The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 11 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
'USA Today bestseller' branding signals failure to make the NYT list
“When you see a book that says number one or just like USA Today bestseller, what that tells me and what it has always told me is that they didn't make the New York Times list. So the New York Times list is kind of a benchmark because you can be a number one so…”
Traditional publishing distribution allows Carr to focus solely on writing
“I like being where I am. I like the team that they have at Simon & Schuster. I like the production value of the audiobooks. I like Ray Porter who narrates, who's absolutely amazing. I like that they have regional representatives all across the country. You get…”
Jack Carr: Book publishing is a legacy industry slow to adapt
“Publishing really hasn't kept up. It's a very legacy type of a business, and they do so well because they've been around for so long, so they're very entrenched in what they do, and they make some money, but they're safe as far as business goes. Very slow to a…”
Modern authors must build direct audiences via podcasts and free content
“So I realized that if you want to build an audience today with new readers, well, now it's podcast, it's social presence, it's that blog. It's adding something of value to their lives throughout the year that they're not paying for but that helps create that c…”
Carr funds his cinematic promotional book trailers entirely out of pocket
“So I think maybe other publishers also think my publisher pays for these things, but it's really just me out of pocket as a business.”
Carr sends 350 custom promotional gift boxes per book release
“I send out about 350, and most of them go to people as just thank yous. So people with no social media presence at all, just a thank you for whatever, X, Y, or Z.”
Jack Carr tracks publisher satisfaction instead of exact book sales
“I spend zero bandwidth worried about that. So my metric is, is Simon and Schuster happy and how happy are they? And they're ecstatic.”
Describing realistic gear and products builds character authenticity in fiction
“When I see somebody and they walk in or they walk onto a range, I can see the pistol that they have on. I can see the holster. They're using the belt, their shoes, their hat, their watch. That tells me a story about them, the car they pull up in. That all tell…”
Brands pay zero dollars to be featured in Carr's gear guides
“People have reached out and said, how much, how can I, how much do you need to put my product on your gear guide? And the answer is nothing.”