The Rocking Self Publishing Podcast

It’s not often that I bring a guest back onto the show. But if anyone was going to make a reappearance, it would be Joanna Penn. Thriller and non-fiction author, recently of Business for Authors, Joanna is a force in the self-publishing world. In this episode we talk about why you have to start looking at writing as a business if you want to make it an income and not just a hobby. Show notes rspcast.com/penn

This week I have a chat with Gordon Doherty about the complexities of writing historical fiction, and why fans of the genre can be a little more demanding about the accuracies of the novel than others. We also chat about how Gordon successfully branched out into translations (through a publisher) and audiobooks. Show notes at rspcast.com/gordon.

My guest today, Rachael Herron, started in the traditional world, having big publishers fighting over the rights to her books. It was the deal that every author aspiring for a traditional contract hopes for, and it was for a book she wrote during NaNoWriMo. We talk about how that came about, and why she decided to head into the self-publishing world. In the second half we really get into the issue of dealing with blocks, and getting the words on the page. Show notes at: rspcast.com/Rachael.

Michael Sullivan is a diversely published author, having had success with large publishers, small press, and self-publishing. In this interview he brings his positive experience from all three of these sectors of the industry and tells us a bit about the benefits and drawbacks of each. We also talk about his writing process, choosing to write an entire series before publishing a single book in it, his huge success with audiobooks, and his significantly overfunded Kickstarter campaign. Show notes for todays episode: rspcast.com/Michael

Roxie Rivera got involved with writing erotica for the traditional world right out of college. She did realatively well doing this, but the money was never there, and she found her earnings capped out at about $16k and that wasn’t enough. She moved to self publishing and writing romantic suspense, which has a larger audience than erotica. Since last year she has seen a huge amount of success, this episode looks at her journey. Show notes: rspcast.com/roxie

J Thorn takes on big projects. His first novel was 160,000 words, he’s just finished a 10 author collaborative project, he podcast, blogs, and still managed to write a million words in a year. This episode focuses on what it takes to put together a complex co-authored project, as well as touches on box sets, being an entrepreneur, and experimenting in the self-publishing space. Show notes: rspcast.com/j

Dean Wesley Smith has been writing for four decades, has 17 million novels in print, and puts out a monthly magazine containing around 80,000 words of new content just from him. He’s run two publishing companies, runs workshops, and has fully embraced indie publishing. Quite simply, this is not an interview you want to miss. Show notes: rspcast.com/deanwesleysmith

Crossing genres, some love it, some don't. Dean Lorey, started with traditionally published young adult novels, moved to non-fiction, and now is self-publishing romance (not your ordinary romance though, "romance for men" which is actually satire) In this interview I talk to Dean about why he moved away from the traditional world, how to write comedy, and a whole lot else. Show notes: rspcast.com/dean

sit down in person, in Prague, with AG Riddle who is on a three month trip around Europe. AG started in 2013 and has sold well over 500,000 books. Top ten author in 6 Amazon categories, well over 10,000 reviews across his three books. Rather appropriately, we talk about ambition. Not just in terms of sales, but also in terms of story. AG started off writing with a 500 page epic spanning multiple worlds and many centuries. If you’re looking for some inspiration, this is an interview you cannot miss! Show notes: http://rspcast.com/riddle

Today I talk to Nathan Lowell about he built a successful indie career by creating Podiobooks. We talk about how he got involved in this unique market, how he got 8 million downloads, and how he converted this into sales of ebooks, allowing him to take his writing full time. We also chat about why he decided to write something "outside of the box" - a space opera where the universe wasn't ending every 5 minutes. Show notes @ rspcast.com/nathan