Jonathan Shuerger spent five years as a Marine Corps Crypto Logic Linguist studying Arabic and tracking ISIS targets in real time. Now he writes intense military-grade dark fantasy, runs a YouTube news show for authors, and brings the full Intel toolkit to the problem of selling books. In this conversation, he explains why most authors are speaking to an echo of themselves, why Kickstarter is for celebrating a community rather than building one, and why Marines make better protagonists when they're happy psychos instead of gritty brooders.
In This Episode
Enlisting at 26 and Landing the Dream Job: How Jonathan walked into a recruiter’s office ready to sign paperwork, got bumped into another kid’s slot, and ended up studying Arabic in Monterey for two years before going to “blow up ISIS for a while.”
The Mission Behind the Books: Why Marines develop “cynical nihilism” in the Intel field, how listening to bad guys laugh about what they were doing produced a helpless darkness in his team, and why Jonathan transitioned from hobby author to professional to show them that good still exists.
Writing Frosty for Deployed Marines: How a Christmas novella blowing up every sacred holiday story became his first published book — and his crash course in the self-publishing system.
Kickstarter Reality Check: Why Kickstarter doesn’t build communities (it celebrates them), how Jonathan sent 120 personalized Facebook messages to land 120 backers, and why your mother-in-law backs the first book but only keeps backing if it’s actually good.
The Four Audiences You Didn’t Know You Had: Marines, Marine moms, guys who wish they’d joined, and women who refuse to be told they can’t handle your book.
Selling in Person Using Intel Training: How Jonathan tracks eye lines at conventions, uses cover banners to read interest before a reader reaches the table, and opens with a yes-or-no question designed to let disinterested browsers walk away.
The Facebook Ads AI Problem: Why Meta’s new AI targeting is starving authors who spend $5 a day, and why “Advantage Audiences” is an expensive learning process you’re paying to train.
Author Update vs. Novel Marketing Podcast: How Jonathan and Thomas split duties — time-focused hard news and zeitgeist commentary on Author Update, evergreen best practices on Novel Marketing.
Using AI Without Sounding Like AI: Why AI is great for exploratory marketing copy and terrible for voice, how the cadence gives it away every time, and the Substack post where Jonathan got publicly called out by an enemy for not editing hard enough.
Authors Treat Success Like Paganism: Why most successful authors can’t tell you how they did it, why the TikTok gold rush is over, and why the conference speaker circuit is full of people coasting on Kindle-era dumb luck.
Behavioral Analysis for Readers: What Jonathan learned tracking religious zealots that applies to tracking book buyers — figure out what your target wants to feel about themselves, not what you want to say.
The Double-Tier Children’s Book Sell: Why the magic word in a children’s book pitch is “quiet,” and how to make the parent feel like a good person without judging them for needing a break.
Positioning Ideological Fiction Against an Enemy: Why clean wholesome Christian romance sells better when it’s framed against alien slut queen 9000, and why Americans will unify around almost any shared enemy.
Happy Psychos Sell Better: Why Generation Kill worked where Jarhead didn’t, why Avatar audiences ended up rooting for the Marines, and why the Fat Electrician gets the Marine Corps story right.
The Emails That Keep Him Writing: The Marine Corps moms who write in to say their sons found hope in his books, and why that’s what makes the brutal material worth writing.
Guest Links
Read Semper Die by Jonathan Shuerger: https://amzn.to/46eBFi7
Website: https://jonathanshuerger.com/
Substack: Jonathan Shuerger
Kristin’s Links
Editing Services: nonsensefreeeditor.com
Newsletter: https://www.fictionalinfluence.com
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@nonsensefreekristin
Timestamps
00:00 - Meet Jonathan Shuerger.
02:58 - Becoming a Linguist.
03:51 - Leaving the Corps and writing With Purpose.
07:38 - Frosty Exorcism Novella.
08:47 - Kickstarter Reality Check.
11:35 - Community Before Crowdfunding.
15:10 - Adjacent Audience Targeting.
16:36 - In Person Sales Tactics.
19:34 - Ads AI and Long Game.
24:16 - Why Author Update Exists.
25:28 - Zeitgeist News Segment.
26:38 - Indie Paths and Backgrounds.
27:46 - Courses That Paid Off.
28:33 - Using AI for Marketing Copy.
32:03 - AI Panic and Formula Fiction.
35:19 - Audience Psychology and Value.
38:27 - Finding Your Value Proposition.
40:55 - Ideology Marketing and Enemies.
42:40 - Marines Stories and Pacing.
45:13 - Where to Connect and Closing.
About This Podcast
Nonsense-Free Kristin is where independent authors and creators learn to build their platforms, master their craft, and create on their own terms—without begging for permission from gatekeepers who hate them.
New episodes weekly.
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