Lindsay - April 30, 2020This is the second of our host interviews, with Jo Lallo in the hot seat today (except for the portion at the end where he leaves his seat to juggle).
Before jumping into the interview questions, we discussed a few of the inexpensive and not-overly-time-consuming things we’ve done in the past to rev up sales of backlist books/series. Here’s that list:
- Publish a new short story/novella that ties into the finished series but also works as a stand-alone that can get people interested in checking out Book 1.
- Put together a multi-author boxed set using existing Book 1s and have everybody plug it to their newsletters and social media pages (this is mostly a wide tactic now since KDP Select/Kindle Unlimited usually only allows one person the rights to publish a given title). This can be a free or 99-cent boxed set. The goal is to get a lot of copies in people’s hands.
- Write a new short story and put out an anthology with other authors (again with a story that ties into your backlist series/book and will make readers want to check that out).
- Run a sale on all the books in a series while making Book 1 free for a time.
- For those who write quickly or have more time, you might consider writing a new full-length installment in an older completed series.
Here are the questions we gathered from our Facebook group and asked Jo (and Lindsay and Andrea chimed in on a couple that were addressed to all):
- Kane says: I would really love to have you three describe your experiences for the VERY FIRST BOOK you released!
- Paddy asks: Does Jo think he will ever get over his fear of listening to his own audiobooks?
- Scotty asks: Jo has said his new rapid release urban fantasy hasn’t gone as well as he had hoped. Where does he think things went wrong? What does he think he could have done differently for better results?
- Dave asks: Do you guys have an exit plan and what might be your triggers?
- Kate asks Jo: How’s your advertising revamp coming? I know you were looking to try new things, and I’m wondering what’s working for you and what’s not.
- Alisha says: When I hear Jo talk about his struggles, I always feel a real kinship. I appreciate his take on things. My question is how do you plan out a series or how do you think authors should plan out a series?
- Bill asks: When did you most feel like giving up, and what got you through it?
- Bethany says: Jo’s very down to earth take and honesty about not doing what works all the time but still making a living is so supportive to hear. Gives me hope that doing what I have the resources to do will eventually build. So three questions: 1) I’d love to know how his dragon pizza oven story is doing. 2) What are some of his go to strategies for talking to newbie or want-to-be writers? 3) And how does he answer the question, “So, what do you do?”
- Lettie says: I know Jo writes a lot of short stories. I’d love to hear some advice about writing short stories. Do you plan them or pants (from the verb to pants) them? How does writing short stories differ from writing novels? Are they connected or stand alone? And are they a good strategy for keeping readers engaged, or more of a personal hobby?
- Scot asks: Do you have aspirations for a magnum opus to be written later in your career? I know the Book of Deacon is/has been your pillar series, but is there a future grand work you know/hope to one day create?
- Andre says: I would like to hear some thoughts on marketing short stories, Facebook ads, amazon ads, etc. Also, for beginners who write shorties, how do we build an email list? Last one, how do we get beta readers to read our short stories?
- Sean asks: Did Jo have a teacher or mentor in his life that he credits for teaching or inspiring him to write?
- Lane asks: Do you have a specific word count or amount of time that you set for yourself to write each work day?
- RK asks: What do you do if you ever get demotivated with your writing? How often does it happen and how do you get out of it?
- Craig asks: What’s your favorite pizza?
- Craig also requests juggling (Jo complied).
- Bill asks to see what’s in Jo’s cabinet of curiosities (full of commissioned art from his worlds). Here’s a link to where Jo has shared it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgWn1Ld4q5s
- Andrea finishes us up with: What got you interested in art for your books? Have you always been interested in art?
- Here’s the link to the Kickstarter Jo mentioned in the show: Lackadaisy: The Animated Short Film
You can find Jo online at his Book of Deacon website and check out his books in any of the major bookstores. The first book in his Book of Deacon fantasy series is free.
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I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who watched until the very end. But for the record, I loved the mini-tour of Jo’s cabinet and the juggling.