Craig Schaefer, author of the popular Daniel Faust series, is a few days shy of celebrating his one-year anniversary of going pro. In his inaugural year as a self-published author, he has published six books in two different genres and signed with 47North for a third series. This week, I talk to Craig about his overnight success 40 years in the making.

Nick Cole is a hybrid author of post-apocalyptic fiction, a publisher of Apocalypse Weird, a complex, multi-writer universe intent on the destruction of the world a little left of how we know it, and a maker of a mean omelet. This week I chat with Nick about how he went from falling in love with The Old Man and the Sea, to building a writing career as both a traditionally published and self-published author.

Gina LaManna launched the first book of her Lacey Luzzi Mafia Mysteries series in December of 2014, and very quickly discovered an appreciative audience. Now, just four months later and three books released in the series, I talk to Gina about the preparation and work that led up to her first self-publishing debut, her unexpected success with the series, her creative and production process, and how reader feedback has shaped her series.

Jim Heskett began his writing career like many writers do, by pursuing the "traditional publishing lottery," submitting his work to various agents and publishers. He had a few close calls, but no deal...so he switched to self-publishing. In the last six months, he has released five fiction titles, and is on course to release another three titles in the next month. This week I talk to Jim about his Five Suns Saga, and the "brave new world" of self-publishing.

Zach Bohannon was not expecting to find success with his first books. He decided to keep his focus on long-term goals, committing to developing his skill as a storyteller and building up a brand and a catalog of titles, with the hopes that by his 5th, 8th, or 10th book, things would start to take off. Less than four months after publishing his first fiction title, he is now in the Top 100 of Horror Authors in Kindle. This week I talk to Zach about his long-term strategies as a writer and how he manages it all.

Michael Bunker unwittingly became the "Father of Amish Sci-Fi" when he published his first book of fiction, "The Last Pilgrims." He thought it was a literary historical thriller, but as it turns out, it was in a genre of its own. This week, I talk to Michael Bunker about living off off-grid, fan fiction, and how he accidentally created a brand-new genre.

This week I have the pleasure of introducing Steve Scott, bestselling indie author of over 50 books, internet entrepreneur, and podcaster. Steve published his first Kindle book in February 2012, and since December 2013, has consistently made five figures a month from his ebook business. In this interview, we find out how he built his online book business and how he continues to grow and manage it.

Carol Ervin didn’t set out to write historical fiction. She wanted to write an adventure story. Today, two and a half years after she published her first book on Amazon, she is a Top 100 Kindle Author under Historical Fiction. This week I chat with Carol about her recent sales success and how she accomplished it with very little promotion. Show notes: rspcast.com/carol

Tom Reynolds is proof that there is no conventional path to becoming a bestselling author. He started out in the tech world, co-created the ongoing hit podcast show, "The Complete Guide to Everything," and then, after getting laid off from his day job, took six months to write a bestselling novel. This week I chat with Tom to find out how he got from There to Here, and what it takes to be a professional author. Show notes rspcast.com/tom

Annie Bellet is currently a Top 50 Amazon Author in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. Today we talk about her journey to publishing success with her bestselling series, “Twenty-Sided Sorceress,” and why she thinks Nerd-dom has won the Culture War. Rspcast.com/annie