Mark interviews Andy Lidstone about the unconditional boundaries he talks about in his life coaching as the Uncondictional Coach.

This episode is sponsored by the patrons who support this podcast at https://patreon.com/starkreflections and https://buymeacoffee.com/markleslie. 

Links of Interest:

• Andy Lidstone's Unconditional Coach
• EP 387- Rambling Reflections From The Disappointing Aftermath
• One Hand Screaming: 20 Haunting Years
  • Books2Read Link
• Shop Local (Canadian Indie Bookstore Lookup)
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• 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

Andy Lidstone is the Unconditional Coach. Andy's biggest dream it to help other people reach their goals. And HIS goal is to help people of all walks of life make their dreams into reality. He believes the best communities are the ones made up of people that build each other up and help one another reach for the stars.

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 how disappointed he is with the recent US election, and the importance of creators, artists, and writers to continue to do their work as storytellers and improving the world.

This episode contains adult language, but only for a brief moment when Mark loses his cool when trying to express his anger and frustration.

Links of Interest:

• Amie McNee's Website
  • Instagram
  • We Need Your Art (Book)
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• 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
• One Hand Screaming: 20 Haunting Years
  • Books2Read Link
• 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 Liz Worth about her new poetry book Inside Every Poem, A Raging Sea.

Mark skips the regular introductory matter to skip right to the interview.

In their interview Mark and Liz talk about:

• How the book is about p laying with the idea of the cross-over or similarities between spell-writing and poetry
• The way that every line, every word counts in each of them
• Thoughts on what intuition really is as opposed to what many people think it is
• The importance of having to know the rules before you break them and how that works in both divination and writing
• How a lot of the poems in this collection were written in the depths of the pandemic when things were closed down, as well as when Liz's mother was living with dementia and in the last years of her life
• Her mother being a magical thinker and the influence her mother had on Liz
• Certain lines and ideas that would come to Liz as she was going out on regular walks
• Filling up a notebook she had found on the curb with these ideas and poems
• The way a lot of writing happens for Liz not while she's sitting at her desk, but out walking or doing other things
• How every piece of writing can have its own energy and have a life of its own that helps guide you when creating it
• The unique interpretations that different readers can apply to a piece of writing
• The recent popularity in horror-adjacent poetry
• Remembering that poetry can be rebellious and that it doesn't have to be academic or dry
• The process of putting the book of poetry together and then pitching it to a publisher
• The joy of working with a publisher like Book Hug Press
• The type of light editing that happens with a book of poetry
• Specific placement of poems within the book
• A bit behind the title poem "Inside Every Dream, a Raging Sea"
• Some of the themes that appear in the collection
• What Liz is working on now
• Advice Liz would offer to anyone wanting to try their hand at poetry
• And more...

Links of Interest:

• Liz Worth's Website
  • Instagram
• Book Hug Press
• Episode 387 - Vulnerability in Writing....with Liz Worth
• One Hand Screaming: 20 Haunting Years
  • Books2Read Link
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• 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

Liz Worth is a poet, novelist and nonfiction writer. She is a two-time nominee for the ReLit Award for Poetry for her books The Truth is Told Better This Way and No Work Finished Here: Rewriting Andy Warhol. Her first book, Treat Me Like Dirt, was the first of its kind to provide an in-depth history of southern Ontario’s first wave punk movement. Her new poetry book, Inside Every Dream, a Raging Sea is published through Book*hug Press.

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 shares a few thoughts from his hotel room in Victoria, British Columbia, on Canada's West Coast.

This episode is sponsored by the patrons who support this podcast at https://patreon.com/starkreflections and https://buymeacoffee.com/markleslie. 

Links of Interest:

• One Hand Screaming: 20 Haunting Years
  • Books2Read Link
• Shop Local (Canadian Indie Bookstore Lookup)
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• 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

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 shares a few thoughts from the hotel room at World Fantasy Con 2024 in Niagara Falls, New York.

This episode is sponsored by the patrons who support this podcast at https://patreon.com/starkreflections and https://buymeacoffee.com/markleslie. 

From Mark's extremely detailed bullet points about what he wanted to reflect on:

1) Coming to WFC.

2) The nature of relationships in the writing world/community

3) Feeling like a real writer (via recent events)

4) But also feeling like a failure - afternoon at Indigo

5) 

Links of Interest:

• One Hand Screaming: 20 Haunting Years
  • Books2Read Link
• Shop Local (Canadian Indie Bookstore Lookup)
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• 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

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 talks through the logic and reasoning behind a recent book launch by sharing a little of his own experience and publication history.

This episode is sponsored by the patrons who support this podcast at https://patreon.com/starkreflections and https://buymeacoffee.com/markleslie. 

Mark shares the behind-the-scenes story of:

• Why he first self-published the book One Hand Screaming in 2004 
• The logistics and strategy behind making it fully returnable and why he was trying to push the envelope of publishing so early in the digital publishing revolution
• A little bit of his experience as a writer in those manual "mail out submissions" days
• The reasoning behind wanting to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of this first published book by launching One Hand Screaming: 20 Haunting Years
• Why he invested into getting this self-published book into a traditional distribution warehouse in Canada with a sales team -- and what that means
• Collaborating with a local brewery to create a tie-in beer One Hop Screaming

• Some of the marketing and branding logistics, reasoning, and strategies being used for the book launch
• Products and marketing swag that Mark is leveraging, including a bonus "haunted beer" story to go along with the beer (QR code printed on the beer cans and the double-sided coasters

Mark also shares a couple of new marketing tools that he has come across and been experimenting with that are designed to help an author maximize their ability to create sales copy, draft up press releases, provide comp author/comp title information, and more.

Links of Interest:

• One Hand Screaming: 20 Haunting Years
  • Books2Read Link
• Counterpoint Brewing
  • One Hop Screaming (Beer - online order)
  • One Hop Screaming and One Hand Screaming (Online order)
• "As One Hop Screams" (Haunted beer story)
• Mark's 2006 to 2011 Podcast: Prelude to a Scream
• Shop Local (Canadian Indie Bookstore Lookup)
• Marketing Tools Mentioned
  • NoteBookLM (Google)
  • ManuscriptReport.com (Manuscript Marketing Report)
  • Social Media Content Generator
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• 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

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 Matty Dalrymple and Michael La Ronn about their new co-authored book From Page to Platform: How to Succeed as an Author Speaker.

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

This episode is sponsored by the Fall 2024 Novel Writing Storybundle.

In their conversation, Matty, Michael, and Mark talk about:

• A bit of a refresher/background for both Matty and Michael
• Dale L. Roberts being the person who connected the two of them together
• How they got the idea for the book when both at a Writer's Digest conference together
• The process of going about writing the book together
• The flight instructor term of the "awkward exchange of control"
• Why a writer might be interested in getting into speaking
• A look at the importance of fleshing out your goals from speaking
• How speaking can open up new opportunities for a writer
• Some of the key strengths that can be brought to a speaking engagement, such as storytelling or making a talk feel more like a conversation
• The "dress for the job that you want" aspect for speakers
• Ideas for how to get started particularly if you're nervous about speaking to a large group of people
• Some of the do's and don'ts for doing panels, author readings, keynotes, etc
• Advise for authors who are on a panel
• The concept of stepping up if necessary if the moderator isn't performing the job as well as they should
• Matty's concept of the two different bios - the "speaker application bio" and the "brief speaker introduction" bio
• Tips for professional behavior and things author speakers should consider doing
• And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on a couple of things from the interview and also shares a special offer for Patrons related to the aforementioned Storybundle.

Links of Interest:

• Matty Dalrymple's Author Site
• Michael's Author Level Up Site
• The Indy Author
• EP 379 - Simplify Your Life and Your Work With Dre Baldwin
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• 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

Matty Dalrymple is the author of the Lizzy Ballard Thrillers and the Ann Kinnear Suspense Novels and Suspense Shorts. She also podcasts, writes, speaks, and consults on the writing craft and the publishing voyage as The Indy Author. Her articles have appeared in Writer’s Digest magazine, and she serves as the Campaigns Manager for the Alliance of Independent Authors.

Michael La Ronn is the author of over 100 science fiction & fantasy books and self-help books for writers. He writes from the great plains of Iowa and has managed to write while raising a family, working a full-time job, and attending law school. Michael runs the award-winning YouTube channel “Author Level Up,” and Michael serves as the Outreach Manager for ALLi.

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 Andrew Snook about his writing and editing work as well as Canadian Independent Publishers magazine, which is celebrating its first anniversary.

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

This episode is sponsored by FROM PAGE TO PLATFORM by Matty Dalrymple and Michael La Ronn. You can learn more about the book at https://theindyauthor.com/platform.

In their conversation, Mark and Andrew talk about:

• Celebrating the first year of publishing Canadian Independent Author
• Andrew's first ventures self-publishing many many ago
• Some of the early novels and novellas that Andrew released
• Moving to Ottawa to become a newspaper reporter so that he could write full time
• Moving back to Mississauga and getting a role in the Business-to-Business magazine business
• Starting up his own company in 2019
• The six issues per year of Canadian Independent Publishers Magazine
• How the magazine is still a cost center and is not yet generating a profit - and how the goal is to have the magazine at least pay for itself
• The gig Andrew got going to local hockey games and covering them and how that led to an internship with Metroland (who owned the paper), and eventually a job with a local newspaper
• The form for Canadian authors interested in advertising their books in this magazine
• The flash fiction contest Andrew is running to help Canadian authors in showcasing their work
• When Mark and Andrew first met at Hamilton Comic Con several years ago
• The small reader fee for submitting to this contest, which is $25
• How Mark is offering for any Canadian authors listening who are interested in submitting to this flash fiction contest that Mark will pay the entry fee for the first 4 who contact him (form link)
• The two books in the Remy series Andrew wrote
• The dice rolling interactive gamebook Andrew published
• The introductory chapter book Andrew published partially as a way to provide content for his daughter and other similar readers who were interested in the chapter book format, but with slightly longer chapters
• The impact that working on and producing this magazine has had on Andrew's writing time
• How Andrew used to work around his family and work schedule to get his writing done
• Andrew's experience teaching young kids creating writing and how that led to going back to further his post-secondary education
• Mistakes Andrew has made as a writer
• And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on a couple of things from his chat with Andrew and then shares how Canadian writers can participate in the promotional ad opportunity as well as in the flash fiction contest.

Links of Interest:

https://www.canadianindependentpublishers.ca/

• Canadian Independent Publishers Magazine
• Canadian Authors Interested in Cdn Independent Publishers Mag Opportunities
• Mark's Kickstarter for ONE HAND SCREAMING: 20 Haunting Years
• Wide for the Win
  • Wide for the Win New YouTube Channel
• EP 379 - Simplify Your Life and Your Work With Dre Baldwin
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• 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

Andrew Snook has been working as a professional writer and editor for 15 years. He started his writing career as a newspaper reporter in the Ottawa area before moving to Toronto to take on various roles as a magazine editor and feature writer for a variety of business publications. In 2019, he founded his content creation company, Snookbooks Publishing. 

In his spare time, Snook is an avid fiction writer and reader. He has published four works of fiction to date: Remy’s Dilemma (2015); Remy’s Dilemma: Special Delivery (2019); Dungeon Jest: The Ruby of Power (2022); and The Snookie-Cookie Crew and the Cranberry Cookie Cruncher (2022). Snook’s fiction and business writing have won him a combined 22 national and international awards, which is neat, but he's happier knowing he made someone laugh out loud while reading his books during an inappropriate moment.

Snook is also passionate about promoting independent authors, bookstores and publishers. In 2023, he founded Canadian Independent Publishers Magazine, which is dedicated to offering a platform for showcasing Canadian writers.

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 Brianna Wodabek, Assistant Manager of Digital Marketing at HarperCollins about her lifelong love of reading, books, and writing, and her evolution in the book industry.

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

This episode is sponsored by FROM PAGE TO PLATFORM by Matty Dalrymple and Michael La Ronn. You can learn more about the book at https://theindyauthor.com/platform.

In their conversation, Mark and Brianna talk about:

• How Brianna always loved reading and writing, but also knew that she wasn't interested in journalism
• Finding the brand new Creative Writing & Publishing degree program at Sheridan College
• Learning improv and how that helped with the overall process involved in publishing pitching
• Thinking that she would be focusing more on the writing program when she got involved, but pivoting over to the publishing side of things
• Getting an unofficial internship in her first year with a small Canadian publisher in Oakville, Ontario and being able to gain experience wearing multiple hats
• Her official internship at Wolsak and Wynn publishing in Hamilton
• Having to deliver her valedictorian speech for graduation via video because of the global pandemic
• Securing her first job as Digital Marketing Coordinator at Harper Collins US (HTP Books) within 2 months of graduating and then progressing through a series of promotions to other positions
• The fact that Harper Collins HTP Books interns are paid
• The in-house influencer program called "The Hive" that Brianna and one of her colleagues created
• How there's a growing trend of book influencers who collect more than one edition of a book
• Brianna's passion project achievement with Voyage of the Damned by Frances White and bringing it to North America despite not being an acquisitions editor
• How the role of the gatekeeping in the publishing world is being lowered due to additional influencers even from outside the publishing realm - social media influencers, for example
• The way some publishers are reaching out directly to authors via social media DMs
• Advice Brianna would share to authors and what she would like them to know about the traditional publishing world
• The value of being you and being authentic
• And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on the idea of a new type of reader who collects multiple editions of a book, how Brianna's passion led to a fantastic acquisition, and the importance of authenticity.

Links of Interest:

• HTP Books
• Voyage of the Damned by Frances White
• Brianna Wodebek on Instagram
• Mark's Kickstarter for ONE HAND SCREAMING: 20 Haunting Years
• Wide for the Win
  • Wide for the Win New YouTube Channel
• EP 379 - Simplify Your Life and Your Work With Dre Baldwin
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• 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

Brianna Wodabek, an Honours Bachelor graduate in Creative Writing and Publishing, transitioned from independent publishing to her current role as Assistant Manager of Digital Marketing at HarperCollins. In this capacity, Brianna combines her expertise with her passion for storytelling, having notably personally acquiring important books like "Voyage of the Damned" by Frances White and collaborated with authors such as Colleen Hoover, Mary Kubica, Chelsea Devantez, Eve, and more to enhance their brands.

Apart from her professional endeavors, Brianna's written works have been featured in publications like the Journal of Applied Social Science, PAUSE. Magazine, and The Mighty. With her industry experience and creative drive, Brianna is devoted to crafting compelling narratives that resonate with diverse audiences.

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 Dre Baldwin the CEO and Founder of Work On Your Game Inc. about his books and his experience helping others in finding their own paths to success.

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

This episode is sponsored by FROM PAGE TO PLATFORM by Matty Dalrymple and Michael La Ronn. You can learn more about the book at https://theindyauthor.com/platform.

During the interview, Mark and Dre talk about:

• The importance of the simplification process as a great place to begin
• The 80/20 rule and the less-than-smooth ways we have of not being able to drop the 80%
• How, over time, Dre has accumulated little pieces of wisdom that have ended up being part of the training and coaching that he does
• The first question that Dre often asks which is: What is your goal?
• The challenge of being inundated with so many messages which results in trying to work on more than one priority
• How Dre has always been a big reader and a bit of a closet computer geek
• The appeal of self-generated media and being able to articulate his ideas
• Putting videos on YouTube about the basketball he was playing professionally and how other players began to take advantage of his advice and coaching
• How even people who weren't playing sports could benefit from those basketball videos, which led to Dre recognizing he could help people beyond athletes
• How a lot of Dre's mindset stuff started to come out around 2009/2010
• Blogging his ideas and starting to put out his books
• How discipline is the most important hallmark of the professional
• The way people can fall off their structure and the importance of finding the structure that works best for you
• Coaches being one of the ways that people can find/apply the proper structure
• How a true professional holds themselves accountable to a structure
• Shortcuts as something that can come from the right coach
• The way that a coach can KEEP a professional athlete good
• Human beings doing better work when accountability is involved
• The importance of showing yourself the same respect you would show to a "boss" or some other supervisor or superior you report to at work
• How the two golden questions related to your goal (What do you want and why do you want it?) help you build that bridge to the structure that can get you there
• Knowing that he had always wanted to write a book and combining that with the fact he knew he already had an audience via his YouTube channel
• The reason Dre didn't really pursue traditional publishing and decided to publish it himself in 2010
• Dre's book Buy Me A Game (which is available as a free download)
• Publishing about 19/20 books between 2010 and 2017
• Doing an in person speaking gig in Atlanta all on his own dime and what opportunities that led to, including a New York publisher (McGraw Hill) who was interested in publishing a book for him. That book was Working on Your Game
• Why Dre wasn't interested in reliving that experience again without the right offer/contract in place
• Adapting part of the traditional publishing editing process into his own procedure for self-publishing his books
• Why Dre prefers to have direct sales of his books on his own website
• How in business the most valuable thing you have is your customer list
• Dre's book The Third Day: The Decision That Separates The Pros From The Amateurs
• How a professional shows up and delivers even when they don't "feel like it" - that's what makes them a professional
• The fact that most people don't hear something you say - repeating it or exploring it in different ways can help
• And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on several of the points Dre brought up in the conversation, including re-leveraging your own IP by exploring a single topic into further detail and the fact that a professional always shows up.

Links of Interest:

• Dre Baldwin's Website
• Work on Your Game/Dre
• Third Day (Book)
  • http://Instagram.com/DreBaldwin
  • http://YouTube.com/Dreupt
  • https://www.facebook.com/WorkOnYourGameUniversity
  • http://LinkedIn.com/in/DreAllDay
  • http://Twitter.com/DreAllDay
  • http://TikTok.com/WorkOnYourGame
• Mark's Kickstarter for ONE HAND SCREAMING: 20 Haunting Years
• Wide for the Win
  • Wide for the Win New YouTube Channel
• EP 378 - Multimedia Storytelling with Dominician Gennari
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• 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

Dre Baldwin is CEO and Founder of Work On Your Game Inc. He has given 4 TEDxTalks and has authored 35 books.

Dre’s content has been consumed over 103 million times. His daily Work On Your Game MasterClass has amassed over 2,900 episodes and over 7.3 million listeners.

Dre had a 9-year professional basketball career, playing in 8 countries. Dre’s framework is the "roadmap in reverse" for professional Mindset, Strategy, Systems & Accountability.

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