The award-winning creator, producer, and host of the megahit Lore podcast, TV show, and book series, Aaron Mahnke, joined me this week to share how he created his scary storytelling universe from scratch, his writing regimen for success, and advice to fellow scribes.

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In less than three years the writer and former graphic designer grew his humble “true life scary story” podcast, Lore, from a small email list and an effort to market his self-published novels, into a critically acclaimed show with more than 100 million downloads.

The podcast won Apple Podcasts’ Best of 2015 & 2016, and picked up a “Best History Podcast 2016” from the Academy of Podcasters. Lore was also recently turned into an Amazon TV series by producers of The Walking Dead and The X-Files (with Aaron as a co-exec. producer), as well as a live tour, and a book series from Penguin Random House.

The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures is the first in a three-book series from the author. The books include both old and new tales from the world of Lore, with their signature blend of history and the macabre, to plumb the depths of our collective nightmares.

Entertainment Weekly noted that Mahnke “… dives deep into the world of folklore and the darker side of history in a quest to root out the fragment of truth at the bottom of our fears.”

The author has been featured in the Huffington Post, The Guardian, Esquire, The Atlantic, USA Today, and others.

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In Part One of this file Aaron Mahnke and I discuss:

• The writer’s ten year journey (including the lows) to award-winning podcast producer
• How an indie novelist turned a crazy idea into a scary storytelling universe
• Why you need to get out of your writer’s bubble
• The meticulous research and writing regimen that goes into The World of Lore

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TheWorldofLore.com

Subscribe to Lore on Apple Podcasts

Aaron Mahnke’s author page at Amazon

The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures – Aaron Mahnke

Aaron Mahnke on Twitter

Kelton Reid on Twitter

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