Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

In this solo episode, Mark takes a look at his 2018 writing and publishing goals and shares the hits, the misses and the alterations that took place in the past twelve months. He feels it is important to remind writers that if they are already beating themselves up for not completing all the previous year's goals, that he didn't hit all his goals; that he failed at most of them; that he screwed up along the way; that he made mistakes. But also that he adapted several of the goals he'd set as I went along. And he inserted new goals mid-year. That can happen. It will happen. It's how you deal with those changes that can make the difference between seeing it as a complete failure, or seeing it as an ongoing work in progress. Mark then says a word about this episode's sponsor, Findaway Voices . . . Mark first talks about the goals he had set at the beginning of 2018 and how he did with them: 1) Write a non-fiction book called INDIE PUBLISHING INSIDER SECRETS 2) Finish the sequel to A CANADIAN WEREWOLF IN NEW YORK 3) Finish the sequel to EVASION 4) Pitch and write a traditionally published book SPIRITS UNTAPPED - to Dundurn 5) Compile a new full book short story collection 6) Stay retired He then shares a number of goals for 2019: 1) Publish Audiobook for 7 P's of Publishing Success 2) Publish Audiobook for Killing It on Kobo 3) Finish writing and Publish eBook/Print and audio for Indie Publishing Insider Secrets 4) Publish Audiobook for ACWWINY 5) Publish Audiobook for I, DEATH 6) Publish Audiobook for ONE HAND SCREAMING (story collection) 7) Write and release SCREAMING SKULLS: And Other Haunted Objects in eBook/print and audio 8) Finish the first draft of FEAR AND LONGING IN LOS ANGELES 9) Book new speaking gigs - Ideally, another keynote either in the last half of 2019 or the first half of 2020 Mark also shares his 2018 eBook sales percentages: Kindle - 45.97% Kobo - 20.68% StoryBundle - 20.27% BundleRabbit - 6.80% Apple - 3.25% Nook - 2.30% Direct Sales - 0.30% Google - 0.21% Scribd - 0.12% Tolino - 0.06% Smashwords - 0.04% Mark talks about what he achieved and what he didn't achieve in 2018. He talks about what he did well and what he didn't do well. He reminds writers of the importance of focusing on the forward momentum made, even where a goal wasn't completed, if there was forward momentum that is a step in the right direction. 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 the final episode of 2018, Mark interviews Science Fiction and Fantasy author Lindsay Buroker, a successful author who has been indie publishing for about eight years. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a short personal update and thanks new Patron, Michael Lister; he also mentions that he recently released the third special "Reflections on other Podcasts" episodes for Patrons, which appears at www.patreon.com/starkreflections. He also thanks those who reached out to him after hearing him on episode 408 of The Creative Penn Podcast which was released on Dec 23rd. Mark then says a word about this episode's sponsor, Findaway Voices . . .In their conversation, Mark and Lindsay talk about: The main differences between when Lindsay first started out more than eight years ago releasing her first novel, The Emperor's Edge (while also producing her first podcast), and today The joy of getting to a place where each book's sales are enough to ensure paying for the cost of production The pros and cons of writing in multiple series in different genres Reasons why Lindsay released a new series of novels under a fresh and then-unknown pen name in 2014 Managing three mailing lists for the different reader bases that Lindsay has acquired over the years for different genres and pen names Maintaining a very personable persona in the mailing lists and in discussions with her fans The benefit of hosting a podcast with two other people for the SF & Fantasy Marketing Podcast, compared with the solo podcast (Saavy Self-Publishing) that Lindsay created many years earlier What Lindsay gets out of her guests from being one of the hosts of the SF & Fantasy podcast Why she is happy that she didn't experience a lot of luck early on in her writing success, and, instead, slowly built up her readership over time and how they can become loyal fans Lindsay's one experience writing collaboratively and whether or not she plans on doing that again Some of the reasons why, despite her success, Lindsay hasn't yet hired a personal or virtual assistant The early adoption of audiobooks that Lindsay invested in years before most indie authors began creating audiobooks What Lindsay would tell her younger self who was just beginning as a writer After the interview, Mark reflects on the personal connection that Lindsay enjoys and maintains as an important and authentic element of her author journey. Links of Interest: Lindsay Buroker's Website Lindsay's Facebook Page Lindsay on Twitter Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast Findaway Voices WMG Publishing Anthology Workshop RUSH - Hold Your Fire Album Info Patreon for Stark Reflections Stark Reflections Survey Lindsay Buroker has early memories of convincing childhood friends, pets, and stuffed animals to play the roles of characters in her worlds, so it's safe to say she's been making up stories for a long time. She published her first novel, The Emperor's Edge, in December of 2010 and has written and published more than 50 novels since then, most under her own name, but a few steamier ones under a pen name. When she's not writing, she's usually hiking with her dogs, practicing yoga, playing tennis, or eating entirely too much dark chocolate (she only does one of those things truly well, and she will let you guess which it is). She grew up in the Seattle area but has itchy feet and has moved several times over the years. She most recently landed in Bend, Oregon, where she and her dogs now have eighty acres to roam around on. Someday, she may even have a house on that land. If you're interested in reading more of her work, you can download The Emperor's Edge, Star Nomad, and Balanced on the Blade's Edge for free in your favorite store. 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 Aaron Pogue (President), Kris Austin (CEO) and Toby Nance (CTO), the co-founders of Draft2Digital about how they worked together and played off one another's strengths to create the company. This episode is a bit of a response from a few listeners who heard Mark mention that he recently joined the D2D team, but they weren't familiar with the company. They asked if it might be possible to share a bit of information about what Draft2Digital is all about. If you're not familiar with Draft2Digital, this will provide a decent introduction. And if you think you know Draft2Digital, perhaps there'll also be some deeper info and insights for you to learn even more by pulling a bit of that curtain back on three gentlemen who usually prefer to operate behind the scenes at this author-friendly company. Prior to the interview, Mark talks about the new announcement from this episode's sponsor, Findaway Voices . . .. . . which is called VOICES PLUS. Mark then provides a personal update which includes his recent visit to Oklahoma City to visit the Draft2Digital office, his short story "The Ritual of the Drawing" which recently appeared in the anthology Amazing Monster Tales: Dawn of the Monsters. Mark also mentions his recent appearances on a few other podcasts, including the Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing Podcast and the Disruptor Podcast. In their conversation, Mark, Aaron, Kris and Toby talk about: How Aaron has been a writer since he was six years old and how his interest in self-publishing led to his desire to have a tool to make it easy to publish The fact that the three of them became best friends in college The initial "Google Doc to eBook" conversion tool that was a command line program that Aaron had requested Toby create for him How that tool was the beginning of the collaboration between Aaron and Toby, and Kris to create a platform all authors could benefit from The business proposal Kris put together that involved making a product that gave authors power in the industry Toby's joking description of Aaron as both Draft2Digital's first user and least supported user The company's goals to offer the best customer support of any of the other players in the industry The importance of making the systems and systems easy for non-techical persons The partnership of being there to help writers achieve their writing and publishing goals The origin of Universal Book Links from looking in detail at author problems that everyone knows about but nobody has time to work on (such as allowing the author a single link to their book where readers can choose the retailer where they'd like to purchase that book) How Books to Read links work better the more readers who use it (including the ability for users to set their own prefered store that Books2Read will automatically take them directly to The recently announced Account Sharing Controls that allow for virtual assistants, for example, to manage some of an author's metadata and assets without having access to their more sensitive information, such as banking information The things that they are each most looking forward to as we head into 2019 After the interview, Mark reflects on three things this conversation and recent trip to Oklahoma City made him think about: Personal connections in a digital world, collaboration and being open minded. Links of Interest: Draft2Digital D2D Blog D2D Announcement about Shared Accounts Findaway Voices Voices Plus Announcement Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast Episode 210 Disruptor Podcast Episode 5 Amazing Monster Tales Stark Reflections Episode with Jamie Ferguson (Episode 27) Kelsie Stelting Patreon for Stark Reflections Stark Reflections Survey Aaron Pogue is the President and co-founder of Draft2Digital, a company offering online, author-assistance tools to enhance the business of publishing. Sporting simple but beautiful ebook formatting and conversion as well as easy distribution across some of the most powerful digital stores available, D2D is growing both its market share and its influence in the self-publishing world. Draft2Digital was founded in 2012 and enjoys continued growth and success. Before taking his post at Draft2Digital, Aaron worked as both a Technical Writer with the Federal Aviation Administration and a writing professor at the university level. He holds a Master of Professional Writing degree from the University of Oklahoma. He also self-publishes novels in the fantasy and science fiction genres. His books have sold a quarter of a million copies since his debut in 2010. Kris Austin is the CEO and co-founder of Draft2Digital, a company offering online, author-assistance tools to enhance the business of publishing. Sporting simple but beautiful ebook formatting and conversion as well as easy distribution across some of the most powerful digital stores available, D2D is growing both its market share and its influence in the self-publishing world. Draft2Digital was founded in 2012 and enjoys continued growth and success. Before taking this post with Draft2Digital, Kris worked for a private information technologies firm, where he managed the IT departments of dozens of Oklahoma City businesses. He received a B. S., Computer Science from Oklahoma Christian University in 2004. Toby Nance is the CTO and co-founder of Draft2Digital, a company offering online, author-assistance tools to enhance the business of publishing. Sporting simple but beautiful ebook formatting and conversion as well as easy distribution across some of the most powerful digital stores available, D2D is growing both its market share and its influence in the self-publishing world. Toby has been the head of development for Draft2Digital since its founding in 2012. Before taking this post with Draft2Digital, Toby worked at MSCI as a team lead writing custom workflows in LISP. He also worked on the Core Development Team, improving their tool support for LISP. Before that, he worked as Senior Design Engineer at Lowrance Electronics in charge of automotive mapping. He wrote a turn-by-turn routing navigation system and tides and currents prediction software and maps. 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

Mark interviews author Gary Collins about the simple life, both the name of a series of books as well as the new life he enjoys after some very unique experiences that include military intelligence and Special Agent. Before the interview, Mark shares a personal update that involves flying to Vancouver for the annual CAPS (Canadian Association of Professional Speakers) Convention and then to Oklahoma City to spend some time with his colleagues at Draft2Digital. Mark then says a few words about this episode's sponsor, Findaway Voices . . . In their conversation, Mark and Gary talk about: Gary's long and circuitous approach into publishing, the great lessons learned and passions experienced along the way The concept of not just knowing how the sausage was made but actually being the sausage via his life as a government agent The early 40's burnout Gary experienced, which led to a new beginning and new passions that included health and fitness The valueable mentorship and tough love that Gary experienced from Steven Pressfield Gary's first experience in self-publishing where mistakes were made and more lessons were learned Books that were derived from trying to provide information to clients without having to repeat the same info over and over The purchase of twenty acres of land and building a house off the grid and the resulting influx of questions about it that led to another book The process of saving money for six months, then building for another six months, then working and saving money for the next period, in a repeated cycle How the sales of the book about the simple life and going off the grid attracted a distribution company The mistakes on Gary's path and how he didn't find his purpose, but his purpose found him How Gary doesn't rely on scheduling for his writing, but the disclipline involved when he actually sits down 20Booksto50K being the first writer conference that Gary has ever attended and the fortuitous break of being able to attend after being on the waiting list for the sold-out show Learning the importance of integrating oneself with other writers How Mark and Gary connected via the RUSH shirt that Gary had been wearing one day at 20Booksto50K The fact that Gary will go ahead and reach out to anyone without any fear because "what's the worst that can happen?" Gary's withdrawl from social media in the past year and his belief on how it can suck the life out of a person Advice on how to adapt the simple life methodology into one's life How a person's purpose can change over time, and the reality that the purpose doesn't have to be dramatic or enormous The importance of putting effort into the positive rather than into the negative After the interview, Mark reflects on the idea of "reaching out to anyone" and explores the possible risk along with the possible opportunity involved in that. Links of Interest: Gary's Website CAPS Findaway Voices Patreon for Stark Reflections Stark Reflections Survey Gary Collins has a very interesting and unique background that includes military intelligence, Special Agent for the U.S. State Department Diplomatic Security Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Collins' background and expert knowledge brings a much-needed perspective to today's areas of simple living, health, nutrition, entrepreneurship, self-help and being more self-reliant. His website www.thesimplelifenow.com, and The Simple Life book series (his total lifestyle reboot), blows the lid off of conventional life and wellness expectations, and is considered essential for every person seeking a simpler, and happier life. Gary now lives off-the-grid part of the year in a remote area of NE Washington State, and the other part of year exploring in his travel trailer with his trusty black lab Barney. 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 Rachel Amplett, the author of the successful Dan Taylor and Kay Hunter police procedural thrillers as well as stand alone thrillers and mystery novels. The interview includes a lot of information related to this episode's sponsor, Findaway Voices . . .Mark shares a bit of an update about the the new Authors Direct option that Findaway Voices is beta testing. In their chat, Mark and Rachel talk about: What compelled Rachel to writing in the first place. The confusing and conflicting messages she received from different publishers when shopping her first Dan Taylor novel around. How Rachel started out in indie publishing a stand alone novel, WHITE GOLD, seven years ago after a suggestion from a friend (and how it all started with a Goodreads page and an author account at Smashwords). The emails from readers around the world that prompted Rachel to write a sequel to her first novel; something she hadn't planned in the first place. How the experience of being approached by a publisher in Italy interested in publishing an Italian version of her novel WHITE GOLD (having found her "by accident") prompted her to see what could be done by applying her experince as a project administrator into a business plan with marketing efforts, which she started at 2015. The fact that Kobo was the first retail platform where her sales really started to take off after a 99 cent BookBub deal. Being so successful that she was able to go full time as writer without having actually "broken out" in the US, the one market that seems to be the easiest for authors to break into. Getting into the audiobook market relatively early as part of a strategic business plan. Investing some of the money that was coming in from Rachel's Kay Hunter novels into the creation of the audiobooks and the stacked-up rapid release of the first several books in the series within a couple of months. The producer and narrator Rachel found in the UK for the audiobooks. How the narrator, Alison Campbell, has become the voice of Kay Hunter for Rachel and many of her listening readership. The challenge of staying on the exhausting "hamster wheel" that a writer can find themselves on working on steady releases and how Rachel is avoiding burn-out by strategic scheduling and the inclusion of passion projects. How success can come from sitting down at the end of a project and engaging in an exercise of "lessons learned." The early success Rachel has seen via Findaway Voices sales at Playster. How you can never know where in the world the sales of your books can come from. What happens when you try something a little bit different and focus on the niche markets that are working for you. How Rachel Findaway Voices Authors Direct program was a Godsend. How a large portion of Rachel's print books sell to libraries around the world - a great way for readers to read their favorite authors for free in eBook, print and audio. The things Rachel thinks will be the most important for authors to think about in the next year. After the interview, Mark shares his thoughts on the success Rachel had outside of Amazon as well as her systematic project management process that helps keep her on track and balanced in her writing life. He then shares a few appearances he had recently on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing Podcast as well as in a Reedsy live webinar about selling more on Kobo. Links of Interest: Rachel Amplett's Website Facebook Twitter Instagram Rachel's Novels Kay Hunter Series English Spy Mysteries Dan Taylor Series Standalone Thrillers Rachel's Shop Direct Audiobook link (via Authors Direct) Mark's Shop Direct Audiobook link (via Authors Direct) Findaway Voices Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast - EP 210: Selling More at Kobo and Relying Less on Amazon Reedsy Webinar (Video Replay) - Getting Your Book Featured on Kobo The 7 P's of Publishing Success Killing It On Kobo Patreon for Stark Reflections Stark Reflections Survey Before turning to writing, Rachel Amphlett played guitar in bands, worked as a TV and film extra, dabbled in radio as a presenter and freelance producer for the BBC, and worked in publishing as a sub-editor and editorial assistant. She now wields a pen instead of a plectrum and writes crime fiction and spy novels, including the Dan Taylor espionage novels and the Detective Kay Hunter series. After living in Brisbane, Australia for 13 years, Rachel has now returned to the UK. She's a member of International Thriller Writers and the Crime Writers Association, with the Italian foreign rights for her debut novel, White Gold sold to Fanucci Editore's TIMECrime imprint, and the first four books in the Dan Taylor espionage series contracted to Germany's Luzifer Verlag. Her novels are available in eBook, paperback and audiobook formats from worldwide retailers including Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, and Google Play. A keen traveller, Rachel holds both EU and Australian passports and can usually be found plotting her next trip two years in advance! 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 reflects on five of the many things he has learned on the journey through the first fifty episodes of this podcast. Those five things are within the theme of: GLOBAL IS MORE GLOBAL THAN JUST GLOBAL THE POWER OF AUDIENCE FEEDBACK THE POWER OF COMMUNITY & THINKING BEYOND ONGOING GROWTH & IMPORTANCE OF COLLABORATION BRANDING & PROFESSIONALISM Throughout the five points (which do overlap), Mark mentions many different episodes and interviews that came to mind as he was drawing these themes. Links of Interest: Stark Reflections Survey The 7 P's of Publishing Success Killing It On Kobo Patreon for Stark Reflections

Henry David Thoreau said: "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you imagined." In this episode's interview, Mark speaks with musician and writer Tommy Ray about how he had done just that. They talk about Tommy's experience of how he took a dream (an actual dream) and transitioned it into reality by listening to his heart and trusting his instincts in recreating his life. Before the interview Mark shares a quick personal update that includes: Being interviewed by Joanna Penn for a forthcoming episode of The Creative Penn podcast, which will air on Dec 24, 2018 A shout-out to Patrons of the show who support this podcast via www.patreon.com/starkreflections - By saving up the monthly funds Mark was able to order a higher quality microphone for the podcast The printed proof copies of THE 7 P'S OF PUBLISHING SUCCESS that Mark sourced locally, but will be distributing to all retailers as a POD file through Draft2Digital's new beta D2DPRINT option The "Kobo Publishing: Getting Your Book Featured" Webinar Mark will be hosting via Reedsy Live on Wed Dec 5th Mark then shares a word about the podcast's sponsor, Findaway Voices . . .In their chat, Mark and Tommy talk about: The origin of Tommy's dream mid year in 2015 that had him jumping into his pickup truck and traveling across America to play and share his music How Tommy was also inspired by books from authors Paulo Coehlo and Dan Millman as well as music from artists like Cat Stevens How long music has been a part of Tommy's life (including a memorable photo of Tommy as a young child standing next to a guitar) The concept of being "meant to live a creative life" Music Tommy wrote that was derived from the experience of following the creative dream The preplanning that involved reaching out to 100 venues Tommy had intended on playing in (but not having heard back from any of them) The two award nominations that Tommy rec'd prior to his trip (which altered his trip from a full year to 7 week one, where he drove through 15 trips and clocked 9,000 miles) Zama (population 36), the town where Tommy was born and where his father lived most of his life How Tommy's experience as a musician intertwines with his creative writing The extensive research that Tommy did to teach himself writing, and to learn about publishing and how to find support, such as editors and cover designers for his books Tommy's use of 3 editors on his book RAMBLING ACROSS AMERICA Maintaining passion, strength and integrity when the road is difficult Tommy's temporary return to a day job where he currently is: St. Croix of the US Virgin Islands The preference Tommy has for playing his own music rather than playing cover songs at the local bar The way that being on stage as a musician is easier for Tommy than the prose he shares via the page The new series of dark/horror fiction that Tommy has started writing, inspired by actual dreams and actual mental and emotional torment, starting with the book MIRROR OF PERCEPTION How you should never take this life for granted and how you can leave your mark on this world in a positive and optimistic way After the interview, Mark talks about Tommy's creativity and his relentless optimism and passion for living a creative life. He finds it fitting that, at the same time he was producing this episode he was watching his friend Julie Strauss post updates about the catch-up she has been doing on her latest novel for NaNoWriMo. What Mark loves about the past week of writing sprints in which Julie is trying to catch up for some lost writing time during the month, that love is that, as frustrated and restless as she is, she hasn't once stopped digging into the work with all her heart and soul. And she is turning the angst into hilarious and cheeky updates so many other writers are cheering her on for while being entertained by her musings of the writer's struggle. Mark then plays a short sample of Tommy's song Zama, reflecting on the creative life and the places we have all called home, lived in and loved. Links of Interest: Tommy Ray Books Tommy Ray Music Tommy Ray Insights (Blog) Tommy Ray's Email: tommy@tommyraybooks.com Tommy Ray's YouTube Channel Findaway Voices The 7 P's of Publishing Success Killing It On Kobo Patreon for Stark Reflections Julie Strauss's Website Episode 35 (Featuring Julie Strauss) Stark Reflections Survey Tommy Ray chooses to become an author to create value and inspiration to the world. He desires all to leave their mark, do not take this life for granted, as well as never give up on your dreams. He has always been inspired by travel adventure tales of real-life journeys. He always had a voice inside of him telling him he desired to live his life through a creative voice. For many years, he ignored the voice to follow other endeavors, but the voice was always there and increasing in volume. Tommy loves to travel, write, compose, blog along with performing. He decided it was how he desired to spend his life. "Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations,"-Unknown. To add to his catalog, he recently created the "Amid the Blackness" series. Short stories which fall in the suspense category. Keep a look-out for upcoming music from Tommy Ray along with future books as "The Country Boy."

In this episode, Mark chats with Andrea Pearson, an author, a marketing guru and a mother. We talk about how she balances all three roles, about the tools she uses, her latest fiction, how she manages to get so much writing done as well as some of her personal takeways from the recent WMG Business Master Class workshop she had attended. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update about the status of some of his recent November goals, which include the print version of his two recent non-fiction books about writing and publishing (The 7 P's of Publishing Success & Killing It On Kobo). Mark also shares a word about the podcast's sponsor, Findaway Voices . . . During the interview Mark and Andrea discuss: The genesis of the Self-Publish Strong podcast where Andrea and her husband Nolan discuss movies in a way that writers can learn from The motivational marketing or publishing tips/quotes provided in each and every episode of the podcast The balanced blend between comedy and instruction that the two balance in their episodes Andrea's desire to help people and how that led to various tools and resources within her Self Publish Strong brand The fiction Andrea writes, including a new urban fantasy book which is her latest release (The Shade Amulet) How having children has helped Andrea become more structured and write more books The software that Andrea uses for dictating her novels (and the high volume of works she can create in an hour of dictation) Additional take-aways Andrea reflects upon from the recent WMG Publishing workshop The work that Andrea's virtual assistant does for her vs the work she does herself How hiring a virtual assistant paid for itself because of how it cleared up Andrea more time to publish more books Marketing advice for authors who are just beginning After the interview, Mark reflects upon one of the things Andrea said regarding the needless stress authors often place on themselves when looking at their lack of sales, or, conversely, a great sales trend - particularly when that time could be better spent working on the next book. Links of Interest: Andrea's Author Website Andrea's Books Andrea's Self Publishing Strong Website Episode 38 of the Self Publishing Strong Website (Takeaways from the Vegas WMG Business Master Class) Findaway Voices The 7 P's of Publishing Success Killing It On Kobo Patreon for Stark Reflections Stark Reflections Survey USA Today bestselling author Andrea Pearson has been a leader in the indie author arena since early 2011, with 50+ books under her belt and over a hundred articles published on professional blogs and websites. She hosts the popular Self-Publish Strong podcast that focuses on both publishing and craft, and she offers multiple online courses that surround her favorite topic: marketing. Andrea was executive director for Indie Author Hub for a year and a half, and she is frequently invited to teach reader engagement through advanced newsletter marketing tactics and successful promotional campaigns at conferences and workshops. Andrea has been interviewed on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing podcast, the Rocking Self-Publishing podcast, and the Author Hangout. She has guest posted on JA Konrath's A Newbie's Guide to Publishing blog, and her tips have been mentioned several times on the Sell More Books Show.

If you are familiar with the Self Publishing Formula Podcast, you'll likely recognize James Blatch as Mark Dawson's right-hand man; his co-host, or, perhaps, his co-pilot for the podcast. But in this episode Mark puts James in the pilots seat with a focus on Blatch's own writing, his background as a reporter, a videographer and, of course, as a pilot. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a word from the podcast's sponsor, Findaway Voices . . .In his personal update, Mark reflects upon the recent death of Stan Lee and talks about the impact Lee's writing had on him, and, in particular, the influence that the character Peter Parker (Spider-Man's alter-ego) had. In the interview, Mark and James talk about: The type of specific videos or books that lend themselves best to YouTube videos VS Facebook videos How videos for most authors, specifically fiction authors, is a medium that can be used to connect and engage with a community of readers The intimacy of radio and digital audio format A bit about James' experience at the BBC and how the skills, particularly of his final few years there lent to this new role as a co-host of the Self Publishing Formula Podcast James' first writing experiences as a young man and his more recent NaNoWriMo experience where his current novel came to him in a single flash of inspiration The evolution of this novel with various feedback from readers and editors The turning point moment for James of meeting and working with editor Jennie Nash Jennie's prompting question: "Why do you need to tell this story" and all that question sparked in James Other questions that Jennie asked or prompts given that helped with the re-imagining of the way the story was unrolled The origin of his love for aviation How James is an even split between the exuberant mother and his reserved and "stiff-upper-lip" father James' recent experience in Florda flying with Nathan van Coops (from episode 38) The advice that James would go back and give to himself when he was just starting After the interview, Mark reflects upon the latest "catastrophy" in the indie publishing space, the recent disappearance of the buy buttons on Amazon for thousands of titles. He offers a reflection on the likely reason for this odd phenomenon and then suggests that much time is wasted worrying over the matter instead of working on the next book. He also considers, if it truly is the negative thing authors think it might be, it's yet another reason why authors shouldn't be putting all their eggs in a single basket. Links of Interest: James Blatch's Website The Last Flight James Blatch on Twitter The Self Publishing Formula Podcast Episode 133 - The Author Accelerator with Jennie Nash Findaway Voices Stan Lee Spider-Man A Canadian Werewolf in New York Kobo NaNoWriMo Patreon for Stark Reflections Stark Reflections Survey James Blatch is co-host of the Self Publishing Formula podcast. He is a former BBC Television News reporter and is currently writing his first novel, a military thriller set in 1960s Britain. 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 Phillip McCollum about an intriguing project of writing 52 stories in 52 weeks. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a word from the podcast's sponsor, Findaway Voices . . . . . . and then a personal update which includes a push-up challenge he participated in at the 20Booksto50K conference in Vegas. Michael Anderle instigated this challenge for a good cause, with the following companies each donating $150 to the cause LMBPN Publishing Kobo Draft2Digital BookFunnel Reedsy $750 USD was raised for two worthy charities in a push-up challenge between Mark and Christine Munroe from Kobo. Chrissy's chosen charity was Children's Book Bank and Mark's chosen charity was First Book Canada. Mark thanks the companies previously mentioned for their generosity to two great children's reading programs and then also thanks new Stark Reflections Patron, Katie Cross, for supporting the podcast via www.patreon.com/starkreflections. In the interview Phillip and Mark talk about: The genres that Phillip tends to write in most often How long Phillip has been writing Thoughts about NaNoWriMo and other similar "competitions" to help inspired writers to write Phillip's inspiration for the 52 stories in 52 weeks, which was derived from Ray Bradbury The discipline involved in undertaking such an endeavor on starting each week on Monday morning and posting the story by Sunday night The typical word count of the stories that Phillip wrote during this process The importance of being adaptable and recognizing that you might not always reach every single goal you set Plans that Phillip has for the stories which included 3 ebooks: 1 for writers (52 Stories in 52 Weeks) and 2 for readers (splitting them into two volumes of 26 stories: Fantastic Shorts Vol 1 and Vol 2) Feedback that Phillip has received on the notes added to the stories Forthcoming challenges that Phillip has in mind to keep challenging himself as a writer Things that Phillip learned about himself as a writer by taking this challenge After the interview, Mark talks about the importance of challenges that impose deadlines and require a writer to actually get their butt in the chair and their hands on the keyboard. He also reminds writers of the importance of the "fail to success" theory from Dean Wesley Smith that Phillip mentions. If you try to hit a certain word count, for example, and don't make it, instead of fretting about the missed words, focus on the words that have actually been written, or the parts of the goal that were actually accomplished. Links of Interest: Phillip McCollum's website Phillip McCollum on Twitter Findaway Voices Draft2Digital Kobo Bookfunnel Reedsy NaNoWriMo Patreon for Stark Reflections Stark Reflections Survey Phillip McCollum spent 52 weeks writing 52 short stories in an effort to prove to himself that he might be cut out for this writing thing after all. He hails from Southern California where he shares living quarters with his wife, son, an old cat, and young betta fish. 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