Discovered Wordsmiths

Ann reads an excerpt from her latest book in the Jackrabbit Junction series - Twisty Tortoise Tussels.

Jackrabbit Junction Series

Overview

Ann attributes a lot of her success to her marketing. She isn't talking about only advertising. This is a great discussion from an author making a living with their writing. Gain insight into what she does to keep her books flying off the shelves.

YouTube

Transcript

[00:00:48] Stephen: great. And you've been writing for a while. You're not brand new which I think is great. What have you learned that you do different now than you used to do? Or what are some [00:01:00] things that have changed that you're looking at different or however, in the whole publishing writing thing?

[00:01:06] Ann: Biggest thing that changed. It used to be yearly, but now it seems like every six months is marketing and the way I market, which is unfortunately. Marketing is a huge part of this business. If you want to, if you want to make money at this, you have to learn how to do some of the marketing things and you can adjust it to your own style.

So it doesn't, maybe I'm on, social media more than you feel comfortable. That's fine. But you've got to find another way to get yourself out there and be heard above all the noise. And I don't mean just other books and other authors. Telephone. Like we were talking, there's so many different options now that you can sit in front of the TV and just go away for days and days.

How do I get them to look away from the TV and read my books and give that a try or listen? Cause I am on audio for all of my books as well. So marketing is so important. And I can tell you [00:02:00] back, like I told you, in an earlier in 2011, I did the Kindle unlimited free and it went huge way bigger than it does now, but that's because it was new and not a lot of authors were doing it yet.

The market wasn't as saturated. I can't even remember how many books now you are on Amazon. It's millions. Yeah. And back then, I think there was, when I started, it was like 800,000 books were on Amazon, so it was much easier to be heard and seen and get yourself out there. So that is something that it's constantly changing.

And I have to rethink my plan every year on what I'm going to do. For example, Facebook, which was so big for so long is really starting to fade and I can see it. I can feel it. And I know. Instagram's got, has some people, but that's even, take talk is now the thing. And if you're 20 or 15, like my kids in their teens, [00:03:00] they just go, yeah, just do this.

But my old getting the older brain just keeps going. What? That's changed. And then my writing over the years, I've written, I think now 32 stories that I have. And I don't want to ever have someone come up to me and say, that book felt the exact same as the one before it. And the one before it, I don't want them to feel like, what are you doing?

You're not even trying anything new anymore. So one of the things that I really work on with every story even novellas, I wish I could just sit down and, put out a story really quick, but I have to have a theme. There has to be a reason. There has to be something behind the story that makes it, why my brain even wants to tell it.

And so I've really worked over the, especially the last five years on, on learning different ways to build the structure of a story. Writers know you've got a skeleton behind it, all that you're building and how you do that. So I've worked with different themes. I've [00:04:00] tried.

Pacing things for different books. For example, book nine of my Deadwood mystery series is called gone hunting ha...

Overview

Ann Charles is the first USA Today Bestseller I've had on the podcast. And she didn't even know she was a bestseller when it happened.

We discuss her publishing journey, which isn't what she intended to do. Originally she wanted to be Indiana Jones, and tells us the ironic reason she didn't do that.

If you remember kindle worlds, it helped get her started. She has multiple series, one of which she writes with her husband, and we discuss the latest.

Website

https://anncharles.com/book_cat/jackrabbit-junction/

Book

Favorites

Louis Lamour - Flint

https://www.amazon.com/One-Navajo-Family-Blessings-Book-ebook/dp/B01M0NH3VV/ref=sr_1_1

YouTube

Transcript

[00:00:44] Stephen: Welcome to another great episode of discovered wordsmiths. And this is an exciting episode because today I have the very first USA today, bestseller that is on been on my podcast. Now, normally I wouldn't even come close to having someone [00:01:00] like that on here because. That's not what I focus on. I focus on new authors, still working hard for their career.

But Anne is a little different. I know a lot of you probably have any unheard of her and she got the USA bestseller kind of by surprise didn't even expect it. But that doesn't mean that she didn't deserve it. So it's an exciting one for me, because she's still unknown. Somebody that everybody talks about and fits very well on the podcast and has a whole lot of things that can help to help other authors and things to talk about for other authors plus has some really great books.

So that's always the best part of it is finding some really great books that people can go out and read. So I'm not going to sit around too much longer here. I know Anne's been waiting to get this podcast episode up anyway, so here. All right. So today discovered will wordsmiths. I've got an Charles and I'm really excited to [00:02:00] talk to you.

How are you doing today? I am.

[00:02:02] Ann: I'm doing great so far, tomorrow's the big Turkey day for us here. So I'm making a lot of, not eating much today so I can eat so much pie tomorrow. I just got.

[00:02:12] Stephen: Yeah, we've got way more pies planned and I think should be humanly feasible, but

[00:02:17] Ann: I don't know.

There's never too much pie for those of us who love

[00:02:21] Stephen: desert. I'm the, obviously I do the Turkey, that's my things.

Overview

JD reads the first chapter of his book - Magnified and Sanctified.

Overview

Dave talks with me about how he uses NaNoWriMo to get writing and finish his books. He has several tips for working this way.

Since Dave has also had a podcast, we discuss running a podcast as an author. There are options for the style of the podcast, and we discuss the differences.

We have a great talk about the book genome project.

https://bookgenomeproject.org/

YouTube

Transcript

Overview

Dave is a grandfather and lives in Ohio. He loves mushroom hunting. He also does his own covers as he's studied graphic arts plus working on becoming a school bus driver. If nothing else, it's a lot of great research for his books.

His book, Magnified and Sanctified, uses Jewish religion even though he isn't Jewish. The title is taken from a Jewish prayer and the story is inspired from the Jewish religion even though it's a zombie novel.

Website

His Book

Magnified and Sanctified - JD Core

Favorites

Rex Stout - Nero Wolf

YouTube

Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome to episode 95 of discovered wordsmiths today, I have David cor he goes by J D Corp. He's written an extremely interesting book. It takes its title and some inspiration [00:01:00] from the Jewish religion and the Kadash Kadesh prayer for the dead. And it's a zombie story. So it's like a some Gollum's in the Jewish culture.

But it's an interesting discussion. Dave is a grandfather, so he's not starting off right after school. He's got a lot of great things he's done in his life that he contributes to the stories. And he talks about some of those inspirations and some of the things that got them to write the story and it really fine.

He also has done a podcast. So we have a lot in common, a lot of good things to talk about. So if you enjoy interesting books, this is one of those that definitely falls in that category zombies that are inspired by the Jewish religion. So I'll let Dave tell you more about it here. Today on discovered wordsmith.

I have Dave who goes by J D chord. Is that correct? J D or J David core on the writing? Yeah. Okay, great. Dave welcome to the podcast. How are you? Thank you very much [00:02:00] for having me right before Thanksgiving for us. Okay Dave, give everybody a little bit of background about you. Some things you'd like to do where you live, that type of thing besides your writing.

Okay. I live in Southeastern Ohio, which is like the least the most sparsely populated part of the state, basically. I I enjoy. Mushroom hunting. I'm a bit, I'm an avid mushroom hunter and that actually plays into my story. And I I write I'm a I was a graphic. I went to school for graphic arts.

Like I do my own covers and everything like that. And oh, great. That, that's how I got background in that right now I'm studying to be a bus driver school bus. Okay. Because everybody needs a little bit extra income, and that they're having, and they're short, everywhere is short now.

So there was I'm a grandfather and I have four grandchildren that are by blood and a bunch of other grandchildren that are through marriage or Oregon, my girlfriend's kids and et cetera. They're all kind of all kinds of family. Gosh, [00:03:00] it gives me a nice, great I live up by KSU about eight miles out of KSU.

So yeah.

Mark Leslie reads a short selection from his short story - This Time Around - which was the original short story that started the Canadian Werewolf in New York series.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BH406E8/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00BH406E8&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=50bf198e8c7658ae0925c020b9c7d5de

Overview

Mark has been very involved in the indie publishing scene. He helped early on with Kobo Writing Life and has been part of the improvements at Draft 2 Digital.

He talks at conventions and has multiple books for writers, including his latest which he co-authored with Joanna Penn (Joanna's mother Jacqui was on episode 27 and gave me the idea to do a split podcast - https://www.discoveredwordsmiths.com/2020/11/24/episode-27a-penny-appleton-love-second-time-around/).

Book

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Z38D9L7/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B08Z38D9L7&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=adb3db77cabd8501941ab577ea320c78

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B094RBGNYM/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B094RBGNYM&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=d3b855f702642ae735a2f067c691a7b6

YouTube

https://youtu.be/sDetjw740_M

Transcript

[00:00:00] Mark: Are you working on your author career, but struggling to get that first book published, does the goal of being an author seem too lofty or thoughts of having multiple books and making a full-time living are as fantastical as living in Cinderella's castle. Welcome to discovered wordsmiths a podcast where aspiring authors can be.

Join Stephen Schneider is he finds and talks to authors. You may not know, but authors that have gotten their book on the author career path here, what they've done to get there and where they want to go. Now, settle back. It's time for a bit of inspiration and advice. Come listen to today's discovered wordsmith.

[00:00:48] Stephen: All right, so we'll just roll it. I'll edit here. We'll talk a little bit author stuff and some eat 2d and all that, but

[00:00:54] Mark: whatever. Should I dress up for that? Should I put on a

[00:00:57] Stephen: sports coat? I do most things. Casual listening [00:01:00] that expects sport coats. Come on. I did a whole podcast with something in my teeth, so

[00:01:05] Mark: I can just quickly do this.

There

[00:01:07] Stephen: you go. The transformation

[00:01:09] Mark: there, dress

[00:01:09] Stephen: it up a little. Now you're more dressed than. Uh, all right. So mark, now that you're ready for the important business side of things, let's talk a little bit about your writing in that. So when you write what services and software do you like to use? So

[00:01:23] Mark: at the core, basic, I start with word that's.

How, where I compose most of my manuscripts, I will then use a combination of services. I am familiar enough with book layouts. When I do it myself, I ended up getting it into the. I use InDesign. My book covers will come from typically a professional designer who does the front cover, but I can design the rest of it myself, because I used to run it in service.

I know how to do this. And I do the interior in, through Adobe as well for the layout when I'm not working with. And yeah, I will publish direct Kendall. Um, when I'm doing it myself, I go to Kindle direct publishing. I will [00:02:00] go to Kobo writing life. Having helped create that platform. I'm a little bit partial to it, right.

And I've long been using draft to digital for distribution and even my conversion.

Overview

Mark is well known in the indie publishing world. He has worked with Kobo, Draft 2 Digital, co-written with Joanna Penn, and been on more podcasts than I can count.

Today, I am very excited that he is on Discovered Wordsmiths talking about his fiction book series - Canadian Werewolf. If you're looking for something with some paranormal and a bit of humor, this could be your book.

Of course, with Mark, we also have a bit of comic book talk and some dad jokes. :)

His Book

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08WPCT941/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B08WPCT941&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=70a94688adbf5a55999eb0d24a613081

Favorites

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1302923730/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1302923730&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=dc86deb08a321c978076c72800839c42

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0042JSMQ4/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0042JSMQ4&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=fdc7b554f7f025d0f352d1bee83746de

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08WLRG1L2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B08WLRG1L2&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=ba346c0bd921b1b3b47aff64276f6051

YouTube

Transcript

[00:00:00] Mark: Are you working on your author career, but struggling to get that first book published, does the goal of being an author seem too lofty or thoughts of having multiple books and making a full-time living are as fantastical as living in Cinderella's castle. Welcome to discovered wordsmiths a podcast where aspiring authors can be heard.

Join Stephen Schneider is he finds and talks to authors. You may not know, but authors that have gotten their book on the author career path here, what they've done to get there and where they want to go. Now, settle back. It's time for a bit of inspiration and advice. Come listen to today's discovered

[00:00:44] Stephen: wordsmith.

Welcome to episode 94 of discovered word Smiths. And I'm very excited today because I eman talking to mark Leslie. Now, if you are an author, you probably recognize that name. [00:01:00] And mark is well-known in the author community. He has worked with Kobo. He's worked with draft, the digital he's been on just about every podcast out there.

So have him on my podcast. Uh, it was very exciting. If you are an author and know of mark, uh, this'll be an interesting talk because we discuss his fiction books, which you don't hear very often on other podcasts. So keep listening, mark has done way more than just the things you may already know him about.

If you're a reader, like many of the authors on here, mark is probably someone you don't know, but you may be interested in his books. So keep listening. I'm not going to hold you up, uh, with me babbling, because I'm very excited to get to the interview. So here's what. All right. I'm very excited today. Uh, for this episode of discovered wordsmiths.

Cause I have mark Leslie LaFave. Did I pronounce that correctly?

[00:01:55] Mark: That's amazing. I haven't, you know why I usually lock LaFave off? When I write my face,

Overview

Vicky is back to talk about her fowl murder series. She started writing at the beginning of the pandemic and is up to book 6 in her series. We discuss what it's like to go from book 1 to 6 in a series and how her writing has changed.

Previous Episode: https://www.discoveredwordsmiths.com/2020/10/05/episode-20-victoria-tait-fowl-murder/

Her Book

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09B66WXJ4/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B09B66WXJ4&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=c8becebf4bd960ff17dfbb015f04ae77

YouTube

https://youtu.be/CyW_CojNCOo

Transcript

Today on episode 93 of discovered word Smiths. I have Vicky Tate. She has been on before, earlier in the podcast run. And she's back to give us an update on her books. When we first talked to her, she had just written. Book, one of her series set in Afra Africa called a foul murder, F O U L. And she's back now with her sixth book and we have a good discussion on what it's been like writing a series in the, the COVID pandemic world, writing about a country she's not living in at the moment and everything about going from one book up to say, So, if you're interested in writing a series and wondering what it's like to have multiple books in a series out, this'll be a good podcast for you to listen to.

So take it away. Vicky Vicky officially welcome to discovered wordsmiths your second time on the podcast. I'm very excited to talk to you and we see each other this time and we didn't before last time. It was clear back on episode 20. That was like a year ago. It's really good. So you're welcome. Thanks.

Thanks for having

me back and wow. What a year it's been. I remember when we spoke, I was, yeah, it was back in Oregon, 2020 and the, in the UK, we thought things were getting better and we were all going to moving out of this and then, oh my goodness. What a year is been with more homeschooling and lots of traveling with Georgia and COVID and all the rest of it.

Uh, I think we all just need a pat on the back actually for getting through it and doing what we can, but I know you've been really busy this year.

Yeah. The podcast has been doing a lot. I've done a lot with my writing. And how about you? Have you been getting more writing in?

I have. And I followed you on now.

The dialogue doctor podcast went in and deaf and did some stuff with him on characterization and dialogue, which is just brilliant. Cause I love sort of. Dialogue first drafts when I really get into the groove and then go back and add in all the other details. And I think you were just ahead of beyond that one.

Yeah, that'd

be great. Let's talk about that a second, because I know Jeff I've met him. We've been at a conference together and I've done a couple of things and he's got a great concept. So for real quick, for everybody, listen. Jeff works with a company that creates training videos and uses AI. And he writes dialogue that then gets spoken by characters or whatever.

And so he's got a right realistic dialogue for this feedback. And a lot of this is using the AI and some of the new technologies so that the characters react. What. So what Jeff offers for authors is a dialogue overview. He doesn't look at the development of the story too much. He doesn't look at it. He looks at the dialogue,