The Indy Author Podcast

Bruce Robert Coffin, the award-winning author of the bestselling Detective Byron mystery series and a former detective sergeant with more than twenty-seven years in law enforcement, talks about how to avoid the inaccuracies regarding the portrayal of police procedures that can take the reader out of your story. We talk about whether an author must have their story comply in every detail with actual police procedure (the answer is no), our own pet peeves about depictions of police procedure in books, TV, and movies, and the freedom provided by fictionalized settings.

Video content creator Dale L. Roberts shares tips on how to reach readers and followers, and how to monetize your efforts, through video. He discusses how to maintain your content over time to ensure your viewers continue to get value from it, how to ensure engagement through discussion, and ideas for how fiction as well as non-fiction authors can use video to establish a brand and an online presence.

Rachael Herron, the internationally bestselling author of more than two dozen books, including thriller (under R.H. Herron), mainstream fiction, feminist romance, memoir, and nonfiction about writing, discusses the barriers that can block our creativity and strategies and tactics we can use to overcome them. We discuss the idea of trusting that you'll land softly, the role that scaring yourself plays in nurturing creativity, and when and how to let go without shame if an endeavor is not feeding your creative drive.

Julie Mulhern, USA Today bestselling author of the (traditionally published) Country Club Murders and the (indy published) Poppy Fields Adventures, discusses her career as a hybrid author and how she went the traditional route first in order to build a platform and traction for later self-publishing. We talk about the tangible and intangible benefits of working with a team, and how book price can impact perceived value.

Tara Cremin discusses the factors to be considered for ebook pricing: the length and genre of the book; whether it is part of a series and, if it is, the length of the series; reader expectations regarding boxset pricing; the pros and cons of permafree; and the research needed for pricing in global markets.

Becca Syme discusses common advice writers receive--like "you can't edit a blank page"--and shares advice on how to decide if it's right for you. She explores the importance of questioning the premise, and provides guidance on how you can best match your abilities and preferences to the approach you take to your creative work.

Zach Bohannon shares the personal and creative benefits he gained by living a life of digital minimalism. He asks us to question our assumptions about whether online interactions are really necessary to create community with our fans and to reach new readers. We also discuss what fodder for our work we miss if we're focused on our devices rather than on the world around us.

Kelly Simmons reviews the three core rules of writing a successful query--keep it short, don’t sound like an a**hole, and don’t become an automatic no--and shares guidance on how to make your query stand out in a busy agent's inbox (including emojis!).

Pauline Wiles discusses why authors intent on reaching new readers should not be investing their time writing blog posts for their own website, and shares ideas for alternatives that will offer better returns in terms of building your reader community.

Common wisdom is to write what you know, and incorporating your day job into your books is an obvious method. But how do you do that and maintain confidentiality and professionalism when your job is as sensitive as a funeral director and undertaker? Todd Harra describes how he has walked that fine line in this episode.