Services
One monthly email on manuscripts, launches, and the business of authority.
Featured
When readers ask an AI what to read next, the books it names share engineerable traits. Answer engine optimization is how your book becomes one of them.
5 min read
Latest from the Brief
Bryan Heathman weighs whether book signings pay off for authors, with two author stories showing the sales, bookstore and media benefits.
Five practical steps for getting consumer book reviews on Amazon, from building a reviewer list to offering advance copies at launch.
6 min read
How authors can write a book launch press release that earns media coverage, with the elements every release needs and tips for fiction and nonfiction.
4 min read
Using the Cookie Thief story told by both Zig Ziglar and Wayne Dyer, Bryan Heathman explains why the best stories you tell should be your own.
Why first-time authors struggle with publishing, the most common misunderstandings, and how hybrid publishing helps self-published authors sell more books.
3 min read
What separates an aspirational brand from a commodity brand, explained through a Maserati direct mail piece that made a luxury car feel within reach.
Bryan Heathman explains what branding is and why it builds trust, drawing on a story from his years selling Kodak film across remote Alaska.
Three practical ways to get your point across in conversation: adapt your style, match how the listener sees, hears or feels, and ask pointed questions.
Ross Shafer explains why nerves are invisible to your audience and shares practical advice on introductions, jokes, notes, slides and closing a speech.
8 min read
