Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

Mark interviews Kaye Lynn Booth about her writing life and her new book The DIY Author.

Prior to the interview, Mark thanks Patrons and Buy Me A Coffee buddies, as well as a word from this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

In the interview Mark and Kaye Lynn talk about:

• Kaye having written since 1994 and selling her first poem in 1996
• Having always wanted to take a DIY approach to her creativity
• Signing up for a booth at a local fair without having anything to sell and how that led to a creative way of selling her poems
• Kaye's poem "Voices" and the perfect painting she found to use with it that was also called "Voices" and how that led to another collaborative poem and painting
• The early blog-related writing that Kaye had done when the internet was still "young"
• Creating the Writing to be Read brand on her blog/website and writing reviews for books she had read
• How Kaye's blog remains her biggest marketing tool
• The blog team that Kaye has writing specific content for her site
• Getting degrees in genre fiction and screen-writing and then going back with the concentration in publishing
• Kaye's perspective on what the harder part of writing and publishing is
• The long-term outlook that Kaye has taken when it comes to creating and building an audience with her blog
• The breakdown and sections of Kaye's book THE DIY AUTHOR
• Kaye's first poetry collection: Small Wonders
• The children's books that Kaye has written
• The various genres that Kaye writes in as she follows her passion
• And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects making do with what you have and the creativity that can come when you find you've painted yourself into a corner.

Links of Interest:

• Kaye Lynn Booth's Writing to be Read Website
• EP 356 - The Midlist Indie Author Mindset with T. Thorn Coyle
• DropCap Marketplace
  • Use coupon STARK20 to get 20% off
• Cruising Writers
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
  • How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds
• 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

For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors' blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

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

Mark has a chat with Clayton Noblit, a senior marketing manager at Written Word Media.

Prior to the interview, Mark thanks Patrons, welcomes a few new Buy Me A Coffee buddies, shares a personal update, and shares a word from this episode's sponsor.

episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

In the interview Mark and Clayton talk about:

• What Written Media is (a book marketing/promotions company)
• Clayton's personal background as a marketer, and a big reader, but not an author
• The purposeful design of the Written Word Media dashboard to help authors schedule a marketing promotion in about 20 minutes then get back on to the other parts of their day
• The various Written Word Media reader-facing brands: FreeBooksy, BargainBooksy, Red Feather Romance, New in Books, and Audiothicket
• Their partnerships with other reader promo sites like eReader News Today, Book Barbarian, Hello Books, and others
• The strategy of promo stacking by spreading marketing promotions out over a series of 3 to 5 days
• How the Facebook Ads and Amazon Ads support at Written Word Media works
• The Written Word Media membership levels (Gold and Platinum) which offer a 10% discount on booking promos as well as additional exclusive promotion options and savings on other third party services
• The Limelight feature promotion option available for members
• The content that appears on the Written Word Media blog, including regular surveys of authors and industry trends
• A few of the responses from a survey conducted in late 2023
• A discussion of author's perceptions of AI and social media
• The importance of diversifying instead of being reliant on a single platform
• Advice Clayton offers to authors working on promoting and marketing their books

After the interview Mark reflects on just how much Written Word Media has grown over the years, by listening to authors, and adding tools and options to allow for greater efficiency in marketing. He also notes how authors are becoming more professional in their approach of planning ahead, and admits to not being as good at making those plans as he'd hoped.

Links of Interest:

• Written Word Media
• EP 008 - Author Promotions with Ricci Wolman from Written Word Media
• EP 185 - Promotion Results and Analysis
• EP 285 - Written Word Media's Top 10 Publishing Trends for 2023
• EP 342 - Publishing Trend Reflections for 2024
• DropCap Marketplace
  • Use coupon STARK20 to get 20% off
• Cruising Writers
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
  • How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds
• 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

Clayton Noblit is a senior marketing manager at Written Word Media. He is passionate about helping authors find their readers and finding ways to sell more books. When he's not working, he enjoys spending time with his family, playing sports, and making beverages.

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

Mark interviews Lloyd Penney, the editor of Amazing Stories magazine about his work on Amazing Stories, his forty years of engagement with the fanzine community, and more.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

In the interview Mark and Lloyd talk about:

• Meeting Robert J. Sawyer when they both attended Ryerson University in Toronto
• Lloyd's first and only published science fiction story (which Rob was responsible for)
• Getting involved in science fiction fanzines
• Forty years of experience being engaged with fanzines from Canada, the United States and all over the world
• The definition of what a fanzine is
• How the common community ends up talking about almost anything else once they've established their commonalities in related to things they are fans of
• How the production of fanzines have changed over the years, from mimeographs, to photocopies, to digital
• Starting off his experience in engaging with fanzines by writing a letter of comment
• The letter column being the heart of a fanzine
• Social media having replaced the fanzine in a lot of ways, but how that has reduced the more nuanced, well-thought out responses and behavior
• The "reaction" of social media verses the "responses" in fanzines
• An example of a recent fanzine that Lloyd recently received
• The first issue of Amazing Stories coming out in 1927
• A fan, Steve Davidson, who, about 2008, wondered what happened to the copyright on the name Amazing Stories, found it was available and secured them
• How Spielberg needing to purchase the rights to the name for a TV show helped pay for the production of the first few issues of the new version of the magazine
• How Lloyd got involved with Amazing Stories in 2018 and then became the editor in chief of the magazine
• The magazine being (at the time) an online magazine, with no current print issues available
• The Patreon and merchandise that's available to help support the magazine's operation
• Running two Kickstarters - one of which funded, and the other, which didn't fund
• And more...

After the interview Mark reflects on the value of getting involved with such a prestigious magazine brand as Amazing Stories, as well as the strong sense of connection and engagement with readers that can happen within the fanzine community.

Links of Interest:

• Amazing Stories Website
  • Store (Includes Amazing Selects imprint of books)
  • Submissions
• efanzines.com
• EP 366 - Bolts of Fiction
• EP 365 - An Interview That's A Hug With Gail Carriger
• DropCap Marketplace
  • Use coupon STARK20 to get 20% off
• Cruising Writers
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
  • How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds
• 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

Lloyd Penney is a Canadian science fiction writer, science fiction convention organizer and a dedicated fan who took his long time science fiction interest and turned it into a career recently - as the editor-in-chief of Amazing Stories one of science fictions longest running magazines. He had previously written extensively for science fiction fanzines.

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

Mark interviews Daniel Willcocks and Samantha Frost about their flash fiction anthology BOLTS OF FICTION and the unique engagement they created and managed through the month of February 2023 to inspire the writing community throughout the entire month.

In February 2023, the Activated Authors community embarked on an ambitious project: to respond to daily prompts and produce a flash fiction story by the next day.

The result was an outpouring of over 500 unique and imaginative pieces, from which the very best were meticulously curated for their anthology.

From heart-wrenching tales of love and loss to whimsical adventures in fantastical worlds, each story promises to transport you, even if just for a moment, into a different reality. Whether you have a minute or an hour, you'll find stories that will intrigue, inspire, and leave you yearning for more.

Featuring stories from:

Quenntis Ashby, Ara Bell, Amy Bulauski, Tracey Byrnes, S.F. Claymore, Cassi Emerson, Geoff Emberlyn, B.A. Ferguson, Michelle L.M. Gale, Renée Gallant, Megan L. Garner, Robert Gelik, Debbie Gravett, Karla Hailer, R.P. Howley, Jacqueline James, Claire Ladds, Arin Laney, Mark Leslie, Daisy Lythe, S.W. Millar, Kiz Moncrieff, Andrew Murray, Laura Nettles, Kymba Nijuck, Carolyn O'Brien, Leila Murton Poole, Karin Redclift, C.M. Simpson, K.T. Tate, and Karen Wicks.

In this interview, Mark, Dan, and Sam talk about:

• June 15th being National Flash Fiction Day
• What flash fiction is
• The inspiration for this project
• The tight deadlines involved
• Creating daily prompts to inspire writers
• The blind submission/reading process
• And more . . .

Links of Interest:

• Bolts of Fiction
• Devil's Rock Publishing
• Dan's Website
• Sam's Website
• DropCap Marketplace
  • Use coupon STARK20 to get 20% off
• Cruising Writers
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
  • How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds
• 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

Daniel Willcocks is an international bestselling author, award-winning podcaster, author coach, and speaker. Dan writes non-fiction for authors and creatives, as well as dark fiction for the twisted reader, spanning the genres of horror, post-apocalyptic, and sci-fi.

Sam Frost a.k.a. "Mastress of None," is a video-editor, poet, writer, painter, actor and creator. Based in the south of England (but not born there, that's an important distinction), Sam is passionate about helping creatives while battling the will of a medium sized human and the "affectionate" sneezes of a smaller sized pug.

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

Mark interviews Gail Carriger about her writing life, her journey through publishing, analytics, the careful curation of her author brand, being a hybrid author and so much more.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

In the interview Mark and Gail talk about:- How honored Mark is to learn that Gail listens to the Stark Reflections Podcast

• Gail's branding phrase of "Gail Carriger writes books that are hugs" and the various experiments she's done with that over the years
• Always being a person who wrote, or had a passion for writing
• Reading The Lord of the Rings as a child and deciding to craft her OWN ending for the story
• Growing up in a "commune" environment with a bunch of poets
• Gail's career as an academic when her first traditionally published book (Soulless) came out and took off
• The challenge/dare to herself of wanting to write a genre-blending/cross-genre tale of something that she would enjoy as a reader
• Negotiations taking a long time because Gail dug in her heels on specific contract clauses
• Her agent investigating a back-door deal with another publisher who offered her 3X the deal the first was looking at and was willing to adjust the right of first refusal clause
• The vision that the publishers had that Soulless was the beginning of a series (despite Gail believing, when she first wrote it, that it was a stand-alone)
• Having a two-book contract and then writing a cliffhanger at the end of the 2nd book in order to grease the wheels of a contract for other books
• Gail's love-affair with spreadsheets and the fact she reads all 56 pages of her royalty reports
• One of the main reasons she became an indie author was her ability to have direct access to data about her sales and her readers
• Gail's cautionary note to authors that with a "right of first refusal" a publisher is allowed to take their time with that offer, which can significantly delay an author's forward-movement plans
• The possible "rights grab" that a publisher might do even if it's not something within their regular publishing plans
• How growing up Gen-X and being a non-native to computers and the internet has resulted in an abundance of caution about digital, computers, the world wide web, how she is presented on the internet, etc.
• Gail's recommendation to test the waters in self-publishing with short stories first
• Nerding out with Mark about the "old days" of self-publishing and podcasting
• Being a social scientist by training and loving analytics and spreadsheets
• Pinging her rabid fan base and testing things all the time
• Gail's A/B testing on whether it's better to put a newsletter signup link at the front of a book or the end of the book, or both
• Ensuring that her author brand is not diluted with author business stuff that she's known for from other authors and industry insiders
• Talking to her readers constantly to continue to stay in the loop on insights
• The importance, when communicating to your readers to use the same language that they're used to
• Learning that her readers tend to not have a distinction between libraries and bookstores - that many of them see them under the same umbrella of a place they go to see what books are on display
• Confirming the reports that "word of mouth" is, by a landslide, the way that most readers find out about new books and new authors to read
• The value of a recommendation from another author in a newsletter or on social media
• The challenges of book blurbs
• A podcast that Gail recommends: Reading Glasses - and that authors should subscribe and listen to it in order to understand the language that readers use
• The deliberate curation and creation of the Gail Carriger persona, including her love of wearing retro outfits
• The side benefit of being able to be a fan at conventions, etc when "out of uniform" and how she's rarely recognized when not sporting that specific "look"
• A little bit about Gail's book THE HEROINE'S JOURNEY
• The next book for writers that Gail is working on called GOING HYBRID, structured to help established and existing traditionally published authors to learn the indie publishing landscape
• And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on several different topics that came up in the conversation, including contract clauses, being incognito, and Gails's suggesting for testing the self-publishing waters.

Links of Interest:

• Gail Carriger Website
• ScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link)
• DropCap Marketplace
  • Use coupon STARK20 to get 20% off
• Cruising Writers
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
  • How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds
• 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

Gail Carriger writes books that are hugs, mostly comedies of manners mixed with steampunk, urban fantasy, and sci-fi (plus cozy queer joy as G. L. Carriger). These include the Parasol Protectorate, Custard Protocol, Tinkered Stars, and San Andreas Shifter series for adults, and the Finishing School and Tinkered Starsong series for young adults. Also nonfiction: The Heroine's Journey. She is published in many languages, has over a million books in print, over a dozen New York Times and USA Today bestsellers, and starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus, and Romantic Times.

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

Mark interviews Leigh Rubin about 40 years of his Rubes® cartoons and his latest book THINK LIKE A CARTOONIST.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

In the interview Mark and Leigh talk about:

• The fact that in 2024 Leigh is celebrating 40 years of producing Rubes® cartoons
• Some of the things that have changed since Leigh first started writing the cartoons - such as the way he delivers the daily cartoons
• The tools that haven't changed over the years, such as the drawing instruments he uses
• How far in advance the daily cartoons need to be sent in for syndication
• The fact that Leigh rarely ever takes a day off from drawing something new for the cartoon
• Leigh's book THINK LIKE A CARTOONIST and the story behind it
• The various types of essays that appear in this book
• Leigh's Cartoonist Pledge (inspired by the Boy Scout pledge)
• The ease of sharing cartoons on social media without any compensation given to the artist
• What a "workaround" is for cartooning
• The challenges of when humor doesn't age well because of changing sensitivities
• Testing the cartoons and deciding not to use certain ones that don't hit just right - (and the big stack of un-used cartoons that Leigh never submitted because they weren't funny enough)
• And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on the idea of what Leigh calls a "workaround" and how a similar thing might apply to writers in general as well as the idea of testing cartoons and not publishing them unless the hit right.

Links of Interest:

• Leigh Rubins Website / Rubes Cartoons
• Think Like a Cartoonist (RIT Press Website)
• EP 152 - Drawing Inspiration with Cartoonist Leigh Rubin
• Dramatic Exit (YouTube Short Inspired by one of Leigh's cartoons)
• EP 316 - Free Your Inner Non-Fiction Writer with Johanna Rothman
• ScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link)
• DropCap Marketplace
  • Use coupon STARK20 to get 20% off
• Cruising Writers
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
  • How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds
• 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

Leigh Rubin is an accomplished author and cartoonist. He has written more than 20 books. 2024 will mark the 40th anniversary of Leigh's internationally syndicated cartoon, Rubes®, which is distributed by Creators Syndicate to hundreds of newspapers and media outlets worldwide.

His work has been featured in film, television, and advertising. Leigh also enjoys a busy schedule giving thought-provoking and entertaining presentations on art and creativity at conferences, as well as professional organizations all around the country.

In 2018 Leigh began serving at Rochester Institute of Technology as the college's first Cartoonist-in-Residence.

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

Mark interviews Sarah McVanel, a recognition expert, professional speaker, coach, author, recovering perfectionist, and movement maker about her books, speaking, and her the new podcast she co-hosts with her daughter.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

In the interview Mark and Sarah talk about:

• What Sarah has been up to since Mark last had her on the podcast
• How Sarah is an expert-based author rather than a "traditional" author
• The difference between writing for a keynote as a speaker and writing a book
• The various books that Sarah has previously written and how she went about putting them together, including FLIPSIDE OF FAILING
• The research and legwork done in order to send hand-signed copies and hand-written notes to medical/health-care leaders for Sarah's book ROCKSTAR: Magnify Your Greatness in Times of Change for Healthcare Leaders
• Providing space in the back of a specially printed edition of her book ROCKSTAR: Magnify Your Greatness in Times of Change for Women Leaders for conference organizers to put their own messaging in
• The needless bloating in some non-fiction books; something which Sarah strives to not do
• Satisfaction that's felt when you finish reading a book
• How companies, publishers, and authors often bundle products together and how it might affect the reader
• How we earn the right to be read as authors
• Participating in physical bundles with other speakers as part of a conference
• The way the most special readers deserve something special
• The new podcast (The Greatness Together Podcast) that Sarah has started with her daughter and which runs every other week
• Various topics related to the human dimension that mother and daughter Sarah and Simonne talk through
• And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on Sarah's perspective on the author needing to ensure that they deliver on their promise and that after earning the reader's attention, they need to keep it by delivering on that promise in the content. He also reflects on the incredible value Sarah brings as a greatness recognition expert.

Links of Interest:

• Sarah's Website
• The Greatness Together Podcast
• EP 76 - Recognizing Success in Failure with Sarah McVanel
• EP 109 - 12 Takeaways From CAPS Convention 2019
• EP 361 - The Author Wheel with Greta Boris and Megan Haskell
• ScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link)
• DropCap Marketplace
  • Use coupon STARK20 to get 20% off
• Cruising Writers
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
  • How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds
• 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

Sarah McVanel is a recognition expert, professional speaker, coach, author, recovering perfectionist, and movement maker. She created F.R.O.G. Forever Recognize Others' GreatnessTM to invigorate companies so they can see their people as exceptional and, together, create a scrumptious, thriving culture where everyone belongs.

Sarah has 25+ years of experience training, coaching, and leading teams. From her senior leadership role, she founded her boutique firm Greatness Magnified. Proclaimed as the "Frog Lady," she can be found freaking out perfect strangers (in a good way) by handing out squishy frogs and asking them, "Have you been frogged lately?" and then acknowledging their greatness.

She's a Certified Senior Organizational Development Professional (CSODP), Professional Certified Coach (PCC), and Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL). She is one of 700 Certified Speaking Professionals (CSP) worldwide. She has a BA in Psychology, MSc in Family Relations, and Diplomas in Human Resources and Healthcare Administration.

You can catch her kayaking in the summer and snowshoeing in the winter with her husband, or cooking a feast (while listening to an audiobook on double speed). She's a die-hard carb-ivour, amateur hip hopper, and TikTok embarrasser to her two kids.

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

Mark interviews author Todd Fahnestock about his latest book for writers: Falling to Fly: The Book To Read Before Giving Up On Your Writing Dreams.

This episode is sponsored by the Patrons and Coffee Buddies of the Stark Reflections Podcast.

Buy Mark a Coffee

In the interview Mark and Todd talk about:

• Who Todd is and the edge of the seat epic fantasy he writes
• A little bit about Todd's memoir of hiking the Colorado Trail with his 15-year-old son
• The pitch for Summer of the Fetch, one of his one-off books
• Todd's latest book FALLING TO FLY: The Book to Read Before Giving Up on Your Writing Dreams
• How the book includes several completely frank episodes where Todd fell flat on his face and failed, and yet picked himself up one more time
• The idea of failure being the classroom and success being the diploma
• Being bored with a story where there's no challenge, or struggle, or flaws in the main character
• How fantasy books saved Todd's life when he was young and the fact he wanted to do the same thing for someone else
• The "writer dream" interviews that Todd is doing on social media
• The chapter called "The Little Rebel" and what that particular voice does for Todd
• The nightmare that inspired the idea for the title FALLING TO FLY
• And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on how great a storyteller Todd is, how much he enjoyed Todd's latest book, and the value when someone paints an authentic picture of the actual stark realities of the writing life.

Links of Interest:

• Todd Fahnestock's Website
• EP 340 - Personality, Passion, Presentation, and Persistence with Todd Fahnestock
• ScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link)
• DropCap Marketplace
  • Use coupon STARK20 to get 20% off
• Cruising Writers
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
  • How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds
• 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

Todd Fahnestock is an award-winning, #1 bestselling author of fantasy for all ages and winner of the New York Public Library's Books for the Teen Age Award. Threadweavers and The Whisper Prince Trilogy are two of his bestselling epic fantasy series. He is a founder of Eldros Legacy—a multi-author, shared-world mega-epic fantasy series—three-time winner of the Colorado Authors League Award for Writing Excellence, and two-time finalist for the Colorado Book Award for Tower of the Four: The Champions Academy (2021) and Khyven the Unkillable (2022).

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

Mark interviews Greta Boris and Megan Haskell of The Author Wheel.

Prior to the interview Mark shares a brief personal update and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Prior to the interview, Mark reads comments from recent episodes, shares a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by ScribeCount (affiliate link). Spend less time logging in to multiple platforms and crunching numbers, and more time writing and marketing your books thanks to ScribeCount's handy all-in-one interface.

In the interview Mark, Greta, and Megan talk about:

• How Megan started writing as a creative outlet when she was working for a major accounting firm
• The writing done on the train on the way in to work in Los Angeles and the blogs she had written
• Continuing writing after having her daughter in 2012 and then publishing her first book before her second child was born
• Greta's magazine background (her father was an editor and publisher of some major magazines back in the day)
• The writing she did for a number of magazines over the years and the various genres and topics she took on
• Being inspired by interviewing a bunch of fiction authors, including Joanna Penn
• How Greta got her first publisher doing a Twitter pitch
• Twitter pitches being really good for writing log lines
• Megan and Greta's "meet cute" at the Southern California Writer's Conference in 2014
• Pitching a course to that conference at a later date so they could attend it again without having to pay which got turned into a book (Publish: Take Charge of Your Author Career)
• How they started The Author Wheel courses, podcast, and other resources
• The metaphors for The Author Wheel
• The way they try to break topics down into the smallest bits possible to simplify people
• Why it's helpful to recognize that authors are all at different places and there are so many different paths and choices an author can make
• Their course Trope Stacking and Other Genre Magic which is a companion to a quick-guide Understanding Your Genre
• Greta's pioneering with writing a book she felt was a "Cozy Horror" novel
• Strategies for mixing and layering in genres that are complimentary to one another while creating something unique
• How writing to an outline made Megan feel like her creativity was being stifled
• The way that Megan and Greta collaborate in their writing, the podcast, the social media, and the courses
• And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on the idea of the "Twitter pitch" and the benefit of having to craft writing that has tight restrictions as well as the importance of understanding that there's no one-size-fits-all solution, and that there's no single right way for authors to do things.

Links of Interest:

• The Author Wheel
  • Podcast
  • Courses:
    • 7 Days To Clarity
    • Self Publish or Get an Agent
    • Finish Your Novel Faster
    • Layering Your Story World
    • Trope Stacking and Other Genre Magic
• Megan Haskell's Website
• Greta Boris's Website
• Mark's Interview on The Author Wheel Podcast: Overcoming Self-Doubt and Mastering Book Marketing with Mark Leslie Lefebvre
• ScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link)
• DropCap Marketplace
  • Use coupon STARK20 to get 20% off
• Cruising Writers
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
  • How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds
• 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

Greta Boris is a USA Today Bestselling mystery and thriller author. Megan Haskell is an award-winning fantasy adventure author. Together, they founded The Author Wheel, publishers of books, courses, and a podcast to help writers overcome roadblocks and keep their stories rolling.

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

Mark interviews Roseanne Cheng, an award-winning author, ghostwriter, and book marketer who is passionate about educating authors and publishers about the power and opportunity of having their books elevated to the international market.

They talk about her writing life, her author mentoring life, and about how DropCap Marketplace is a great bridge between indie authors and the licensing foreign language rights through traditional agencies and book scouts.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, comments from recent episodes, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

In their interview Mark and Roseanne talk about:

• Roseanne's background and passion for helping writers
• The first book Roseanne published (The Take Back of Lincoln Junior High) back in 2013 when she was teaching full-time and how it will always have a special place in her heart
• Working with Wise Ink Creative Publishing and the great respect that Roseanne has for the women who run that business
• The various lessons learned with writing and publishing a book and how you can turn the things that you learned (via various mistakes you've made) into positives by helping others on their own journeys
• Taking on the role of Marketing Director at Wise Ink by leveraging her own experiences to help shepherd other writers through the process of releasing a new book
• Working with authors to create their own custom marketing plans based on their goals
• Meeting and connecting with a dear friend, Josie, and teaching one another things they were each good at
• Creating an online school with Josie called Evergreen Authors in about 2019
• How the pandemic ended up helping these courses and various other online teaching and Roseanne's ghostwriting business to really take off
• The genesis of her first book, The Take Back of Lincoln Junior High
• Reading the novel after taking a long break (focusing on the endless work and much sleeplessness of raising small children) and recognizing that it was really good
• How Roseanne's role as a teacher helped prepare her for the work she does in helping authors
• The co-authored book BUZZ: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO BOOK MARKETING
• Roseanne's books THE EVERYGREEN AUTHOR: MASTER THE ART OF BOOK MARKETING and PORTABLE MAGIC
• The importance of asking your readers: "Where do you buy books?"
• The WIDE FOR THE WIN message of being in as many places as possibly and opening as many doors as possible and how it really resonated with Roseanne
• Getting involved in the "Rights" side of publishing and the entire distribution network that she had not yet been tapped into
• A story about the first time Roseanne received an email from a foreign publisher who reached out because they were interested in the foreign language rights to her work
• The creation of DropCap Marketplace as a match-making service between indie authors/small publishers and agents and book scouts
• The various other marketing resources available for authors on the DropCap site
• How DropCap marries technology with relationship resources within the industry
• The special coupon code for Stark Reflections listeners. STARK20 - to get 20% off the listing at DropCap marketplace
• And more . . .

After the interview, Mark reflections on Roseanne's passion for helping writers and the importance for indie authors of recognizing where they can DIY and where they might be better off leveraging experts in a particular area of publishing.

Links of Interest:

• Roseanne Cheng's Website
  • Roseanne's Books
• Evergreen Authors Website
• DropCap Marketplace
  • Use coupon STARK20 to get 20% off
• Cruising Writers
• Stark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins Agency
• ScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link)
• Mark's YouTube Channel
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
  • How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds
• 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

Roseanne Cheng is an award-winning author, ghostwriter, book marketer, and Director of Business Development DropCap Rights Agency. A lifelong reader and writer, she began her work in book publishing as a Marketing Director for an indie publishing house based in Minneapolis and eventually co-founded Evergreen Authors, an online school teaching authors the business of writing and marketing their creative work. In her current role with DropCap, she has the unique pleasure of matching global rights buyers with titles that have the potential to positively impact their communities. She is passionate about educating authors and publishers about the power and opportunity of having their books elevated to the international market.

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