The WritersWeekly Podcast

ALERT! One of the most disturbing articles we found (from one of the players in this travesty) has already been removed from the Internet. However, we located it on the Wayback Machine! We include a link to that under this episode at WritersWeekly.com/podcast (episode 51). 

We've reported in the past on AI companies "scraping" the internet and absorbing ebooks for training their AI programs, without paying for the books. It has...

Our favorite professor, editor, and book marketer, Clayton Jones, joins us again for this episode! He is a HOOT!!!

In the “News from the Home Office” part at the beginning of the episode, we describe how Bigfoot has returned to our mountaintop neighborhood. THIS IS NOT A JOKE! Angela was a complete non-believer until she saw one two and a half years ago. They stayed for six months (lots of neighbors had encounters), and ...

Have you ever found yourself in the following situation?

Someone comes to you to ask your opinion about some decision they are trying to make. Maybe it's dating or marriage advice. Maybe it's something about their career. Perhaps it has to do with some large purchase they want to make. 

You give them excellent advice based on your expertise, along with facts and logic; not emotion. Then, they go and do the EXACT ...

Music: "Light Rays" used with permission from Billy Bob Thornton and The Boxmasters.

https://theboxmasters.com/store

Do you remember the movie based on the Stephen King novel "Misery?"

An author is stalked and captured by an obsessed fan. She proceeds to torture him while still professing her admiration of his works. “I’m your number one fan!”

Although most stalkers don't resort to such extreme behavior, being stalked...

We decided to have a silly episode.

Clayton Jones and Brian go head to head to see who knows more about little factoids in the literary world. 

How many of Angela's questions can YOU answer? 

Join us for fun, laughs, and some interesting information you may have never hear before as we play the Weird & Fun Book & Author Trivia Game.

Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!

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Guest: Gary Sturgis, The International Bestselling Author of Surviving Grief – 365 Days a Year

In this episode, we continue our interview with BookLocker.com's international bestselling author Gary Sturgis!

Do you have a book on the market that's not accumulating the sales you'd like to see? It's likely due to your marketing strategy, and how you communicate with potential readers online.

In these two epi...

Guest: Gary Sturgis, The International Bestselling Author of Surviving Grief - 365 Days a Year

 Do you have a book on the market that's not accumulating the sales you'd like to see? It's likely due to your marketing strategy, and how you communicate with potential readers online. 

 In the next two episodes, Angela and Brian welcome back Gary Sturgis, BookLocker's best-selling author, who earns thousands per month in ro...

You've heard us say it over and over again: DO NOT PAY FOR BOOK REVIEWS!

 So, what is an author supposed to do? Wait around, hoping for readers who might decide to take the time to review their book? Beg people on social media for positive write-ups? Ask their family and friends to post reviews on Amazon? (DON’T DO THE LATTER! You could get banned from Amazon for doing that! We explain why in this episode.)

 Getting r...

Approximately 90% of banned Amazon KDP accounts are never reinstated!

We were recently contacted by yet ANOTHER terminated Amazon KDP author. His unpaid royalties are $38K (!!!), and there is NOTHING he can do to get his account back (he’s tried!), nor to get his $38K. He can’t even access his files, nor see his past sales reports. He’s completely and permanently LOCKED OUT of his Amazon KDP account. 

Could it ...

In this episode, Professor Clayton Jones joins us again! Being an English Professor at the University of Tennessee, a professional editor, AND a professional book marketer, he’s seen it ALL! And, so has Angela, who has been in the business for 28 years! While Clayton discusses authors who have behaved badly when working with him, the examples Angela shares are from folks who contacted her through WritersWeekly.com asking for ...

Could that very active fellow Facebook author group member really be a SCAMMER? Chances are pretty high THEY ARE! 

 Publishing scammers have infiltrated Facebook’s author groups to perform DATA MINING! What’s the problem, you ask? All they have is your Facebook profile link. So, what’s the big deal? 

 Nope, that’s not ALL they have! They start with your profile, and within minutes, they lik...

In Episode 10 of the WritersWeekly Podcast (one of our most popular ones!), you heard the story of how Angela Hoy started WritersWeekly.com as a young, single mother, with MANY challenges along the way. Those included skipping meals early on to ensure her children were well-fed (her ex wasn’t paying court-ordered child support), and later suing Amazon.com for federal anti-trust violations, and winning! She turned a fledgling ...

In this episode, Angela and Brian share real stories about lawsuits that were filed against authors, and how those proceedings affected them financially…and otherwise.

So many authors feel that, even if they get sued, they might win…so, no problem, right? WRONG! In the U.S., unless a case is declared frivolous by a judge, you might never get back all the money you spent defending yourself. 

Another ...

If you hate scammers, you're gonna LOVE this episode!

Angela actually convinced this scammer to write an ARTICLE telling all about how he fools people into thinking he is a book marketer/freelance writer based in the USA, and convinces them to pay him for his "services."

What's best is that he have all the messages and emails between Angela and this scammer, in which he reveals his deceptive techniques. Even after Ang...

In this episode, Angela and Brian go over the latest “services” that international scammers have dreamed up to suck authors’ bank accounts dry. They will even tell you that not buying some of these services could land you in jail!

Don’t be taken in by these fraudsters! No longer is it simply offering “full publishing services” for rock-bottom, unbelievable prices (the “publisher&rdqu...

Traditional publishing? Self-publishing? Hybrid publishing? What's best for YOUR book? Is your manuscript even ready for publication? Who can help you determine that, ensuring a polished manuscript, and the best possible chance for future sales? The good news is, there is no need to walk the publishing path alone!

In this episode, Angela and Brian explore the benefits of hiring an Author Coach to guide you through the publis...

In this episode, we are joined by BookLocker.com author, Rickey Pittman, The Bard of the South!
 
 Rickey is an author, musician, storyteller, historian, and college professor. His major focus is on Southern America. He unearths and creatively covers old stories that tell of the South’s rich history, struggles, and unique identity. And, his fiction is AMAZING, too! (Read more about that under Episode 35 at htt...

Have YOU, too, received a bad book review that was all about you and not about your book at all? JOIN THE CLUB! In this episode, we share several real examples sent to us by authors who have been the victims of this type of vendetta online. We also share how you can respond to these personal attacks with maturity and class. And, by doing so, you can save your book sales! 

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In this week's episode, Brian and Angela welcome friendly and feisty Bob Wahl to the podcast!

Bob is 91 years young, and is the author of five books. He contacted a company called Authors Hike / AuthorsHike.com to help promote his books.

After paying them $4,000, he was shown a web page that had a graphic of more than 1400 (fake!) "orders" for his book. Author's Hike then tried to scam Mr. Wahl into paying to have tho...