Blank Page to Best Seller

Biz Buzz

What's Scary in the Publishing Industry

What is the scariest thing for you in the publishing industry? Whether you are an author or a publishing professional (or BOTH!) there can be a number of scary things in the publishing world. Whether it is the act of writing, clicking publish, or making sure there are no mistakes in the final book, each of us has our own scariest part of publishing. We talk about all of the scary things in the industry and more in this week's episode.

Biz Buzz Segment: What's Scary...

Biz Buzz

Podcasting for Authors

What are some of ways authors can promote themselves and their book? 

IN this week's Biz Buzz segment, Peter and Colleen talk about one of the best ways authors can reach a large audience - Podcasting! Whether you are starting your own show or you want to be a guest on other programs, podcasts can put you and your story in front of an audience ranging from dozens to hundreds, thousands, and more! 

Plus, Colleen shares some tips for authors on how to best capture the attention of po...

Biz Buzz

Common Tech Used by Publishing Professionals

Writing a book is just the very beginning of the publishing process. Seasoned vets in the industry know that it takes a variety of technology to turn a story from an idea into ta fully realized book. CaZ and Peter take a look at the variety of technology options you will come across in the publishing industry. From writing tools to marketing tools and everything in between! 

Biz Buzz Segment: Common Tech Used by Publishing Professionals

Gain Momentum P...

Biz Buzz

Networking in the Publishing Industry

Why is networking so important? 

Whether you are an editor, a designer, a marketer, or another publishing professional, networking, especially inside the industry, can make or break your business. The connections you make can bring in new clients and even make your current projects go more smoothly. 

So what does it mean to network and how can you begin? 

Biz Buzz Segment: The Imagination Library (3:55)

Interview and Member Profile: AK  Westerman (27:40) 

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Biz Buzz

The Imagination Library

The world recently lost a great person in Dolly Parton. In this week's Biz Buzz segment, we talk about one of her most endearing legacies and one that fits in perfectly with what we do, the Imagination Library. Through her foundation, the Imagination Library sends children from birth through 5 years old a free book every month. 

We talk about why she created this, how far it's reached, and why it is such an important topic. 

AK Westerman

AK Westerman joins the podcast on...

Biz Buzz

Writer vs. Non-writers

CaZ and Peter discuss the differences in the industry between writers and non-writers. Peter disucsses how he came to the industry through his love of reading and why he decided to not translate his skills into writing itself. CaZ on the other hand knew from a young age that she wanted to be a writer. He love of reading and writing provides unique insights into the industry. We talk about all of that and more in this week's Biz Buzz.  

Biz Buzz Segment: Writers vs. Non-Writers (2:38)

Biz Buzz

Book Blurbs That Hook

What is a book blurb and why are they so important? 

The book blurb is a piece of marketing copy authors or their publishing professional creates to sell their book. These blurbs have a distinct function of getting the attention of readers and turning them into buying customers.... But just because you are a great writer with a new book, doesn't mean you automatically know (or even like) how to write marketing copy. 

CaZ talks about her new course: Book Blurbs That Hook in this weeks show. Fo...

Biz Buzz

Where Have All the Book Reviews Gone?

We discuss a great article discussing a new place the find book reviews. After seeing the end of a number of national book review sources, a local bookstore owner took it upon himself and his staff to create a new place for book reviews to be published. 

Plus, we talk about some of the places we each find book reviews and the positives and negatives of editorial reviews versus reader or customer reviews. 

Read the article we discuss!

Biz Buzz Segment: Wh...

Biz Buzz

A Grab Bag of Questions

We are bringing back the grab bag question format! This week's episode is focused on a few questions or topics that we are often asked when working with clients. From some common scams to estimating time for editing, we cover a few interesting topics that we might not always have the chance to answer in a full episode. 

Do you have questions you are asked frequently when working with clients? Let us know and we'll answer them on the show!

Biz Buzz Segment: A Grab B...

Biz Buzz

Time Blocking For You

In this week's Biz Buzz we talk about time blocking. Whether you are an author or a business owner (or BOTH!) the way you manage your time is crucial! We talk about one way to better control your calendar: Time Blocking. 

CaZ has worked on a brand-new sprint course releasing in the coming days where she teaches you all you need to know to begin time blocking. This week's segment is focused on the specifics of the course and why it can be so helpful for anyone looking to h...

Biz Buzz

The Resurgence of Indie Bookstores

Where do you enjoy buying your books? Recently there has been a resurgence in the number of indie bookstores. Why are these bookstores making a resurgence? We talk all about the rise in indie bookstores, why they are so important for local communities, and how indie authors can partner with bookstores to showcase each other. 

Biz Buzz Segment: The Resurgence of Indie Bookstores (3:17)

Book Review: The Bookshop (36:20)

Article from the Biz Buzz segment: Independent Bookstores Are Multiplying

I...

Biz Buzz

What's happening with the nonfiction paperbacks?

We talk about an article Peter read recently about the changing times of the nonfiction format, specifically the nonfiction paperback. The industry is always changing so what are we seeing from the big publishers and what ways can indie and self-published authors take advantage of the changing formats? 

Biz Buzz Segment: What's happening with the nonfiction paperbacks? (3:15)

Read the article we discuss here! 

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Biz Buzz

An Intro to The Author's Voice Short Courses

We just released a brand-new short course which goes through the full checklist you need to upload a book into a printing service. As we release this new course, we did so on our brand new store which you can see all of our short courses, our full-certification courses, and few other selections like our Friend of the Show subscription. 

We talk about why we began our short courses, what they bring to the industry, and much more! 

Biz Buzz Segment: An In...

Biz Buzz

How To Prepare Your Book For Design

Once your book is all written, you've sent it off for the edit and proofread, and polished it as much as you can, it's time to set the book for design. But what does that mean? Who do you work with? How does you make sure your document is ready? 

We talk all about the interior layout in this week's segment and touch on everything involved in the process. Whether you are preparing an ebook, an audiobook, or a physical book like a paperback or hardcover, h...

Biz Buzz

FROM THE VAULT - Summer Beach Reads

This week's episode is everything you ever wanted to know about summer beach reads! 

June is the start of summer which means vacation season. It seems like every bookseller, magazine, or any one related to the publishing industry are release their best summer beach reads list. But have you every wondered what a summer beach read is? Are you writing a beach read without knowing it? How can you capture the rise in book reading during the summer months? We answer all that and more in o...

Biz Buzz

How You Can Turn Your Book into a Film

Since the beginning of film, filmmakers have turned stories found in books, magazines, and other print formats into film adaptions for the big screen and television. Today, not much has changed! 

So how do you take your book and turn it into a film or television series? 

We talk about the process you might take to pitch your story, who you would talk with, and how involved you might be in the final production. Plus, CaZ shares her firsthand knowledge of the pr...

Biz Buzz

Creating Our Mt. Rushmore of Authors

In this week's Biz Buzz, we celebrate our 100th episode with a monumental discussion! We each create a Mt. Rushmore of authors. What are the criteria? Who do we place on our own monuments? What authors do we have in common?

Whether you have listened to all 100 episodes or this is your first, we hope you enjoy this week's show. If you have listened to us before, we bet you'll understand why each of us selected the authors we did. 

Let us know your four a...

Biz Buzz

Celebrating Mother's Day

We celebrate Mother's Day this week with a fun discussion about our favorite memories of reading or books with our mothers! What was each of our mother's favorite genres? Who did homework at the same time as their mother? What was the Christmas present of choice? 

We celebrate our mom's and our love of books in this week's show. 

Biz Buzz Segment:  Celebrating Mother's Day (2:00)

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Biz Buzz

What Are the Classics and Do We Need to Read Them?

This week, we ask the question, do we need to read the classics? As people who work inside the publishing industry do we need to know the classics and if so, why? As authors, editors, and other professionals inside the industry, having a base level of knowledge in the classic pieces of literature gives us the ability to have clear and easy to follow conversations about important parts of literature. We also talk about what makes a classic a classic and whether or not...

Biz Buzz

What Are Distributors and Do I Need One?

There is one area of the publishing industry authors do not normally interact with: distribution! But what are book distributors, who do they normally work with, and do authors actually use them? Most independent authors would be surprised to know who their book distributor is. Even if you are self-published your book has a distributor, you just may not have the option to choose a different one. Come learn more about a somewhat hidden part of the publishing industry.   

Biz Buzz Segment: What Are Di...

Biz Buzz

How Readers AND Authors Can Support Local Bookstores!

They say that bookstores are dying. That's not really true and whether you are a reader, an author, or a publisher you can help your local bookstore by buying books online. We discuss the site bookshop.org in this week's Biz Buzz segment. It's not always possible to visit your local bookstore and sometimes you want to support more than just one store, by using bookshop.org you can do just that! 

The Bookshop

Peter goes back into the archives for t...

Biz Buzz

What Are My Self-Publishing Options?

There are many options authors have to self-publish their book. We begin by defining the term self-publishing and then go into more details about some of the options authors have to self-publish. We cover some of the major players like Amazon, IngramSpark, and Draft2Digital but we mention a few newer options as well. This is by no means an exhaustive list but it does cover the major players in the publishing industry. Finally, we offer up a few different red flags to watch out for when working with a...

Biz Buzz

Celebrating International Children's Book Day

Happy International Children's Book Day to you! Coming up on April 2, ICBD is a celebration of all things children's books. In this week's Biz Buzz segment, we dive a little deeper into the celebration like why it's on April 2, who puts the celebration together, and how we can all celebrate this day. Plus, we talk a little about the book award that accompanies this celebration - the Hans Christen Andersen Book Award. 

Biz Buzz Segment: Celebrating International Children's Book Day (4:22)

Book aw...

Biz Buzz

What Is Poetizer? 

In this week's segment, we review the Poetizer platform where poets can share their poems in a social media platform geared specifically towards poetry. Plus, the platform offers poets a way to create and publish a book using the poems they create and share on the platform. 

We look at the platform from our experience as publishing professionals and share what we learned and some pros and cons of using the Poetizer platform. 

If you are a poet, we'd love to hear about your own experience with Poetizer or...

Biz Buzz

Ghost Categories On Amazon 

What is a ghost category and why should you stay away from them? Amazon rarely makes it easy for us to understand the inner workings of the website. In this week's Biz Buzz segment we talk about one of the confusing parts of Amazon's website - the ghost category.

When a publisher puts a book on sale, they have the option to select three categories from a prescriptive list. But Amazon doesn't have to use those categories to sell books to it's customers. Often times a publisher (or author) w...

Biz Buzz

The Death of the Mass Market Paperback

Recently, news came out announcing the death of a popular book format - the mass market paperback. At the end of 2025, the largest distributor of the mass market paperback disclosed they are no longer distributing them to retailers. 

So what is a mass market paperback and why are we sad to see them go? 

We look at the life of the mass market book and their impact on the publishing industry in this week's segment. 

Want to learn more? We've linked two art...

Biz Buzz

What does it mean to have won a book award? Who gives these awards? And how can you apply? We take a closer look at the book award industry to help authors (and publishing professionals!) better understand how book awards fit into the publishing industry. 

We look into some of the more well know awards, discuss what these awards recognize, and look at how authors or their publisher put their books into consideration for these awards. 

Dani Rosenblad James is back as a returning guest to discuss what she's been up to...

Romance Is In The Air!

This week we celebrate Valentine's Day by talking about the romance genre! Everyone has fallen in love with romance so we talk about the effects this has on the genre specifically and the industry as a whole. 

If you have fallen in love with the Blank Page to Best Seller podcast, you can support us by becoming a Friend of the Show. Link down below and in the show!

Happy Valentine's Day from The Author's Voice! On this week's Biz Buzz we talk about the popularity of romance b...

Readers Can Now Ask Your Book A Question

In what surprises no one, Amazon released a new feature on some Kindle apps that allows readers to ask a book a question with a response from an AI chat bot. 

Within the last month or so, Amazon has released a new product feature in some Kindle apps called Ask This Book. So we ask each other what the Ask This Book feature is and why some authors and publishers are not too happy with this new feature. 

Biz Buzz Segment: Amazon's Ask This Bo...

Changing how DRM works with Amazon e-books

Amazon is always changing and evolving and we're staying updated with all those changes so you don't have to. In the latest big change, Amazon is changing how authors work with DRM in their e-books. We talk about all fo that and more in this week's Biz Buzz segment. 

There is one BIG massive change coming soon to Amazon that will effect both authors AND readers. Beginning in late January 2026, Amazon is changing the way authors will grant DRM permissions for their e-books. We talk about what that c...

Kicking Off The New Year!

This week, we are kicking off the new year with a double episode! We're looking back at what we accomplished in the year 2025 and also looking forward to what is coming up in the new year of 2026. From some great celebrations like our 2 year anniversary of the show to our future endeavors that we'll be sharing more about in the future, we've been busy helping authors and publishing professionals move ahead.

Taking a Look Back to Review 2025

We kick off the episode with the three of us looking...

Biz Buzz

Memories of Our First Clients

The three of us, Peter, Colleen, and CaZ look back at some of our first clients and how e each got into the industry. We cover each of our starts, how we have maneuvered through an ever-changing industry, and how the three of us came to meet. 

Biz Buzz: Memories of Our First Clients (4:11)

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All about BookBub

This week we begin with a quick overview of our upcoming holiday schedule. We're planning on having a normal schedule until the week of Christmas where we'll release our latest episode of the year on December 23. We're planning to take the next week off and then hop back into the swing of things beginning January 6, 2026(!). 

In our Biz Buzz segment this week Peter is joined by CaZ to talk about BookBub and why both readers and authors love the platform. 

If you enjoy the show be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to...

Protecting Your Book with Copyright

What does it mean to have copyright protection? Copyright protection helps authors (and other creatives and businesses) protect their creations from other people stealing their work. We talk about the true ways authors need to copyright their book to guarantee they can receive the proper protections for their book no and in the future.

Copyright is something many first-time authors do not understand. Many believe that simply writing your book provides you protection. Others believe mailing yourself a copy of...

What Metrics Should I Know When Marketing?

With the upcoming holiday season (literally days away now!), we wanted to talk about the ways authors can maximize their sales and marketing impact. We talk about some of the tactics and metrics you should know in the Biz Buzz segment this week. Then, Colleen and Peter talk with Sarah Rose about the importance of a brand voice for business owners. 

Authors, we're supposed to write and write and write. But why is it so hard to write our own m...

Get Paid For Your Book Before You Publish 

How can you get paid for your book before you even finish writing it? We talk about crowdfunding options in this week's Biz Buzz segment with a special focus on Kickstarter. Then, Peter talks with author assistant Doreen DeJesus-Harper about the publishing industry, marketing, and how it all ties together. 

Plus, Doreen, is one of our first members of The Author's Voice Association, if you are looking for an expert in publishing, check out our online directory of Association members.  

This week, we t...

Why Industry Standards Matter

What are industry standards? Why do they matter? 

Colleen, Peter, and CaZ talk about the importance of standards in any industry but specifically the publishing industry in this week's Biz Buzz segment. Understanding these standards can protect both authors and services providers so everyone is on the same page with a project.  

What standards do you use? Let us know! 

Biz Buzz: Why Industry Standards Matter (4:23)

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Gearing Up For Holiday Sales

Don't look now but the holiday season is almost upon us! In this week's episode, Peter, Colleen, and CaZ take a look at the upcoming holiday season and how authors can best capture momentum during this time. From sales pricing to proper planning and everything in between, we make holiday sales easy for anyone to use.  

Biz Buzz: Capturing Holiday Sale Success (4:36)

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NO...

Reminiscing On 2 Years of the Blank Page to Best Seller Podcast!

Join us as the three of us, Peter, Colleen, and CaZ reminisce on two years hosting the Blank Page to Best Seller podcast! We talk about everything from our favorite guests to what it is like hosting a show with multiple people. 

Plus, we talk a little about our new way for you support the show - becoming a Friend of the Show! And live, on air, I add a special feature for our supporters, I'll read your name off at the end of every episode i...

Celebrating 2 Amazing Years!

Come and celebrate our second anniversary with us today! We look back on our best segments of the last 2 years in this week's episode. 

What is your favorite episode of the show? Who was your favorite guest? What is something new you learned through the show?

Top Biz Buzz segment: Our Favorite Memories Working in Publishing (5:55) from Episode 074

Top YouTube Video: The Allure of Fiction (38:42) from Episode 057

Top Interview Segment: Kathleen Gage (49:56) from Episode 051

Become a Friend of the Sh...