TRANSCRIPT 🔗
WEBVTT
00:00:05.328 --> 00:00:07.291
Welcome to the Author Revolution Podcast.
00:00:07.291 --> 00:00:18.687
I'm Carissa Andrews, author and your host, here to help indie authors like you master mindset, harness manifestation and embrace cutting-edge innovation to elevate your career.
00:00:18.687 --> 00:00:20.010
Let's dive in.
00:00:20.010 --> 00:00:29.788
Well, hey there guys.
00:00:29.788 --> 00:00:32.299
Welcome back to the Author Revolution Podcast.
00:00:32.299 --> 00:00:34.963
Okay, I'll admit it, today's episode is about Taylor Swift.
00:00:34.963 --> 00:00:44.731
But before you roll your eyes and think I'm about to break into all too well, 10-minute version, obviously stick with me.
00:00:44.731 --> 00:00:49.695
This is actually about your author career and how you can sell more books without churning out a brand new novel every other month or every month.
00:00:50.502 --> 00:00:56.265
For nearly a decade now, certain corners of the indie publishing world have been pushing the rapid release mantra.
00:00:56.265 --> 00:01:00.151
Publish fast, publish often never stop producing.
00:01:00.151 --> 00:01:05.102
Basically, if you stop to breathe, you're already behind, and you know that.
00:01:05.102 --> 00:01:06.789
That's not where I stand.
00:01:06.789 --> 00:01:10.891
That's not my go-to mantra, right?
00:01:10.891 --> 00:01:17.873
So here's the thing that advice has left a lot of authors running on fumes, myself included.
00:01:17.873 --> 00:01:20.087
Perhaps you are one of them as well, right?
00:01:20.087 --> 00:01:27.313
And it convinced so many of us that the only way to make money is to write faster.
00:01:27.313 --> 00:01:40.287
Meanwhile, our backlist you know the books that we've already poured our hearts and souls into are sitting quietly in the corner like the kid who didn't get picked for dodgeball, and that's where Taylor Swift comes in.
00:01:40.287 --> 00:01:58.923
So, no, she's not secretly publishing cozy mysteries under a pen name although tell me you wouldn't read those, because I totally would but she's a master at keeping all of her work alive and relevant, year after year, and she does it in a way that makes fans lose their minds in the best way possible.
00:01:58.923 --> 00:02:09.411
So today we're going to unpack what Taylor's doing, why it works and how you can use the same principles to breathe new life into your own books without burning out.
00:02:09.411 --> 00:02:10.884
Okay, the how.
00:02:10.884 --> 00:02:14.049
Well, that's what my August masterclass is for.
00:02:14.901 --> 00:02:21.228
Let's start by talking about the real problem with how we treat our backlist in indie publishing and why it's time to change that.
00:02:21.228 --> 00:02:27.914
Now you know the indie author advice that sounds like it came from the 90s motivational poster, the just keep publishing.
00:02:27.914 --> 00:02:31.425
Or, my personal favorite, you're only as good as your last release.
00:02:31.425 --> 00:02:41.781
Oh, it's been circulating for almost a decade now in certain Facebook groups and, honestly, I'm not a fan of Facebook anymore either, but it's exhausting just to think about it.
00:02:41.781 --> 00:02:53.608
Right, somewhere along the line, the convention turned into this If you're not cranking out a new book every 30, 60, or 90 days, you might as well, pack up your Scrivener files and just go home.
00:02:54.449 --> 00:02:55.311
But here's the truth.
00:02:55.311 --> 00:03:03.385
This constant push to always be creating new stuff ignores the goldmine sitting in your back pocket, which is your backlist.
00:03:03.385 --> 00:03:05.920
That book you published three years ago.
00:03:05.920 --> 00:03:07.324
It still has value.
00:03:07.324 --> 00:03:12.701
The series you wrapped up before your current work in progress still valuable.
00:03:12.701 --> 00:03:21.527
In fact, every book you've ever released is a tiny salesperson, except most of us have left ours in the break room with no coffee and no instructions.
00:03:21.527 --> 00:03:23.412
I see it all the time.
00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:26.486
Authors move on from a launch so fast.
00:03:26.486 --> 00:03:31.820
It's like they broke up with their book and honestly, I gotta say I've been there.
00:03:31.820 --> 00:03:33.544
I've done the same thing right.
00:03:33.544 --> 00:03:39.769
There's no more promo, no fresh marketing ideas, no reasons for readers to rediscover it.
00:03:39.769 --> 00:03:45.364
And because we're so focused on the next shiny project, we forget that books aren't milk.
00:03:45.364 --> 00:03:47.467
They don't have an expiration date.
00:03:48.156 --> 00:03:51.682
So this is where Taylor Swift has the indie world beat by a mile.
00:03:51.682 --> 00:03:53.306
She understands that.
00:03:53.306 --> 00:04:04.811
Her backlist, you know every album, every song, is a part of an interconnected web that keeps fans engaged forever, and she doesn't just let it sit there gathering digital dust either.
00:04:04.811 --> 00:04:07.260
She actively breathes new life into it.
00:04:07.260 --> 00:04:18.668
So let's take a look at what Taylor's been up to lately, because her latest moves prove she's not just creating in the moment, she's weaving everything together into one big, irresistible universe.
00:04:18.668 --> 00:04:45.410
So if you have been anywhere near the internet lately, you know that Taylor made her podcasting debut on the New Heights podcast with Travis Kelsey yes, that, travis Kelsey where she casually announced her 12th studio album, the Life of a Showgirl, and what's crazy about it is that she actually wrote, produced and sung, directed, did all the work for this thing while she was in the European leg of the Heiress Tour.
00:04:45.410 --> 00:04:49.002
So she was flying between concert dates all the while.
00:04:49.002 --> 00:04:57.146
She was also promoting and adding in the Tortured Poets department and continuing to re-record previous albums because she didn't yet own her masters.
00:04:57.146
Load full transcript
--> 00:05:01.218
So is this savage productivity or strategic synergy?
00:05:01.218 --> 00:05:05.208
I mean, I lean into mastermind because she makes it look effortless.
00:05:06.035 --> 00:05:12.841
Here's the thing, though, when we think back to all of her works and all the ways that she's been reviving her music.
00:05:12.841 --> 00:05:32.661
You know, every Taylor's Virgin re-recording brought older songs back into the chart mix and into fans' hearts again, and that catalog was rejuvenated with intent, like think about it, like let's remember when she took All Too Well, which was originally released in 2012, and turned it into a 10-minute version in 2021.
00:05:32.661 --> 00:05:58.745
And it was a whole cultural moment because her fans were asking her to resurrect this long song that she just flippantly said it was actually a 10-minute song that she cut down and it's literally like resurrecting your backlist character and having people still cry about it a decade later because this song, this story, this entire experience was able to be brought to life right.
00:05:58.745 --> 00:06:13.105
And when you think about her not going through all of the shit that she's gone through, all of the ups and downs and trials and tribulations, she wouldn't have had the heiress tour, she wouldn't have had the re-recordings.
00:06:13.105 --> 00:06:14.384
If she didn't do the re-recordings, she wouldn't have had the 10-ress tour.
00:06:14.384 --> 00:06:14.630
She wouldn't have had the re-recordings.
00:06:14.630 --> 00:06:18.944
If she didn't do the re-recordings, she wouldn't have had the 10 minute version, she wouldn't have all these extra versions of her songs.
00:06:19.622 --> 00:06:25.742
And on that podcast episode she talked about how a lot of the re-recordings are actually better than the originals.
00:06:25.742 --> 00:06:44.937
And it's just wild to think that she, at any given moment, can create and recreate and reweave things together so that the relevancy that maybe people didn't get the first time around is now a part of the Taylor-dom version right Now.
00:06:44.937 --> 00:06:55.254
At a glance though, it might look like rapid-releasing mania, but here's the genius part she's interconnecting everything and she has been for a very, very long time Now.
00:06:55.254 --> 00:07:01.317
This podcast debut, the new album, the re-recordings, the tour they all feed into one another.
00:07:01.317 --> 00:07:03.867
It's an ecosystem level promotion.
00:07:03.867 --> 00:07:06.636
I mean when you even think about it like Easter egg wise.
00:07:06.636 --> 00:07:11.182
Now this is me revealing my true dorkdom when it comes to Taylor Swift.
00:07:11.182 --> 00:07:20.083
But when you unscramble the first letters of, you know the life of a showgirl, so that's T-L-O-A-S.
00:07:20.083 --> 00:07:27.146
If you unscramble them and scramble them back around into Lotus, l-o-t-a-s, it's Life of Taylor Ellison Swift.
00:07:27.146 --> 00:07:30.463
Do you honestly think that that wasn't something she thought about?
00:07:30.463 --> 00:07:31.208
I know she did, but whatever.
00:07:31.208 --> 00:07:32.654
Do you honestly think that that wasn't something she thought about?
00:07:32.654 --> 00:07:33.795
I know she did, but whatever.
00:07:34.776 --> 00:07:43.624
Taylor's out here weaving stories across platforms while her fans dig for clues and the rest of us authors can't even like manage to make some promos work right.
00:07:43.624 --> 00:07:44.824
We can do better.
00:07:44.824 --> 00:07:47.526
So what does this mean for you and your backlist?
00:07:47.526 --> 00:07:56.459
Well, pretty much everything, because if Taylor can bring new life into an almost 13-year-old song, well, your books deserve the same play.
00:07:56.459 --> 00:07:58.163
Now here's the part where I bring it back to you.
00:07:58.163 --> 00:08:01.697
Indie author, you don't have a stadium tour, perhaps right.
00:08:01.697 --> 00:08:10.262
Or a boyfriend with a Super Bowl trophy and a hit podcast with his brother, or a team of Swifties even dissecting your every move.
00:08:10.262 --> 00:08:14.201
But you do have something just as valuable, and that is your backlist.
00:08:14.201 --> 00:08:19.521
The difference is most of us treat this backlist like leftovers in the back of our fridge.
00:08:19.521 --> 00:08:24.810
We know it's there, we're sure it's still good, but we never think to serve it up again.
00:08:24.810 --> 00:08:34.986
So I want to give you three principles that Taylor uses to make everything feel like a practically spiritual experience when she's doing any kind of marketing.
00:08:35.294 --> 00:08:40.187
Okay, so Taylor's principle number one is find new hooks for old works.
00:08:40.187 --> 00:08:43.082
Taylor doesn't just release an album and walk away.
00:08:43.082 --> 00:08:49.188
She ties it to fresh hooks a date, a number, a visual theme, a collaboration.
00:08:49.188 --> 00:08:51.602
You can do the same thing with your books.
00:08:51.602 --> 00:08:59.582
Tie a romance novel to Valentine's Day In fact, I'm doing that myself next year, right or even a quirky made-up holiday.
00:08:59.582 --> 00:09:06.341
Reframe a mystery around trending tropes or a true crime buzz that's happening within the industry.
00:09:06.341 --> 00:09:10.625
Relaunch a fantasy novel during a cultural moment that fits its vibe.
00:09:10.625 --> 00:09:17.037
There's so many different ways to be able to take a look at your old works, your old books, and bring new life into it.
00:09:17.037 --> 00:09:20.147
And like this is just scratching the surface, right?
00:09:20.147 --> 00:09:21.611
Okay?
00:09:21.692 --> 00:09:25.705
Taylor's principle number two is make every release feed the whole catalog.
00:09:25.705 --> 00:09:30.422
When Taylor drops something brand new, she makes sure it shines light on her past work.
00:09:30.422 --> 00:09:36.580
Her Taylor's Version re-releases didn't just sell those albums, they drove streams of her entire discography.
00:09:36.580 --> 00:09:50.282
As an author, that could mean mentioning backlist characters or events in your new releases, including backlist excerpts or bonus scenes in your reader magnets, offering bundle deals that pair old and new books together.
00:09:50.282 --> 00:09:55.010
Like I brought characters into new books across all sorts of different things.
00:09:55.010 --> 00:10:07.125
I've laid Easter eggs and some people get it and some people don't, but the whole point here is to make it as much fun as possible to live and be immersed in the worlds that you create.
00:10:07.125 --> 00:10:09.456
Okay, taylor is a storyteller.
00:10:09.456 --> 00:10:16.226
First, she knows how to tell a good story and weave in all of the things that get us excited, right?
00:10:16.226 --> 00:10:20.163
Principle number three is play the long game.
00:10:20.514 --> 00:10:26.123
Taylor is not on a frantic rapid release schedule, really honestly, even though it looks like she might be.
00:10:26.123 --> 00:10:31.881
She's actually running a cohesive, interconnected marketing plan, and here's where most indie authors burn out.
00:10:31.881 --> 00:10:36.760
We try to treat each launch as an isolated sprint instead of part of a marathon.
00:10:36.760 --> 00:10:44.967
Your backlist should be a part of every single marketing cycle you run, not just when the book is shiny and brand new, but always.
00:10:44.967 --> 00:10:57.043
The system to identify the right backlist title, create a month of promo in minutes and automate the process so it happens every quarter is exactly what I'm walking you through in this month's Author Revolution Masterclass.
00:10:57.615 --> 00:11:02.106
So if you've been ignoring your backlist, this is your sign to give it the Taylor Swift treatment.
00:11:02.106 --> 00:11:08.299
And no, that doesn't mean putting a glittery microphone on your cover or a lock or whatever, unless you want to right.
00:11:08.299 --> 00:11:16.937
So if you're ready to stop treating your books like the one and done projects and start giving them life and sales that they deserve, here's how we can make that happen.
00:11:16.937 --> 00:11:36.243
Instead of spending weeks trying to figure it all out on your own, you can join me for a focused, high energy training where I'll hand you the repeatable system that I use to monetize my own backlist and how I do it without using platforms like Facebook or Instagram essentially meta, whatever it's called Backlist to Bank.
00:11:36.243 --> 00:11:42.517
Monetize your books with ChatGPT and in one hour, I'm going to show you how to pick the most profitable backlist title right now.
00:11:42.517 --> 00:11:47.652
How to use ChatGPT to create 30 plus days of promo content in minutes.
00:11:47.652 --> 00:11:54.323
Automate quarterly backlist pushes so that your books keep selling year round without you feeling chained to your laptop.
00:11:54.884 --> 00:12:00.384
We go live this Friday, august 22nd, at 1pm Central Time right on Zoom, just like normal.
00:12:00.384 --> 00:12:07.307
But if you're hearing this after that date or have something going on, no biggie, the replay will be available Either way.
00:12:07.307 --> 00:12:17.096
Head over to authorrevolutionorg forward slash masterclasses to check it out, or get signed up, or even to check out the rest of the backlist catalog of masterclasses.
00:12:17.096 --> 00:12:18.078
See what I did there.
00:12:18.078 --> 00:12:26.746
Now, whether you've got two books or 20 in your backlist, this is your chance to start treating your backlist like it's the asset that it is okay.
00:12:26.746 --> 00:12:36.827
Give it the Taylor Ellison Swift treatment and watch it start paying you back and who knows, maybe a decade from now, your readers will still be obsessing over your version.
00:12:36.827 --> 00:12:38.576
Let's make that happen.
00:12:38.576 --> 00:12:42.418
So go forth and start your author revolution.
00:12:42.418 --> 00:13:06.254
Thank you.