Build your Author Brand Podcast
Our latest episode…
Season 3, Episode 8 - Cracking Your Amazon Ads with Teddy Smith
Teddy Smith is partnership manager at Publishing Performance, host of the Publishing Performance Show podcast, and founder of My Romance Reads, a newsletter with over 25,000 romance readers who love free and discounted books. Publishing Performance is an AI-powered Amazon ad tool that helps authors set up campaigns, choose keywords, and optimize over time to sell more books and increase profits. In this episode, Teddy shares lessons from marketing his own products and how data, automation, and smart strategy can give indie authors a competitive edge.
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• How he mastered Amazon’s algorithm—and what most authors get wrong about ads
• The two types of readers (fiction vs. non-fiction) and how they search for books differently
• Using ChatGPT and other tools to reverse-engineer what your readers really want
• Why your cover, title, and book description must be optimized to sell
• The power of reader-targeted promotions—and how free or discounted books can drive thousands of downloads and long-term fans
Connect with Teddy:
Website: https://teddyagsmith.com/
Social media (all platforms): @teddyagsmith
Publishing Performance: https://publishingperformance.com/
My Romance Reads: https://myromancereads.com/
Jodi Brandon is a book publishing strategist and coach for business owners and leaders, and the founder of Jodi Brandon Editorial. Jodi has used her 20+ years’ experience in book publishing to help 850+ business owners, leaders, and entrepreneurs write, publish, and market a book to grow their business. She is the author of Write.Publish.Market., 2nd edition (3rd edition coming fall 2025!), and the host of the Write Publish Market podcast. In this episode, Jodi and Isabelle discuss how business owners can use a book as a powerful business tool—not just for credibility and visibility, but for long-term impact. They break down why the true ROI of a book isn’t in royalties, but in the opportunities it creates.
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• How writing a book can grow your business and authority
• The rise of hybrid publishing and how it compares to traditional and self-publishing
• Why your personal goals matter more than bestseller status or vanity metrics
• How to repurpose existing content to start your book and skip the overwhelm
• The role of primary vs. secondary audiences in book marketing
• Why writing a book is a long game—and how it pays off
Connect with Jodi:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JodiBrandon
In this episode, Isabelle sits down with Chris Banks, CEO and founder of ProWritingAid - a software company dedicated to helping writers improve their craft. This conversation explores how a side project born from procrastination turned into a transformative tool helping millions of writers express their purpose.
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• How authors across all genres can use ProWritingAid to help them craft, polish, and elevate their writing
• Why knowing your “why”—your purpose for writing—is the key to resilience and impact
• Resources that Chris used to uncover the deeper message in his own projects, and how that helped him define his overall purpose
Connect with Chris:
Website: https://prowritingaid.com
Aryn Van Dyke is a book marketing consultant and author coach. She has worked on hundreds of book launches, including multiple New York Times bestsellers, spanning across multiple nonfiction genres. After getting her start at HarperCollins, Aryn founded Book Rockstar in 2019 to make book marketing strategy more accessible to all authors. In this episode, Isabelle and Aryn discuss real-world advice about getting over the initial discomfort of marketing, finding joy in connecting with readers, and why even small steps in your marketing can move the needle far more than you might expect.
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• The "Five C’s" every successful author needs when it comes to their marketing
• The power of small, consistent marketing habits to build lasting readership
• How creativity, flexibility, and strategic testing can unlock better marketing results
• Why marketing isn’t optional, and how a simple mindset shift can make it less overwhelming (even enjoyable)
• Why there’s no "one-size-fits-all" approach to book marketing, and how to find what truly works for your audience
• Why building community - online, offline, or both - is crucial for long-term success
• The importance of understanding your marketing strategy, even if you outsource it
Connect with Aryn:
Instagram:@thebookmarketer
Website:www.bookrockstar.com