Robert Moutal is the founder of Cover Design App, an AI-powered tool that helps independent publishers create professional, market-ready book covers using principles from semiotics, color theory, and design psychology. A publishing coach with a master's degree in semiotics and communication, Robert has personally published more than 60–70 books and built Cover Design App to solve the exact problems he saw holding self-publishers back: poor typography, bad stock imagery, and covers that failed to communicate genre at a glance.

In this episode:

• Why book covers have a bigger impact on Amazon sales than most authors realize — and the 3-second rule every self-publisher needs to know
• The most common cover mistakes self-publishers make, including bad stock images, cramming too many elements, and typography errors
• How Cover Design App uses semiotics and psychology — not just aesthetics — to build covers that actually perform
• Color theory for book covers: what each color communicates to readers and why getting it wrong can tank your sales
• How the app's Market Intelligence feature analyzes competitor covers on Amazon to help you stand out within your genre
• The Thumbnail Test: why your cover must be readable at every size Amazon displays it
• A full step-by-step walkthrough of Cover Design App, from market research and design brief to generating variations, iterating, and exporting
• How to create a complete visual package — cover, author photo, A plus content, and Amazon description — in about 20 minutes
• Why A plus content is free advertising space inside your Amazon listing that too many authors are wasting
• How to edit existing designer covers inside the app, translate covers into other languages, and repurpose assets for a series

Resources mentioned:

• Cover Design App: coverdesignapp.com/Teddy (10% off forever with this link)
• Ideogram (AI image generation tool referenced for design): ideogram.ai
• Amazon KDP: kdp.amazon.com
• Fiverr (mentioned for comparison): fiverr.com
• Canva (mentioned as a common tool authors misuse): canva.com

Connect with Robert Moutal:

• Website & app: coverdesignapp.com
• Special discount link for listeners: coverdesignapp.com/Teddy (10% off forever)

Connect with Teddy Smith:
@teddyagsmith
Website: https://publishingperformance.com/?ref=ywm3mtc
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/publishingperformance/
Pinterest - https://nz.pinterest.com/publishingperformance/
Instagram - https://instagram.com/publishingperformanceinsta
Youtube -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHV6ltaUB4SULkU6JEMhFSw
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com

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Kevin Anderson is the CEO, founder, and editor-in-chief of Kevin Anderson & Associates, one of the publishing industry's most respected ghost writing and editorial firms. With a team of former Big Five acquisitions editors, publishing executives, literary agents, and bestselling authors, his company has helped bring more than 7,000 books to life — producing around 500 titles per year. Their clients range from celebrities and Fortune 500 CEOs to first-time memoir writers with extraordinary stories to tell.

In this episode:

• How ghost writing actually works — and why it's a deeply collaborative process, not just writing from a prompt
• Why skilled ghost writers are nothing like AI: the role of empathy, intuition, and journalistic interview skill
• The types of clients who hire ghost writers: celebrity memoirs, business books, IP-based novels, and personal legacy pieces
• How Kevin Anderson & Associates structures every project, including kick-off meetings, ongoing Zoom interviews, beta testing, and cultural accuracy reviews
• Why defining your publishing goal before you write a single word is the most important first step
• The First Chapter Rule: why getting sign-off on one complete chapter before writing the rest saves enormous time and prevents costly mistakes
• Typical project timelines — from 6-week rush projects to the more standard 8–12 month engagement
• How ghost writing fiction differs from nonfiction, and why novels are actually harder to structure than business books
• What ghost writing costs — from entry-level ($20K+) to high-end ($500K+) — and what drives the price
• How to vet a ghost writer: what credentials to look for and red flags to avoid
• When ghost writing is NOT the right fit — and why a book coach or developmental editor might serve you better
• The inside story on some of Kevin's most fascinating projects, including the Five Nights at Freddy's novels and the Oz Perlman mentalism bestseller

Resources mentioned:

• Kevin Anderson & Associates website: https://kawriting.com
• Reedsy: https://reedsy.com

Connect with Kevin Anderson:

Website: kawriting.com

Connect with Teddy Smith:
@teddyagsmith
Website: https://publishingperformance.com/?ref=ywm3mtc
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/publishingperformance/
Pinterest - https://nz.pinterest.com/publishingperformance/
Instagram - https://instagram.com/publishingperformanceinsta
Youtube -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHV6ltaUB4SULkU6JEMhFSw
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com

Support the show

Discover More with Our Curated Starter Packs: https://teddyagsmith.com/starter-packs/

Michael Stewart is the Community Lead at Sudowrite, an AI creative writing partner designed primarily for fiction writers. His background is in journalism and nonfiction writing, but he discovered his struggle with fiction perfectionism early on—unable to finish first chapters because everything needed to be perfect from the start. Sudowrite helped him accelerate past the "shitty first draft" phase to get to the editing work he loves. Michael works with a community of 16,000+ authors on Sudowrite's Discord server, leads 12 teachers rotating through daily live classes, and helps writers find their unique workflows with AI tools. He's passionate about ensuring authors remain essential to their creative process while using AI to eliminate tedium.

In this episode:

• AI democratizes writing access like personal computers did
• Romance authors accelerating from 6 to 200 books yearly
• Import Novel reads work nine times, builds Story Bible
• Story Bible catalogs characters, settings, synopsis, outline
• Write button generates 150-1,500 words as smart autocomplete
• Stuck locally vs structurally: two types of writing blocks
• Plugins ecosystem for niche workflow needs
• Chat feature more powerful than ChatGPT with full context
• Pedal assist metaphor: eliminate tedium, focus on what you love
• Character cards with Enneagram types and custom traits
• Characters Prompt the Author: role-play scenes through character eyes
• New editing tool in beta highlights passages with custom feedback
• Minimal involvement creates soulless, clichéd fiction
• Authors must remain essential to avoid generic AI writing

Resources mentioned:

• SudoWrite
• Join the SudoWrite Discord
• Book: "Steering the Craft" by Ursula K. Le Guin — for deepening craft skills
• Claude AI
• ChatGPT

Connect with Michael Stewart:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
  
  

Connect with Teddy Smith:
@teddyagsmith
Website: https://publishingperformance.com/?ref=ywm3mtc
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/publishingperformance/
Pinterest - https://nz.pinterest.com/publishingperformance/
Instagram - https://instagram.com/publishingperformanceinsta
Youtube -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHV6ltaUB4SULkU6JEMhFSw
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com

Support the show

Discover More with Our Curated Starter Packs: https://teddyagsmith.com/starter-packs/