Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

In this episode, Mark interviews author Danny Bell and voice actor and model Whitton A. Frank about The Black Pages series that Danny writes and Whitton narrates. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a word from the episode's sponsor, Findaway Voices . . .You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. In the personal update segment Mark shares an update on the work for the self-narrated audiobook version of The 7 P's of Publishing Success as well as his recent guest spot on Episode 6 of Joanna Penn's new Books & Travel Podcast. In their chat, Danny, Whitton, and Mark talk about: How the initial idea for "The Black Pages" came to Danny from a variety of sources, including something he reflected upon when watching Doctor Who. Danny's interest in the deaths of secondary characters on various television shows in which are often shared as no big deal, whereas if the protagonist or their close friends suffered the same fate, it was a major trauma. Purposly not making the protagonist a straight white guy The element of humor that is a part of the narrator in Empty Threat. How Elana is a black and white character in a morally grey universe and was created with a lot of room to grow through each book. The unique experience of Whitton as both the voice and the face of Elana. How Danny and Whitton clicked when they met at a party that neither of them had been in a mood to want to be at. The way that Danny started seeing Whitton in his head when he was writing the character of Elana. Whitton modeling for the concept art for the cover, which led to the cover designer asking if she would be the model in the actual shoot. Voice Over Atlanta, the biggest VO conference in the US that Elana just got back from. The plans for the release of book three in the series and the special "full cast" production of this one (with Whitton still as the main narrator). The debate over whether or not Elana needed to have a love interest in the first two books And more . . .   After the interview, Mark makes an offer to do a random giveaway to two people who comment on the show notes for Episode 70 at www.starkreflections.ca. Comments have to be posted by Noon EST on Thursday April 18th and eligible entries will be comments about one of the following: What book would you love to escape into? (the way Elana can slip into a book) What secondary character from any fictional world? (book, television, movie, etc) would you love to save (the way Elena saves the lives of secondary characters)   Mark then reflects upon the concept of something Danny said in the interview - "the most important thing you can do is to FINISH." After, Mark shares a brief clip from the opening of Empty Threat.   Links of Interest The Audiobook Mastering Guide (by Wesley Ingram) The 7 P's of Publishing Success (Computer Narrated Version) Findaway Voices The Books and Travel Podcast Episode 6 - Macabre Montreal Danny Bell Author Central Profile The Black Pages on Facebook Matt Altman IMDB Star Wars Toy Stories Anthony Brodeur Whitton Frank - Website Whitton Frank - ACX Narrator Profile Getting Published with Mark Leslie (The Writing Show Podcast Reality Series where Mark attempted to write A Canadian Werewolf in New York while being tracked and interviewed about his progress) Patreon for Stark Reflections Stark Reflections Survey   Danny Bell is the USA Today Best Selling Author and Amazon #1 Best Selling Author of The Black Pages and he nearly had an out of body experience when he realized that the song Mr. Brightside by The Killers is thirteen years old and that would surely mean that he was also older than thirteen. Older than double in fact! Certainly not triple. He has three cats, Mister, Jameson, and Koala, and they all tolerate each other. He would never compare himself to Robocop, why would he do that? He plans to continue to write books forever with hope that one day there will be a Quantum Leap style thing where Dr. Sam Beckett will help fix his life, or failing that, the time-traveling ghost of Samuel Beckett, the author, will tell him that he has been pronouncing ‘Godot’ wrong the whole time. He isn’t sure why anyone ever wants a bio, but if you’re willing to read random things about him that may or may not be true, he’s willing to provide you with them. Whitton Frank performed in her first show when she was 8 years old, and spent her summers through her high school studying at theAmerican Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco.After majoring in Acting and Creative Writing at Carnegie Mellon University, Whitton travelled to Russia to study at the Moscow Art Theatre. Following this Whitton moved to Los Angeles and was subsequently discovered by Tony Basil. This meeting led to her role in the US TV series ‘Cold Case’ and the films ‘Amnesia’ and ‘Who Are You?’, both of which won awards at various film festivals around the USA. In 2016 Whitton launched her own production company Red Compass productions which is dedicated to promoting women in film and theater and telling their stories. The Company produced a revival of the 1970’s hit Out of Our Father’s House, which tells the stories of American women, in their own words. They have also produced a short dark comedy/horror film called Seeing Green, which is currently making the rounds at film festivals. She can been seen in the TNT hit, Murder in the First Season 3 acting opposite Curry Grahm, as the lovable and quirky Jenna Laffy. Also in 2016 she did voice over for the Star Wars Fan Film: Star Wars Toy Stories Rogue One. voicing Jyn Urso and Rei. This stop motion film has been screening and winning awards at conventions and film festivals around the world. For their work, the cast was invited to present it at Comic Con in San Diego. In the past two years she has narrated 5 audiobooks and is working on several more. You can check out her work on audible.com.   The music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0  

In this solo episode, Mark shares an article that he'd had published in the summer of 2009 when he was asked to make a prediction about something that likely wouldn't exist in publishing ten years later. WARNING: This episode contains a short clip of Mark singing a parody version of "Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams. (He couldn't help it. Song lyrics haunt his brain. The minute he mentioned the summer of 2009, the classic Adams song came to mind.) Prior to the interview, Mark shares a word from the episode's sponsor, Findaway Voices . . .He talks about the sources of his latest payment from Findaway Voices, which don't include the big players, like Audible or Apple, or Google, or Kobo. You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. As an introduction to the article, Mark shares the back-story of how he wrote article for an online magazine called The Mark News (no relation) on the topic of publishing and bookselling. This had been back when he was on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Booksellers Association, an active member of a couple of Campus Bookstore associations as well, and heavily involved in using the print-on-demand technology of The Espresso Book Machine in a bookstore in Hamilton, Ontario. The reason Mark started thinking about the article in question was because of a sale he noticed on Kindle for the book that the article was republished in. A 2011 volume called Living at the Tip: Navigating the Digital Tipping Point of the Book World. This book is something Mark published in the space of a few hours when Kindle first announced KDP Select, their exclusivity program. He collected the articles together, used Amazon's cover generation tool and published it, just to have a title in the program at all times. In the article being shared, Mark explains the basic workings of territorial rights and how it has historically operated with publishers in various countries, agents, and authors. He also shares his own frustration with the fake virtual borders in a digital world that don't seem necessary because the old ones were based on warehousing books inside the borders of a country after they were shipped there, or the rights were acquired for that territory. In a digital world, the shipping of dead trees from continent to continent is not an issue, and, therefore, is something that Mark speculated SHOULD begin to disappear ten years from when he wrote it in 2009. He goes on to explain how self-published and indie authors and smaller publishers have embraced the new digital world in ways that the major or larger publishers haven't. This is most likely due to the fact that big publishers are heavily invested in printing, stocking and shipping physical books, which represents the majority of their revenue.   Links of Interest Living at the Tip (Amazon link) Reflections on Digital Publishing (Video clips from an interview with Mark in 2012) Mark's Super-Brief History of Publishing (a breif excerpt from a talk about the Future of Publishing from a 2014 Writers of the Future Awards ceremony - HINT: Mark's predication was that it would involve more collaboration than ever before) Findaway Voices Bryan Adams Website Music video for "Summer of '69" Patreon for Stark Reflections Stark Reflections Survey   The song "Summer of '69" was performed by Bryan Adams. It was written by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, a long-time writing partner of Adams. It was produced by Bryan Adams and Bob Clearmountain and released in June 1985 by A&M Records as the fourth-single from the album Reckless. The music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

In this episode, Mark interviews Brian Meeks, author of Mastering Amazon Ads and Mastering Amazon Descriptions. The interview was recorded during a Facebook Live video on the Stark Publishing Facebook page. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a word from the episode's sponsor, Findaway Voices . . .You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. In the personal update area, Mark talks about a recent 40% off Box Set promotion that he and author Sean Costello had with Kobo, how they added their own push for the promo, and how it helped them sell more copies not just on Kobo, but also on Kindle, Apple and Nook. Mark talks about the detailed analysis of the promo which he published for Patreon supporters of the podcast and thanks them for their ongoing support. In their chat, Mark and Brian talk about: How Brian once put off launching a fiction title for 60 days because he wanted to avoid the task of writing the product description How a description done correctly will convert at about 1 in 10 (1:10) - ie, ten views of an ad will result in a click through to the product by a potential customer The most common problems that authors face when trying to write their book product description The idea of using previous or existing reviews of a book to find hints and clues to what made the book special to readers Ways authors can practice writing or creating compelling product descriptions The ultimate goal of a product description, which is to get a potential reader to READ your book Creating a log line that can be used as an "elevator pitch" How formatting of a description can be as important as the words used in that description How the main goal of the FIRST line (or opening hook) of a product description is to get the reader to read the SECOND line The concept of the call to action to request the reader to "buy" or "get" the book today Brian's story of the "miracle product description" How customers don't care so much the difference between $2.99 or $4.99 and that their TIME in reading the book is something they consider more valuable, more precious The concept of variance, and how it can take 1000 clicks before you have enough data to accurately measure the results of a data set Amazon Ads for authors who are published exclusively to Kindle (KDP Select and part of Kindle Unlimited) VS authors who publish their books "wide" to all retail platforms Why an author shouldn't spend more than 90 seconds writing up their advertising copy What is a good place to start or to learn how Amazon Advertising works for you The critical importance of patience and setting expectations and how much investment of time and energy it takes to perfect the process How "Bid Plus" is a terrible idea for authors to use in Amazon Advertising How Brian gives about 7 to 10 days for an ad to see if they are "getting turned on" and, if it isn't, he kills it The differences of playing within the Amazon Advertising world today compared to how it used to be   In his post-interview reflections, Mark talks about three things from the chat that stuck with him. The idea of NOT using the "Bid Plus" option when creating Amazon Advertising Ads The concept of having a first line / log line of 4 to 6 words to grab the attention of a potential reader in your book description The methodology of incorporating elements from reader reviews of your book when revising your book's blurb   Links of Interest Brian Meeks Website Mastering Amazon Ads Facebook Group Mastering Amazon Descriptions Facebook Group Brian's Amazon Page The Facebook Live video for the interview segment of this podcast Findaway Voices Patreon for Stark Reflections Stark Reflections Survey   Brian D. Meeks is an author who writes under his name and the pen name Arthur Byrne.   The music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

In this episode, Mark interviews Nancy Christie, the author of the award-winning book Rut-Busting for Writers. This episode is sponsored by Findaway Voices . . .You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. In the personal update for this episode, Mark shares some of the work he has done in his "Canadian Werewolf" universe, including the recent audiobook version of the short story "This Time Around," reworking the cover for A Canadian Werewolf in New York and the short story to include a wolf image (giving the book a bit more of an urban fantasy look and feel), and the new short story he is currently working on that he is calling "Stowe Away" and which he describes as a cross between "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" and "Logan." In their conversation, Mark and Nancy talk about: Nancy's passion for writing that started in the 2nd grade How she had never planned on being an author until she "accidentally" published her first book The two years of personal journal entries she started when her mother was diagnosed with cancer in 1999 and how that evolved into a book project The Rut-Busting workshops Nancy had been offering which ended up being adapted into a book Strategies for dealing with procrastination The concept of creating a writing roadmap The importance of consistency with devoting the time to writing The value of the 30 minute / 30 day strategy that Nancy recommends The writing toolbox and the objects Nancy uses from them in a writing workshop And more . . . After the interview, Mark reflects on a few things Nancy said, including the concept of "just get started" as well as the idea of making time to write for 30 minutes every day for 30 days. Links of Interest Nancy Christie's Website Nancy's Author Profile on Facebook Nancy on Twitter Nancy on Pinterest Nancy on Instagram Nancy on YouTube Nancy's Blog Article on Book Launch Tips Findaway Voices Scott Overton Patreon for Stark Reflections Stark Reflections Survey   Nancy Christie is the author of the award-winning Rut-Busting Book for Writers, Traveling Left of Center and Other Stories and The Gifts Of Change. Her short stories and essays have appeared in numerous print and online publications. Peripheral Visions and Other Stories, Christie’s second short fiction collection, won a second place award in the prestigious 2018 Royal Palm Literary Award Competition. It’s scheduled for publication in 2020 by Unsolicited Press. She is currently working on Rut-Busting Book for Authors, a companion book to Rut-Busting Book for Writers, that will be released Fall 2019. A professional writer based in Ohio, Christie provides copywriting services to agencies, businesses and organizations nationwide through her company, Professional Writing Services. A member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, Florida Writers Association and Short Fiction Writers Guild (SFWG), Christie teaches writing workshops at conferences, libraries and schools. She is also the founder of the annual “Celebrate Short Fiction” Day (www.nancychristie.com/focusonfiction/celebrate-short-fiction-day/).   The music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

In this episode, Mark interviews Adriel Wiggins about the behind the scenes support she provides authors as both a virtual assistant as well as a continuity editor. Prior to the interview, Mark provides a short personal update and talks about this episode's sponsor, Findaway Voices . . .You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. In their chat, Mark and Adriel discuss: The backstory of how Adriel got involved in becoming an author's virtual assistant The random jobs she had been working at prior to taking editorial and VA type work The different and unique tasks that each author Adriel works with use her for What she looks for in terms of authors that she is interested in working with How an author can determine if they are ready for a virtual assistant Typical charges for a virtual assistant's various tasks What continuity editing is and why it is important The four types of editing (Developmental Editing, Copy/Line Editing, Proofreading, Continuity Editing) The eggs benedict breakfast that James A Owen hosts at Superstars Writing Seminars The importance of valuing yourself   After the interview, Mark reflects on the importance of valuing yourself and your time as a writer. Links of Interest Adrielwiggins.com Adreiel's Pricing Info Adriel on Working with an Assistant Adriel's curated resources Findaway Voices Scott Overton Patreon for Stark Reflections Stark Reflections Survey   Whether she is running her own business, tackling administrative duties at her local Christian school, or raising her family, Adriel Wiggins always seems to find herself the center of a situation in need of organization. Combining her passion for organization and optimization with her love of books, Adriel Wiggins now helps authors to streamline the non-writing aspects of managing a successful writing career. For more than four and a half years, she's balanced the in's and out's of book promotion, community growth, online marketing, and more for a growing roster of clients from around the world.   The music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

In this episode, Mark shares an article that he recently had published in WRITE magazine, the official magazine of The Writer's Union of Canada. In the word about this episode's sponsor, Findaway Voices . . .. . . Mark shares a recent announcement from BookBub regarding Chirp, the new audiobook promotion service they are launching in partnership with Findaway. You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. In his personal update, Mark reflects on how procrastination recently led to him finally being "caught with his pants down" at the recent WMG Publishing anthology workshop. For the main segment of the show, Mark reads an article entitled "Two Publishing Paths Diverged in a Digital World: A Stark Look at Self-Publishing" which appeared in the Winter 1999 issue of WRITE magazine. He then talks about why he feels it was important for this article to appear in that particular magazine.   Links of Interest BookBub Announcement About Chirp (Audiobook Promotion) Findaway Voices Fiction River Pulphouse Magazine WMG Anthology Workshop The Writers' Union of Canada Patreon for Stark Reflections Stark Reflections Survey The music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

In this extremely short episode, Mark talks about Procrastination and how it has been a significant part of who he is and how he works on projects. He talks a bit about the Fiction River anthology project that he is currently in Vegas for as an editor (and how that relates to this topic), as well as Tim Urban's hilarious and yet accurate portrayal of what goes on in side the mind of a master procrastinator. Links of Interest: Tim Urban Tim Urban's TED talk on Procrastination: Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator Wait But Why (Blog) Fiction River WMG Anthology Workshop Patreon for Stark Reflections Stark Reflections Survey The music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

In this solo episode, Mark plays clips from a couple of other podcasts, shares some personal updates related to his own audiobook products, and goes neck deep into his thoughts about audiobooks for authors. The episode is sponsored by Findaway Voices.. . . you can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. Some of the topics Mark covers in this episode include: How much he still loves the 1987 song "Somewhere Down The Crazy River" by Robbie Robertson A FreeBooksy promo he recently ran on an erotic horror title called SOMETHING WICKED (Nocturnal Screams 7) A BookBub promo he ran with his pal Sean Costello for the book HERE AFTER A new computer synth version of his book The 7 P's of Publishing Success that is now available and why he is pricing this version at 99 cents A sample from his new VocoCraft computer synth version of the book, as well as the same sample from the human self-narrated version of the book The recent Public Lending Right Program check he received for the appearance of his books in Canadian libraries and why authors in Canada, the UK, Australia and other countries that have a PLR program should take advantage of that His recent guest appearance on The Sell More Books Show with Jim Kukral (Mark stepped in at the last minute to replace co-host Bryan Cohen who was ill) A short clip from Episode 255 of The Sell More Books Show talking about a new "choose your own audio" project from Amazon A couple of clips from The Creative Penn podcast episode 417, where Joanna interviewed Will Dages from Findaway Voices The reveal of the new Voices Share program from Findaway Voices Mark also welcomes new Patron Sherilyn Decter and thanks all patrons who support the show and have access to additional audio content (Stark Reflections on Other Podcasts) and other material at www.patreon.com/starkreflections. He also thanks those who commented on Episode 62 and draws the name of two winners for the Mythulu creation cards.   Links of Interest: Written Word Media (BargainBooksy, FreeBooksy, etc) BookBub The 7 P's of Publishing Success The VocoCraft Computer Synth Version VocoCraft Public Lending Rights Program (Canada) YouTube Video The Sell More Books Show (Episode 255) The Creative Penn Podcast (Episode 417) Mythulu Superstars Writing Seminars Patreon for Stark Reflections Stark Reflections Survey Something Wicked (Nocturnal Screams 7) Killing It On Kobo The music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

In this episode Mark interviews Laura Shanae Crenshaw, a writer, a world-builder, a photographer, an all around creative person, and the creator of the Mythulu creation cards. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a few details from last week's Superstars Writers Seminars that stuck out to him, both writing and business-of-writing related activities as well as an unexpected pleasant personal experience. He then talks about the audiobook panels he was on and mentions this episode's sponsor, Findaway Voices. He shares that, in 2018, 6% of his writing income came from audio, and from sources well behind the major retailers for audiobooks (such as Audible, Apple, Kobo and Google). . . . you can learn more about how you can get your work distributed not only to those top retailers, but also to other retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. During their chat, Mark and Laura discuss: Laura's unusual introduction into writing via imaginary stories from her older sister The basic concept behind the Mythulu creativity enhancement tool that Laura created Daniel Kahneman (author of "Thinking Fast and Slow") and how his idea that the brain can only hold 6 ideas at a time led to the six packs in Laura's deck Filling a story with rich meaning instead of tropes and cliches The archetypes used in the tool: Elements, Habitats, Characters, Relationships, Traits, and Textures Examples of "Blood" as one of the 50 archetypical elements and the various interpretations associated with it How research led to the creation of something a lot more complex than was laid out by Joseph Campbell in his mythological archetypes Mark's consideration of Laura's reading of the deck as being similar to a Tarot reading Examples of how a writer might use the deck to fill in details or answering outstanding questions Laura's passion for helping writers tell new stories and incorporate new ideas into their writing The non-fiction book that Laura ghost-wrote called "Never Boss" How Laura was introduced to and invited to Superstars Writing Seminars by James Owen After the interview, Mark reminds listeners of their chance to win a copy of the Mythulu Creation Cards just by commenting on this episode at www.starkreflections.ca. The winner will be randomly drawn from all commenters, and patrons supporting the show via Patreon.com/StarkReflections who leave a comment will get an additional bonus opportunity to win. He then reflects on how Laura was welcomed in to the Superstars Writing Seminars Tribe, discusses the concept of that incredibly powerful "family" feeling at the conference, as well as elements of Love that go beyond notions of romantic love and are more about the beautiful way that people can connect to one another and support each other. Links of Interest: Mythulu Superstars Writing Seminars Fiction River: Feel the Love Patreon for Stark Reflections Stark Reflections Survey The 7 P's of Publishing Success Killing It On Kobo The music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0  

This short episode includes a brief chat with Adriel Wiggins about her author resource business (author assistant and continuity editing) as well as a few quick nuggets from the recent Superstars Writing Seminars that Mark attended in early February 2019. The episode is sponsored by Findaway Voices. Mark shares a fun Valentine's promotion from them called FOR THE LOVE OF AUDIOBOOKS. Readers can use a coupon code ("loveaudio") to get as many titles from this wonderful collection of romance audiobooks in time for Valentines' Day. https://shop.authors-direct.com/collections/for-the-love-of-audiobooks . . . you can learn more at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.   In their brief chat, Mark and Adriel talk about: Adriel talks about how she got involved in creating services to assist authors The "I'm not letting you go ever!" response from her first author client Her specialties which are related to data analytics and promotion schedules Some of the common mistakes authors make when hiring a personal assistant   Mark explains that he'll be doing a full interview with Adriel in a forthcoming episode. For the last part of this short episode, he shares three of the many tidbits of things he learned at Superstars Writing Seminars. Three Small Nuggets From the Landslide of Gold at SSWS 1. Yasiv.com - a cloud map (visual representation of also boughts for AMS ads, BookBub and Facebook targeting, etc) - a great reminder from James Hunter. 2. QUOTE: "You don't have a muse, you have a mortgage." - Jim Butcher, reminding writers what being a professional means. 3. The D10 of Power Writing - The concept of using a 10 sided die to set a writing goal before you consider yourself finished. Simple - Multiple the number rolled on the die by 1000. If you roll a 1, you write 1000 words, if you roll a 10, then 10,000 words. Mark concludes by stating that he left Superstars Writing Seminars having lined up a wonderful series of interviews from several great people that you'll hear in forthcoming episodes. For example, next episode will feature a chat with Laura Shanae Crenshaw of Mythulu and she shares the incredible intriguing Mythulu deck that helps a writer come up with insightful characters, situations and incidents in their stories that move well beyond tropes or the low-hanging fruit of "the first thing that comes to mind." Links of Interest: Superstars Writing Seminars Adriel Wiggins James A. Hunter Jim Butcher Mythulu Patreon for Stark Reflections Stark Reflections Survey The 7 P's of Publishing Success Killing It On Kobo The music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0