Month: September 2020

The Creedverse Series Bible: Behind the Scenes

Posted on by Jonathan Fesmire

A Behind-the-Scenes Peek at Jonathan Fesmire’s “Creedverse”

 

Last week I created a survey to ascertain what my readers do creatively and what they want to see in my newsletter and this blog. You can still take it here.

So far I’ve received dozens of answers and they’ve all been helpful. I’ve learned that many of you want to read more about writing and about steampunk.

So, this week, I created a video showing off my series bible for The Creedverse, the steampunk western world of my series that begins with Bodacious Creed: a Steampunk Zombie Western. 

You can visit The Creedverse yourself, but you won’t see everything that I, as the author, get to see and work with. Here’s a spoiler-free behind-the-scenes peek where you can get a good idea of just how expansive it has become. Check out character images and names, steampunk technology, maps, and more. Perhaps it will inspire you with your own writing or worldbuilding!

https://youtu.be/MjcR-SGAB3g

 

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“There is no winning or losing, but rather the value is in the experience of imagining yourself as a character in whatever genre you’re involved in, whether it’s a fantasy game, the Wild West, secret agents or whatever else. You get to sort of vicariously experience those things.” ~ Gary Gygax

 

Build a Rabid Fanbase – A Course Review

Posted on by Jonathan Fesmire

The Teacher Will Appear

 

I’m an author, and I love writing. Years ago I learned that, whether I self publish my books or they’re traditionally published, I would have to do the majority of my own marketing. That’s a tough fact to integrate, especially after training myself to write good short stories and novels for decades. Suddenly, there was another skill I had to learn, a business skill, and I didn’t know where to start.

Over time I found a few teachers and got better at it, but I saw other self-published authors getting big and I wondered what they were doing differently. Finally, last January, at Pasadena Comic-Con, I met Russell Nohelty. The Theosophical quote says it best. “When the student is ready the teacher will appear.” I got to a point where I was ready for a lot more information, to launch my marketing forward, and I met the right teacher.

I bought two of his marketing books and later signed up for his online course, Build a Rabid Fanbase.

Who Is Russell Nohelty

 

 

 

 

 

 

Though Russell Nohelty is a popular and prolific writer of books and graphic novels, he may be best known for building audiences. He has a knack for figuring out how to accomplish difficult things and then teaching others how to do it. This is the case with his Write a Great Novel online course, which I reviewed last week, and is also the case with Build a Rabid Fanbase.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the case of the former, he teaches authors how to write faster and better. In the case of Build a Rabid Fanbase, he teaches authors and other creatives how to find their tribe and build a community that will purchase their books, art, and so on in perpetuity.

Build a Rabid Fanbase – What’s Covered

 

In advertising, it used to be enough to show a product and basically say, “buy this!” That’s changed during the Internet age. There are dozens if not hundreds of Facebook groups where people post advertisements for their books. I’ve tried these. I’m not convinced they result in any sales at all.

So, that’s not what you’ll get in this course. Here are some of the things you will learn.

 

  1. Getting into the right mindset. This is all about setting yourself up for success with strategic planning. Since taking this course, I revisit my strategic goals every month. This will help you set yours.
  2. Finding Your Ideal Customer Avatar. I’ve heard before about coming up with an ideal customer, but didn’t know how, or even exactly why, until I took this course. It’s an important step, and Russell shares some phenomenal tools you can use to accomplish this.
  3. How to Make the Perfect Product. So, you have a product already, and you’ve figured out who your people are. This will help you refine it, and come up with the next product.
  4. What Is a Sales Funnel? The idea here is to turn strangers into people who know who you are, them into people who like you, and them into fans. Russell covers the steps.
  5. The Importance of Your Email List. You’ll learn about Mailchimp and get other mailing list provider options, and you’ll also get a swipe file of an email sequence designed to get your fans more interested in your work.
  6. Scaling Your Funnel. This is all about growing your fanbase as large as you want it using the tools taught in earlier segments.

 

Pricing

 

Build a Rabid Fanbase costs $497 for a one-time fee, 3 payments of $185/month, or 6 payments of $93/month.

For me, this class was absolutely worth it. It has me on the right track and has helped me grow my mailing list. There’s a lot to learn, so if you’re like me, you’ll want to watch the videos again to refresh your knowledge, and you’ll be able to do that. I’m not sure I would have ever figured out everything taught in this class on my own, and I didn’t want to spend another twenty years trying to figure out how to get my marketing right.

This course will challenge you, but what worthwhile endeavor doesn’t? Put in the work, and you’ll get great results. I encourage you to sign up for Build a Rabid Fanbase today, or at least check out the free preview videos which include enough helpful information to get you on the right track.

“Fandom is externally generated branding.” ~ Zoe Fraade-Blanar