Have you ever finished a book you loved, handed it to a friend, and heard back, "It was fine"?

That disconnect has nothing to do with the quality of the writing. It has everything to do with a principle C.S. Lewis understood well enough to write classics that have endured for decades.

In this week's episode, I sat down with bestselling novelist Angela Hunt to break down the four ancient loves that drive all fiction, and how mastering them can help you produce a bestseller and a classic.

You’ll learn

• The type of love almost every genre needs more of, and why the most violent stories need it most.
• How the loneliness epidemic is creating a massive hunger in readers, and which type of love lonely readers are yearning for.
• The type of love that makes for a classic but is hardest to write and easiest to botch. Get it wrong and your climax feels cheesy. Get it right and readers won't shut up about your book.

We also explore the dark side of each love and how to use that tension to propel your plot forward.

If the stakes in your story aren’t working or you’re sick of cheap, salacious storylines, listen in or read the blog version to learn how to incorporate these four types of love into your story. This one might change how you outline your next book or build your characters.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/the-four-loves-that-drive-fiction/

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The difference between making thousands of dollars on your next book and losing money can come down to a few cents per click.

If your ads generate even a few pennies of net profit, you can run them until you've sold tens of thousands of books. But if you're losing money, no amount of spending will fix it.

In this week's episode, David Gaughran, a veteran of digital advertising, joins me to talk about how to make your book advertising actually pay you back.

Here's a taste of what you’ll learn:

• Why the authors spending the most on Facebook ads are often doing it wrong (and what to do instead)
• The marketing asset that makes every advertising endeavor more profitable
• How to reach your exact readers on Facebook now that author targeting is gone

Listen in or read the blog version to discover how to approach book advertising strategically. You will feel more confident about when to advertise and when to invest your time (and dollars) elsewhere.

Blog Link: https://www.authormedia.com/15-rules-for-book-advertising-with-david-gaughran/

Author Media.social link: (Live at 11:02 AM on May 6) https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/15-rules-for-book-advertising-with-david-gaughran

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We’ve arrived! It’s the 500th episode of Novel Marketing.

To celebrate, I’m giving away the MacBook Neo I reviewed a few episodes ago, but I’m also revealing my worst takes and biggest mistakes over the past 500 episodes.

Some of those takes were correct, but when circumstances changed, the advice was no longer good. But sometimes, I was wrong from the start. Gather ‘round and hear the tale of the evolution of the host and his book marketing advice.

Listen in or read the blog to find out which pieces of advice have stood the test of time (and always will) and which pieces you can cast off like a crumpled first draft.

And don’t forget to enter to win the MacBook Neo! You can find links and details on the blog or YouTube.

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