Become a Writer Today

Deadlines, should you be afraid of them? How much do you plan your books or even your series of books? In my early twenties, I learned one important lesson - the importance of deadlines. Deadlines can help you write book chapters, sections of your book, and even your entire book on time. They can also help you work with editors and then ship it so you can start earning book royalties.If you need help setting deadlines for your book, I recommend that you break it down into smaller milestones. So, rather than saying I'm going to write a book in six months, tell yourself I'm going to write act one in one month, and put that date in your Google Calendar.More experienced authors will use this approach to map out an entire series, and that's something that this week's guest did.His name is Mark Pawlosky. He's an experienced journalist who worked for CNBC and the Wall Street Journal.In this episode, we discuss:The importance of deadlinesMark's approach to planning out an entire seriesTurning a book into an audioResources:WebsiteSupport the showIf you enjoyed the show please leave a review on Apple. And if you have any questions you can find me on Twitter @BryanJCollinsThanks for listening!

Over the years, I've interviewed nearly 200 guests for the Become a Writer Today podcast. These days, I get pitched a lot from potential interviewees. If you're thinking of pitching another show to appear as a podcast guest, ask yourself if your message or book is relevant to their audience. There's no point appearing on a podcast simply because it's popular.A good podcast guest also has an actionable piece of advice to share. They'll prepare in advance and have a compelling story their audience can relate to. Guest podcasting is a fantastic way to sell your book if you get all of this right. Readers often engage with an article for a limited period, say 60 or 90 seconds. On the other hand, a podcast listener usually stays engaged for much longer, perhaps 20 or 30 minutes.That's a long time to hold somebody's attention. And if you've listened to a podcast for that long, you're much more likely to buy copies of that person's book, join their email list, or perhaps purchase one of their courses.This week's interviewee has interviewed many more podcast guests than I have. In fact, he's published over 1,000 podcast episodes since he launched the Create Your Own Life podcast in 2014.He's also published a new book based on lessons from his interviewees called Unremarkable to Extraordinary.His name is Jeremy Slate.In this episode, we discuss:Using guest podcasting to sell more copies of your bookHow to get a spot on somebody else's podcast How to be a good podcast guestIf it's too late to start a podcastResources:Jeremy's Websites:Command Your BrandJeremyRyanSlate.comJeremy's Socials:TwitterFacebookInstagramLinkedInYouTubeSupport the showIf you enjoyed the show please leave a review on Apple. And if you have any questions you can find me on Twitter @BryanJCollinsThanks for listening!

Turning events from everyday life into stories is critical for nonfiction writing. It's also vital if you want to become a columnist, and it's even a practice that can help with your fiction.Years ago, I had a dream of becoming a columnist. I sent off dozens of job applications. Eventually, I got a response: "Bryan, you could only become a columnist if you're somebody who people know and feel that their writing is worth reading." In other words, I didn't have any name recognition because I was a new writer.Thankfully, these days, it's much easier to become a columnist. In fact, many traditional newspaper columnists are leaving the conventional print world to build relationships directly with their readers on Substack and other platforms like Ghost.Nevertheless, you still need anecdotes and stories that you can turn into column entries because a good column is about more than an idea or writing about whatever is on your mind. And that's the key takeaway from this week's interviewee, Matthew Dicks, a professional storyteller, and columnist for not one but three different publications. In this episode, we discuss:How to turn life events into pieces for fiction or nonfictionMatthews's simple storytelling exercise, Homework for LifeWhat it takes to maintain a daily writing routineResources:Matthew's book on AmazonYou'll find him on social media here:FacebookTwitterYouTubeSupport the showIf you enjoyed the show please leave a review on Apple. And if you have any questions you can find me on Twitter @BryanJCollinsThanks for listening!

How can you write if you’re experiencing chronic pain?Chronic pain is terrible if you’re a writer because it can prevent you from producing your word count for the day. I know because I’ve experienced migraines on and off over the years. They usually occur when I’m stressed, dehydrated, or tired. When I experience a migraine, I find it exceptionally difficult to look at a computer screen or a phone.I tried to push through the pain at one point, but this didn’t work for me. So now, when I experience a migraine, I immediately go for a rest, even if that means calling it a day. I have to accept that I need to deal with the migraine and not try and push through it because it’ll just make things worse. That got me thinking, how can I still move a creative project forward if I’m experiencing chronic pain? My answer is somewhat similar to the solution that this week’s guest found. His name is Oliver Mol, and he has a truly impactful story about writing with chronic pain, what it did for his creative process, and how he overcame it. In this episode, we discuss:How Oliver turned his experience into a piece of narrative nonfictionWhat his creative writing process looks like todayUsing fractional or atomic writing to get the job doneResources:Train Lord Book LinkSupport the showIf you enjoyed the show please leave a review on Apple. And if you have any questions you can find me on Twitter @BryanJCollinsThanks for listening!

How niche should you go with your books? This week's interviewee is Dr. Guy Windsor. He's well known as a martial arts instructor who teaches people the art of sword fighting, but he's also a well-known author in this particular genre or niche. In fact, he's published over 30 books on the subject, and he's created courses too.I first came across Guy Windsor's work in 2015 when he appeared on The Creative Penn Podcast hosted by Joanna Penn, but he's been writing about martial arts and sword fighting and teaching all of the ideas in his books for over 20 years.So, I was fascinated to catch up with somebody who is, firstly, able to sustain an interest in such a niche or specific topic for so long and, secondly, in somebody who was writing about a topic that would have a really specific market.In this episode, we discuss:Combining your real-world interests with your writing interestsUsing Amazon as a lead generation toolHow to format and translate your books appropriatelyThe importance of discipline and motivation in your craftResources:Website: Sword SchoolSupport the showIf you enjoyed the show please leave a review on Apple. And if you have any questions you can find me on Twitter @BryanJCollinsThanks for listening!

How can search engine optimization help you write? If you’re starting a blog, a content publishing website, or writing online, there are two things that you need to do, spend time actually writing and then figure out how people will find and read your work.You can do this in many different ways, from social media marketing to paid advertising, using your email list, and using search engine optimization.Every writer working online today could benefit from search engine optimization simply because you can use relatively affordable and even free tools to figure out what your readers are searching for. Then you can use this information to create and write articles on content that ranks.This week, I have an exciting guest. His name is Kevin Indig. He runs a popular newsletter that’s all about search engine optimization. He also likes to experiment with the latest SEO tools and has a research and writing process that any writer will recognize.In this episode, we discuss:How to approach SEOHow SEO enables writers to become more creativeHow writers can find an audienceResources:WebsiteLinkedInTwitter: @kevin_indigSupport the showIf you enjoyed the show please leave a review on Apple. And if you have any questions you can find me on Twitter @BryanJCollinsThanks for listening!

What does it take to succeed on Substack today? And if you're thinking of starting your Substack newsletter, are you too late to the party? Over the past few years, I've interviewed several popular Substack newsletter owners. I even interviewed the co-founder of Substack, Hamish McKenzie.Substack has gotten a lot more popular since I first featured it on the Become a Writer Today Show. Now it's used by journalists, writers, fiction writers, novelists, bloggers, and all types of creatives worldwide. In fact, it's so popular that it can seem difficult if you're using Substack for the first time to build a popular newsletter.This week, I caught up with a Substack fellow, her name is Elle Griffin, and she runs the popular Substack newsletter, The Novelist. It has excellent advice and a great take on book writing and becoming an author versus writing a Substack newsletter. Elle also used her newsletter to serialize a book of fiction that she wrote during the pandemic.In this episode, we discuss:Why you should consider a newsletter over a bookHow Substack has evolvedThe inbuilt discovery in the platform to attract subscribersThe future of publishing for creators and writersElle's take on Web 3.0 platformsResources:NewsletterSupport the showIf you enjoyed the show please leave a review on Apple. And if you have any questions you can find me on Twitter @BryanJCollinsThanks for listening!

What should you do if you want to write across genres? And how can you sustain a rewarding and lasting creative career? Perhaps writing across genres is the way to do it. I spend a lot of time thinking about what genre to write in. Like many readers, I like to consume lots of different genres. What you read usually informs what you write, so if you find yourself reading multiple genres, that may explain why you want to write across more than one genre. And it can be rewarding to do so because you learn what readers expect from different genres and enjoy different kinds of stories. Of course, the key challenge with writing across genres is that readers from genre A may not necessarily follow you to genre B.From a purely pragmatic and business decision, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to try writing across different genres because you could potentially split your audience, and you’ll have to work a little harder to promote your books. But, from a creative process, writing across genres is a lot more rewarding. Plus, it’s fun too.So, I’m still interested in tackling new genres and approaching various forms of storytelling, and I always love catching up with authors who have successfully done this.One of those authors is Mark Leslie Lefebvre. He’s an author, professional speaker, and bookseller, and he’s written everything from paranormal romance to horror to thrillers to nonfiction and so on.He’s got over a quarter of a century of experience in the bookselling industry. In this episode, we discuss:That it’s actually okay to write across genresYou can still earn a living from writing across genresHow to be patient and find your readersUsing email to reach readers and other marketing activitiesCollaborating with both fiction and nonfiction authorsResources: WebsiteSupport the showIf you enjoyed the show please leave a review on Apple. And if you have any questions you can find me on Twitter @BryanJCollinsThanks for listening!

Have you ever considered taking one of your old nonfiction books and rewriting it? It can take months to come up with the first draft, edit it, and turn it into something you're happy to send to an editor. Then when you get feedback, you'll probably spend more time fixing it. That's to say nothing of sending a book to beta readers who may have additional queries and clarifications for you. So, by the time you've finished the process, you're likely ready to move on. But what if the time comes when the ideas in the book have changed, and there are new concepts, more information, or perhaps better stories that could help your readers?Several years ago, I invited Mike Michalowicz on the Become a Writer Today Podcast. His nonfiction business books are fantastic. I particularly got a lot of help from Clockwork and his other book, Profit First.  Clockwork is all about how to accomplish more without necessarily burning yourself out. Profit First is all about how to organize finances in a small business.Mike spent a lot of time working with the ideas inside of Clockwork, teaching them to students, and delivering them through public speaking. He realized there were ideas that he wanted to retell and share differently. So, he set out to rewrite Clockwork and recently published a new edition. Mike came back to the show to explain how the rewriting process went. In this episode, we discuss:tips for rewriting a nonfiction bookidentifying your core competencieshow Mike uses outsourcing, and whyResources:Mike's WebsiteSupport the showIf you enjoyed the show please leave a review on Apple. And if you have any questions you can find me on Twitter @BryanJCollinsThanks for listening!

Some nonfiction books are harder to write than others. If you're an expert in a topic, sometimes you can just bang out a couple of thousand words, repeat for a few days, weeks, and months, and publish your nonfiction book. In fact, many successful nonfiction authors have built careers by publishing short nonfiction books that cover a specific topic and then publishing these books frequently. Now, this writing workflow doesn't work for every genre or niche. What if you're writing something that's more technical and involves more research or drawing on your expertise in a field? What if you're writing a psychology book, for example? My guest this week is a professional psychotherapist working in London. His new book, Other People: Something You Should Know, is a must-read for anybody interested in learning more about mental health and its triggers. For this particular book, Jonathan drew on his professional expertise and the years he spent reading the latest literature and academic papers and working with his clients or patients. In this episode, we discuss:Jonathan's writing journey, which started in mergers and acquisitionsHow Jonathan approaches his research for booksHow every author needs a system for researchJonathan's goals for this particular bookThe merits of journaling, meditation, and therapyResources:Website: http://jonathancoppin.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-coppin-27058a3b/?originalSubdomain=ukSupport the showIf you enjoyed the show please leave a review on Apple. And if you have any questions you can find me on Twitter @BryanJCollinsThanks for listening!