Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

Mark interviews actor/director/producer/writer Eriq La Salle about his latest novel LAWS OF ANNIHILATION and his life-long passion for storytelling.

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

You can learn more about how you can get your audiobooks distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.

In their conversation, Mark and Eriq talk about:

• How Eriq had always wanted to be a writer
• Joining the high school drama club in junior high with the idea that they'd be able to put on the plays that he would write
• Being told by the drama teacher that he had to audition, and how that started the "acting bug" that took him through a multi-decade career acting, directing, and producing
• The way the author desire resurfaced about a dozen years ago
• The prequel story to The Martyr Maker series (which appears in the end of LAWS OF DEPRAVITY) and why Eriq wrote it
• The concept behind The Martyr Maker franchise
• Loving movies and television and being inspired by the storytelling conventions there
• The way each of the three main characters leads a little bit more in the first three books in the series
• Eriq's work as Executive Producer for several years on Chicago PD
• Directing and Executive Producing Dick Wolf's first show launched into streaming on Amazon Prime
• A minor character in the series (known as "The African") who was fashioned after the Luca Brasi character in The Godfather and who will return in a later book in the series
• How it took 10 years to find a publisher, and Eriq's DIY experience self-publishing
• The importance of understanding and participating in the grass-roots style marketing as an author
• Having to do a lot of marketing work even when you're with a larger publisher
• The way that the status of "celebrity" can sometimes work against you
• Eriq's respect for each medium and how to re-think, and re-learn in his unique roles within them
• The importance of humbling yourself
• How the marketing person that Eriq had hired and worked with eventually became his agent
• Feeling that he is a better writer of fiction novels than of screenplays, despite his years of experience as an actor, director, and producer
• The intention cinematic writing that Eriq did when crafting The Martyr Maker series
• Enjoying collecting "useless trivia" and how that can aid in the research aspect of writing a novel
• Giving credit to the technical advisors Eriq has worked with on shows like ER and Chicago PD
• The various first readers that Eriq works with
• Being an old fashioned paper book reader
• Eriq's great respect for librarians
• The delightful feeling of seeing your book in various bookstores of all sizes, including indie bookstores, big box stores, and airport bookstores
• Doing several events in New York for the week the book is launching, including a special "On the Couch with Eriq La Salle"
• The importance of listening to the messaging
• The understanding that "we are blue collar artists"
• Advice Eriq would offer to writers who are working at it and haven't yet found their success
• And more . . .

After the interview, Mark reflects on a few of the things Eriq talked about, as well as a subtle, but important way Eriq spoke about the "team" he works with as an author.

Links of Interest:

• Eriq La Salle's Website
  • Eriq on Instagram
  • Eriq on Facebook
  • Eriq on Twitter
  • Eriq on TikTok
• Eriq La Salle's Books
• Sourcebooks
• Video of The Interview with Eriq (YouTube)
• EP 328 - Reflecting on a New Season with Terry Fallis
• EP 327 - Writing the Shadow with Joanna Penn
• EP 326 - Rebranding and Relaunching with E.L. Williams
• Port Dover: Friday the 13th
• Best Book Ever Podcast
  • EP 154 - Mark Leslie Lefebvre on "The Best Laid Plans" by Terry Fallis
  • EP 155 - Canada-Palooza with Mark Leslie Lefebvre
• Best Book Ever Pod
• Mark's YouTube Channel
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Best Book Ever Podcast
• Lovers Moon Podcast
• 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
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

Actor/director/producer Eriq La Salle is best known to worldwide television audiences for his award-winning portrayal of the commanding Dr. Peter Benton on the critically acclaimed and history-making medical drama ER. Educated at Juilliard and NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, his credits range from Broadway to film roles opposite Eddie Murphy in Coming to America and Robin Williams in One Hour Photo and Hugh Jackman in Logan. La Salle has maintained a prolific acting career while at the same time working steadily as a director, taking the helm for HBO, Showtime, NBC, Fox and CBS. He remains a valued member of the Dick Wolf Entertainment camp after 4 years as Executive Producer and director on Chicago PD in addition to directing episodes of Law & Order, and Law and Order Organized Crime.

As a writer, La Salle is the author of several critically acclaimed thrillers published in 2022 and 2023-Laws of Depravity, Laws of Wrath, and Laws of Annihilation. He has also written an episode of The Twilight Zone which made WGA's list of 101 Best Written TV Series. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

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 Terry Fallis about his latest novel, A New Season.

A two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, Terry Fallis is the author of nine novels, all of them national bestsellers—including six #1 bestsellers—and all published by McClelland & Stewart/Penguin Random House.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, welcomes new Patron Nikki Guerlain, and a word about this episode's sponsor.

You can learn more about how you can get your audiobooks distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.

In their conversation, Mark and Terry talk about:

• Terry's latest novel, A NEW SEASON, and the unique approach he took to his latest book
• Retiring from his day job as a communications/public affairs consultant in March 2022
• Having wanted to write full time since the release of his first novel fifteen years earlier
• The precarious reality of the earnings an author is most likely to make, even if they are a successful author who regularly hits the bestseller lists in Canada
• How the novel was derived from fears (something Terry was inspired by John Irving to consider), and from events that unfolded during the pandemic, and the way Terry had to evolve his writing from the usual "bend" of humor he employed in his previous books
• Casting off the shackles/tyranny of humor
• Some of the "trademark" self-depracating humor of Terry's narrators (Jack McMaster in this one, Daniel Addison in his first couple of novels)
• Not being able to believe that he's currently 63 and the experience of writing a narrator (Jack) who is closer to Terry's own age
• Terry's experiences playing ball hockey every week and how ball hockey can be a bit of a time machine
• Writing the scenes from trying to speech French when in Paris from personal experience
• Terry's friendship with Jim Cuddy (of Blue Rodeo fame) via his weekly ball-hockey and how the musician allowed Terry to write him into his novel
• The examination of make friendship which is an important aspect of this novel
• Terry's history of being a "closeted" singer-songwriter, which he's been doing since he was seventeen years old
• The song "More Than The Game" which Terry wrote about the comradarie of his ball hockey league
• Laying a few of Terry's songs into the audiobook produced by Penguin Random House
• The 42-year-old love song that Terry wrote for his University girlfriend (who he has been married to for 36 wonderful years)
• The long-time romantic tradition of Terry singing the love song to his wife on Christmas Eve
• Terry's personal connection to Paris and how it, like ball hockey, is a kind of time machine
• Writing a scene of the novel at the seat of Hemmingway's favorite table at a Paris cafe
• Hailing from the "why use 6 words when 12 will do" school of writing
• The saga of Constance Stanley's diaries becoming the final piece that Terry needed to complete the story
• How the title A NEW SEASON refers to so many different elements from the novel
• The next book that Terry has already started to work on, which has even more intrigue and suspense than two of his previous novels
• Advice Terry would have for writers who have long wanted to do it, but haven't yet taken that step
• And more...

After the interview, Mark reflects on the idea of writing books from passion and intense interest. He then shares the name of the Patron winner of Joanna Penn's Writing the Shadow.

Links of Interest:

• Terry's Website
• Terry's Substack
• A New Season (PRH Canada)
• Terry's previous guest appearances on this podcast:
  • EP 029 - Terry Fallis on Writing with Authenthicity, Humor, and Passion
• Mentions of Terry on previous episodes:
  • EP 189 - From Stage to Page and Back to Stage with Rod Carley
  • EP 050 - 5 Things Learned in 50 Episodes
  • EP 020 - Lessons Learned on My Writer Journey
• EP 146 - Finding Yourself in Our Song with Meaghan Smith
• EP 327 - Writing the Shadow with Joanna Penn
• EP 326 - Rebranding and Relaunching with E.L. Williams
• EP 325 - Reflecting Back: 3 Things That Are Wrong With Indie Publishing
• Mark's YouTube Channel
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Best Book Ever Podcast
• Lovers Moon Podcast
• 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
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

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 Joanna Penn about her new book Writing the Shadow: Turn Your Inner Darkness into Words, then associated Kickstarter she launched for it, plans she has to window its release, and much more.

Prior to the main content, Mark thanks Patrons of the Stark Reflections Podcast.

In their conversation, Mark and Joanna talk about:

• How it has been a while since Joanna has been on Mark's podcast (she was in episode 212)
• The number of years Joanna has been podcasting under The Creative Penn brand (March 2009)
• How sometimes there's a book that you really want to write that you're not ready to write yet
• The way we can often push the "shadows" down and repress them
• The importance of writing the things that fascinate you
• What happens when you push a balloon down underwater and try to hold it there
• Plato's Chariot and the White and Dark horses and getting them to run together in harmony
• The value of addressing what we're repressing and bringing it into the light particularly in your writing
• How critical it is for successful fiction to have conflict, which is often derived from the shadow
• The common themes in Joanna's writing about helping or saving the family or saving the world
• The only way we're going to be able to stand out as human in a crowded market, and, in particular, a market with emerging AI-generated content
• How Writing the Shadow and Pilgrimage are "mid-life" books for Joanna as she is addressing that part of her existence and Mememto Mori in those memoir-style books
• Exploring how you're being held back by some of those things that you've allowed to be repressed
• The shadows in both self-publishing and traditional publishing
• How you don't need to be afraid to look into the shadow and perhaps find the gold in that shadow
• The Kickstarter that Joanna has launched for Writing the Shadow
• The way authors have long focused on the retail websites for sales but how that has slowly shifted into a new phase of direct selling and windowing strategies
• Joanna's launch strategy for Writing the Shadow which starts with Kickstarter, migrates to direct selling on her personal websites, and then moves into broader retail and library distribution
• The value of standing out as an author, particularly today
• How Writing the Shadow is an optimistic book despite the topic and themes explored in it
• Building a new author ecosystem and training existing and new readers to engage in that realm
• The importance of remembering how the business model will keep changing but what doesn't change is writing the books of your heart and the books that will help you and others
• Gifts of the shadow, finding the gold, and the idea of "after the curse comes the gift"
• The spiral bound workbook
• How thecreativepenn.com/shadowbook will redirect either to the Kickstarter or wherever the books are available in the future
• The horror themed storybundle that Mark and Joanna are both in
• And more...

After the interview Mark reflects on a few things from the conversation, announces a bonus for his patrons related to a reward from Joanna's Kickstarter, and invites listeners to share their own reflections on this topic.

Links of Interest:

• Joanna Penn's Main Website: The Creative Penn
  • Writing the Shadow
• Halloween/Horror Storybundle (Ends after Oct 31, 2023)
• Joanna's Previous guest appearances on this podcast:
  • EP 002 - Living the Healthy Writer's Life with Joanna Penn
  • EP 148 - AI Voice Double Conversation with Joanna Penn
  • EP 212 - A Conversation with Joanna Penn about Co-authoring The Relaxed Author
  • SELECTED OTHER MENTIONS / Appearances
    • EP 164 - Reflections on Other Podcasts: The Creative Penn Podcast Episode 517
    • EP 300 - Celebrating 300 Episodes with Guest Reflections
• Mark's YouTube Channel
• EP 324 - The Asset of Attention with Joe Solari
• EP 325 - Reflecting Back: Three Things That Are Wrong With Indie Publishing
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Best Book Ever Podcast
• Lovers Moon Podcast
• 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
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

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 E.L. Williams about her writing life, about her books, about rebranding one of the books in her series, and more.

Prior to the main content, Mark shares comments from recent episodes a brief personal update, welcomes new patron T. Thorn Coyle, and shares a word about this episode's sponsor.

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

In their conversation, Mark and Emma talk about:

• How it took Emma about ten years to write her first book
• Getting slightly "bullied" into going to a writer conference from a fellow author
• Publishing her first book during Halloween season in 2020
• How the global pandemic changed enough things with her day job that allowed her the opportunity to get the book finished and published
• The "Murphy's Law" events that piled up with the launch of book two, which led to a signifcant health issue that had to be dealt with
• The decision to change the title and cover for book two after realizing it wasn't hitting the market properly
• Being a great believer in learning by doing
• Rolling back on the unrealistic expectations Emma set herself up with and learning to enjoy the process and take a more relaxed approach
• Emma's ideas involving merchandise in relation to her book and how that led to collaborating with Deadweight Brewing
• The book "relaunch" party Emma planned out including the beer and book cakes
• The social media "long shot" that Emma took on Instagram asking if the beer book branding thing had ever been done before
• How social media can be a bit like marmite
• Beginning to check out experimenting with TikTok by doing a video a day
• Advice Emma has for other writers who haven't taken the plunge yet
• And more....

After the interview, Mark reflects back on a couple of things his conversation with Emma made him think about.

Links of Interest:

• E. L. WIlliams' Website
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • TikTok
• Deadweight Brewing Company
• Mark's YouTube Channel
• EP 324 - The Asset of Attention with Joe Solari
• EP 325 - Reflecting Back: Three Things That Are Wrong With Indie Publishing
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Best Book Ever Podcast
• Lovers Moon Podcast
• 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
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

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

In this episode Mark reflects back to Episode 6 of this podcast, which was released on Feb 6, 2018.

He shares clips from that episode, in which he outlined three of the things that bothered him about the indie publishing world.

Reflecting back, he comments on a few things that have changed, and what is consistent more than 5 years after the initial broadcast.

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

Links of Interest:

• Episode 6 - What's Wrong with Indie Publishing
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Best Book Ever Podcast
• Lovers Moon Podcast
• 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
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

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

In this solo episode, Mark interviews Joe Solari about his new book May I Have a Moment of Your Attention?

Prior to the main content, Mark shares comments from recent episodes and then reflects on the reasons why he canceled a trip he was supposed to take to Florida to attend NINC (Novelist's Inc.)

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

In their conversation, Mark and Joe talk about:

• Joe's winding experience path, the long journey he has been on, and how there's no way you could possibly train for the job that Joe does
• The daily roadblocks that Joe had to overcome as he was beginning to learn about the complex writing and publishing business
• The importance of not assuming that the person on stage actually knows what they're talking about
• Also not assuming that what you "need" is what you're seeing presented on that "stage"
• Joe's very first 20BooksVegas conference (which he has been to since the very beginning of it)
• How Joe feels that we're still in the early stages of the entire self-publishing landscape
• Understanding different formats, like audio, where the consumers aren't necessarily readers, but do enjoy story
• The value of recognizing the assets in your business, which includes the asset of AUDIENCE and the related importance of DEMAND
• How ads aren't scaleable, but that audiences are scaleable
• Joe's latest book MAY I HAVE A MOMENT OF YOUR ATTENTION and how it's only available to buy direct from Joe
• How the book was created, and how, in part of Joe building his brand is NOT just putting the book up everywhere
• The audit statements in a survey that Joe asks readers of the book to complete
• The way this survey and other assets help the reader get to "know, like, and trust" Joe and then be willing to purchase from him
• How traffic to your Amazon page can be one of the worst things you do if that traffic doesn't convert to sales
• The value of a customer retention system
• The importance of feeling a special part of a brand's community
• Focusing on serving your ideal reader rather than trying to sell more books
• How author Chris Kennedy allows his fans to incorporate their own fan club about the worlds he has created and written
• The way that people who spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on merchandise, cosplay, etc, are not even thinking about how much a book costs
• Joe telling authors to try out his author marketing audit survey and to pay attention to it and see how they can steal his ideas for their own branding and marketing efforts
• The free 20 minute calls that Joe offers
• The critical importance of focusing on your audience, and not on what other authors are doing

After the interview Mark reflects on a couple of the things Joe talked about, including the advice on assumptions made about the person "on stage" offering advice, and on the critical value of focusing on how you can serve your ideal reader rather than focusing on trying to sell more books.

Links of Interest:

• Joe Solari's Website
  • Joe's Author Marketing Audit
  • May I Have A Moment of Your Attention? (Book)
• EP 323 - Rambling Reflections From the Road: This Old House
• EP 096 - Focusing on and Delivering to Your Audience with Dale L. Roberts
• EP 232 - From Script Writer to Novelist with David Boito
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Best Book Ever Podcast
• Lovers Moon Podcast
• 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
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

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

In this solo episode, Mark reflects on his last few days in his old childhood home which has been in his family for three generations.

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

Links of Interest:

• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Best Book Ever Podcast
• Lovers Moon Podcast
• 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
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

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 Ricardo Fayet of Reedsy about their new online course on How to Write a Novel.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares and reflects on a brief industry update related to Amazon's recent AI-related change, comments from recent episodes, and word about this episode's sponsor.

Reedsy contains an online listing of vetted professionals from across the industry, including editors, cover designers, and marketing experts. Get $20 off hiring a pro through Reedsy using Mark's Reedsy affiliate link.

In the interview, Mark and Ricardo talk about:

• Ricardo's persona and image being directly attached to Reedsy
• When Reedsy started and what the main idea behind it was, and the value proposition to authors
• How only 3 to 5% of the professionals who apply to be on Reedsy actually make it through
• The Reedsy online writing tool that you can use to write and export professional looking ePub and print-ready PDF files
• Some of the future development plans for the Reedsy writing platform, including collaboration with an editor
• Ricardo's HOW TO MARKET A BOOK, which is free in eBook edition
• The 2nd book he wrote and released in Jan 2023 called AMAZON ADS FOR AUTHORS which is the 2nd book in the Reedsy Guides series
• Some of the reasoning behind why one of the books is free in eBook and the other has a retail price associated with it (hint: it's a marketing tip)
• Important marketing information that Ricardo would want authors to know
• The new Reedsy course that runs 3 months and helps authors work through the first draft of their novel
• The various ongoing cohorts for the course, including one that opens in Sept and another that starts Oct 30th, to co-incide with NaNoWriMo, then the next that'll start in January 2024
• The term "Reedsian" which is used to denote Reedsy employees
• Tom Bromley, the instructor they hired to teach the How to Write a Novel course
• The intial launch price for the course, which is $1000 - and that it'll be going up shortly after the September launch
• Ricardo's previous attempts to try to write a novel and how this course might be one that he himself can benefit from
• Some of the things that surprised Ricardo about Reedsy since it's launch nearly 10 years ago
• How to find Reedsy and Ricardo
• What Ricardo is looking forward to about the future of our industry
• And more...

After the interview Mark reflects the overall supportive nature of the publishing industry

Links of Interest:

• Reedsy
  • Reedsy's How to Market a Book Online Course
• Subscriptions for Authors
• Episode 018 - Finding The Right Professional with Ricardo from Reedsy
• Episode 006 - What's Wrong with Indie Publishing (Mark's "10-year-olds playing soccer" analogy)
• Mark's Wide for the Win Update Page
• YouTube Video: OH NO! Is Amazon Anti AI?
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Best Book Ever Podcast
• Lovers Moon Podcast
• 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
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

Ricardo Fayet is one of the four founders of Reedsy, a marketplace connecting authors to the world's top publishing talent--from editors to cover designers, book marketers, or literary translators. He's the author of two books on marketing for authors, and a regular presenter at several prestigious writers' conferences: NINC, 20BooksVegas, and The Self Publishing Show Live, among others.

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 Emilia Rose and Michael Evans of Ream Stories, a subscription platform built by authors for authors.

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

You can learn more about how you can get your audiobooks distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.

In the interview, Mark, Emilia, and Michael talk about:

• Emilia's Wattpad experience which resulted in one of her books becoming very popular on that platform
• Michael's love of distopian fiction and discovery of the magnitude of the indie author realm, and his interest in the creator economy
• How Emilia and Michael first met
• What Ream (which launched in May 2023) is and how it works
• How authors can choose to make their book free or paid on Ream, and release it serialized or all at once
• The purposeful lack of exclusivity and onerous contract terms that Ream offers
• The fact that it's free for authors to use and Ream keeps 10% plus a credit card processing fee, resulting in authors keeping about 85% of the revenue
• Taking all the aspects of the various reading and serialzied platforms and merging them together to create Ream
• Creative things that authors have done that have surprised them since launching Ream
• The popularity of "author notes" and asking readers questions along the way on Ream
• Advice they would offer to other writers
• And more...

After the interview Mark reflects on a number of things, including how a small gesture can make a big difference, the value of bringing the best of the best of multiple platforms together into a single place, and the importance of treating readers like real people rather than objects to sell to.

Links of Interest:

• Ream Stories
• Michael Evans Website
• Emilia Rose Website
• Subscriptions for Authors
  • Free Audiobook: Subscriptions for Authors
• Self Publishing Insiders with Draft2Digital - Mark Interviews Daniel Willcocks on Overcoming Author Hurdles (YouTube)
• EP 320 - Maximizing Your Creative IP with Reenita Hora
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Best Book Ever Podcast
• Lovers Moon Podcast
• 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
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

Ream is the subscription platform by fiction authors for fiction authors.

The platform allows writers to build communities around their stories and charge a monthly fee that rewards your readers with early access to your stories, bonus content, access to new stories and your backlist, and even perks like signed books and merchandise.

Emilia Rose is a steamy romance author of 30 novels with over 30 million story reads online and six figures in annual subscription revenue. You can learn more about her here: https://www.emiliarosewriting.com/

Michael Evans is an author of 12 sci-fi thrillers + 2 nonfiction books for authors, serial creator economy founder, and a student at Harvard. You can learn more about him here: https://mevansinked.com/

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 Reenita Malhotra Hora, an award-winning screenwriter, novelist and audio producer.

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

Learn more about SciFidea and the awesome Dyson Sphere Sci-Fi Writing Contest.

In the interview, Mark and Reenita talk about:

• How Reenita has been writing her entire life and her love of storytelling in varous forms
• The manner in which life can be more fun when we are creating and when we don't always take life so seriously
• Focusing for a long time on how she could help her clients get THEIR stories out there
• The decision, in mid-pandemic, to begin to take her writing career in her own hands and developing her own IP
• The release of her book OPERATION MOM, which was released by Harper Collins India initially in 2011
• Buying the rights back for the book in the rest of the world (ie, outside India), as well as for the subsidiary rights for film, TV, etc
• The publisher's belief that the Western world isn't at all interested in reading a book set in Mumbai
• Reenita's own screenplay adaptation of the novel (written in the last year) which she decided to set in Hoboken, New Jersey
• How the story and the comedy in the screenplay remains the same but how the specific details and specific jokes have been modified and adjusted for the different market
• Just how much Reenita has been learning about publishing in the past few years
• The way that working with a smaller, boutique publisher can be a good experience, but how an author self-publishing it can potentially work a bit better because of the control they have
• Winning the Santa Barbara International Screenplay Award and being a finalist for the New York International Screenplay Award
• The unique approach Reenita took with her newer book Shadow Realms and the multiple formats she has created it in
• The importance of understanding the business of storytelling
• The two active podcasts Reenita has created, including the True Fiction Project, which explores the journey of story from non-fiction to fiction
• The different opportunities for various sponsorships in these two different podcasts
• Diversity being so important, but the fact that it has become such a recent "buzzword"
• The interesting compromise of the diversity of a community like Hoboken (which has shades of similarity to Mumbai and offers a window into the Indian-American community)
• How it can be fun to play with stereotypes and tropes and to turn them around
• Reenita's passion about bringing the experience of South-Asians to an American audience
• Describing her experiences as being akin to a street-food in Mumbai
• And more...

After the interview Mark reflects on a few things from the conversation, including the narrow way many New York publishers look at setting in a novel, which hasn't changed all that much since the early 1990s, and the dynamic way Reenita has explored storytelling in creative ways, while patiently learning more about the industry.

Links of Interest:

• Reenita's Website
  • Operation Mom
  • Reenita's Podcasts
  • Screenplays
• The 2023 Aurora Awards (YouTube)
  • 2023 Aurora Awards Opening Schtick (YouTube)
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Best Book Ever Podcast
• Lovers Moon Podcast
• 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
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

Reenita Malhotra Hora is an award-winning screenwriter, novelist and audio producer. Based partly in San Francisco and partly in Los Angeles, her experiences are akin to 'Bhel Puri,' the street food of Mumbai, her native place — a delectable mix of tastes (and preferences), meshed together with a bug or two for good measure. Passionate about storytelling the Indian narrative, Reenita writes characters and themes that reflect the South Asian experience whether set in South Asia or in the Western world.

As a writer she has contributed to Reuters, South China Morning Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CNN, Times of India, Rolling Stone, National Geographic Kids, Cartoon Network Asia, Disney and more. As an on-air news reporter, writer, and producer, she has contributed to Bloomberg, RTHK Radio 3, Monocle Radio and the BBC. She has two active podcasts - 'Shadow Realm' (narrative fantasy fiction) and the 'True Fiction Project' (unscripted to scripted).

Her female-driven comedy, 'Operation Mom' is a Santa Barbara Screenplay Awards winner, a Chanticleer International Book Awards GrandPrize winner and an Eric Hoffer Book Award Grand Prize winner. Her YA fantasy screenplay, 'Shadow Realm' is a Script2Comic and Launchpad Prose finalist, a Screencraft quarterfinalist, and a selected nominee for the New Media Film Festival.

She is a limited partner in the How Women Invest fund which specifically invests in women owned companies. She is working on her next novel and has recently launched Chapter by episode, a digital publishing platform for immersive chat fiction stories with diverse themes.

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