Author Automations: Recipes, Hacks, Guides, Reviews, and Advice for Storytellers

It's the Intersection of What I love and What I'm Good At.

Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash

There have been a lot of signs lately. All pointing me to focus on this newsletter.

First came the brilliant Future of Publishing Mastermind hosted by

Russell Nohelty

and

Monica Leonelle

. I had an absolute blast speaking on how to automate your marketing with Zapier and ChatGPT. That presentation was well received and I had several folks ask me if I did consulting. The answer was “not really” — until Russell essentially told people that I absolutely did.

So, I guess I’m back in the consulting game as well as running Indie Author Magazine and Indie Author Training, while also serving as Programming Chair for the Author Nation Conference.

Yay for friends that serve as de facto board members for your company. And yay for friends that know you’ve been thinking about consulting, speaking, and training again for a while, and you just needed the nudge. Off a cliff.

In all seriousness, the next sign was a fantastic conversation I had with

Joanna Penn

on her podcast which aired last week. We talked automation and general geekery, and she inspired me to think again about this newsletter and its purpose.

And then I attended the Content Entrepreneur Expo last week in Cleveland, Ohio. Meeting some of the smartest and most talented content creators was inspiring — including

Jay Clouse

and

Justin Welsh

whom I’ve followed for a while.

There were a lot of takeaways that I’ll write about soon, but the standout for me was to serve your audience by helping them solve little problems consistently.

And I think we’d all agree that the publishing industry has a lot of little problems.

Especially when it comes to technology and the way we, as storytellers use (or don’t use) it, and the endless state of change we find ourselves in.

As a technologist, that’s my primordial ooze. And I think I can help. I spend a lot of time talking with smart people as the publisher of Indie Author Magazine, and I think a lot about solving problems.

Here’s what you can expect from this newsletter:

• My best predictions for how the industry is going to respond to Generative AI, and how you can think about future-proofing your author business.

• Practical tips for automating your business using Zapier.

• Reviews of tech tools and video how-to guides.

• Resources for support and guidance for big and small technology issues.

Let’s just start there and see where it goes, shall we? Let me know if you have suggestions or questions I can start with as a note.

Until next time,

Chelle