Mark interviews Ron Vitale about his writing, and his recent unflinching and honest looks at his writing income versus expenses.

Prior to the interview, Mark talks about wanting to hear from listeners on THEIR reflections via an online form or via a few Zoom hangouts (see more info here) for forthcoming Episode 400.

Mark also shares comments, a personal update and word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by Superstars Writing Seminars: Teaching you the business of being a writer which takes place Feb 6 through 9, 2025 in Colorado Springs, CO.

Use code: MARK1592 to get $100 off your registration.

In their conversation Mark and Ron talk about:

• Ron growing up in an environment where a family member stuggled with alcoholism and then learning how to heal from some of the trauma experienced in his past
• The 2020 lockdown blog posts that Ron wrote and shared in order to help others who might be dealing with that and giving back to the community
• The four "Let Go And Be Free" books he released that were derived from that blog content
• Writing his first short fiction at the age of 9 and his first novel at 16
• Ron's Masters degree and how his topic related to trauma
• How to date Ron's best success as an author has been with his "Let Go and Be Free: 100 Daily Reflections for Adult Children of Alcoholics" books
• Shooting for 365 reflections for his books, but ending up with 400
• The value in creating content thinking of the benefit to himself as well as others, and how that worked out extremely well because of the way it hit with the correct audience
• How Ron's fiction titles dealt with most of the same issues, but that they ended up hitting different with the audiences
• Making a decision of what he needs to let go of in order to make more space for focusing on what he wants to do as a writer
• The five different fiction series that Ron has written, including a Cinderella fairy tale-inspired series, and a Were-whale series inspired by Moby Dick
• Ron's start in indie writing in 2009 and publishing in 2011
• Why Ron has consistently shared such an honest and unflinching look at the economics of his own publishing journey
• Sharing his annual numbers for about 10 years and how only two of those years were ones where he earned more than he spent
• How 2024 was a "non-marketing-spending" year for Ron as an important experiment
• The elements of the filter that most people put on before they share something publicly or on social media'
• The regular habits that Ron says make an important difference
• Being touched by a personal message from a reader who appreciated one of Ron's audiobooks and how it moved her
• How Ron isn't in writing just for the money, but for so many other reasons
• And more...

 

After the interview Mark reflects on a few things Ron said and also shares a special offer to listeners in support of both Ron and the Stark Reflections community, thanks to Mark's coffee buddy Nikki Guerlain.

 

Links of Interest:

• Ron Vitale's Website
  • Ron's Blog:
    • What I Learned About Indie Publishing in 2024
    • What I Learned About Indie Publishing in 2023
    • What I Learned About Indie Publishing in 2022
    • 2021 Year End Wrap Up: Full Sales and Expenses
• EP 396 - Waubgeshig Rice on Community, Publishing, and The Creative Journey
• EP 395 - Rants and Reflections From the Road on 2024 Sales Sharing
• Form for Listener Reflections for Episode 400
• Patreon Article with Zoom Hangout Links (for Episode 400 Listener Reflections)
• Superstars Writing Seminars
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
  • How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds
• Mark's YouTube channel
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries
• The Relaxed Author
  • Buy eBook Direct
  • Buy Audiobook Direct
• Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
• An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
• Wide for the Win
• Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
  • This Time Around (Short Story)
  • A Canadian Werewolf in New York
  • Stowe Away (Novella)
  • Fear and Longing in Los Angeles
  • Fright Nights, Big City
  • Lover's Moon
  • Hex and the City
  • Only Monsters in the Building
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard
• Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

 

The introductory, end, and bumper 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