{"podcast":{"title":"The Indy Author Podcast","slug":"the-indy-author-podcast-1109171","podcast_index_feed_id":1109171,"rss_url":"https://theindyauthor.libsyn.com/rss","website_url":"http://theindyauthor.com/","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/1/2/c/0/12c01403d3a11a6616c3140a3186d450/TIAP_Image_Libsyn-20260225-6n7obk28hq.png","author":"Matty Dalrymple, The Indy Author","episode_count":346,"summary":"The Indy Author Podcast is for writers who are serious about both the craft of writing and the business of publishing — whether you're working toward your first book or building on an established career. Every week, host Matty Dalrymple talks with authors, editors, marketers, and publishing professionals about what's actually working right now. Topics span the full range of the writing life: developing compelling characters and tighter plots, navigating indie and traditional publishing paths, running effective book marketing campaigns, building an author platform, working with AI tools, writing short fiction and memoir, managing the business side of an author career, and much more. With hundreds of episodes in the catalog featuring guests from across the publishing world — from debut authors to bestsellers, indie publishers to Big Five veterans — there's something here for writers at every stage of their journey. Named one of the 10 Best Podcasts for Authors by Dale L. Roberts, and recognized five years running by Writer's Digest as one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers. Hosted by Matty Dalrymple, author, publishing consultant, and founder of The Indy Author platform.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-28T22:19:02.235113+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-indy-author-podcast-1109171"},"episode":{"title":"The Economics of Con Life with Todd Fahnestock - #336","slug":"the-economics-of-con-life-with-todd-fahnestock-336","published_at":"2026-05-19T09:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-indy-author-podcast-1109171/the-economics-of-con-life-with-todd-fahnestock-336","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-indy-author-podcast-1109171","url":"https://theindyauthor.libsyn.com/the-economics-of-con-life-with-todd-fahnestock-336","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/theindyauthor/TIAP_336_Todd_Fahnestock_Episode_LIBSYN.mp3?dest-id=386964","summary":"Matty Dalrymple talks with Todd Fahnestock about THE ECONOMICS OF CON LIFE, including the real costs and revenue thresholds of selling books at cons, why five books is the minimum for a viable booth, how selling sets instead of singles and leaning into cover art and merch changed his income, the break-even math that determines whether a con is worth attending, how face-to-face interactions at cons became the foundation of a 4,000-person email list, and how that list became the launchpad for a Patreon that monetizes the work he's already doing. Interview video at https://www.youtube.com/@TheIndyAuthorPodcast/podcasts Show notes, including extensive summary and transcript, at https://www.theindyauthor.com/episodes-all If you find the information in this video useful, please consider supporting The Indy Author! https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple Todd Fahnestock is an award-winning, #1 bestselling author of fantasy for all ages and winner of the New York Public Library's Books for the Teen Age Award. Threadweavers and The Whisper Prince Trilogy are two of his bestselling epic fantasy series. He is a founder of Eldros Legacy—a multi-author, shared-world mega-epic fantasy series—three-time winner of the Colorado Authors League Award for Writing Excellence, and two-time finalist for the Colorado Book Award for Tower of the Four: The Champions Academy (2021) and Khyven the Unkillable (2022). His passions are great stories and his quirky, fun-loving family. When he's not writing, he travels the country meeting fans, talks philosophy with his son, plays board games with his wife, dissects movies with his daughter, and plays to the point of bruises with Galahad the Weimaraner. Visit Todd at toddfahnestock.com Matty Dalrymple is the a…","meta_description":"Matty Dalrymple talks with Todd Fahnestock about THE ECONOMICS OF CON LIFE, including the real costs and revenue thresholds of selling books at cons, why…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2904,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-indy-author-podcast-1109171/episodes/the-economics-of-con-life-with-todd-fahnestock-336/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-indy-author-podcast-1109171/the-economics-of-con-life-with-todd-fahnestock-336.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}