OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna PennI spent 13 years as a business consultant working in large corporates in Europe and Asia Pacific, as well as small companies across New Zealand. I bring the lessons I learned to the journey of being an author, and it's fantastic to meet people who also come from business.

In today's interview with Charlie Gilkey, we discuss how business strategy relates to aspects of the creative life.

I had a blast so I hope you enjoy the interview as well.

In the intro, I mention the fantastic Learn Scrivener Fast training course, as well as wrangling NookPress and my own writing progress, plus my plans for London Book Fair and Thrillerfest.

This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors.

Charlie Gilkey is the best-selling author of “The Small Business Lifecycle: A Guide To Taking the Right Steps at the Right Time to Grow Your Small Business.” His business at ProductiveFlourishing.com helps people with productivity and creativity, and Charlie is a champion and catalyst for creative giants.

You can watch the video of the interview here on YouTube, or listen to the audio podcast above, or by subscribing here. You can also read the full transcription below. Highlights of the conversation include:

* Charlie's background as a logistics coordinator in the US Army, as well as studying for a PhD in Philosophy, and now a business strategist running his own company online.

* Logistics is the art and science of getting people and stuff from here to there. How this relates to the business world and how creatives can learn from this experience.

* A philosophical way of looking at the world, and defining who we are, as well as our goals

* Eliminate before you delegate, and tips for outsourcing so you can focus on the important stuff. Plus how you can work out what the important stuff is!

* Aspects of strategy for business

* On creative giants – and you can read the full definition here on Charlie's site

* The maturation of the self-publishing environment, and moving from hobby to business

You can find Charlie at ProductiveFlourishing.com on twitter

OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna PennToday's podcast episode will get you super excited about the possibilities of adapting your work into a graphic novel. It's definitely become one of my goals after talking with Nathan.

In the intro I mention the expansion of Nook into the UK and other European countries, some of the lessons learned from hitting the NY Times & USA Today lists with the Deadly Dozen box-set, an update on my own writing, and I mention the brilliant LearnScrivenerFast training.

The podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors.

Nathan Massengill is the author and artist for the Viscera graphic novel series. His comic credits include Wolverine, X-Men, Batman and other New York Times best-selling comics. He’s also collaborated with notable creatives, including Joss Whedon on Buffy and also with Christopher Nolan.

You can watch the video of the interview here on YouTube, or listen to the audio podcast above, or by subscribing here. You can read the full transcription below. Highlights of the conversation include:

* Nathan's background in comics and how the fans of comics really are super-fans

* Why strong female characters are so interesting (and rare) in comics, and why Nathan chose to write one in Viscera

* Why we love superheroes and action violence

* How Nathan actually creates comics

* How the distribution works with comics including Amazon's new Kindle ComicCreator tool

* Why authors should adapt their books into graphic novels

* How to find and work with graphic novelists

* On crowdfunding for graphic novels

You can find Nathan at NathanMassengill.com and Viscera comic at RingRunning.com. Nathan is also on twitter @NAMartist.  You can read the full transcription below,

OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna PennOne of my favorite books of 2013 was an adaptation of Macbeth, which I recommended as part of my Christmas reading list. Today I'm thrilled to bring you an interview with one of the co-authors, A.J.Hartley.

In the intro, I mention that Deadly Dozen, the box-set I was part of, hit the USA Today list  AND the New York Times bestseller list – woohoo!

The podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors.

A.J. Hartley is the NY Times and USA Today  bestselling author of mystery/thriller, fantasy, historical fiction, and young adult novels. He's also the Robinson Professor of Shakespeare studies at the University of North Carolina.

* Andrew talks about his career, writing the kind of books he wants to read himself and he reads in many genres! It took twenty years of writing fiction and 8 books for Andrew to get published in the days before ebooks and self-publishing. He went into academia as a career and had been teaching Shakespeare for ten years before selling his first novel.

 

* On balancing being an academic with writing commercial fiction. Andrew has to focus on one thing at a time at least in first draft, because fictional creative mode vs academic critical mode are very different. The academic writing takes a lot longer because each sentence has to be based on research and will be subject to a much higher form of criticism than the fiction.

* On adapting Shakespeare for Macbeth, a historical fiction novel that retells the story as with thriller pacing, fantastic characters and an evocative setting. It has a Game of Thrones edge to it! It is a new approach, using the play as source material for something fresh. [I highly recommend this version of Macbeth! My review is here.]

* There are no rules on adapting Shakespeare, or indeed anything in the public domain. Andrew talks about how he was sitting next to David Hewson by accident of alphabet at a signing, and they started to discuss adaptations of Macbeth, realizing that it hadn't been done in this way. They wrote the project for audio first,...

OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna PennWe're lucky to have more than one option to distribute and sell our books globally as self-published authors, and today I'm focusing on Kobo.

In the intro, I talk about the launch party for Deadly Dozen (valid until March 8), 12 mystery/thrillers for just 99c (or equivalent). Plus, the royalty change at ACX and updates on my own writing.

Mark Lefebvre is Director of Self Publishing and Author Relations at Kobo. He also writes horror and dark humor under Mark Leslie.

* How Kobo differentiates itself by being a collaborative partner with leading booksellers around the world. Kobo Writing Life was the first to offer payment in the author's currency, which Amazon KDP then picked up. It's great to have a comparison service, a challenger to keep everyone honest!

* We also discuss the scheduling of promotions which you can do on Kobo, and can help you get visibility, as well as making sure the promotions start on time. It's not dependent on being exclusive, and you can be free on Kobo at any time. [I use free on Kobo to get Amazon to price-match for permafree]. The Kobo Writing Life team mine the scheduled promos for gems and great deals for customers.

What do the Kobo merchandising team look for?

* Obviously you need the best book you can write, plus a book cover that is aimed at your target audience. It's

also important to think of the perspective of the booksellers' curation process. Kobo is a bookseller and will make more money on higher priced products, or on pleasing customers with deep discounts. Mark also mentions the networking potential of being a ‘real person,' so definitely say hi to the Kobo Writing Life team at conferences.

* We talk about pricing options e.g. high prices for full length + a free book to pull in readers. Mark talks about his own experience as an author with Bumps in the Night, a ‘digital chap book.‘ Plus, how Kobo analyze data with open rates from free, as well as finish rates. I ask Mark for an ebook similar to Mark Coker's Ebook publishing success for Kobo specifically based on the data they have found.

* Kobo Next is a list of new authors and new books for people to discover. The authors and books that make it there are handpicked, and are proposed to merchandising teams.

Kobo News: Sony, new CEO & global expansion

* Sony have recently left the ebook market, handing their customers over the Kobo. We talk about what that means for readers, as well as for authors. We talk about our frustration with NookPress in t...

OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna PennAs authors, we have to manage the production of work, but also the care of our creative souls. There's a quote from Charles Bukowski that has been doing the rounds on social media, “Find what you love and let it kill you,” but personally, I want a long term career and I want to have a good time along the way! In today's interview I talk to Todd Henry, author of ‘Die Empty,' about how we can manage our creative lives.

The podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors.

Todd Henry is the bestselling author of Die Empty: Unleash your best work everyday, and Accidental Creative. He's also the founder of Accidental Creative, a business that helps creative people generate ideas.

* Todd did a degree in marketing and then spent a few years in the music business, before working with a creative team. With long hours and high pressure, Todd started to wonder how creativity could be sustained and fostered over a long term career. He started a podcast, The Accidental Creative, to start a conversation about creativity in the marketplace. This morphed into a business, and Todd writes books as well as speaking and consulting with teams on productive creativity.

* On ‘Die Empty' and provocative book titles. We all have a finite amount of time and resources in this life, so we have to choose how to spend them wisely. Don't take your best work to the grave with you. Take steps every day to spend yourself on a body of work you can be proud of. Be more intentional about how you spend your limited time and resources.

* On the balance between giving your all and refreshing the creative well. We need rhythms in our life. It's less about work/life balance, and more about the rhythm of being effective. There are productive phases and other times when we need to recharge and relax. I mention the sign on my wall, ‘Write to live. What is living today?' as this is something I am very aware of. Todd mentions this ability to judge rhythm is part of being a mature creative, recognizing signs of burnout and shifting energy as necessary. This is a marathon, not a sprint.

* On mapping, making and meshing. Mapping is planning and strategizing, outlining stories. Making is the shipping aspect, the actual production. Meshing is the rest of life, the living that helps us bring all our creative strands together, developing your skillset, understanding what you do, finding your voice and all the things that are less measurable.

OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna PennIt's always fantastic to speak to authors who have been writing professionally for a long time, as the perspective they bring comes with the weight of a lot more experience of the publishing industry. In today's podcast interview, Colin Falconer speaks frankly about his own experiences and lessons learned, and I think you'll be fascinated by his point of view.

In the intro, I talk about The Twelve and the forthcoming Deadly Dozen ebook box-set with 12 bestselling thriller novels on sale for just 99c. I'll be doing a promotional competition on 24 Feb so keep an eye out for that. I also mention that I am interviewed on the Self Publishing Podcast this week, on 13 Feb, episode 93, about speaking for authors and foreign rights exploitation.

The podcast is usually sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, but today I'm introducing ‘Shadows at Moonrise Bay‘ by Jack Dunigan.

A tale of one man's exploitation of power and his desperate acts to hide the secrets that could destroy him and the organization he has built, Shadows at Moonrise Bay is a page-turning mystery you won’t be able to put down.

Available now on the Kindle as well as Nook, Kobo, and in paperback. Visit Jack’s website at JackDunigan.com

Colin Falconer is the international bestselling author of over 40 books translated into 23 languages, described as similar to Ken Follett – books with romance and high adventure, drawn from many periods of history.

* How Colin started out in advertising as a copywriter because his early manuscripts didn't get published. He moved into scriptwriting for TV and other freelance work for magazines. After one article helped him get an agent, he started writing novels.

Does writing get easier after 40 books?

* Colin it has got easier but he has only thought ‘he knows what he is doing about 3 years ago. So it was faking it while you make it for about 25 years! [ I think this makes all writers feel better.] You can only learn so much from books and classes, and in the end, you just have to do it.

On writing historical fiction

* Isabella, Braveheart of France, Colin's latest book, is based on a story he found fascinating. Isabella was married to a king who was actually gay, and loved another man. This is a very contemporary predicament in the 13th century.

* How much of historical fiction needs to be ‘true' and how much is fictional story. Colin's writing speculates on real history, and in the end, he cares about the story first.

* On writing religion and walking the line, for example, in Colin's Jerusalem series.

* On gender issues with writing romance – or love stories – as a man.

How travel is a key part of Colin's life … and his books

* On deciding to write books based on places he wanted to travel to. [I do this as well!]

OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna PennSocial media is great for finding fans of you, but what about fans of your writing? Wattpad might be a great option to try.

In the intro, I mention that I have “lost the plot” with Delirium, and also the news that the Top 10 books on Amazon.de Kindle list right now are self-published. I'm excited about that as I have two books out in German this year – Pentecost and Desecration.

The podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors.

Ashleigh Gardner is the Head of Content at Wattpad.com, the world's largest platform for discovering, reading and sharing stories.

* Wattpad has 24 million users, the majority are readers, with only 10% authors. It's not a publishing platform, more of a social network. Average session length is 30 mins, and 85%  read via mobile devices. Serialization is a huge part of the platform, so you post chapters or new parts of the story. All the followers get push notifications to their phone when new parts are added, plus you can also email followers.

* Writers across their careers are writing on Wattpad. Established traditionally published authors like Margaret Atwood, as well as aspiring writers who are just expressing themselves. There have been book deals out of Wattpad, e.g. Beth Reekles, 17 year old who got a 3 book deal off her Wattpad success.

* It is a very popular site for teens 13-18, but 35% of the site is 18-30. If you write YA or New Adult, you should be on Wattpad! Romance and sci-fi communities are very large. Without the gatekeepers, new trends and genres are also emerging. Urban fiction is a flourishing example. Fan fiction is hugely popular e.g. anything with One Direction

OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna PennSelf-publishing picture books for children is doubly difficult than adult books in terms of production, because of the cost of print books, which are necessary for that market, and also because targeted marketing is much harder.

In today's interview, Karen Inglis shares her fantastically detailed and honest information about writing, self-publishing and marketing books for children.

In the introduction, I mention my own goals for 2014, as well as commenting on Joe Konrath's resolutions for writers. I also discuss Russell Blake's success and what I constantly have to come back to in my own writing schedule. I talk about translation plans for my books, and also why you should consider exploiting the rights for your own work.

The podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors.

Karen Inglis is the author of books for children including ‘The Secret Lake' and ‘Eeek, the runaway alien,' as well as Ferdinand Fox's Big Sleep, which is also now an iPad app.

You can watch the interview here on YouTube or listen/download the audio above. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here.

* How Karen got started with writing for children after being a copywriter for the financial services industry for many years. The stories ‘found' her, beginning with a beautiful fox she saw in the winter mist one morning, which became Ferdinand Fox.

* Why self-publishing picture books for children is so hard. There's the aspects of illustration and the cost of printing, but also, the stats show that the sales of picture books compared with general children's fiction are much lower, and especially so for unknown authors. 500 copies is a very good number to sell for picture books, so don’t expect to sell a lot.

* The problems with print on demand for children's...

OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna PennIn today's show, Amazon UK bestselling author, Mel Sherratt talks about her 14 year journey to the dream publishing deal, and how going indie has turned her into an entrepreneur.

In the intro, I reflect on my own year and the dangers of ‘comparisonitis,' plus I talk about this fantastic end of year reflection post by Dean Wesley Smith on some of the changes that happened for indies and publishing in 2013.

The podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors.

Mel Sherratt is the author of Taunting The Dead, named as one of Amazon UK's Top selling ebooks of 2012. She's also written The Estate series of crime thrillers, and has Watching Over You coming in Jan 2014.

* Mel's journey of 14 years, from the dream of the book deal, through multiple agents and pursuing a traditional book deal, through the massive indie success, and then a book deal with Amazon's Thomas & Mercer that has changed her life. How Mel's dream has changed with the times towards becoming more of a hybrid author these days. She blends self-publishing with the traditional deal, blending the best of both worlds. Mel predicts that more and more authors

Becoming a pro-writer has turned Mel into an entrepreneur

* Aspects of Mel's business include some of the production side of her indie books with print-on-demand, setting up her own business, Blood Red Books, liaising with people. She's been project planning and managing, writing a column for the local paper as well as dealing with her agent and editor. Mel is saying ‘yes' to every opportunity these days. Her life now is quite unexpected, but it is the reality of the modern writer's life. She talks about some of the tools and tips for planning and using To Do lists to achieve goals within specific time-frames.

* We talk about production schedules, and embracing the fact that we are business-women making an income from what we love! Mel explains the books she is aiming to write in 2014.

Writing sparse and then adding layers

* On Mel's writing process – planning in advance, then a fast first draft of ~3000 words a day, then in the next drafts, Mel layers the text with fear, emotion and description in order to add up the words. We talk about Stephen King's advice of removing 10% per edit, but both of us actually ADD words per draft. Mel's strength is dialogue, and mine is description

OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna PennI love to talk to amazing, enthusiastic people who have made a successful transition from corporate jobs to creative entrepreneurship. Today, I discuss the journey and thoughts on publishing with the brilliant Farnoosh Brock.

In the intro, I talk about a shift to a global focus with an eye on future disruption, my box-set for ARKANE books 1-3, my lessons from the fantastic Write, Publish, Repeat, and my next non-fiction book on Public Speaking for Introverts, coming soon. Plus, if you want to make the transition from corporate, I'm doing a Goodreads giveaway for my own book, Career Change that you can join here.

The podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors.

Farnoosh Brock is an author, professional speaker, coach and creative entrepreneur at ProlificLiving.com

* Farnoosh left a corporate job to be a full-time entrepreneur as a personal development blogger, author and coach as well as creating programs to help with career transition. A year ago, she hired her husband out of his corporate job to join her business. She also specializes in physical health, with the Healthy Juicer's Bible, as well as programs for stretching and juicing.

* Both Farnoosh and I left our 6 figure corporate jobs in 2011, and she talks about how unhappy she was after over 11 years of the job – in engineering, software support and other technical work as well as project management. She had to make that change, but she did start the blog part time, so it wasn't too a risky move. [My transition was very similar] Farnoosh talks about having to learn a lot about entrepreneurship and business at the beginning, and now she teaches others through her SmartExitBlueprint.

* Publishing comparisons. Farnoosh started with self-publishing and thinks it's brilliant and empowering. She wrote a book on juicing which did so well that it attracted attention from a traditiona...