Authorpreneurs Almanac

Building the monarch isn’t the best description for building a site that actually works, but hey. It’s creative! Today, Johnny and Sean discuss what the monarch actually is, how our site developer can use it to create a cohesive customer journey, and how it will make sense of everything we have. We’re building clear paths that will help our company grow. The post AA77 Building the Monarch appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Sean and Johnny have been a part of masterminds for a long time, but it wasn’t until recently that they started their own, the Stone Table. While it’s been an incredible success, they’ve got their eye on making it even better. From bringing in storytellers across the spectrum, not just authors, to being able to offer even more value, the Stone Table is going through some big changes. The post AA76 Improving Our Stone Table Mastermind appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

When asked to list their fears, people will often list death AFTER public speaking. Dave can’t stand it, Sean likes it when it’s over, and Johnny can’t get enough of it. Today, the guys talk about the challenges of speaking careers, including the hidden costs of making speaking dates. The question is they must answer is how speaking fits into the business of storytelling. The post AA75 How We Handle Speaking and Consulting appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Course has become a dirty word, at least in the online world. Too many ‘teachers’ have thrown together some information and packaged it as a course, but the truth is they’re terrible. That’s why we’ve decided to (after a lot of internal resistance) create a REAL course that can compare to a college course. Our goal is the best in the industry, not a money-grab. The post AA74 How Our Self Publishing Course is Different appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

If you’ve spent any amount of time online, you know everyone wants to sell you a course. If we’re honest, they just want to sell you information and be done with it. But that doesn’t lead to a great experience for the student. Johnny and Sean talk about how they’re approaching education in a different way and making it an experience instead of an info-dump. The post AA73 Doing Experiential Education the Right Way appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

The StoryShop app project is one we’re stupidly excited about, and one that’s been frustrating and rewarding at the same time. It started as something much simpler, and despite of, or because of, the obstacles we’ve faced, it’s grown into something much more robust and beautiful than we imagined. Today, Sean and Johnny discuss the evolution of StoryShop and where we are in the process. Watch this episode on YouTube. The post AA72 The Development of StoryShop appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

One of the challenges of a growing company is implementing new and efficient systems that will both support growth and also be flexible enough to work through that growth. Today, Sean and Johnny talk about Sterling and Stone’s strategy for creating systems to compliment the new staff members that have joined the team. You can view this episode on YouTube! The post AA71 Systems and Staffing appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Every growing business struggles with sustainability at some point, and today, Sean and Johnny talk about how silo businesses and products can help fund that growth. From the partnership model to products for our audience, the guys have a strategy that will enable them to continue writing, offer things our audience wants, and add talented people to the team without restricting growth. View this episode on YouTube here. The post AA70 Silo Businesses and Standalone Products appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Today’s discussion around Sterling and Stone’s big goals is how to scale the fiction titles we have. Johnny and Sean talk about how they will take the massive amounts of high quality content and give it the exposure it deserves. They started with a developmental editor, a fiction hacker, and have plans for so much more. Watch this episode on YouTube. The post AA69 Scaling Our Fiction appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Sterling and Stone has some ambitious goals for 2017, and the biggest is exploding the brand. Sean and Johnny discuss how this macro goal will play out, especially when they are now more than just writers. S&S is still a story studio, but also a software company and educational resource. The guys break down the micro-goals that will take them to the next level. The post AA68 How We Will Explode the Sterling and Stone Brand appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Last year, Sterling and Stone held its first annual Avalanche, a company-wide meeting where we discuss the long-term vision of the company. Sean and Johnny share our Sterling and Stone Story Studio goals for 2017 and 2018, so make sure to take notes. We’re growing quickly, and it’s time for the guys to put on their ‘big boy pants.’ (About time…) You can watch the video here, if you wish! The post AA67 All About the Avalanche appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

We’re big fans of trying new things here at Sterling and Stone, and one of those things is a new format for Authorpreneur’s Alamanac. As you know, we don’t just half-ass it; we go all the way. Since Sean and Johnny are now BOTH in Austin, they’re meeting up to have a real-time discussion of what’s happening in the company, and we’ve got it on video if you want to head over to YouTube. Also, we’re sorry about the strange, blurry interference about halfway through. We suspect aliens. But it could be we’re not totally sure how to use the camera yet. The post AA66 The Brand New Authorpreneur’s Almanac appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

The previous year saw Sterling and Stone’s first Avalanche, a company retreat where we plan for the next year. Sean is the ‘big idea’ person, and Johnny has stepped into the Operations role, to help implement those ideas. Today, he talks about what that means, and how it plays out in day-to-day work life, especially when it comes to teams and team leaders. The post AA65 Teams and Team Leaders appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Today’s episode is a wrap-up of 2016, and what you can look forward to in 2017. Sean talks about the changes coming to Sterling and Stone FM, new shows, some shows that aren’t going to make the cut, and the future of video podcasts for S&S. Want to get even more excited about 2017? You’ll love this episode. The post AA64 Final 1.0 Episode appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Some people say that books are forever, but that’s not exactly true. Today, Johnny talks about Sterling and Stone’s book Dead City, why it didn’t do nearly as well as we thought it would, and what we’re doing about it. This less-than-stellar release was a hard lesson on how we packaged and marketed it, so now we’re going through the exercise of rebranding a book. The post AA63 Why We’re Rebranding Dead City appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

In the beginning of Sterling in Stone, we made the common mistake of looking at tasks and people. However, as we grow, we realize that a far more logical way to look at things in terms of roles. For one reason, it provides a roadmap of growth for the company. Second, it keeps everyone sane. It’s growing pains at Sterling and Stone. The post AA62 Thinking in Terms of Roles Instead of People appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

As we learn and grow as authors, we are always tweaking and changing things. Anything we can optimize or improve, we do. Today, Johnny talks about how Sterling and Stone changed their writing process, especially the way they handle beats in collaboration. Find out the exact process the guys are using now and apply it to your own story planning process. The post AA61 How We Are Iterating our Book Writing Process appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

How many times have you wished you could watch successful people and learn from them? We call those ‘work retreats,’ and we just had the first, company only retreat where we planned out most of 2017 and part of 2018. Get the inside scoop on what Sterling and Stone has planned, and the opportunities YOU’LL have in working with us in the (very) near future. The post AA60 The 2017 Avalanche appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

We launched the Sterling and Stone FM Podcast network with high hopes, and some of them went exceptionally well. Some things, though, were less than stellar. Today, Sean talks about the future of the network, some of the changes you can expect, and the reasoning behind why the network is still the best way we engage with our community. The post AA59 One Year of S&S FM Lessons appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

99Designs was a long-time sponsor for the Self Publishing Podcast, but like many things in business, it’s time has come and gone. Today, Sean talks about how having a sponsor was great, and what the Sterling and Stone FM Network intends to do instead. You’ll notice the changes from the outside, so this is a look at the inside of the process and learn the why. The post AA58 Advertising for Ourselves appeared first on Sterling & Stone.