Beyond the Book Launch: Barbara Caraballo on Building Author Platforms That Last Recording
ABOUT Kevin:
Barbara Caraballo is the founder of Caraballo & Co., a book launch and author strategy firm helping business leaders, authors, academics, and thought leaders turn books into long-term platforms.
Barbara has worked behind campaigns for Fortune 500 CEOs, New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors, Thinkers50-ranked thought leaders, and Harvard Business Review Press authors. She previously served as a partner at Monaco Associates, a boutique agency with more than two decades in the publishing space, before acquiring and relaunching the business under Caraballo & Co.
With a master's degree in neuromarketing, bilingual strategy expertise, and extensive experience across publishing, branding, and book launches, Barbara helps authors connect the book itself to a much bigger question: What should this book make possible for your career, business, or ideas?
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
Why writing a great book is only half of the publishing process
The biggest mistake authors make when planning a book launch
Why book marketing should begin before the manuscript is finished
How authors can prepare for a launch while they're still writing
Why publishing a book does not automatically mean people will discover it
Why authors need to become comfortable talking about and selling their own work
How a publishing strategist fits alongside publishers, PR agencies, branding teams, and other specialists
Why book trailers are becoming valuable tools for reaching modern audiences
The difference between launching a book and building long-term authority
Why becoming a bestseller may be the wrong primary goal
How a book can support speaking, coaching, consulting, and other business opportunities
Why every nonfiction book needs a larger strategic objective
How author branding, book branding, and business branding work together
Barbara's perspective on assistive AI versus using AI to create the actual work
Why the book itself may only be the beginning of the author's larger brand
How to think about your book from the reader's perspective instead of the author's
Why identifying the bookstore shelf your book belongs on can clarify your positioning
Why not every good idea needs to become a book
How to validate a book concept before committing years to writing it
The difference between traditional publishing, hybrid publishing, and self-publishing
How community can sometimes bring publishers directly to authors
Why publishers increasingly care about the audience an author already has
What Alex Hormozi's book launches demonstrate about strategy, community, and positioning
Why word of mouth remains one of the strongest ways to sell books
Barbara's Find Your How approach to building a strategy around the author's actual ecosystem
What an author platform really is
Why even an audience of 100 engaged people can be a meaningful starting point
Why a successful book launch requires a team
How the right publishing model depends on the author's timeline and goals
Why publication day should be viewed as the beginning rather than the finish line
How a book can become a platform for years of business growth
In This Episode…
Carl sits down with Kevin Brunt and Bruno Gruber, co-founders of Dogfish Games, to talk about what it actually takes to start an independent game studio in one of the most challenging periods the industry has faced. Kevin has worked in games since 2008 across projects and franchises including Valorant, Star Wars, and Plants vs. Zombies, while Bruno is a senior technical artist, developer, and Creative Director helping lead both the creative and business sides of their new studio.
Together they break down the realities of pitching publishers, validating a game before spending years building it, assembling the right team, protecting studio culture, and learning all the business responsibilities that suddenly appear when developers become founders. They also discuss why execution matters more than ideas, how layoffs damage creative teams, why smaller multidisciplinary teams may play a bigger role in the future of games, and why human artists remain essential even as AI becomes part of more creative workflows.
Resources Mentioned in this episode:
🌐 Caraballo & Co.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbaracaraballo/
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