Host of Novel Marketing and CEO of Author Media. Practical book marketing for novelists.
A hopeful literary mystery about the courage to tell a better story.
Free. No login, card, or subscription.
5 lessons. 279 minutes of teaching. One practical next step.
Total video minutes after each lesson
Pause between lessons to try the exercises.
Measured from the linked YouTube videos. Exercises add time. Checked 2026-10-27.
Thomas hosts Novel Marketing, leads Author Media in Austin, Texas, and co-hosts Author Update. His practical teaching helps indie and traditionally published novelists build a platform and reach readers with writing worth discussing.
A small-town bookseller finds an anonymous story in a charity anthology. Everyone praises it. One reader notices the ending cannot be true. This original novella concept draws on Thomas’s discussions of honest feedback and short fiction. Click Generate my book to see ImagineYourBook turn the tailored prompt into a complete sample.
Your October 7 episode, “Why AI Tells Every Author Their Book Is Great (And How to Make It Stop),” suggested a fiction idea: what if one honest reader spotted the truth everyone else politely missed? I paired that theme with your short-fiction discussions to prepare a tailored sample-book prompt.
Five available videos, a storefront exercise, and original takeaways to help you choose your next step.
An independent learning path curated by ImagineYourBook. Videos belong to Thomas Umstattd Jr.
Lesson 1 · 66:40
Thomas and editor Matthew Bowman discuss why AI praise can be a poor guide to a manuscript. Begin with a useful question: what evidence would help you improve the book before launch?
Take away: Treat an AI critique as something to verify alongside human responses. The author makes the final decision.
Try it: Choose one passage and one uncertainty. Ask a suitable human reader what they understood, then compare that response with your own reading.
Storefront exercise
Author Website Critique is scheduled for November 7, 2026 at 19:00 UTC. It is an upcoming workshop, not a completed lesson. Try our original storefront exercise now, then visit Thomas’s scheduled video.
Try it: Ask someone to find your first book, read a sample, and locate the purchase link on a phone. Observe without coaching. Fix the first point of confusion.
Lesson 2 · 45:47
Thomas talks with Draft2Digital co-founder Kris Austin about exclusivity, wider distribution, and the practical work behind each choice. Consider your own readership and catalog before choosing a model.
Take away: A distribution decision needs your numbers and constraints. No single route fits every author.
Try it: List your current revenue sources, reader access needs, and time available for distribution. Check current platform terms before changing enrollment.
Lesson 3 · 64:30
Julie Broad joins Thomas to examine why a book stalled and what should change before a relaunch. Separate a visibility problem from a mismatch between the book, packaging, and reader expectations.
Take away: A relaunch is more useful when it addresses a diagnosed problem. A new date alone does not fix the reading experience.
Try it: Write the strongest evidence for your book’s main bottleneck. Choose one repair and explain how you will check whether it helped.
Lesson 4 · 50:50
Thomas and Russell Nohelty discuss different reasons authors use Kickstarter. Use the conversation to consider whether a campaign, including a special edition, fits your readers and your ability to deliver.
Take away: Choose the campaign purpose before designing rewards. Funding creates fulfillment commitments as well as opportunities.
Try it: Sketch one special-edition idea. List production, packing, shipping, and contingency costs before deciding whether to offer it.
Lesson 5 · 50:53
Joanna Penn joins Thomas to discuss short fiction as a place to practice craft, explore ideas, and enjoy writing. Our accompanying exercise applies that format to a possible introduction to your longer work.
Take away: A short story should satisfy its own reader. Using it as a reader introduction is our application, not a promise of list growth.
Try it: Outline a complete short story that shares your novel’s intended experience. Decide whether and how to offer a clear next step for readers who want more.
We selected Thomas for practical teaching that connects honest feedback with thoughtful publishing decisions, while keeping the novelist responsible for the work and the readers it serves.
An editorial selection by ImagineYourBook, 2026-10-27.
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ImagineYourBook writes a complete sample from the fiction prompt prepared for this page. Generation starts only when someone clicks. The page has one shared book, so repeat clicks and return visits reuse that same book.
The Last Honest Reader turns the topics of honest feedback and satisfying short fiction into a story about a bookseller, an anonymous manuscript, and a truth hidden by polite praise. The specific genre and plot are our proposal, not a claim about Thomas’s personal tastes.
Yes. Once generation finishes, this same page offers EPUB and editable Word downloads. You do not need a login, card, or subscription for this sample.
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