Plot Surgery, Promo Stacks, and a Very Productive Short Week

About this episode

In this episode, Jerry discusses significant revisions to his novel and shares insights on indie author marketing strategies.

This week’s episode is a shorter one, which in New Author Podcast terms means Jerry only reorganized half a novel instead of the whole publishing industry. He talks about taking a knife to Book 3, cutting scenes, moving key beats around, redefining the midpoint and pinch points, and finally starting to feel like the first half of the story has some real momentum instead of just politely standing there waiting to become a plot. If you’ve ever stared at a draft and realized the fix is not a tweak but a controlled demolition, this one will feel familiar. There’s also a lot of useful indie author talk packed into this shorter episode. Jerry gets into his call with his marketing consultant, the plan for his Kindle Countdown deal, how he’s handling the Facebook ad for it, and why wording like “limited time” still matters when you’re trying to get readers to actually click instead of thoughtfully doing nothing. He also talks through A+ content ideas, setting up comparison-style content across the series, getting his Book 2 paperbacks in hand, and finally being able to start thinking about Etsy because now there are actual physical books sitting on the floor instead of just dreams and…

People in this episode

Host: Jerry Evanoff

Topics covered

• plot development
• indie author marketing
• writing community
• book promotion
• self-publishing

Keywords

• plot surgery
• Kindle Countdown
• Facebook ads
• A+ content
• writing community

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Substack, Etsy

Books & works: Book 3, Book 2

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• Episode 352 - A+ Content, AI Tools, and Other Ways Writers Make Life Harder · April 24, 2026 · 1h 11m
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