The Wordslinger Podcast

Jesper Schmidt is a fantasy author, living in Denmark, but has a Finnish sauna to thank for getting into writing. CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): www.jesperschmidt.com Twitter handle(s): @schmidtjesper Facebook: http://bit.ly/28NJQXO Amazon Author page: http://amzn.to/28VRmvrTHIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS:Will Amazon offer 50% royalty? — If you’ve published using Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing service, you’re probably aware that Amazon offers two royalty options: 35% if your ebook is under $2.99, and 70% if it’s priced $2.99 to $9.99. But this past week, Amazon snuck in a surprise 50% option. It wasn’t clickable, and it disappeared as suddenly as it appeared. And as yet, no one knows what it might mean for sure. But the rumor mill has it now, and speculation is running wild. The most common hope/rumor: Amazon  may start offering 50% royalty for non-exclusive books, and allowing authors to utilize services currently reserved for exclusive works. What do you think? Is a non-exclusive KDP in our future? And what would that mean for indie authors? https://goodereader.com/blog/digital-publishing/amazon-accidentally-drops-a-50-royalty-bombshellWattpad gets $51M —Toronto-based Wattpad is a storytelling app that allows users to write and publish shorts stories, articles, and even books, a chapter at a time, for readers to enjoy, comment on, and upvote. The company has just gotten a pretty significant financial boost from investors and venture capitalists, to the tune of $51million, bringing Wattpad’s total funding to $117.8 million, US so far. The company will fold this cash infusion into improving its tech platform, in an effort to “empower diverse storytellers all over rate world, helping them build a community of passionate readers,” according to CEO Allen Lau. Lau also said that an objective of the company is to connect Hollywood with stories that could have a bigger audience appeal. What could this mean for indie authors? Is this an opportunity to grab at a movie deal, or will Wattpad be just another slush pile for studios to pick through?   http://deadline.com/2018/01/wattpad-gets-51m-injection-from-investor-group-will-expand-its-tech-1202248461/Could Amazon Same-Day Delivery Disrupt Book Printing? — John Conley, CEO of Borderland Advisors, has 42 years in the business, and he believes Amazon has a shot at redefining book printing as an industry, stating that Amazon’s same-day delivery requirements will force a necessary change to the business. Offset printing isn’t going anywhere, Conley insists, but digital and on-demand are causing a building tsunami that will alter the DNA of the industry. Could this give indie publishers a strategic advantage? With authors regularly writing and publishing at an astoundingly rapid rate, will same-day delivery be the tool that tips the balance of power in publishing? Let me know in the comments.   http://www.piworld.com/xchange/business-management/john-conley/ THIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY:Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslingerKDP Rocket—Take control, get more readers, increase your Kindle rankings. https://bit.ly/kdpslinger Support this show: Subscribe and share!Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcastPick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe

Joe & Kait Russo are full-time travelers, living in a travel van with their husky, Leo, as they travel the country to see what adventures they can find. Their popular YouTube channel, We're the Russos, informs thousands of would-be travelers about the ins, outs, and in-betweens of life on the road.CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s):https://weretherussos.com/ youtube.com/weretherussos Twitter handle(s): @weretherussos Facebook: facebook.com/weretherussosAmazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Joe-Russo/e/B0756TCVKC THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS:Smashwords hasn’t been hacked, but you might be — Smashwords, aka the “other” eBook aggregator service, sent an announcement to users stating that they’ve noted attempts to hack the service. In an email to users, Smashwords stated, “The security team here at Smashwords has detected multiple attempts by cybercriminals attempting to log in to Smashwords author accounts using stolen email/password combinations…To date, we’re aware of two authors who were victimized. Working with our payments partner PayPal we managed to recover the funds for one author earlier today and will continue pressing them to do the same for the other.” The service assured users that they had not been hacked but they encourage Smashwords users to change their passwords to something secure and strong, right away. So how about you? Does this vulnerability impact you at all?  https://goodereader.com/blog/indie-author-news/smashwords-was-not-hacked-but-change-your-passwordSFWA joins Author’s Guild and others to speak out about Open Library. The Internet Archive is back in the news again, as author groups speak out about alleged copyright infringement, thanks in large part to its Open Library initiative. The service was intended to be a sort of virtual library, where readers could check out works by various authors, and check them back in without retaining copies for themselves. Internet Archive holds to a somewhat sketchy position that if one has purchased the rights to a copy of the book, one is legally allowed to lend that book to others. What makes this tricky is, they’re right. Sort of. But the legality surrounding electronically transmitted copyrighted properties is still in a primordial ooze, with a lot of questions still to be answered. Many author groups, including SFWA and the Author’s Guild, see this as infringement, while some see it as functionally no different than services such as OverDrive, which allows libraries to purchase a license to distribute a book, and to distribute it in essentially the exact way Open Library is doing it. The key difference—Open Library is scanning legally purchased print books, as well as purchasing ebooks, to create its offering. So is this infringement? Is it violating copyright? Tell me in the comments.  http://www.sfwa.org/2018/01/infringement-alert/Could Mickey Mouse become public domain? Probably not, but Steamboat Willie, the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, is set to enter the public domain in 2024. This comes two decades after Disney and other entertainment industry giants successfully lobbied to have copyright extended by 20 years, even for work that had already been created. This was a blow to intellectual property law, which is essentially meant to encourage new and original works. Oddly, at the moment no one is pushing any legislation to extended these rights further, meaning properties created in 1923 and beyond will start entering public domain soon. And here, a happy time can be had by all, as artists, writers, filmmakers, and other creatives gain access to a wealth of old content they can bend, fold, mutilate, and remix into new content. Does this breathe life into past work, or perpetuate the entertainment industry’s habit of falling back to cultivated ground, rather than pushing ahead into new frontiers? You tell me, in the comments.  https://boingboing.net/2018/01/08/sonny-bono-is-dead.htmlTHIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY:Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslingerKDP Rocket—Take control, get more readers, increase your Kindle rankings. https://bit.ly/kdpslinger Support this show: Subscribe and share!Support us on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/kevintumlinsonPick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe

J. Thorn is a Top 100 Most Popular Author in Horror, Science Fiction, Action & Adventure and Fantasy (Amazon Author Rank). He has published over one million words and has sold more than 170,000 books worldwide. In March of 2014 Thorn held the #5 position in Horror alongside his childhood idols Dean Koontz and Stephen King (at #4 and #2 respectively). He is an official, active member of the Horror Writers Association and a member of the Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers.CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s):http://jthorn.nethttp://theauthorcopilot.com/retreatauthorsonatrain.com Twitter handle(s):@JThorn_Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JThornwriter/ Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/J.-Thorn/e/B004ZVF3MK/THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS:Goodreads will now charge for its giveaways program, making it harder for readers to discover indie books - the Amazon-owned service announced that it will begin charging authors and publishers for what was once a free service, the ability to create and manage contests to give away free books to readers. Authors can now expect to pay between $119 and $599 for the service. It remains to be seen whether authors will actually use it, or will instead go and use BookFunnel.com to do it better anyway. https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/29/16714972/goodreads-giveaways-program-changing-standard-premium-tiers-authorsAmazon is launching yet another new imprint, this time focused on the Kindle Singles store. Amazon Original Stories will release short fiction and nonfiction works that can be read in a single sitting. These will be free to Prime and KU subscribers, and otherwise cost $1.99 per download. I personally love this idea, particularly for essay writing. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/75489-amazon-publishing-launches-new-imprint.htmlNick Thacker is making soundtracks for authors. His new service, Sonata and Scribe, aims to provide original, orchestrated musical soundtracks for indie authors to use as part of their marketing and promotion, or even as an additional revenue stream. He’s making a few tracks for me right now, and they sound amazing.Check out SontaAndScribe.com http://sonataandscribe.comTHIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY:Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslingerKDP Rocket—Take control, get more readers, increase your Kindle rankings. https://bit.ly/kdpslinger Support this show: Subscribe and share!Support us on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/kevintumlinsonPick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe

Tim Knox is a bestselling author of over a dozen books in the fiction and nonfiction genres, the ghostwriter of over 100 books, editor, author coach, and digital publishing expert. CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s):- http://findabookeditor.com   - http://timknox.com   - http://timknoxbooks.com   - http://entrepreneur-code.com   - http://interviewingauthors.com  Twitter handle(s): @timknox Facebook: timknoxbooks MENTIONS:Wordslinger Podcast on YouTube: http://bit.ly/WordslingerPodcast THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS:Draft2Digital announced that it now distributes to AmazonPronoun accounted that it’s closing its doors in January 2018Brian Meeks is now offering a full-on Amazon Ads for Authors course https://meeks-master-classes.teachable.com/THIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY:Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslingerKDP Rocket—Take control, get more readers, increase your Kindle rankings. https://bit.ly/kdpslinger Support this show: Subscribe and share!Support us on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/kevintumlinsonPick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe

Dale L. Roberts is an accomplished self-published author, former personal trainer and YouTube content creator. While he loves to read and write, Dale’s greatest passions include spending time with his wife and cat, watching wrestling and making funny videosCONNECT ONLINE:Website(s):http://dalelroberts.comhttp://SelfPublishingWithDale.com  Twitter handle(s): @selfpubwithdale Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/selfpublishingwithdalelroberts/ Amazon Author page (if applicable): https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00KUAL3NS MENTIONS:Wordslinger Podcast on YouTube: http://bit.ly/WordslingerPodcast___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe

C.Steven Manley has been and done quite a few things in his life. Now, he writes books and tries in vain to keep up with his children. CONNECT ONLINE:Website: www.cstevenmanley.net Twitter handle: @cstevenmanley Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1597432760477256 Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00U6722LCMENTIONS:Wordslinger Podcast on YouTube: http://bit.ly/WordslingerPodcastWe're The Russos: https://weretherussos.com/"Take Risks" by Joe Russo: http://amzn.to/2yNjfpk___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe

NICK THACKERAUTHOR OF MARK FOR BLOODNick is an action-adventure thriller novelist, who writes the types of books he likes to read. That means you won’t find anything boring, slow, or sappy in his stories. People have described his work as “airplane books." Nick was born in Connecticut, grew up in Texas, and lives in Colorado with his wife, two children, three dogs, and a tortoise. He loves snow, drinking whiskey by the fireplace while it’s snowing, and writing books by candlelight while a thick layer of snow piles up outside.CONNECT ONLINE:Website: nickthacker.comTwitter handle: @NickThackerFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorNickThacker/Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Nick-Thacker/e/B008A2W6XEMENTIONS:Wordslinger Podcast on YouTube: http://bit.ly/WordslingerPodcast___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe

Andrew Watts graduated from the US Naval Academy in 2003 and served as a naval officer and helicopter pilot until 2013. During that time, he flew counter-narcotic missions in the Eastern Pacific and counter-piracy missions off the Horn of Africa. He was a flight instructor in Pensacola, FL, and helped to run ship and flight operations while embarked on a nuclear aircraft carrier deployed in the Middle East. Today, he lives with his family in Ohio.CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): andrewwattsauthor.com Twitter handle(s): @wattsandrew Facebook: www.facebook.com/AndrewWattsAuthorAmazon Author page (if applicable): https://www.amazon.com/Andrew-Watts/e/B00RD3E4JA MENTIONS:Wordslinger Podcast on YouTube: http://bit.ly/WordslingerPodcast___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe

Kevin Tumlinson is a bestselling and award-winning thriller author, Host of the Wordslinger Podcast, and Director of Marketing for Draft2Digital. He is known as "the Voice of Indie Publishing," appearing on hundreds of podcasts and YouTube channels, and at conferences worldwide, speaking about independent self publishing as a career and a community.CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): https://kevintumlinson.com Facebook: kevin.tumlinsonTwitter: @kevintumlinsonAmazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Kevin-Tumlinson/e/B007POXGEG/MENTIONS:Indie Bookfest: http://indiebookconvention.com/NINC: https://ninc.com/conferences/ninc-conference-2017/Indie Palooza: http://www.houstonwritersguild.org/indiepalooza_2017/___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe

Russell Blake is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with more than 50 action/adventure and thriller novels, including two co-authored works with the legendary Clive Cussler.CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): russellblake.com Facebook: Russell.Blake.Books Amazon Author page (if applicable): https://www.amazon.com/Russell-Blake/e/B005OKCOLE MENTIONS:Salt Lake City Comic Con: http://saltlakecomiccon.com/ Where There's Smoke Podcast: http://www.wheretheressmoke.co/___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe