Books published by Sterling and Stone

The top-to-bottom guide to taking your writing and publishing business from "Square One" to "Stratosphere." Iterate and Optimize is a behind-the-scenes peek into how indie publishing company Sterling & Stone grew their three-author team into juggernaut - and a next-level guide for authors looking to explode their sales and do the same. In Write. Publish. Repeat., bestselling authors Johnny B. Truant, Sean Platt, and David Wright explained how to build a thriving international publishing empire with no luck required. Rather than resting on their laurels in the years since WPR was written, they've been evolving their once-fledgling business a little bit at a time: expanding to eight publishing imprints, ten high-profile podcasts, a coordinated staff working behind the scenes, millions of words published and hundreds of thousands of books in the hands of eager readers. In Iterate and Optimize, they show you how they grew their business from the ground up in tiny, incremental steps - and give you a road map so that you can do it, too. More than "just another self-publishing guide," this book delves deep into the business behind the success of Platt, Truant, and Wright's company Sterling & Stone, making it the essential "advanced course" follow up to Write. Publish. Repeat. It explains how to tweak your processes over time while maintaining momentum, wringing more profit out of assets you already have. You'll learn how to diversify and create more products with less work, generate more money doing what you already do now, and set yourself up so you can build a readership who will support you in the specific ways you intend to evolve. You'll learn how to grow from a bare-bones, minimum-viable-product business into a slightly larger business or an outright empire - not with massive, flashy (and risky) moves, but by the sustainable magic of incremental growth: small improvements made consistently over time. In this book, Platt, Truant, and Wright give you all the nitty-gritty they've learned and implemented since their last nonfiction publishing bestseller. You'll learn how to "iterate and optimize" the way you handle: • Exclusive versus "going wide" distribution • International and multi-format sales • Advertising and marketing • Optimizing book covers, descriptions, and metadata to increase conversion • Slowly and sustainable building your assistants or contractors, plus outsourcing right • Advanced product funnels, including the changed role of free books • Networking and in-person meet-ups • Workflow management and systems • The writing and pre-writing process so you can "write better faster" • Social media • Podcasting • Crowdfunding - what works and what doesn't • And much more!

Write. Publish. Repeat. The No-Luck-Required Guide to Publishing In 2013, Johnny B. Truant and Sean Platt published 1.5 million words and made their full-time livings as indie authors. In Write. Publish. Repeat., they tell you exactly how they did it: how they created over 15 independent franchises across 50+ published works, how they turned their art into a logical, sustainable business, and how any independent author can do the same to build a sustainable, profitable career with their writing. Write. Publish. Repeat. explains the current self-publishing landscape and covers the truths and myths about what it means to be an indie author now and in the foreseeable future. It explains how to create books your readers will love and will want to return to again and again. Write. Publish. Repeat. details expert methods for building story worlds, characters, and plots, understanding your market (right down to your ideal reader), using the best tools possible to capture your draft, and explains proven best practices for editing. The book also discusses covers, titles, formatting, pricing, and publishing to multiple platforms, plus a bit on getting your books into print (and why that might not be a good idea!). But most importantly, Write. Publish. Repeat. details the psychology-driven marketing plan that Sean and Johnny built to shape their stories into "products" that readers couldn't help but be drawn into -- thus almost automatically generating sales -- and explores ways that smart, business-minded writers can do the same to future-proof their careers. This book is not a formula with an easy path to follow. It is a guidebook that will help you build a successful indie publishing career, no matter what type of writer you are ... so long as you're the type who's willing to do the work. ¿¿¿ What Indie Authors and Thought Leaders Are Saying: "Two of the best in the biz... A gem for aspiring authors." -- Hugh Howey "I have a pretty popular blog on self-publishing, and I've written a couple of books on the topic myself - meaning I've read a lot on the topic and come across lots of different strategies and approaches to building a loyal audience. For my money, this is the best book on self-publishing out there." -- David Gaughran "It's tough to find more honest and straight-forward marketing advice than what you'll get from these indie authors." -- Jane Friedman, former publisher of Writer's Digest "The most important book on self-publishing I've ever read. " -- Karol Gajda "Consider it the most valuable guide book to publishing success." -- Jim Kukral, Author Marketing Club You'll Wish You Could Have Read it Years Ago!

Part hero's journey, part crash course in storytelling by the modern mavericks of indie publishing, and the bestselling authors of Write. Publish. Repeat., Fiction Unboxed offers something that's never been offered before: a naked look into two writer's process, as they wrote and published a book in 30 days, from scratch, in front of the world. In 2013 Sean Platt & Johnny B. Truant wrote and published 1.5 million words (a Harry Potter series and a half worth of fiction). The next year they showed the world how they did it. In May 2014, Johnny and Sean, along with their third partner David Wright, launched a Kickstarter campaign to see if their fans wanted to see how they wrote behind closed doors. They promised to start their newest project without knowing their story, characters, or even their genre, and publish the final draft before their 30 days were up. They promised to capture every email, every story meeting, and every word from every draft. They promised to show every molecule of their process, warts and all. They had 30 days for their fans to green light the campaign. It fully funded in 11 hours. Fiction Unboxed is as revealing as it is inspiring, empowering readers and writers as much as it will entertain them. With actionable advice that will benefit any writer, this book is a true gem for anyone who loves a well told story.