The Indy Author Podcast

Matty Dalrymple talks with Dave Chesson of Kindlepreneur about AI AS METADATA ASSISTANT AND MUSE, including how effective (or ineffective) AI is in helping authors with keywords, book descriptions, categories, and titles; using AI to create interior images such as maps (and tips for how to do this); using AI image generators to visualize your book description; and the importance of changing how we operate to use AI tools to their fullest. Show notes at https://bit.ly/TIAP185  Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting The Indy Author! https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple Dave Chesson is the guy behind Kindlepreneur.com, a website devoted to teaching authors about book marketing. Recommended by Amazon KDP as the place where you can learn how to “optimize marketing for your books,” Kindlepreneur has grown to be one of the largest book marketing websites. Dave’s tactics help both fiction and nonfiction authors of all levels get their books discovered by the right readers. Dave is also the creator of Publisher Rocket, a software that helps authors see what's really going on in the book market, and thus pick better keywords and categories to help them sell more books. Dave was previously a guest in Episode 085 - Optimizing Your Keywords.

Matty Dalrymple talks with Greta Boris and Megan Haskell about PLANNING A NOVEL. We discuss brainstorming, including planting the concept seeds, productive daydreaming, and feeding the subconscious; worldbuilding, including how much is too much, giving the characters (and readers) an anchor, and letting world-building inform your plot; standalone or series, including which makes more sense for writers depending on whether they are looking to build an indie career or looking for a traditional publishing deal; and the story bible, including using a story bible to build your fan base. Greta and Megan also discuss their Kickstarter, Foundations of Great Storytelling: Preparing to Write. Show notes at https://bit.ly/TIAP184  Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting The Indy Author! https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple Greta Boris is the USA Today Bestselling author of The Seven Deadly Sins Murders, a psychological suspense series, and The Mortician Murders, a paranormal cozy mystery series. She hails from sunny Southern California where—based on her books, which are all set there—things are darker than you'd expect. Her stories have been called atmospheric and un-put-down-able. Megan Haskell is the award-winning author of The Sanyare Chronicles, an action-packed female-led fantasy adventure. Her other titles include the epic fantasy Forged in Shadow and the upcoming women’s contemporary fantasy, Aether Bound. A Southern California transplant, she’s living the dream of writing while raising her two daughters in Orange County. Together, Greta and Megan founded The Author Wheel, a website dedicated to helping writers become authors and keep their stories rolling. With over twenty years of writing and publishing experience between them, they’ve made the mistakes so you don’t have to.

Matty Dalrymple talks with Dharma Kelleher about WRITING FROM OR ABOUT THE LGBTQIA+ COMMUNITY, including Dharma's experience with traditional publishing and why she went indie; the importance of remembering why you're writing (it's probably not for the money); letting the reader draw the lessons from your book; finding commonality among the differences; the importance of giving your character agency; the danger of tropes becoming words and then damaging actions; tapping into the expertise of sensitivity readers; and the importance of getting a variety of input. Show notes at https://bit.ly/TIAP183  Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting The Indy Author! https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple Dharma Kelleher is a trailblazer in the crime fiction world, known for her thrilling stories that are equal parts heart-pumping action and thought-provoking social commentary. As one of the few openly transgender authors in her genre, Dharma tackles tough issues and shines a light on the underrepresented and marginalized.

Matty Dalrymple talks with Lisa Regan about HOW TO SUCCEED WITH A SUPER-LONG SERIES, including how to plan character development, building your team of characters, the plausibility pact with readers, the pros and cons of a fictional location, keeping readers engaged, and how to maintain your interest as a series author. Show notes at https://bit.ly/TIAP182 Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting The Indy Author! https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple Lisa Regan is the USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Detective Josie Quinn series as well as several other crime fiction titles. She has a bachelor’s degree in English and a Master of Education degree from Bloomsburg University. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, Crime Writers Association, and Mystery Writers of America. And she lives outside Philadelphia with her husband, daughter and Boston Terrier named Mr. Phillip. Lisa previously appeared on the podcast in Episode 016 - Drawing Back the Publishing Curtain with Lisa Regan

Matty Dalrymple talks with Claire Taylor about ENNEAGRAM AND YOUR AUTHOR CAREER, including what Enneagram is and how authors can benefit creatively and business-wise from learning about their type; the importance of understanding three key motivators: what you want your writing to do for you, what you want your writing to do for others, and what you want your money to do for you; understanding the fears and desires of your type; what Enneagram types do well—and not well—with rapid release; and if and how Enneagram types impact the choice of indy versus traditional. If one of those topics piques your interest, you can easily jump to that section of the interview by going to The Indy Author on YouTube and clicking on the flagged timestamps in the video description at https://youtu.be/LR4OcUvtVlQ  Show notes at https://bit.ly/TIAP181 Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting The Indy Author! https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple Claire Taylor is a humor and mystery author, an Enneagram consultant for creatives, and the owner of FFS Media. She loves making people laugh and helping authors build a personalized career that is as unique as they are. Through FFS Media, she offers masterclasses, workshops, courses, and consulting on both author life and storytelling. She writes as H. Claire Taylor (humor), Brock Bloodworth (urban fantasy), Nova Nelson (paranormal cozy mystery), and Claire Feeney (crime fiction).

Matty Dalrymple talks with John Gaspard about THE TOP 6 LESSONS NOVELISTS CAN LEARN FROM MOVIES, including the importance of staying in your lane, being completely committed, coming in late and leaving early, callbacks (or reaping what you’ve sown), getting notes (or working with beta readers), and not hesitating to hesitate. If one of those topics piques your interest, you can easily jump to that section of the interview by going to The Indy Author on YouTube and clicking on the flagged timestamps in the video description. https://www.youtube.com/c/TheIndyAuthorPodcast Show notes at https://bit.ly/TIAP180  Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting The Indy Author! https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple John Gaspard is author of the Eli Marks mystery series, the Como Lake Players mystery series, and four stand-alone novels. He hosts two podcasts: "Behind the Page: The Eli Marks Podcast," and "The Occasional Film Podcast.” John has directed six low-budget features that cost very little and made even less. John’s latest book is “The Popcorn Principles: A Novelists Guide to Learning from Movies.”   John was previously a guest in: Episode 145 - Speech to Text and Back Again with John Gaspard Episode 128 - Lessons from Filmmaking for the Indy Author with John Gaspard (focused on the business side of authorship)

Jessie Kwak talks about IS FREELANCE COPYWRITING FOR YOU?, including considering your risk tolerance; being willing to experiment; the importance of choosing niches for content and format; understanding in what circumstances copywriters are credited; pricing your services; competing with platforms like Fiverr; factoring in AI; and allocating time to freelance work versus one's own work. If one of those topics piques your interest, you can easily jump to that section of the interview by going to The Indy Author on YouTube and clicking on the flagged timestamps in the video description. https://www.youtube.com/c/TheIndyAuthorPodcast  Show notes at https://bit.ly/TIAP1789  Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting The Indy Author! https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple Jessie Kwak is the author of multiple science fiction series, a supernatural thriller, and productivity guides FROM CHAOS TO CREATIVITY and FROM BIG IDEA TO BOOK: CREATE A WRITING PRACTICE THAT BRINGS YOU JOY. And she's using Kickstarter to launch her new book, FROM DREAM TO REALITY: HOW TO MAKE A LIVING AS A WRITER. Jessie was previously a guest on the podcast in Episode 132 - From Big Idea to Book.

Shane Millar talks about HOW TO BE A WRITER IF YOU HATE WRITING, including diagnosing a dislike of drafting; whether first drafting quickly is a problem; tips for fleshing out setting and characters, including getting to know your characters in your first book and the advantage of continuing characters in a series; the benefit of learning story structure; the danger of too much study and not enough practice; and the markers of a writer's true goals. If one of those topics piques your interest, you can easily jump to that section of the interview by going to The Indy Author on YouTube and clicking on the flagged timestamps in the video description. https://www.youtube.com/c/TheIndyAuthorPodcast Show notes at https://bit.ly/TIAP178  Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting The Indy Author! https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple Shane Millar is a Fictionary Certified Story Coach and the author of the Write Better Fiction craft guides. He is also the author of the Myth & Magic urban fantasy thriller series (writing as S. W. Millar), and a co-host on the Storytellers Faceoff Podcast. Shane holds a BA in journalism and is a member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi). He lives in Buckinghamshire, England and is obsessed with the writing craft, mythology, personal development, food, and martial arts movies.

Author Leslye Penelope talks about FROM INDY TO TRAD TO HYBRID, including being an indy author approached by a traditional publisher (and how that’s the exception, not the rule); what changed with her traditionally published release and what stayed the same; publisher and author rights; partnering with one's traditional publisher; backlist books and traditional publishing; the idea that trad publishers' customers are bookstores, not readers; assessing fit for indy or traditional per book; and choosing your publishing path. If one of those topics piques your interest, you can easily jump to that section of the interview by going to https://youtu.be/8pT6Bck685k and clicking on the flagged timestamps in the video description. Show notes at https://bit.ly/TIAP177 Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting The Indy Author! https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple Leslye Penelope has been writing since she could hold a pen and loves getting lost in the worlds in her head. She is an award-winning fantasy and paranormal romance author. Her novel SONG OF BLOOD & STONE was chosen as one of TIME Magazine's 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time. Equally left- and right-brained, she studied filmmaking and computer science in college and sometimes dreams in HTML. She hosts the My Imaginary Friends podcast and lives in Maryland with her husband and furry dependents.

Michael La Ronn and Matty Dalrymple discuss TWO PERSPECTIVES ON CHOOSING THE TOOLS FOR YOUR AUTHOR CAREER, including the tools they use for writing and editing, design (book interiors and exteriors), production, distribution, marketing, promotion, and administrivia. More importantly, they discuss the criteria they use to select their tools, including using tools wide or deep, buying versus building, being an early adopter or not, working solo or with a co-author or assistant, the desire for customization, how ubiquitous the tool is, customer service, and intuitiveness of use. And Michael makes a compelling recommendation not to overlook the productivity tools that are built into your computer and phone. Show notes at https://bit.ly/TIAP176 Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting The Indy Author! https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple Michael La Ronn is the author of over forty science fiction & fantasy novels and self-help books for writers. He runs the popular YouTube channel Author Level Up and serves on the staff of the Alliance of Independent Authors as a US Ambassador, and he also co-hosts the AskALLi Member Q&A Podcast.