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Explore every episode of the podcast Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

Dive into the complete episode list for Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.

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TitlePub. DateDuration
EP 470 - Building Your Author Brand with Isabelle Knight16 Apr 202600:39:38

Mark interviews former publicist to the stars Isabelle Knight who is the founder of Build Your Author Brand, an online consultancy helping fiction and non-fiction authors to grow your readership, raise your profile and give your books the best chance of success.

Prior to the interview Mark shares that he is on the road at the Writers and Illustrators of the Future annual workshops and gala as one of the writer judges and is using his digital voice clone from ElevenLabs to record the introduction and closing reflection. He also shares a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to Manuscript Report. Use code MARK10 at checkout and save 10% off your own personalized report.

During the interview Mark and Isabelle talk about:

  • Isabelle's background as a publicist for film, TV, and books
  • Recognizing how there's a real knack of knowledge for creating an effective brand/profile
  • Teaching authors the basics of that branding without using the terms PR or publicity
  • The idea of creating foundations of how an author can be able to pitch their books to an audience
  • How talking about marketing can quickly fill authors with a sense of terror
  • The importance of wanting to know, before helping an author, what makes them tick
  • How the author's story is what tells us who they author is and ultimately "why do we care?" about your book(s)
  • Finding the themes that can tie books together rather than what makes them different when an author has written more than one book
  • The challenge of wanting, too much, to share the details from a book, the plot, the tropes, etc versus sharing higher level themes and patterns
  • The misconception that PR and Publicity is only for celebrities or people who are comfortable being in the spotlight
  • A misperception that authors have about how to provide content for social media
  • How Isabelle doesn't work like a traditional publicist
  • The course that Isabelle runs with a cohort about three times a year
  • And more...

After the interview Mark shares a few reflections about the conversation.

Links of Interest:

 

Former publicist to the stars, including titans of industry JK Rowling and the BBC, Isabelle Knight is the founder of Build Your Author Brand, an online consultancy helping fiction and non-fiction authors to grow your readership, raise your profile and give your books the best chance of success.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 469 - Small-Town Canadian Superheroes with Matthew del Papa and Andy Taylor09 Apr 202601:05:03

Mark interviews Matthew del Papa and Andy Taylor, editors of SUPERCANUCKS: An Anthology of Small Town Canadian Superheroes.

Prior to the interview Mark shares a brief personal update and a word from this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to Manuscript Report. Use code MARK10 at checkout and save 10% off your own personalized report.

During the interview Mark, Matthew, and Andy talk about:

  • Andy and Mat's writing background and how they got into editing an anthology like Super Canucks
  • How editing is a new experience for Andy
  • The consist "what if?" that has been a part of Andy's writing for most of his life
  • Matthew's background and the various genres he has written
  • What the appeal of writing fantasy and non-science-filled fiction is for Mat
  • The origin story of the Supercanucks anthology and how it relates to the "brain drain" to larger cities
  • How far the call-out for stories for this anthology went
  • The submissions and the whittling-down process
  • Having six stories set in Northern Ontario, but needing to ensure the stories were from across the country
  • The locales across Canada that made the cut for this anthology
  • The process of reading and selecting and editing the stories
  • Deciding who was going to edit which story and work with which authors
  • The uniqueness for some of the contributors with being able to use Canadian pop culture references and spelling
  • The sudden need for an aspect of the "Elbows Up!" motif into the anthology
  • Mat's learnings when it came to working with a traditional publisher rather than the previous self-publishing experience he'd had before
  • Some of the things they experienced editing this anthology that they hadn't expected
  • Advice Matthew and Andy would offer to writers who are interested in submitting to an anthology

After the interview Mark shares a few reflections about the value of understanding the process that editors use when selecting stories for an anthology, an admission of a goof-up he made in a recent submission, and his own experience with "brain drain" and "Elbows Up!"

Links of Interest:

 

Matthew D. Del Papa spent every Tuesday of his youth crisscrossing his hometown of Capreol in search of newly arrived comic books. He wore superhero-themed Underoos to a truly worrying age and still has his Batman (and Robin) lunchbox, backpack, and wrist-watch.

A graduate of Laurentian University, Matthew is a writer, editor, and self-publisher, and has released ten titles to some modest local acclaim.

He joined the Sudbury Writers' Guild in 2009 and his writing has appeared in Spooky Sudbury, Nothing Without Us Too, Mighty, and Sudbury Superstack: A Changing Skyline. His collection of humorous essays titled Jerry Lewis Told Me I Was Going to Die, was released in 2023 through Latitude 46 Publishing.

 

Andy W. Taylor has been a reader and writer of speculative fiction from an early age thanks in no small part to his mother's frequent trips to the public library with her kids.

Andy is a member of The Writers' Union of Canada, past president and member of the Sudbury Writers' Guild, a graduate of the Viable Paradise writing workshop and Playwright's Junction workshop, and a member of CODEX.
 
Originally from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Andy currently resides in Sudbury, Ontario with his family. His fiction has appeared in Nature: Futures, Polar Borealis, On Spec, FictionVale and on the streets of Sudbury. Visit him at www.SooGuy.com or on BlueSky at @sooguy68.bsky.social

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 460 - Rambling Reflections From The Road: You Are Loved07 Feb 202600:14:48

In this short solo episode Mark shares a "Rambling Reflection From The Road" while at Superstars Writing Seminars talking about the important signals that seemed to come at the right time:

  • Your feelings are valid
  • Your opinions matter
  • You are irreplaceable
  • Your best is enough
  • It's okay to take a break
  • You are loved

 

Links of Interest:

 

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

 

EP 370 - Questioning & Reflecting with Becca Syme11 Jul 202401:15:13

Mark interviews Becca Syme, an author and a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach who has been helping writers with coaching success alignment for more than a decade.

Prior to the interview, Mark thanks Patrons and Buy Me A Coffee buddies, shares comments from recent episode, a personal update, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

In the interview Mark and Becca talk about:

  • How Becca deals with unexpected situations such as someone being late for a virtual meeting (Mark was 20 minutes late getting to this interview) and how this aligns with her strength of "Arranger"
  • The Clifton Strengths personality metric and how Becca uses it to help writers
  • Mark's top 5 strengths and Becca's top 5 strengths
  • The pros and cons that come with a strength such as Empathy
  • How emotions can have residue - that emotions are not false just because they're fictional
  • Becca first taking the Clifton Strengths in 2005 and then immediately wanting to become certified and to figure this out; which is when her coaching began
  • The "Dear Writer"/"Question The Premise" books that Becca has written to help writers
  • How Becca's first book "Dear Writer You Need to Quit" has become a running joke, especially from people who have never read the book and have only heard the title
  • The challenge related to the new place Becca lives and trying to get audiobooks recorded
  • People who are pressure-prompted and the leveraging external motivation VS internal motivation
  • A look at home office versus having an office space separate from the home and how that can work better for some people
  • How our visions of ourselves are not correct because so much of it is based on impressions we were fed before we were able to effectively grasp a more pure vision of ourselves
  • Being able to look at what's often seen as a weakness as a strength
  • How even the more benign moments and experiences in childhood can have a dramatic life-long impact upon us
  • The way that Becca questions almost everything, including the thoughts and feelings that she has
  • Being an intuitive writer verses writing a book to outline
  • How 100% of the things that "everyone says" are for everyone, are definitely NOT for everyone
  • That most people are not lying to you, but they are lying to themselves, often because they just don't understand
  • How a person who NEVER questions themself is a major red flag
  • The "reach for my phone" game that Becca plays when she's traveling or out in public
  • The 12-Hour Walk
  • Becca dating someone who was comfortably disconnected from their phone, rarely ever reaching for it, but just being in the moment
  • The problem with interrupting the thought cycle and being able to get all the way to the bottom of the cognitive process
  • And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on a handful of things that came up in their conversation, which he felt was a lot of good therapy for him.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Becca Syme (MATL) is a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach and has been coaching success alignment for more than a decade. She is the author of the Quitbooks for Writers series and the popular Write Better-Faster course. She also writes mystery novels in her spare time and lives on one of the thousand lakes in Minnesota.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 369 - The DIY Author With Kaye Lynn Booth05 Jul 202400:45:43

Mark interviews Kaye Lynn Booth about her writing life and her new book The DIY Author.

Prior to the interview, Mark thanks Patrons and Buy Me A Coffee buddies, as well as a word from this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

In the interview Mark and Kaye Lynn talk about:

  • Kaye having written since 1994 and selling her first poem in 1996
  • Having always wanted to take a DIY approach to her creativity
  • Signing up for a booth at a local fair without having anything to sell and how that led to a creative way of selling her poems
  • Kaye's poem "Voices" and the perfect painting she found to use with it that was also called "Voices" and how that led to another collaborative poem and painting
  • The early blog-related writing that Kaye had done when the internet was still "young"
  • Creating the Writing to be Read brand on her blog/website and writing reviews for books she had read
  • How Kaye's blog remains her biggest marketing tool
  • The blog team that Kaye has writing specific content for her site
  • Getting degrees in genre fiction and screen-writing and then going back with the concentration in publishing
  • Kaye's perspective on what the harder part of writing and publishing is
  • The long-term outlook that Kaye has taken when it comes to creating and building an audience with her blog
  • The breakdown and sections of Kaye's book THE DIY AUTHOR
  • Kaye's first poetry collection: Small Wonders
  • The children's books that Kaye has written
  • The various genres that Kaye writes in as she follows her passion
  • And more . . .

 

After the interview Mark reflects making do with what you have and the creativity that can come when you find you've painted yourself into a corner.

 

Links of Interest:

 

For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors' blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 368 - Written Word Media with Clayton Noblit28 Jun 202400:54:39

Mark has a chat with Clayton Noblit, a senior marketing manager at Written Word Media.

Prior to the interview, Mark thanks Patrons, welcomes a few new Buy Me A Coffee buddies, shares a personal update, and shares a word from this episode's sponsor.

episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

In the interview Mark and Clayton talk about:

  • What Written Media is (a book marketing/promotions company)
  • Clayton's personal background as a marketer, and a big reader, but not an author
  • The purposeful design of the Written Word Media dashboard to help authors schedule a marketing promotion in about 20 minutes then get back on to the other parts of their day
  • The various Written Word Media reader-facing brands: FreeBooksy, BargainBooksy, Red Feather Romance, New in Books, and Audiothicket
  • Their partnerships with other reader promo sites like eReader News Today, Book Barbarian, Hello Books, and others
  • The strategy of promo stacking by spreading marketing promotions out over a series of 3 to 5 days
  • How the Facebook Ads and Amazon Ads support at Written Word Media works
  • The Written Word Media membership levels (Gold and Platinum) which offer a 10% discount on booking promos as well as additional exclusive promotion options and savings on other third party services
  • The Limelight feature promotion option available for members
  • The content that appears on the Written Word Media blog, including regular surveys of authors and industry trends
  • A few of the responses from a survey conducted in late 2023
  • A discussion of author's perceptions of AI and social media
  • The importance of diversifying instead of being reliant on a single platform
  • Advice Clayton offers to authors working on promoting and marketing their books

 

After the interview Mark reflects on just how much Written Word Media has grown over the years, by listening to authors, and adding tools and options to allow for greater efficiency in marketing. He also notes how authors are becoming more professional in their approach of planning ahead, and admits to not being as good at making those plans as he'd hoped.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Clayton Noblit is a senior marketing manager at Written Word Media. He is passionate about helping authors find their readers and finding ways to sell more books. When he's not working, he enjoys spending time with his family, playing sports, and making beverages.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 367 - Amazing Stories, Fanzines, and Community with Lloyd Penney21 Jun 202400:55:07

Mark interviews Lloyd Penney, the editor of Amazing Stories magazine about his work on Amazing Stories, his forty years of engagement with the fanzine community, and more.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

In the interview Mark and Lloyd talk about:

  • Meeting Robert J. Sawyer when they both attended Ryerson University in Toronto
  • Lloyd's first and only published science fiction story (which Rob was responsible for)
  • Getting involved in science fiction fanzines
  • Forty years of experience being engaged with fanzines from Canada, the United States and all over the world
  • The definition of what a fanzine is
  • How the common community ends up talking about almost anything else once they've established their commonalities in related to things they are fans of
  • How the production of fanzines have changed over the years, from mimeographs, to photocopies, to digital
  • Starting off his experience in engaging with fanzines by writing a letter of comment
  • The letter column being the heart of a fanzine
  • Social media having replaced the fanzine in a lot of ways, but how that has reduced the more nuanced, well-thought out responses and behavior
  • The "reaction" of social media verses the "responses" in fanzines
  • An example of a recent fanzine that Lloyd recently received
  • The first issue of Amazing Stories coming out in 1927
  • A fan, Steve Davidson, who, about 2008, wondered what happened to the copyright on the name Amazing Stories, found it was available and secured them
  • How Spielberg needing to purchase the rights to the name for a TV show helped pay for the production of the first few issues of the new version of the magazine
  • How Lloyd got involved with Amazing Stories in 2018 and then became the editor in chief of the magazine
  • The magazine being (at the time) an online magazine, with no current print issues available
  • The Patreon and merchandise that's available to help support the magazine's operation
  • Running two Kickstarters - one of which funded, and the other, which didn't fund
  • And more...

 

After the interview Mark reflects on the value of getting involved with such a prestigious magazine brand as Amazing Stories, as well as the strong sense of connection and engagement with readers that can happen within the fanzine community.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Lloyd Penney is a Canadian science fiction writer, science fiction convention organizer and a dedicated fan who took his long time science fiction interest and turned it into a career recently - as the editor-in-chief of Amazing Stories one of science fictions longest running magazines. He had previously written extensively for science fiction fanzines.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 366 - Bolts of Fiction with Daniel Willcocks and Samantha Frost15 Jun 202400:27:29

Mark interviews Daniel Willcocks and Samantha Frost about their flash fiction anthology BOLTS OF FICTION and the unique engagement they created and managed through the month of February 2023 to inspire the writing community throughout the entire month.

In February 2023, the Activated Authors community embarked on an ambitious project: to respond to daily prompts and produce a flash fiction story by the next day.

The result was an outpouring of over 500 unique and imaginative pieces, from which the very best were meticulously curated for their anthology.

From heart-wrenching tales of love and loss to whimsical adventures in fantastical worlds, each story promises to transport you, even if just for a moment, into a different reality. Whether you have a minute or an hour, you'll find stories that will intrigue, inspire, and leave you yearning for more.

Featuring stories from:

Quenntis Ashby, Ara Bell, Amy Bulauski, Tracey Byrnes, S.F. Claymore, Cassi Emerson, Geoff Emberlyn, B.A. Ferguson, Michelle L.M. Gale, Renée Gallant, Megan L. Garner, Robert Gelik, Debbie Gravett, Karla Hailer, R.P. Howley, Jacqueline James, Claire Ladds, Arin Laney, Mark Leslie, Daisy Lythe, S.W. Millar, Kiz Moncrieff, Andrew Murray, Laura Nettles, Kymba Nijuck, Carolyn O'Brien, Leila Murton Poole, Karin Redclift, C.M. Simpson, K.T. Tate, and Karen Wicks.

In this interview, Mark, Dan, and Sam talk about:

  • June 15th being National Flash Fiction Day
  • What flash fiction is
  • The inspiration for this project
  • The tight deadlines involved
  • Creating daily prompts to inspire writers
  • The blind submission/reading process
  • And more . . .

Links of Interest:

 

Daniel Willcocks is an international bestselling author, award-winning podcaster, author coach, and speaker. Dan writes non-fiction for authors and creatives, as well as dark fiction for the twisted reader, spanning the genres of horror, post-apocalyptic, and sci-fi.

Sam Frost a.k.a. "Mastress of None," is a video-editor, poet, writer, painter, actor and creator. Based in the south of England (but not born there, that's an important distinction), Sam is passionate about helping creatives while battling the will of a medium sized human and the "affectionate" sneezes of a smaller sized pug.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 365 - An Interview That's A Hug with Gail Carriger14 Jun 202401:19:57

Mark interviews Gail Carriger about her writing life, her journey through publishing, analytics, the careful curation of her author brand, being a hybrid author and so much more.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

In the interview Mark and Gail talk about:- How honored Mark is to learn that Gail listens to the Stark Reflections Podcast

  • Gail's branding phrase of "Gail Carriger writes books that are hugs" and the various experiments she's done with that over the years
  • Always being a person who wrote, or had a passion for writing
  • Reading The Lord of the Rings as a child and deciding to craft her OWN ending for the story
  • Growing up in a "commune" environment with a bunch of poets
  • Gail's career as an academic when her first traditionally published book (Soulless) came out and took off
  • The challenge/dare to herself of wanting to write a genre-blending/cross-genre tale of something that she would enjoy as a reader
  • Negotiations taking a long time because Gail dug in her heels on specific contract clauses
  • Her agent investigating a back-door deal with another publisher who offered her 3X the deal the first was looking at and was willing to adjust the right of first refusal clause
  • The vision that the publishers had that Soulless was the beginning of a series (despite Gail believing, when she first wrote it, that it was a stand-alone)
  • Having a two-book contract and then writing a cliffhanger at the end of the 2nd book in order to grease the wheels of a contract for other books
  • Gail's love-affair with spreadsheets and the fact she reads all 56 pages of her royalty reports
  • One of the main reasons she became an indie author was her ability to have direct access to data about her sales and her readers
  • Gail's cautionary note to authors that with a "right of first refusal" a publisher is allowed to take their time with that offer, which can significantly delay an author's forward-movement plans
  • The possible "rights grab" that a publisher might do even if it's not something within their regular publishing plans
  • How growing up Gen-X and being a non-native to computers and the internet has resulted in an abundance of caution about digital, computers, the world wide web, how she is presented on the internet, etc.
  • Gail's recommendation to test the waters in self-publishing with short stories first
  • Nerding out with Mark about the "old days" of self-publishing and podcasting
  • Being a social scientist by training and loving analytics and spreadsheets
  • Pinging her rabid fan base and testing things all the time
  • Gail's A/B testing on whether it's better to put a newsletter signup link at the front of a book or the end of the book, or both
  • Ensuring that her author brand is not diluted with author business stuff that she's known for from other authors and industry insiders
  • Talking to her readers constantly to continue to stay in the loop on insights
  • The importance, when communicating to your readers to use the same language that they're used to
  • Learning that her readers tend to not have a distinction between libraries and bookstores - that many of them see them under the same umbrella of a place they go to see what books are on display
  • Confirming the reports that "word of mouth" is, by a landslide, the way that most readers find out about new books and new authors to read
  • The value of a recommendation from another author in a newsletter or on social media
  • The challenges of book blurbs
  • A podcast that Gail recommends: Reading Glasses - and that authors should subscribe and listen to it in order to understand the language that readers use
  • The deliberate curation and creation of the Gail Carriger persona, including her love of wearing retro outfits
  • The side benefit of being able to be a fan at conventions, etc when "out of uniform" and how she's rarely recognized when not sporting that specific "look"
  • A little bit about Gail's book THE HEROINE'S JOURNEY
  • The next book for writers that Gail is working on called GOING HYBRID, structured to help established and existing traditionally published authors to learn the indie publishing landscape
  • And more . . .

 

After the interview Mark reflects on several different topics that came up in the conversation, including contract clauses, being incognito, and Gails's suggesting for testing the self-publishing waters.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Gail Carriger writes books that are hugs, mostly comedies of manners mixed with steampunk, urban fantasy, and sci-fi (plus cozy queer joy as G. L. Carriger). These include the Parasol Protectorate, Custard Protocol, Tinkered Stars, and San Andreas Shifter series for adults, and the Finishing School and Tinkered Starsong series for young adults. Also nonfiction: The Heroine's Journey. She is published in many languages, has over a million books in print, over a dozen New York Times and USA Today bestsellers, and starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus, and Romantic Times.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 364 - 40 Years of Rubes® Cartoons with Leigh Rubin06 Jun 202400:59:01

Mark interviews Leigh Rubin about 40 years of his Rubes® cartoons and his latest book THINK LIKE A CARTOONIST.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

In the interview Mark and Leigh talk about:

  • The fact that in 2024 Leigh is celebrating 40 years of producing Rubes® cartoons
  • Some of the things that have changed since Leigh first started writing the cartoons - such as the way he delivers the daily cartoons
  • The tools that haven't changed over the years, such as the drawing instruments he uses
  • How far in advance the daily cartoons need to be sent in for syndication
  • The fact that Leigh rarely ever takes a day off from drawing something new for the cartoon
  • Leigh's book THINK LIKE A CARTOONIST and the story behind it
  • The various types of essays that appear in this book
  • Leigh's Cartoonist Pledge (inspired by the Boy Scout pledge)
  • The ease of sharing cartoons on social media without any compensation given to the artist
  • What a "workaround" is for cartooning
  • The challenges of when humor doesn't age well because of changing sensitivities
  • Testing the cartoons and deciding not to use certain ones that don't hit just right - (and the big stack of un-used cartoons that Leigh never submitted because they weren't funny enough)
  • And more . . .

 

After the interview Mark reflects on the idea of what Leigh calls a "workaround" and how a similar thing might apply to writers in general as well as the idea of testing cartoons and not publishing them unless the hit right.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Leigh Rubin is an accomplished author and cartoonist. He has written more than 20 books. 2024 will mark the 40th anniversary of Leigh's internationally syndicated cartoon, Rubes®, which is distributed by Creators Syndicate to hundreds of newspapers and media outlets worldwide.

His work has been featured in film, television, and advertising. Leigh also enjoys a busy schedule giving thought-provoking and entertaining presentations on art and creativity at conferences, as well as professional organizations all around the country.

In 2018 Leigh began serving at Rochester Institute of Technology as the college's first Cartoonist-in-Residence.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 363 - Greatness Together with Sarah McVanel30 May 202401:06:33

Mark interviews Sarah McVanel, a recognition expert, professional speaker, coach, author, recovering perfectionist, and movement maker about her books, speaking, and her the new podcast she co-hosts with her daughter.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

In the interview Mark and Sarah talk about:

  • What Sarah has been up to since Mark last had her on the podcast
  • How Sarah is an expert-based author rather than a "traditional" author
  • The difference between writing for a keynote as a speaker and writing a book
  • The various books that Sarah has previously written and how she went about putting them together, including FLIPSIDE OF FAILING
  • The research and legwork done in order to send hand-signed copies and hand-written notes to medical/health-care leaders for Sarah's book ROCKSTAR: Magnify Your Greatness in Times of Change for Healthcare Leaders
  • Providing space in the back of a specially printed edition of her book ROCKSTAR: Magnify Your Greatness in Times of Change for Women Leaders for conference organizers to put their own messaging in
  • The needless bloating in some non-fiction books; something which Sarah strives to not do
  • Satisfaction that's felt when you finish reading a book
  • How companies, publishers, and authors often bundle products together and how it might affect the reader
  • How we earn the right to be read as authors
  • Participating in physical bundles with other speakers as part of a conference
  • The way the most special readers deserve something special
  • The new podcast (The Greatness Together Podcast) that Sarah has started with her daughter and which runs every other week
  • Various topics related to the human dimension that mother and daughter Sarah and Simonne talk through
  • And more . . .

 

After the interview Mark reflects on Sarah's perspective on the author needing to ensure that they deliver on their promise and that after earning the reader's attention, they need to keep it by delivering on that promise in the content. He also reflects on the incredible value Sarah brings as a greatness recognition expert.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Sarah McVanel is a recognition expert, professional speaker, coach, author, recovering perfectionist, and movement maker. She created F.R.O.G. Forever Recognize Others' GreatnessTM to invigorate companies so they can see their people as exceptional and, together, create a scrumptious, thriving culture where everyone belongs.

Sarah has 25+ years of experience training, coaching, and leading teams. From her senior leadership role, she founded her boutique firm Greatness Magnified. Proclaimed as the "Frog Lady," she can be found freaking out perfect strangers (in a good way) by handing out squishy frogs and asking them, "Have you been frogged lately?" and then acknowledging their greatness.

She's a Certified Senior Organizational Development Professional (CSODP), Professional Certified Coach (PCC), and Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL). She is one of 700 Certified Speaking Professionals (CSP) worldwide. She has a BA in Psychology, MSc in Family Relations, and Diplomas in Human Resources and Healthcare Administration.

You can catch her kayaking in the summer and snowshoeing in the winter with her husband, or cooking a feast (while listening to an audiobook on double speed). She's a die-hard carb-ivour, amateur hip hopper, and TikTok embarrasser to her two kids.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 362 - The Book To Read Before Giving Up On Your Writing Dreams with Todd Fahnestock29 May 202400:50:00

Mark interviews author Todd Fahnestock about his latest book for writers: Falling to Fly: The Book To Read Before Giving Up On Your Writing Dreams.

This episode is sponsored by the Patrons and Coffee Buddies of the Stark Reflections Podcast.

 

Patreon for Stark Reflections Podcast

Buy Mark a Coffee

 

In the interview Mark and Todd talk about:

  • Who Todd is and the edge of the seat epic fantasy he writes
  • A little bit about Todd's memoir of hiking the Colorado Trail with his 15-year-old son
  • The pitch for Summer of the Fetch, one of his one-off books
  • Todd's latest book FALLING TO FLY: The Book to Read Before Giving Up on Your Writing Dreams
  • How the book includes several completely frank episodes where Todd fell flat on his face and failed, and yet picked himself up one more time
  • The idea of failure being the classroom and success being the diploma
  • Being bored with a story where there's no challenge, or struggle, or flaws in the main character
  • How fantasy books saved Todd's life when he was young and the fact he wanted to do the same thing for someone else
  • The "writer dream" interviews that Todd is doing on social media
  • The chapter called "The Little Rebel" and what that particular voice does for Todd
  • The nightmare that inspired the idea for the title FALLING TO FLY
  • And more . . .

 

After the interview Mark reflects on how great a storyteller Todd is, how much he enjoyed Todd's latest book, and the value when someone paints an authentic picture of the actual stark realities of the writing life.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Todd Fahnestock is an award-winning, #1 bestselling author of fantasy for all ages and winner of the New York Public Library's Books for the Teen Age Award. Threadweavers and The Whisper Prince Trilogy are two of his bestselling epic fantasy series. He is a founder of Eldros Legacy—a multi-author, shared-world mega-epic fantasy series—three-time winner of the Colorado Authors League Award for Writing Excellence, and two-time finalist for the Colorado Book Award for Tower of the Four: The Champions Academy (2021) and Khyven the Unkillable (2022).

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

 

EP 361 - The Author Wheel with Greta Boris and Megan Haskell23 May 202401:00:48

Mark interviews Greta Boris and Megan Haskell of The Author Wheel.

Prior to the interview Mark shares a brief personal update and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Prior to the interview, Mark reads comments from recent episodes, shares a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by ScribeCount (affiliate link). Spend less time logging in to multiple platforms and crunching numbers, and more time writing and marketing your books thanks to ScribeCount's handy all-in-one interface.

In the interview Mark, Greta, and Megan talk about:

  • How Megan started writing as a creative outlet when she was working for a major accounting firm
  • The writing done on the train on the way in to work in Los Angeles and the blogs she had written
  • Continuing writing after having her daughter in 2012 and then publishing her first book before her second child was born
  • Greta's magazine background (her father was an editor and publisher of some major magazines back in the day)
  • The writing she did for a number of magazines over the years and the various genres and topics she took on
  • Being inspired by interviewing a bunch of fiction authors, including Joanna Penn
  • How Greta got her first publisher doing a Twitter pitch
  • Twitter pitches being really good for writing log lines
  • Megan and Greta's "meet cute" at the Southern California Writer's Conference in 2014
  • Pitching a course to that conference at a later date so they could attend it again without having to pay which got turned into a book (Publish: Take Charge of Your Author Career)
  • How they started The Author Wheel courses, podcast, and other resources
  • The metaphors for The Author Wheel
  • The way they try to break topics down into the smallest bits possible to simplify people
  • Why it's helpful to recognize that authors are all at different places and there are so many different paths and choices an author can make
  • Their course Trope Stacking and Other Genre Magic which is a companion to a quick-guide Understanding Your Genre
  • Greta's pioneering with writing a book she felt was a "Cozy Horror" novel
  • Strategies for mixing and layering in genres that are complimentary to one another while creating something unique
  • How writing to an outline made Megan feel like her creativity was being stifled
  • The way that Megan and Greta collaborate in their writing, the podcast, the social media, and the courses
  • And more . . .

 

After the interview Mark reflects on the idea of the "Twitter pitch" and the benefit of having to craft writing that has tight restrictions as well as the importance of understanding that there's no one-size-fits-all solution, and that there's no single right way for authors to do things.

 

Links of Interest:

 

 

Greta Boris is a USA Today Bestselling mystery and thriller author. Megan Haskell is an award-winning fantasy adventure author. Together, they founded The Author Wheel, publishers of books, courses, and a podcast to help writers overcome roadblocks and keep their stories rolling.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 459 - Creating Experiences in Art and Story with Tanya Hales30 Jan 202601:03:28

In this episode Mark interviews author and artist Tanya Hales.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, comments from recent episodes, and a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to Manuscript Report. Use code MARK10 at checkout and save 10% off your own personalized report.

In the interview Mark and Tanya talk about:

  • When Tanya and Mark first met: at Superstars Writing Seminars
  • The sketch that Tanya made of Mark at SSWS when he was speaking there
  • Identifying herself as equal parts author and illustrator
  • The value of CREATING EXPERIENCES with people
  • How long Tanya has been creating art and how her mother was instrumental in getting her into art
  • The "nature-based" element and love of animals that are recurring in Tanya's art
  • Writing novels in spiral-ring notebooks by the time of Fifth Grade
  • The first time Tanya put her art out into the world at the age of sixteen
  • Handy and helpful resources available to Tanya in her high school
  • The "Doodle Dudes" that Tanya had created back then
  • Doing a lot more digital art lately for logistical parental reasons
  • How one of Tanya's skills is being able to adapt to new things relatively easily
  • Being in different modes, such as writing, editing, art
  • Various Kickstarter projects Tanya has done and is currently doing
  • The Animal Magica Coloring Books Tanya has created
  • Why Tanya thinks that it's evitable that she creates the way she does
  • The first full-length novel in the Animal Magica universe
  • The first cozy fantasy novel that Tanya recently released

After the interview Mark reflections on passion and creating experiences.

 

Links of Interest:

 

When Tanya Hales was a baby, she enjoyed books by chewing them to pieces before eventually moving on to the higher art of reading. Tanya splits her time between her work as a writer, an illustrator, and a mother, all of which she loves intensely. She now lives in Utah with her husband and four children, illustrating coloring books, writing YA fantasy, making cute stickers, and daydreaming constantly about imaginary worlds.

Tanya is the creator of YA epic fantasy as well as the Animal Magica fantasy coloring book series, books made in collaboration with dozens of other authors who contributed beautiful short stores to pair with the art.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 360 - Foreign Rights Licensing with Roseanne Cheng of DropCap17 May 202400:49:00

Mark interviews Roseanne Cheng, an award-winning author, ghostwriter, and book marketer who is passionate about educating authors and publishers about the power and opportunity of having their books elevated to the international market.

They talk about her writing life, her author mentoring life, and about how DropCap Marketplace is a great bridge between indie authors and the licensing foreign language rights through traditional agencies and book scouts.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, comments from recent episodes, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

 

In their interview Mark and Roseanne talk about:

  • Roseanne's background and passion for helping writers
  • The first book Roseanne published (The Take Back of Lincoln Junior High) back in 2013 when she was teaching full-time and how it will always have a special place in her heart
  • Working with Wise Ink Creative Publishing and the great respect that Roseanne has for the women who run that business
  • The various lessons learned with writing and publishing a book and how you can turn the things that you learned (via various mistakes you've made) into positives by helping others on their own journeys
  • Taking on the role of Marketing Director at Wise Ink by leveraging her own experiences to help shepherd other writers through the process of releasing a new book
  • Working with authors to create their own custom marketing plans based on their goals
  • Meeting and connecting with a dear friend, Josie, and teaching one another things they were each good at
  • Creating an online school with Josie called Evergreen Authors in about 2019
  • How the pandemic ended up helping these courses and various other online teaching and Roseanne's ghostwriting business to really take off
  • The genesis of her first book, The Take Back of Lincoln Junior High
  • Reading the novel after taking a long break (focusing on the endless work and much sleeplessness of raising small children) and recognizing that it was really good
  • How Roseanne's role as a teacher helped prepare her for the work she does in helping authors
  • The co-authored book BUZZ: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO BOOK MARKETING
  • Roseanne's books THE EVERYGREEN AUTHOR: MASTER THE ART OF BOOK MARKETING and PORTABLE MAGIC
  • The importance of asking your readers: "Where do you buy books?"
  • The WIDE FOR THE WIN message of being in as many places as possibly and opening as many doors as possible and how it really resonated with Roseanne
  • Getting involved in the "Rights" side of publishing and the entire distribution network that she had not yet been tapped into
  • A story about the first time Roseanne received an email from a foreign publisher who reached out because they were interested in the foreign language rights to her work
  • The creation of DropCap Marketplace as a match-making service between indie authors/small publishers and agents and book scouts
  • The various other marketing resources available for authors on the DropCap site
  • How DropCap marries technology with relationship resources within the industry
  • The special coupon code for Stark Reflections listeners. STARK20 - to get 20% off the listing at DropCap marketplace
  • And more . . .

 

After the interview, Mark reflections on Roseanne's passion for helping writers and the importance for indie authors of recognizing where they can DIY and where they might be better off leveraging experts in a particular area of publishing.

 

Links of Interest:

 

 

Roseanne Cheng is an award-winning author, ghostwriter, book marketer, and Director of Business Development DropCap Rights Agency. A lifelong reader and writer, she began her work in book publishing as a Marketing Director for an indie publishing house based in Minneapolis and eventually co-founded Evergreen Authors, an online school teaching authors the business of writing and marketing their creative work. In her current role with DropCap, she has the unique pleasure of matching global rights buyers with titles that have the potential to positively impact their communities. She is passionate about educating authors and publishers about the power and opportunity of having their books elevated to the international market.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 359 - Capturing the Flow with Aaron Palmer09 May 202401:12:10

Mark interviews author, songwriter, musician, and podcaster Aaron Palmer.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, comments from recent episodes, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

 

In their interview Mark and Aaron talk about:

 

  • Aaron being tested at an early age and it being determined that he had perfect pitch
  • Picking up a guitar for the first time around 6th grade
  • The first big concert he saw when he was in 5th grade was Van Halen - and he was convinced he wanted to do that
  • A time in life when ambitions outweighed abilities
  • How playing the guitar came pretty naturally to Aaron
  • Being a pretty avid reader when he was growing up, consuming almost anything he could get his hands on
  • The writing of Michael Crichton and the very cinematic way he had of writing prose
  • Being in college and having a professor suggest he change his major to English
  • Beginning to write short fiction shortly after that
  • Aaron's podcast Native Tongues and the theme for the show
  • Dealing with ADHD and also regularly multi-tasking
  • How Aaron works through writing down log lines and concepts that are streaming through his mind to return to later to flesh out
  • Finding out that Dave Grohl does something similar
  • The initial concept of the podcast first coming out about five years ago, then beginning to develop the ideas for it in about August of 203 for a January 2024 launch
  • Starting off with a concept or idea and then later fleshing out the characters and character development
  • The idea of spending more time developing characters once you fully understand the world that they're in
  • Reaching to the darker, more speculative or fantastical elements in storytelling out of a relatively mundane, safe, and normal existence
  • Not taking himself very seriously as a writer or creative person
  • Gravitating toward 12-year-old Bacoo rum
  • Loving live music in multiple venues and forms
  • How Aaron's podcast is helping to tie multiple creative aspects together
  • And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on capturing the endless flow of ideas that can come to a creative person and the value of putting a creative work out into the world instead of just holding onto it.

 

Links of Interest:

 

 

Aaron Palmer has been described as this generation's Ernest Hemingway. Not because he can write majestic prose, but because he equally loves to drink lots of rum. Aaron enjoys writing screenplays in the horror and thriller genres in which he has an encyclopedic knowledge of. He hosts the podcast Native Tongues, where he talks to writers and musicians about where they came from and how that influenced their voice. He also plays guitar, is into fitness, travel and loves to read. Oh, and he's got a wife and kids he likes.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

 

 

EP 358 - The Way of the Parable Writer with Donn King02 May 202400:54:49

Mark interviews professor, pastor, speaker, and author Donn King about writing, his podcast, and his books THE WAY OF THE THREE-YEAR-OLD WHY and MEDIUM WELL.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, comments from recent episodes, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

 

In their interview Mark and Donn talk about:

  • Donn's gradual evolution into becoming a writer with starting work at a newspaper when he was 14 years old
  • An experience in sixth grade discovering science fiction novels in the library and realizing reading could be fun when you weren't being forced to do it
  • The first sci-fi novel Donn remembers reading: Robert A. Heinlein's HAVE SPACESUIT WILL TRAVEL
  • Donn's first foray into writing short fiction in a 3-ring binder with a pencil
  • Learning about his non-fiction writing from Bob Burg, co-author of THE GO-GIVER a bestselling business parable book
  • How elements from writing good fiction apply when writing a parable
  • Drawing upon autobiographical elements even when fictionalizing a parable
  • The difference between Writer's Block and The Well Going Dry
  • Donn's podcast, The Alignment Show
  • The Great Realignment and pausing to step back and consider what really brings value to you
  • Donn's book MEDIUM WELL: The Journey From Believing to Believing In
  • The beautifully inquisitive nature of 3-Year-Olds in Donn's THE WAY OF THE THREE-YEAR-OLD WHY
  • Principal Five - Without emotion, there is no motion
  • The challenges of booking live speaking events when caring for family members who require that additional compassion and care
  • The reality that none of us have any certainty - we merely live with the illusion of certainty
  • The concept of connection before content
  • And more . . .

 

After the interview Mark reflects on a few of the topics that came up in their conversation.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Donn King is "The Confidence Cultivator," a professor, pastor, speaker, and author who lives in the mountains of East Tennessee. He also hosts "The Alignment Show," a podcast to support listeners in living their values so they can value their life. His book, "The Way of the Three-Year-Old Why," the first in the Sparklight Chronicles, came out in 2023, with "Medium Well," the second in the series, came out in early 2024

 

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 357 - 50 Years of Short Stories with Kevin J. Anderson26 Apr 202400:49:40

In this episode, Mark interviews Kevin J. Anderson about his writing and the new approach he is taking to incorporate Kickstarter into the launch strategies for some of his indie-published titles.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, comments from recent episodes, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

 

In their interview Mark and Kevin talk about:

  • How Kickstarter has completely upended (in a good way), Kevin's book release strategies
  • Kevin's first novel coming out in 1988 and all the various publishers he has worked with over the years
  • The "Perfect Storm" that was brewing in the book industry when indie publishing became a realistic and viable option
  • Starting to publish his own books (mostly backlist titles he got the rights back to) in 2009 after founding WordFire Press with his wife Rebecca Moesta
  • Kevin's belief that this is the best time to be a writer
  • How Kevin does a little bit of everything. He has a New York literary agent, he works with several major publishers, he indie publishes, and he continues to explore new opportunities that digital publishing offer
  • The way that Kickstarter didn't just open a new door, it completely blew it down, along with a few walls too
  • Dean Wesley Smith's perspective that helped to change Kevin's mind about what Kickstarter was all about
  • Kevin's "Adams Family meets The Naked Gun" series of Dan Shamble Zombie PI novels, and the history of how it started off as a series with a major publisher, flopped, then Kevin got the rights back and did something truly stunning with it once he applied Kickstarter
  • Kevin's first Dan Shamble Kickstarter which brought in 23 times the intial amount he was asking for, and that it paid him more than 6 times the advance he'd rec'd from a major publisher for the last Dan Shamble book he'd done with them
  • The Dragon Business (The Princess Bride meets Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) Kickstarter that brought in 20 times what he'd been asking for
  • The Persephone Kickstarter that Kevin did with Writer/Director Jeffrey Morris
  • Kevin's latest Kickstarter which is a 7 Volume Set of over 130 of his published short stories published over 50 years
  • Writing his first short story when he was 8 years old
  • Publishing his very first short story when he was 14
  • The personal introductions that he wrote for every one of the stories in this 7 book collection
  • The various levels and Kickstarter rewards he is planning for this Kickstarter
  • The remarkable fact that, despite having published 180 novels with 58 of them being international bestsellers, no publisher would ever even consider publishing a 7 volume hardcover set of Kevin's complete short stories. That he can do this via Kickstarter is a significant paradigm shift
  • How Kickstarter can replace the old "advance" model from traditional publishing
  • The special thing Kevin is doing for all the backers of this latest Kickstarter
  • The Kickstarter will be going live on April 30th for 3 weeks and 2 days
  • And more . . .

 

After the interview Mark reflects on Kevin's use of short, effective and very clear log lines to describe two of his series.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Kevin J. Anderson has published more than 180 books, 58 of which have been national or international bestsellers. He has written numerous novels in the Star Wars, X-Files, and Dune universes, as well as the unique Clockwork Angels steampunk trilogy with legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart. His original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series, the Wake the Dragon and Terra Incognita fantasy trilogies, and humorous Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series and The Dragon Business series.

He has edited numerous anthologies, written comics and games, and the lyrics to two rock CDs. Anderson is the director of the graduate program in Publishing at Western Colorado University, and he and his wife Rebecca Moesta are the publishers or WordFire Press.

He worked on the recent films Dune Part One and Part Two from Legendary Entertainment, as well as the forthcoming Dune TV series from MAX, and other films in development, including Persephone and Karousel.

He has 24 million copies in print in 34 languages. His most recent novels are Bats in the Belfry, Skeleton in the Closet, Persephone, and Princess of Dune (with Brian Herbert).

 

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 356 - The Midlist Indie Author Mindset with T. Thorn Coyle18 Apr 202400:49:50
 

Mark interviews T Thorn Coyle about writing, community, and their new book The Midlist Indie Author Mindset.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Cruising Writers - 7 Day Western Caribbean Cruise - Feb 22 to Mar 1, 2025

Featured Guest Speakers: Erin Wright and Mark Leslie Lefebvre

More details at: Cruising Writers

 

In the interview, Mark and Thorn talk about:

  • Getting into writing when they were 5 years old - and the variety of types of writing they did
  • Thorn jokingly torturing fiction and deciding to write non-fiction until a few characters showed up and knocked on their door
  • Writing mostly fantasy-tinged fiction
  • How most of Thorn's non-fiction guides have been about spiritual practice, but that this latest one is their first non-fiction business of writing book
  • Thorn's author tagline: "Magic is real. And justice is worth fighting for."
  • The way that Portland is such a fascinating city and how Thorn can find magic anywhere
  • An appreciation of Charles de Lint
  • Thorn's forthcoming book: The Midlist Author Mindset
  • The massive mindset shift that comes from being curious about business the way one is curious about writing
  • Value that came with learning what worked for Thorn, as opposed to things that work for other writers
  • The numerous streams of income that Thorn has been developing over the years
  • Looking at long-term sustainability by thinking of it like cultivating a garden instead of seeking out short-term dramatic spikes
  • Some of the roadblocks that Thorn encountered on the way to establishing the Midlist Author Mindset
  • Understanding that for Thorn marketing was about connection with readers
  • How asking "Does social media sell books?" is the wrong question to ask
  • The Kickstarter for the book and related materials and exclusive content that runs April 16, 2024 to May 7, 2024
  • A little bit about Thorn's fiction series books
  • Thoughts and current approach to audiobooks
  • Thorn's final words of advice that they would want to leave with writers
  • And more . . .

 

After the interview, Mark reflects on the concepts of sustainable, long-term, and burn-out as well as the important question of what is practical for you and your life and goals.

 

Links of Interest:

 

T. Thorn Coyle worked in many strange and diverse occupations before settling in to write full time. Buy them a cup of tea and perhaps they'll tell you about it.

Author of The Witches of Portland, the Seashell Cove Paranormal Cozy Mysteries, the Pride Street Paranormal Cozy Mysteries, The Steel Clan Saga, and The Panther Chronicles, Thorn's multiple non-fiction books include Sigil Magic for Writers, Artists & Other Creatives, Crafting a Daily Practice, Kissing the Limitless, and Evolutionary Witchcraft. Thorn's work also appears in many anthologies, magazines, and collections.

An interloper to the Pacific Northwest U.S., they pay proper tribute to all the neighborhood cats, and talk to crows, squirrels, and trees.

You can find them at thorncoyle.com.

 

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 355 - Scribbling Pen Publishing with Melanie Gilbert and Heather Karn11 Apr 202401:01:51

Mark interviews Melanie Gilbert and Heather Karn about their work writing and publishing together under the Scribbling Pen Publishing brand.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, comments from recent episodes, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Cruising Writers - 7 Day Western Caribbean Cruise - Feb 22 to Mar 1, 2025

Featured Guest Speakers: Erin Wright and Mark Leslie Lefebvre

More details at: Cruising Writers

 

In the interview, Mark, Melanie, and Heather talk about:

  • How Heather got started in writing before Melanie, who started a year later
  • Writing independently for a while before they got into mutual support and collaboration
  • The two books they've published by doing round-robin style writing a couple of paragraphs at a time
  • The plotting VS pantsing struggle that they would sometimes find themselves in
  • The thrill of writing a book without knowing who the bad guy was the entire time until the idea of who it was struck both of them at the same time
  • The process they use when writing, editing, and re-writing
  • How the two of them think of the reader experience when the writer (as related to the Disney Customer Experience training)
  • Leveraging the cats that they made to draw people in which is a great ice-breaker getting them to the books
  • Thinking about the "writing companions" for the books
  • Leveraging crafted book bags in the same way to generate interest - ie "Where did you get that cool book bag?"
  • Determing what scented candle or wax melt varieties would go well with the different books
  • Something special they did to celebrate the "12 Days of Christmas" that they could provide to all of their fans - cover reveals, sample chapters, recipes, music, other books, etc
  • The benefit of personal touches in the newsletter including the fun that started with Griffin the furry manager
  • How their cats and dogs are the ones explaining what's going on in their writer newsletters and their website store
  • How their main goal isn't to sell books but to ensure that the people who visit their table are having a good time
  • And more . . .

 

After the interview, Mark reflects on the way the sisters leverage conversational items to draw people to their in person table, their focus on creating a genuinely memorable and entertaining experience (rather than focusing on selling books), and providing intriguing entertainment in their newsletter leveraging their pets' perspectives.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Melanie Gilbert and Heather Karn in their own words:

We grew up in the lovely state of Michigan. We lived in a small town in the country, one of those towns where everyone knows everyone. When we graduated from high school, we went to the same college along with our triplet sister. Our younger sister joined us a couple years later. We're all really close and that has influenced how we write characters who are siblings.

Somehow, we both ended up in Wisconsin a few miles from each other (and even our triplet sister). We now live together and it's a blast! Wisconsin isn't too different from where we grew up, so it hasn't been a big change to live here instead of in Michigan. The only down side to being here is the large lake between us and our family (and Melanie's in-laws). Going around the lake makes traveling longer, but at least we're not states away from family. Family is really important to us.

Scribbling Pen Publishing was originally Melanie's idea. Like Melanie's other idea about writing a co-written book, it took Heather some time to warm up to the idea. Heather is more of a "think it over" personality while Melanie is a "sounds good, let's do it" personality. Together, we balance each other out.

Working together has been amazing. We each have strengths where the other has a weakness. Together we accomplish more than we did apart. Our brands are so similar, it only made sense to combine the work to share our love of books with the world.

 

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 354 - Lydia and David Sherrer on Power Couple Publishing05 Apr 202400:58:29

Mark interviews Lydia and David Sherrer about their company Chenoweth Press and the books and games they produce and publish collaboratively.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update and a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by the awesome supporters of this podcast who provide their supprt via Patreon and Buy Me A Coffee.

With special thanks to Nikki Guerlain for the recent huge BUY ME A COFFEE donation.

In the interview, Mark talks to Lydia and David about:

  • How Lydia's role as a writing is part of a biological imperitive
  • Growing up reading everything in sight and also being into Lord of the Rings by the time she was five years old
  • Always telling herself stories and writing some of them down over the years
  • Finding out that what she studied in college wasn't a good career fit and then following her father's example of being an entrepreneur
  • Publishing her first two books around 2012/2013
  • Lydia and David setting a ten-year plan that by then David would be able to quit his full-time job
  • David enjoying playing Magic The Gathering card game when he was young
  • Getting invited to a gaming store that was in his town and becoming enamored with it
  • Opening up his own gaming store when he graduated from highschool
  • The technical engineering background that David had and how he applied those skills to ads and marketing
  • Getting frustrated with his job at about the time that Lydia was starting to earn good money from her writing
  • Deciding that he wanted to turn his gaming hobby into a career by starting with a spreadsheet
  • How playing cards are one of the easiest and most flexible mediums to make a game in
  • The game Cat Magic taking roughly twenty minutes of calculations and figuring to get the first draft of the game started
  • The catch-phrase for Love, Lies, and Magic
  • Book 8 in that series releasing March 1, 2024
  • How Cat Magic the novel was the best of Lydia's books that had an existing audience for creating the first game of David's game design career
  • David's role in being an alpha reader and providing Lydia with early feedback on her writing
  • The Kickstarter campaign they ran to get the Cat Magic game off the ground
  • The important Give 90% of the time, ask 10% of the time rule with communities you are engaged in
  • The years of behind the scenes hard work and constantly giving and sharing with the community that built up the success seen in recent Kickstarters
  • 80% of their sales coming from direct sales versus sales from retailers
  • Storing 15,000 copies of Lydia's books in their basement
  • Hiring a college student to help with some of the menial tasks like packaging up books for direct sale orders
  • The various logistics of their shipping operation
  • Hiring a nanny to keep their kids close and at home, but allowing them the freedom to get their work done during the day
  • Their five-year-old discovering capitalism, entrepreneurship, and wanting to become a part of their business
  • Advice that David and Lydia would offer to other couples interested in running a business like this
  • And more . . .

 

After the interview, Mark reflects on the concept of building the kind of life that you want as well as the community-giving focus as an authentic way to connect and offer something of value.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Lydia Sherrer is an award-winning and USA Today-bestselling author of snark-filled adventures creating stories you love to love, and hate to leave. She is the author of the bestselling urban fantasy Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus universe of books featuring several series, which have sold over half a million copies world-wide. Most recently she has released the TransDimensional Hunter series with NYT bestselling author John Ringo.
Lydia subsists on liberal amounts of dark chocolate and tea, and hates sleep because it keeps her from writing (though she needs it because she has kids to wrangle). Due to the tireless efforts of her game-designer husband and her fuzzy overlords—i.e. cats—she remains sane and even occasionally remembers to leave the house.

David Sherrer is a born storyteller and has been an obsessive gamer ever since he was seduced by Magic the Gathering at the tender age of fourteen. He has alternately owned a gaming store, street performed for a living, and survived eleven years in the soul crushing world of telecommunications. He lucked out by marrying a force of nature who was determined to making living off writing, and has since escaped his 9-5 to become the Marketing Director and Lead Game Designer of Chenoweth Press.

His most fond achievements include being Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006—there's a story there, just ask him—and that time he made his entire DnD party cry at the end of a campaign. In addition to his work, he wrangles his growing family and a herd of feline supervisors, while secretly plotting how to add to the mountain of board games that he swears to his wife he actually plays.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 353 - Tao Wong on the Toronto Indie Author Conference29 Mar 202400:39:21

Mark interviews Tao Wong about his writing, LitRPG, entrepreneurship, and the Toronto Indie Author Conference that is coming in May 2024.

Prior to the interview, Mark forgoes the usual brief personal update, or comments, and skips right to this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by the Toronto Indie Author Conference.

 

The Toronto Indie Author Conference is a two-day event tailored exclusively for Canadian independent authors. Do you dream of transforming your passion for writing into a thriving author business? Don't miss this opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of Canadian indie publishing's first author business conference.

www.torontoindieauthorcon.com

In their interview, Mark and Tao talk about:

  • How Tao has always been writing and telling stories, and how luck played a bit part in it
  • Starting off writing LitRPG when he was living in the Yukon when it was night/dark all the time
  • Writing a few novels and stories for fun, but then discovering Kristine Kathryn Rusch's blog about the business of publishing and how authors were beginning to leverage digital publishing to do it themselves
  • Learning about indie publishing industry, but not being in a place where he thought he would pursue traditional publishing
  • Beginning to put his LitRPG titles up on Amazon in 2017 at a time when it was just starting to become hot (He caught the 2nd wave of Western LitRPG authors)
  • Not having to do any marketing in those early days because he was still working a full-time job running a business, but still bringing in a hearty income from his self-published books
  • Tao's experience doing marketing in selling board games online
  • Flipping between the two hats he wears. 1) The writer hat of getting the book done and 2) the marketer hat of having to sell the things that are written
  • Realizing he was a "scenic route" author, according to Becca Syme's author structure talks and courses
  • Getting to a point where he started to hire staff to help him with some of the tasks
  • Being burnt out from the constant churn in hiring and training staff and them leaving within about two years
  • Joking that being an indy author is the "easy mode" of being an entrepreneur because the cost and minimum setup is a lot less than what he had to do for his business before
  • Laughing at the cost of a $200 cover design bill because not that long ago, he had a single bill from Canada Post that was over $100,000
  • Working with about 5 active co-authors but realizing that he didn't want to be a publisher
  • Starting the Toronto Indie Author Conference initially out of spite and to bring something useful to Canadian authors who might not be able to afford to travel so far to several US based conferences
  • The importance of not having only 6-figure authors doing the presentations at the Toronto Indie Author Conference
  • Some of the speakers who will be at the Toronto Indie Author Confernce and the various topics they'll be covering
  • The significant amount of time and energy Tao had to invest into this conference
  • The Kobo sponsorship of an accessibility fund for the conference where they'll be giving out 10 to 15 pre-paid seats
  • A discount code STARK10 that members can use to get $10 off their ticket registration for the conference
  • And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on the importance of those people who see gaps and step up to make a difference. It's a common theme from the past several interview episodes. He also reflects on just how easy it can be for authors as entrepreneurs when you factor in just how little an author has to invest when it comes to money, to get started, particularly in a world that has so many great free resources.

Links of Interest:

 

Tao Wong is a full-time author in the scifi and fantasy genres, writing predominantly in the LitRPG and xianxia sub-genres. A multiple times international Amazon bestseller, he is best known for the System Apocalypse and A Thousand Li universes, with over 40 full-length novels and numerous shorter works published. Tao was a finalist for the Kindle Storyteller UK Award in 2021.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 352 - Being The Hero of Your Own Story With No Margins Agency22 Mar 202400:55:24

Mark interviews Katie Nelson, Mari Dietz, and Brandon Winn about No Margins Agency, which offers stock photography of underrepresented and marginalized people.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a brief personal update, and then plays a few words about this episode's sponsor.

No Margins Agency offers stock photography of underrepresented and marginalized people, because everyone deserves to be the hero of their own story.

In the interview, Mark, Katie, Mari, and Brandon talk about:

  • Katie's background writing when young, then getting back into writing science fiction with queer characters later in life shortly after reading a traditionally published book that disappointed her
  • Meeting Mari at a conference in Fort Collins, Colorado and being introduced to Superstars Writing Seminars a little later
  • How Mari has wanted to write her whole life, and the way her mom used to type out her poems when she was very young and post them on cupboards and elsewhere in the house
  • Stopping writing for a while, but then picking it up again in 2011, with a focus on writing fiction that featured plus-size people
  • Brandon feeling isolated during the pandemic along with feeling like his voice and wanting to see characters that were more representative of his own experiences
  • Being aghast at what was available in typical stock image sites when searching for "plus size" models for example
  • The often overlooked value of having to meet people where they're at, rather than assuming everyone is in the same place. A rising tide can only float all boats if people are in boats to begin with
  • How not everyone has a visible marginalization or disability
  • Getting in contact with them via hello@nomarginsagency.com
  • Allowing models to bring and wear things that they are comfortable with and to be free with who they are
  • The unofficial mantra of the company being "take up as much space as you want"
  • How the galleries on their website is broken down
  • One of the biggest challenges is convincing people that they don't have to have the confidence or "look" of a "model" in order to model for No Margins Agency
  • Scheduling a photoshoot when they're together in Colorado Springs in Feb 2024 at Superstars Writing Seminars
  • How they are starting to do reviews of books by more diverse and marginalized authors
  • The way they are managing the overhead costs by doing things like scheduling only a single photo shoot per month
  • The value and importance of finding the right community that can be there for you and support you
  • And more . . .

 

After the interview Mark shares a reflection about how this type of supportive community inspires him. He also makes an offer to listeners of the podcast (thanks to the help of those who support this podcast at patreon.com/starkreflections) with some of the services that No Margins Agency provides.

 

Links of Interest:

 

No Margins Agency is a company dedicated to helping marginalized people reach their audience, tell their stories, and drive sales.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 351 - Feverish Sore Throat Reflections15 Mar 202400:16:53

In this brief solo episode Mark reflections on the importance of maintaining a streak - which is something he has done since first launching this podcast in January 2017.

 

Links of Interest:

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 458 - Push For Better28 Jan 202600:09:56

In this brief bonus episode Mark shares an annual "Push for Better" Push-Up challenge he has joined for the third Feb in a row and the fact he has created a team that others can join.

The Push-Up Challenge is one that combines fun physical activity (2000 pushups between Feb 5 and Feb 27, 2026) with support for Mental Health Awareness and fundraising.

Team Landing Page: Stark Reflections on Pushing for Better

The Canadian version of this program raises funds for CMHA (Canadian Mental Health Association).

Links of Interest:

 

 

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

 

EP 350 - Infinite Resources with Jeff Krehmer08 Mar 202400:40:40

Mark interviews engineer and author Jeff Krehmer about his new book Infinite Resources: How to Sustainably Develop the Arctic, by Supplying Green Hydrogen, Fresh Water, and Healthy Food to the World.

Prior to the interview, Mark reads comments from recent episodes, shares a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor.

Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women's equality. Collectively we can all #InspireInclusion.

Learn more about International Women's Day and find resources at: InternationalWomensDay.com

 

In the interview, Mark and Jeff talk about:

  • Jeff's background in various disciplines, including mechanical engineering, project management, software, computer sales
  • Sitting on the vision for this current book project for more than ten years, and how having a heart attack two years ago prompted the idea that he should get that work out into the world
  • The basic premise of the book in that the arctic can create a sustainable solution if we leverage it in the right way
  • "If global warming is the problem, then shouldn't we be maximizing global cooling?"
  • The boiling temperature of different liquids, such as propane
  • Some of the coldest temperatures ever recorded on earth
  • How the book has numerous possible target audience readers, depending on which of the world's problems they are looking to solve (or the economics they want to reap benefits from)
  • What people can do to help
  • And more . . .

 

After the interview Mark reflects on the fact that, in the same way that humans have had an impact on the world, and Jeff is reminding us of the positive impact we can have if we learn and we act, we have an impact on one another. This is a reminder to authors of the powerful impact that they can have with the words they write and share.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Jeff Krehmer is a professional mechanical engineer and the author of "Infinite Resources." He is president and chief engineer at Big Time Engineering Corp.

During his engineering career, Jeff has worked as a salesperson, technical support technician, estimator, project manager, product designer and engineering manager. He has more than a decade of experience designing equipment for the oil and gas sector and is a Certified SolidWorks Professional (CSWP).

Jeff has volunteered with and received awards for his volunteer work with the Canadian Ski Patrol System, Big Brothers, Big Sisters and APEGA, the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta.

 

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 349 - Edward Willett of Shadow Paw Press01 Mar 202400:56:26

Mark interviews author, podcaster, and publisher Edward Willett about his writing, his podcast, Kickstarter campaigns, and some bold new ventures he is pursuing with his publishing company Shadow Paw Press.

Prior to the interview, Mark reads comments from recent episodes, shares a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by ScribeCount (affiliate link). Spend less time logging in to multiple platforms and crunching numbers, and more time writing and marketing your books thanks to ScribeCount's handy all-in-one interface.

In the interview, Mark and Edward talk about:

  • The very first short story Edward wrote at the age of 11, "Caster Glaz, Hyper Ship Test Pilot"
  • Working as a newspaper reporter for about eight years while he continued to write
    - Selling his first short story
  • Making reference to Canadian historical figures like John Diefenbaker and The Arrogant Worms, which non-Canadians might not understand. (Thank goodness for Google)
  • Publishing a science fiction short story "Strange Harvest" in an agricultural magazine based on his reporting of oddly shaped plants. And how that story was adapted into a nationally broadcast CBC Radio drama and might just beward's most popular short story
  • Becoming a full-time freelance writer more than thirty years ago
  • The twelve novels that Edward has released with Daw Books
  • The radio broadcast work that he did for seventeen years as a freelancer
  • Why Edward started the Worldshapers Podcast
  • The anthologies Edward released that tie in with the novel as well as the Kickstarters Edward has run for them
  • The evolution and growth of Edward's Shadow Paw Press
  • How in 2024 Edward is taking on a huge number of new and innovative products, including books by notable Canadian authors like Dave Duncan and Robert J. Sawyer
  • Working with an actual sales force and distribution network like LitDistCo
  • The ins and outs of grant writing and investments involved in trying to get real distribution
  • Helping other authors with their self-publishing needs
  • Advice Edward has for authors thinking about being a publisher as well as for writers in general
  • And more....

Mark then reflects on the value of a publisher with actual distribution and the difference between that and what any indie author can do in digital publishing.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Edward Willett is an award-winning author of more than sixty books science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction for both children and adults. He's also host of the Aurora Award-winning podcast The Worldshapers: "Conversations with science fiction and fantasy authors about the creative process." (http://www.theworldshapers.com). He successfully Kickstarted and edited a new anthology, Shapers of Worlds, featuring authors who were guests during the first year of the podcast. 

Among his novels are twelve published by DAW Books, one of the premier publishers of science fiction and fantasy publishers: Lost in Translation, Marseguro (which won the 2009 Aurora Award for best English-language science fiction or fantasy book by a Canadian author), and its sequel Terra Insegura (a finalist for the 2010 Aurora Award); Magebane (written as Lee Arthur Chane); the Masks of Aygrima fantasy trilogy for DAW Books, written as E.C. Blake; the stand-alone science fiction novel The Cityborn. His Worldshapers series began with Worldshaper ("a rollicking contemporary fantasy," Publishers' Weekly said in a starred review), and continued with Master of the World and The Moonlit World. His latest is The Tangled Stars, a humorous far-future space-opera adventure. Willett is also the author of The Shards of Excalibur modern-day YA fantasy series for Coteau Books, I Tumble Through the Diamond Dust, a collection of science fiction and fantasy poetry published by Your Nickel's Worth Publishing, and Paths to the Stars, a collection of his short fiction; Blue Fire a YA fantasy written as E.C. Blake, and Star Song, a YA science fiction novel that was a finalist for the Aurora Award for Best Canadian YA Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel, all published by Shadowpaw Press

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 348 - Amanda Byrd on Direct Sales and AuthorsGoDirect22 Feb 202400:44:33

Mark interviews Amanda Byrd about her writing, direct sales, and the new platform she has launched called AuthorsGoDirect.

Prior to the interview, Mark reads comments from recent episodes, welcomes new patrons Rob Johnson, Jennifer Brinn, and Rasana Atreya and then shares a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by ScribeCount (affiliate link). Spend less time logging in to multiple platforms and crunching numbers, and more time writing and marketing your books thanks to ScribeCount's handy all-in-one interface.

In the interview, Mark and Amanda talk about:

  • How Amanda started writing non-fiction as a kind of joke back in 2015
  • Writing in car journals since she'd spent much of her life around cars
  • Amanda's flagship female serial killer novels
  • The new series that'll feature taking different historic female public figures and turning them into serial killers - starting with Amelia Earheart
  • Describing her fiction as "Dexter meets American Psycho, but female"
  • Recognizing a hole in the industry related to author newsletters
  • Coming up with BooksGoDirect.com as a direct-sales only newsletter where the author provides the coupon code and the link
  • The importance of owning all the data related to your readers/customers
  • The ability for indie authors to add all kinds of bonus materials and direct-purchase swag related to their books
  • How BooksGoDirect is currently a weekly newsletter that will eventually evolve into a daily send to readers
  • The concern related to what happens with your writing when you spent so much time focusing on a tool that's helpful to writers
  • Advice Amanda would offer to authors interested in learning more about selling direct
  • And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on authors who see a gap in the market or a hole that needs to be filled and, instead of sitting back, they step up and do something about it. He also reflects on a few other things that he can't remember as he's typing up these show notes. But that happens sometimes. He can't even remember what he had for breakfast earlier today. (Does anyone even read these shownotes anyway?)

Links of Interest:

 

Amanda Byrd is obsessed with fictional serial killers. From Patrick Bateman to Dr. Hannibal Lecter to Dexter Morgan and every butcher in between, Amanda loves figuring out what drives fiction's deadliest monsters. When she's not busy writing, Amanda can be found reading, playing video games, or watching shows and movies like Mindhunter, Hannibal, and Dexter. She lives in Florida with her bloodthirsty, flesh-eating cat.

BooksGoDirect is a new paid promo (think Free/Bargainbooksy or BookBub) for authors and their direct stores to reach readers who want/enjoy buying direct. Retailer links are not allowed and affiliate marketing is nonexistent. I put out all costs up-front and use the fees from authors for advertising/cost recoup (does this part matter so much? I wonder now that I put that in here lol) Readers never pay to sign up. Currently there are 6 available genres and 3 spots per genre that send out once weekly (with a resend to non-openers later in the week.) There's also a page on BooksGoDirect.com where This Week's Books can be found.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

 

EP 347 - Library Advocacy Support with John Chrastka of EveryLibrary16 Feb 202400:56:27

Mark interviews John Chrastka, the executive director of EveryLibrary, the first nationwide political action committee for libraries, and the EveryLibrary Institute, a nonprofit research and training organization focused on the future of library funding. 

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, reads comments from recent episodes, and says a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries and Bookstores.

You can get the book online, order it through your local bookstore, or ask for it as your local library.

Universal Book Link

Smashwords Link (Coupon Discount for Feb/March 2024)

In the interview, Mark and John talk about:

  • John starting off his career in publishing as a bookseller in a small neighborhood Chicago community bookstore, and how that led to becoming a publishing sales rep
  • Migrating over to the Ed-Tech realm as the internet came around
  • Moving on over to The American Library Association from there
  • What EveryLibrary is: a 501(c)(4) organization that is a political action committee for libraries
  • How it's more of a network than a membership that is about 330,000 people strong
  • Telling stories about how libraries are solutions to problems for people and librarians as enactors of those solutions
  • In about 37 states, public libraries actually have to go to election days to get their funding secured
  • The four different ways that voters stratify:
    • Believers - People who love the library and have a relationship with their library (25%)
    • Questioners
    • Suspicious Voters
    • Never Gonna Vote for you Never (22 to 25%)
  • The answer for people who question the value of a local library because they "don't do books"
  • How the library as a source for reading grew from 19% to 24% during the pandemic and the way that percentage is continue to hold in 2024
  • The way that the isolating of society is not just a library issue but a public health issue
  • The popularity of book banning in the United States in recent years and the fact that it's easier to censor a book than it is to attack a person or a population
  • How this censorship and book banning isn't merely a matter of freedom of speech issue, but a matter of human rights
  • The pernicious nature of using the term "obscenity" and "obscene" to criminalize particular pupulations and to help skirt around First Amendment rights
  • How libraries are an affordable way to put tax dollars to good use in the way they provide so much to their local communities
  • The multiple pathways they have to help people move from "aware" to "active"
  • And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on how books are being banned and censored as an underhanded way to strike at specific demographics and populations, and the value in focusing on the "Suspicious Voters" as a brilliant strategy.

Links of Interest:

 

John Chrastka is the executive director of EveryLibrary, the first nationwide political action committee for libraries, and the EveryLibrary Institute, a nonprofit research and training organization focused on the future of library funding. Since 2012, EveryLibrary has helped 133 library communities with ballot measures for funding, operations and buildings, winning over 80% and securing over $2.8 billion in funding on Election Days. Through its digital platforms, EveryLibrary provides advocacy support to state library associations for legislative issues and direct actions in support of school library program budgets. The EveryLibrary Institute supports the library funding ecosystem through its research, training, publishing, and programmatic agendas.

Mr. Chrastka is the co-author of Winning Elections and Influencing Politicians for Library Funding and Before the Ballot: Building Political Support for Library Funding with Patrick "PC" Sweeney (ALA / Neal Schuman). He has contributed chapters to Planning our future libraries: Blueprints for 2025 (2014), and Re-envisioning the MLS: Perspectives on the Future of Library and Information Science Education (2018). In 2015, he delivered the McKusker Memorial Lecture, "The Accidental Candidate: Updating Voter Nostalgia about Librarians and Libraries on the Campaign Trail" for Dominican University and has written for numerous trade publications and journals, including Library Journal and Library Quarterly. In 2018 he delivered the keynote "Advocacy and Activism" for CILIP, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, in Brighton, England, and in 2020 he was invited by EKZ Group in Hamburg, Germany to present a colloquy on advocacy for their members and the profession. He is a frequent keynoter and speaker at state and national library conferences in the United States and abroad, is a sought-after trainer for state libraries, and is a regular guest lecturer for MLS / MLIS programs where he speaks on the topic of "political literacy".

Prior to his work on EveryLibrary, Mr. Chrastka was a partner in AssociaDirect, a Chicago-based consultancy focused on supporting associations in membership recruitment, conference, and governance activities. He was Director for Membership Development at the American Library Association (ALA), was a principal in the education technology start-up ClassMap, and was the founder of the virtual publishers' sales rep group ReviewCopy, which focused on textbook adoption in the higher education market. In 2014 he was named a Mover & Shaker by Library Journal for his work with EveryLibrary. He was recognized by the Chicago Tribune in 2022 as a Chicagoan of the Year and by Publishers Weekly in 2023 as a Notable for his work opposing book bans and censorship.

 

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 346 - 4 More Publishing Pitfalls for Authors09 Feb 202400:28:05

A solo episode where Mark shares an excerpt from four elements from his book PUBLISHING PITFALLS FOR AUTHORS.

  • PAST
  • PATRIARCHY
  • PAUSE
  • PAYING

 

The main content (those four points) are read by Mark's AI voice via Eleven Labs.

 

Links of Interest:

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 345 - The Art of Libromancy with Josh Cook02 Feb 202401:13:42

Mark interviews Josh Cook, Josh Cook, an author, bookseller and the co-owner at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he has worked since 2004 about his writing, his book The Art of Libromancy and his life as a reader and writer.

Prior to the interview, Mark reads comments from recent episodes, welcomes new patron Jennifer Brinn, thanks Buy Mark a Coffee patron Nikki Guerlain, shares a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by the books The Art of Libromancy and An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries and Bookstores.

Ask for these books via your local indie-owned bookstore or via your local community library.

In the interview, Mark and Josh talk about:

  • Josh's earliest days really getting into reading and how he had wanted to be a writer since about the age of 16
  • After post-secondary education, landing in Boston and deciding that working in a bookstore would be a good place for a writer to work
  • Discovering the "coming soon" and "help wanted" sign on a neighborhood bookstore: Porter Square Books
  • Continuing to build a freelance writing career, crafting articles, reviews, fiction, and poetry
  • Getting his first manuscript into the hands of a publisher that he knew well from his role in bookselling, which was the novel AN EXAGGERATED MURDER
  • The path, via roles such as Online Presence Manager (website and social media) and Marketing Director that led to eventually becoming a co-owner of Porter Square Books
  • The challenge of the most qualified people to take over owning and running a bookstore, the booksellers, often don't have the necessary money, funding, and resources to do so
  • The model that has become a bit more common recently that enables employees the option of becoming a vested co-owner or interest sharing participant in a bookstore
  • The genesis of the book THE ART OF LIBROMANCY
  • The major reckoning that many people had in 2016 when Donald Trump got elected at trying to understand their place in a world that would allow something like that to happen
  • The concept of how the book industry (publishing, bookselling) would continue to empower and legitimize the voices of misogyny, white supremacy, other bigoted ideas
  • How it all clicked after Josh had participated in a virtual event with Biblioasis author Jorge Carrion for the book AGAINST AMAZON AND OTHER ESSAYS
  • Pitching the book to Biblioasis and how the existing relationship and in-depth knowledge Josh had of their publishing house (and their editor's knowledge of Josh himself) led to an instant acceptance of his book proposal
  • The importance of relationships and recommendations from people that you already know, like, and trust - and how that plays a significant role in book projects
  • Elements of human curation that can happen in person within a community, particularly as something that Amazon can't do
  • The idea of a bookstore as a "third place" that is neither home nor work where someone can go and be a human being with other human beings
  • A few of the challenges, both expected and unexpected, that happened when Porter Square Books had to adapt into an online and curb-side order facility during the pandemic
  • How the learned skills of booksellers being able to absorb information and insights about books from publishers, colleagues, and customers, even if they haven't read them, is such an important aspect of a bookseller's role
  • ARCs (Advance Review Copies) as one of the primary ways Josh has of knowing what is on the way
  • Christopher Morley's THE HAUNTED BOOKSHOP and the Melville House edition that Josh first discovered which is a love letter to the art of bookselling
  • How books are great ways to be safely uncomfortable
  • The paradox of tolerance, as expressed by Karl Popper in THE OPEN SOCIETY AND ITS ENEMIES: If you tolerate the intolerable, your space will eventually become intolerant
  • A bookseller's role within that paradox of allowing tolerance for voices that seek fresh voices, but prevent those voices whose mandate is to shut-down or not allow diverse voices the ability to be expressed
  • Josh's perspective of how publishers, authors, bookstores and others within the industry involved in this process are all teammates working together to get books to readers
  • Strategies authors can use to establish genuine relationships with their local community bookstores
  • And more . . .

 

After the interview Mark reflects on walking away from fascinating conversations with a list of books to read, some of the parallels between Josh's journey into bookselling and his own, and how the employee-to-owner situation also parallels the change-of-ownerships of Words Worth Books, a local indie bookstore in Waterloo that Mark adores.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Josh Cook is a bookseller and co-owner at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he has worked since 2004. He is also author of the critically acclaimed postmodern detective novel An Exaggerated Murder and his fiction, criticism, and poetry have appeared in numerous leading literary publications. He grew up in Lewiston, Maine and lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 344 - Eric T. Knight on Fair Pay with StoryFair26 Jan 202400:56:46

Mark interviews author Eric T. Knight about his writing and about the origin of StoryFair. net a platform that seeks to pay authors the highest royalty of any other third party platform for their audiobook sales.

Prior to the interview, Mark reads comments from recent episodes, welcomes new patron Rob Johnson, and shares a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by ScribeCount (affiliate link). Spend less time logging in to multiple platforms and crunching numbers, and more time writing and marketing your books thanks to ScribeCount's handy all-in-one interface.

In the interview, Mark and Eric talk about:

  • Eric's youth being way off the grid and in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do, which made reading an important aspect
  • How reading became a gateway for access and connection to the rest of the world
  • Understanding that if he were to keep working at it, that he really could make it in writing some day
  • The long and arduous road of submissions of writing to publishers, finding an agent, and pursuing traditional publishing
  • The fantasy series that Erik had worked on starting back in the 80s
  • Deciding to put one of his fantasy novels up on Kindle just for fun and how that led to a colleague's wife discovering the book and loving it
  • Eric's mindset not changing until the year he decided to submit to a total of 50 agents
  • The power of being able to write the series exactly the way he wanted to
  • A bit about The Chaos Legacy universe and the various different linked series that take place within those books
  • The experience of getting his books into audio and beginning to understand some of the barriers that existed within that realm for authors
  • Beta launching StoryFair in the summer of 2023 and then making the site live in November 2023
  • How the payment to authors process at StoryFair works
  • Plans for an affiliate program for authors to send readers to this platform
  • The challenge of having to scale up their infrastructure so early in the process due to huge interest from some major players
  • How the StoryFair app is currently only available in the United States (at least for now until some of the legal stuff can be sorted out)
  • How to set up an account, load your book, and when the monthly payments to authors come in
  • The way that a good narrator can bring characters and stories to life in ways that you might not be able to imagine
  • And more...

After the interview Mark reflects on that pioneering indie author spirit that leads to providing the market with elements that were previously missing but needed, as well as the value that a library brings to a community.

Links of Interest:

 

Eric T. Knight grew up on a working cattle ranch in the desert thirty miles from Wickenburg, Arizona, which at that time was exactly the middle of nowhere. Work, cactus and heat were plentiful, forms of recreation were not. The TV got two channels when it wanted to, and only in the evening after someone hand cranked the balky diesel generator to life. All of which meant that his primary form of escape was reading.

At 18 he escaped to Tucson where he attended the University of Arizona. A number of fruitless attempts at productive majors followed, none of which stuck. Discovering he liked writing, the author tried journalism two separate times, but had to drop it when he realized that he had no intention of conducting interviews with actual people but preferred simply making them up.

StoryFair is a platform with a mission: Put an end to author exploitation in the audiobook industry

There's a problem in the audiobook business. A MAJOR problem. Did you know that when you purchase an audiobook on Audible, Amazon keeps as much as 75% of the cover price of the book? The average price of a major publisher/new release audiobook is in the $24 range. That means Amazon keeps at least $18.00… after fees, it's actually a little bit more.

That leaves very little for the publisher, authors, and narrators to divvy up, and ultimately, it means that readers are by and large paying exorbitant audiobook prices to do one thing above all else… pad Amazon's pockets.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 343 - Self-Publishing Lesbian Fiction (or Something Equally Non-Threatening) with Elizabeth Andre19 Jan 202400:56:17

Mark interviews Elizabeth Andre (AKA Karen and Victoria) about her/their journey through writing, collaboration, and the new book SELF-PUBLISHING LESBIAN FICTION.

Prior to the interview, Mark reads comments from recent episodes and shares a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by ScribeCount (affiliate link). Spend less time logging in to multiple platforms and crunching numbers, and more time writing and marketing your books thanks to ScribeCount's handy all-in-one interface.

In their conversation, Karen, Victoria, and Mark talk about:

  • The background of how Karen and Victoria got started as writers, and then about how they met and why they started writing together
  • Karen's earliest memories coming up with playtime stories with her younger brother that took on a "soap opera" and "serialized" format
  • The concept of how to earn money that came down to one of two things: Sell drugs, or write porn
  • Researching the writing of gay male porn by getting magazines and reading through them
  • Coming up with numerous ephamisms for the male sex organ appendage
  • How Victoria comes from a long list of writers, including her father and how she wanted to be anything BUT a writer
  • The two of them each discovering the joy and the magical allure that is journalism
  • Being one of the many writers who was "Sherry Lovelace" for the UK edition of Penthouse Magazine
  • Meeting at a Gay Journalist Convention and clicking, but not really having that much in common
  • Discovering that, despite the "common wisdom" from traditional publishing, money could be made from writing lesbian fiction. That shift, of course, came from the rise of self-publishing
  • Who the readers of gay male fiction and lesbian fiction are
  • The origin of the pen name Elizabeth Andre
  • Some of the logistics of how the two write together
  • Who the book Self-Publishing Lesbian Fiction is for, with an analogy of an off-the-rack suit and a tailored suit
  • The tally of the $35 and $45 dollars owed from various publishers and platforms
  • The term and use of "Sapphic Fiction" and how it is more inclusive of lesbian, bi-sexual, trans, and non-binary
  • Some of the barriers that arise when writing lesbian fiction
  • How self-publishing can overcome so many of the barriers within traditional publishing
  • And more...

 

After the interview, Mark reflects on a couple of topics brought up, specifically "serialized playtime stories" and the "tailored" work of writers.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Elizabeth Andre has been self-publishing lesbian fiction since 2014. She writes cozy paranormal mystery, lesbian romance, science fiction, and young adult stories. Before turning her hand to fiction, she was a newspaper reporter for many years, and she has the paper cuts to prove it. She has won many writing awards including a Goldie from the Golden Crown Literary Society for fiction and a Peter Lisagor Award from the Chicago Headline Club for journalism. Elizabeth Andre is actually two people, a married interracial same-sex couple (Karen and Victoria) living in the Midwest.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 342 - Publishing Trend Reflections for 202416 Jan 202400:25:37

In this special bonus solo episode, Mark shares some reflections about recent publishing trends.

Prior to the main content, Mark welcomes new patron Donn King, and shares a word about this episode's sponsor, the patrons of the Stark Reflections Podcast.

Links of Interest:

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 341 - Howling It Forward With Wulf Moon12 Jan 202401:03:03

Mark interviews bestselling writer, editor, and writing instructor, Wulf Moon, who won the national Scholastic Art & Writing Awards at the age of fifteen, and followed that with winning the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Contest, and Writers of the Future. He leads the Wulf Pack Writers group and is the author of The Illustrated Super Secrets of Writing and How to Write a Howling Good Story. 

Prior to the interview, Mark reads comments from previous episodes, shares a personal update, and then says a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by the Stark Publishing book How to Write a Howling Good Story by Wulf Moon.

The book is 25% off at the Smashwords store until the end of Jan 2024.

Patrons of the Stark Reflections Podcast can get the book for 75% off until the end of Feb 2024.

In their conversation Mark and Moon talk about:

  • How Wulf Moon might not have been the name that he was born with and how the name "Moon" which he has been called most of his life came from his Ojibwe grandmother
  • Moonbeam Road, a local road his father named after him when he was growing up
  • Not having a father who was supportive of his writing, and even having to run away from home when he was younger
  • Finding an important positive voice as a youngster in a teacher
  • The additional lengths this one teacher went to support and encourage Moon in his writing
  • Winning the Scholastic Art and Writing Award at the age of 15, among so many other awards that this teacher helped him find
  • Getting beat up so often in high school that the only thing he could do was look down as he walked in the hallways - but how he found his power in writing
  • The importance of finding a way to be who you are and to not allow others to repress you from that
  • Starting up Wulf Moon's Super Secrets Writing Workshop right after winning Writers of the Future - and offering all this support to other writers for free
  • The repeated authors who have gone through Moon's teachings and then ended up winning Writers of the Future
  • The Wulf Pack Writers group that Moon manages
  • Following the concept of "how can I help you with what I know"
  • How writers don't understand proper Manuscript Format
  • The high ranking sales that HOW TO WRITE A HOWLING GOOD STORY has hit since its release in November 2023
  • Moon's concept of Heart's Desire as the most important principle in a story
  • Caring that happens in the heart of the reader, which can create the Reader/Hero bond
  • Getting to a point in his life that was so low that he took risks and was burning bridges behind him and not writing for 10 years
  • Realizing that he couldn't be happy and couldn't be fulfilled not being a writer
  • Moon's experience meeting Dean Wesley Smith at the Nebula Awards in Eugene Oregon
  • The importance of having both the fundamenals of writing and the belief in yourself
  • The mantra "belief determins reality" that Moon instructs his students to write down
  • The dedication in Moon's HOW TO WRITE A HOWLING GOOD STORY
  • Meeting other people "like me" at writer conferences, etc and the incredible value that can bring
  • Advice Moon would offer to newer writers
  • And more...

After the interview, Mark reflects on the importance of not denying who you are and not denying the things that bring you pleasure. He also reflects on the concept of finding your people, your Tribe, and the positive impact we can have on one another if we just take the time to listen, to reach out, to others.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Wulf Moon is a bestselling writer, editor, and writing instructor. At fifteen, Moon won the national Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and followed that with winning the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Contest, and Writers of the Future. He leads the Wulf Pack Writers group. He's won both Best Author and Best Writers Workshop four years running in the Critters Readers' Choice Awards, and is the author of The Illustrated Super Secrets of Writing and How to Write a Howling Good Story. www.thesupersecrets.com

 

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 457 - A Show That Makes You Smile with The Patrick Scott Patterson Project25 Jan 202601:21:57

Mark interviews Scott from The Patrick Scott Patterson Project Podcast.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, comments from recent episodes, and a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to Manuscript Report. Use code MARK10 at checkout and save 10% off your own personalized report.

In the interview Mark and Scott talk about:

  • How Scott got into the current numerous roles that he is participating in today, including podcasting
  • Being inspired by the dreams that his parents had but which they pushed off to the side
  • The pro wrestling experience that he did for 10 years
  • The importance of deciding to try
  • Scott's reasoning behind the Patrick Scott Patterson Project
  • How at the end of the day we're all human beings - some folks have just reached for their dreams
  • Interviewing notable celebrities on Scott's podcast
  • Doing the interviews well in advance and having a good 10 episodes in the can already
  • The two year plan that Scott has created for the podcast
  • The positivity in Scott's podcast and what he is doing
  • All the stressful things Scott was going through around the time of the pandemic
  • How Drew Barrymore's new talk show was exactly what Sco
  • needed to get through those hard days
  • The way that Drew Barrymore makes Scott smile - period!
  • How something Barrymore said in one of those episodes really struck with Scott
  • The incredible power of doing/saying even the smallest nice thing such as "have a nice day" which can make a huge difference in someone else's life
  • How Scott feels better himself when he's being kind to someone
  • Meeting Drew Barrymore on her 50th Birthday episode taping after more than 42 years of first seeing her with his mom when he was 7 and they went to see E.T.
  • Some of the favorite moments on Scott's podcast
  • Advice Scott would offer to writers who haven't yet put their work out into the world
  • How Scott first got on Collector's Call because of a fluffy news story from 5 years earlier
  • Gary K Wolf's story about how many times his book "Who Wacked Roger Rabbit" was repeatedly rejected over the years. He never gave up, and it's, incidentally his most well-known book. The movie adaptation would never have happened

After the interview Mark reflects on a few things that Scott said about positivity, creating "comfort food" moments, and the importance of having things out there and how it can lead to opportunities.

Links of Interest:

 

Patrick Scott Patterson is a Texas-based pop culture personality, video game historian, and podcaster. Over the decades, he's moved from professional wrestling rings to television cameras, working with G4tv to produce the first-ever live arcade world record broadcast. He has appeared in documentaries like Nintendo Quest and on MeTV's Collector's Call. He's spoken at San Diego Comic-Con and SXSW, and runs Hyperspace Arcade Repair out of Denton, Texas, where he keeps vintage arcade machines alive for collectors.

In 2025, Scott launched The Patrick Scott Patterson Project, a podcast about chasing goals and following unexpected paths—inspired by finally meeting his lifelong celebrity crush, Drew Barrymore, which taught him that the dreams we pursue have a way of opening doors we never anticipated.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 340 - Personality, Passion, Presentation, and Persistence with Todd Fahnestock05 Jan 202401:12:33

Mark interviews award-winning, #1 bestselling fantasy author Todd Fahnestock about his journey through both traditional publishing and indie-publishing, focusing on the moments for learning, growth, and applying passion and persistence.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor.

Check out the WIDE FOR THE WIN community and resources.

In their conversation, Mark and Todd talk about:

  • Todd's first venture into writing back when he was 17 and in senior high school through a year-long IS (Independent Study) program
  • Thoughts about how it has only been the past six years or so where Todd has really taken his writing seriously, and how things might have been different if he'd done that back in 2003 when signing his first traditional publishing contract
  • How Todd had two big traditional publishing deals that turned into fantastic proven failures but how he attributes those flops into future successes
  • The Heartstone Trilogy that was first published with big fanfare in 2003 from Harper Collins
  • Parting amicably from being represented by Donald Maas
  •  Selling The Wishing World to Tom Dohorty of Tor Books being one of the highlights of Todd's career
  • Todd's pitch to the publisher that included being able to travel to 50 schools in order to promote this middle grade trilogy
  • Managing to hit a Colorado best-seller list by visiting 52 different schools in the state of Colorado in the promotion of this book
  • The concept that "success is the diploma, but failure is the classroom"
  • How subjective many of the measurements and opportunities in publishing can be
  • What isn't random is that readers that love what you do love what you do
  • The various layers that writers need to break-through in terms of getting a book published
  • The idea of thinking that just making a great product is our job as a writer, but recognizing that it isn't just a product - it's an entire experience
  • The opportunity that authors have to make their product synonymous with their "personality" and "presentation"
  • Going full-time as a writer in 2017 and hearing about the 20Booksto50K wave of rapid-release author success, but not being able to get on that wave
  • The sad reality of earning $1400 in that first year, when his plans were to earn $25,000 in that first 12 months
  • How Todd's incredibly supportive wife said something to him when he was haunted by the demons of this failed plan that helped turn things around for him
  • The experience of changing his attitude when it came to being stuck at a table with other Christmas craft vendors and making the best of it
  • How it is a ton of work, but the joy of knowing that it's something that is in his hands
  • More than 90% of Todd's sales being from in person bookselling rather than online sales  due to leveraging his persona as a storyteller
  • Todd's experience in 2021 of getting a double booth at Salt Lake City Comic Con
  • Hitting $5000 in sales at 3 different cons in 2023
  • The approach of always talking about BOOK ONE by default when doing his sales pitch at the table
  • A bit of a background on The Eldros Legacy
  • The pitch Todd uses for The Eldros Legacy
  • The "ten more pumps" water pump analogy from Jim Butcher
  • Advice Todd would offer to other writers
  • And more . . .

After the interview, Mark reflects on a few specific points that came up in the conversation.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Todd Fahnestock is an award-winning, #1 bestselling author of fantasy for all ages and winner of the New York Public Library's Books for the Teen Age Award. He is a founder of Eldros Legacy—a multi-author, shared-world epic fantasy series—two-time winner of the Colorado Authors League Award for Writing Excellence, and four-time finalist for the Colorado Book Award for Tower of the Four: The Champions Academy (2021), Khyven the Unkillable (2022), Lorelle of the Dark (2023), and Tower of the Four: The Dragon's War (2023). His passions are great stories and his quirky, fun-loving family. Visit Todd at toddfahnestock.com.

 

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 339 - Romancing the Writing Life with Bobby Hutchinson28 Dec 202301:00:32

In this episode Mark interviews bestselling author Bobby Hutchinson about her unique journey through traditional publishing and self-publishing.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, welcomes new Patron Skye MacKinnon and a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by patrons of the Stark Reflections Podcast.

Learn more at:  https://www.patreon.com/starkreflections

In their conversation, Mark and Bobby talk about:

  • What prompted Bobby to start writing in 1980 at the age of 40
  • Leveraging her training for the Vancouver Marathon in order to use that time in her head to decide what to do
  • Her experience winning a Chatelaine short story writing contest
  • Researching which books were selling by purchasing and reading 100 Harlequin novels before sending her first manuscript in which sold right away
  • Selling 17 more of her books after those first two
  • Signing with a New York agent who was recommended to her by her agent
  • Writing and selling 40 more novels to Harlequin, and realizing that since she already had the relationship with them prior to signing with her agent, all her agent was doing for her was taking 10% of her cut of those sales
  • Realizing that her agent was more interested in selling myself than selling Bobby's novels
  • Giving up writing for a while to start a Bed and Breakfast in Vancouver - which led to a book she ended up writing called How Not to Run a B&B
  • Hiring a vanity publisher prior to exploring the possibility of DIY self-publishing
  • Getting the rights back to many of the novels she was written for Harlequin and self-publishing those books directly to Amazon
  • The importance of writing the stories that she was super-involved in and passionate about writing
  • "Going Wide" with her publishing through Smashwords in the beginning, but then being drawn into the world of Kindle Unlimited
  • Accidentally getting screwed over by Amazon and having all of her books taken down from the platform because of a lone title that was still published in some obscure country
  • Reading Mark's book WIDE FOR THE WIN about a year or so ago, at about the time her Amazon sales were starting to go down
  • Bobby's recommendation to not take all your books down from KDP Select/Kindle Unlimited overnight
  • Realizing that at an older age (Bobby is now 83), a person doesn't need nearly as much money as they used to
  • The Public Lending Right registration (for Canadian authors) that Bobby has registered for
  • The question, when re-publishing older books, on whether or not an author should update them to include more modern setting, such as adding cell phones, etc into them
  • Being excited about Artificial Intelligence as a marvelous tool that authors can use
  • How it's really hard to properly predict what is going to happen with a book when it is published
  • The way that Harlequin was a fantastic training ground for Bobby
  • Writing a book about living and traveling in a van (How Not to Vanagon)
  • Discovering her love of camping and the new memoir (Me and Calamity Jane)
  • Advice Bobby would offer to authors who want to get started
  • The value of pretending to be a famous writer in whatever genre you're writing
  • Why Bobby thinks that writing fast can make you a better writer
  • And more . . .

 

After the interview Mark reflects on a few things that came up in the conversation with Bobby.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Best-selling writer Bobby Hutchinson writes stories about almost everything, as long as everything involves romance, quirky people, outrageous kids, deafness, time travel, or medicine, most of which she's familiar with. (Well, maybe not time travel. But who knows?)

She started writing by making up a short story while training for the Vancouver marathon and reading a book called How To Write Short Stories.

She was celebrating being 50.

Chatelaine magazine was having a contest for the best short fiction in Canada, and she won first prize, $5000 for a 5000-word story called "Pheidippides Was Not A Family Man." She then wrote a romance for Harlequin Superromance, sold it and went on to write about 60 more.

With no real qualifications, she taught night school classes in Romance and Creativity at Okanagan College and a correspondence course at the University of Saskatchewan.

Bored with writing only for Harlequin, she wrote three long romantic comedies and sold them to Dorchester Publishing. She also sold romantic time travel to Avon.

In 2014, she began self-publishing, at first using a ridiculously expensive vanity service and then learning about Amazon.

If there's a mistake to be made in writing and publishing, Bobby has made it.

She published wide with Smashwords, and when KU started, she withdrew her wide books and became exclusive, accidentally leaving one solitary book up in maybe Angola. Amazon took all her books down. A begging letter to Jeff Bezos got them reinstated. She should have stopped while she was ahead and gone wide again.

A year ago, she came to her senses after reading Wide For The Win, took everything off of KU and began the tedious process of putting 50+ books up everywhere else.

She lives alone in a funky little cottage in Cranbrook, B.C., a small city in the Canadian Rockies. In the summer, she hauls her very small travel trailer, Calamity Jane, to campgrounds. In the winter, she hibernates.

She faints at the sight of blood, although her best-selling medical romance series, Emergency, does have the occasional scene involving bodily fluids.

These days, she still writes mostly romance, with a few short stories and memoirs tossed in for fun. How Not To Run A B&B, a memoir set in Vancouver, was chosen by the Kootenay Library Association as Best Book of the Year, and is now being made into a film. Slowly.

She lives in the land of possibility. And she's writing faster than ever because at 83, who knows when she'll head off to seek the Great Perhaps?

She needs to finish that last book on the last day; as any writer knows, that deadline's tricky!

 

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 338 - An Amazing F*cking Pivot into Sh!t-Tons of Money with James Fell22 Dec 202301:29:52

Mark interviews James Fell, the Sweary Historian, and bestselling author of ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY SH!T WENT DOWN.

Prior to the interview Mark warns listeners of the adult language used in this episode, reads comments from recent episodes, and shares a word about this episode's sponsor.

Mark's Stark Publishing Solutions books are 50% off in the Smashwords End of Year Sale. (Ends at the end of day Dec 31, 2023). Patrons will be getting a special coupon to get the titles for only $0.99. Offer good until Jan 31, 2024.

In the interview, Mark and James talk about:

  • How James is an author who "can't make up his F-ing mind"
  • Advice James was given regarding how hard it was to make it as a writer and that most science-fiction authors also had other jobs
  • Starting off writing health and fitness articles and getting columns at the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune as well as a few magazines
  • The idea of SERVICE vs PRODUCT income
  • Having the delusions of grandeur that he might one day have one of those books that would "blow up"
  • The initial Random House deal he got for one book, then, a few years later, a US deal from St Martins Press
  • How the publishers were interested in James' own platform for helping to sell the book
  • The way James was crestfallen with the sales results of his first two traditionally published books
  • Beginning to start a public speaking career just as Covid-19 hit the world
  • James' background in University studying history
  • The bike-riding epiphany that first popped into his head (a la the way he describes it in his book THE HOLY SH!T MOMENT) and the daily story about Mae West that was extremely popular and led to an even bigger "holy shit moment!"
  • Ensuring that he did not miss a single day in posting a well-researched and funny post for two years straight
  • James hiring a good copyeditor and also hiring Mark to help with his distribution strategy
  • The more than a million views of his column of articles
  • How most of the sales came from free daily stories on Facebook - and not really any other PR
  • James' Substack experience and how he was able to leverage that via paid subscription
  • The book sales taking off way beyond his expectations
  • How 90% of the sales of the two versions of ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY SH!T WENT DOWN have been in print rather than eBook
  • Receiving a respectable offer from a good mid-sized publisher about 14 months after the first volume was available for sale
  • His agent being able to leverage that offer to pitch the book to a number of larger publishers
  • The proposal that James wrote for this that was in the voice he used in the book (instead of in the standard recommended proposal format)
  • The unexpected bonus of the publisher who bought the rights allowing James to keep the existing books live for almost a full year before their version of the book came out
  • How James' career took off when he stopped giving a shit about "what the market wanted"
  • Hearing "the voice is a triumph" from his New York Publisher Editor before she then "ripped the shit out of it"
  • The pull quotes that were mostly selected from the interior book designer
  • The fact that James sold more than 52,000 print copies of the book in print when it was entirely self-published
  • The special arrangement that James had (and still has) with Calgary Indie Bookstore Owl's Nest for the procurement of signed copies
  • A powerful story about solidarity among writers
  • The 3 Rules of Marketing for Authors
  • And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on the unique method by which James gave away two of his books entirely for free, but in an inventive "self-promotional" way that was blatantly salesy, but also provided incredible entertainment and value.

Links of Interest:

 

 

My name is James Fell and I say "fuck" a lot.

Historically, I didn't write the word fuck that much, because the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, where I authored columns for several years, tend to frown upon such language. I also didn't swear in my 1996 history master's thesis, titled Rebellion and the Quest for Social Revolution in Latin America. In that academic work I did manage to get the message across that the CIA are fucking dicks without actually using the words "fucking dicks."

Anyway, in the spring of 2020, a year I refer to as a fucktacular shitnado of ass, I said what the fuck and began authoring a column titled "On This Day in History Shit Went Down." To my immense pleasure and no small amount of surprise it's proven quite popular, with several million readers each month. These columns were turned into two self-published volumes of the same name: On This Day in History Sh!t Went Down, and they sold so many copies that Bantam Books gave me an assload of money for the rights to republished them. The new and Big-Publishing-Company-improved version of Volume I is on sale now.

You can read free samples of my sweary history stories on my Facebook, and you should also subscribe to my Substack. You can get a free subscription or a paid one. I like it when people subscribe to the paid one.

I'm also on Twitter (blarf), and my TikTok channel is called Sweary Historian.

In a previous life I wrote about fitness and motivation. The cool and science-based kind of fitness writing, not the bullshit and/or fat shaming sort. Find my earlier published books here.

 

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

 

EP 337 - Collaborative Editing with Erika Steeves15 Dec 202300:48:15

Mark interviews editor Erika Steeves about her experiences in working with publishers and authors as an editor.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a brief personal update and a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by HOW TO WRITE A HOWLING GOOD STORY by Wulf Moon

You can get this book in eBook, Trade Paperback, and Hardcover editions here.

Between Dec 15, 2023 and Jan 1, 2024, you can get the eBook for 50% off at Smashwords.

 

In their interview, Mark and Erika talk about:

  • Meeting at the Waterloo Book Festival
  • How Erika got involved in the world of writing and editing by starting off as an editorial internship at a regional Canadian publisher on Canada's East Coast
  • Deciding to become a freelance editor in 2012 taking on academic projects and some book projects
  • Pivoting over to do more editing on fiction in 2019/2020
  • Erika's experience reading the slushpile from a publisher and how that exposed her to great manuscripts that she loved but which weren't suited for that publisher's mandates
  • The difficult task of having to send rejection letters to authors
  • Being a member of two associations that have directories of editors
  • How Erika finds new writers to work with
  • The various types of editing work that Erika takes on
  • Contuinity editing and the style sheet that Erika likes so much
  • How the editor's "fresh eyes" can help detect some things that writers might no longer be able to detect in a manuscript that has been re-worked numerous times
  • Things Erika wished more authors knew about related to editors
  • How all edits are suggestions and that the writer can decided which suggestions to take, and which ones to ignore
  • Getting a sense of how many hours an editing project is going to take based on the sample edit that was done
  • Things that writers should "look out for" in an editor they're looking to work with
  • Why contracts are important for both parties
  • Types of writers that Erika is cautious about working with
  • Ideas for how a writer can find the right editor for them
  • The "House of Zolo" publishing company that Erika and a number of other writers and editors put together
  • Advice Erika would offer to writers
  • And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on Erika's perspective related to things that empower and encourage writers.

Links of Interest:

 

Erika Steeves is a copyeditor and proofreader with a decade of experience editing fiction and nonfiction books. She started out as a publishing assistant for a traditional publisher, learning the ropes from the inside. After that, Erika started her freelance career and founded E.S. Editing! She also works as Editor-in-Chief of the HOZ Journal of Speculative Literature. 

 

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 336 - Coming Out of The Writer Closet with Bradley Charbonneau08 Dec 202300:58:03

Mark interviews Bradley Charbonneau about his new book PROCRASTINATE and his new "Book in a Weekend" program for writers.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, thanks Patrons, provides a personal update, and shares a word about this episode's sponsor.

You can learn more about how you can get your audiobooks distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.

In the interview, Mark and Bradley talk about:

  • Bradley's love of Europe and his first eye-opening experience at the age of fourteen with the continent
  • His early experience writing extremely long letters to his parents when, several years later, living in France
  • The importance of the "audience" being yourself when you write
  • The fact that on no calendar is there a day called SOMEDAY
  • The concept of Stubborn VS Determined
  • Bradley's first challenge of writing every single day for the month of November in 2012
  • A further challenge of posting a YouTube video every single day
  • The idea of "practice is perfect" (as opposed to "practice makes perfect")
  • The long-time streak of writing every single day for 2808 days in a row
  • Being painfully reminded of himself when he hears an author say that they have an idea for a book that they might write "some day"
  • Avoiding regret by taking action
  • Bradley's admiration for humor and improv
  • The program to get your "opposite" book written as a critical step to getting to that larger "massive" project that has always been kept at the horizon
  • How the humor aspect of writing your "opposite" book can help bring out new elements of creativity and how it can be therapeutic
  • Bradley's book PROCRASTINATE, which was his "opposite" book project
  • The "book in a weekend" program that Bradley is running to help other writers overcome the things he had to overcome on his own writing journey
  • The idea of writing a book every year as a way of creating a "timestamp" of who we are - the same way creating a photo album every year (which his mother used to do) works
  • The DIY option as well as the interactive "virtual" real-time and "real-life in person" and the "one-on-one" options Bradley is working on
  • And more . . .

 

After the interview, Mark reflects on the importance of adapting "the rules" into something that works in the ways that work for YOU rather than some pre-prescribed notion that doesn't fit. If you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet, maybe it's okay to break or shake up a few rules in order to pave your own path to success.

Links of Interest:

 

 

Before Bradley Charbonneau wrote his first book, he had written zero books. He spent years dreaming and wishing, chatting and hoping, but not actually writing. Finally, after years of procrastination, he wrote his first book. Since that first breakthrough, he's written 34 more. QUIZ: how many did Bradley write before his first book?

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 335 - So You Failed NaNoWriMo01 Dec 202300:29:18

So it's December 1st, and NaNoWriMo is over. And everywhere around you, fellow author friends are posting on social media that they made it, they did it. They wrote 50,000 words in a single month.

You're happy for them, of course.

But you didn't quite make it to that 50,000 word goal yourself.

So what do you do?

Do you hang your head in shame and despair?

I say: NO.

I might be one of those "the page is half full" kind of writers, but if you're in the same boat as me, as an author who didn't complete the 30-day 50K word challenge, let me take over the paddle for a while and share a different spin.

 

Prior to the main content of this solo episode, Mark shares a brief personal update (explaining why there's another solo episode) and a word from this episode's sponsor.

There are plenty of books and tips on writing faster, learning more marketing tactics and strategies, trying to maximize your ranking, hitting the top of the charts, judging the algorithms, and hacking different ad platforms. But not enough guides to help you take the pressure off your art and enjoy the creative journey. Return to the love that brought you to writing in the first place.

Check out The Relaxed Author in audio, print, or eBook format.

 

Links of Interest:

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 334 - Welcome to the Stupidpocalypse with Brittlestar23 Nov 202300:55:34

Mark interviews social media funny man Brittlestar (Stewart Reynolds) about his creative work and his new book Welcome to the Stupidpocalypse: Survival Tips for the Dumbageddon.

 

Prior to the main content, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, welcomes a new patron, and offers a word from this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by Mark's movie trivia guides to Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Die Hard.

In their conversation, Mark and Stewart talk about:

  • Where the name "Brittlestar" came from
  • Stewart's background as a musician and how he incorporates that into the parody music his does as part of his video skits
  • How the music he now does for social media posts has broadly opened up the various styles and genres he can play and play with
  • Stewart always writing stuff since he was a kid
  • The way the book came from a series of topics that he wanted to riff on but which might not work as well for a video
  • Being a fan of music and television and videos and trying to produce content from the perspective of the audience and of things he would like to see
  • Beginning to do social media content back in 2013
  • Some of the early viral videos including the "Put Your Finger on the Screen" series and "Summer is Not Over"
  • How Stewart, his wife Shannon, and their two sons were all involved in the creation of their social media content, and how Disney and that social media business came along in the nick of time to save them
  • The KFC-branded "Explaining Canada Day to Americans" video that rec'd more than 10 million views than that year's most popular Nike video
  • The process of how they create these videos, often based on a concept and a punch-line with a bit of winging it
  • Getting into writing specific scripts for these skits about five years ago, which led into the monologue-style videos
  • Why their living room is often dubbed the place where ideas go to die
  • The "The Morning Show Thing" show that Stewart and Shannon started in 2015 - which is returning again in a slightly differen format
  • Having to convince Shannon to come out in front of the camera
  • Stewart's new book WELCOME TO THE STUPIDPOCALYPSE: Survival Tips for the Dumbageddon
  • Some of the differences between writing essays that were 1000 words verses a one and a half minute video
  • The irreverence that Stewart was able to inject into the text of the book
  • Being contacted by a literary agency that asked if Stewart was interested in writing a book
  • The constant mistake humans make in compartmentalizing themselves into boxes such as "left wing" or "right wing" and how we get hung up on those things
  • The foreword (written by Ryan Reynolds), the middleword (written by Mary Trump) and the afterword (written by Colin Mochrie) which was partially inspired by something Eric Idle put on the cover of one of his books
  • Stewart's thoughts on the digital umbilical chord
  • A strategy for dealing with trolls online
  • The two times in the past ten years of being on social media where responding to negative comments actually worked out okay
  • Stewart's theory that Canadian cuisine is a defiance
  • Advice that Stewart would offer to other creatives: "Don't make art for artists."
  • And more...

After the interview Mark reflects on the unique opportunity to chat with someone who has inspired you and Stewart's advice about not making art for other artists, but rather for the specific consumers of your product.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Brittlestar, a.k.a. Stewart Reynolds, is a bespectacled every-dad who has become a popular online media personality over the past decade. Every week, hundreds of thousands of people watch his videos on various social media channels. Some of Brittlestar's followers include Henry Winkler, Ryan Reynolds, Ken Jeong, Rex Chapman, Yvette Nicole Brown, and many other politicians and journalists. Brittlestar videos have been viewed more than a combined 600 million times, allowing him to gain a global fanbase, attend speaking engagements all over North America, receive an invitation to the White House, and engage in collaborations with celebrities such as Gordon Ramsay, Alan Thicke, and the Property Brothers.

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 333 - 10 Things You Likely Didn't Know About Draft2Digital16 Nov 202300:38:05

Mark shares the audio from a presentation he gave in early November 2023 at 20BooksVegas called "10 Things You Likely Didn't Know About Draft2Digital."

This episode is sponsored by Mark's affiliate link to Draft2Digital.

Go to https://draft2digital.com/markleslie to sign up for a free Draft2Digital account.

The visuals and slides for this presentation can be downloaded here.

 

Links of Interest:

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 332 - The Art of Noticing with Johnny B. Truant10 Nov 202300:20:05

Mark interviews Johnny B. Truant about his new THE ART OF NOTICING podcast.

Prior to the main content, Mark leverages his digital AI voice from Eleven Labs to offer a brief introduction as well as a word about this episode's sponsor, the Patrons of the Stark Reflections Podcast.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Johnny B. Truant is a bestselling full-time author with over a hundred books to his name. His best-known book is probably Fat Vampire, which was adapted by the SyFy Network as Reginald the Vampire. Some of his other big hits are Pretty Killer, The Beam, Pattern Black, Gore Point, Dead City, Invasion, and Unicorn Western.

 

 

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 331 - Self Publishing Made Simple with April M. Cox02 Nov 202300:41:24

Mark interviews author, coach & CEO/Founder of Little Labradoodle Publishing April Cox.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a brief personal updates and a word about this episode's sponsor, the Authorpreneur Summit 2023.

Transform your passion to profit! Unveil the business behind the book and elevate your business acumen with 35+ industry-leading authorpreneurs at the Authorpreneur Summit.

 

During their interview Mark and April talk about:

  • April's background as a former IT consulting geek
  • Leaving that corporate world to assist authors with their publishing goals and helping to make their dreams come true
  • How her desire to write a story for her grandkids led to an entirely new and dynamic role and purpose
  • Recognizing how she could make a huge difference being there to help authors who would normally be easy targets for so many of the predatory outfits looking to take advantage of them
  • The origin of Little Labradoodle Publishing which was more of a legacy project
  • How the consultant, programmer, and project manager in April were applied to help authors with navigating the complex world of publishing books for younger readers
  • Why April puts so much free content on sites like her YouTube channel
  • April's 12-week course that takes authors through the process of getting a book ready for publishing
  • The importance of having a network of trusted professionals to work with
  • Wanting to create a summit that focused more on the business side of publishing, which became the Authorpreneur Summit
  • Some of the amazing interviews that have been lined up for this summit which takes place for free Dec 4 through Dec 8, 2023
  • The bonuses April will be releasing for those who sign up for the summit early
  • Advice April would offer to authors who are receiving numerous rejection letters from traditional publishing
  • And more . . .

 

After the interview Mark reflects on the value when an author combines their passion with filling in a hole within a particular market.

 

Links of Interest:

 

April Cox is an Author, Coach & CEO/Founder of Little Labradoodle Publishing. She has successfully guided over 1,500 authors from manuscript to a high-quality, self-published book through her 90-day signature program, Self-Publishing Made Simple.

April is a passionate teacher and speaker on publishing topics and has personally launched over 400 books.

 

 

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

 

EP 456 - The Published Novelist Saves Schrödinger's Cat!23 Jan 202600:24:01

In this solo episode, Mark reads a new article entitled:

The Published Novelist Saves Schrödinger's Cat! How to Improve the Odds Before You Open the Box—OR—What Writers Can Control While Their Book's Fate Remains Uncertain

Links of Interest:

 

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 330 - Book Indexing with Stephen Ullstrom26 Oct 202301:01:54

Mark interviews writer and indexer Stephen Ullstrom about book indexing and his recent release BOOK INDEXING: A Step-by-Step Guide.

Prior to the main content, Mark shares a personal update about a skeleton and license plate theft, as well as word about this episode's sponsor, the Patrons of the Stark Reflections Podcast.

 

In their conversation, Mark and Stephen talk about:

  • Stephen's long-time interest in writing
  • How his role working at UBC Press when he was attending university was his first exposure to indexing
  • Using freelancing doing indexing to help support his writing, but how that freelancing kind of took over much of his career
  • Still being interested in fiction, but how writing a book about indexing was a good full book-length project to complete
  • Stephen's book: BOOK INDEXING: A Step-by-Step Guide
  • His goal to make indexing simple and practical and more entry-level
  • Why authors should care about indexing
  • How indexing can become somewhat of a marketing tool
  • The way an index can bring more value to a book
  • The pros and cons of a keyword search (as opposed to an index, where the human filtering on what's relevant is being done for you)
  • How an index can be much more granular than even a layered/multi-leveled table of contents
  • The way an index works within an eBook
  • What an embedded index is
  • Cases where a fiction author might want to use indexing
  • Considerations on whether or not it's best to do your own index or to hire that work out to a professional indexer
  • The average length of time it would take Stephen to index a 200 page book (about 20 hours)
  • The typical price range an author can expect to pay for having a book indexed (For example a trade book that's about 200 pages could cost about $800 to $900 CAD - about $4.00 CAD per page. A scholary book is usually about $6.00 to $6.50 to $7.00 CAD per page)
  • The steps to go through when creating an index
  • Stephen's use of the indexing software called Cindex
  • Remembering that, ultimately, your index is for the READER
  • How to hire Stephen if you're interested in leveraging his indexing services\
  • A common misperception authors often have about indexing
  • And more

 

After the interview, Mark reflects on the value of indexing as it pertains to some of his non-fiction and even fiction titles.

 

 

Links of Interest:

 

Stephen Ullstrom is an award-winning professional indexer. He believes that the world is a better place with well-written indexes, and is passionate about helping authors, publishers, and the index-curious understand how indexing works.

 

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 329 - Laws of Tenacity with Eriq La Salle19 Oct 202301:05:30

Mark interviews actor/director/producer/writer Eriq La Salle about his latest novel LAWS OF ANNIHILATION and his life-long passion for storytelling.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, thanks Patrons, provides a personal update, and shares a word about this episode's sponsor.

 

You can learn more about how you can get your audiobooks distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.

In their conversation, Mark and Eriq talk about:

  • How Eriq had always wanted to be a writer
  • Joining the high school drama club in junior high with the idea that they'd be able to put on the plays that he would write
  • Being told by the drama teacher that he had to audition, and how that started the "acting bug" that took him through a multi-decade career acting, directing, and producing
  • The way the author desire resurfaced about a dozen years ago
  • The prequel story to The Martyr Maker series (which appears in the end of LAWS OF DEPRAVITY) and why Eriq wrote it
  • The concept behind The Martyr Maker franchise
  • Loving movies and television and being inspired by the storytelling conventions there
  • The way each of the three main characters leads a little bit more in the first three books in the series
  • Eriq's work as Executive Producer for several years on Chicago PD
  • Directing and Executive Producing Dick Wolf's first show launched into streaming on Amazon Prime
  • A minor character in the series (known as "The African") who was fashioned after the Luca Brasi character in The Godfather and who will return in a later book in the series
  • How it took 10 years to find a publisher, and Eriq's DIY experience self-publishing
  • The importance of understanding and participating in the grass-roots style marketing as an author
  • Having to do a lot of marketing work even when you're with a larger publisher
  • The way that the status of "celebrity" can sometimes work against you
  • Eriq's respect for each medium and how to re-think, and re-learn in his unique roles within them
  • The importance of humbling yourself
  • How the marketing person that Eriq had hired and worked with eventually became his agent
  • Feeling that he is a better writer of fiction novels than of screenplays, despite his years of experience as an actor, director, and producer
  • The intention cinematic writing that Eriq did when crafting The Martyr Maker series
  • Enjoying collecting "useless trivia" and how that can aid in the research aspect of writing a novel
  • Giving credit to the technical advisors Eriq has worked with on shows like ER and Chicago PD
  • The various first readers that Eriq works with
  • Being an old fashioned paper book reader
  • Eriq's great respect for librarians
  • The delightful feeling of seeing your book in various bookstores of all sizes, including indie bookstores, big box stores, and airport bookstores
  • Doing several events in New York for the week the book is launching, including a special "On the Couch with Eriq La Salle"
  • The importance of listening to the messaging
  • The understanding that "we are blue collar artists"
  • Advice Eriq would offer to writers who are working at it and haven't yet found their success
  • And more . . .

After the interview, Mark reflects on a few of the things Eriq talked about, as well as a subtle, but important way Eriq spoke about the "team" he works with as an author.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Actor/director/producer Eriq La Salle is best known to worldwide television audiences for his award-winning portrayal of the commanding Dr. Peter Benton on the critically acclaimed and history-making medical drama ER. Educated at Juilliard and NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, his credits range from Broadway to film roles opposite Eddie Murphy in Coming to America and Robin Williams in One Hour Photo and Hugh Jackman in Logan. La Salle has maintained a prolific acting career while at the same time working steadily as a director, taking the helm for HBO, Showtime, NBC, Fox and CBS. He remains a valued member of the Dick Wolf Entertainment camp after 4 years as Executive Producer and director on Chicago PD in addition to directing episodes of Law & Order, and Law and Order Organized Crime.

As a writer, La Salle is the author of several critically acclaimed thrillers published in 2022 and 2023-Laws of Depravity, Laws of Wrath, and Laws of Annihilation. He has also written an episode of The Twilight Zone which made WGA's list of 101 Best Written TV Series. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

 

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

 

EP 328 - Reflections on A New Season with Terry Fallis12 Oct 202301:16:48

Mark interviews Terry Fallis about his latest novel, A New Season.

A two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, Terry Fallis is the author of nine novels, all of them national bestsellers—including six #1 bestsellers—and all published by McClelland & Stewart/Penguin Random House.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, welcomes new Patron Nikki Guerlain, and a word about this episode's sponsor.

You can learn more about how you can get your audiobooks distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.

In their conversation, Mark and Terry talk about:

  • Terry's latest novel, A NEW SEASON, and the unique approach he took to his latest book
  • Retiring from his day job as a communications/public affairs consultant in March 2022
  • Having wanted to write full time since the release of his first novel fifteen years earlier
  • The precarious reality of the earnings an author is most likely to make, even if they are a successful author who regularly hits the bestseller lists in Canada
  • How the novel was derived from fears (something Terry was inspired by John Irving to consider), and from events that unfolded during the pandemic, and the way Terry had to evolve his writing from the usual "bend" of humor he employed in his previous books
  • Casting off the shackles/tyranny of humor
  • Some of the "trademark" self-depracating humor of Terry's narrators (Jack McMaster in this one, Daniel Addison in his first couple of novels)
  • Not being able to believe that he's currently 63 and the experience of writing a narrator (Jack) who is closer to Terry's own age
  • Terry's experiences playing ball hockey every week and how ball hockey can be a bit of a time machine
  • Writing the scenes from trying to speech French when in Paris from personal experience
  • Terry's friendship with Jim Cuddy (of Blue Rodeo fame) via his weekly ball-hockey and how the musician allowed Terry to write him into his novel
  • The examination of make friendship which is an important aspect of this novel
  • Terry's history of being a "closeted" singer-songwriter, which he's been doing since he was seventeen years old
  • The song "More Than The Game" which Terry wrote about the comradarie of his ball hockey league
  • Laying a few of Terry's songs into the audiobook produced by Penguin Random House
  • The 42-year-old love song that Terry wrote for his University girlfriend (who he has been married to for 36 wonderful years)
  • The long-time romantic tradition of Terry singing the love song to his wife on Christmas Eve
  • Terry's personal connection to Paris and how it, like ball hockey, is a kind of time machine
  • Writing a scene of the novel at the seat of Hemmingway's favorite table at a Paris cafe
  • Hailing from the "why use 6 words when 12 will do" school of writing
  • The saga of Constance Stanley's diaries becoming the final piece that Terry needed to complete the story
  • How the title A NEW SEASON refers to so many different elements from the novel
  • The next book that Terry has already started to work on, which has even more intrigue and suspense than two of his previous novels
  • Advice Terry would have for writers who have long wanted to do it, but haven't yet taken that step
  • And more...

 

After the interview, Mark reflects on the idea of writing books from passion and intense interest. He then shares the name of the Patron winner of Joanna Penn's Writing the Shadow.

Links of Interest:

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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