The Wordslinger Podcast

Rick Pullen is a novelist, award-winning investigative reporter and magazine editor. His 2016 thriller, Naked Ambition, about a reporter investigating a corrupt presidential candidate, became a bestseller. The Apprentice is his latest release. In 2018, newspaper reporter Beck Rikki returns as she sets out to discover the Naked Truth, the sequel to Naked Ambition. Pullen is a member of the Folio 100—the 100 most influential people in magazine publishing—and was a finalist for Editor of the Year. MENTIONS:Rent a writer's retreat that can take you places! Check out my RV, now for rent via Outdoorsy, at bit.ly/rvwriter! New to Wordslinger Press, pick up Writing a Better Book Description Pick up a copy of Kevin Tumlinson's newest Dan Kotler archaeological thriller The Girl in the Mayan Tomb - https://books2read.com/mayan-tomb CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s): http://rickpullen.com/ Twitter handle(s): @RickPullen Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rickpullenwriter/ Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Apprentice-Rick-Pullen-ebook/dp/B075787Y89 THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWSBrought to you by Draft2Digital The Worlds Are Ending! — Amazon has announced that it will be closing its popular Kindle Worlds service in July. KW launched in May 2013 as a way for intellectual property owners to open their worlds for other writers, with both the copyright holder and the contributor splitting royalties from sales. It was a popular option for authors looking to break into writing fiction, with the power of a known brand behind them. There’s been no official word as to what happens next, and that’s proving problematic for contributing authors. Under the Kindle Worlds License Agreement, the contributing authors granted rights to their stories to the property holders. Effectively, then, it’s up to those property holders to make any deals to republish or redistribute that work. As there are few viable options for royalty splitting in the marketplace, the likelihood is that these titles will never be republished. — http://bit.ly/150-worlds Romantic Times Calling it Quits — Romantic Times Magazine, and its associated annual convention, will be shutting down, according to a May 16 announcement. The Romantic Times convention is currently running, but magazine owner Kathryn Falk announced to attendees that this would be the last year. Most attendees were very surprised, and were concerned that the closure would impact readers. Thanks to JoCarol Jones, however, there’s still some spark for readers and convention goers. Jones accounted that she will be creating and running The Booklovers Convention, which will take up the cause. — http://bit.ly/150-romantic More Cocky — The story behind #cockygate just keeps evolving, now with a feature article in Vox detailing some of the finer points of the IP battle. For those not in the know, author Faleena Hopkins started an avalanche of news and ill feelings when she trademarked the word “cocky” as it applies to ebooks, books, and audiobooks in the romance genre. She started a ruckus when she sent cease and desist letters to a number of romance authors using the word in the titles of their books, following up by issuing takedown notices with Amazon for alleged trademark violation. The story continues to take on mass as authors take issue, file petitions to have the trademark revoked, and even turn to trade organizations like RWA to bring legal muscle to the game. The implications of this story keep unfolding. — http://bit.ly/150-cocky THIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY: Written World Writer’s Retreat - Rent a writer’s retreat that goes wherever you want to go. Check out my listing on Outdoorsy for the perfect writer’s retreat—my 38’ luxury motor coach! Go to http://bit.ly/rvwriter for details. Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslinger Wordslinger Press—This is your chance to start your indie author career right. Pick up books and other products to help you build and grow a successful writing career. Start growing at http://wordslingerpodcast.com Support this show: Subscribe and share! Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcast Pick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___ GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michelle Madow is a USA Today bestselling author of fast paced fantasy novels that will leave you turning the pages wanting more! She grew up in Maryland and now lives in Florida. Some of her favorite things are: reading, traveling, pizza, time travel, Broadway musicals, and spending time with friends and family. Someday, she hopes to travel the world for a year on a cruise ship. CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s): www.michellemadow.com Twitter handle(s): @MichelleMadow Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michellemadow/ Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Michelle-Madow/e/B005GA8KA6/ THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS: Don’t Get Cocky — Romance author Faleena Hopkins has been the talk of the indie publishing industry of late, thanks to her decision to trademark the word “cocky” as it applies to romance-genre ebooks, books, audiobooks, and allegedly even metadata for all of the above. Hopkins began sending cease and desist notifications to authors using the word in their romance titles, threatening legal action if authors didn’t comply and make a change. Hopkins has trademarked not only the word “cocky,” but a stylized font treatment of the word using a font that is, apparently, not legally allowed for use in a trademark or copyright. The community is up-at-arms over the move, and it has sparked a very heated discussion regarding intellectual property laws as they apply to indie authors. My take: This is an abuse of IP law, and it should never have passed review. Someone in the US Patent and Trademark Office has fallen down on the job, or has been banned for access to a common English language dictionary. This is a story to watch for all its implications to the industry, for sure. — http://bit.ly/149-cocky Books by women authors are cheaper than books by men? — That, according to CBS Money Watch, reporting on research that books written by women are priced 45 percent lower than books written by men. Researchers analyzed more than 2 million books published between 2002 and 2012 and determined the 45 percent number to apply to both traditional and indie-published books. That number shrinks to just 9 recent once genre and other mitigating factors are included. And the number specific to self-published titles is smaller still: “Self-published titles by women are priced at 4 percent less than for men, the researchers found,” as stated by the CBS article. So what’s driving that price differential? I argue that it’s genre: Women tend to write in genres where various factors have driven the price point lower. Whereas men tend to write in genres where a higher price point is acceptable. The way to look at this and verify it would be to break this down and study price points and ranges within specific genres, to see if the disparity holds up. — http://bit.ly/149-gender Author takes on US Education — Ted Dintersmith, author of “What School Could Be,” appeared on CNBC to discuss his book and his take on how the education system in the United States is not only letting students down, but is actually making it more difficult for them to be competitive in the workplace. Dintermsith states that he believes college “definitely is not for everyone,” and points out that only one in five students leave college with a background and resources that can equip them for a successful career. I have to say, I agree 100%. As controversial as this statement may be, I believe college is a worthless endeavor for the majority of our population, and that most people if not all people would benefit far more by investing all of that time, money, and energy into starting a small business—even if that business utterly fails. What do you think? Check out the interview and leave me a comment. — bit.ly/149-school THIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY: Written World Writer’s Retreat - Rent a writer’s retreat that goes wherever you want to go. Check out my listing on Outdoorsy for the perfect writer’s retreat—my 38’ luxury motor coach! Go to http://bit.ly/rvwriter for details. Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslinger Wordslinger Press—This is your chance to start your indie author career right. Pick up books and other products to help you build and grow a successful writing career. Start growing at http://wordslingerpodcast.com Support this show: Subscribe and share! Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcast Pick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___ GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Heather Hildenbrand was born and raised in a small town in northern Virginia where she was homeschooled through high school. (She's only slightly socially awkward as a result.) She writes paranormal and contemporary romance with plenty of abs and angst. Her most frequent hobbies are riding motorcycles and avoiding killer slugs. MENTIONS:New to Wordslinger Press, pick up Writing a Better Book Description Pick up a copy of Kevin Tumlinson's newest Dan Kotler archaeological thriller The Girl in the Mayan Tomb - https://books2read.com/mayan-tomb CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s): www.heatherhildenbrand.com Twitter handle(s): @HeatherHildenbr Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeatherHildenbrandAuthor/ Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Heather-Hildenbrand/e/B004VH51XE/ THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS: Amazon launches Prime Book Box — Coming up later in 2018, Amazon will launch Prime Book Box, a monthly subscription-based service aimed at kids. The subscription will run just under $23 per month, and spending on the age of the child they’ll get either four board books (think Little Golden Books) or two hardcover picture books or novels. The board books go to kids who are two years old or younger, and the picture books and novels go to ages three to 12. This is significant because it’s the first time Amazon has offered a subscription service for physical books. And because you’ll ask, the books are selected by Amazon Books editors, who pick based on the appropriateness for the age ranges, and they’ll avoid duplicates by using the customer’s purchase history. — http://bit.ly/148-amazon The launch of Publishing Technology Partners — For those looking to launch and build a business in the publishing space, Publishing Technology Partners is a consulting partnership that brings a lot of industry expertise to the table. The five founding partners have an impressive array of combined publishing and technology know-how, and are making it available to startups and businesses in need of development, marketing, strategy and more. It’s an interesting emerging business in large part because it signifies just how legit “new publishing” has become. If you happen to be developing in this space, it’s worth checking these guys out. — http://bit.ly/148-partners Findaway Voices introduces promotional pricing — Audiobook distribution platform Findaway Voices has announced that they now support promotional retail pricing. Authors distributing through the service can now set up promotional pricing through Google Play, NOOK Audiobooks, eStories, LibroFM, and Instread. Findaway lists some perks to accompany this new resource, and by far my favorite has been “Vendors will typically give titles on promotion more favorable coverage and merchandising support.” If you’d like to save on the $49 admin fee, by the way, you can sign up for Findaway Voices via Draft2Digital. — http://bit.ly/148-findaway THIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY: Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslinger Wordslinger Press—This is your chance to start your indie author career right. Pick up books and other products to help you build and grow a successful writing career. Start growing at http://wordslingerpodcast.com Support this show: Subscribe and share! Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcast Pick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___ GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam Leeb is the Cofounder of Astrohaus, the makers of the Freewrite Distraction-Free writing tool. He is a product designer and mechanical engineer (MIT graduate) MENTIONS:New to Wordslinger Press, pick up Writing a Better Book Description Pick up a copy of Kevin Tumlinson's newest Dan Kotler archaeological thriller The Girl in the Mayan Tomb - https://books2read.com/mayan-tomb CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s):https://getfreewrite.com wtf.getfreewrite.com https://astrohaus.com https://adamleeb.com Twitter handle(s): @iamadamleeb THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS: Bezos Reveals Amazon Prime has 100M Members — In Amazon’s annual shareholder letter, CEO Jeff Bezos gave the typical call for the company to live up to “ever-rising customer expectations,” and touting Amazon’s high standards at every level. The letter also contained some interesting news in the form of information that all the world has wondered about: Just how many subscribers does Amazon Prime have? The number, as it turns out, is 100 million. Meaning Amazon not only makes around $9.9-billion per year on the service, it also has the eyes of a hundred million vetted customers, willing to spend even more money with the retail giant. I’m not sure what to do with this knowledge, now that I have it. But I’m impressed, Jeff. *slow clap* — http://bit.ly/147-Bezos ALLi is Betting on Blockchain — If you’ve followed news about Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency, then you may have some vague knowledge of what “bitcoin” and “cryptocurrency” mean. And you might also have heard of Blockchain. The idea, in the simplest terms, is that blockchain is a sort of digital ledger for transactions made with cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin. If that didn’t clear anything up, think of it as a more or less foolproof way to do a digital transaction, much more in line with the way you’d do a physical transaction. In other words, if I pay for your physical book, you get your money and I get the book. I can’t then replicate the book with a few mouse clicks and resell it, keeping the original and maybe repeating the process. Blockchain would effectively prevent anyone from being able to sell a digital version of your book, without at least giving up their digital version. It’s a way to make digital products more like their physical counterparts. And the Alliance of Independent Authors sees this as a great way to give authors a more complete ownership of their intellectual property, allowing authors to have more control, and be less dependent on giants such as Amazon KDP. They’re calling it Self Publishing 3.0, and they’ve released a white paper that gives the full details. — http://bit.ly/147-blockchain Amazon Wins First Arbitration — In September 2017 Amazon filed for arbitration against at least five authors and businesses accused of violating Amazon’s terms of service, essentially scamming the system to make quite a bit of money. Amazon has won the first of these arbitrations, against a British business owner. Amazon has asked the court to enter judgement in line with the January award issued by American Arbitration Association. Jake Drya, the UK business owner, is ordered to pay damages after arbitration determined he knowingly manipulated KDP, violating their TOS. Dryan’s business was doing crazy stuff, including publishing duplicates of books that were already available, using bots to increase page views. All of which violates Amazon’s TOS.— http://bit.ly/147-Amazon THIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY: Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslinger Wordslinger Press—This is your chance to start your indie author career right. Pick up books and other products to help you build and grow a successful writing career. Start growing at http://wordslingerpodcast.com Support this show: Subscribe and share! Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcast Pick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___ GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Beau L'Amour was born in Los Angeles, California. His father was Louis L'Amour, a well known author of magazine and paperback fiction. His mother was Katherine Adams, the daughter of a silent movie actress and a southern California real estate developer. Throughout a good deal of his youth Beau lived in West Hollywood, an unincorporated section of Los Angeles county, known as a center of counter-culture and beatnik life. He grew up surrounded by his parents eclectic and eccentric group of friends; Austrian philosophers, American Indians, FBI agents, members of the Hollywood Ten, Eastern European refugees, Thai aristocracy, mysteriously talented dealers in primitive art and a wide array of writers, from Ray Bradbury to Jim Thompson. MENTIONS:New to Wordslinger Press, pick up Writing a Better Book Description Pick up a copy of Kevin Tumlinson's newest Dan Kotler archaeological thriller The Girl in the Mayan Tomb - https://books2read.com/mayan-tomb CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s): http://beaulamour.com/index.html http://www.louislamourslosttreasures.com http://louislamour.com/aboutlouis/biography.htm http://www.thediamondofjeruaudio.com Twitter handle(s): Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeauDLAmour Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Beau-LAmour/e/B00FVVNKGE/ THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS: Amazon targets Kindle Publishing Scams — Finally. I mean, seriously, this story should have been a headline years ago. But finally Amazon is taking steps to cut down on scams and abuse from unscrupulous authors using their Kindle Direct Publishing service. Amazon has filed five complaints against authors who are violating the terms of service, with everything from trafficking in fake reviews to “link abuse,” where an author puts a link in the front of the book that sends readers to the back of the book, in an effort to capitalize on Amazon’s page reads policy. Amazon is seeking more than half a million dollars in damages from five authors. It remains to be seen whether these actions will curtail some of KDP’s woes, but a start is a start. — http://bit.ly/WPC146-Amazon-Lawsuit Microsoft quietly rolls out E-Bookstore — Authors looking to reach a very specific and narrow group of readers can rejoice … Microsoft has finally rolled out its eBook store, which is available exclusively to users of the Windows 10 operating system. Ebooks can be purchased via the Microsoft Store app, or on Microsoft’s website. When asked if Microsoft will eventually support devices beyond Windows 10, such as the prolific and near universal Apple iPhone or the stunningly popular Google Android platform, Microsoft replied in the vaguest terms possible. Which means “no, but maybe.Someday. If we get around to it.” — http://bit.ly/WPC146-Microsoft Smashwords Founder Mark Coker thinks Indies are losing their independence — Citing an ever-increasing dependence on KDP Select, Mark Coker wrote in the Huffington post that “Authors who now derive 100% of their sales from Amazon are no longer indie authors. They’re dependent authors. I suppose we have indie authors and de-authors now.” A bit cynical, but does he have a point? Personally, I believe the “independent” in “independent authors” is more about owning your career and being in control of your decisions, but Coker’s point is that dependence on one sales channel will lead to losing options. Whether this is the future of Indies, we really can’t say. Definitely food for thought, though.— http://bit.ly/WPC146-Coker THIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY: Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslinger Wordslinger Press—This is your chance to start your indie author career right. Pick up books and other products to help you build and grow a successful writing career. Start growing at http://wordslingerpodcast.com Support this show: Subscribe and share! Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcast Pick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___ GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With over 15 years in online marketing experience Jonny Andrews has been in digital publishing before Amazon released the Kindle. MENTIONS:Jonny last appeared on the Wordslinger Podcast in Episode 75 Pick up a copy of Kevin Tumlinson's newest Dan Kotler archaeological thriller The Girl in the Mayan Tomb - https://books2read.com/mayan-tomb CONNECT ONLINE: Website: authorplatformrocket.com Twitter: @Jonny_Andrews THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS: Draft2Digital Announces Author Pages and Book Tabs — D2D started 2018 by announcing we were going to focus on beefing up our offering at Books2Read.com, and by paying particular attention to tools that will help with author discoverability. To that end, we just announced our new discoverability tools: D2D Author Pages and D2D Book Tabs. These two new resources will showcase both the author and the author’s work (books that is) to new and existing readers. Think of Author Pages as either your author-themed web presence, if you don’t have an author website, or as your book store for your existing site. Book Tabs are product pages that give readers everything they need to make their book buying decision, including a link that sends them to everywhere your book is sold online. These tools are incredible, and you can learn more about them on the official blog post, now with more video walk-thrus! — http://bit.ly/WPC145-D2DAuthorPages Digital Manga Overtakes Print — Manga, which no one ever seems to be able to pronounce correctly, is hugely popular worldwide, but particularly in Japan. And for the first time, digital sales of manga have outpaced print sales. Digital sales were up 17.2% from the previous year, versus print sales falling 14.4% over last year’s numbers. What makes this interesting is that manga is currently underserved in digital markets. As the rise in popularity starts to indicate a shift in interest from consumers, this could lead to opportunities for some willing and able digital publishers out there. Notably, Amazon’s Comixology acquisition could lead to its dominance in yet another digital publishing field. — http://bit.ly/WPC145-Digital-Manga No room for pirates in Switzerland — When you think of Switzerland, you think of pirates. No? You probably should, because internet piracy is huge in Switzerland, and impacts a lot of authors. The Swiss Federal Supreme Court is considering dialing back on its previous 2010 decision, which barred anti-piracy agencies from having access to the IP addresses of file servers used by internet pirates. The original ruling made Switzerland something of a safe harbor for pirates, but it also landed Switzerland on the US government’s watchlist, which is sometimes used to limit commerce with Swiss businesses online. Changes to the Swiss policy, which I’ll admit has some holes (heh), could help crack down on one of the biggest thorns in the sides of authors. — http://bit.ly/WPC145-Switzerland-Piracy THIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY: Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslinger Wordslinger Press—This is your chance to start your indie author career right. Pick up books and other products to help you build and grow a successful writing career. Start growing at http://wordslingerpodcast.com Support this show: Subscribe and share! Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcast Pick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___ GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bryan Cohen is a two-time USA Today bestselling author with over 40 books and 100,000 copies sold. He's also the head copywriter at Best Page Forward, a book description service, and he's the co-host of The Sell More Books Show, a weekly publishing industry news show. MENTIONS:Bryan last appeared on the Wordslinger Podcast in WPC-055 - Ninja Book Descriptions with Bryan Cohen Pick up a copy of Kevin Tumlinson's newest Dan Kotler archaeological thriller The Girl in the Mayan Tomb - https://books2read.com/mayan-tomb CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s):http://www.sellmorebooksshow.comhttp://www.bestpageforward.net/blurbs Twitter handle(s): @bryancohenbooks Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Bryan-Cohen/e/B004I9WJTY/ THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS: No Love Between Audible and Romance Authors — Is Audible ripping off romance authors? Yes. But that’s my opinion. It is, of course, based on the latest information coming to us about Audible’s new subscription package for romance titles. It was hailed as being similar to Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program, which pays authors for pages read. But where KU pays authors something comparable to the royalty they would have gotten for a sale, Audible’s program is paying only pennies per listen. Compounding that is the fact that the program only pays the author once they’ve reached a $50 threshold, so for many authors it could be YEARS before they see a very meager return on thousands and thousands of listeners downloading their books. So I’m standing firm on this one—Audible is ripping off romance authors. You may feel free to disagree in comments. It’s a free country. Especially if you’re listening to someone’s romance book. https://goodereader.com/blog/indie-author-news/is-audible-romance-ripping-off-authors Uppity author thinks authors should be paid for their work — According to author Philip Pullman, there’s something a bit unbalanced about the fact that profits and margins are increasing in the publishing industry while the share given to the author is diminishing. In a quote from The Guardian, Pullman said, “To allow corporate profits to be so high at a time when author earnings are markedly falling is, apart from anything else, shockingly bad husbandry. It’s perfectly possible to make a good profit and pay a fair return to all of those on whose work, after all, everything else depends. But that’s not happening at the moment.” This would seem a good time to point out that indie authors keep a much bigger share of their royalties. True, they work for it, in terms of marketing and platform building. The disparity between what authors make versus what shareholders and stakeholders make is astounding: About three times what the authors makes for his or her work. My take: The industry has to make a profit, and that’s why this disparity exists. The solution, then, is to excise your career from the meat grinder of traditional publishing as much as you possibly can. If the trad industry can embrace a hybrid model, where the idea is to assist the author in increasing their reach and growing their platform, everyone can win. Agree? Disagree? Answer in the comments. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/mar/05/philip-pullman-calls-for-authors-to-get-fairer-share-of-publisher-profits Barnes & Noble’s comeback will be a slow burn — BN hasn’t been feeling so well, and the road to recovery is going to be long. Following a lackluster holiday season and a series of unexpected layoffs in February, Barnes & Noble has released details of its “long-term strategic plan.” The idea is to improve customer satisfaction and profitability by going back to book sales as the focus. It looks like they’re finally waking up to the fact that no one buys music or DVDs from Barnes & Noble (or anywhere, really), so those will likely fall out of the offering. They’re putting their money on gifts and stationary. Because that’ll work. This feels an awful lot like “same thing, new name” to me, but I’m hopeful that BN will see the kind of growth it needs. If they do, in fact, start focusing on the customer more and on defunct product offerings less, it could … well, do nothing, honestly. Truthfully, I don’t see any way that will help. But the new prototype stores, which have been rumored to have offerings such as wine bars and restaurants … ok, no, I just don’t see that working either. Maybe it’s time for Barnes & Noble to sell out to Amazon and get it over with. Comment with your take. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/76213-no-quick-fix-for-b-n.html THIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY: Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslinger Wordslinger Press—This is your chance to start your indie author career right. Pick up books and other products to help you build and grow a successful writing career. Start growing at http://wordslingerpodcast.

Alisse Lee Goldenberg is an award winning author of Horror, Young Adult Paranormal Romance, and Young Adult Fantasy fiction. She is currently working on three series: The Sitnalta Series, The Dybbuk Scrolls, and The Bath Salts Journals (co-authored with An Tran). She has her Bachelors of Education and a Fine Arts degree, and has studied fantasy and folk lore since she was a child. Alisse is also a screenwriter and playwright living in Toronto with her husband Brian, and their triplets Joseph, Phillip, and Hailey. MENTIONS:Pick up a copy of Kevin Tumlinson's newest Dan Kotler archaeological thriller The Girl in the Mayan Tomb - https://books2read.com/mayan-tomb CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s): www.alisseleegoldenberg.com Twitter handle(s): @AliLGoldenberg Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlisseLeeGoldenbergAuthor/ Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Alisse-Lee-Goldenberg/e/B006LNKMNA THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS: Wordslinger Press Officially Launches — As self-serving as this may be, it’s my show. So nyah-nyah. But as of this week, I’ve launched Wordslinger Press. This will be the non-fiction arm of my publishing business, focusing primarily on creating content oriented toward the indie publishing community. You may already be aware of one of my other non-fiction books, 30-Day Author. This week I released a second Wordslinger book titled Writing A Better Book Description. This is a short, quick read—around 40 pages for $1.99, and available as an ebook everywhere you can think to buy one. This is the first in a series of quick guides meant to give authors and publishers a place to start when trying to figure out the mechanics of this business. Look for more of these in the near future. Pick up Writing A Better Book Description at https://books2read.com/betterbookdescriptions Is Amazon being used for money laundering? — It’s that time of year, when authors are getting their 1099s just in time to pay Uncle Sam for the privilege of being able to work for a living. Some authors are getting a little extra surprise with with their tax forms, though. Patrick Reames got a 1099 indicating that he’d made nearly $24,000 from book sales on CreateSpace.This seemed unlikely, as Reames did not have any books published through Amazon’s POD service. Upon checking into it, he discovered that someone had used his identity to create an account and sell a book titled “Lower Days Ahead” for $555 per copy. Reames and others aren’t entirely sure what’s up, but one theory is that someone is using CreateSpace to launder pilfered credit cards, buying copies of the paperback and having Amazon deposit 60% of the sale into a bank account. If true, this represents a huge and scary problem for both Amazon and indie authors. But it’s the kind of cool plot twist one might turn into a thriller novel. I call dibs. https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/02/money-laundering-via-author-impersonation-on-amazon/ Hachette CEO says eBooks are a stupid product — Hachette is back in the news for comments from CEO Armaud Nourry. While in India, Nourry was interviewed by Scroll.in, and was pretty open about his disdain of the entire eBook market. “The ebook is a stupid product. It is exactly the same as print, except it’s electronic,” Nourry said. “There is no creativity, no enhancement, no real digital experience.” Nourry did admit that it was the entire industry that had not done a good job with eBooks … big of him. Frankly, the CEO’s comments highlight the fact that he and the rest of the traditional publishing industry seem to be utterly clueless about the impact of ebooks. That’s my opinion of course. As a seller of ebooks that are not priced higher than paperback books. http://www.thepassivevoice.com/2018/02/the-ebook-is-a-stupid-product-no-creativity-no-enhancement-says-the-hachette-group-ceo/ THIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY: Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslinger Wordslinger Press—This is your chance to start your indie author career right. Pick up books and other products to help you build and grow a successful writing career. Start growing at http://wordslingerpodcast.com Support this show: Subscribe and share! Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcast Pick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___ GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael La Ronn is the author of over 30 science fiction & fantasy books including the Android X series, Modern Necromancy series, and the Galaxy Mavericks series. He writes from the great plains of Iowa and has perfected the art of balancing writing with a full-time job and family, writing 5-7 books per year. MENTIONS:Pick up a copy of Kevin Tumlinson's newest Dan Kotler archaeological thriller The Girl in the Mayan Tomb - https://books2read.com/mayan-tomb CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s): www.michaellaronn.com Twitter handle(s): @michaellaronn Facebook: www.facebook.com/michael.laronn Amazon Author page: amazon.com/author/michaellaronn THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS: Offset printing for indie authors? — Indies have risen to success thanks to a handful of technologies that make their work more accessible to readers, from ebooks to publishing on demand. Now, writer Joel Friedlander thinks that the future for Indies will include access to a technology that has traditionally been more … well … traditional. Is offset printing the future of indie authors? Friedlander thinks so. The tech is becoming increasingly available and accessible, which means some adventurous indie publishers are reaching out to use it, more and more. Of course, 99% of people, to completely make up a number, can’t tell the difference between offset and laser printing without studying both very closely, side by side. So is it worth the extra cost? Or will the cost come down to something affordable for everyone? https://www.thebookdesigner.com/2018/02/offset-printing-future-indie-authors/ Washington Post is Evolving the Bestseller List — It’s been a complaint for Indies since day one: Bestseller lists often refuse to include sales results from sources such as Amazon.com, where ebook sales could skyrocket some lesser known and unknown authors well past traditionally published giants. The Washington Post is the first to recognize this for the error that it is. They’re revamping their bestseller list to include data not just from Bookscan, but from Amazon as well. What will this mean for indie authors? Are lists still relevant? https://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2018/02/washington-post-revamps-bestsellers-becomes-amazoned/ Book Marks could be the Rotten Tomatoes for literature — Literary Hub is launching a new section for their site, called Book Marks, that is aimed at helping readers “find books they will love by giving them access to the critical discourse that is an essential part of our ecosystem.” That from John Freeman, LitHub’s executive editor. In other words, Book Marks will aggregate reviews from all over the web, and crowdsource readers to improve on recommendations. Will this help new and unknown authors reach a new audience? Or will it just end in tears and gnashing of teeth for everyone? http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=2075&urltitle=Literary%20Hub%20Launches%20a%20New%20Book%20Review%20Aggregator%20Site%20BOOK%20MARKS THIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY: Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslinger KDP Rocket—Take control, get more readers, increase your Kindle rankings. https://bit.ly/kdpslinger Support this show: Subscribe and share! Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcast Pick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___ GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve Berry is the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of 13 Cotton Malone adventures and 4 stand-alone thrillers. His books have been translated into 40 languages with over 22,000,000 copies in 51 countries. They consistently appear in the top echelon of The New York Times, USA Today, and Indie bestseller lists. MENTIONS:History Matters - http://history-matters.org1001 Dark Nights - http://www.1001darknights.com Pick up a copy of Kevin Tumlinson's newest Dan Kotler archaeological thriller The Girl in the Mayan Tomb - https://books2read.com/mayan-tomb CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s): http://steveberry.org YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqbOLerUd6JxYu9QPs6NY7g Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SteveBerryWriter/ Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Berry/e/B001H6W6DU/ THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS: Scribd reintroduces Unlimited — Scribd announced this week that it’s bringing back its unlimited plan for audiobooks and eBooks, causing some buzz among authors and readers alike. This is a reboot of their previous attempt, and it looks like the service is learning from its mistakes. The reboot will allow Scribd subscribers to have access to an unlimited catalog of ebooks, audiobooks, magazines and newspapers, and sheet music, for some reason. However, “unlimited” may be a little misleading. After users have pored through a certain, unspecified number of books, they’ll essentially be throttled, and limited to books “unlimited’ reading from a list of pre-determined books. These will include new releases and frontlist books—the sort that people actually want to read on demand, in other words. This is a bit like Netflix deciding to limit viewers to only a backlist of videos, and charging them extra to watch new releases. My opinion, at least. What’s yours? https://goodereader.com/blog/e-book-news/scribd-reintroduces-unlimited-audiobooks-and-ebooks Apple fires shots across Amazon’s eBook bow — I’ve talked about this a bit in the past, but Apple and Amazon will likely be mentioned in a lot of indie publishing news over the next year, as Apple starts eyeing Amazon’s big, steaming hunk of the eBook market. Not only is Apple retooling its book business, with a redesigned app and a less ‘i-everyting’ name, they’ve also hired former executives from both Amazon and Barnes & Noble. What’s the game plan? World domination, obviously. And I, for one, welcome our technological overlords. Where do you think Apple will take the business, with these aggressive moves? https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-25/apple-is-said-to-ready-revamped-e-books-push-against-amazon Audiobook sales are on the rise — In a turn that is going to be good news for authors already invested in audiobooks as a sales channel, sales showed an upward trend in 2017. In the first three quarters, audiobooks sales rose 26.2%. As retailers such as Google Play and others start putting more focus on audiobooks, it’s likely we’re just at the beginning of an upward swoop. And as there are nowhere near the titles available in audio as there are in ebook formats, this represents an opportunity for early adopters to carve a piece of the pie for themselves. How are audiobooks fitting your publishing strategy? https://goodereader.com/blog/e-book-news/audiobook-sales-increased-26-2-first-three-quarters-of-2017 THIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY: Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslinger KDP Rocket—Take control, get more readers, increase your Kindle rankings. https://bit.ly/kdpslinger Support this show: Subscribe and share! Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcast Pick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___ GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

USA Today Bestselling action/adventure author Ernest Dempsey writes page-turning archaeological thrillers. Ernest currently splits time in his hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee and Atlanta, Georgia. Despite having degrees in Psychology and Counseling, Ernest always enjoyed creating stories, has perpetually been fascinated by the ancient world, and can often be found reading books and watching television shows related to history. MENTIONS:Pick up a copy of Kevin Tumlinson's newest Dan Kotler archaeological thriller The Girl in the Mayan Tomb - https://books2read.com/mayan-tomb Atlas Obscura - https://www.atlasobscura.com Hybrid Author Podcast - http://hybridauthorpodcast.com/episode-17-the-future-of-hybrid-publishing-with-kevin-tumlinson/ CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s): Ernestdempsey.net Twitter handle(s): @erndempsey Facebook: Facebook.com/ErnestDempsey YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/edempsey3 Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Ernest-Dempsey/e/B00AM8UHO4/ THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS: Barnes & Noble relaunches NOOK Press — BN thinks the third time’s the charm, as they once again rebrand and relaunch their self-publishing platform. Barnes & Noble: Nook Press has relaunched as a much easier mouthful, Barnes & Noble Press—a publishing device that will include both ebook and print-on-demand. The move surprised practically everyone, as most had written off Barnes & Noble after rumors and announcements over it’s NOOK platform began to sound like a death knell. But hopes and speculation are both on the rise after BN’s press release, stating that, among other things, they’ll be offering an increased royalty rate of 65% for ebooks priced at $10 or above, and the ability to set pre-orders up to 12 months in advance. Does this change BN’s future as an eBook distributor? Comment below to sound off. https://goodereader.com/blog/digital-publishing/bn-rebrands-its-selfpub-platform Findaway Voices becomes a gateway to Google Play — Audiobook distributor Findaway has announced that their platform, Findaway Voices, will be distributing audiobooks to Google Play’s new audiobook catalog. Voices, a program that Draft2Digital helped to launch in 2017, allows independent authors and publishers to produce and distribute their audiobooks to a global marketplace, without the exclusivity requirements pushed by services such as Amazon’s ACX program. Adding Google Play distribution means that indies now have one of the most coveted retailers in their belts. Could this lead to a greater indie presence on Google Play? https://medium.com/findaway-voices/distribution-update-google-play-launches-audiobooks-620ac0d479ef Walmart and Rakuten partnership means Kobo ebooks and audiobook distribution — Rakuten, the Japanese company that owns Canadian ebook distributor Kobo, has partnered with retail giant Walmart to deliver groceries in Japan. But the bigger news for indie authors is that Kobo’s catalog of ebooks and audiobooks will now be distributed globally via Walmart.com. Walmart has long courted the ebook industry, with several toe-dips into those waters, but with the muscle of Rakuten behind the deal, this could place Walmart in a position to topple Amazon’s dominance of the marketplace. Do you agree? https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/25/walmart-and-rakuten-partner-on-grocery-delivery-in-japan-kobo-e-books-and-audiobooks-in-u-s/ THIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY: Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslinger KDP Rocket—Take control, get more readers, increase your Kindle rankings. https://bit.ly/kdpslinger Support this show: Subscribe and share! Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcast Pick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___ GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Boyhood interests in trains and electronics fostered Mark's career as an electrical engineer, designing and commissioning signal and communications systems for railroads and rail transit agencies across the United States. Along the way Mark indulged his writing desire by authoring articles for rail and transit industry trade magazines. Coupled with Mark's long-time membership in anime, manga and anthropomorphic fandoms, he took up writing genre fiction. Growing up in Michigan, never far from his beloved Great Lakes, Mark and his wife today make their home in Wisconsin with their son and a dog who naps beside him as he writes. He is a member of Allied Authors of Wisconsin and the Furry Writers' Guild.CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s): https://www.mark-engels.com/ Twitter handle(s): @mj_engels Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.engels.39 Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Mark-J.-Engels/e/B074Q51T9R/ THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS: Author Earnings Report is out - Data Guy is back after a year-long hiatus, and he does not disappoint. The latest Author Earnings Report gives us some incredible insights into the industry, including a final confirmation that ebooks are, in fact, not going away. According to the report, 55% of online book purchase in 2017 were ebooks, and there’s every indication that climb will continue. The report has generated a bit of controversy, however, as it had initially named certain authors and publishers, giving their sales ranking and other information. Some authors complained this was a breech of privacy. What do you think? Does it impact privacy to aggregate and report publicly available data? http://authorearnings.com/report/january-2018-report-us-online-book-sales-q2-q4-2017/Google Play now offers audiobooks. — Google Play has had a turbulent time trying to enter and keep a foothold in the content marketplace, with it’s Google Play Store being difficult to navigate and, largely, devoid of content beyond what you could find at an airport bookstore. As they continue to work on those challenges, it looks like they’re making a bid to go toe to toe with Audible and iTunes for the audiobook market. This week, Google announced it will start carrying audiobooks in the Google Play Store, specifying that there is no subscription, and that many popular books will be sold at a discount. Could this be a true contender for knocking Audible off of the hill, giving both consumers and authors a better shot? I’d love to hear what you think, in the comments. https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/23/16921176/audiobooks-google-play-android-ios-home-speakersApple takes another swing at Amazon over ebooks. — After a slap-down from the U.S. Department of Justice, back in 2012, Apple was forced to back off of some of its more aggressive plans for the ebook business. Now, they’re up for another run, with a revamped ebook store and mobile app, and a new name—switching from the familiar iBooks to simply “Books,” in a move that mirrors similar name changes across their product line. It’s good to see someone rise to take a swing at Amazon, who has dominated ebooks for years now, but it remains to be seen whether we’re all in better hands within Apple’s walled garden. How do you see this battle of the book giants turning out? Is it a turning point for the industry, or just more of the same? https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-25/apple-is-said-to-ready-revamped-e-books-push-against-amazonTHIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY: Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslinger KDP Rocket—Take control, get more readers, increase your Kindle rankings. https://bit.ly/kdpslinger Support this show: Subscribe and share! Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcast Pick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___ GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jesper Schmidt is a fantasy author, living in Denmark, but has a Finnish sauna to thank for getting into writing. CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s): www.jesperschmidt.com Twitter handle(s): @schmidtjesper Facebook: http://bit.ly/28NJQXO Amazon Author page: http://amzn.to/28VRmvr THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS: Will Amazon offer 50% royalty? — If you’ve published using Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing service, you’re probably aware that Amazon offers two royalty options: 35% if your ebook is under $2.99, and 70% if it’s priced $2.99 to $9.99. But this past week, Amazon snuck in a surprise 50% option. It wasn’t clickable, and it disappeared as suddenly as it appeared. And as yet, no one knows what it might mean for sure. But the rumor mill has it now, and speculation is running wild. The most common hope/rumor: Amazon may start offering 50% royalty for non-exclusive books, and allowing authors to utilize services currently reserved for exclusive works. What do you think? Is a non-exclusive KDP in our future? And what would that mean for indie authors? https://goodereader.com/blog/digital-publishing/amazon-accidentally-drops-a-50-royalty-bombshell Wattpad gets $51M —Toronto-based Wattpad is a storytelling app that allows users to write and publish shorts stories, articles, and even books, a chapter at a time, for readers to enjoy, comment on, and upvote. The company has just gotten a pretty significant financial boost from investors and venture capitalists, to the tune of $51million, bringing Wattpad’s total funding to $117.8 million, US so far. The company will fold this cash infusion into improving its tech platform, in an effort to “empower diverse storytellers all over rate world, helping them build a community of passionate readers,” according to CEO Allen Lau. Lau also said that an objective of the company is to connect Hollywood with stories that could have a bigger audience appeal. What could this mean for indie authors? Is this an opportunity to grab at a movie deal, or will Wattpad be just another slush pile for studios to pick through? http://deadline.com/2018/01/wattpad-gets-51m-injection-from-investor-group-will-expand-its-tech-1202248461/ Could Amazon Same-Day Delivery Disrupt Book Printing? — John Conley, CEO of Borderland Advisors, has 42 years in the business, and he believes Amazon has a shot at redefining book printing as an industry, stating that Amazon’s same-day delivery requirements will force a necessary change to the business. Offset printing isn’t going anywhere, Conley insists, but digital and on-demand are causing a building tsunami that will alter the DNA of the industry. Could this give indie publishers a strategic advantage? With authors regularly writing and publishing at an astoundingly rapid rate, will same-day delivery be the tool that tips the balance of power in publishing? Let me know in the comments. http://www.piworld.com/xchange/business-management/john-conley/ THIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY: Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslinger KDP Rocket—Take control, get more readers, increase your Kindle rankings. https://bit.ly/kdpslinger Support this show: Subscribe and share! Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcast Pick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___ GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joe & Kait Russo are full-time travelers, living in a travel van with their husky, Leo, as they travel the country to see what adventures they can find. Their popular YouTube channel, We're the Russos, informs thousands of would-be travelers about the ins, outs, and in-betweens of life on the road. CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s):https://weretherussos.com/ youtube.com/weretherussos Twitter handle(s): @weretherussos Facebook: facebook.com/weretherussos Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Joe-Russo/e/B0756TCVKC THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS: Smashwords hasn’t been hacked, but you might be — Smashwords, aka the “other” eBook aggregator service, sent an announcement to users stating that they’ve noted attempts to hack the service. In an email to users, Smashwords stated, “The security team here at Smashwords has detected multiple attempts by cybercriminals attempting to log in to Smashwords author accounts using stolen email/password combinations…To date, we’re aware of two authors who were victimized. Working with our payments partner PayPal we managed to recover the funds for one author earlier today and will continue pressing them to do the same for the other.” The service assured users that they had not been hacked but they encourage Smashwords users to change their passwords to something secure and strong, right away. So how about you? Does this vulnerability impact you at all? https://goodereader.com/blog/indie-author-news/smashwords-was-not-hacked-but-change-your-passwordSFWA joins Author’s Guild and others to speak out about Open Library. The Internet Archive is back in the news again, as author groups speak out about alleged copyright infringement, thanks in large part to its Open Library initiative. The service was intended to be a sort of virtual library, where readers could check out works by various authors, and check them back in without retaining copies for themselves. Internet Archive holds to a somewhat sketchy position that if one has purchased the rights to a copy of the book, one is legally allowed to lend that book to others. What makes this tricky is, they’re right. Sort of. But the legality surrounding electronically transmitted copyrighted properties is still in a primordial ooze, with a lot of questions still to be answered. Many author groups, including SFWA and the Author’s Guild, see this as infringement, while some see it as functionally no different than services such as OverDrive, which allows libraries to purchase a license to distribute a book, and to distribute it in essentially the exact way Open Library is doing it. The key difference—Open Library is scanning legally purchased print books, as well as purchasing ebooks, to create its offering. So is this infringement? Is it violating copyright? Tell me in the comments. http://www.sfwa.org/2018/01/infringement-alert/Could Mickey Mouse become public domain? Probably not, but Steamboat Willie, the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, is set to enter the public domain in 2024. This comes two decades after Disney and other entertainment industry giants successfully lobbied to have copyright extended by 20 years, even for work that had already been created. This was a blow to intellectual property law, which is essentially meant to encourage new and original works. Oddly, at the moment no one is pushing any legislation to extended these rights further, meaning properties created in 1923 and beyond will start entering public domain soon. And here, a happy time can be had by all, as artists, writers, filmmakers, and other creatives gain access to a wealth of old content they can bend, fold, mutilate, and remix into new content. Does this breathe life into past work, or perpetuate the entertainment industry’s habit of falling back to cultivated ground, rather than pushing ahead into new frontiers? You tell me, in the comments. https://boingboing.net/2018/01/08/sonny-bono-is-dead.htmlTHIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY: Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslinger KDP Rocket—Take control, get more readers, increase your Kindle rankings. https://bit.ly/kdpslinger Support this show: Subscribe and share! Support us on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/kevintumlinson Pick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___ GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

J. Thorn is a Top 100 Most Popular Author in Horror, Science Fiction, Action & Adventure and Fantasy (Amazon Author Rank). He has published over one million words and has sold more than 170,000 books worldwide. In March of 2014 Thorn held the #5 position in Horror alongside his childhood idols Dean Koontz and Stephen King (at #4 and #2 respectively). He is an official, active member of the Horror Writers Association and a member of the Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers. CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s):http://jthorn.nethttp://theauthorcopilot.com/retreatauthorsonatrain.com Twitter handle(s):@JThorn_ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JThornwriter/ Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/J.-Thorn/e/B004ZVF3MK/ THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS: Goodreads will now charge for its giveaways program, making it harder for readers to discover indie books - the Amazon-owned service announced that it will begin charging authors and publishers for what was once a free service, the ability to create and manage contests to give away free books to readers. Authors can now expect to pay between $119 and $599 for the service. It remains to be seen whether authors will actually use it, or will instead go and use BookFunnel.com to do it better anyway. https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/29/16714972/goodreads-giveaways-program-changing-standard-premium-tiers-authorsAmazon is launching yet another new imprint, this time focused on the Kindle Singles store. Amazon Original Stories will release short fiction and nonfiction works that can be read in a single sitting. These will be free to Prime and KU subscribers, and otherwise cost $1.99 per download. I personally love this idea, particularly for essay writing. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/75489-amazon-publishing-launches-new-imprint.htmlNick Thacker is making soundtracks for authors. His new service, Sonata and Scribe, aims to provide original, orchestrated musical soundtracks for indie authors to use as part of their marketing and promotion, or even as an additional revenue stream. He’s making a few tracks for me right now, and they sound amazing.Check out SontaAndScribe.com http://sonataandscribe.comTHIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY: Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslinger KDP Rocket—Take control, get more readers, increase your Kindle rankings. https://bit.ly/kdpslinger Support this show: Subscribe and share! Support us on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/kevintumlinson Pick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___ GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tim Knox is a bestselling author of over a dozen books in the fiction and nonfiction genres, the ghostwriter of over 100 books, editor, author coach, and digital publishing expert. CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s): - http://findabookeditor.com - http://timknox.com - http://timknoxbooks.com - http://entrepreneur-code.com - http://interviewingauthors.com Twitter handle(s): @timknox Facebook: timknoxbooks MENTIONS: Wordslinger Podcast on YouTube: http://bit.ly/WordslingerPodcast THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS: Draft2Digital announced that it now distributes to Amazon Pronoun accounted that it’s closing its doors in January 2018 Brian Meeks is now offering a full-on Amazon Ads for Authors course https://meeks-master-classes.teachable.com/ THIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY: Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslinger KDP Rocket—Take control, get more readers, increase your Kindle rankings. https://bit.ly/kdpslinger Support this show: Subscribe and share! Support us on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/kevintumlinson Pick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___ GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dale L. Roberts is an accomplished self-published author, former personal trainer and YouTube content creator. While he loves to read and write, Dale’s greatest passions include spending time with his wife and cat, watching wrestling and making funny videosCONNECT ONLINE:Website(s):http://dalelroberts.comhttp://SelfPublishingWithDale.com Twitter handle(s): @selfpubwithdale Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/selfpublishingwithdalelroberts/ Amazon Author page (if applicable): https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00KUAL3NS MENTIONS:Wordslinger Podcast on YouTube: http://bit.ly/WordslingerPodcast___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

C.Steven Manley has been and done quite a few things in his life. Now, he writes books and tries in vain to keep up with his children. CONNECT ONLINE:Website: www.cstevenmanley.net Twitter handle: @cstevenmanley Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1597432760477256 Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00U6722LCMENTIONS:Wordslinger Podcast on YouTube: http://bit.ly/WordslingerPodcastWe're The Russos: https://weretherussos.com/"Take Risks" by Joe Russo: http://amzn.to/2yNjfpk___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NICK THACKERAUTHOR OF MARK FOR BLOODNick is an action-adventure thriller novelist, who writes the types of books he likes to read. That means you won’t find anything boring, slow, or sappy in his stories. People have described his work as “airplane books." Nick was born in Connecticut, grew up in Texas, and lives in Colorado with his wife, two children, three dogs, and a tortoise. He loves snow, drinking whiskey by the fireplace while it’s snowing, and writing books by candlelight while a thick layer of snow piles up outside.CONNECT ONLINE:Website: nickthacker.comTwitter handle: @NickThackerFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorNickThacker/Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Nick-Thacker/e/B008A2W6XEMENTIONS:Wordslinger Podcast on YouTube: http://bit.ly/WordslingerPodcast___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew Watts graduated from the US Naval Academy in 2003 and served as a naval officer and helicopter pilot until 2013. During that time, he flew counter-narcotic missions in the Eastern Pacific and counter-piracy missions off the Horn of Africa. He was a flight instructor in Pensacola, FL, and helped to run ship and flight operations while embarked on a nuclear aircraft carrier deployed in the Middle East. Today, he lives with his family in Ohio.CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): andrewwattsauthor.com Twitter handle(s): @wattsandrew Facebook: www.facebook.com/AndrewWattsAuthorAmazon Author page (if applicable): https://www.amazon.com/Andrew-Watts/e/B00RD3E4JA MENTIONS:Wordslinger Podcast on YouTube: http://bit.ly/WordslingerPodcast___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Tumlinson is a bestselling and award-winning thriller author, Host of the Wordslinger Podcast, and Director of Marketing for Draft2Digital. He is known as "the Voice of Indie Publishing," appearing on hundreds of podcasts and YouTube channels, and at conferences worldwide, speaking about independent self publishing as a career and a community.CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): https://kevintumlinson.com Facebook: kevin.tumlinsonTwitter: @kevintumlinsonAmazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Kevin-Tumlinson/e/B007POXGEG/MENTIONS:Indie Bookfest: http://indiebookconvention.com/NINC: https://ninc.com/conferences/ninc-conference-2017/Indie Palooza: http://www.houstonwritersguild.org/indiepalooza_2017/___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Russell Blake is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with more than 50 action/adventure and thriller novels, including two co-authored works with the legendary Clive Cussler.CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): russellblake.com Facebook: Russell.Blake.Books Amazon Author page (if applicable): https://www.amazon.com/Russell-Blake/e/B005OKCOLE MENTIONS:Salt Lake City Comic Con: http://saltlakecomiccon.com/ Where There's Smoke Podcast: http://www.wheretheressmoke.co/___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of historical fantasy novels: Ghost Talkers, and The Glamourist Histories series. She is also a three time Hugo Award winner. Her short fiction appears in Uncanny, Tor.com, and Asimov’s. Mary, a professional puppeteer, lives in Chicago.CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): http://maryrobinettekowal.com/ Twitter handle(s): @MaryRobinette Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maryrobinettekowal/ Amazon Author page (if applicable): https://www.amazon.com/Mary-Robinette-Kowal/e/B0033T90TC/ MENTIONS:Salt Lake City Comic Con: http://saltlakecomiccon.com/ ___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

George S. Mahaffey Jr. is a lawyer, screenwriter, and author. His script Heatseekers was bought by Paramount Pictures with Michael Bay producing and Timur Bekmambetov attached to direct. In addition, he's sold or written scripts for Arnold Kopelson, Blumhouse, Benderspink, director Louis Leterrier and Paul McGuigan, and is the creator of In The Dust, an action-horror graphic novel in the vein of 30 Days of Night to be published by Top Cow with art by Christian Duce. He has also written the following books: Amityville: Origins, Amityville: Revenants, Razorbacks I, Razorbacks II, Razorbacks III, The Pact, The Devil's Ark, Familiars, and the Vertical City zombie series (Books 1-4). In addition, he is the co-creator of the upcoming sci-fi books Syndicate Wars (Book 1, Syndicate Wars: First Strike is out), and the upcoming post-apocalyptic thrillers Blood Runners (Books 1-3), and Broken Road (Books 1-2), all with co-creator Justin Sloan. He lives in the Washington D.C. area with his wife and young son. CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): www.georgemahaffey.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Syndicate-Wars-1943370879233430/Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/George-S.-Mahaffey-Jr./e/B00IWIJBP2MENTIONS:Houston Food Bank - Hurricane Harvey relief: http://bit.ly/HoustonBeatsHarveyAtlantis Riddle: http://amzn.to/2eqxV2G___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Josh Haynam is the co-founder of Interact Quiz Builder, a tool used by more than 30,000 businesses including The American Red Cross, Tony Robbins, and Forbes. He's probably seen more quizzes than any other human on earth right now. CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): https://www.tryinteract.com Twitter handle(s): @tryinteract Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Armand Rosamilia is a full-time Horror and crime thriller author, podcaster, podcast network owner, and M&M lover. He's offering free hugs (virtual ... he doesn't like being touched).CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s):http://armandrosamilia.com http://projectentertainmentnetwork.com Twitter handle(s): @ArmandAuthor Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorArmandRosamilia/ Amazon Author page (if applicable): https://www.amazon.com/Armand-Rosamilia/e/B004S48J6G/MENTIONS:Get HUNDREDS of free thriller ebooks now through 8/26/17! http://philwbooks.com/five-star-thrillers/___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

PHIL WILLIAMSAUTHOR OF NO CONSCIENCEPhil M. Williams is the author of five novels, two nonfiction books, and one children's picture book. His books span many genres, but there are consistent themes such as universal morality, nature, and voluntarism. He currently lives in Central Pennsylvania with his wife on a permaculture homestead. CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s):http://philwbooks.com/five-star-thrillers/philwbooks.com foodproduction101.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/philwbooks/ Amazon Author page (if applicable): https://www.amazon.com/Phil-M.-Williams/e/B013IP5US0/MENTIONS:Get HUNDREDS of free thriller ebooks now through 8/26/17! http://philwbooks.com/five-star-thrillers/Instafreebie - Build your mailing list with a free giveaway Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joe Williams is passionate about helping executives, coaches, and entrepreneurs become world-class communicators! He is the Founder of the Creative Performance Group, where he helps people get their message out to the world in the most powerful way possible. He created The Speakers Bootcamp, an intensive training that has created hundreds of other successful speakers, coaches, consultants and authors. Joe is a passionate student and trainer of personal and professional development techniques - he has worked with and spoken for peak performance coach Anthony Robbins for over 20 years. Joe’s work has led him to consult with companies in a diverse number of fields such as financial services, aerospace, retail business, internet and software, direct sales, publishing, entertainment and the federal government. He has trained over 300,000 people and is responsible for helping his clients create over $50 Billion in new business! CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s):http://joewilliamsonline.com creativeperformancegroup.com Twitter handle(s): @joebwilliams Facebook: facebook.com/Joewilliamsspeaking MENTIONS:Pick up Kevin's latest thriller, The Devil's Interval, today! Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jim Heskett was born in the wilds of Oklahoma, raised by a pack of wolves with a station wagon and a membership card to the local public swimming pool. Just like the man in the John Denver song, he moved to Colorado in the summer of his 27th year, and never looked back. Aside from an extended break travelling the world, he hasn't let the Flatirons mountains out of his sight. CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s):www.jimheskett.com www.thejugglingauthor.com Twitter handle(s):@jimheskett @jugglingauthor Facebook: facebook.com/jugglingauthor Amazon Author page (if applicable): https://www.amazon.com/Jim-Heskett/e/B009W1AOUY MENTIONS:Pick up Kevin's latest thriller, The Devil's Interval, today! Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian D. Meeks is a full-time author who resides in Iowa when he’s not traveling. He writes across mystery, thriller, YA, science fiction, and humor/satire fiction genres. He has a degree in Economics from Iowa State University only because they didn’t offer Snarkology, his preferred major. Seven years as a data analyst in the auto insurance industry gave him the skills that have been key to his success in marketing his books and finding an audience. He really likes it when people send him pictures of their cats or guinea pigs. CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): extremelyaverage.comTwitter handle(s): @extremelyavg Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/407283052948198/ Amazon Author page (if applicable): https://www.amazon.com/Brian-D.-Meeks/e/B0073XZH78 ___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling writer, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, blogs on the publishing industry every Thursday at her website kriswrites.com. She writes science fiction, mystery, fantasy, mystery, and romance as Rusch, noir mystery as Kris Nelscott, and fractured fairy tale romances as Kristine Grayson. Her novel, A Dangerous Road written as Kris Nelscott, is in development as a feature film. She also runs several companies, including a publishing company. She works and occasionally sleeps, surrounded by the obligatory writer's cats, in Oregon. CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): kriswrites.com Twitter handle(s): @kristinerusch Facebook: kristinekathrynruschwriter Amazon Author page (if applicable): https://www.amazon.com/Kristine-Kathryn-Rusch/e/B000AP60YK/ Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kelly heads Findaway Voices, a new audiobook creation and distribution service from Findaway. Kelly’s team works closely with independent authors and small to mid-sized publishers to connect them with a community of world-class narrators, create audiobooks, and market and sell those audiobooks everywhere in the world. At Findaway, Kelly also played a key role in launching the Navy eReader Device (or NeRD), and growing AudioEngine into the world’s largest business-to-business audiobook platform. Kelly published and narrated his memoir, To Dad, From Kelly, about his relationship with his late father, college football Hall of Fame running back Rob Lytle, in 2014. Kelly speaks often on the concussion crisis in professional sports and has been featured in Sports Illustrated, The Denver Post, and The Detroit Free Press.CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s):https://findawayvoices.com/Twitter handle(s):@findawayvoices@kelly_lytleAmazon Author page:https://www.amazon.com/Kelly-Lytle/e/B00OK8YQAS/3MENTIONS:Email Kelly Lytle at [email protected] blog post on the Findaway partnership: bit.ly/FindawayD2D___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Carla King is the creator of the Self-Publishing Boot Camp educational series of books and workshops and a publishing coach with Author Friendly. A tech writer turned adventure traveler turned self-publishing expert, she published her first book in 1995 and, by popular demand, created a business teaching others how to self-publish, too. She splits her time between San Diego and Baja, California. CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s):authorfriendly.com carlaking.com Twitter handle(s): @carlaking @selfpubbootcamp @missadventuring Facebook: facebook.com/missadventuring Amazon Author page: amazon.com/author/carlaking MENTIONS:https://leanpub.com/travelerstales.com https://kobowritinglife.com/tag/carla-king/The Paradise PactZero to Travel Podcast Speaking at Overland Expo - May 12 (Flagstaff) https://www.overlandexpo.com/ ___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several social media books including Social Media Just for Writers. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): http://www.SocialMediaJustforWriters.com Twitter handle(s): @CaballoFrances Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FrancesCaballoAuthor Amazon Author page (if applicable): https://www.amazon.com/Frances-Caballo/e/B009R5XZU6/___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dean Wesley Smith is a bestselling author with over 21 million books in print. He is considered one of the most prolific writers working in modern fiction and has written just about everything. Seriously. CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): www.deanwesleysmith.com Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Dean-Wesley-Smith/e/B000APCDJ6/___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

JENNIE NASHCHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER & FOUNDER OF AUTHOR ACCELERATORJennie Nash is founder and chief creative officer of Author Accelerator, a book coaching service that gives writers the feedback, accountability and support they need to write their best books.CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s):jennienash.com authoraccelerator.com Twitter handle(s): @jennienashAmazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Jennie-Nash/e/B001HD414A/___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ricardo Fayet is the co-founder of Reedsy, a global network that connects authors and publishers with top editorial, design, marketing and ghostwriting talent. A technology and startup enthusiast, he likes to imagine how small players will build the future of publishing. CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): https://reedsy.comTwitter handle(s): @RicardoFayet___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shivani Bhargava is the CEO & Founder of TheRightMargin, a goal-driven writing app that helps you finish what you write. Bay Area born, Boston bred, Shivani has spent most of her professional life in health tech. After being the product manager of PatientsLikeMe in Cambridge, MA, she moved back to CA in 2014 and immediately caught the startup bug. CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s): https://www.therightmargin.com Twitter handle(s): @therightmargin @shivzb Facebook: https://business.facebook.com/therightmargin ___ GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers under J.F.Penn. She also writes inspirational non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning creative entrepreneur and international professional speaker. Her site, TheCreativePenn.com is regularly voted one of the top 10 sites for writers and self-publishers. CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s): www.thecreativepenn.com www.curluppress.com www.jfpenn.com Twitter handle: @thecreativepenn Facebook: TheCreativePenn Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/J.-F.-Penn/e/B00AVLL4WG/ ___ GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ROB PRICE FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF GATEKEEPER PRESS Rob began his career as a self-published author at the age of 19 with 200,000 copies sold and subsequently founded the small traditional house, Price World Publishing. Seeing a shift in the industry towards self-publishing, Rob launched Gatekeeper Press in 2015. Gatekeeper authors earn 100% of their royalties, retain 100% of their rights, and their books reach readers all over the world. CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s): www.GatekeeperPress.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gatekeeperpress/ ___ GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) - Sponsored by Draft2Digital Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

MICHAEL ANDERLE INDIE PUBLISHING OUTLAW & AUTHOR OF THE KURTHERIAN GAMBIT Michael Anderle is a bestselling author, but he's also a driving force behind the success of many indie authors just getting a start in the business. With his 'rising tide lifts all boats' approach, he has helped to bootstrap the careers of several indie authors, and is working on new ways to revolutionize publishing. CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s): www.kurtherianbooks.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheKurtherianGambitBooks/ Amazon Author page (if applicable): https://www.amazon.com/Michael-Anderle/e/B017J2WANQ/ ___ GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dave Chesson ... the 'Dude' at the heart of Kindlepreneur.com and KDP Rocket. Dave has made a career out of learning the ins and outs of KDP and sharing them with a growing and appreciative audience. In this week's Wordslinger Podcast, Dave shares his story and his tools for author success. CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s): https://Kindlepreneur.com https://kdprocket.com/ Twitter handle(s): @DaveChesson Facebook: https://Facebook.com/Kindlepreneur Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Angelique L’Amour was born in Los Angeles Ca. The daughter of author, Louis L’Amour, she grew up in the household of a prolific writer where writing and storytelling were a way of life. In 1988 Angelique wrote and edited a volume of quotes from her father’s works. Published by Bantam Doubleday Dell in 1988, A Trail of Memories spent 16 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List and was also a Publisher’s Weekly Bestseller for 1988. The book was the first quotation book derived from a single author to achieve these milestones. CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s): angeliquelamour.com Twitter handle(s): @LAmourAngelique Facebook: Angelique L'Amour, Author Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Angelique-LAmour/e/B0187PGP8A ___ Pick up the Atlantis Riddle, the new Dan Kotler thriller from Kevin Tumlinson! https://books2read.com/atlantis-riddle GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Liza Drozdov was Executive Producer of Holmes Makes it Right, one of the highest-rated shows on HGTV and DIY. Having produced successful lifestyle television series with audiences of over 100 million viewers she knows the truth behind makeover television. She knows where the bodies are buried–and has buried a few herself. CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s): www.lizadrozdov.com Twitter handle: @LizaDrozdov Facebook: www.facebook.com/lizadrozdov ___ Pick up the Atlantis Riddle, the new Dan Kotler thriller from Kevin Tumlinson! https://books2read.com/atlantis-riddle GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daughter of two Cuban political exiles, M.C.A. Hogarth was born a foreigner in the American melting pot and has had a fascination for the gaps in cultures and the bridges that span them ever since. She has been many things—web database architect, product manager, technical writer and massage therapist—but is currently a full-time parent, artist, writer and anthropologist to aliens, both human and otherwise. She's also in her second term as Vice President of SFWA (The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America). CONNECT ONLINE: Website(s): http://mcahogarth.org http://haikujaguar.livejournal.com Twitter handle(s): mcahogarth Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00448EEPQ MENTIONS: NINC Conference ___ Pick up the Atlantis Riddle, the new Dan Kotler thriller from Kevin Tumlinson! https://books2read.com/atlantis-riddle GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tom Corson-Knowles is the international bestselling author of The Kindle Publishing Bible and 26 other books. He is also the founder of EBookPublishingSchool.com, a free self-publishing training course for authors, and TCK Publishing, an independent book publisher that specializes in publishing and marketing ebooks, print books and audiobooks online. CONNECT WITH TOM ONLINE: Website(s): www.tckpublishing.com Twitter handle(s): @juicetom Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tckpublishing/ Amazon Author page (if applicable): www.amazon.com/author/business ___ Pick up the Atlantis Riddle, the new Dan Kotler thriller from Kevin Tumlinson! https://books2read.com/atlantis-riddle GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

HANK GARNER AUTHOR OF WRITER'S BLOCK Hank Garner is the author of Bloom, Mulligan, The Witching Hour, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, Writer's Block, and has contributed to several anthologies. He also hosts a weekly podcast called Author Stories where he interviews successful authors each week about writing and the creative process CONNECT WITH HANK ONLINE: Website(s): hankgarner.com Twitter handle(s): hankthewriter Facebook: facebook.com/hankgarnerauthor facebook.com/authorstoriespodcast Amazon Author page (if applicable): https://www.amazon.com/Hank-Garner/e/B00IPISPCO/ ___ Pick up the Atlantis Riddle, the new Dan Kotler thriller from Kevin Tumlinson! https://books2read.com/atlantis-riddle GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

KEVIN TUMLINSON AUTHOR OF THE COELHO MEDALLION RV life has its ups and downs, and there can be times when even the most enthusiastic RVer wants to chuck in the towel. But the recent lifestyle change that Kevin and his wife, Kara, have embarked on are about more than just the place they call home—they're about changing the very nature of who they are. Join Kevin in this special Wordslinger Podcast episode, and pick up a few tips and tricks about the RV life. CONNECT WITH KEVIN ONLINE: Website(s): https://kevintumlinson.com https://wordslingerpodcast.com Twitter handle: @kevintumlinson Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevin.tumlinson https://www.facebook.com/jkevintumlinson/ Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Kevin-Tumlinson/e/B007POXGEG/ ___ Pick up the Atlantis Riddle, the new Dan Kotler thriller from Kevin Tumlinson! https://books2read.com/atlantis-riddle GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lucas Flint (aka Timothy L. Cerepaka) writes fantasy novels under his real name and superhero novels under his Lucas Flint pen name. He has been writing and publishing books under his own press since June of 2014 and lives in Texas. CONNECT WITH LUCAS ONLINE: Website(s): www.timothylcerepaka.com & www.lucasflint.com Twitter handle(s): @TimothyCerepaka & @LucasFlintBooks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/timothylcerepaka/ Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Lucas-Flint/e/B01GCRE37K ___ Pick up the Atlantis Riddle, the new Dan Kotler thriller from Kevin Tumlinson! https://books2read.com/atlantis-riddle GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 100th episode of the Wordslinger Podcast! David Brin is a scientist, tech speaker/consultant, and a bestselling and award-winning author. His new novel about our survival in the near future is Existence. His 16 novels, including NY Times Bestsellers and Hugo Award winners, have been translated into more than twenty languages. CONNECT WITH DAVID ONLINE: Website(s): http://www.davidbrin.com/ See also http://www.davidbrin.com/presskit.html Twitter handle(s): @DavidBrin http://twitter.com/DavidBrin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AUTHORDAVIDBRIN/ Amazon Author page (if applicable): Amazon author pg = https://www.amazon.com/David-Brin/e/B000APAXV6/ — GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS? CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices