Between Drafts Podcast

What's a scifi novel from the last 5-10 years you think everyone should read?

What's your favorite underrated Scifi read? This is Nat's.

If you're a nonfiction reader trying to get back into reading fiction, here are a few of my recommendations.

If you want to make it impossible to put your book down, be sure you're planting an exciting question in the reader's brain. From @nateliason and @nathanbaugh27

If you want to build an audience as a writer, you need to be on THE PLACE THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED. @nateliason is getting most of his email subscribers completely passively from their recommendation network. And their new "Notes" social network is extremely active among writers and readers

How do you outline and plan a novel? Here's how @nateliason is thinking about it now that he's written two in the last year.

The best way to make your nonfiction writing more interesting is through conflict. But don't stop with external conflict. Find a way to make it internal for it to really hit home. More from @nathanbaugh27

With AI making it trivial to create "how-to" content, the best bloggers are going to pivot to incorporating more personal stories. Here's how @nathanbaugh27 and @nateliason are thinking about it.

If you want to get fresh eyes on your book, try editing it on your kindle. You might find that the change in medium makes it easier to spot things you missed on your computer, and make your attention span last a little longer.

The "novella flywheel" is a proven strategy for marketing your novel. 1. Write your first book 2. Write a novella within that book's universe 3. Give away or heavily discount the novella to bring people into your world Check out this breakdown from @nathanbaugh27

When self-publishing your book, should you aim for maximizing pre-sale profits? Or maximizing the Amazon flywheel? Here's how @nateliason is thinking about it.

Curious about what goes into making an audiobook? It's a bigger production than you might think... Here's everything that went into making Crypto Confidential's audiobook with @nateliason

Need more readers to give feedback on your novel? Consider feeding it into ChatGPT to see what it thinks

One benefit of self-publishing is how it opens up doors to new ways to sell your books. Here's one way @nateliason is thinking about pre-selling his novel Husk:

Looking for a great read? Here are Nathan and Nat's favorites from 2024. It's a great mix of fantasy, sci-fi, classics, and a couple nonfiction picks, so there's sure to be something here you'll love. Timestamps: 00:34 @nathanbaugh27's agent querying update 02:02 @nateliason's progress on HUSK 03:18 The Will of the Many 06:47 Lightbringer 09:16 Ryan C. Cahill's indie fantasy novella 12:38 Claire Keegan's Foster novella 13:10 Colony One Mars 18:26 East of Eden 23:03 A Wizard of Earthsea 25:34 Hyperion 32:33 Armor 36:22 Neil Gaiman's works 38:25 Daemon by Daniel Suarez 41:25 Logicomix and nonfiction recommendations 43:32 A Swim in the Pond in the Rain 45:19 Next week's editorial discussion

How much do you make from a self-published book vs. a traditionally published one? @nateliason breaks down his numbers here:

Sometimes the best way to get a book deal, especially in fiction, is to have a successful self-published book first. Check this out from @nateliason on Episode 5:

Want to double how many words you can write in a day? Try this strategy from @nateliason