Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #105 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with David Puretz.

David Puretz is the author of The Escapist, a debut literary fiction novel exploring themes of mental health and self-discovery.He is the Editorial Director of the literary journal Global City Review and the creator and founder of the quarterly burly bird zine, which is sponsored by Fortroyal Foundation, a non-profit for the conservation and preservation of the arts. Puretz received an MFA in Creative Writing from The City College of New York and was a trailblazer for Ithaca College’s BA in Writing. Currently, Puretz resides in New York City where he teaches writing at Yeshiva University. Kaye is the author of Your Book, Your Brand: The Step-by-Step Guide to Launching Your Book and Boosting Your Sales, and the creator of Branding Outside the Box, where she helps authors and entrepreneurs become more memorable.

Click below to listen now:

The Writing Coach Episode #105 Show Notes

Visit David’s website here.

Get your copy of The Escapist:

Episode Transcript

Hello beloved listeners and welcome back to The Writing Coach Podcast.

I am recording this episode . . . wow . . . Canada and the States and the world is in the midst of the Corona virus pandemic. The United States declared a state of emergency yesterday. Things are pretty crazy here in Canada. The prime minister’s wife has the virus. Schools have been shut down. My kids are going to be home for at least the next three weeks. Things are scary. Things are strange.

And I wasn’t sure whether I should even put out a podcast. My guest today is David Puretz. He and I had a great conversation earlier this week and in the interview you’ll hear he alludes to the Corona virus, He’s in New York and things were happening there. That was, I dunno, we recorded this two or three days ago and just so much has happened in that time here in Canada that . .  it’s just . . . we’re taking things day by day here.

It’s kind of a moving fast. And so I was thinking to myself, should I even put out a podcast episode this week? It’s seems kind of silly or I don’t know if there’s, there’s bigger things going on right now then just putting out a podcast. But then I was thinking about, you know, what, why do I do this podcast and why do, uh, any of the people I speak with on the show and why do I work with writers and why do writers do the work that they do? What is the value of storytelling in the time in the age of a pandemic? And I thought about a bit and I think it’s actually really important on the most simple level. My, myself and my family, we’re probably going to be at home basically quarantined in our house for the next three weeks it looks like.

You know, as much as we love quality time and discussion with each other, uh, we’re going to need some entertainment during that time.

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #104 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with veteran publicist, social media pro, and brand manager Dana Kaye.

In 2009, Dana founded Kaye Publicity, Inc., a boutique PR company specializing in publishing and entertainment. Known for her innovative ideas and knowledge of current trends, she coaches her clients on how to identify and establish their unique personal brands.

Kaye is the author of Your Book, Your Brand: The Step-by-Step Guide to Launching Your Book and Boosting Your Sales, and the creator of Branding Outside the Box, where she helps authors and entrepreneurs become more memorable.

During our discussion, Dana describes:

* What exactly is an “author brand” and why is it important? * How authors can best use podcasts, emails lists, and social media* The important difference between publicity and marketing* How booking marketing has changed over the last decade* The role networking plays in selling books* And much more!

Click below to listen now:

The Writing Coach Episode #104 Show Notes

Visit Dana’s website:

Kaye Publicity, Inc

Listen to Dana’s podcast:

Branding Outside the Box

Get your copy of Your Book, Your Brand: The Step-By-Step Guide to Launching Your Book and Boosting Your Sales:

Episode Transcript

Kevin:

Hello beloved listeners and welcome back to The Writing Coach podcast. It is your host as always, writing coach Kevin T. John here.

I have a bunch of my one-on-one clients right now who are zero in on the end of their book. They’re starting to think about things publishing or querying agents and whenever you’re nearing the end of the writing of a book and starting to think about the beginning of the publishing and selling of a book, marketing comes to mind and in fact I have a new book coming out shortly, a children’s picture book, the sequel to my a children’s picture book from a few years ago. The first book was called Rocket Princess versus Snaggletooth the Dragon and the sequel Rocket Princess and the Princess Rocket Squad is coming out shortly and so, of course, I’ve got book marketing on the mind. Some of my clients are starting to think about book marketing and so this was an absolutely perfect time for me to get Dana Kaye on the show.

Dana is a veteran publicist, a social media pro and a brand manager. She founded Kaye publicity in 2009 a boutique PR company that specializes in publishing and entertainment, known for her innovative ideas and knowledge of current trends.

Dana coaches her clients on how to identify and establish their unique personal brands. Kaye’s the author of the book, Your Book, Your Brand: the step by step guide to launching your book and boosting your sales and the creator of Branding Outside of the Box where she helps authors and entrepreneurs become memorable.

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #103 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with architect and author Donald M. Rattner.

Donald is the author of My Creative Space: How to Design Your Home to Stimulate Ideas and Spark Innovation and the principal of Donald M. Rattner, Architect. As a consultant, he draws on scientific research to help individuals and organizations maximize occupant creativity in workplace, residential, wellness, hospitality, and retail environments.

An educator and author as well as practitioner, Rattner’s

publications include entries in professional reference books, and numerous

contributions to print and online channels. He has taught at the University of

Illinois, New York Academy of Art, New York University, Parsons School of

Design, and online

During our discussion, Donald describes:

* How manipulating your environment can stimulate creativity* Why he spent nearly as much time gathering the images for his book as he did writing it* How scientific research helps give validity to the creativity techniques he recommends* Why mood and ambiance such as lighting, room temperature, scent, and sound, influence mental processing* How certain physical characteristics in the built environment can heighten creativity, including tall ceilings, calming hues, the display of art, access to beautiful views, and more!

Click below to listen now:

The Writing Coach Episode #103 Show Notes

Visit Donald’s website

Get your copy of My Creative Space:

Learn more about my children’s book: Rocket Princess vs. Snaggletooth the Dragon.

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Enjoy this podcast? If so, you’ll love my book Novel Advice: Motivation, Inspiration, and Creative Writing Tips for Aspiring Authors. Grab a FREE copy by clicking the image below:

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #102 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with author and story coach Marc Graham.

Marc is an actor, speaker, story coach, shamanic practitioner, and whiskey aficionado. His first novel, Of Ashes and Dust, won the Paul Gillette Memorial Writing Contest and National Writers Association Manuscript Contest. 

When struggling to write a later novel, he turned to one of the most ancient forms of storytelling for inspiration: mythology. Graham discovered that Norse runes (an ancient form of divination) can play an effective role in killing writer’s block. He demonstrates the technique in his new book, Runes for Writers: Boost Your Creativity and Destroy Writer’s Block.

During our discussion, Marc describes:

* How a traditional Christian upbringing eventually led to a wider exploration of spiritual beliefs and a search for universal truths* The challenges and joys of writing historical fiction* How conventional storytellers can engage in the same creatives practices as the ancient and modern shaman of indigenous civilizations to deepen their writing* Techniques for effectively working research into your fiction writing* How synchronicities help point him in the direction of what story he should pursue next* The power myth and story, and how it can play a role in helping to heal the world’s social ills* And much more!

Click below to listen now:

The Writing Coach Episode #102 Show Notes

Pick up Marc’s new book for writers:

Check out Marc’s website.

Learn more about my children’s book: Rocket Princess vs. Snaggletooth the Dragon.

—

Enjoy this podcast? If so, you’ll love my book Novel Advice: Motivation, Inspiration, and Creative Writing Tips for Aspiring Authors. Grab a FREE copy by clicking the image below:

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #101 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak Paul Wilson, author of Bad Karma: The True Story of a Mexican Surf Trip from Hell.

Paul is a lifelong resident of coastal San Diego, attending high school at a time when Independent surfing was an option for Phys. Ed., and Rock Poetry was passed off as an advanced English course. It didn’t take much for him to become disenchanted with formal education and drop out of The University of Southern California to embrace his entrepreneurial side. Paul is a multi-patented inventor, a photographer, and has built several successful businesses. Embracing his love of baseball and the ocean, he attends every San Diego Padres home game, and lives in Mission Beach, California with his wife Susan.

During our discussion, Paul describes:

* Why he had to wait for the statute of limitations to run out before he could write his memoir* His thoughts on the relationships between photography and writing* How his experiences traveling in Mexico taught him that some of the poorest people in the world can also be the most generous* Why surfing and storytelling mix so well* The unique challenges of writing memoir* How last year’s The Writer’s Craft Summit helped him finish and publish his book* What he learned working with a professional editor on the book* How a great cover has helped him get the book into book stores and surf shops* The unique niche he’s found for the book amongst Volkswagen Bus aficionados * And much more!

Click below to listen now:

The Writing Coach Episode #101 Show Notes

Read the first chapter of Bad Karma for free:

www.badkarmabook.com

Check out Paul’s photography:

oceanfrontphotos.com

Get your copy of Bad Karma: the True Story of a Mexican Surf Trip from Hell:

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Enjoy this podcast? If so, you’ll love my book Novel Advice: Motivation, Inspiration, and Creative Writing Tips for Aspiring Authors. Grab a FREE copy by clicking the image below:

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

Welcome to episode #100 of The Writing Coach podcast.

In this special milestone episode of the show, host Kevin T. Johns answers questions from listeners and clients!

During the episode, Kevin answers questions about:

* How to keep your story realistic* When to approach beta readers* How to avoid falling into ruts with your writing* The most common mistakes he sees in his clients’ writing* How to know if a subplot is contributing to, or distracting from, the main story* His thoughts on writing software* How to work backstory into your narrative* How to get a writing coach certification* And much more!

Click below to listen now:

The Writing Coach Episode #100 Show Notes

Episode Transcript:

First up we have a question from author V.L. Stuart. V.L.’s the author of The Orb and Arrow series. They write, “A reviewer has told me that my battle scene is unrealistic. It involves archers, some of whom are elf and non-human species and magic users against orcs, undead, and a couple of nasty humans. How realistic can I be under those circumstances?”

That’s a great question. Obviously, you’re writing a

fantasy novel and so by mere nature of writing in that genre, you take a step

away from reality. What I think is usually going on when people say that they

feel like a story or a moment in a story is unrealistic is not actually that

the story doesn’t feel like the real world, but actually that the story isn’t

being true to the logic in physics and the laws created within the story world

of the noel itself.

To give you an example of what I’m talking about, I always remember the moment in the very first Mission: Impossible movie. That movie… As those movies went on, they kind of got more and more fantastic, but if you go back and watch that very first movie, it’s actually very much based in reality. It’s not superheroics, it’s much more of a traditional spy movie where people have normal skills and their technology isn’t too over the top.

There is a moment about three-quarters of the way through that movie or something, I don’t remember the exact details, but it’s something along the lines of Tom Cruise… I think he’s hanging onto like the front of the helicopter. The helicopter flies into like a train tunnel, it’s chasing a train. The helicopter explodes and Tom Cruise is blown… The force of the explosion blows Tom Cruise off the front of the helicopter and onto the roof of the moving train. I believe that’s it, and to me I thought that was a perfect example of a moment where people are going to roll their eyes and go, “That’s not realistic”, because nothing else in that movie has led us to believe this character could survive something like that or that the physics of the universe work in that manner.

If you go and watch Mission: Impossible 2, stuff like that’s happening all over the place. People are flying through the air and like karate chopping each other off of motorcycles and stuff like… It’s a John Woo movie and he’s clearly established this universe,

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #99 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak Sydney Liu.

Sydney is the co-founder of Commaful, a storytelling site where people go to share discover fiction. The site is home to hundreds of thousands of fanfics, short stories, and poems, all shared in a picture-book style format. He loves thinking about the intersection of art, technology, and storytelling and is always down to hear a great story.

During our discussion, Sydney describes:

* Why a desire to encourage his friends to read his writing was the original inspiration for the Commaful platform* How Commaful differs from traditional blogs and social media platforms* The unique ways in which the platform combines visual media with fiction storytelling and poetry* What he and his co-founder are doing to ensure the Commaful community remains supportive of artists and writers and is able to avoid toxicity* How Commaful is using contests to put the spotlight on new writers as well as attract diverse voices* Which genres are most popular on Commaful* How Commaful is helping authors promote their books and find a community* And much more!

Click below to listen now:

The Writing Coach Episode #99 Show Notes

Visit the main Commaful website:

* Commaful

Visit Commaful for fans of Fanfiction:

* Fanfictions

Visit Commaful for fans of Poetry:

* For Poetry Fans

Get in contact with Sydney:

* Connect with Sydney or email him at [email protected]

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Enjoy this podcast? If so, you’ll love my book Novel Advice: Motivation, Inspiration, and Creative Writing Tips for Aspiring Authors. Grab a FREE copy by clicking the image below:

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #98 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with Julie Evelyn Joyce.

Julie is an award-winning author and a proud Canuck. When she’s not writing quirky and witty romances, she spends her time molding young minds, playing sports, singing karaoke, juggling, and dancing like there’s no tomorrow. Sometimes simultaneously. She’s also in hot pursuit of her own happily ever after, and anxiously awaits the day serial dating becomes an Olympic event. Her debut novel, Steeped in Love, has received glowing reviews and is the winner of the 2019 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize in romance.

During our discussion, Julie describes:

* How she got her start as an author by writing Gilmour Girls fanfiction* The important role her mother played in supporting her writing career* The crossroads she came to after the traditional publisher she had been working with disbanded* The vast and supportive community she discovered in the world of indie publishing* Her experiences teaching fiction writing to high school students* What it was like winning the 2019 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize* How writing and teaching access two different aspects of her personality* And much more!

Click below to listen now:

The Writing Coach Episode #98 Show Notes

Where to find Julie online:

Website: http://julieevelynjoyce.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJEJ

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JulieDoner

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quirkyjewels12/

Newsletter signup: bit.ly/2RQGoyS

Get your copy of Steeped in Love on Kobo here, or on Amazon:

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Enjoy this podcast? If so, you’ll love my book Novel Advice: Motivation, Inspiration, and Creative Writing Tips for Aspiring Authors. Grab a FREE copy by clicking the image below:

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #97 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with Jennifer Blanchard.

Jennifer is a best-selling author, a screenwriter, a Developmental Book Editor, and the Writing Industry’s Mindset Coach. It’s her mission in life to change the way people think and challenge what they believe is possible. Her screenplay, “The Rules,” placed as a Semi-Finalist in the Stage32 Rom-Com Script Contest in 2019.

She previously appeared in episode 77 of The Writing Coach, and she was an expert speaker at The Writer’s Craft Summit last spring.

During our discussion, Jennifer describes:

* Why she loves teaching story structure in particular* How her novel-writing craft knowledge helped launch her screenwriting career* Why an understanding of the fundamentals of writer’s craft technique is essential to the success of authors* How her workshop Write Your Damn Story got started almost a decade ago, how it has evolved over the years, and what workshop attendees can expect when they enroll this month* And much more!

Click below to listen now:

The Writing Coach Episode #97 Show Notes

Enrollment in the Write Your Damn Story workshop is open now. Click here to get all the details about Jennifer’s incredible workshop!

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Enjoy this podcast? If so, you’ll love my book Novel Advice: Motivation, Inspiration, and Creative Writing Tips for Aspiring Authors. Grab a FREE copy by clicking the image below:

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #96 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with author Rea Frey.

With a degree in creative writing from Columbia and six traditionally published books under her belt, Rea has helped hundreds of clients refine, hone, and craft their own ideas into full-fledged books. Whether it’s working on a book proposal to sell to a publisher, ghostwriting a memoir, or consulting on a great idea, Rea’s fifteen years in the publishing industry will clarify the message, mission, audience, and ultimately help find a home for a client’s work. 

During our discussion, Rea describes:

* How she balances a busy writing schedule with homeschooling her daughter* What it was like studying creative writing in an academic environment* Why her early books not being as successful as she would have liked helped set her up for success later in her career* What it was like optioning the rights to adapt her novel to Argent Pictures and then being hired to write the pilot episode of the series* How she helps authors craft incredible book proposals that land them big publishing deals* And much more!

Click below to listen now:

The Writing Coach Episode #96 Show Notes

Visit Rea’s website: https://www.reafrey.com

Get your copy of Rea’s brand new novel, Because You’re Mine:

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Enjoy this podcast? If so, you’ll love my book Novel Advice: Motivation, Inspiration, and Creative Writing Tips for Aspiring Authors. Grab a FREE copy by clicking the image below: