The Creative Penn Podcast For Writers

How will generative AI change search and book discoverability in the years ahead? How can you make sure your books and your author website can be found in AI tools like ChatGPT? Thomas Umstattd Jr. joins me to discuss Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) and how it will replace traditional SEO marketing. I first covered this topic in Dec 2023, How Generative Search Will Impact Book Discoverability in the Next Decade. As ever, I was early, but those changes are now starting to happen. Thomas recently covered the topic on his Novel Marketing Podcast on Does ChatGPT Recommend Your Book? This episode is supported by my patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Thomas Umstattd Jr. is the CEO of AuthorMedia.com, as well as an award-winning professional speaker, non-fiction author, and host of the Novel Marketing Podcast and the Christian Publishing Show. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes How authors can benefit from AI optimization Principles authors need to keep in mind as search is changing Different AI models and their capabilities Making your author website LLM-friendly How to utilize Goodreads to improve your GEO The future of AI agents in book buying Staying positive and curious in the ever-changing AI landscape You can find Thomas at AuthorMedia.com. Transcript of Interview with Thomas Umstattd Jr. Joanna: Thomas Umstattd Jr. is the CEO of AuthorMedia.com, as well as an award-winning professional speaker, non-fiction author, and host of the Novel Marketing Podcast and the Christian Publishing Show. So welcome back to the show, Thomas. Thomas: Thanks, Joanna, for having me. Joanna: It's great to have you back. Now, for everyone listening, you were on the show a few years back. So we're going to dive straight into the topic today, which is based around a recent episode on your Novel Marketing Podcast on “AI Optimization For Authors: Does ChatGPT Recommend Your Book?” I was like, yes, I really want to talk about this. Why did you decide to get into this topic now? What did you see in the author community that made you want to help authors see AI differently? Thomas: Well, what triggered this topic was actually the Google I/O Conference, where one of the features they were demoing was the ability to take a picture of a stack of books and then get recommendations on additional books that were like that book. As somebody who spends a lot of time in tech world, books and authors are often the example that the tech people use to demonstrate new capabilities of AI models. Often, unless people listen to your show, that new tech does not actually get translated to the author community. Most authors are not watching the Google IO Conference or even summaries of it. Joanna: Except you and me! Thomas: So I was like, oh, I need to do some tests with this. So I started testing different models to see how they would recommend books. I kind of realized, oh, this is already happening. People are already asking AI all the questions of their life. Google search traffic is way down. People are moving those big questions of their life conversations away from traditional search engines and towards AI interactions. If you can get the AI to recommend your book, you'll be well-positioned for ongoing sales in this new era. If you're holding on to ranking on Google search, or even Amazon search, as your only way of finding customers, sales are going to keep slipping, and you won't understand why. Joanna: It's interesting. I have been using ChatGPT primarily since November '22 when it first came out. I use it instead of Google. So I have started to use Gemini again, but I mainly use ChatGPT. Also on my phone, it's what I use. So what about your personal behavior? Do you use a lot of AI for normal life that you once would have used Google for? Thomas: I do. In fact, AI has boosted my productivity so much that we've been able to launch a new podcast, a whole additional podcast, called Author Update. It is a news podcast once a week, just covering publishing news. So much of the pieces of that, like taking the transcript and turning it into a blog, creating the timestamps for YouTube, creating the thumbnails for YouTube, creating the titles for YouTube. That's all done by AI. Different AI tools that I've built for each one of those pieces that two years ago would have been incredibly time consuming. There would have been no way we could have added yet another show to the mix. Joanna: I didn't know that. Interestingly, I have also brought back my Books and Travel Podcast, which I stopped doing a couple of years ago because it was too much work, and it's not one that's monetized. I also brought it back in the last few months, because I was like, do you know what? I can now do so much of this with AI that it doesn't matter so much. Actually, one of the things with th

How can you ‘cast a wider net' and reach more readers with your books? How can you embrace the best of publishing options for your work? JD Barker explains how his publishing business works. In the intro, How Authors Measure Success [Self-Publishing Advice]; Creating through Grief [Go Creative]; Death Valley; Successful Self-Publishing, Fourth Edition; Gothic Cathedrals; AI-Assisted Artisan Author webinar. Today's show is sponsored by ProWritingAid, writing and editing software that goes way beyond just grammar and typo checking. With its detailed reports on how to improve your writing and integration with writing software, ProWritingAid will help you improve your book before you send it to an editor, agent or publisher. Check it out for free or get 15% off the premium edition at www.ProWritingAid.com/joanna This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  J.D. Barker is the New York Times and international bestselling author of thrillers and horror. He co-writes with James Patterson, as well as other authors. He's also the co-host of the Writer’s, Ink Podcast. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Weighing up what is worth licensing, and what is worth doing as an indie author The importance of making connections in the publishing industry Why traditionally published authors are more open towards the indie framework Co-writing with James Patterson and others Writing across different genres and mediums to “cast a wider net” Tips for effectively pitching podcasts Benefits for an advanced author coming to Author Nation You can find J.D. at JDBarker.com. Transcript of Interview with J.D. Barker Joanna: JD Barker is the New York Times and international bestselling author of thrillers and horror. He co-writes with James Patterson, as well as other authors. He's also the co-host of the Writer’s Ink Podcast. So welcome back to the show, JD. JD: Hey, Joanna. It's great to be back. I was looking at the timeline, so like this was pre-COVID, I think, the last time we talked. Joanna: Yes, I know. It's crazy. I also had look. It was 2020, which does seem like another life. So back then, we did talk about your background, so we're just going to jump straight into it today. So the last five years, JD, how has it been like? Give us an overview. Well, not of the last five years, but— What does your business look like now? I almost feel like five years ago you were almost relatively new on the indie author scene as such, but now you've really cemented your position. JD: I was. So let me think, like five years ago, so that was about the same time that I called my agent and said, “I don't want you selling my English rights anymore. I'm going to do it myself.” Joanna: Yes, basically. JD: The publishing professionals, I think they hate me, because I tend to pull the rug out from under them quite a bit. Honestly — I indie published my first novel, and I got a taste of what that was like. For better or worse, that was a deal breaker for me. It's something that's always been in the back of my head, and I weigh it against every contract. At one point, I had a book coming out called A Caller's Game, and I called my agent, and like I just decided I'm going to indie publish it in English, and I'd let her go ahead and sell all the foreign territories like she usually does. I wanted to see how that would play out. Honestly, I liked it a lot because it gave me the freedom and control that I had as an indie to get that title out there. I got the economics benefits of being an indie. So I did that for a couple of different books, but I still ran into one particular problem. You know me well enough, I completely gloss over all the good stuff, and I just focus on the one or two things that aren't working right and that's where I tend to try and come up with some kind of solution. I couldn't get into the big box stores. I was still having trouble getting into airports. I couldn't get into Target or Costco or Walmart. So that's something that weighed on me for a couple of years. I guess about a year and a half ago, I sent my agent a copy of Behind a Closed Door, which was my latest thriller. We sold foreign rights on that almost immediately, and the book was going to auction with the traditional publishers—or not foreign rights, film rights. I got a phone call from a friend of mine that worked at Harper Collins, and she said, “We're about to offer on this book, and when that comes in, you need to turn it down.” I got a similar phone call from somebody over at Random House, and I asked why, and she said, “Well, the editor who wants your book is about to get laid off or about to cut a lot of people.” Then a week or two later, all those industry cuts that we all saw happened. I don't know if you

How can creativity be expressed in both writing and music? How can you improve your creativity by being more mindful of your physical body? How can you manage anxiety when speaking or performing? Jennifer Roig-Francoli gives her thoughts in this interview. In the intro, Taylor Swift buys back the rights to her first six albums [The Verge]; Understanding the rules of self-publishing, Becca Syme on the Bookfunnel Podcast; Multiple Income Streams for Authors, Beyond Just Book Sales [Publishing Performance]; Melania Trump's memoir audiobook using her AI voice clone with ElevenLabs, which she is selling direct from her website; my own voice clone AI-narrated thriller, Death Valley; AI narration in publishing [The New Publishing Standard]; The New York Times has struck an AI licensing deal with Amazon [The Verge]. Plus, my Fourth Edition of Successful Self-Publishing; Desecration, a British crime thriller, on special; and my AI-Assisted Artisan Author webinar; The Geography of Belonging and Finding Home [Books and Travel]. Write and format stunning books with Atticus. Create professional print books and eBooks easily with the all-in-one book writing software. Try it out at Atticus.io This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Jennifer Roig-Francoli is an international prize-winning violinist and certified Alexander Technique teacher. She's also a high performance coach and the author of Make Great Music with Ease!: The Secret to Smarter Practice, Confident Performance, and Living a Happier Life. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Creativity in music and writing Timing and readiness when approaching a book How perfectionism can hinder your creative process Tips for performing and public speaking, and tackling anxiety How the mind-body connection relates to both music and writing Dealing with physical pain as a musician or a writer (and in the intro, I recommend DeskBound by Kelly & Juliet Starrett) What is Alexander Technique? Integrating music and writing into a creative business You can find Jennifer at artoffreedom.me. Transcript of Interview with Jennifer Roig-Francoli Joanna: Jennifer Roig-Francoli is an international prize-winning violinist and certified Alexander Technique teacher. She's also a high performance coach and the author of Make Great Music with Ease!: The Secret to Smarter Practice, Confident Performance, and Living a Happier Life. So welcome to the show, Jennifer. Jennifer: Thank you so much for having me. I'm looking forward to talking with you. Joanna: Oh, yes. I'm pretty excited about this. We were just saying before the recording, this is my first podcast that's really around music. I don't know why I've missed it so much after like 15 years of doing the show. Jennifer: Well, I'm honored to be the first. Joanna: Yes, indeed. I am interested because why write a book? I tend to think that people have this primary mode of creativity, and yours is clearly music. Why write a book? (when music is your first mode of expression) Jennifer: I've wanted to write a book for a long time. My dad was an English professor, so my favorite class in school was writing. I used to keep journals. I wrote poetry and stories from the time I was really little. I just always loved writing. It’s also been therapeutic for me as an adult, just writing for myself. So writing a book was a thing I always wanted to do. The main thing was to get my ideas across about, specifically, the work I do with the Alexander Technique, music making, and creativity. I just have a lot of ideas, and I wanted to get them out there. So a book made sense. Joanna: So your dad was in the literature field. Were you also encouraged into music as a child? Again, because your primary method, I guess, is music, so writing was second. Did you do that from childhood? Jennifer: I'm told by my mother that when I was two, I declared that I needed a violin. My parents are both musicians, so it makes sense. They would sit around our living room in the evenings when I was a baby, playing quartets with their friends. I vaguely remember sitting in the rocking chair, listening to them and watching them. So when I was two, I fell in love with a violin. My mom is a cellist, and my dad is a violist, but I liked the violin. When I was four years old, my mother discovered the Suzuki method and got me started. So I've been playing the violin since I was four. Joanna: Yes, wow. It's so interesting, isn't it? I think, clearly, when you were a kid, it was fun for you, and it was all around you. I said to you beforehand that I don't really listen to music. I think part of that is my mum likes silence, so we were never really allowed to have sound around. I'm a very quiet person as well and often wear noise-canceling headphones. So it's so weird to imagine you

Why is creative control and owning your intellectual property so important for a long-term author career? How can AI tools help you be more creative and amplify your curiosity? Dave Morris talks about his forty-year publishing career and why he's still pushing the boundaries of what he can create. In the intro, Writing Storybundle; Finding your voice and creative confidence [Ask ALLi]; Does ChatGPT recommend your book? [Novel Marketing Podcast]; Google IO expansion of AI search [The Verge]; Sam Altman & Jony Ive IO [The Verge]; Claude 4; my AI-Assisted Artisan Author webinars. Today's show is sponsored by Draft2Digital, self-publishing with support, where you can get free formatting, free distribution to multiple stores, and a host of other benefits. Just go to www.draft2digital.com to get started. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Dave Morris is an author and comic book writer, as well as a narrative and game designer, with more than 70 books and over 40 years in publishing. He is best known for interactive series such as Dragon Warriors and Fabled Lands. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Keeping your IP for long-term earnings Working on your own projects to maintain creative control Benefits of AI tools for long-series authors AI as a research and brainstorming assistant How creative confidence leads to confidence in using AI tools Using AI to advise on marketing strategies The potential of AI to enhance emotional expression in writing The future of gaming with AI integration You can find Dave at FabledLands.blogspot.com, patreon.com/jewelspider, realdavemorris.substack.com or whispers-beyond.space Transcript of Interview with Dave Morris Joanna: Dave Morris is an author and comic book writer, as well as a narrative and game designer, with more than 70 books and over 40 years in publishing. He is best known for interactive series such as Dragon Warriors and Fabled Lands. So welcome to the show, Dave. Dave: Hi, Jo. Joanna: It's good to have you on. So first up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing and publishing originally, and how you've managed to stay in it for so long when so many have disappeared. Dave: The introduction was making me feel exhausted, because, yes, it is 40 years. I think the Dragon Warriors is having its 40th anniversary this year. So 41 years I've been publishing. At the start of the 80s, there was kind of a craze for role playing, and those kind of choose your own adventure books, solo role playing. So part of it is kind of a luck factor, but you have to look for those opportunities. All publishers at the time needed people who could do that, and there weren't very many of us that could do words and equations and things, and I got lucky with that. I think the why I've stayed in it is the early choices were whether to join the big series like Dungeons and Dragons, and Fighting Fantasy was a big one in Britain, or to do your own thing. I went with smaller publishers and kept my own IP and kept control of it. I think the difference there is, at first I thought, I wonder if this is a mistake. Like friends were making more and getting bigger checks than I was to start with, but then I noticed I was getting foreign rights checks a few years later that were really beginning to add up. Of course, by keeping the IP, it means I'm still earning from those things 40 years on, because I still control them. Joanna: That's really interesting. That decision, you said that was hard back then. Of course, we have seen in recent years, some of those comic book artists particularly are sort of trying to come back to the big companies saying, well, it's just not fair. It seems a very strong decision to make back then, when being more independent was not really a thing. Dave: Well, maybe I picked that up from comics because I was a huge Marvel comics fan. You know, I was 10, 11, 12, and I was aware of the problems of Jack Kirby, and even Stan Lee. I mean, he was paid well by Marvel, but considering that he's spawned a multi-billion dollar industry, he wasn't paid that much. So maybe I just thought about creative control. I think partly it was just that I like to have creative control. You want to go in and be able to say the cover should look like this, and pick your own artists, and really just feel that it's your work, not somebody else's. So although I have done plenty of hack work as well for other IPs, I think I bring my best game to my own stuff. Joanna: Hack work. That's an interesting phrase. Is that writing for hire, really? Dave: Yes. I mean, I did the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle books, for example. Joanna: That's awesome! Dave: I know, it is. I was a comics fan, so they said, “We want you to do these comics.” This was the kid’s department at wh

How can you embrace the process of change in life and author business, especially in an era of AI? How can you take control of what's possible and be more comfortable with uncertainty? How can you develop a career portfolio that future proofs you in changing times? April Rinne shares her insights into how we can flux. In the intro, KDP royalty changes and printing costs; The Pre-Launch Checklist [Draft2Digital]; Audible opens AI narration to some traditional publishers [Publishing Perspectives]; US Copyright Office Fair Use; Plus, join me for a live webinar on The AI-Assisted Artisan Author; Signing Death Valley at BookVault; Successful Self-Publishing 4th Edition; Egypt with Luke Richardson on Books and Travel. This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  April Rinne is a futurist, professional speaker, lawyer, and the international bestselling author of Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes The human dimension of change The “flux mindset” — how individuals relate to and show up for change Changes we choose vs. those we don't control Immediate changes vs. slower societal shifts The benefits of being proactive with change Uncertainty that comes with AI and technology developments The concept of the portfolio career — more resources from April here. You can find April at AprilRinne.com or FluxMindset.com. Transcript of Interview with April Rinne Joanna: April Rinne is a futurist, professional speaker, lawyer, and the international bestselling author of Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change. So welcome to the show, April. April: Thank you so much, Jo. I'm delighted to be here. Joanna: I'm so excited to talk about this, but first up, just— Tell us a bit more about you and why you decided to write a book on this topic when you were already reaching so many people with your message. April: It's quite interesting because I think a lot of people today do know me as a futurist, trained as a lawyer, business strategy, all of that. We can have that conversation around the need I was seeing in the business world around, frankly, just how bad humans are at change and uncertainty and the unknown. Just to be clear, this predates the pandemic by a long shot. So I actually started germinating the book, I would say, in about 2014. It was like a long time in coming, and the thesis continued to grow and deepen. Obviously, when the pandemic hit, people are like, “Oh, flux. Yes, world is in flux. I don't know what to do.” So since 2020, there's been a real zeitgeist around it, but for me, it goes much, much, much deeper and much further back in history. So one piece is, just in the business world, in the work I was doing, how fraught people's relationship with change is. Also, my entire career has been global. So I would work in different cultures, with different kinds of organizations, in different settings. I noticed this is a very universal issue as well. It's not as though one place or one people is better at change or worse at change. All humans are really good at some kinds of changes and really not so good at others. So there was a cultural component. I really love getting into the cultures of change and what we can learn from one another, and the fact that everyone has something to contribute to this conversation, and everyone has something to learn. So there was that piece as well. Then really, the real genesis—and I realize I'm getting pretty personal pretty fast, and we've just started this conversation, but I do want to kind of put it all out there. For many years, I didn't share much of my personal story, not that I didn't want to talk about it. I was always an open book about it personally, but you have those filters between who am I professionally and who am I personally, and what parts of me do I show to what people, and all of that. The fact is that my real interest in what do you do when you don't know what to do, and what do you do when your entire world is thrown in flux, is deeply, deeply personal. So if I think, like, how did I get into writing a book? This goes back more than 25 years. My first really big experience with change and uncertainty happened when I was 20, and I was at university, and I got the phone call that no one ever wants to get or expects to get, which was that both of my parents had died in a car crash. Imagine? Like, there's my world totally flipped upside down. I was actually overseas. I was in the UK, and I got this phone call. Everything changed

What can prose writers learn from poets about language, line breaks, and punctuation? How can we help people engage with our work in different ways? Abi Pollokoff talks about her advice from poetry. In the intro, how to reframe success as a writer [Ink in Your Veins]; How I Write Podcast with Dean Koontz; Direct selling [SelfPublishing Advice]; Successful Self-Publishing 4th Edition; ElevenReader publishing. This episode is sponsored by Publisher Rocket, which will help you get your book in front of more Amazon readers so you can spend less time marketing and more time writing. I use Publisher Rocket for researching book titles, categories, and keywords — for new books and for updating my backlist. Check it out at www.PublisherRocket.com This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Abi Pollokoff is an award-winning poet, editor, and book artist. Her debut poetry collection is night myths • • before the body. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes What makes a good poem? Balancing academic and fun elements in poetry Judging poetry on its purpose and impact, rather than on personal tastes Relevance of poetry techniques in prose writing The significance of punctuation in both poetry and prose The importance of page layout in poetry Tips for performance and spoken word poetry Creating and marketing a poetry collection Commercial realities and opportunities for poets Find out more about Abi at AbiPollokoff.com or on Instagram @AbiPollokoff. Transcript of Interview with Abi Pollokoff Joanna: Abi Pollokoff is an award-winning poet, editor, and book artist. Her debut poetry collection is night myths • • before the body. So welcome to the show, Abi. Abi: Thank you so much, Jo. I'm so excited to be here. Joanna: Yes. So lots to talk about today, but first up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing poetry, as well as making it part of your job, as well as your passion. Abi: In terms of how I got started, really, I started with books. I always loved reading, and reading is such a big part of living a literary life for me. I read poetry when I was young, you know, Dr Seuss, Shel Silverstein. So I found myself reading language and story that just had fun in it. I had always loved creative writing assignments in school, and I connected with poems. I think when I really first found my way into my current understanding and relationship to poetry was in my last year of university. I studied at Tulane University in New Orleans, and in my last year, I took a series of classes that coalesced all around the same time period of study. So I was taking a class on the French avant-garde movements of the first half of the 1900s. We were reading a lot of Dada and Surrealism. At the same time, I was taking a poetry workshop from the poet Andy Stallings, and we used a primary course text that covered around the same time period. So I was immersed in this area of literature that was concerned with the possibilities of language, of language without self-censorship, of linguistic freedom. It was a time when I really needed that permission to play and to explore and to trust myself. So I gave myself that permission, and it's transformed where I am today. In terms of my job, I think I really believe deeply in the value of reciprocity. So I knew that if I wanted to have a book in the world one day to take up space on a shelf or in a mind, I wanted to be able to make space for other books to exist and for other writers to see their names in print. I just wanted to give back into the community, as well as being a part of it. Joanna: Oh, so much there. I'm really interested in this juxtaposition there of this academic side of poetry, and you studying it and studying literature. Then you also mentioned the word “fun,” which I thought was interesting, and also permission, and trying to get rid of that self-censorship. I feel like poetry, in particular, has a real difficulty with academic snobbery around what is an acceptable poem. So I wondered, I mean, I know it's a matter of opinion, but— What makes a good poem? How do you balance the academic side with the fun side and letting loose? Abi: I'm so grateful for this question because I think you're right. I feel like for such a long time, Poetry with a capital P had very specific expectations and a very specific origin story. I don't think that an academic poem is the only kind of a good poem. Of course, everyone's allowed to have taste and preference. One person might like chocolate ice cream and one person might like vanilla, and each flavor is equally valid. For me, I believe — A good poem is one that makes you feel something, full stop. In your body, a good poem is one that comes alive off the page. So that can be a sonnet with the perfect volta, that turns, that tw

How can you explore the edges of your creativity to find your next becoming? How can you turn the evolution of your life into art? Pia Leichter talks about her creative courage, different ways to rest, and intuitive book marketing in this interview. In the intro, Lessons from Six Years Writing Full-time [Sacha Black]; Reflections on big shifts in life, creativity, and mindset; Spotify Transitions Select Audiobook Distribution Services to INaudio [FindawayVoices]; Death Valley fulfilment; and Successful Self-Publishing Fourth Edition; Writing memoir and non-fiction — I'm on the Writers Ink Podcast; plus Lindisfarne on Books and Travel. Plus, AI can be used in films that could win Oscars [The Week]; and Executive Order to advance artificial intelligence education in the USA [White House]. Today's show is sponsored by ProWritingAid, writing and editing software that goes way beyond just grammar and typo checking. With its detailed reports on how to improve your writing and integration with writing software, ProWritingAid will help you improve your book before you send it to an editor, agent or publisher. Check it out for free or get 15% off the premium edition at www.ProWritingAid.com/joanna This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Pia Leichter is an award-winning creative director and coach, founder of the Kollektiv Studio, and the author of Welcome to the Creative Club: Make Life Your Biggest Art Project. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes What does a creative director do? Overcoming the fear of writing a book How to take control and not let life just happen Tapping into your next becoming Type 1 fun vs. type 2 fun The necessity of rest for creativity Marrying artistic expression and commercial objectives Changing the scarcity script around books and money You can find Pia at kollektiv.studio. Transcript of Interview with Pia Leichter Joanna: Pia Leichter is an award-winning creative director and coach, founder of the Kollektiv Studio and the author of Welcome to the Creative Club: Make Life Your Biggest Art Project. So welcome to the show, Pia. Pia: Thanks so much, Jo, for having me on. I'm excited to be here. Joanna: Oh, yes. So first up, tell us a bit more about you. What is a creative director, anyway? What part does writing play in your business? Pia: A creative director typically can work in different creative fields, such as advertising, film, fashion, you name it. I came from the world of marketing and advertising, so in that landscape, a creative director oversees the creative vision for different brands and different projects in the studio. They marry artistic expression with commercial objectives. They also manage a creative team and kind of blends magic and logic, strategy and creativity, to create an impact in our clients’ lives and the lives of their consumers. Joanna: That sounds pretty cool. Pia: It was pretty cool. It was good. It was really good. It's where I spent well over a decade. So it was very rewarding work. I mean, as a creative director, at least in that world, you can have either a design background or a writing background. So I was like the copywriting background. Joanna: Okay, and what is it you do now then? Pia: Now I work as a creative partner, working with— Well, I think the simplest way of putting it is, I help people create. I help people create brands, businesses, dreams, art, what they're being called to create. People who do things differently to make a difference, those are generally the people I work with. I call it sort of a creative midwife. So I help people at different sticky junctures in life, often when we're at this creative evolution point, when what we used to create was successful wonderful, whether it's a business or a creative venture, but it's just not floating our boat anymore. We're just being called to do something different, and that can be both thrilling and terrifying at the same time, because it's like —  What is going to come next? What is my next becoming? What is my next creation? I often partner with creatives that are at that point. Then what's great about it is I have different tools at my disposal. I'm also a certified coach, so I bring together coaching and creativity in the form of narrative development, storytelling, brand strategy, to actually help bring whatever it is they're looking to bring to life into the world. So I get to combine both of those things, depending on where people are in their journey. Joanna: Why this book, then? Because it sounds like you've got lots of different strands to your business and your creative life. Why write this book? What part does that play? Pia: That's a fantastic question. When I left my agency, the last agency I worked for, I think it was 2021, my mother passed away suddenly. She ga

How can you implement ‘See, Do, Repeat' in your writing and author business? How can you embrace optimism as a creative entrepreneur and move past fear of judgment to publish your book? Dr Rebecca White shares her journey and tips. In the intro, Short form audio opportunities and tips [Self Publishing Advice]; Wiley's guidelines for AI usage; Collective licensing for UK authors [The Guardian]; Entrepreneurship and writing, I'm on The En Factor Podcast; Plus, Successful Self-Publishing Fourth Edition on pre-order, and I’m on the El Camino de Santiago Pilgrim Podcast talking about my walk along the Portuguese coastal route. Today's show is sponsored by Draft2Digital, self-publishing with support, where you can get free formatting, free distribution to multiple stores, and a host of other benefits. Just go to www.draft2digital.com to get started. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Dr. Rebecca White is an award-winning entrepreneur, executive board member, professor, and the author of See, Do, Repeat: The Practice of Entrepreneurship. She's also the host of the En Factor Podcast. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Rebecca's entrepreneurial journey and background Actionable steps to embrace the entrepreneurial mindset The “See, Do, Repeat” framework Applying the “See, Do, Repeat” framework to author entrepreneurship The role of optimism in entrepreneurship Transitioning from academic writing to popular books Overcoming fear of judgement by peers You can find Rebecca at DrRebeccaWhite.com. Transcript of Interview with Dr. Rebecca White Joanna: Dr. Rebecca White is an award-winning entrepreneur, executive board member, professor, and the author of See, Do, Repeat: The Practice of Entrepreneurship. She's also the host of the En Factor Podcast. So welcome to the show, Rebecca. Rebecca: Thank you, Joanna. I am honored to be here. I love your podcast, and I'm excited. I am reading your book Pilgrimage, and I just love everything that you've done. So it's really great to be here and have this conversation today. Joanna: Oh, well, thanks so much. So first up— Tell us a bit more about you and what drives your interest in entrepreneurship. Rebecca: I grew up in this small town in West Virginia. I don't know if you've ever been there, but it's quite rural. I always had these dreams and interests of doing other things rather than being in a small town. I had a wonderful mother. Her name was Betty White. So great name, maybe not the Betty White most people think of. She had an entrepreneurial mindset back before we even had the words to put with it, and so I learned about this whole mindset from her as a child. It's really driven everything I've done. It's kind of like it grabbed me, and I had to hold on. So I've really applied an entrepreneurial mindset in everything that I've done, from being an educator to a book author to a podcaster to even a corporate board member. You mentioned all those slashes in my career, I think that's part of being an entrepreneur as well, this whole idea that there's always something new and a new opportunity to explore. So it's really just been a part of my life, and everything that I've done, I think because I learned it from her. Joanna: That's cool. When you said West Virginia, I just had that song playing, “Take Me Home, Country Road.” Rebecca: Yes, everybody knows that. Joanna: Yes, that's the only thing. I've never been there, but that's what it brought to mind, which was quite funny. So you were in the small town and you had this mindset, but how did you get out of the small town and get into work? How did you make it out of there? I know some people listening, it might just be a life situation they're trapped in, or a job. Many people are in a job, and they might want to be more entrepreneurial, but they didn't have the mindset that your mom gave you. How did you get out of that small town? How can other people get out if they feel trapped? Rebecca: That's a really great question. For me, it was education, and I just kept going. My parents valued education. My mom was very curious, and she was way ahead of her time, the way she approached life and saw things. She had her own business. She was a florist. When I graduated with my undergraduate degree, she invited me to come back and take over the business, and that's like the last thing I wanted to do. I had worked in that business all my years growing up. It was great for her. It was a great opportunity for our family. It afforded my brother and I the opportunity to get an education. Once I left and went to college—and I didn't go that far away at first—but once I went to college, I just knew that I wasn't going to go back. There wasn't a lot there, and fortunately, my parents d

How can you shift your writing and publishing process to focus on YouTube and podcasting as a primary audiobook focus? How can you use AI tools to help you create, publish, and translate your books? Derek Slaton goes into his indie author process. Inspired by Derek, you can now find my audiobooks on YouTube: Books for Authors on YouTube @thecreativepenn; and my fiction, short stories, and memoir on YouTube @jfpennauthor. In the intro, Spotify has expanded audiobooks into Germany, Austria. Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and Publisher Rocket has introduced more country stores; Second Edition of The Business of Being a Writer by Jane Friedman; T. Thorn Coyle on the MidList Indie Author [Wish I’d Known Then Podcast]; What if AI replaces me? [Claire Taylor What If Podcast]; plus, my Successful Self-Publishing Fourth Edition is underway, coming June/July! This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Derek Slaton is the author of the Dead America epic zombie series, with more than 100 books in the main series and many more spin-off stories. I heard Derek on the Brave New Bookshelf Podcast and wanted to ask him some more questions. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Zombie book tropes and settings Utilizing AI audio tools to efficiently output audiobooks Finding keywords and creating thumbnails for YouTube audiobooks Manualling adding ads to monetize your audiobook on YouTube YouTube audience vs. Audible audience Publishing audiobooks on podcast platforms Using AI tools to overcome the cost barrier of production You can find Derek at his YouTube Channel @DerekSlatonHorrorAuthor. Transcript of Interview with Derek Slaton Joanna: Derek Slaton is the author of the Dead America epic zombie series, with more than 100 books in the main series and many more spin-off stories. So welcome to the show, Derek. Derek: Thank you. It's good to be here. Joanna: I'm excited to talk to you, but first up— Tell us a bit more about you, and how you got into writing, and why you love zombies so much. Derek: So I started writing many, many years ago. When I was in high school, I rented Dawn of the Dead on VHS, and the movie itself didn't really scare me, but it was when I went to bed that night and started thinking about, “Hey, what would I do in a zombie apocalypse?” It was like a light switch was flipped. So it's like I had to start writing down what I would do, and over the years and decades, it just sort of grew from there. I used to be a photographer. I was a concert photographer traveling the country with bands, and then I moved over to commercial real estate. When I was on the road, I would have my laptop so I would just write. Over about four or five years, I built it up enough that I could go full time. I went full time with it in January of '24, so I'm a little more than a year into it. Joanna: Brilliant. Then I want to come back on the zombie books, the tropes of the zombie books. So I read some zombie, like Jonathan Maberry. I'm sure you've read some of Jonathan Mabery's stuff, but he says, “It's not about the monsters, it's about the people who fight the monsters.” I wondered if you could talk about the tropes of zombie books and why you just have an unending number of zombie stories in you?! Derek: The great thing about the zombie apocalypse, is that it's happening to everybody everywhere, and everybody has their own story. So there's a million stories that can be told in the zombie apocalypse. It's not just the strong military type fighting. It's the waitress having to deal with zombified customers, and the high school students having to deal with classmates, and just on down the line. There's just so many different scenarios. I'm three and a half million words into my series, and I still have another hundred stories plotted out that aren't really repeats of what I've already done. Joanna: So you're writing about America, but obviously it's very, very big. Are you writing about places you've been to or you know yourself? Or are you putting in different places? Because place makes a difference, doesn't it? Like it's different whether you're in the Florida Everglades versus up in the mountains? Derek: It's a combination. I have been all over, but a lot of the places I haven't been, Google Maps of all things, has really helped me out. I'll look at the town, and then I'll drop myself into street view and just kind of walk around the area and see what my characters would be seeing and write it from that perspective. Also it comes directly from places I'v

What are the different ways you can distribute and monetise your ebooks and audiobooks through Kobo Writing Life? How can you market them more effectively and reach more readers? With Tara Cremin. In the intro, the potential impact of tariffs and what to do about it [Self Publishing Advice]; Pep talk for authors during chaotic times [Publishing Confidential]; 8 ways to get more value from your backlist [BookBub]; Death Valley Kickstarter — and writing thrillers webinar. Write and format stunning books with Atticus. Create professional print books and eBooks easily with the all-in-one book writing software. Try it out at Atticus.io This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Tara Cremin is the Director of Kobo Writing Life, Kobo's independent publishing platform. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Changes in the indie book industry over the past decade How Kobo Plus compares to other subscription models Catering to different audiences by offering different book versions Tips for maximizing income from ebooks and audiobooks on Kobo Applying for promotions to expand your potential audience The payment model for Kobo Plus and library books Kobo's stance on AI-assisted books You can find Tara and the Kobo Writing Life team at Kobo.com/writinglife or email them at [email protected]. Transcript of Interview with Tara Cremin Joanna: Tara Cremin is the director of Kobo Writing Life, Kobo's independent publishing platform. Welcome back to the show, Tara. Tara: Thanks, Jo. Thanks for having me. Joanna: Oh, it is great to have you back on the show. It's actually been four years, which is crazy. Tara: I can't believe it. Joanna: I know. So I thought we'd go back to the beginning. Tell us a bit more about you. When did you get into the book business, and what are some of the changes you've seen for authors since then? Tara: Sure. So I've been working for Kobo since 2012, which feels like a lifetime. When I started, the company had created some great, but kind of relatively simple, eReaders. They were just starting to dip their toe into really expanding what physical devices could do. Then you fast forward to 2025, and we're the second largest manufacturer of eReaders, after our friends in Seattle. So part of the work that I do on Kobo Writing Life, I've been working on it basically since day one. Kobo Writing Life was created as a platform for authors who wanted to publish directly to Kobo readers. So I've been kind of working on that. The biggest change on the author side that I can really think of is just the expansion of the tools. I think it's easy to not always think back to 2012 because things move so quickly. I'll be like, “Oh, that was ages ago,” but it'll be like four years ago. When you're actually thinking about 2012, authors were uploading a Word doc and publishing their ebook, and then that was it. There wasn't a lot of different things available or more opportunities. Now, authors can really easily create accessible and like really beautifully designed ePubs with tools like Vellum and Atticus. They can publish audiobooks to Kobo, they can reach libraries, join subscription programs, and take advantage of all the promotional tools that are available. So I think the biggest change is just that there's more opportunities now for authors than when I started working in the book business. Joanna: Oh, and— What about the growth of Kobo for indies? I mean, we've heard before some of the stats around the number of self-published books on the Kobo platform. That's grown as well, hasn't it? Tara: It has. I have some stats for you. When we look at self-publishing on Kobo, it makes up about 25% of the units for single copy sales. Then if we think about the subscription reading, it makes up about 60% of English language subscription reading is all self-published content. It's huge. Joanna: Wow, that's incredible. So indie authors are important to Kobo, I guess we could say. Tara: Yes, and it started with somebody wanting to email a Word doc and get it published, which is why Kobo Writing Life was created as a platform. We've really been able to expand it and add additional features. Kobo has always taken a global stance of the digital book market, and I think we realized pretty early that the indie authors were really integral to that. Something that I don't think we talk about a lot because I'm primarily focused on the English language side, but we also have a portal that's just for users in Japan that's very self-contained in Japanese. Last year, we actually localized in traditional and simplified Chinese for our friends in Taiwan and Hong Kong. So the Kobo Writing Life platform is now available in eight languages. So we know how integral the independent authors are to the global book business. Joanna

What’s the difference between telling a story on screen and on the page? How does indie film production overlap with indie publishing—and what can writers learn from the world of filmmaking? Why might a producer choose creative freedom over big studio deals, and what does that mean when it comes to book marketing? Gretchen McGowan talks about her memoir Flying In: My Adventures in Filmmaking, navigating the independent film world, and finding her voice as an author. In the intro, NaNoWriMo shutting down [The Verge]; Amazon introduces AI-generated Recaps; Thoughts on the creative cycle; How to Write a Novel audiobook on YouTube; Mapwalker fantasy novels on YouTube. Plus, Death Valley, A Thriller Kickstarter and thriller writing class; J.F. Penn on The Adventure Story Podcast; Death Valley expert Steve Hall on the Books and Travel Podcast; My photos from Death Valley. Today's show is sponsored by ProWritingAid, writing and editing software that goes way beyond just grammar and typo checking. With its detailed reports on how to improve your writing and integration with writing software, ProWritingAid will help you improve your book before you send it to an editor, agent or publisher. Check it out for free or get 15% off the premium edition at www.ProWritingAid.com/joanna This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Gretchen McGowan is an award-winning independent film producer, filmmaking lecturer, and the author of Flying In: My Adventures in Filmmaking. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes What does an indie film producer actually do? The isolation of writing a book vs. making a film The fear of underserving your audience Tools for writing the “truth” in memoir Seeing a new place for the first time through the eyes of a filmmaker The parallels of self-publishing and the indie film world Utilizing your network to help market your book AI tools being used in this democratization of film You can find Gretchen at GretchenMcGowan.com and GoldcrestFilms.com. Transcript of Interview with Gretchen McGowan Joanna: Gretchen McGowan is an award-winning independent film producer, filmmaking lecturer, and the author of Flying In: My Adventures in Filmmaking. So welcome to the show, Gretchen. Gretchen: Thank you so much, Joanna. It's a dream to be here. Joanna: Well, it's going to be so fun talking to you today. First up— Tell us a bit more about you and what you actually do in the indie filmmaking industry, and what even is that? Gretchen: Yes, well, I'm an independent producer. I come from a freelancing background in the independent film world. We make largely films that are kind of under $15 million, although that fluctuates all the way down to the really almost no budget kind of film. When you're a producer on those kinds of films, you wear many, many hats, because your footprint is small, your crew is smaller. So you have to be good at many things, or at least pretend to be. A lot of that is trial and error. So that's been largely my background. I'm now at a company called Goldcrest Films. They're based in London, but we have a branch here in New York, and there I oversee film. So I'm a little less hands on at this point with each film. We also do documentaries, and on those, I'm very, very hands on. Joanna: You said that you wear many hats, so just be a bit more specific. What are the actual things that a producer does? Gretchen: Sure. So in the early stages, you're, of course, approving scripts, making script changes with writers. You are casting with the casting director and the director of the film. Then you're location scouting at distant locations, even nearby locations. You are involved in really every decision that is made, and you're trying to help tell a story with your director. The director really is king in this case, or queen, and you're there to facilitate that. To make sure that their vision of this script is seen on screen by you. Joanna: Do you manage the budget, or is that somebody else? Gretchen: You do. That's one of the less glamorous things, but I still enjoy it because every aspect of that film is reflected in that budget. You have to make sure going into it, it's a little bit idealistic what your budget might be at that point, but it's based upon experience. So it's not a fantasy of what that budget will be. You'll look at similar budgets where you ultimately landed to create that budget, and to know what it takes to get the film actually to market. Joanna: Then once the film is made, are you involved in the editing at all? The actual sort of what happens after the filming? Gretchen: Definitely. To me, the editorial process is the final chance to write the script again. I come from editing, actually. I started out kind of through the back door, in the finishing process in edi

What are some ways you can market a book during a launch period using audio, video, and text? What does my JFPenn voice clone sound like narrating the first two chapters of my thriller, Death Valley? J.F. Penn is the Award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers, dark fantasy, crime, horror, short stories, and travel memoir. Jo lives in Bath, England and enjoys a nice G&T. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Examples of multimedia book marketing for a book launch — Death Valley Book Trailer; Books and Travel interview with Death Valley expert, Steve Hall; also on YouTube; Video of Death Valley pictures, and more Two chapters of Death Valley, a thriller, written by J.F. Penn and digitally narrated by my JFPenn voice clone on ElevenLabs, produced by Simon Patrick, 10XB You can find DEATH VALLEY at JFPenn.com/deathvalley. The Kickstarter runs until 15 April, and then the link will redirect. It's also available on Amazon for pre-order (available in June). Transcript Hello Creatives, I’m Joanna Penn and this is episode #802 of the podcast and it is Wednesday 2 April 2025 as I record this. In this extra inbetweenisode, I’m sharing the first two chapters of my new thriller, Death Valley, which you can listen to after this introduction. Of course, I hope you enjoy the story and want to join the Kickstarter at JFPenn.com/deathvalley  but I also thought it might be useful for you in several ways:  Firstly, it is made with my voice clone on ElevenLabs, so if you have had your doubts about digital narration with AI, then perhaps this might help you think about it some more. I have found it quite strange proofing the story and listening to my voice, but I love it, and the amount of time it saves me, and effort, is well worth it. My audiobook narrator voice is different to my more casual podcasting voice so you will notice that, but I hope you agree that it really does sound like me. I am planning on licensing it as well in the hope of creating another stream of income.  If you notice points where you think, that’s sounds strange, or that’s wrong, well, the same thing happens when you listen to human narration. I think this is within the same levels I’d expect from a human. Why else might this be useful for you? Well — It’s book marketing, and we all need reminding of different ways to market a book. I am trying to combine audio and video as well as text for this launch. If you go to the Story page on the Kickstarter, you will see I have a video of human me talking and showing you the book — As well as a book trailer with images generated by Midjourney and brought alive with RunwayML, and also text about why I’ve always loved deserts. I also have an interview about Death Valley on my Books and Travel Podcast with Steve Hall, a Death Valley expert, and that’s out now. It is an audio podcast – just search Books and Travel on your favourite app, or you can watch our discussion on video on YouTube @jfpennauthor. Plus, I have made another video with my photos also on YouTube, and of course, I have social media posts every day scheduled with BufferApp, and some paid ads, all underpinned by email marketing. Yes, I am putting in the marketing effort, because none of us can just stick a book up on a platform and expect it to sell. You have to do something, and you have to push your comfort zone about what you do. I hope this has given you some ideas, and if you love fast-paced thrillers, or if you want some ideas for your Kickstarter campaign, check it out at JFPenn.com/deathvalley  The post Death Valley Audiobook Chapters And Book Marketing Tips With J.F Penn first appeared on The Creative Penn.

What's the difference between writing a book and writing a screenplay? What are the different business models? If you've written a screenplay, how can you get it read? TD Donnelly talks about the challenges and rewards of screenwriting, as well as his first thriller novel. In the intro, ProWritingAid spring sales 25% off; Key takeaways from the Future of Publishing conference [Written Word Media]; Curios for authors; Indie author’s scam survival guide [Productive Indie Author]; Writer Beware; OpenAI’s 4o image generation model launch [OpenAI]; Plus, check out Death Valley: A Thriller by J.F. Penn. This episode is sponsored by Publisher Rocket, which will help you get your book in front of more Amazon readers so you can spend less time marketing, and more time writing. I use Publisher Rocket for researching book titles, categories, and keywords — for new books and for updating my backlist. Check it out at www.PublisherRocket.com This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  T.D. Donnelly is the author of the thriller The Year of the Rabbit. He's also been a screenwriter for more than 25 years, with credits including Sahara with Matthew McConaughey, Conan the Barbarian, and adaptations for the works of Ray Bradbury, Clive Cussler, Stan Lee and others. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Challenges of being a screenwriter The competitive nature of the film industry compared to indie publishing Payment structure for screenwriters — stages of payment, production bonuses, and residuals Regaining rights to old, unpublished screenplays Writing differences between screenplays and novels Craft and pitching advice for aspiring screenwriters Why Tom is not worried about AI in the film industry You can find Tom at TDDonnelly.com. Transcript of Interview with Tom Donnelly Joanna: TD Donnelly is the author of the thriller The Year of the Rabbit. He's also been a screenwriter for more than 25 years, with credits including Sahara with Matthew McConaughey, Conan the Barbarian, and adaptations for the works of Ray Bradbury, Clive Cussler, Stan Lee and others. So welcome to the show, Tom. Tom: Hey, Jo. How are you today? Joanna: Oh, I'm good. It's really fun to talk to you about this. So first up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into screenwriting and, particularly, into adaptations. Tom: Okay, so I grew up in New Jersey. My father was an accountant in Manhattan, and my mother was a housewife raising three boys, which is not easy, and sometimes doing a little bit of real estate. So nobody in my family had ever been in a creative field. I had no connection, but what I did have was a 20 minute bike ride from my house growing up, sometime around 10 years old, they built a multiplex, like a 10-movie theater. Back in the 80s, that was quite something. I figured out that on a Saturday, I could ride my bike down like four blind alleys and along the median of a six lane highway for a little bit. It was probably not a good idea, but I could ride my bike to that movie theater, chain it up, spend three or four bucks for a matinee ticket, and then sneak into at least two other movies after that. I was absolutely hooked. I was like, oh my god, this is the best. This is the 80s. This is Raiders of the Lost Ark and Empire Strikes Back. I was transported every weekend into other fantastical worlds. I feel like it indoctrinated me into story and into the scope of story and the power of story. It was all the idea that the Japanese, they have a 100-year plan. When you want to become something in Japan, you apprentice for 10 years, and you just spend all those 10 years learning everything you can so you can become an expert. I guess we call it the 10,000 hours now. I realized at age 15 hearing this, I had like a brainstorm. It was like, hey, if I did that, that's about 10 years of my life. I would still only be like 25 or 26 if I spent all my time just trying to be a screenwriter. If I did that, I would be 25, and if it doesn't work out, I could still do something else at that point. I'm still really young and all that sort of stuff. So I kind of set out with that goal in mind. I told my guidance counselor in high school, I was like, “I would like to be a screenwriter in Hollywood.” The guy just looked at me like, where do you think you are? What planet do you think you are on? Just had no idea what to do with me. He kept trying to suggest other careers that were reasonable, and I just was adamant. So he was like, okay, I'm just going to wash my hands of you and let you go. I've never reached back to contact him, but that would have been funny. Anyway, I got my undergrad at Vassar with an English and Drama double major. Then I got accepted to USC Film School for a master's degree in the directing program, actually. My the

How can we avoid the mistake of comparing our first drafts with the finished books we love? How can we improve our manuscripts? Kristopher Jansma gives his tips. In the intro, Finding your deepest reason to write [Ink In Your Veins]; London Book Fair, AI audio and ‘vibe coding' [Self Publishing with ALLi]; Pirated database of books used to train AI models [The Atlantic]; Fair use and copyright with Alicia Wright; The Guardian strategic partnership with OpenAI; Trump Administration’s AI Action Plan and potential around fair use [Ars Technica]; How to Think About AI: A Guide for the Perplexed by Richard Susskind; Death Valley, A Thriller by J.F. Penn. This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Kristopher Jansma is the award-winning author of literary fiction novels, short fiction and essays, as well as Revisionaries: What We Can Learn from the Lost, Unfinished, and Just Plain Bad Work of Great Writers. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes The mistake of comparing first drafts to finished works Dismantling the notion of genius How to turn our manuscripts into masterpieces Knowing when it's time to walk away from a book, or push through and persevere Seeking support from editors and friends Balancing the joyful side and business side of being an author The importance of social media in developing your personal brand Drawing boundaries and protecting personal information in your writing You can find Kristopher at KristopherJansma.com or The Nature of the Fun on Substack. Transcript of Interview with Kristopher Jansma Joanna: Kristopher Jansma is the award-winning author of literary fiction novels, short fiction and essays, as well as Revisionaries: What We Can Learn from the Lost, Unfinished, and Just Plain Bad Work of Great Writers. So welcome to the show, Kris. Kristopher: Thanks for having me on, Jo. Joanna: I'm excited to talk to you about this. First up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing. Kristopher: Well, I have been a writer pretty much my whole life. I'm one of those writers who, as a child, you couldn't get a book out of my hand. I have a whole storage unit somewhere full of school journals that are full of little stories and things. It was just something that I took to really early and always really wanted to do. As I got older, I started taking it a little more seriously. Then I went to school eventually and studied writing. So it's always been a lifelong love of mine. Joanna: So are you a full-time writer? We're always interested in how people make a living writing on this show. Kristopher: I don't know very many full-time writers, sadly. So I'm an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at SUNY New Paltz College here in New York State. So I'm teaching creative writing, which is wonderful because I get to talk about what I love all the time and help students with their writing. I'm the director of our creative writing program up there right now. Joanna: Well, that's fantastic. It makes me understand a lot more why you wrote this book, Revisionaries. So let's get into that. Why is it sort of just a number one mistake of writers, which is comparing our first draft efforts to the finished books we read? Why is comparing our first drafts to the finished books we read a mistake? Kristopher: I think it's natural, but I think it's a mistake. I mentioned before, I was a big reader as a child and all through my life, and I think that's how most writers get started. We fall in love with books at some point, and reading, and I think it's pretty natural at some points to start to wonder if we could do it too. You know, how much fun it would be to do and give somebody else the great experience that we've just gotten. We model our efforts on the things that we've read before and the things that we admire, of course. Then a funny thing starts to happen, of course, as we get more serious about it, and — We start to realize there's a huge gap between what we're able to do and what our heroes have done in the past. Then I think a lot of people, after having a lot of fun with it at first, start to get really frustrated because they feel like, okay, well, what's the point if I'm never going to be as good as someone like F Scott Fitzgerald. In my case, he was like my hero growing up, or JD Salinger, or somebody like that. I think what we miss, what most of us don't really learn much about, is that those writers only achieve these kind of great masterpieces after tons of failure, rejection, screw ups, mistakes. A lot of them had a lot of help from other peo

How can writing help you through difficult times, whether that's a change you didn't anticipate or an experience of grief? How can you differentiate between writing for yourself vs. writing for publication? Karen Wyatt gives her tips. In the intro, Amazon opens up AI narration with Audible Virtual Voice on the KDP Dashboard [KDP Help]; Voice Technologies, Streaming And Subscription Audio In A Time Of Artificial Intelligence; Spotify announces short fiction publishing for indie authors [Spotify]; Audio for Authors: Audiobooks, Podcasting, and Voice Technologies — Joanna Penn; Writing for Audio First with Jules Horne; Writing for Audiobooks: Audio-first for Flow and Impact – Jules Horne. BookVault.app is now printing in Canada, as well as Australia, UK, and US. Plus, Measure your life by what you create: 50 by 50; and Reykjavik Art, Northern Lights, and The West Fjords: Iceland, Land of Fire and Ice; Books and Travel Podcast returns this week; Writing the Shadow on the Biz Book Broadcast with Liz Scully; ElevenLabs speech to text for dictation. Today's show is sponsored by Draft2Digital, self-publishing with support, where you can get free formatting, free distribution to multiple stores, and a host of other benefits. Just go to www.draft2digital.com to get started. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Dr. Karen Wyatt is a retired hospice physician and bestselling author of books about death, loss, and grief. She's also the host of the End-of-Life University Podcast and an inspirational speaker. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Different types of grief that we deal with throughout life Why write about grief and end of life? Using writing to deal with the complex emotions around grief The role of control in grief Transforming personal writing into publication How spirituality plays a role in the grieving process How to approach writing about family members You can find Karen at EOLuniversity.com. Transcript of Interview with Karen Wyatt Joanna: Dr. Karen Wyatt is a retired hospice physician and bestselling author of books about death, loss, and grief. She's also the host of the End-of-Life University Podcast and an inspirational speaker. Today we're talking about her book, Stories from the Dark Night: Writing as a Tool for Grief. So welcome back to the show, Karen. Karen: Thank you, Joanna. I'm so excited to be talking to you once again. Joanna: Yes. Now, it's been a while, so first up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing and publishing. Karen: Well, like so many of your guests that you interview here, I've always been interested in stories. I started writing stories when I was seven years old. I wrote a three act play when I was 10, which my school ended up producing. So I guess I could say I'm a published playwright, my one and only play. I've always loved writing down my thoughts and ideas and telling stories and writing them down. I kind of got waylaid in terms of writing by becoming a doctor. So I had a number of years there of intense schooling, and then I was a doctor and a wife and mother at the same time. I had very, very little time for writing. It was precious time if I ever could just sit down and jot down a little story that was in my head. Still, the creative juices kept flowing, as I know you've talked about. Like, just ideas, ideas, ideas every day for stories or things I wanted to write, but I always had to put that aside. I was just too busy. So I finally retired from medicine early, and I was a hospice physician for a number of years. I retired early so that I could write because I'd been gathering all these stories while I worked in hospice. Amazing, beautiful stories from patients I worked with. I just knew it's time for me now to shift into writing mode. I retired early 15 years ago, and I started writing then. I hadn't really thought about what it takes to publish a book, I didn't know that. I finally started delving into that, and through you and your podcast, I learned about independent publishing. I've been able to publish my books myself most of the time. Though, I worked once with a hybrid publisher and then most recently with Watkins Publishing from the UK. It's been a really fun journey for me of finally having a chance later in life to get into the writing that I started when I was seven years old. Joanna: That's wonderful. Just on being drawn to the darker side, I mean, obviously as a doctor, you could have gone into many different areas and ended up being a hospice physician, and— You're writing about end of life. Has that always been an interest? I mean, I guess I'm saying this from the perspective of someone, as you know, I have always thought about death. Like from a very young age, I remember thinking about death and dying. So it

How can you release more creativity into your writing — and your life? What are some practices to foster creativity in a time of change and overwhelm? Jacob Nordby gives his tips. In the intro, tips for spring cleaning as indie authors; Death Valley – A Thriller Kickstarter; Death Valley book trailer; Footprints Podcast – Bath in Literature; This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Jacob Nordby is an entrepreneur and author of several books, including The Creative Cure: How Finding and Freeing Your Inner Artist Can Heal Your Life. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Indications we might need a “creative cure” Practices to strengthen your connection with creativity Journaling as a tool to work through mental and creative blocks Practices around the physical body Tapping into your intuition Overcoming the fear that holds you back Time and effort involved in changing career directions How to keep pivoting, changing, and moving forward You can find Jacob at JacobNordby.com. Transcript of Interview with Jacob Nordby Joanna: Jacob Nordby is an entrepreneur and author of several books, including The Creative Cure: How Finding and Freeing Your Inner Artist Can Heal Your Life. So welcome to the show, Jacob. Jacob: Thank you so much. I'm so glad to be here, Jo. Joanna: I'm excited to talk to you. So first up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into creativity and writing. Jacob: Well, I was born … We won't start there! When I was 10 years old, I came out into the living room, and I'd been reading a book, which I did mostly. We didn't watch television or see movies or anything like that. So books were my very best friends. So I came out of the living room and told my parents that I want to be a writer. Of course, I had told them before I wanted to be a spy or firefighter or something. This was the first thing that really hit for me, and I could really feel it. Then fast forward into adulthood, and I promptly forgot that, and plunged into starting businesses and really trying to secure my place in the American dream. I woke up around age 35 realizing that this was all feeling very hollow. After a series of events that turned my world upside down, I moved to Austin, Texas. It was there, working two or three part time jobs and trying to figure out what was next, that I remembered that I really wanted to be a writer. So I began to write about 15 years ago. One of the things that helped me get started was The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. Are you familiar with that work? Joanna: Yes, absolutely. Jacob: Okay, well, I was sitting in this warehouse and was writing away and began to go back into this book my father had given me, The Artist's Way. It really broke me open. I longed, at some point, to be able to share the process of not just writing, but of discovering who we really are and expressing that. Fast forward about five or six more years from there, and I had the great pleasure of meeting Julia, and she's become a dear friend. So that's one aspect of the work I do, is I work with her and share these things. Also, in my own world, I hold workshops and do one-on-one work with people, guidance work, with both writers and non-writers. It's just something I love because — I see creativity as our vital spark, as our life force energy, and it's meant to flow in every part of our lives. Often, when people will show up saying, “I'm creatively blocked,” we will pull that thread a bit and discover it's not just “creatively blocked.” I'm doing my air quotes fingers right now. It's feeling blocked in life. So, often as we work through what are some channels in life that need to be opened up, they discover maybe it was “I need to clean my garage.” Then they go clean the garage and come back in two weeks and say, “Oh my goodness, I had no idea how much I was boxing up my emotions, my sense of possibility, and everything. I found old boxes from my divorce or from when my mother died. I went through there, and all of a sudden I feel emotionally open and able to express again.” So I love working with people in so many ways and helping them realize that expression is meant to be as natural as breathing for the creative spirit. Joanna: Well, let's get into the book then, because it's called The Creative Cure. I find this an interesting title because the word “cure” implies a sickness where we start from. So I guess you mentioned feeling blocked there. What are some of the things in our

What are the tropes and reader expectations for action adventure thrillers? Why publish into KU and what are some of the ways to market there? How can travel enrich your writing? Luke Richardson gives his tips. In the intro, ProWritingAid launches their Manuscript Analysis tool; Navigating legal risk in memoir [The Indy Author]; Social media for authors in 2025 [BookBub]; Amazon relaunches Alexa, now Alexa+ which is now powered by Claude AI; Scribe, the world’s most accurate transcription model [ElevenLabs]; ElevenReader Publishing to the Reader app; Death Valley, A Thriller by J.F. Penn. Today's show is sponsored by ProWritingAid, writing and editing software that goes way beyond just grammar and typo checking. With its detailed reports on how to improve your writing and integration with writing software, ProWritingAid will help you improve your book before you send it to an editor, agent or publisher. Check it out for free or get 15% off the premium edition at www.ProWritingAid.com/joanna This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Luke Richardson is the bestselling author of the Eden Black Archaeological Thrillers and the International Detective thriller series. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Taking the leap into full-time indie authorship Reasons for unpublishing books and maintaining your author brand Researching the tropes and market of your genre The purpose of a prologue and when to include one Tips for writing characters that are unlike yourself Turning travels into stories Why publish in KU instead of wide? Selling non-book items or experiences You can find Luke at LukeRichardsonAuthor.com and his new podcast at AdventureStoryPodcast.com. Transcript of Interview with Luke Richardson Joanna: Luke Richardson is the bestselling author of the Eden Black Archeological Thrillers and the International Detective thriller series. So welcome to the show, Luke. Luke: Hi, Jo. Thank you for having me. This is wonderful to be able to talk to you. Joanna: I'm excited about it. First up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing and self-publishing. Luke: It's been one of those sort of roundabout ways that a lot of people talk about, but I often cite—this is something I've written on my profiles and written emails about. I often cite my first arriving in India in 2011 as the reason I wanted to write. It was just this transformational moment of being totally culture shocked in a completely different place in a way that I couldn't describe and couldn't really explain. We'd come out of the airport, we're into this taxi going past the slum villages on the edges of this freeway that's sort of 16 lanes wide. There's donkeys, and sports cars, and tractors, and all of this going on. It was just so overwhelming. Although I didn't write for several years after that, it was that excitement about stuff, and the world, and discovery, and adventure that lodged in me. Then when I started to write, those things started to come out of me. Do you know what I mean? They started to come out in my writing. Joanna: That's so funny. We're going to get into travel because you and I are travel geeks. I also remember arriving in India, would have been about five years before that, in the middle of the night in an airport in—it wasn't Delhi—but it was one of the biggest cities. It was like crazy, crazy. So that culture shock is really interesting. How did you then get into indie publishing, as opposed to maybe going traditional? Luke: I was an English teacher in a high school for several years, under the illusions that it would be a creative thing to do because I've always been very creative. I've always loved that. For the first couple of years, it actually was quite creative. Then, I think as I'd done the same classes four or five or six times, over and over again, it became less so. Then I started writing. I came up with this idea for a book, and I was like, great. It was actually set in Kathmandu, and it's the first book in my International Detective series. Someone who's like me in 2011, in the back of that taxi, totally overwhelmed, tasked with finding a missing person in this city that they've never been to. They don't speak the language, they don't know the culture, and they've got to go and find this person. I came up with that idea based on my travels, based on the things that I've done. It was really just a creative outlet. It was a passion. It was something I wanted to do outside of work. Then I finished the book, and I did that thing which we've all done, I think, and you fold your arms, and you go, huh? Half of us is really impressed that you finished this thing, and the other half's like, what do I do now? What do I do with it? I gave my mum a copy and a couple of other friends, and then I went do

How can you use Kickstarter to help bring your creative vision into reality? What are some of the biggest mistakes authors make? What are some tips to ensure your campaign is a success? Oriana Leckert shares her expertise. In the intro, AI-narrated audiobooks from ElevenLabs will now be accepted on Spotify through FindawayVoices; A Midwinter Sacrifice by J.F. Penn with my voice clone for the Author's Note on Spotify; BookVault introduce boxsets and slipcases; Managing your finances [Becca Syme]; How to write non-fiction [EOLU Podcast]; Thoughts on the Berlin film market; Death Valley – A Thriller. Today's show is sponsored by my patrons! Join my community and get access to extra videos on writing craft, author business, AI and behind the scenes info, plus an extra Q&A show a month where I answer Patron questions. It's about the same as a black coffee a month! Join the community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn Oriana Leckert is the head of publishing at Kickstarter, as well as an author, freelance writer, editor, and consultant. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Types of Kickstarter campaigns for authors Unique rewards to offer your backers Biggest mistakes authors make for a campaign that doesn't fund Bringing your own backers vs. discovery from Kickstarter Tips for creating a visually pleasing page The importance of a pre-launch page Making sure your Kickstarter gets approved Creating a detailed budget for your rewards You can find Oriana and more about Kickstarter at Kickstarter.com/creators/publishing and Kickstarter.com/publishing. Transcript of Interview with Oriana Leckert Joanna: Oriana Leckert is the head of publishing at Kickstarter, as well as an author, freelance writer, editor, and consultant. So welcome to the show, Oriana. Oriana: Jo, I'm so excited to be here talking with you. Thank you so much for having me. Joanna: It's great to have you on the show. So first up, just in case— What is Kickstarter, for anyone who doesn't know? What is your role there? How did you become involved in the publishing side of things? Oriana: Absolutely. So Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform. We are unique in the crowdfunding landscape for a few reasons. We are only for creative projects, so you can't use Kickstarter for medical bills, investment funding, charitable donations. Every Kickstarter project has to create something new to share with the world. Kickstarter is also a public benefit corporation, which is a sort of legal and business charter that turns us basically into a mission-driven for-profit organization. So our mission is to bring creative projects to life. Everything we do comes back to bringing more creativity into the world through that structure. We are also quite a progressive company. We do 5% after-tax profit donations every year to organizations fighting systemic inequality and doing music and arts education. We are very transparent about our tax contributions, the salary difference between our CEO and the median staff salary. So we do all sorts of things that make us, what I believe, a really ethical place to be and a force for hopefully good in the world. My role is head of publishing. So I've been a Kickstarter six years, which is the longest I've been at any company, actually. I came here to grow our journalism category at the very end of 2018. I have done journalism, I've done comics, I've done publishing. It, sort of unexpected to me, is the best job I've ever had. Which is slightly corny, but worth saying. I can't believe I get to do this work all the time. My background is about half and half digital media and traditional publishing, so I've spent most of my career fully focused on books and the written word in one way or another. I generally describe my job here as one part literary industry expert, one part crowdfunding consultant, one part life coach, and one part cheerleader. So those are the various roles I get to play for my creators. I also get to be out in the world all the time doing wonderful things like this, just kind of talking about Kickstarter and helping people get a better understanding of what it's for, how you can use it, the benefit for authors and creative people of all stripes. Joanna: Oh, that's great. You are a cheerleader. I love your energy. You bring such a great energy. I do feel like Kickstarter, obviously, is a company, but it does have that very creative feel. So I really appreciate that. I've also met you a couple of times in Vegas over the last few years, and so I thought we'd start there. What have you seen in terms of the changes in the author community over the last few years? What are the types of Kickstarter campaigns that authors do? Obviously, we're not all Brandon Sanderson (whose campaign made over $41 million!). Oriana: That's a great question. It's been pretty exciting. So I was hired by Mar

How do you keep the happiness and joy in your writing practice, along with managing the business side of being an author? Marissa Meyer gives her tips. In the intro, How authors can price their books for profit [Self-Publishing with ALLi]; How to recover from author burnout [Self-Publishing Advice]; my Brooke and Daniel crime series in KU; Day of the Vikings; Outback Days and City Nights in the Lucky Country – Books and Travel; replanning with Calendarpedia. Today's show is sponsored by Draft2Digital, self-publishing with support, where you can get free formatting, free distribution to multiple stores, and a host of other benefits. Just go to www.draft2digital.com to get started. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Marissa Meyer is the New York Times bestselling author of fantasy romance and graphic novels, including The Lunar Chronicles. The Happy Writer: Get More Ideas, Write More Words, and Find More Joy from First Draft to Publication and Beyond is her latest book for authors. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Finding joy and happiness in your creative process Tips for finishing a first draft when you hit a wall Ways to fill your creative well How to make your research methods more fun Coming up for new ideas within a series Managing your to-do list and learning when to say no Remaining positive when querying and pitching Finding joy in book marketing You can find Marissa at MarissaMeyer.com or on Instagram @MarissaMeyerAuthor. Transcript of Interview with Marissa Meyer Joanna: Marissa Meyer is the New York Times bestselling author of fantasy romance and graphic novels, including The Lunar Chronicles. The Happy Writer: Get More Ideas, Write More Words, and Find More Joy from First Draft to Publication and Beyond is her latest book for authors. So welcome to the show, Marissa. Marissa: Hi. Thank you so much for having me. Joanna: It's great to have you on. So first up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing and publishing. Marissa: Oh, goodness. I always wanted to be a writer. I am one of those. I was a huge reader growing up, loved stories, had a big imagination. So, really, from the time that I was a little kid, I started making up stories and telling them to my parents, asking them to write them down into little books for me. Then as I got older, I, of course, started writing them myself. Then — At some point I realized that this is a job. This is something that people actually can get paid for. You could actually get paid to come up with stories and get your name printed on a book. I think I realized really early on that that was for me, and that's what I wanted to do with my life. So I kept writing. As a teenager, I got really into fan fiction and credit that a lot with learning how to tell a complete story. Beginning, middle, end. I got my bachelor's degree in creative writing and a master's degree in publishing because I thought writing might be a difficult career to break into. I wanted to have a backup plan, and thought, well, if this writing thing doesn't pan out, maybe I can be an editor, maybe I can be a publicist or an agent or something. The deeper I got into learning about publishing, the more it really just cemented how passionate I was about writing and how much I just really wanted to be the writer in this publishing equation. So I wrote many multiple manuscripts that went nowhere, but eventually got the idea for a Cinderella retelling about a cyborg, a futuristic retelling. So that became my debut novel, Cinder. Joanna: Wow. Okay, so it’s really interesting that you did publishing as a degree, as well as writing. Did you have a job before you became a full-time author? Like did you work in the publishing industry? Or did you just go straight from uni into full-time writer? Marissa: No, I did. From university, I got a job as an editor at a very small publishing house in Seattle. That publisher focused mostly on fine art books. So those beautiful coffee table books that you get at museum exhibits and art galleries. You know those books. So it had virtually nothing to do with my ultimate career of being a fiction writer, but it taught me a lot about just the behind the scenes, what goes into creating a book, and the actual production of it, the marketing of it, all of these various aspects. So I did that for five years, and then I spent about a year as a freelance typesetter and proofreader. At which point my first novel sold, and I got to become a full-time writer. Joanna: That's very cool. I love that you did typesetting and stuff like that. We'll come back to the business side, but let's get into the book. So you use the words “happy” and “joy” in the book title, but I feel like many writers think suffering and pain is m

How can you use short stories to improve your writing craft across different genres? How can you make money from licensing your short stories in different ways? How do you structure a short story collection? Douglas Smith shares his tips. In the intro, S&S imprint says that authors no longer need to get blurbs for their books [The Guardian]; James Patterson will be headlining Author Nation 2025; How to sell books from a table [Novel Marketing Podcast]; My lessons learned about screenwriting; Death Valley, a Thriller. Today's show is sponsored by ProWritingAid, writing and editing software that goes way beyond just grammar and typo checking. With its detailed reports on how to improve your writing and integration with writing software, ProWritingAid will help you improve your book before you send it to an editor, agent or publisher. Check it out for free or get 15% off the premium edition at www.ProWritingAid.com/joanna This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Douglas Smith is a multi-award-winning Canadian author of novels, short stories and nonfiction, with over 200 short fiction publications in 36 countries and 27 languages. He's also the author of Playing the Short Game: How to Market and Sell Short Fiction, now out in its second edition. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes How beginner writers can use short fiction to improve their writing craft Overview of the different short story markets First rights and second rights for selling short stories Financial expectations for traditionally published short stories Tips for self-publishing a collection Benefits of exclusive short stories Using Spotify playlists as a discoverability mechanism – here's a playlist of my short stories on Spotify How to market a second edition You can find Doug at SmithWriter.com. Transcript of Interview with Douglas Smith Joanna: Douglas Smith is a multi-award-winning Canadian author of novels, short stories and nonfiction, with over 200 short fiction publications in 36 countries and 27 languages. He's also the author of Playing the Short Game: How to Market and Sell Short Fiction, now out in its second edition. So welcome back to the show, Doug. Douglas: Oh, thank you, Joanna. It's great to be here. Thanks for having me back. Joanna: Oh, yes. So first up­— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing and short stories, in particular. Douglas: Well, I guess I did a fair bit of writing in high school and a bit in university. Then I just drifted away from it, pursuing a business career and raising a family, etc. I always told myself I would go back and chase the writing dream someday. I remember, I was in my early 40s, and I came back from a family vacation, and one of the first things I read was the obituary for one of my all-time favorite writers, Roger Zelazny. He was the American science fiction fantasy writer, and he had died far too early at, I think, 56 from cancer. That just drove home the fact that none of us are guaranteed of a someday. So I started writing that summer and turned out about eight short stories. I joined a writing group to get feedback on my writing. Then about a year and a half later, it was actually on New Year's Eve of the following year, I got my first acceptance letter. So that was a great way to end a year and start a new one. So that's how I started. I started with short fiction. I started because one of my favorite writers died far too young. Joanna: What was your previous career? Douglas: I was an IT executive. Just in case people are wondering, I remained an IT executive. I did not give up the day job, so writing was done in spare time. Especially when I started with short fiction, it's very hard to live and raise a family on the proceeds of short stories. Joanna: I think that's a really important thing to say. I suspected you were going to say that. Then just with perspective— So what year was it that you did that first sale? Douglas: That story came out in '97, so a long time ago. That story actually ended up winning an award. So, yes, it was a good start, but I stayed with writing short fiction for about 10 years. Part of that was inertia, and part of it was just writing a novel at that time seemed kind of daunting. I finally did decide that I needed, for the same someday issue, that I wanted to move into novels, and I better not wait any longer. Joanna: Yes. I mean, obviously the publishing industry is quite different from 1997, and we'll come back to some of the other markets. What have you noticed with short fiction in particular, or in general with the indie author community, and things changing? I mean— This book, Playing the Short Game, you self-published this, right? Douglas: Yes, I did, and my novels as well. My collections, which were the first things I pu

Why is ‘story' more important than ‘writing'? How can you write characters that engage the reader? And how can you sell more books by connecting authentically? Douglas Vigliotti shares his tips. In the intro, Bookshop.org will start selling ebooks [TechCrunch]; LinkedIn for Book Promotion [ALLi]; The Money Making Expert, branding and marketing [DOAC]; 24 Assets – Daniel Priestley; My J.F. Penn books by location; Death Valley, A Thriller; Copyright and Artificial Intelligence [US Copyright Office]; Superagency: What could possibly go right with our AI Future – Reid Hoffman and Greg Beato This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Douglas Vigliotti is the author of four books, a poet, and podcaster. His latest book is Aristotle for Novelists: 14 Timeless Principles on the Art of Story. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Why Aristotle? Creating characters that resonate with our readers — and the four important elements to keep in mind Why story is more important than writing Creating complications that make readers want to read on The intersection of commerce and art Tips for pitching podcast interviews You can find Douglas at DouglasVigliotti.com and his latest book at AristotleForNovelists.com. Transcript of Interview with Douglas Vigliotti Joanna: Douglas Vigliotti is the author of four books, a poet, and podcaster. His latest book is Aristotle for Novelists: 14 Timeless Principles on the Art of Story. So welcome to the show, Doug. Douglas: Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here. Joanna: It's great to have you on the show. So first up, just— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing. Douglas: My journey is long and winding, but that's probably similar to most writers. I grew up as a pretty, I would say, average or normal American childhood. Youngest of five boys, played hockey, played sports. Believe it or not, writing and books and all of that was not even a thought in my mind until I reached probably my 20s, early 20s, mid 20s. Then kind of a light switch turned on. The first book that I ever wrote, and the first writing that I ever did publicly, was actually a derivative of my business career. It took me following my interest, and growing as a writer and as an artist, to start exploring that more creative side of writing. Then that's how I ended up writing novels and poetry and all that good stuff. Joanna: What was that business? Douglas: My professional career, I started, let's see, 20 years ago. It was sales, selling. I've sold everything from financial services, to medical devices, to payroll and tax filing, to myself. Then I wrote a business book called The Salesperson Paradox, and it was in conjunction with my sales consulting company at the time, and that was how I started into my creative career. So it was totally, totally orthogonal to where I ended up. Joanna: Well, or not. We're going to come back to that because I love this. I love that you have a sales person background. Just so you know, I'm actually the eldest of five children. Obviously, not all boys. So being of five siblings, I completely get, which is very cool. Let's get into the book itself. In case people don't know— Who was Aristotle? Why write a book based on his work? Douglas: So I think in modern day, we throw around the name Aristotle quite a bit because it's referenced a lot in pop culture. I think it's one of those things where you hear the name and you assume—I don't know what you assume. You assume smart, you assume historic, you assume legendary. People probably don't know who he is, and that's always an interesting thing. The fact that he's lasted over 2300 years is something of a testament to itself. So he was a philosopher and a polymath, really. I think his life, it was 384 BC to 322 BC. He studied under Plato, and Plato studied under Socrates before him. When I said he was a polymath, that's really essential to understanding who he is, because he wrote over 200 works that spanned across a plethora of topics. From politics, to economics, to poetics, and all of these different subject matters that ended up becoming, in some cases, the foundational material for many of these disciplines in universities across the world. So the fact that his ideas and his philosophies and concepts have stood the test of time is sort of a testament in itself, as I alluded to. One of the interesting things about those 200 works is that many of them, call it 80%, so I think we've only recovered 30-something of his works. I me

How does generative AI relate to fair use when it comes to copyright? What are the possibilities for AI licensing? Alicia Wright shares her thoughts on generative AI for authors. In the intro, Publishing leaders share 9 Bold Predictions for 2025 [BookBub]; OpenAI launches Operator [The Verge]; Bertelsmann (who own Penguin Random House) intends to work with OpenAI to expand and accelerate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the media, services, and education sectors; Death Valley — A Thriller. Today's show is sponsored by my patrons! Join my community and get access to extra videos on writing craft, author business, AI and behind the scenes info, plus an extra Q&A show a month where I answer Patron questions. It's about the same as a black coffee a month! Join the community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn Alicia Wright is an intellectual property lawyer for a technology company, and also writes science fiction and mystery as Alicia Ellis. With two degrees in computer science and an MFA in writing popular fiction, she is expertly placed to comment on AI as it applies to writers. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Using AI as a brainstorming partner and collaborator AI as fair use because it creates something transformative Using the right prompts to produce quality outputs from AI AI is the next technological change in our society Licensing your IP for training and AI usage — what to look for in contracts Training the AI systems to include your work in generative searches Developing your authorial voice and creative confidence Uitlizing AI agents in your author business You can find Alicia at WriterAlicia.com and on social media @WriterAlicia. Transcript of Interview with Alicia Wright Joanna: Alicia Wright is an intellectual property lawyer for a technology company, and also writes science fiction and mystery as Alicia Ellis. With two degrees in computer science and an MFA in writing popular fiction, she is expertly placed to comment on AI as it applies to writers, which we're talking about today. So welcome to the show, Alicia. Alicia: Thank you so much, Jo. I'm happy to be here. Joanna: Oh, I'm excited to talk to you. So first up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing, and also into AI and technology. Alicia: All right. Well, I should say that I got into AI and technology first. I was always one of those science and math people. Math was my favorite subject in school. Not a lot of people say that, but I loved math. I loved the sciences. I always was reading forward in my textbooks. Then my mother didn't want us watching TV, so we read a lot of books. I got into writing poetry, writing song lyrics, writing short stories, and the creative side of me came out. It never occurred to me to write something longer—because I was a math/science person—until I got into law school, and there you have to write all the time. You have to write briefs, you know, these 30 page documents. Then it occurred to me that, hey, I'd like to write a novel. So I would say the technology interest was always there, and the creative interest, the writing, came later. In my work as a patent attorney, I have encountered AI-related applications throughout the years, even generative AI technologies as far as 10 years back. So I had an interest in that even before it became relevant to the writing industry. Joanna: So when did you get into writing fiction? How many years have you been writing fiction, as well as doing your incredible job? Alicia: I have been writing fiction, specifically long form fiction, for as long as I have been a lawyer. The time is almost exact. I know this because I was in my final year of law school and sort of had this crisis. Like, I'm graduating law school, do I want to be a lawyer? I spent time thinking about that. Just sat down for really a day and went through what I would do if it wasn't law. I decided that I did want to do law, but I also wanted to write novels. So as soon as I graduated law school, I enrolled in some local writing courses. So I've been practicing law and writing for the same amount of time. Joanna: Which is approximately? Alicia: 17 years. I got into indie publishing in maybe 2013, but I've been writing for 17 and a half years. Joanna: Brilliant. So you mentioned there that you, as a patent attorney, you look at AI applications. You did mention using a bit of generative technology there. How do you currently use AI tools as part of your creative and business processes? Alicia: In my business work, well, I see a lot of AI technologies in what I'm writing patent applications for, and that's what I was referring to before. In managing a patent portfolio at the cybersecurity firm where I work right now, I definitely use AI technologies to help inventors organize their thoughts when they submit to us to do analyses. Sometimes I'm

How can you build a long-term author career with multiple streams of income? How can you use technology for the grunt work and not the fun part of writing? Kevin J Anderson gives his tips. In the intro, has TikTok gone dark? [AP]; BookVault is expanding printing to Australia; GPSR, the EU’s new General Product Safety Regulation [Self-Publishing Advice]; CreatedByHumans.ai launches in partnership with The Authors Guild for AI data licensing [Publishing Perspectives]; Simon & Schuster launches audio-first imprint featuring content from self-published authors [Publishers Weekly]. Plus, 7 Steps for How to Write Non-Fiction [Reedsy Live replay]; Publishing predictions for 2025 [Draft2Digital’s Self-Publishing Insiders]; Creative and life challenges with me and Orna Ross [Self-Publishing with ALLi]; Death Valley – A Thriller, coming in March! Today's show is sponsored by Draft2Digital, self-publishing with support, where you can get free formatting, free distribution to multiple stores, and a host of other benefits. Just go to www.draft2digital.com to get started. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Kevin J. Anderson is the multi-award-winning and internationally bestselling author of over 190 books across different genres, with over 24 million copies in print across 34 languages. He's also the director of publishing at Western Colorado University, as well as a publisher at WordFire Press, an editor and rock album lyricist, and he's co-written Dune books and worked on the recent Dune movies and TV show. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Adapting throughout a 40-year author career The importance of having a Plan B when the industry changes Incorporating AI into your dictation process — MacWhisper Utilizing AI to do the grunt work, not the fun work Publishing timeline restrictions with traditional publishers Tips for running a Kickstarter in 2025 Finding a market for short stories Meeting reader expectations and delivering on promises You can find Kevin at WordFire.com and buy his books direct at WordFireShop.com. Transcript of Interview with Kevin J. Anderson Joanna: Kevin J. Anderson is the multi-award-winning and internationally bestselling author of over 190 books across different genres, with over 24 million copies in print across 34 languages. He's also the director of publishing at Western Colorado University, as well as a publisher at WordFire Press, an editor and rock album lyricist, and he's co-written Dune books and worked on the recent Dune movies and TV show. So welcome back to the show, Kevin. Kevin: It's been too long, Joanna. We should do this more often. Joanna: Oh, yes. Well, you've got so much going on. So we've gone into your background before, so we're going to jump straight in. This, being in the author business a long time, is incredible. Tell us. You just told me about a big milestone. Kevin: It was the new year, so I was just kind of doing my year round up and everything, and I realized that my very first professional publication was in January 1985, Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. So that means — 40 years I've been a professional author. Joanna: Wow. Kevin: So I look back, and it was 1995 when I quit my day job, and I have been a full-time ‘earning all my living by writing stuff' for 30 years. Which, I don't know if I live frugally. No you've met my wife, I don't live frugally. I've just been at it for a long time. My gosh, it's not like doing the same thing every day, like working on a factory assembly line for 30 years — This has required just keeping a lookout, and being adaptive, and reinventing myself over and over and over again. The publishing world does not stay the same, and if you just keep doing the same thing, you'll be left by the wayside. Joanna: Well, let's just focus on that then. You mentioned being adaptive and reinventing yourself, but I mean, this really takes a different kind of mindset, I think. I haven't been in it as long as you, but I've seen many authors disappear from the industry, perhaps because they couldn't adapt. So how do you keep that sort of ever learning process, even when you're already so successful? Kevin: Well, here's the thing, I am not interested in just one thing or one type of writing. I've always got like five or six completely unrelated things going at a time. What happens is that something will be really hot one year, and then nobody wants it the next year, but I've got five other things going, so then we hope something else gets really hot. If you are only writing steampunk vampire romances, great. They might be super hot this year, but 10 years from now, maybe people don't want to read steampunk vampire romances. I'm just making that up, just as an example. For instance, let me go back. My big claim t

How can you balance creativity with business in order to have a profitable, long-term author career? What were the successes and challenges of the Author Nation conference? Joe Solari shares his perspective. In the intro, the money episode [Ink In Your Veins]; WISE for multi-currency banking; creative planning tips for 2025 [Self~Publishing Advice]; Surprising Trends Authors Can’t Ignore in 2025 [Novel Marketing Podcast]. Plus, an update on Death Valley, A Thriller, and reflections on seeing live theatre vs online & stream/subscription models. This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Joe Solari helps authors build great businesses through books, courses, and podcasting, as well as strategy and operations consulting. He's also the managing director of Author Nation, the biggest conference for indie authors in the world. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Maintaining sustainable balance between writing and marketing Creating an author business that fulfills you Utilizing your time effectively in 2025 Navigating social media and business goals Learning to say no and focusing on what you really want Author Nation 2024 Highlights The logisitics of running an author conference Catering to different experience levels at an author conference You can find Joe at JoeSolari.com and AuthorNation.live. Transcript of Interview with Joe Solari Joanna: Joe Solari helps authors build great businesses through books, courses, and podcasting, as well as strategy and operations consulting. He's also the managing director of Author Nation, the biggest conference for indie authors in the world. So welcome back to the show, Joe. Joe: Thanks for having me on again. I really enjoy the time we get to spend together. It seems like we talk more on the show than we do at events that we meet each other at. Joanna: Absolutely. Well, we're often both very busy. You've been on the show a couple of times before—and I'll link to those in the show notes—so we're just going to jump in today. Now, as we head into 2025, authors are assessing their priorities for the year. Now, in your experience helping authors build profitable businesses— How can we balance writing and marketing so that both are sustainable? Joe: That's such an awesome question. I think a lot of folks that are used to hearing me on your podcast or other podcasts are going to think that I'm going to go right into talking about profitability or budgeting, but I'm going to actually get a little different approach for you on this whole thing. Let me give you some context first, and that is— Where do you have your best ideas? Joanna: Personally, a lot of my ideas come from traveling and places, in particular. So I have to go and visit things and input in order to have ideas. Joe: Yes, and that doesn't surprise me. I've asked the question of a lot of creatives, and what I've discovered in asking that question is there tends to be two different things that come up. Like, it's when I do something like go on walks. Or a lot of times it's things like driving or a shower. Why that is, there's science behind this, and it's you have two distinct networks in your brain that you need to use for creativity. One is the default mode network. That's what your body goes into when you daydream. It's when you were sitting in class and getting bored by your teacher, and it would make you go off and think into your imaginary world. That's a natural place for you to go. The other system is your executive functioning system, which is what helps you focus and get words out and hit deadlines. They're two distinct systems that sometimes will overlap, like in a venn diagram. When that happens, that's your flow state where you feel like the ideas are coming and you're getting them down on paper. The interesting thing about that is that it’s completely counter to what you're told to do as an entrepreneur and hustle culture. You're just supposed to produce. You're supposed to produce words. You're supposed to sit in a chair. You're supposed to produce. So what you do is, when you are only focused on that one side, the executive function side, you detach yourself and you distance yourself from your creative well. So my answer to your question is that — I suggest that authors start to build into their process in 2025 more time to tap into that default mode network and spend time thinking about how they can spend some real quality time and — Protect that creative space, because that's where all your good ideas come from. When you feel like you're being blocked

Are you curious about the hidden structures that turn ordinary manuscripts into irresistible page-turning stories? Wondering how to shape your characters, scenes, and chapters so readers can’t put your book down? Kristen Tate shares her tips. In the intro, key book publishing paths [Jane Friedman]; sub-rights and why it’s important to understand how many ways your book can make money [Renee Fountain]; the innovation of the indie author community and biggest changes in publishing with Michael Tamblyn [KWL Podcast]; Plus, 10 publishing trends for 2025 [Written Word Media]; Unveiling 2025: Indie authors gear up for AI innovations and craft renaissance [Indie Author Magazine]; How to Write Non-Fiction, Second Edition is out now; and join me for a live webinar: 7 steps to write your non-fiction book in 2025, 15 Jan. Today's show is sponsored by ProWritingAid, writing and editing software that goes way beyond just grammar and typo checking. With its detailed reports on how to improve your writing and integration with writing software, ProWritingAid will help you improve your book before you send it to an editor, agent or publisher. Check it out for free or get 15% off the premium edition at www.ProWritingAid.com/joanna This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Kristen Tate is an editor and founder of the Blue Garret, offering editing services and advice for authors. She has a PhD in English from Columbia University, focusing on novels and publishing history. Her latest book is Novel Study: Decoding the Secrets and Structures of Contemporary Fiction. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Most common mistakes authors make with openings The differences between scenes and chapters How to plot a page-turner The continuous development of an author's writing process Balancing reading for pleasure and reading for research Inadvertent plagiarism and the boundaries of fair use Benefits of working with a human editor Utilising AI tools while maintaining your author voice You can find Kristen at TheBlueGarret.com. Transcript of Interview with Kristen Tate Joanna: Kristen Tate is an editor and founder of the Blue Garret, offering editing services and advice for authors. She has a PhD in English from Columbia University, focusing on novels and publishing history. Her latest book is Novel Study: Decoding the Secrets and Structures of Contemporary Fiction. Welcome back to the show, Kristen. Kristen: Oh, thanks. It's great to be back with you. Joanna: Yes, and you are primarily an editor, and you're actually my editor. So we've talked about that before. So it is very interesting having you on the show to talk about this book. Why write a book on the craft of writing fiction when you focus so much on editing? Kristen: So I think for me, and I think this is true to some extent for you and other people who write nonfiction, but I really write to learn. It's just one of the ways I understand the world. So this book was one that when I started editing fiction, I wanted to be able to find this book, and never did find it. We were talking a little bit before the interview started about my first book. It's a collection of book reviews of writing craft books. At the end of writing that book, I realized that all along I had secretly been hoping to find like the one true formula for writing an amazing novel. I did find formulas, they are out there. They can be really useful, especially for beginning writers who are just starting to feel out what it takes to shape a plot or something like that. From an editing standpoint, they don't really fit a lot of books. Each book is kind of its own, you know, it's kind of like children. They're all pretty unique. So I decided that I really wanted to start from the other end, and start from novels that I thought were successful in different ways, and just take them apart and figure out how they worked. So I just kind of did that through writing. It started as a blog, and then it eventually turned into a book so I could formalize it and share it with a wider audience. Joanna: You mentioned there that you focused on books that were successful in different ways. What I actually appreciated is you didn't go to the common classics. I think so many writing books use older books that I feel in many ways aren't so relevant to modern fiction writers. How did you choose the books that you focused on in this book? Kristen: So this is one of the beauties, actually, of being an indie author. So it was partly my taste. I didn't have to do this strategically. I didn't have an editor or a publishing house saying, “We want you to cover these books,” or, “It would be more saleable if you covered X, Y and Z.” I really started from books that I knew I wanted to learn from and thought were doi

Happy New Year 2025! I love January and the opportunity to start afresh. I know it’s arbitrary in some ways, but I measure my life by what I create, and I also measure it in years. At the beginning of each year, I publish an article (and podcast episode) here, which helps keep me accountable. If you’d like to share your goals, please add them in the comments below.  2024 was a year of consolidation as I got my creative house in order and began to shift my creative and business processes. 2025 is going to be a year of personal and business changes as I turn 50 and focus on expanding the J.F. Penn side of things using Leverage as an over-arching theme. More details below. Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of memoir, thrillers, dark fantasy, and horror as J.F. Penn. She’s also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Leverage: Make more of what I have Launch of How to Write Non-Fiction, Second Edition My 50th year J.F. Penn bucket list and books: Blood Vintage, the ‘desert book,' ‘ the tallship book,' ‘the gothic cathedral book.' J.F. Penn short story collection — Kickstarter Joanna Penn — The Creative Penn Podcast and Patreon Community Leverage: Make more of what I have My over-arching theme for 2025 is Leverage, which can be defined as utilising available resources, assets, tools, and relationships to achieve more. The famous quote by Greek mathematician Archimedes goes: “Give me a place to stand and a lever long enough and I will move the world.” The idea is that you can achieve a lot as an individual — if you use leverage. Here's an overview of some aspects and I go into more detail in the following sections. (a) Leverage the books I've written but not made the most of yet. Launch How to Write Non-Fiction Second Edition everywhere by end of January 2025 Work with my US agent, Renee Fountain, to get a book deal for Blood Vintage — or self-publish by the end of 2025 Get my existing short stories into print. Write an extra two exclusive stories and launch as a Kickstarter Collection and then publish wide. Get Catacomb in audiobook format (b) Leverage my existing available assets to bring in more income Do a monthly book marketing plan and organise paid ad campaigns per month for revolving first books in series and my main earners. I have been pretty scatter-gun at this recently, so I just need to get organised, and AI tools are good at helping with this! Organise my Shopify stores, CreativePennBooks.com and JFPennBooks.com into more collections to make it easier for readers to find things they might want to buy. Reinvigorate my content marketing for JFPenn — make more of BooksAndTravel.page with links back to my stores, and do fiction specific content marketing with the aim of surfacing more in the LLMs as generative search expands. (c) Leverage AI tools to achieve more as a one-person business I already use a lot of AI tools as part of my creative and business processes, but everything is quite disjointed as I create in different places and bring it all together myself. 2025 brings the promise of AI agents — where you give the AI agent a goal and it will plan a multi-step process and then execute that plan on your behalf after your approval, with as much interaction as you like along the way. AI tools helping author achieve leverage. image by joanna penn on midjourney I've glimpsed this step by step planning process as part of Google Gemini Deep Research, which I've started using as part of my book research and marketing processes. The potential launch of OpenAI's Operator in early 2025 is also interesting. I'm primarily interested in using these tools for book marketing, which let's face it, is the part we all want to outsource! There are tools which already have AI embedded within them, which will hopefully become easier to use in 2025. I would love Meta Ads and Amazon Ads to have specialised agents we can use for book marketing. Fingers crossed on that! I'm also researching how SEO works for ‘advertising' to the LLMs, as generative search continues to disrupt ‘old' ways of getting traffic to websites. I still think content marketing is relevant, and I am far more interested in doing more of that rather than social media, so I'm going to look into it. I'll do more visual media — using Midjourney for images since that's still my favourite, but also RunwayML or Sora for video. I loved making my Blood Vintage book trailer, and intend to make similar trailers this year for my first in series books, and also the ones I am pitching for film/TV. While I still intend to self-narrate my non-fiction and my short stories, I'm interested in using Eleven

Another year ends, and once more, it's time to reflect on our creative goals. I hope you can take the time to review your goals and you're welcome to leave a comment below about how the year went. Did you achieve everything you wanted to? Let me know in the comments. It's always interesting looking back at my goals from a year ago, because I don't even look at them in the months between, so sometimes it's a real surprise how much they've changed! You can read my 2024 goals here, and I go through how things went below. Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author as J.F. Penn. She’s also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Spear of Destiny, the Gothic cathedral project, and short stories Award-winning memoir, Pilgrimage Blood Vintage, and working with a US agent The Creative Penn Podcast and Patreon Community Streamline TheCreativePenn website and redo Author Blueprint How to Write Non-Fiction, Second Edition Travel, speaking, and in-person events Financials, health and fitness, and happy cats! J.F. Penn — Spear of Destiny, the Gothic Cathedral project, and short stories I researched, wrote and then did a Kickstarter for Spear of Destiny, ARKANE Thriller #13, before publishing it wide a few months later. I went to Vienna, Nuremberg, and Cologne in January, which was a chilly trip but inspired much of the story. The Kickstarter ran in June 2024 and raised £12,536 from 313 Backers. I made a limited edition hardback with silver foil and a ribbon, and a specific cover for the campaign, which I love! You can buy Spear of Destiny here in all formats on my store, or here everywhere else. The hardback was available in bundle deals with the rest of the series, and I also bit the bullet over audio and had the first three books in the series re-narrated by Veronica Giguere (they had been withdrawn since my rewrites in 2022), as well as Spear of Destiny. These kinds of bundles and Add-Ons really help a Kickstarter fund at a higher level, and they are also only possible if you sell direct as you can still make a profit, even with discounts. I also had a goal in 2024 to produce a non-fiction photo book with essays about English Gothic Cathedrals. I did lots of research trips and read books on stone masonry, which was great fun. But then I discovered the pain of photography permissions, even for your own photos. Essentially, if you take photos on private property, you cannot just use those photos in commercial projects. You need photography permissions, which can take time and energy, as well as potential payment for every single one, plus the text that goes with it, and potentially even the layout. I hate the idea of asking permission in general. It goes against my independent spirit, and when I researched it in more detail, I hated even more how long it would take, and how much to-ing and fro-ing there would probably be. I am the kind of creative who enjoys wrangling chaos and I can be a whirlwind of creative energy. It doesn't fit well with the structured permissions process. When I interviewed Leon Mcanally about his Dark Tourism book which was heavy on photos and permissions, I realised I just can't do this kind of book right now. Perhaps sometime in the future I might hire someone to work with, but it doesn't fit me at the moment, so that photo/essay book is not happening. I still have a lot of research around gothic cathedrals and ideas for what else that could turn into. More to come on that in 2025. I had a goal to write “at least one or two” short stories, and I managed two, De-Extinction of the Nephilim, and Seahenge, both of which I narrated in audio, and are available on my store, and in all the usual places. I did the art for all my fiction covers this year, primarily with Midjourney, but also DALLE through ChatGPT. My cover designer, Jane at JD Smith Design, used the images to put the finished covers together. I also used RunwayML to turn Midjourney images into a book trailer for Blood Vintage. I also had a goal to get everything in audio, but I am still deciding what to do with Catacomb, so that is outstanding. I did change the cover on it and make a gorgeous sprayed edge hardback. J.F. Penn — Award-winning memoir author, London Book Fair, 2024 Back in March 2024, I was thrilled to win the Best Non-Fiction at the Selfies Awards for my memoir, Pilgrimage: Lessons Learned from Solo Walking Three Ancient Ways. That was definitely a highlight! J.F. Penn — Blood Vintage, a folk horror novel Once I dropped the gothic cathedral project, I had space for ‘the vineyard book,' an idea that's been noodling around for a while. I visited Limeburn Hill near me, one of the few biodynamic

How can you create when there's an overwhelming list of things to do and too many competing priorities? How can you balance self-care with achieving your creative goals. In this episode, I’ll share some tips from previous podcast guests to help you step back, reassess your priorities, and hopefully help you let go of at least some of the things on your list. In the intro, Author branding [Self-Publishing Advice Podcast]; Example prompts if you want to explore your author brand; Google Gemini Advanced with Deep Research; How to Write Non-Fiction Second Edition; Tips for writing non-fiction, I'm on The Biz Book Broadcast with Liz Scully; Q&A on how to write non-fiction [Apex Author]; 7 Steps to Write Your Non-Fiction Book in 2025 — me on Reedsy Live, 15 Jan. This episode is sponsored by Publisher Rocket, which will help you get your book in front of more Amazon readers so you can spend less time marketing and more time writing. I use Publisher Rocket for researching book titles, categories, and keywords — for new books and for updating my backlist. Check it out at www.PublisherRocket.com This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Show Notes (1) Tackle overwhelm by focusing on your ‘circle of influence' — with Mark McGuinness (2) Be kinder to yourself — with Ellen Bard (3) Sort out your sleep — with Dr Anne D. Bartolucci (4) Protect your private creative practice — with Austin Kleon (5) Overcome Resistance and adopt the attitude of a professional — with Steve Pressfield (6) Make the most of the limited time you have — with Todd Henry Creative Clarity: Focus, Self-Care, and Letting Go (1) If you’re struggling, focus on your circle of influence Life can be overwhelming with work and family commitments and health concerns, even as the waves of change grow ever higher — with political shifts, technological change with generative AI, financial changes and of course, all the things we have to do as authors, if we want to get our books finished and out into the world, and reaching readers.  It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with everything, especially in difficult times.  In April 2020, back in pandemic times, I talked to poet and creative coach Mark McGuinness about how to stay creative in difficult times. He reminded us of how to keep things in perspective, and why focusing on your circle of influence is the way forward. “Here's another thing that I'm using a lot with clients and remembering to use myself is Stephen Covey's circles of influence and concern. Imagine a big circle, right? And in this circle is everything that affects you and the people that you care about in your life. It includes the economy, the weather, the environment, it includes what other people are up to. It includes, I dunno, your sports team. And of course it includes all the stream of news and information that's coming at us. Now we need to be aware of this because by definition, it's a circle of concern. It affects us. But now I want you to imagine inside of that, there's a smaller circle. It looks like a fried egg. And Covey points out, this is in his book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. He says, the circle of influence will always be the smaller circle. In other words, there's always more stuff happening in your life that affects you than vice versa. But here's how we use it. The more time and attention you give to that big circle, the more anxious and disempowered and frustrated and overwhelmed you will feel. And also the smaller the inner circle gets, 'cause you're not taking action on it. Now we need to be aware of it. But. I would say definitely ration that and ration social media because there, there's so much anxiety coming at you from that and beyond a certain point, you've got the information and you're just mainlining anxiety. Covey encourages us to focus on the small circle, the circle of influence, and ask, okay, what is in my small circle right now? What can I actually do that's going to make a positive difference? So stuff to take care of yourself. The restorative practice stuff to take care of your family, , people you care about, , stuff that will take care of your work and your business. And the idea is that the more time you spend in this circle of influence, the more empowered you feel. And in fact, the more empowered you are because you're doing stuff that makes a difference. So that small circle can get quite a bit bigger. You can have a fried egg with a really big yoke in it, relative to the other one. Definitely keep that image in mind, sketch it on a post-it, and stick it up above your desk. And keep asking yourself when, particularly when you feel overwhelmed, say, well, what is in my small circle here? If there's nothing, it's just a news item you're worrying about, then distract yourself from it. Go and do something else. But ideally you want to find something, ‘Okay, I can go and do that right now, and then I

How can you write a book proposal that will make a publisher want to buy your book? How can you write a successful non-fiction book that both interests you and attracts a lot of readers? How can you improve your communication in person and online? Charles Duhigg gives his thoughts. In the intro, HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray on audiobooks and AI [TechCrunch]; OpenAI's 12 days including Sora and o1; Google Notebook LM expansion; How Creatives Might Survive and Thrive in a Post-Productivity World [Monica Leonelle]. Plus, How to Write Non-Fiction, Second Edition. Today's show is sponsored by Draft2Digital, self-publishing with support, where you can get free formatting, free distribution to multiple stores, and a host of other benefits. Just go to www.draft2digital.com to get started. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, a reporter at The New Yorker Magazine, and a multi-award-winning author whose book, The Power of Habit, spent three years on the New York Times list. His latest New York Times bestselling book is Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes How the writing process differs between books and magazines Balancing what readers want to read and what you want to write Research that comes before and after a book proposal Tips for conducting successful research interviews The process of organizing research for a nonfiction book Improving the art of written communication Dealing with the fear of miscommunication and judgement The importance of connection in communication You can find Charles at CharlesDuhigg.com. Transcript of Interview with Charles Duhigg Joanna: Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, a reporter at The New Yorker Magazine, and a multi-award-winning author whose book, The Power of Habit, spent three years on the New York Times list. His latest New York Times bestselling book is Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection. Welcome to the show, Charles. Charles: Thank you for having me. This is such a treat. Joanna: I'm excited to talk to you. So first up— Why did you get into writing books when journalism has clearly been such a success for you? Charles: Well, it actually started when my wife was pregnant with our first child, and we didn't have any money, and so I thought, okay, I'll go write a book. Maybe that'll give me enough money so that maybe we can find a decent place to live. My first book was The Power of Habit, about the science of habit formation, and it really came out of my own problems and questions. I wanted to figure out how to improve my habits, how to be able to lose weight and exercise more easily. The process of writing a book, I found, is such a total joy and also overwhelmingly hard. You get to get so deep into the material, you get to understand what's going on. Not only what experts are telling you and what stories you ought to tell, but also you get to think about the ideas in really profound ways. So that just kind of became an addiction for me. I've really enjoyed writing books. Even though if you asked me in the middle of them, I would tell you it's the worst thing I've ever done in my entire life. Joanna: Well, yes, all of us listening understand that. It is interesting because, I mean, there's a lot of comparisons to your journalism. You interview a lot of people, and you include a lot of that. How is the process of these longer form books different to your journalism pieces? Charles: So it's a little akin to writing magazine pieces, because oftentimes for the magazine piece, I'll write 8,000 to 12,000 words, and each chapter of a book is about 7,500 to 9,500 words. So it's not that far off. The difference is that when I'm writing a magazine piece, I can just write a magazine piece about whatever the topic is. I can write about AI, or I can write about politics. With a book, you're writing the equivalent of, let's say, eight to ten magazine pieces, but there has to be something that ties them together. There has to be an overarching argument or an overarching idea that every chapter reflects in a different way, and finding that idea can take a long time. The two hardest parts, I think, of writing a book are, first of all, deciding what topic to write on. Oftentimes, it takes me a year or two to really figure out a topic that I think is going to be interesting and that I think readers are going to think of as interesting. Then it oftentimes takes another year or six months to figure out what the overarching argument is. Oftentimes it's not obvious from the reporting what that connective tissue is, but it's my job to find it. Joanna: That's really interesting that it takes you a year or two t

How can you build a scalable business around non-fiction books? How can you turn a book into multiple streams of income? How can you delegate in order to scale? Michael Bungay Stanier shares his thoughts. In the intro, Bookfunnel's Universal Book Links, and How to Write Non-Fiction Second Edition; ALCS survey results of writers on AI, remuneration, transparency and choice; AI Translation is the Game-Changer’s Game-Changer [The New Publishing Standard] This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Michael Bungay Stanier is the bestselling author of five books, with a million copies sold, including The Coaching Habit, How to Begin, and How to Work with (Almost) Anyone. He's also the founder of training and development company Box of Crayons, a podcaster, speaker, and coach. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Michael's publishing journey and why he likes the control of hybrid publishing Creating a business ecosystem beyond the book — multiple streams of income Tips for successfully delegating in your author business and improving professional relationships The challenges of creating a premium print journal How journaling can help you figure out what you really want You can find Michael at MBS.works or BoxofCrayons.com. You can get the journal at DoSomethingJournal.com. Transript of Interview with Michael Bungay Stanier Joanna: Michael Bungay Stanier is the bestselling author of five books, with a million copies sold, including The Coaching Habit, How to Begin, and How to Work with (Almost) Anyone. He's also the founder of training and development company Box of Crayons, a podcaster, speaker, and coach. Welcome to the show, Michael. Michael: Jo, I'm so happy to be here. It was earlier this year that you and I were hanging out in a field together, and this is warmer and less damp, amongst other things. Joanna: Yes, indeed. We were at The DO Lectures in Wales, which we're going to come back to. First up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing and publishing. Michael: Well, the seed was planted by having a grandmother who was a writer. So my dad's mum lived in Oxford, England, and she wrote columns for the local newspaper, kind of gossip columns. Her pen name was Culex, which is Latin for mosquito, which I love. She also wrote kids’ books, and memoirs, and plays, and radio scripts. She was a really prolific writer. So I think that was probably the early seed, along with my dad being a great storyteller. He would tell stories at night of Sir Michael. I was meeting Sir Nigel, Sir Angus, my two brothers, and we'd head off and have adventures. So this idea of loving stories and loving writing, I think was planted pretty early on. I found in university and in my first careers after university, I would inevitably end up writing the newsletter. In university, I was part of the law newspaper and the English department newspaper. Writing and writing and writing has just been part of the practice for a long time. Which, as you know, is all part of putting in your 10,000 hours, finding your voice, learning how to write a sentence. Starting off copying other people's styles and then trying to find your own style emerging from that. The first time an actual book idea showed up in my head, and this turned into an actual book that I published called Get Unstuck & Get Going. I had this idea that I thought about coaching, which was a profession I just started in. I was like, you know, there's a way of doing this that can be more efficient than actually having a coach. I had this idea of like the kids’ flip books, where you have like a ballerina's head and a scuba diver's body and a soccer player's legs, and you kind of combine them into these kind of different combinations. I had this idea that you could create a book with different questions. So you'd bring a problem to the book, and you'd open it and randomly generate some questions, and voila, you'd have a self-directed coaching practice. So I had this idea, and wrote some stuff up, and went and made some prototypes. Then I honestly just couldn't figure out how to publish it because no publisher wanted this, and self-publishing felt impossible. So I kind of put it in a drawer, until my cousin Robert went, “You know that book you were telling me about, this kind of self-coaching book? I noticed you're not doing it, and I was telling my boss about it, and he thought he his company could do it.” I was like, “Wait, no, what? Ah!” So that was kind of the catalyst to me getting a first book p

How can we write from the perspective of others while still respecting different cultures? How can a children's book author make money from bulk sales? How is self-publishing in South Africa different? With Ashling McCarthy. In the intro, Spotify for Authors and Katie Cross on self-narration and email marketing; How do I know when to leave my publisher? [Katy Loftus]; and Claude Styles. Today’s show is sponsored by FindawayVoices by Spotify, the platform for independent authors who want to unlock the world’s largest audiobook platforms. Take your audiobook everywhere to earn everywhere with Findaway Voices by Spotify. Go to findawayvoices.com/penn to publish your next audiobook project. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Ashling McCarthy is a South African author and artist, as well as an anthropologist, graphic designer, and non-profit founder. Her latest book is Down at Jika Jika Tavern, in The Poacher's Moon Crime Series. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes How Ashling's background in anthropology helps in writing books How research can help us write from other perspectives The importance of empathy when writing “the other” Debunking South African stereotypes and tips for visitors The book ecosystem in South Africa Difficulties of selling direct in different countries Marketing your book to schools and creating teaching opportunities Find out more about Ashling at AshlingMcCarthy.co.za. Transcript of Interview with Ashling McCarthy Joanna: Ashling McCarthy is a South African author and artist, as well as an anthropologist, graphic designer, and non-profit founder. Her latest book is Down at Jika Jika Tavern, in The Poacher's Moon Crime Series. So welcome to the show, Ashling. Ashling: Hi, Joanna. Thanks so much. I'm really looking forward to it. Joanna: Yes, great. So first up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing and publishing. Ashling: Well, writing and publishing has come quite late to me. It wasn't something that I'd ever actually intended on doing. I started off as a graphic designer in South Africa and did a bit of work in the UK, then came home when I was completely homesick. I got into a really interesting craft development program for people who had a three-year qualification in design, and we would be working with women who lived in rural communities in an area called KwaZulu-Natal, where I live. As long as you had a three-year design qualification, they'd match you up with women in rural areas who were very skilled at craft. The idea was that then we would work together to match those skills to create high-end product. So it was really that experience that allowed me to see South Africa in a very different light, and I went on to become an anthropologist and a nonprofit founder. So that took a good probably 15 years of my life and writing a book kind of came out of running the nonprofit. We're an education nonprofit, and we work with rural schools. So children who go to really poorly resourced schools in rural communities in in South Africa. I wanted to write a book for the young women in our communities who didn't have any examples of themselves in books. We would get lots of donations from overseas companies for books, but there was nothing that reflected their lives, their experiences. So I thought, oh, maybe I'll start to write a book that kind of reflects that. So Down at Jika Jika Tavern is actually the first book in The Poacher's Moon Crime Series. I, last year, published the second book, The Leopard in the Lala. How that came about, in terms of writing a crime series versus an educational kid’s book, was that my family was very involved in a game farm with wildlife. Just one day I was thinking about the fact that so many people who live on the outskirts of these game farms have no access to them. So the only chance of them seeing a rhino or an elephant or any other kind of game is from the other side of the fence, and I kind of wondered what that would feel like. So I started to write a story that would bring that to light. It was during our time on the game farm it was the height of rhino poaching, and we had six rhinos poached over a period of time. I really started to get a feel for what the book would be about because there were so many interesting incidences that took place. So for example, a traditional healer was arrested on the neighboring game farm for being involved in rhino poaching. I wanted to understand better, why would somebody who effectively has a calling to do good, why would they be involved in such a heinous crime? We just had so many little interesting things happen that I was able to then weave these real life stories into fiction to better understand why people become involved in rhino poaching and wildlife crime. Joa

How can you manage the competing priorities of an author career? How can you deal with the demons we all have to wrestle with along the way? Tiffany Yates Martin talks about the role of intuition in decision-making, the challenges of feedback and rejection, and the importance of reclaiming creativity during difficult times. In the intro, Amazon Music Unlimited will now include a free audiobook a month [The Verge]; When to pivot or quit [Self-Publishing Advice]; Thoughts on sunk cost fallacy, and how do you know when things are ending? Are they spiraling up, or down?, Quit: The Power of Knowing When To Walk Away by Annie Duke. Plus, HarperCollins AI licensing deal [The Verge; The Authors Guild]; and Seahenge is out everywhere, as well as at my store, JFPennBooks.com. Today's show is sponsored by Draft2Digital, self-publishing with support, where you can get free formatting, free distribution to multiple stores, and a host of other benefits. Just go to www.draft2digital.com to get started. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Tiffany Yates Martin is an editor, speaker, and teacher with over 30 years in the publishing industry. She writes contemporary women's fiction as Phoebe Fox, and her latest non-fiction book is The Intuitive Author: How to Grow & Sustain a Happier Writing Career. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Overcoming the “writer demons” Setting priorities to help manage overwhelm Honing into your intuition in relation to your author career Distinguishing intuition from hype or peer pressure Defining goals that are within your control Staying resilient when dealing with feedback and rejection Reclaiming your creative spark in difficult times You can find Tiffany Yates Martin at FoxPrintEditorial.com. Transcript of Interview with Tiffany Yates Martin Joanna: Tiffany Yates Martin is an editor, speaker, and teacher with over 30 years in the publishing industry. She writes contemporary women's fiction as Phoebe Fox, and her latest non-fiction book is The Intuitive Author: How to Grow & Sustain a Happier Writing Career. So welcome back to the show, Tiffany. Tiffany: Thanks for having me again, Joanna. Joanna: So we talked about your background when you were last on the show in April 2022, so today we're going to jump straight into the book. Why did you write this book? What problems did you see in the author community that led you to want to write about happiness and sustainability? Tiffany: I know, it's kind of a departure for me. I've spent all these years as an editor working on hard skills, craft skills, and teaching about that. Then I was actually in the middle of writing what was to have been the follow up book to my first, Intuitive Editing, which was a deep dive into character development. I just kept writing and thinking and talking about these other ideas because I was hearing from a lot of authors that they were feeling overwhelmed by all the changes and the constantly evolving publishing environment. I think it's a fortunate time to be an author because I think we have the opportunity to have more control and autonomy over our careers. We have more avenues than ever before. Publishing has become democratized, but that also brings with it a lot of overwhelm. I was hearing a lot of discouragement, so I started in my blog, where I used to focus a lot on hard skills, I started writing more about this stuff. I just wanted to try to help authors based on what I was hearing and seeing, and they got huge response. So the character book just kept balking at me, and I finally realized that one of the things I kept talking about in my blog posts was to pay attention to your motivation, to what you want out of your career. That's the part that we really have control over, is what our day to day life looks like as authors. So I decided to follow my own advice and turn my attentions to the book that really wanted to be written right now, that I felt like authors probably need more than ever. Joanna: I think that's so important, as much as I'm sure your character book will be amazing if you do do it. I think this is something I felt very much last year, which is the more prescriptive—you call it hard skills there—the prescriptive, “do this, do that.” I mean character development, there's a lot of books on that. Your take would have been different.  Also similar, my last nonfiction book, Writing the Shadow, it's like the personal stuff, the mindset stuff, the lifestyle stuff, all of that actually is something that AI and the machines can't share. I mean, they can share it, but it's not their experience, whereas it is actually our experience. So I agree, I think that's so important. Just on that overwhelm and the changes that are going on, what are some of the thin

How can you write memoir with deep sensory detail? How does terroir in wine equate to the writer's voice? How can you manage your online presence while still protecting yourself from the haters? Multi-award-winning wine writer Natalie MacLean shares her tips. In the intro, initial thoughts on Author Nation 2024, photos from Death Valley @jfpennauthor, Folk horror on The Nightmare Engine Podcast, Walking the Camino de Santiago on the Action Packed Travel Podcast; Introversion and writing the shadow on The Quiet and Strong Podcast. Today’s show is sponsored by FindawayVoices by Spotify, the platform for independent authors who want to unlock the world’s largest audiobook platforms. Take your audiobook everywhere to earn everywhere with Findaway Voices by Spotify. Go to findawayvoices.com/penn to publish your next audiobook project. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Natalie MacLean is a multi-award-winning wine writer, named World's Best Drinks Writer at The World Food Media Awards, as well as a sommelier, TV wine expert, and host of The Unreserved Wine Talk Podcast. She's also the bestselling author of multiple nonfiction books on wine, including Unquenchable, named as one of Amazon's best books of the year. Her latest book is Wine Witch on Fire: Rising from the Ashes of Divorce, Defamation, and Drinking Too Much. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Challenges of writing memoir compared to journalistic writing Using memoir to tell your Truth Tips for sensory writing from a ‘super taster' What is terroir and how to use it in your writing Maintaining boundaries while still marketing your author brand Dealing with crisis management and managing your mental health How to reach and engage with book clubs Connecting multiple streams of income Utilising podcasting for book marketing in your author business You can find Natalie at NatalieMaclean.com. Transcript of Interview with Natalie Maclean Joanna: Natalie MacLean is a multi-award-winning wine writer, named World's Best Drinks Writer at The World Food Media Awards, as well as a sommelier, TV wine expert, and host of The Unreserved Wine Talk Podcast. She's also the bestselling author of multiple nonfiction books on wine, including Unquenchable, named as one of Amazon's best books of the year. Her latest book is Wine Witch on Fire: Rising from the Ashes of Divorce, Defamation, and Drinking Too Much. So welcome to the show, Natalie. Natalie: It is so good to be back here with you. We've had an initial chat on my podcast [about biodynamic wine and Blood Vintage], but I am so looking forward to this, Jo. Joanna: Oh, yes. So first up, just— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing and publishing. Natalie: Sure. So my career path was probably like a lot of folks. I didn't plan to be a writer. I didn't have the confidence to be a writer. I was brought up by a single mom, single parent mom. She was a school teacher, so she really pounded it into me, make sure you get an education that will get you a job. So I wanted to study English, but no, no. So it was PR and an MBA, and right into the workforce in high tech marketing. Along the way, I was working for a super computer company that was based in Mountain View, California. I'm Canadian, and I still live here, but the head office was down where the campus of Google now is. So I started arranging all of my meetings there when I had to go on Fridays so I could stay over the weekend and drive up to Napa and Sonoma. While I didn't have time to learn golf or pottery or anything else, I was dining out a lot with clients or whatever. So I really grew to love wine. So that sparked my interest in wine. Then while I was off on maternity leave, I thought, well, I have to keep my brain active somehow. I had taken a sommelier course just for fun because that's what type As do. It was a good thing I wasn't taking golf lessons because, you know, long iron clubs and type A, that's just not a good combination. So wine worked. So while I was off on maternity leave, I pitched the editor of a local food magazine because I noticed they had all these gorgeous recipes, but no wine content. I knew just enough about wine to be a little dangerous. She said, yes, okay, have you published before? I said yes, praying that she would not ask me to send samples because all I had was my high school newspaper. So she gave me a chance. The first article or column was “How to Find Wine Food Pairings on the Internet.” That was the headline back then, it's gotten much more specific since. That led to a regular column, which gave me the confidence just to cold call other editors. Then I started landing columns in some of our national newspapers here in Canada and magazines. I didn't know anybody. I was a nobody from nowh

What is dark tourism and why are many of us interested in places associated with death and tragedy? How can you write and self-publish a premium print guidebook while managing complicated design elements, image permissions, and more? With Leon Mcanally. In the intro, level up with author assistants [Written Word Media]; and Blood Vintage signing pics. This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Leon McAnally is the author of A Guide to Dark Attractions in the UK. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes The definition of dark tourism and what types of places it includes Public opinion around dark tourism sites Self-publishing to keep creative control of book design and content Researching historical sites and keeping an organized system How to obtain permissions for publishing images Working with a designer on a photo-heavy book Using book signings and social media as part of a book marketing strategy Managing expectations for research- and design-extensive projects You can find Leon on his Facebook page: Dark Attractions in the UK. Transcript of Interview with Leon McAnally Joanna: Leon McAnally is the author of A Guide to Dark Attractions in the UK, which is brilliant. My quote is on the back, and I said, “A fascinating book for all the dark little souls out there.” So welcome to the show, Leon. Leon: Thank you, Joanna, for having me. Joanna: I'm excited to talk about this topic, and you and I are both dark little souls. First up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing and self-publishing. Leon: Well, I studied travel and tourism in college. That's where I first learned of this term called dark tourism, places associated with death, suffering and tragedy. I came away looking into these places and was really fascinated with the tourism aspect and the history aspect. My university touched on this topic more, so I went and studied Travel and Tourism at the University of Northampton. I focused a lot around the motivations of dark tourism and the ethical issues around dark tourism. After uni, I wasn't sure what to do, but I wanted to travel to a lot of the places that I'd been writing about, like Auschwitz and the Catacombs of Paris. Then I got into writing because I came across yourself, actually. When I was researching dark tourism, I think you popped up on a website. I started reading your ARKANE thriller series and looked into yourself a bit more, and I was like, you're just an inspiration. Joanna: Thank you. Leon: So it seemed from that, and then yourself. Then I was in Paris visiting the Catacombs at the time, and that evening I sat down and was like, what do I do with myself now? Then I thought to myself, there's no book that covers like dark tourism across the whole of the UK. So, yes, it set me off on a journey, really. Joanna: First of all, I'm really thrilled to inspire you. I'm glad I turned up on some website, that's excellent. Let's just return to this idea of dark tourism. You mentioned places associated with death, suffering and tragedy. You mentioned two places that are quite different, Auschwitz, which of course, is modern horror, really. Then the Paris Catacombs, which, if people don't know, are full of plague dead, but it's bones that are arranged in different ways. I find the Catacombs an awesome place. I'm sure you enjoyed it as well, right? Leon: Yes, definitely. It was really eye opening. Joanna: Exactly. I think those two places are disturbing in different ways. People are like, why are the pair of you interested in this stuff? So what do you think? You mentioned studying the motivations. Why do people visit these places? Why do you and I find these ‘dark tourism' places interesting? Leon: I think there's a number of factors at play. It depends on the place you're visiting because dark tourism is an umbrella term for loads of places, and that's what a lot of people don't realize. So it could be that you go to a memorial to remember people who have tragically died. It also could be a totally different place, and it makes you perceive life differently and how you wish to be known in life, as well as after life. The Victorian cemeteries that are within my book, The Magnificent Seven cemeteries in London, I visited them. So one, they gave me a kind of inspiration and motivated me with my book. Also, I look at the people who are buried there and how they are known after life. Like they were known back when they were alive, and they're still being known, and their story and their life history is being retold.

How do you approach writing a second edition of a non-fiction book? How does self-publishing compare to working with a traditional publisher? Can you build a viable business without active social media use? Gin Stephens shares her tips. In the intro, the end of Kindle Vella [Amazon]; Lessons from week one of the book launch for This is Strategy [Seth Godin]; Seahenge is out now on my store, and on pre-order elsewhere; ChatGPT launched Search [OpenAI]; How Generative AI Search Will Impact Book Discoverability in the Next Decade. Write and format stunning books with Atticus. Create professional print books and eBooks easily with the all-in-one book writing software. Try it out at Atticus.io This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Gin Stephens is the New York Times bestselling author of Delay, Don't Deny, Fast. Feast. Repeat., Clean(ish), and other health-related nonfiction books. She's also a podcaster at Intermittent Fasting Stories. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Pros and cons of publishing a second edition of a nonfiction book Tips for bringing a heavy subject alive Breaking through the noise when misinformation surrounds your subject Reasons for going the indie route after traditionally publishing The power of word of mouth marketing How a small paywall can create a more respectful community Social media's impact on mental health Creating an ecosystem — podcast, community, and books You can find Gin at GinStephens.com. Transcript of Interview with Gin Stephens Joanna: Gin Stephens is the New York Times bestselling author of Delay, Don't Deny, Fast. Feast. Repeat., Clean(ish), and other health-related nonfiction books. She's also a podcaster at Intermittent Fasting Stories. So welcome back to the show, Gin. Gin: It is so great to talk to you again. Joanna: Yes, it's been a few years [Gin's previous interview here]. Now, you have recently released the second edition of Delay, Don't Deny, and I completely get the pain of a subsequent edition. It's just a bit of a nightmare. So I wanted to start by asking you— Why did you feel like you wanted to do a second edition of that book instead of writing something new? Gin: Well, that is a great question. I have written new things since writing the original Delay, Don't Deny. This original book that I wrote in 2016, Delay, Don't Deny, and self-published, is just really the bedrock that everything else has been built upon. I've learned so much more about the topic since I wrote it in 2016, and this book just needed a refresh. It needed some love. I really didn't understand how some people love this one the most. I was speaking at an event a few years ago, and someone in the audience said, “Which of your books should we start with? Delay, Don't Deny or Fast. Feast. Repeat.?” Fast. Feast. Repeat. was a New York Times bestseller. It's comprehensive, it's thorough, it's thick. It's every question you could possibly ask about intermittent fasting. It's well referenced. So I said, “Of course start with Fast. Feast. Repeat.“ Then someone in the audience said, “Can I disagree?” I'm like, “Well, go ahead.” She said, “Delay, Don't Deny. I love that one the most.” That got the wheels turning in my head because ever since I moved towards traditional publishing, I hadn't self-published anything. So I thought, people love that original book. I never talked about it anymore, but it kept selling, and people kept buying it. It did need to be updated because some of the advice I did not necessarily agree with anymore. From 2016 to 2024, things are going to change. There were just some things that were out of date, so it deserved some love. You know what kept me from revising it sooner? The audiobook. I didn't want to rerecord the audiobook, and of course, you want them to match. Finally, I just bit the bullet. First I offered it to my publisher, and the amount that they wanted to give me for an advance was so itty bitty. I was like, well, forget that. I'll redo it myself. Joanna: That's interesting. I want to come back. So you said there Fast. Feast. Repeat. I've got these books, I've got several of your books, and Fast. Feast. Repeat., you said it's comprehensive, it's thick, it's well referenced. You're a scientist. You do a lot of research. You are very knowledgeable. Do you think that people don't want the heavily researched book, they just want the story-based book? Gin: Well, it depends on the person. There are people who resonate with each kind, and that's what I realized. I would like the one with all the references in there, definitely. I want to be able to look at them. I actually do that, by the way, when I read a book written by a scientist or a doctor. I'll turn to the reference section, especially if s

What are some of the key elements in writing horror? How can you be successful writing and self-publishing in the genre? With Boris Bacic. In the intro, ISBNs made easy [Self-publishing Advice]; Written Word Media’s 2024 author survey; Taylor Swift self-publishing [Morning Brew]; Thoughts on audiobooks [Seth Godin]; This is Strategy: Make Better Plans – Seth Godin; Plus, Orna Ross and I talk about our response to Google NotebookLM, while the AI hosts discuss indie author myths [Self-Publishing Advice Podcast]; Seahenge: A Short Story available now and on pre-order. This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Boris Bacic is a bestselling horror author from Serbia, with more than 30 books and short stories. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Unique platforms for publishing horror short stories Subgenres of horror and how they have evolved Catering to an English-speaking market Finding inspiration from personal experience and place Deciding whether an idea is best for a short story or full-length book Different channels to earn an income from short stories Why some books succeed in KU and others flop Considerations when writing a horror series Networking and community for horror writers You can find Boris at AuthorBorisBacic.com. Transcript of Interview with Boris Bacic Joanna: Boris Bacic is a bestselling horror author from Serbia, with more than 30 books and short stories. So welcome to the show, Boris. Boris: Thanks for having me here. Joanna: I'm excited to talk to you. So first up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing and publishing. Boris: I started writing when I was a kid. Back then, it was fantasy. This was before the era of computers and whatnot. I was writing in my notebook. I guess somewhere along the line, it just kind of morphed into horror. I didn't get into publishing until I was in my late 20s. I had started writing short stories for Creepypasta.com, for Reddit's NoSleep forum, and after about 20 or so unsuccessful stories, one of my stories went viral. This was a big thing for me because so many people wanted to collaborate. YouTube narrators, Creepypasta animators, and so on. So this was a big thing for me. Somewhere along the line, one of them had asked me, like, why don't I publish a book? I said, no, no, that's not for me. I'm not cut out to be a writer. After some time, after more successful stories, I said, okay, I'm going to take the plunge. I knew nothing about publishing, and after unsuccessful attempts to find agents and publishers, I ran into 20Booksto50K. This gave me a completely new perspective on self-publishing, because up until then, I had thought that self-published authors did not earn any money at all. So this was a new thing for me, and that's eventually how I got into publishing my novels. Right now, I have more than 30. Joanna: Wow. Okay, a few questions to come back on. First of all, explain to people what Creepypasta is. Because I think a lot of people won't know. Boris: So Creepypasta.com, this used to be very popular back in the day. This was a website where lots of scary short stories would be hosted. So anybody could write, anybody could post them there. If they were good enough, they would be approved. Eventually, a similar sub-reddit came out, which was NoSleep. This is exactly what it is, how it sounds. It is a forum where people can post short stories. This was very popular back in the day because so many YouTube narrators started adapting them into narrations, and they start adding creepy music over there. This was a very good way for aspiring authors, and even established authors, to reach new audiences. Joanna: I thought Creepypasta stories also had a sort of internet meme thing, in terms of the sort of tropes. Are there tropes specifically for these forums? Boris: There are definitely lots of tropes over there, and one of the popular ones that arose from there was the type of horror where there are rules you need to follow. It became so oversaturated with this after a while, that it's like if you enter a church, don't look over your shoulder. Don't enter after 3am and so on. So this became very popular. It was very scary back in the day, and so many stories arose from it. Even my first published anthology was exactly like that. A security guard, because I used to be a security guard, who is working in a paranormal place, and he needs to follow a set of rules. There are lots of these that are sort of outdated now, but I can see that even trad authors have started using some of th

How do you successfully scale an author business? How do you delegate to your team as well as continue to research and write the books you love? With award-winning crime author, Rachel McLean. In the intro, new Kindle devices [Amazon]; new European markets for Spotify audiobooks [Spotify]; customisable audio with Google NotebookLM; Amazon Ads launches new AI tools for advertisers; Enhancing Creativity with AI Tools [ALLi]; My Lessons Learned from 10 Million Downloads of the show; and Blood Vintage Kickstarter wrap-up. Today's show is sponsored by Draft2Digital, self-publishing with support, where you can get free formatting, free distribution to multiple stores, and a host of other benefits. Just go to www.draft2digital.com to get started. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Rachel McLean is the award-winning author of the Dorset Crime series, as well as other crime books, and has now sold over 2 million copies. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Making the decision to scale your author business Hiring multiple freelancers with different skillsets Money and lifestyle as a source of motivation Writing with multiple co-authors and creating a small imprint How to write what readers want to read Moving your readers from KU to other platforms Selling audiobooks direct using Shopify and BookFunnel Using AI tools for location research Publishing videos on socials to humanize your brand You can find Rachel at RachelMcLean.com. Transcript of Interview with Rachel McLean Joanna: Rachel McLean is the award-winning author of the Dorset Crime series, as well as other crime books, and has now sold over 2 million copies. So welcome back to the show, Rachel. Rachel: Thank you for having me. Joanna: I'm excited to talk to you today. Now, you were last on the show in November 2022, and we talked about how you pivoted into crime fiction. So we're just going to jump straight into things today. You started out with your Dorset Crime series, but you now have five series in total, and you work with multiple authors under your imprint, Ackroyd Publishing. How has your business changed over the last few years? Rachel: In some ways it hasn't changed that much, and in other ways, it's changed massively. So the core of my business, which is about writing crime books that readers want to read, I write in a very similar style. Obviously, my craft has developed over that time. I'm really like doubling down on engaging with readers, I see that as actually, after the writing, my most important job because that's the thing that I can do, and my team can't do for me. So that hasn't really changed, apart from the fact that it is scaled because I've got so many more readers now. In the sort of day-to-day management of my business, that has changed hugely. I've now got a team of seven people who work for me. They're all freelance. They each work a couple of days a week, and they do various roles. I've got a publishing and production team, and they project manage all the books, do the cover design, pull all the files together, manage the editorial and so forth. Then I've got a marketing team who help me run my shop and do advertising and data for me. I've got somebody who liaises with bookshops. I've got somebody who does AV work for me. I've also got a number of co-authors who I work with now. A lot of my books are co-authored with people who I've known for years and who I've been working with as part of my writing group for years. That enables me to sort of manage a bigger business, which takes up more of my time, while still producing more books now than I was able to produce without them. Also, it's really good fun, particularly on the creative side when you're generating ideas for a new book or a new series, I get to work with other people. So we'll go for a trip to the location that the book's going to be in, and we'll walk around, and we'll sit in cafes and things. We'll chat about what's going to be in the book, and we'll come up with ideas. It's really enjoyable. Joanna: Oh, so many follow up questions. The first one I have is—and this is quite a personal thing for me, and also people listening—because I feel like what you have done is you have gone from being an author to essentially being the CEO of a much bigger business. Like you said, you have seven people you're co-writing. So at some point, you made the decision, I am going to scale the size of my business and the income, obviously. You decided that there was something you wanted to do around running a bigger publishing company. How did you make the decision to scale your business? Obviously, it is a much bigger deal than, like me, I have not made that choice. It's something I come up against over and over again, and I always step back from. It's like I actually d

The Creative Penn Podcast just hit 10 million downloads as reported by my audio host, Blubrry! The podcast is also the main content on my YouTube channel @thecreativepenn, which has had over 3.9 million views, so the total could be closer to 14m. I'm pretty happy with that, so thanks for listening! Here are some fun stats, and then I share 7 lessons learned that are also applicable for authors and other creatives. Start where you are and improve your craft, tools, and technology over time Focus on value for the listeners (or readers) Everyone starts with no audience, no email list — and no clue! It's all about the relationships you build along the way People want to know about you. Decide on your boundaries — before you're forced to. Podcasting (or being an author) can be a viable business — if you design it that way. You will only sustain what is ‘worth it' to you over the long term. Persistence and time in the market make a big difference. You can find The Creative Penn Podcast on your favourite podcast app, or the backlist and links are here. The Creative Penn Podcast Stats My first episode went out on 15 March 2009, and there are now 775 episodes of the podcast. Links to all at TheCreativePenn.com/podcast. The show has been downloaded in 229 countries with the top three countries being the USA (61%), UK (12%), and Australia (7%), and the most surprising being 2 downloads from Antarctica! The four most downloaded episodes through Blubrry are as follows: Writing fiction and improving your fiction book description with Michaelbrent Collings (28,264 downloads) How to use mystery to hook your readers with Jonah Lehrer (28,215) Tips for indie author success and 20BooksTo50K with Craig Martelle (28,199) Author mindset: Strengths for writers with Becca Syme (27,786) The four most watched/listened to on YouTube are quite different: Improve your dialogue with James Scott Bell (75,200) How to sell a million books with CJ Lyons (59,689) How to write a novel with the snowflake method with Randy Ingermanson (54,209) Story Engineering with Larry Brooks (52,520) Why are these numbers so different? An audio podcast generally gets a relatively stable number of people listening every week, so there is less variability in listening numbers. YouTube is based on search and algorithms, so some videos get a LOT of views and others get almost nothing. 7 Lessons Learned From Over 10 Million Podcast Episode Downloads (1) Start where you are and improve your craft, tools, and technology over time You don't need to know everything in advance in order to write a book, or publish, or start a podcast. Just get started and learn and adapt along the way. I recorded my first podcast interview in March 2009 over a landline, which I put on speakerphone, next to which I placed a handheld digital audio recorder. I didn't really know what I was doing, but despite my nerves, I was still able to interview a breakout self-published author in the Australian book scene, Rachael Bermingham. (I lived in Brisbane, Australia at the time.) I've always done extensive research on my guests and provided questions in advance, but my interview skills have definitely improved since then — both as a host and a guest. Everything gets better with practice, and that includes your writing, too! My tools have also changed. My recording went from a phone to Skype to Zoom and now Riverside.fm, and I've upgraded my microphone (and pop filter) several times. I used to just record in any room with the accompanying echo noises Later, I moved into a padded cupboard, and now I have a home audio booth where I record my solo episodes, weekly introduction, and my audiobooks. Joanna Penn's home audio sound booth My editing tools went from Audacity to Amadeus Pro, and I now use Descript.com to edit the main audio before mastering with Amadeus Pro and Auphonic. I still use the same WordPress plugin, Blubrry, which is one of the oldest and most reputable independent podcast hosts. I have always paid for hosting the feed, first on AWS and then on Blubrry itself. As ever, I really love my independence! If you're not paying for a product, then question how that company is making money. Is your content actually the product? (as is the case for most social media platforms). the logo has changed over the years as well, both for the podcast and my brand. Get started and reinvent as you go. (2) Focus on value for the listeners (or readers) If you try to write a book in a market you don't read, you will likely get it wrong and readers won't resonate with the content or buy more from you. If you start a podcast without an understanding of what the audience want, then you will fail in a similar way. But you can avoid this by BEING the audience you seek to connect with. When I started The Creative Penn Podcast in 2009, I had self-published a couple of non-fiction books, and I'd learned so much from those initial failures that I wanted to share what I'd learned. Me in brisbane, australi

Can you be successful as an author across different genres and different pen names? How do traditional publishing and going indie compare? How can you diversify into multiple streams of income as an author? With Emily E.K. Murdoch. In the intro, Planning for retirement [Self-Publishing Advice]; my list of money books; Red flags in serialised (and other) fiction contracts [Self-Published Advice]; The Author's Guild partners with Created by Humans for AI licensing; Nobel Prizes for AI-related research [The Economist]; Last chance for Blood Vintage, and where did the idea come from?; plus, what I'm working on next. Today's show is sponsored by ProWritingAid, writing and editing software that goes way beyond just grammar and typo checking. With its detailed reports on how to improve your writing and integration with writing software, ProWritingAid will help you improve your book before you send it to an editor, agent or publisher. Check it out for free or get 15% off the premium edition at www.ProWritingAid.com/joanna This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Emily E K Murdoch is the USA Today bestselling author of over 100 historical romances across medieval, western and regency, and mixed between steamy and sweet. She's also the author of nonfiction history book Regina: The Queens Who Could Have Been under Emily Murdoch Perkins. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Discovery writing vs outlining — how it affects your drafting and editing speed How to research in-person and online Securing a nonfiction traditional publishing deal Maintaining creative autonomy with a traditional publishing contract Opportunities that arise from being traditionally published Writing under different names for different genres Tips for pitching blurbs for your book How traditional publishers help with PR Diversifying your author business and creating multiple streams of income You can find Emily at EmilyEKMurdoch.com. Transcript of Interview with Emily E K Murdoch Joanna: Emily E K Murdoch is the USA Today bestselling author of over 100 historical romances across medieval, western and regency, and mixed between steamy and sweet. She's also the author of nonfiction history book Regina: The Queens Who Could Have Been under Emily Murdoch Perkins. So welcome to the show, Emily. Emily: Thank you so much for having me. It's a real joy to be here. Joanna: Oh, yes. There's so much to talk about, but first up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing and publishing. Emily: Well, I am one of those authors who very much grew up knowing that I wanted to be a writer. It's a family legend that my end of year report at five years old includes the phrase, “Emily keeps telling us she's going to be an author.” So I very much started strong, but it was one of those things that was always going to be in the future. I was chatting about my dreams, about wanting to be an author, wanting to write, with a boyfriend as we were coming up to university graduation. I said, “Look, I will be an author one day. It's absolutely going to happen.” You know, with all the confidence of a 21 year old. “But, obviously that is something I'll do when I'm older. I'll have to do a proper job first. So maybe in my 40s, 50s, 60s, when I've had a career, that's what I'll do.” He looked at me and was like, “I don't understand why you've got to wait. I don't see why you can't write a book right now.” And reader, I married him! I also published for the first time two years later. I was able to quit my job and “retire” into full time creativity before I turned 30. Joanna: Ooh. Everyone's like, okay, okay. So first up, excellent, that you married such a supportive person. I know some people listening will be like, oh my goodness. They're jealous because I think that's quite rare for someone to say that. Let's get into this hundred books. Give us an idea how many years ago that was and how you then progressed. Emily: My first book came out in 2013, so that's 11 years ago. It was written and finished the year before then. I thought, I'll be smart about this. I'll take it to a publisher who really understands historical romance, which was the novel. So I actually submitted to Harlequin, which is part of HarperCollins. I'm going to be honest, I didn't understand how slow traditional publishing was. I waited six months for a reply, which to me, was an age. Eventually I got tired, and I withdrew it, and I took it elsewhere. I do wonder sometimes what might have been if I'd stuck it out. I do actually now publish, ironically, with Harlequin HarperCollins. So I've kind of come full circle in that way. So, yes, 11 years. 11 years, and I went full time after eight. So it was very much an overnight suc

How can the ‘hungry author' mindset help you become more of a successful author? Why do you need to shift your point of view to that of the reader so your book resonates with them? What are some of the key aspects of writing and marketing non-fiction books? Ariel Curry gives her tips in this episode. In the intro, tackling imposter syndrome [Ink in Your Veins]; Novel Study: Decoding the Secrets and Structures of Contemporary Fiction by Kristen Tate; StoryBundle for Writers; Publishing for Profit conference from ALLi; Tap to Pay on mobile for live events [Zettle/PayPal]; Blood Vintage and Discovery Writing webinar; I'm on The Unreserved Wine Talk Podcast, and The Nightmare Engine Podcast. Plus, Leveraging AI for book covers and ads [Brave New Bookshelf]; More controls coming for Google NotebookLM [VentureBeat]; Meta’s new generative video model, Movie Gen. Today’s show is sponsored by FindawayVoices by Spotify, the platform for independent authors who want to unlock the world’s largest audiobook platforms. Take your audiobook everywhere to earn everywhere with Findaway Voices by Spotify. Go to findawayvoices.com/penn to publish your next audiobook project. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Ariel Curry is a writer, editor and book coach, and the co-author of Hungry Authors: The Indispensable Guide to Planning, Writing, and Publishing a Nonfiction Book. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes What is a hungry author? The mindset needed for a long-term author career Subgenres of nonfiction and how to find and market to their audiences Key elements of a book map Writing with a reader-focused mindset Top reasons why editors and agents reject books The importance of platform for nonfiction authors Leveraging podcasts for marketing nonfiction books You can find Ariel at HungryAuthors.com Transcript of Interview with Ariel Curry Joanna: Ariel Curry is a writer, editor and book coach, and the co-author of Hungry Authors: The Indispensable Guide to Planning, Writing, and Publishing a Nonfiction Book. So welcome to the show, Ariel. Ariel: Thank you so much for having me, Joanna. I'm so happy to be here. Joanna: Great. Well, first up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing and the publishing industry. Ariel: Sure. Well, like many people in the publishing industry, I was an English major who didn't really know what she wanted to do. I thought I might do teaching. I tried that for a little bit. That did not go well. So I thought, you know what, why not just shoot for the stars? I've always loved books, and so I thought, well, it never hurts to apply to publishing internships. So I did that. I got an internship in London at Anthem Press, which is a little bit more of an academic publisher. That eventually led to a role as an editorial assistant at Corwin Press in California. Then from there, I moved up the ladder to acquisitions editor. Then I took a little bit of a break from the traditional publishing corporate world for a few years. I was freelancing, I was doing collaborations, and I was doing developmental editing. Then just recently, I decided to rejoin the corporate publishing industry, and I took a role as an acquisitions editor at Sourcebooks. So that's where I am currently, and I specialize in nonfiction. Joanna: What is it like being on the other side of the fence as an author? Ariel: It is a lot of fun. The thing that I always remind authors of is it's a business. So my job there is to be an investor in great ideas, and great writers, and great writing. I think that's the part that a lot of people don't necessarily understand. Sometimes it's a little sad because it seems to take some of the romance and the feelings of creativity out of it, I think, but at the end of the day, everyone in the publishing industry just truly loves books. So we totally get the romance and the special feelings that come with pouring everything that you have into a book. Someone has to be the person to make it successful on a broad scale. That's what people in the publishing industry are here to do is to take the very, very, very best of writers and writing and help to blast that, hopefully as to as wide an audience as possible. That's what we're all here to do. Sometimes it takes a little bit of the romance away, but honestly, I absolutely love what I do. I love working in the corporate publishing sphere, so I don't see that going away anytime soon. Joanna: That's great. Well, let's get into the book because I think it is good to know of your background, too. For nonfiction authors, in particular, is what we're really talking about today. Also, to know the mindset of an acquisitions editor is great. So getting into the book— What is your definition of a ‘hungry author,' and why is mindset so imp

How can you bring laughter into your books regardless of genre? What are the challenges of writing a novel after an award-winning career as a comedy writer for TV and radio? Dave Cohen shares his lessons learned in this interview. In the intro, how to keep a career fresh over multiple books [Author Nation Podcast]; Best practices of successful indie authors [Draft2Digital]; Director James Cameron joins the board of Stability AI [Hollywood Reporter]; Google NotebookLM; Full audio expanding snippet; Photos from Ely Cathedral; Blood Vintage. This episode is sponsored by Publisher Rocket, which will help you get your book in front of more Amazon readers so you can spend less time marketing and more time writing. I use Publisher Rocket for researching book titles, categories, and keywords — for new books and for updating my backlist. Check it out at www.PublisherRocket.com This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Dave Cohen is a multi-award-winning BBC comedy writer who has worked on shows like Horrible Histories, as well as a comedy novelist, podcaster, and author of nonfiction. His latest book is Funny Up Your Fiction: How to Add Light, Shade, and Laughs to Your Novel. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes The shift from writing for TV to self-publishing novels Why comedy is important for writers Writing for individual sense of humour vs. broader appeal Constructing characters that readers will find funny Avoiding cliches in comedy Creating covers for comic novels based on genre crossovers Cancel culture and its affect on writing humour Tips for keeping a positive mindset and creating opportunities You can find Dave at DaveCohen.org.uk. Transcript of Interview with Dave Cohen Joanna: Dave Cohen is a multi-award-winning BBC comedy writer who has worked on shows like Horrible Histories, as well as a comedy novelist, podcaster, and author of nonfiction. His latest book is How to Write a Funny Novel. So welcome to the show, Dave. Dave: Hi. Thanks very much for having me. Pleasure to be here. Joanna: I'm excited to talk to you today. First up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into books and self-publishing after focusing more on writing for screen and performance in previous decades. Dave: Well, I'd always wanted to be a novelist, really since I was a teenager, but I got a little bit distracted on the way. I happened to spend 10 years as a stand-up comedian, and that was followed by about 20 years of writing for comedy for TV and radio. It was never quite the right time to start that novel writing career. Then I got to my 59th birthday, this was in 2017, and I finally thought, well, this is the time that I decide I have to write the novel now. I have to do it now and be damned. So I did, and I wrote my first novel. I was very pleased, and I got it all ready to send off to agents. I finished it and it was ready March 2020, at which point COVID happened. Every one of my comedy friends and colleagues, stand-up comedians, writers, all of the people who are far more successful than me, were suddenly out of work. So they had to think, “What am I going to do next? I'll write a book.” So I suddenly thought, ah, right, my book isn't going to get anywhere with an agent, I might as well self-publish. That's the next part of the journey, and that's how I've ended up here now. Joanna: Just go into that bit more then because obviously working a couple of decades with the BBC—which if people don't know, as there's a lot of people in America, it's probably the most traditional of traditional media you could possibly imagine. How did you break out of the opinion of the traditional media around self-publishing? I mean, things have obviously changed since I self-published back in 2007, but how did you get around that? Dave: Well, I mean, first of all, I would say people think of the BBC as this sort of very respectable giant monolith, but actually it's loads and loads of different quirky little places. So it sounds great to say writing for the BBC, but a lot of that was writing for BBC Radio, which was about five people in a broom cupboard. Also children's TV, which is only three people in a smaller cupboard. So the kind of pioneering way of the BBC is it's able to make things despite this sort of reputation as this very fusty corporation, rather than because of it. I think that's very much the kind of spirit that I found fairly straightforwardly, actually. That's one of the things that was fairly easy to come to from being in the world of TV writing, was moving away from the BBC that's just full of people who just do it and do it for love. So from that point of view, it was a fairly straightforward move. I think that the harder move was coming from being somebody who was a professional writer and was used

How can you be successful at connecting with readers and selling books at live, in-person events? What are some practical tips as well as mindset shifts that can help you make the most of the opportunities? Mark Leslie Lefebvre shares his experience. In the intro, Beventi for author events, Reader survey results [Written Word Media]; “How do I market myself without feeling gross about it?” [Author Stack]; 12 Concepts for Authors to Make $8333/Month; Results of AI training survey [Draft2Digital]; LionsGate partnering with RunWayML; Networking workshop [LSF]; Blood Vintage. This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Mark Leslie LeFebvre is the author of horror and paranormal fiction, as well as nonfiction books for authors. He's also an editor, professional speaker, and the Director of Business Development at Draft2Digital. His latest book is A Book in Hand: Strategies for Optimizing Print Book Sales via Signings and Other In Person Events. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes What does “going wide” really mean? Benefits of in-person signings and events Always connect. The power of creating personal relationships with readers The different types of in-person events Using props to attract the right readers to your booth How to grow your email list and audience from in-person events The logistics of in-person events — payment systems and inventory Managing your energy when planning for and attending events Staying relaxed about changing technology and using it to your advantage You can find Mark at MarkLeslie.ca. Transcript of Interview with Mark Leslie LeFebvre Joanna: Mark Leslie LeFebvre is the author of horror and paranormal fiction, as well as nonfiction books for authors. He's also an editor, professional speaker, and the Director of Business Development at Draft2Digital. His latest book is A Book in Hand: Strategies for Optimizing Print Book Sales via Signings and Other In Person Events. So welcome back to the show, Mark. Mark: Always great to chat with you, Joanna. Joanna: Oh, yes. Obviously many listeners might know you from author events or listen to your podcast, Stark Reflections. So you were last on the show in September 2021. Mark: Has it been that long? Joanna: Yes, it has been, which is crazy. You've been on the show lots over the years. We co-wrote The Relaxed Author together, and we're going to come back to that later. So it's been almost three years since you've been on the show— Mark and Jo over the years Give us a bit of an update on your writing and publishing journey, as you've had some big milestones lately. Mark: So I've continued to write in my Canadian Werewolf series. Book seven, Only Monsters in the Building, that was released earlier this year, 2024. I've got book eight planned for mid-2025. So that's been fun because in 2021, I think, I had only had two or three books in that series. So I've continued to chug away at that. Only one book a year, just sort of standard speed. I did release a co-authored book with D.F. Hart, Accounting for Authors, which is important because she's an MBA. That was a great co-authoring experience because she's really smart and knows everything about that. I took the role of the author who knows nothing about finances. That is kind of close to the truth, so it was an easy role to fill. Then also, with D.F. Hart and Erin Wright and Susie O'Connell and Bradley Charbonneau— We registered and founded a company, Wide for the Win. It is like a long, slow build for this company. All of us are working collaboratively together, trying to leverage that movement into something that could help more authors in different ways. So that's like this long, slow thing where the company's not really earning money yet, it's breaking even, but we have these plans. I mean, for example, sales of my book Wide for the Win, a portion of the sales goes and funds into the company, which is kind of good. So other things I've been up to is I've written two movie trivia books. This is drawn upon my love of 80s films and nostalgia. So I had The Canadian Mounted, which is a trivia guide to planes, trains and automobiles, because it's a reference to a book that one of the characters is reading in it. That took off beyond my wildest dreams. I thought 15-20 people in the world would buy it, and I wrote it completely as a passion project, and it just keeps shooting. It's been out for a few years now, and every Thanksgiving season through Christmas, it sells like gangbusters. Then I did a trivia book of Die Hard called Yippee Ki-

Success as an author comes with challenges around managing money, setting boundaries, and living sustainably without burning out. Sacha Black/Ruby Roe talks about her lessons learned after five years as a full-time author entrepreneur. In the intro, Content marketing for authors [BookBub]; Vineyard research [Books and Travel]; AI-generated voice cloning for select US Audible narrators [The Verge]; How AI is changing audiobooks and how it echoes changes in the music industry [Music Tectonics]; Blood Vintage; Comment écrire un roman — Joanna Penn; Today's show is sponsored by Draft2Digital, self-publishing with support, where you can get free formatting, free distribution to multiple stores, and a host of other benefits. Just go to www.draft2digital.com to get started. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Sacha Black writes spicy sapphic fantasy romance as Ruby Roe, as well as books for authors. She's the host of The Rebel Author Podcast and an international professional speaker. Sacha recently did a solo episode on her lessons learned after 5 years full-time, and we discuss aspects of that in the interview. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Why pivot to a new genre — mindset and money shifts Finding freedom from writing under a pen name Publishing and business model changes required with rapid sales growth Learning to outsource as your author business grows Repurposing content across multiple social media platforms Your books are not your pension. Your pension is your pension — so invest! (Check out my list of money books here.) Avoiding burnout — spending time on hobbies and social activities You can find Sacha at SachaBlack.co.uk or at RubyRoe.co.uk. Transcript of Interview with Sacha Black Joanna: Sacha Black writes spicy sapphic fantasy romance as Ruby Roe, as well as books for authors. She's the host of The Rebel Author Podcast and an international professional speaker. So welcome back to the show, Sacha. Sacha: Thank you for having me. Joanna: I'm excited to talk to you today. Now, you were last on this show—I mean, you have your own show—but you were on the show in August 2022, when you had just celebrated three years full time. We talked about your lessons learned. Now you're at five years and things have changed a lot. Now we are going to break this down into sections, but let's start with the genre stuff, the type of books you now write. Like what you were doing then and what you're doing now, and— Why change your genre and the type of books you write? Sacha: So when I left my day job in 2019, I had found some success sharing all the lessons that I'd learned as a writer and compiling those and putting them into craft books. I was doing okay. I was averaging sort of 40,000 to 50,000 pounds a year across the business, but I'd also reached a plateau. I wasn't really growing and wasn't really earning anymore. With the type of business it was, as a nonfiction author, you have so many different streams that you can actually have too many different streams. So I was getting really, really tired, and also kind of feeling like I was making a job for myself, rather than having left my day job to like, “live the dream.” Especially because I'd left my day job to write fiction, but the fiction that I had written up to that point was young adult fantasy. I think that's like most indie authors that I meet do that, or think they're going to do that at some point, and then we all find the thing we're supposed to be writing. So then I'd kind of gotten tired and felt like I was in this job instead of running a business. Then I stumbled upon a sapphic, so lesbian young adult book, and for the first time, I read and I had emotions. I was like, oh, my goodness me, is this what everybody else feels when they're reading? Then, of course, I dived into binging everything that I could get my hands on, but it was all young adult. I stumbled across a spicy adult lesbian book, and everything changed. I knew that that was what I wanted to do. So that's what I'm writing now, adult fantasy romance, but for lesbians. Or sapphic people, I should say, because that's more inclusive. Joanna: Or people who like reading those books. I think you don't have to identify that way to enjoy reading those books. Sacha: No, absolutely. There are straight characters and all kinds of different characters in the books. I guess that's just the genre catchphrase is, you know, sapphic fantasy romance. Joanna: You said there, so many indies do this. They start writing in one area, and then eventually they kind of find what they really want. Why do you think it takes time to find what you really want to write? Sacha: I think for me, it was dealing with expectations. I'm a bit of a people pleaser. Thank you therapy for knockin

In this solo episode, I talk about my lessons learned from 13 years as a full-time author entrepreneur. You can read/listen to previous updates at TheCreativePenn.com/timeline. Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller, dark fantasy, horror, crime, and memoir author as J.F. Penn. She’s also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. It takes time to pivot your author brand — and your mindset, but my dark horse is (finally) running! Let your dark horse run — an excerpt from Writing the Shadow by Joanna Penn It takes time to change your creative and business processes Having a (tiny) paywall makes all the difference to my happiness and mental health I love making beautiful books, and I love BookVault and Kickstarter for helping me make them and sell them direct My physical health is more important than ever, and I am now giving it more time Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn.  Sign up for my free Author Blueprint at TheCreativePenn.com/blueprint  Buy my books for authors at www.CreativePennBooks.com and my fiction and memoir at www.JFPennBooks.com. Sign up for my new Kickstarter: www.JFPenn.com/bloodvintage  Lessons learned from 13 years as a full-time author entrepreneur Thirteen years ago, in Sept 2011, I left my day job to become a full-time author-entrepreneur. Every year since I have reflected on the journey and what I learn along the way. My challenges change and grow along with the business and you will likely be at a different stage, but I hope you find my lessons learned useful along your own author path. You can read all my lessons learned from previous years on my timeline so far – and remember, just like everyone else, I started out by writing my first book with no audience! But with time and continued effort, everything is possible. (1) It takes time to pivot your author brand — and your mindset, but my dark horse is (finally) running! Back in December 2023, over 8 months ago now, I announced I would be making a slow pivot to focus more on my J.F. Penn books.  Writing the Shadow: Turn Your Inner Darkness Into Words was decades in the making, and felt like my last word on the craft of writing — at least for now! I want to do more with that book as this strange time in history means examining our darker sides is more important than ever, but for now, I need to express my own shadow into my books. I have so many stories and ideas and other types of books that are waiting to emerge from J.F. Penn brand. I have a folder in my Books drive with 22 different projects, some just initial ideas, others with research. These are stand-alones and short stories, and other books in series, and there are non-fiction books there too.  I have another folder in my Things app with nearly a thousand notes and links and things to investigate, snippets and thoughts and quotes that might become part of a story or a book. That's enough to keep me going for years, and I keep adding to these as I learn more and research and travel and think and read.  But as much as I wanted to make the shift into J.F. Penn, I struggled in the first half of the year. I started out by rewriting my Author Blueprint, which was more work than expected, so after announcing that I wasn’t doing any more books as Joanna Penn, I went and did essentially another one!  But then I got into Spear of Destiny, and started to relax a little — but it wasn’t until July when I went to the DO Lectures in West Wales that I noticed things were changing.  In the past, when people asked what I did at events or social things, I would say, ‘I’m Joanna Penn and I’m an author and podcaster, and I have a site helping writers, TheCreativePenn.’ I always talked about the self-help angle first, and I might mention I wrote fiction, but it wasn’t the first thing I talked about.  Perhaps, as I have talked about in Writing the Shadow, my fear of judgment stopped me as people certainly judge fiction writers more harshly. But at the DO Lectures, I introduced myself as Jo and said ‘I’m an author, I write thrillers and horror, crime and dark fantasy, and some self-help.’ I flipped my script and it felt natural and right to do so. I really started to feel like I was shifting into being J.F. Penn and that is such a relief. My dark horse is (finally) running! If you’re read Writing the Shadow, you will know what I mean by this — but I’m going to include the short chapter here as a reminder. Your dark horse is not the same as mine, but the challenge is the same — Is your dark horse running? How can you let it run? Let your dark horse run — from Writing the Shadow by Joanna Penn Alth

What needs to go into a training manual if you are teaching physical skills? How can you focus in on your super fans and create only for them, while still making a living from multiple streams of income? Guy Windsor explains more in this interview. In the intro, Amazon celebrates a decade of Kindle Unlimited and indie authors do really well!; Written Word Media has announced a new partnership with RetireHub, an innovative online community for retirees; Levels of author success [Draft2Digital]; Indie Writers Club; Blood Vintage book trailer and Kickstarter campaign. Plus, Oprah's AI special [Variety]; Women using AI less than men [The Economist]; Amazon is revamping Alexa to use Anthropic’s Claude [The Verge] Today’s show is sponsored by Findaway Voices by Spotify, the platform for independent authors who want to unlock the world’s largest audiobook platforms. Take your audiobook everywhere to earn everywhere with Findaway Voices by Spotify. Go to findawayvoices.com/penn to publish your next audiobook project. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Guy Windsor is a consulting swordsman, teacher, and author specializing in medieval and renaissance Italian swordsmanship. He runs SwordSchool and is the host of The Sword Guy Podcast. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Creating freedom with multiple streams of income Automating and outsourcing non-creative work Key aspects to consider when creating a training manual The importance of photo quality in print books Why write a book instead of produce an online course? Marketing a very niche genre Tips for building your online author store You can find Guy at Swordschool.shop or Swordschool.com. Transcript of Interview with Guy Windsor Joanna: Guy Windsor is a consulting swordsman, teacher, and author specializing in medieval and renaissance Italian swordsmanship. He runs SwordSchool and is the host of The Sword Guy Podcast. Today, we're talking about his book, From Your Head to Their Hands: How to write, publish, and market training manuals for Historical Martial Artists. So welcome back to the show, Guy. Guy: Thanks, Jo. Lovely to be here. Joanna: Yes, great to talk to you again. Now, you were last on the show back in 2021 when you talked about pivoting your business from in-person to online and scalable, which was much needed in the pandemic. So just give us an update as to how that change has gone for you, how your business looks today, and— What are your multiple streams of income? Guy: Well, I actually made that pivot in around 2015 because I needed to get location independence so I could move my family from Finland to the UK because of elderly parents. That was just super lucky timing because then the pandemic occurred, and we were fine because we were living off books and courses, which did really well during the pandemic. Rather than me living off in-person teaching, which I'd been doing before. So it's blissful, honestly. The difference between if I don't show up to work, I don't get paid, and well, if I feel like taking three months off to go do this creative project or do something with my kids or whatever, I can do that, and it won't make a really big difference in the short term. It's just so freeing, which means, among other things, I can work on pretty much anything I like. Now, you asked about multiple streams of income, and you sent me the question beforehand, so I made a list. So there's books, which are training manuals, mostly. There's also some translations and other things, which are in print, ebook, and some of them are also in audio. Then online courses. Those are the two really big earners. The two of those together is like 90% of my income. The rest of it comes from in-person seminars, which is actually my favorite thing. I travel around all over the place teaching seminars in America and Singapore and New Zealand and wherever. It’s fantastic, but it's really, really demanding. Then I have my own social media site called SwordPeople, which brings in some income. I have a Patreon which brings in a tiny bit of income. I also, back in 2007, the warehouse space next door to the warehouse space we were using as a training space came on the market, so I bought it. So my students there are renting that space off me. So that's another income stream. I also have merch, like t-shirts and whatnot, which hardly sell anything at all. So if anyone wants a really cool t shirt, I can point them in the right direction. So like by platform, my Teachable account is the single biggest chunk of money coming in monthly. Then my wide books as an aggregate, I don't really pay attention to the different platforms there. My Shopify store would be third. Rent on the space would be fourth. Then seminars, teaching in person, SwordPeople, and all the other stuff

How can you sell a fiction experience rather than just selling a story? How do our personal obsessions arise in our books, whatever the genre? David Viergutz shares his thoughts in this episode. In the intro, the best marketing investments for authors [Self Publishing Advice]; Abundance mindset for authors [KWL Podcast]; Written Word Media have now announced direct sales links in their email newsletters. Plus, Redefining a profession [Seth Godin]; Achieve more with Gen AI [Masterclass]; My thoughts on the Draft2Digital survey on AI licensing; My book, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, and Virtual Worlds; Spear of Destiny out now, and Blood Vintage: A Folk Horror Novel. Today's show is sponsored by ProWritingAid, writing and editing software that goes way beyond just grammar and typo checking. With its detailed reports on how to improve your writing and integration with writing software, ProWritingAid will help you improve your book before you send it to an editor, agent or publisher. Check it out for free or get 15% off the premium edition at www.ProWritingAid.com/joanna This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  David Viergutz is a disabled army and law enforcement veteran and the author of over 20 horror, dark fantasy, and thriller novels. He also hosts The Nightmare Engine Podcast. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes The similarities and differences between dark fantasy and horror Why horror is the genre of hope Religious elements in horror Multiple streams of income and selling wide The mindset shift to selling direct ScareMail — creating a unique fiction experience The behind the scenes work involved in selling a physical product Building your email list through your e-commerce store How to market your store for direct sales You can find David at DavidViergutz.com Transcript of Interview with David Viergutz Joanna: David Viergutz is a disabled army and law enforcement veteran and the author of over 20 horror, dark fantasy, and thriller novels. He also hosts The Nightmare Engine Podcast. So welcome to the show, Dave. David: Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Joanna: Oh, I'm looking forward to talking to you today. First up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing and self-publishing. David: Sure, I think my story is probably pretty similar to a lot of authors out there. We just had this dream very young that we were going to write books and stand in front of a crowd in Barnes and Noble, and there'd be all these people flocking to meet us. So we start writing with this dream, and I think a lot of authors, they continue that dream. Then for me, I kind of fell off. So for about 15-20 years, I didn't write anything. I was focused on career and military and that sort of thing. Eventually, I actually got hit with an ad for a popular publishing course, and it kind of opened my eyes. I was like, wait, there's other options. It doesn't have to be the pipe dream of a traditional contract and that sort of thing. So I started exploring it, and I was a personal trainer at the time, I had that business going. Basically, I wrote my first book, and I was hooked. I realized I could write. I could write anytime I wanted. I could learn how to write better, it wasn't a talent. I was told by a teacher a long time ago, like, you have to be born with talent, you can't learn this. I'm like, wow, way to crush my little dreams. Yes, I learned, and I started writing, and I started studying, and I went all in on writing. I sold my fitness business and I joined this community, this self-published community. It's just brilliant, and people are so kind. I tell every author I can meet, every time we talk, I say thank you for being a part of this community, for making it what it is. I came from fitness and its cutthroat over there, and it was not making me happy. Now I get to do things that I love. I get to reach people directly. I get to be creative, and it didn't feel like fitness was very creative. So l wrote my first novel, I think, in probably about a month, month and a half. Second one came out a few months after that. Third one, just a little bit faster than that. That was about four and a half, about five years ago. I've written 23 at this point. I started in dark fantasy, realized it wasn't for me, and went into horror, and have pretty much stayed there. I wrote a couple outside the genre. I wrote some thrillers and crime thrillers. With a law enforcement background, it is a lot of fun. So yes, I'm fully seated in horror now, that's where my heart is, and that's where I love to be. In general, I just love this community. So I'm going hard on it, on horror, and I don't plan on quitting anytime soon. Joanna: That's great. A few things to come back on. So in fact, you and I were talking about this

How can you move past your limiting beliefs to find success as an author? How can you successfully self-publish in Germany? Andrea Wilk shares her thoughts in this episode. In the intro, how to cope with writer conferences [Ink in Your Veins]; Author Nation schedule; Conde Nast signs a licensing deal with OpenAI [Hollywood Reporter]; Breaking down AI misconceptions [Brave New Bookshelf]; Blood Vintage Kickstarter. This episode is sponsored by Publisher Rocket, which will help you get your book in front of more Amazon readers so you can spend less time marketing and more time writing. I use Publisher Rocket for researching book titles, categories, and keywords — for new books and for updating my backlist. Check it out at www.PublisherRocket.com This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Andrea Wilk (AD Wilk) is the German author of more than 30 books across romance, thriller, and non-fiction. She's also the author of the book in English, 15 Keys to Set your Creative Mind for Success and Happiness. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Germany's book culture Why write a book in English? How to take control of your author career The impact limiting beliefs can have on your writing career — and how to shift them Obstacles faced as an indie author Common money blocks with authors and creatives Tips for generating multiple streams of income and for selling direct via your own Shopify store Using AI models as part of a translation process You can find Andrea at AndreaWilk.com. Transcript of Interview with AD Wilk Joanna: Andrea Wilk is the German author of more than 30 books across romance, thriller, and non-fiction. She's also the author of the book in English, 15 Keys to Set your Creative Mind for Success and Happiness. So welcome to the show, Andrea. Andrea: Thank you so much for letting me be here. I'm so excited. Joanna: I'm excited too. Obviously, we've been connected for years now, and you've shown us things on the Patreon, but for anyone else listening— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing and self-publishing. Andrea: Yes, I'd love to. I'm Andrea Wilk. I'm from Berlin, Germany. I started writing seven years ago. Well, that's not true completely, because I started writing when I learned writing. When I was 14 years old, I did not win a writing competition, and so I gave up that dream of becoming a writer! Then 20 years later, when I was 34, I reconnected to that dream. Since then, I've been writing. A year later, I published my first book, and I got to make a living from it almost immediately. I appreciate it so much, and I feel so grateful for it. I've learned so much from other people, people like you, so I feel like sharing what I learn and my experience is part of my journey, and it belongs to me. This is why I also write books for authors, and I have a YouTube channel in Germany, and I'm going to start one in English as well. Joanna: So you mentioned there that you started writing properly at age 34, and then quite soon you were making a living that way. So some people will be surprised at that. So tell us— How did you start with self-publishing? Did you go traditional in any way? How did you go from nothing to making a living? Andrea: So I've been self-employed for 17 years now, so back then I was already 10 years. I knew from the start that I wouldn't want to go with a publishing house because my freedom means a lot to me, and I'm kind of impatient, so I wanted to have this done as quickly as possible. I took a year to learn a lot about self-publishing, everything I got to know. This book I published back then, it was a romance book, and that story had been on my mind for forever. So it was a special book, and I think that readers connected to it because of that. I did a lot of marketing. I did a lot of everything I could do back then without using a lot of money. So I worked with bloggers, and this was 2018, and self-publishing in Germany really started in 2012, so six years ahead. So people already knew that self-published books could be read, but it wasn't the beginning of that market. So I feel like I've done a lot, and I've learned a lot, and I studied a lot about self-publishing, but of course, there was a little bit of luck in there. Joanna: Tell people a bit about Germany's book culture. Because it's a very traditional book culture, isn't it? So I feel like romance and fantasy and things like that were underserved by the traditional market. Andrea: I wouldn't say so. The German market is quite wide considering books because we love books. Germans love reading. We have a third of the market of the US in books, which is huge. People tend to read a lot of books. Not only one book, but they tend to read a lot, and the bookstores are big. So I wouldn't say that romance was un

How can you balance creativity with business when it comes to writing — and filmmaking? How can you access that ‘touch of madness' in everything you create? How can authors pitch their books for film? All this and more with Larry Kasanoff. In the intro, Paid ads with BookBub, Facebook and Amazon [BookBub]; Blood Vintage cover reveal; Unter dem Zoo out now in German; The entire ARKANE Thriller series is back on Audible, as well as Spotify, and you can get 50% off at JFPennBooks.com (65+ hours of thrillers!). This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Larry Kasanoff is the CEO of Threshold Entertainment and has made over 200 films as a producer or studio head. Some of his credits include Mortal Kombat, True Lies, Terminator 2, Dirty Dancing, and Academy Award-Winning Best Picture, Platoon. He's also worked in the music business with artists like Michael Jackson and The Rolling Stones. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Why are creatives more scared to express themselves now? Tips for starting out in the industry The timeline differences between getting a book published vs. a movie published How to state of play and positivity can help your creativity flow Balancing creative decisions with business decisions Tips for longevity in a creative career How to pitch as an introverted author Generative AI in the movie industry You can find Larry at LarryKasanoff.com and his new book at ATouchOfTheMadness.com Transcript of Interview with Larry Kasanoff Joanna: Larry Kasanoff is the CEO of Threshold Entertainment and has made over 200 films as a producer or studio head. Some of his credits include Mortal Kombat, True Lies, Terminator 2, Dirty Dancing, and Academy Award-Winning Best Picture, Platoon. He's also worked in the music business with artists like Michael Jackson and The Rolling Stones, which is like, wow. He has a new book, which is A Touch of the Madness: How to Be More Innovative in Work and Life . . . by Being a Little Crazy. So welcome to the show, Larry. Larry: Thank you. It's really nice to be here. Joanna: Oh, I'm so excited to talk to you. Let's just start with a really obvious question. You are so successful in film and music videos— Why write a book at this point in your career? Larry: Well, there are two reasons. First of all, we had a year last year where there were strikes. The actor’s union struck and the writers’ union struck, so we couldn't actually work, couldn't make movies. More than that, over the last few years, I've seen in a way I never have before, people, not only in my industry, but in every industry, scared to move on their creative ideas or their entrepreneurial ideas. I've never seen it like that. What if it's wrong? What if it fails? What if I get canceled? What if someone doesn't like it? I was whining to my brother one day about it, and he said, “Why don't you do something about it? Write a book.” My brother's a writer, and so I did. It was really just to inspire people that that creative idea, that that nutso thing that your wife, husband, father, mother, daughter, boss will think it's too nuts, that's the one that you should embrace and go for it. So that was really my only purpose. Joanna: We'll come back to that, but— Why do you think people are more scared now? Is it that the environment is more difficult, or do you think something has changed, like, I don't know, since the pandemic, like the personality of people? Larry: In a way, it doesn't matter why, but I mean, my opinion is the world ebbs and flows. We talk about how conservative political correctness was in the last five years. You know, after the Italian Renaissance, a few years later they covered up the Botticelli's because it was a whole movement that they were too racy. So this is just part of human nature, it just goes. I think this one is a little bit worse because social media and technology and communications means anything that happens gets broadcast immediately all over the world. So I think it's the political correctness that has instilled fear of speaking out in people. Joanna: I mean, that is a challenge, and we'll come back to some of these challenges. First of all, just the challenge for you in writing a book. You have written a lot of different mediums, screenplays and visual and audio things. What were the challenges you faced in writing the book? Larry: It was really fun because the book is really all stories that happened to me, which I used to illustrate my points on why you should embrace the madness and how to do it. So hones

How are publishers using AI and what are the potential use cases in the future? Why is this an exciting time in publishing for those who use the new tools to expand their creative possibilities? Thad McIlroy and I have a wonderful discussion about the current state of AI in publishing, and where we think it might be going next. In the intro, Audible tests AI-powered search [TechCrunch]; How to avoid book marketing overwhelm [Author Media]; Top 17 self-publishing companies [Nerdy Novelist]; How I professionally self-publish; 30% off ebooks & audio at CreativePennBooks.com, use discount code AUGUST24. Today's show is sponsored by Draft2Digital, self-publishing with support, where you can get free formatting, free distribution to multiple stores, and a host of other benefits. Just go to www.draft2digital.com to get started. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Thad McIlroy is a nonfiction author and contributing editor, writing at the intersection of AI and book publishing, as well as a publishing consultant. His latest book is The AI Revolution in Book Publishing: A Concise Guide to Navigating Artificial Intelligence for Writers and Publishers. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Why is generative AI so controversial in publishing? Ways in which traditional publishers are using AI tools How platforms are monitoring and placing guidelines on AI work — and why Ingram blocked his book The future of licensing — and synthetic data The increasing importance of high-quality print books Generative AI search and book discoverability Why Thad thinks this is the most exciting time in his 50 year career in publishing You can find Thad at thefutureofpublishing.com and his new book at Leanpub.com Transcript of Interview with Thad McIlroy Joanna: Thad McIlroy is a nonfiction author and contributing editor, writing at the intersection of AI and book publishing, as well as a publishing consultant. His latest book is The AI Revolution in Book Publishing: A Concise Guide to Navigating Artificial Intelligence for Writers and Publishers. So welcome back to the show, Thad. Thad: Thank you very much, Joanna. It's good to be back. I was thinking, did we start talking first maybe 10 years ago, that we've been staying in touch? Joanna: Yes, I think so. You've been on the show several times, and I always read your site, The Future of Publishing. It's so good that we're on the same page now, I think, with AI. Thad: We are, indeed. Joanna: So let's get into it. I mean, in this industry, we've all been using aspects of AI in publishing for years. Like the Amazon algorithms, for example, or Google search. Why is the use of generative AI, in particular, so emotional and controversial in the publishing industry, when other businesses are adopting it with enthusiasm? I know my husband's company is doing it, and there's lots of companies rolling things out, but in publishing, it seems like a no-no. Thad: It really does, and it's such a fraught topic. It is such an awkward time to be talking to folks about technology when it's just explosive in many ways and suddenly an untouchable. I think there's more than one aspect to it, right? There's, on the one hand, this feeling of having been violated. There's so much press about AI companies having hoovered up, as is often said, the content. People have this sense — Authors have this sense, that every book of theirs has already been ingested into an AI system, which is thoroughly inaccurate. If you're not following the story closely, and you hear stories of hundreds of thousands of books, you don't have any sense as an author of the fact that it was actually a relatively small number of books that got into some of these large language models. Regardless, the sense is that everything got hoovered up. Then I think there's a secondary sense that I get from some of my author friends where they say, “Well, if my books are already in there, then the AI can recreate books like mine, and that will push me out of business,” that kind of sense. That's a hard one to explain exactly why that's not likely to be true in any reasonable way. Then I get a sense from people, too, there's a lot of mystique around AI. Giving it a name like artificial intelligence, and all this science fiction, and so on. So there's that kind of technological apprehension, which again, you can understand that. Then that leads to this sort of sense that these machines are going to try and take over creativity, which again, is a real sense of violation. So all those things are churning around at the same time. Joanna: It's so interesting, isn't it? Like that last one, ‘will machines take over creativity?' Or people who leave comments on people like me and other people or use AI saying, “Oh, you should write your own

How can you write freely and release any blocks that are holding you back? How can you focus on the strengths in your writing and avoid critical voice? Robin Finn gives plenty of writing tips in this interview. In the intro, KDP's identity verification; Why authors need platforms [Kathleen Schmidt]; Romance genre report from K-lytics; Canva has bought Leonardo AI image generator. Plus, join me and Orna Ross for a writing retreat near Dublin, Ireland 11-13 April 2025 [More details here; Kickstarter Rewards] Today’s show is sponsored by Findaway Voices by Spotify, the platform for independent authors who want to unlock the world’s largest audiobook platforms. Take your audiobook everywhere to earn everywhere with Findaway Voices by Spotify. Go to findawayvoices.com/penn to publish your next audiobook project. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Robin Finn is an award-winning writer, teacher, and coach, and the author of Heart. Soul. Pen.: Find Your Voice on the Page and In Your Life. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes Overcoming the fear of judgement and shame when writing Uncovering the different layers of limiting beliefs Valuing our writing across all genres and topics Strengths-based feedback and how to use it Using the TIDES principle in the critique process Tapping into your curiosity to find your author voice The magic that can come from timed writing Practicing the art of discernment in your writing and sharing Benefits of an in-person writing community You can find Robin at RobinFinn.com and on Instagram @RobinFinnAuthor. Transcript of Interview with Robin Finn Joanna: Robin Finn is an award-winning writer, teacher, and coach, and the author of Heart. Soul. Pen.: Find Your Voice on the Page and In Your Life. So welcome to the show, Robin. Robin: Thank you so much for having me. Joanna: I'm excited to talk to you today. So first up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing and publishing. Robin: Well, my story is a little meandering. I really was a writer when I was a child, but I sort of tucked that away for decades. Then years later, after I became a mom, I had a child with severe hyperactivity. It made parenting so difficult and excruciating, particularly the judgment that I got from all the other parents, that I ultimately ended up writing as a means of healing. I wrote, originally, a lot of personal essays about parenting a child with special needs. That was really the beginning of my writing career. During the time when I was really actively parenting and really struggling, I ended up going back to school and getting a master's degree in spiritual psychology. Spiritual psychology is a program where you really connect to what is your purpose. One of the things that came out of that program for me is that I'm a writer. So I started to write about parenting a child with special needs. I was really scared. I had a lot of shame and a lot of judgment about what I was writing. I went to a conference, and I met some writers, and I decided I'm going to send out one of my essays. To my shock, it was accepted. Then when I saw it online, I was so shocked and scared, but what happened from that point was I was flooded with emails from other parents, really, Jo, from all over the world. From Australia and Japan, thanking me for writing this piece and telling me they were having a similar experience. That connecting with others and realizing how healing writing can be, not just for myself, but for other people, really spurred me on to publish my work. Then from there, it was really, again, like I was reached out to by so many women asking me about writing and about how they also were having experiences they wanted to write about. So I sort of blended my background in public health, spiritual psychology and writing, and I created this program called “Heart. Soul. Pen.” for women writers to find their voice. I taught this program for many years, and then ultimately, it became the book. Joanna: That's so lovely for you to share those feelings. It really strikes me. We've only been on the phone like three minutes, and you've used the words judgment, shame, scared, shocked. These are all really emotional words to use about writing. I know there's people listening, I've certainly felt it myself, I wrote a book last year—well, it was written over a long time, I published it last year—called Writing the Shadow, which is based on the Jungian idea of Shadow. I cut some things out of that book because of some of those things you're talking about. So if people listening feel the same thing, they feel that fear of judgment, they feel that shame— How did you get past those things in order to share that first essay? Like that first step before you got the feedback, how did you do that? Robin: We