The Art & Business of Writing

Cutting her teeth as a newspaper journalist Stephanie believed one thing—stories are the most powerful way to reach people and inspire change.   She brings that same strategy to Consociate Media, where she specializes in working with business owners, legislative initiatives, economic development programs, non-profit organizations, tourism efforts and individuals to strategically plan and execute storytelling across a wide range of new and traditional media.   In this episode, Stephanie and I discuss:

• Marketing and PR, their similarities and differences
• How authors can use storytelling to attract attention
• How to tell stories across different mediums (e.g., email, social, interviews)
• The elements of a good platform
• Advice for using PR as a platform springboard
• How to make yourself newsworthy for traditional media
• What goes into querying journalists and how to find them
• How to write a press release and why they matter

For many authors, writing authentic dialogue in the voice of a character who doesn't look like you or have your ethnic background can be scary. 

Jeffrey Walker, an author of historical fiction, talks about how he uses a combination or research, readers, and indicators to help write his characters so they don't come across as caricatures.

John David Mann is co-author of more than thirty books, including four New York Times bestsellers and five national bestsellers, including The Go-Giver (coauthored with Bob Burg).   His wife, Ana Gabriel Mann, holds a Master’s degree in clinical psychology and dance-movement therapy from Antioch New England, where she specialized in working with adults and family therapy.   John and Ana have been dreaming about cowriting The Go-Giver Marriage and bringing its message to the world ever since the first draft of John and Bob’s original book came sliding out of his desktop printer in early 2005.   In this episode, we discuss:  

• The Go-Giver Marriage story
• The structure of the book and how to write a book that's part parable part practical application—a fiction and nonfiction book working as one narrative.
• How John and Ana wrote individually and together and what its like working with a spouse as a co-author
• Who their audience is for the book and how its meant to be read and applied
• Why it's not just another marriage book
• Ways authors can build a community around their books

This week, I talk about my favorite way to set goals—using lead and lag measures. I've used this method I learned from Stephen Covey to achieve a lot of things in my writing life—publishing books, getting writing jobs, etc. Listen along and think about ways you can use it to level up your writing career.

As founder and principal designer at Mayfly Design, Ryan is experienced in all aspects of book design, including cover design, page design, typesetting, and eBooks. He is also knowledgeable in other publishing services for the ever-growing population of independent authors who are setting out on their own publishing journey, including acquiring ISBNs, registering their book with the Library of Congress, and assistance with distribution platforms such as KDP and IngramSpark. His strength is taking a finished manuscript and supporting assets and creating a beautiful, engaging, and exciting book with a process that is very time-efficient and worry-free.   Mayfly Design was created in the thriving literary city of Minneapolis in 2007 with a mission to celebrate and advance the universal connection and goodwill of storytelling. Visit mayflydesign.com for more information.   In this episode, Ryan and I discuss:

• Cover design, typography, and industry genre trends
• Why  self-published authors should hire a cover designer
• What authors can do if they can't afford a designer
• Cover design and Image usage rights in stock photography
• Book design and the elements of a good interior book design
• Typesetting ebooks

This week, we're talking about the p-word—platform. Every author needs one, but most may not know what areas constitute it. Platform isn't one thing; it's a cluster of many things all validating your marketability as an author. Let's discuss!

Peter Cox is a best-selling author of more than 20 books and is the managing director of Redhammer Management, a London-based literary agency recognized by the Association of Authors’ Agents.   Redhammer specializes in managing a small number of exceptional authors, working closely with them at every stage of the journey from monitoring and supporting publisher’s performance to aggressively selling film, television, and all other rights.   In this episode, Peter and I talk about:  

• His work as a literary agent and how he got started
• The relationship between agent and author—and why his agency is different than most.
• Whether author should work with literary agents in different countries.
• How to query an agent (and what really captures their attention in a query letter and a proposal).
• How agents choose authors to represent
• What makes up an author platform and why it matters to agents
• The most important aspect of your book proposal
• How agents shop books
• The financial side of traditional publishing for authors and agents
• How to send him your query

Do you know who you're selling your books, products, or services to or are you out on the intersections of the Internet with a sign begging people to buy?

In this episode, I'll give you a few tips to refocus and get your art into the hands of the people you originally intended to have it. 

You've heard of S-M-A-R-T goals, but what about W-R-I-T-E goals?

This week, I walk you through what these goals are and why authors and writers need to embrace this system for writing and publishing success in 2022.

Joanna Penn is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers under J.F.Penn. She also writes inspirational non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning creative entrepreneur and international professional speaker. Her site, TheCreativePenn.com is regularly voted one of the top 10 sites for writers and self-publishers.

In this episode, Joanna discusses:

• How she got started writing
• The mindset needed for authors and writers to successfully go full-time
• How to diffuse comparisonitis and turn it into positive, productive energy
• The importance of writing down goals
• How to build your audience using the host of tools available to authors and writers
• The big advantages indie authors have over traditionally published authors
• What Patreon is and how she uses it to build her publishing empire through her podcast