Lessons Learned from 13 Years as an Author Entrepreneur
Sep 13, 2024
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Joanna Penn, an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author and podcaster, shares insights from her 13-year journey as an author entrepreneur. She emphasizes the importance of pivoting your author brand, the role of AI in enhancing creativity, and embracing community support through platforms like Patreon. Joanna reveals how a small paywall has positively impacted her mental health and discusses prioritizing physical fitness, especially for women post-menopause. Join her as she reflects on growth, creativity, and the joy of creating beautiful books.
Transitioning an author brand requires patience and courage, as embracing one’s darker creative side can be essential for growth.
Utilizing AI tools has transformed the author's productivity and creativity, allowing for innovative marketing and design in her projects.
Deep dives
Shifting Author Mindset
Transitioning an author brand requires time and introspection. After deciding to pivot from writing under her real name to focusing on her JF Penn brand, the speaker struggled initially but found that embracing her darker creative side became crucial. She detailed her substantial collection of over 22 projects that highlight diverse stories and ideas waiting to be developed, emphasizing her passion for storytelling. A key turning point occurred during a networking event, where she confidently introduced herself as a thriller author, marking an important shift in how she perceives and presents her identity.
Embracing AI in Creativity
The integration of AI tools has significantly revitalized the author's creative process. By utilizing various AI applications for writing, marketing, and even visual design, the speaker has enhanced her overall productivity and enjoyment in her work, claiming to be experiencing the best creative phase of her life. For instance, AI tools have been leveraged to assist in crafting compelling marketing copy and even to generate illustrations for book covers, showcasing the practical applications of technology in writing. The ongoing experimentation with AI not only accelerates processes but also fosters a joyous, curious approach to creativity.
Community Support and Mental Health
Building a close-knit community through platforms like Patreon has led to improved mental health and well-being for the speaker. By shifting to a subscription model for her content, she fosters a supportive environment that enables her to share ideas freely without the fear of backlash. This transformation from offering content publicly to more exclusive sharing has cultivated a feeling of safety and camaraderie among her supporters. Such communal dynamics have reinforced her commitment to her creative endeavors, demonstrating how positive connections can enhance productivity and happiness.
Creative Print Opportunities
The advent of platforms like Kickstarter and Book Vault has unlocked exciting creative possibilities for physically producing and selling beautiful, custom-made books. These platforms enable authors to create premium editions with special features such as foil stamping and unique illustrations, greatly enriching the product's aesthetic. The speaker has successfully launched multiple Kickstarter campaigns, demonstrating that passion can indeed drive creativity across various genres. This diversification of projects has been fulfilling and challenges the traditional notion that authors must stick to one genre for financial success.
In this solo episode, I talk about my lessons learned from 13 years as a full-time author entrepreneur. You can read/listen to previous updates at TheCreativePenn.com/timeline. Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller, dark fantasy, horror, crime, and memoir author as J.F. Penn. She’s also an […]