Brand Architect

J.F.Penn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers on the edge, as well as bestselling non-fiction for authors published under Joanna Penn. Joanna’s site for writers, TheCreativePenn.com has been voted one of the Top 10 sites for writers three years running. She is a professional speaker on creative entrepreneurship, digital publishing and internet marketing, and was voted one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013.

In this interview we talk about career change, writing, success and author entrepreneurship.

"You have to define what success is or you never know when you get there!

Fiction is a long term game.

If you've only got one book - you need another book.

Paying somebody for cover design is smartest marketing you can do.

Focus on one thing at a time.

Finish your book!

Joanna Penn's fiction website

Joanna Penn's non-fiction website

The Creative Penn podcast

Joanna Penn's books

Blog post: The Arc Of The Indie Author Journey. From First Book To CEO Of Your Global Media Empire

Author Earnings

Bruce Van Horn is a Dad, a writer, a coach, an entrepreneur, a speaker, a runner, and a lot of other things as life demands

His personal motto is: “Life is a marathon, so let’s train for it!”

In this interview we cover many different topics. Bruce talks about life and about writing. He also shares his book launch strategy.

I personally found this interview extremely inspirational. I know it is longer than the usual length of Write 2B Read episodes, but I could not cut it down because I believe that all of it has value and it is worth the 60 minutes we spent talking :)

Please feel free to connect with me and other Write 2B Read listeners in the closed Facebook Group.

The first 2 things that we need to do after completing the book is editing it and getting a book cover. If your budget is not tight, then you can hire a designer and get a customized and professional solution. But what if you can't afford it? Well, even then I would not recommend doing it yourself or going to Fiverr. Pre-designed book covers may be good solution.

I made some research and came up with list of websites, where you can find professional and affordable book covers. I have created a free pdf with all the links and other details, such as price range, book genres, etc. You get the free pdf I created for you by clicking the link below:

Since from the list I personally prefer the Go On Write website, I thought that it would be nice to talk to the person, who's behind it.

That is why today I am interviewing James (aka Humble Nations, aka CL Smith). He is the guy that makes all the book cover designs and runs the book pre-designed cover websites Go On Write and Humble Nations. He's been a freelance graphic designer for the last twenty-years, and he's been designing book covers for the last couple of years.

In this interview James shares his views on book cover design, explains how he is creating those and what helps him stay productive.

I am super excited to open a new coaching program for you. You can get all the details by clicking this link. But if you want the short version then basically here is what it is about. Besides the encouragement and over the shoulder guidance, by the end of the coaching month you will have a clear vision of what kind of book you want to write, practical publishing and marketing action plan and an author website where your readers will be able to find you. Basically you will be all set for your exciting journey of becoming an author.

I am featuring podcast listener interviews. This means that you will be part of the Write 2B Read podcast. If you would like to be interviewed for the show, please shoot me an e mail by clicking this link and tell me why do you think that you should be the one interviewed. This will help us know each other better and have a real-life examples from our peers.

Please feel free to connect with me and other Write 2B Read listeners in the closed Facebook Group.

Jill Sanders is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Pride Series, Secret Series and West Series romance novels. Having sold over 150,000 books within 6 months of her first release, she continues to lure new readers with her sweet and sexy stories. Her books are available in every English speaking country and are now being translated to 6 different languages, and recorded for audiobook.

In this episode Jill Sanders shares her journey and tells how she became New York Times and USA Today bestselling author being completely self-published and starting from scratch - without having an audience.

Connects with peer writers - to get support

Has a free novella as lead magnet - to build her e mail list

Organizes giveaways - to boost ongoing sales

Makes teasers - readers love those

Makes "you" time - that's when the creativity comes

Jill Sander's website

Jill's Twitter account

Jill Sanders on Facebook

Jill's Amazon Author Page

Jill on iBooks

Jill Sander's B&N Author page

Please feel free to connect with me and other Write 2B Read listeners in the closed Facebook Group.

Today we have podcast listener interview. If you would like to be interviewed for the show, please shoot me an e mail by clicking this link and tell me why do you think that you should be the one interviewed. This will help us know each other better and have a real-life examples from our peers.

Today I am interviewing Philip 'Norvaljoe' Carroll. He is an army trained Certified Orthotist living in the Central Valley of California. He is a husband of many years, a father of three and grand father of three. He enjoys spending time with his family, trips to the mountains and playing the piano. He has been a story teller all of his life and has been honing his writing skills for the last six years. He has just published his first book through Amazon's KDP and Createspace, "Flypaper Boy: Coming of Age" and previously published to books in serialized audio at www.podiobooks.com He. has had several short stories published in anthologies and eMags.

In this interview Philip shares his journey of becoming an author and self-publishing his first book.

NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month

Podiobooks 

David Farland's Writing workshops

100 Word Challenge

Goodreads

I Should Be Writing Podcast

Self Publishing Podcast

If the reason you have not written a book yet is that you have doubts or you simply don’t know where to start, then I am here for you. Please check out my coaching page to see what I can help you with.

Please feel free to connect with me and other Write 2B Read listeners in the closed Facebook Group.

In this interview we cover a completely new topic - the PR in all its forms. Josh will explain how to get media coverage, how to pitch journalists, how to present yourself afront of the camera and how to capitalize the fact that you've been featured! If you want to know more about the topic you should check out Josh's webinar where he will teach you his strategies and formula for getting on the news in any city. More importantly, you’ll learn how to position yourself as the expert that the media will come back to week after week.

I am super excited to open a new coaching program for you. You can get all the details by clicking this link. But if you want the short version then basically here is what it is about. Besides the encouragement and over the shoulder guidance, by the end of the coaching month you will have a clear vision of what kind of book you want to write, practical publishing and marketing action plan and an author website where your readers will be able to find you. Basically you will be all set for your exciting journey of becoming an author.

I am featuring podcast listener interviews. This means that you will be part of the Write 2B Read podcast. If you would like to be interviewed for the show, please shoot me an e mail by clicking this link and tell me why do you think that you should be the one interviewed. This will help us know each other better and have a real-life examples from our peers. Please feel free to connect with me and other Write 2B Read listeners in the closed Facebook Group.

Today we have an extraordinary episode. In this episode I have co-hosted with John Colley at his Online Learning Podcast and together we have interviewed Jared Easley. All three of us had fun and I hope you will enjoy it too. John Colley is the host of the Online Learning Podcast and creator of various online courses. Jared Easley is the host of the Starve The Doubts podcast, the co-founder of the Podcast Movement and since recently also an author. In this interview we talk about Jared's journey to success. Jared explains where he started and how did he manage to succeed. He talked about his experiences of writing and publishing his first non-fiction book Podcasting Good to Great: How to Grow Your Audience Through Collaboration, which became #1 Amazon bestseller in several categories. I personally think that the book did well was thanks to the right strategy Jared implemented: he write a good quality book, launched it at 99 cents and the launch was aligned with the Podcast Movement week end.

Pat Flynn makes a living on the internet and considers himself the luckiest person on the earth. Through his very popular blog Smart Passive Income and his Smart Passive Income Podcast  he shares his experience and helps his readers reach their goals.

He was also from the very few people, who encouraged me to start the Write 2B Read podcast.

In this interview we talk about why getting laid off was the best thing that happened to him, why did Pat decide to write his first book Let Go, what were his challenges along the way, negative reviews and how he keeps his audience engaged.

Let Go was first published on Snippet. This is an app that makes it possible to create a book, which can integrate images, videos and social media. As a result readers not only read your book, but also get additional experiences.

Let Go by Pat Flynn

Snippet 

Pat’s First Kindle Book closed Facebook page

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Fiction Unboxed

SPI 079 : Time Travel and Book Marketing with Jeff Goins – Strategies to Help You Sell More Books and Spread Your Word

One Hundred Years of Solitude (International Writers)

I am super excited to open a new coaching program for you. You can get all the details by clicking this link. But if you want the short version then basically here is what it is about. Besides the encouragement and over the shoulder guidance, by the end of the coaching month you will have a clear vision of what kind of book you want to write, practical publishing and marketing action plan and an author website where your readers will be able to find you. Basically you will be all set for your exciting journey of becoming an author.

I am featuring podcast listener interviews. This means that you will be part of the Write 2B Read podcast. If you would like to be interviewed for the show, please shoot me an e mail by clicking this link and tell me why do you think that you should be the one interviewed. This will help us know each other better and have a real-life examples from our peers.

Please feel free to connect with me and other Write 2B Read listeners in the closed Facebook Group.

I met Steve at  Pat's First Kindle Book closed Facebook group. The group already has over 8k members and Steve has been one of the most active and helpful guys in there. Steve Scott has  built a reliable Kindle publishing business. Now he is making full time income with his Kindle books. He works on his business for about 15-20 hours per week and has over 25 full length Kindle books in the market. In this interview we talk about how he has made it and what works best for Steve. What he shares is pretty straightforward and easy to implement.

Steve Scott's blog - In his blog Steve covers his proven strategies for building a nonfiction Kindle business that generates a reliable income Steve Scott's Amazon author page -  you can find all Steve's books there The BookStrapper Guide to Marketing Your Book: Creating a Bestseller By Yourself Pat's First Kindle Book closed Facebook page KDP Select program

Before even writing the first book put together a lead magnet. Have at least one platform - blog, podcast or youtube channel. The best way to market a book besides the e mail list is to write another book. Have at least one editor to look over your stuff. If you're getting started and you have no platform KDP Select is the best way to go. It offers a lot to new authors.

If you are Write 2B Read podcast listener and would like to be interviewed for the podcast, please e mail me your story you want to share. If the reason you have not written a book yet is that you have doubts or you simply don’t know where to start, then I am here for you. Please check out my coaching page to see what I can help you with. Please feel free to connect with me and other Write 2B Read listeners in the closed Facebook Group.

While writing give yourself space just to write and don't worry about the editing. Chad Allen is a speaker, writer, blogger, and creativity coach. He speaks regularly on topics such as writing, the creative life, how to write compelling nonfiction, and how to blog a book.

Chad also serves as an editorial director for Baker Publishing Group, one of the most influential Christian book publishers in the world. he has over fifteen years of experience in the book publishing industry and has worked with many bestselling authors.

In this interview we take inside look at how traditional publishers work, how they pick writers and why do they turn down books.

The most common challenges writers face these days are: 1. challenge with writing the book (need help getting started) and 2. lack of time.

It's important to distinguish between the writing and the editing process and not try to do both at once.

Start with writing the book proposal.

We have to (as writers) reject perfectionism for the sake of productivity and creativity.

If you're always editing your own voice will never have a chance to come out.

3 elements that contribute to whether the book is going to be successful (and what traditional publishers are looking for) are:

platform

concept

writing

"It's gonna take more than 1 book before you're known out there."

The number 1 reason Baker Publishing Group (and most of the publishers) turns books down is lack of platform.

"There is no shortcut in becoming a good writer"

If you are Write 2B Read podcast listener and would like to be interviewed for the podcast, please e mail me your story you want to share.

If the reason you have not written a book yet is that you have doubts or you simply don’t know where to start, then I am here for you. Please check out my coaching page to see what I can help you with.

Please feel free to connect with me and other Write 2B Read listeners in the closed Facebook Group.