The Written Word Podcast

About The Written Word Podcast

A podcast for authors who want to build successful writing careers. Each episode explores the business and craft of being an author, with practical strategies for selling more books, growing your audience, and navigating the publishing world. Presented by Written Word Media.

Publisher

Written Word Media

Category

arts · business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

29 Jul 2025

Latest episode

15 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 32 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   15 Sept 2026

   How to Get More KDP Reads, Pick a Launch Date, and Handle DRM (Questions Authors Keep Asking)

   This episode is a milestone; the Written Word Media Podcast just hit 10,000 downloads. To celebrate, Ricci Wolman and Ferol Vernon are answering three of the most common questions listeners have sent in: what DRM actually is and whether you need it, when the best time to launch a book really is, and how to get more KENP reads if you're in Kindle Unlimited.What you’ll learn:What DRM (Digital Rights Management) is, the difference between hard DRM, soft DRM, and no DRM, and Amazon's new policy change that lets you update your settings midstreamWhy ALLi (Alliance of Independent Authors) recommends against DRM for most indie authors, and the key philosophical question to ask yourself before decidingWhy hard DRM is largely an illusion of protection (and what that means for your decision)What WWM's data from thousands of book launches actually shows about the best day and season to launch, and why the answer is probably not what you're hoping forThe one exception to the "any day works" rule (genre-specific seasonality)Why your marketing plan matters 100x more than your launch dateHow running a promo (including a FreeBooksy free promo) drives KENP reads, not just downloadsWhy there's a lag between a promotion and when you see the KU reads hit your dashboardHow WWM's promo emails call out "free on Kindle Unlimited" to prime KU readers before they hit the Amazon pagePlus: listener questions are how WWM products get built. Subscriber Surge Giveaways (https://www.writtenwordmedia.com/subscriber-surge-giveaways/) exist because authors asked for help building their email lists.Want to learn more ways to reach readers? Visit writtenwordmedia.com (http://writtenwordmedia.com) for author resources, book promotion tools, and more.The Written Word Podcast is produced by Heart Centered Podcasting.© 2026 Written Word Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

2. 

   1 Sept 2026

   How to Turn Free Content Into New Readers: The Author's Guide to Lead Magnets

   Your email list is your most valuable asset as an author, but how do you actually grow it beyond people who already know you? The answer is a lead magnet: free content you offer in exchange for an email address. In this episode, Ricci Wolman and Ferol Vernon break down the full system: what to give away, where to host it, how to deliver it, and how to drive traffic.What you’ll learn:The difference between a lead magnet and a reader magnet, and why you need both (one reaches strangers, one converts existing readers)What to give away: chapter, novella, or full book, and why novellas hit the sweet spot for most authorsThe KDP Select caveat: why giving away a full book can violate exclusivity terms and what to do insteadThe 4 components of a working lead magnet system: content, landing page, delivery, and trafficThe best tool for author-specific lead magnet delivery, and why BookFunnel handles customer service so you don't have toHow to use Meta ads (Facebook and Instagram) to drive lead magnet sign-ups starting at $5/dayFree traffic options: newsletter swaps and group promos, plus their real limitationsThe biggest mistake authors make after running a successful lead magnet campaign (and it's not the ad)What your landing page actually needs to say (spoiler: very little — keep it simple)A preview of WWM's new Reader Reach Lead Magnet product (coming soon!)Also: the Pacific Northwest trip recap, three new national parks checked off, and Ricci's first marmot sighting.Want to learn more ways to reach readers? Visit writtenwordmedia.com for author resources, book promotion tools, and more.The Written Word Podcast is produced by Heart Centered Podcasting.© 2026 Written Word Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

3. 

   18 Aug 2026

   How to Set Up Amazon A+ Content in 30 Minutes or Less

   Amazon A+ content is free, it's available to every KDP author regardless of exclusivity, and it can increase your conversion rate by up to 20%. Most bestselling books on Amazon already have it. If yours doesn't, this episode will change that. Ricci Wolman and Ferol Vernon walk through exactly what A+ content is, why it matters, and how to set it up, step by step, in under 30 minutes.Also: Ricci's solo owl has become a family. There is a mated pair and a fledgling. The owl vsaga continues. 🦉What you’ll learn:What Amazon A+ content actually is, and why it shows up in the middle of every New York Times bestseller's pageWhy A+ content is worth your time: Amazon's own data cites 8–20% conversion lift, and a higher conversion rate makes every future ad dollar go furtherHow A+ content feeds the Amazon AI (Rufus), and why the images, colors, and alt text you upload are being read as metadataWhere to find A+ content inside your KDP account (it's not where you'd expect)The three-module template that 80% of traditional publishers use: hero banner, three image blocks, and a comparison chartWords before pictures: how to write the copy for your modules (20 words max per block) and use Gemini to brainstorm if you're stuckHow to create the image assets in Canva (plus a WWM template with correct dimensions, or use Gemini's image tool as an alternativeThe content rules you must follow: editorial reviews only, no customer reviews, no price mentions, no hyperbole unless namedHow to apply one set of A+ content across an entire series, so one setup covers every bookApproval timeline (up to 7 days, often faster) and what to do if you're still stuckShow notes include a step-by-step blog post (https://www.writtenwordmedia.com/amazon-a-plus-content-for-authors/) with screenshots, Canva templates (https://www.canva.com/design/DAHR675qTEQ/c215s0ERGX54kU4E_YCJmg/view?utm_content=DAHR675qTEQ&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink&mode=preview) with correct image dimensions, and module names, so you can follow along even without the video.Want to learn more ways to reach readers? Visit writtenwordmedia.com for author resources, book promotion tools, and more.The Written Word Podcast is produced by Heart Centered Podcasting.© 2026 Written Word Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Inside a recent episode

Hybrid Publishing Lessons with Erica Rooney: From Writing to Launch

Published 7 Oct 2025 · Transcript excerpt

[…] So for me, that was out. And then honestly, the other route is I was like, I have done all this work. I just don't want to do any more of the figuring it out. I tell people all the time, it's kind of like, so my husband and I got married in Mexico. And we legally got married in the US because I started doing the research and there were all these things that you had to do to get married in Mexico. And I just knew that if I got married in Mexico, I would come back here and find out 10 years later I was never really married. And I was like, okay, that kind of felt like the book. I knew that if I did all this work and I put it out there on Amazon and I'd sell like 5,000 copies, someone would come to me and they would be like, Erica, you don't have like the ISBDN number or something. […]

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

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