressed interest in my abs, which then led to a discussion of Dave’s abs, which we decided could colorfully be described as “pendulous.” She asked about Smashwords. We then discussed Smashwords. See how this works?
We had a final question that wasn’t via voicemail and hence may or may not have been creepy. It was from Scott, who asked about converting a largely graphic book to Kindle. The short version is that we have no fucking idea, but that we think it’s damn near impossible to literally use all those images.
Building your tribe and telling others to piss off — and no, not literally, but we know what the real score is
There’s a ton to this discussion, but the short version is that you can’t try and talk to everyone in your books, your marketing, and in your online platform. You have to be yourself and accept that some people won’t like you… because only by allowing some people to not like you will you form strong bonds with the people who DO like you.
Food for discussion on this point is Derek Sivers’s post Reach Them Like You Would Want To Be Reached, which introduces the oft-cited (by me, anyway) concept of “proudly alienating” people who don’t resonate with your message. Note that this is PROUD alienation, meaning that you’re not just accepting that some people won’t like you. You’re PROUD that they don’t resonate; you’re saying, “Awesome. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.”
The genesis of this idea recently, though, came from Sean’s experience with his Digital Writer site. He found out that the people on that rather large list were not his ideal people. So he wrote a tactful “fuck off if you don’t agree with my new direction, and join me if you do” post and email to that list and ended up with a much smaller — but a much better and more resonant — list that represented his true tribe.
So… don’t shoot for a zillion people who “kind of like you.” Be real and shoot for a smaller list of people who LOVE you.
To view the video version of this episode, go to: Self Publishing Podcast #20 – Building and Trimming Your Tribe
Hi guys, fun show as ever – just to add to some of your answers to the questions.
(1) You don’t have to decide between Amazon & Smashwords/Bookbaby etc – you can use different sites to achieve different things. Being in the UK, I use Amazon direct as well as Kobo Writing Life (recent new self-pub platform) and then I use BookBaby as I prefer their reporting and user interface, but I still promote Smashwords as the free option. Incidentally, Kobo Writing Life is pretty good & my revenue from July is almost the same as my Amazon.co.uk income – this is SO much more than Nook & iBookstore so I recommend people try that too.
(2) For Sean on the weekly stuff – this actually taps into the serial model issues that you have discussed before re reviews – people won’t do stuff for you every week e.g. reviews etc. even if you’re giving amazing stuff for free. Have I missed the episode on this but have you actually explained the pros and cons of serial? Is it really better to put an episode out weekly or a mini book every 6 weeks when people are more likely to review for you?
Thanks, Joanna
PS. Johnny, I am struggling to find a pic of your abs. It’s clearly not on to talk about it without having a pic
I’ll expect something in the next show notes 
We’ve never really done an episode on this, though I think we should. I think there are many cons to weekly. But the main benefit, if you can pull off the ridiculous schedule, is that you become a habit. And you grow by the week. So while it’s much harder to pull off, if you win your audience in the end, the math is inarguable once you do. I do think if we released slower we would have more reviews, but I think our business would still grow slower.
We’re experimenting with both reviews and release schedule with our new zombie serial (next Tuesday), so it will be interesting to watch that.
Yeah, you guys piss me off with this model. No matter how fast I feel like I’m going, you make me feel glacial.
I am looking forward to our project, though, because not only will it kick a ton of ass (and it will; I’ve been thinking it out), but it’ll teach me a different way of doing things.
But shit, man… I’m writing more than ever and am still looking at MONTHS before I even have a second fiction title.
I can’t wait for our title too, because I think it will be different from everything else I’ve done. Love the adventure.
I think the great benefit from serials is the opportunity to get people onto a monthly subscription plan. I have found no better way to grow a business or project than with consistent, reliable monthly income.
Hopefully the new Kindle Serials program helps out serial writers get that reliable income.
But what about Dave’s abs?
They need a team of explorers to unearth them.
Best episode yet. Bialy Pimps was not mentioned once.
We were trying to decide whether you were an asshole or just a world-class ballbuster. I’ve decided on the latter (I have many in my life; it keeps me honest) but let me know if I should start hating you or anything instead.
PS. I appreciate you guys
and also this is a lot of fun to listen to as well. Since our little chat on the show, I am really thinking about what I find fun as well. I am such a serious person online & off and I need to laugh more … it’s good to re-assess 
so I shall be making some changes as well.
I laugh hard EVERY time I listen back to these shows. Do you listen to Better Off Undead? You barely need to like horror; it should really be considered a comedy show or a “bust on Dave” show.
This was definitely the funniest episode yet. I was listening with headphones and I was laughing so much that my husband checked to see if I was okay! I tried explaining puppy bacon to him but it was pointless. He did download BOU after that though!
I have a question for you guys. When you are editing your book (with the door open, not sending it out for editing) do you continue with your daily writing goal with a new book or do you focus on editing only? I’m trying to find the right balance and I’m not sure if my focus is spread too thin by editing one and writing another at the same time. Yet at the same time I want to get my books out there so I feel like if I’m not writing for another book each day that I’m wasting that day even if I’m busy editing. What’s your take?
Thanks,
Stacy
I’d actually like to answer this one on the show if the other guys are game…
And I know what you mean. I laugh out loud at a lot of the stuff I hear when I listen back!
I was made to answer that question. Would love to answer it live on Tuesday!
I can’t wait to hear it!