The Creative Penn Blog: Helping you write, publish and market your book

How To Write Monsters With Philip Athans

July 13, 2020 by Joanna Penn Leave a Comment

Podcast: Download (Duration: 53:51 — 50.1MB)

Monsters tap into something primal that lies at the heart of being human. We have always feared what lies at the edge of the campfire, just out of sight, and as writers, tapping into those fears can be a powerful form of creation. In this interview, Philip Athans talks about why we find monsters so fascinating, how to create them, and why they can sometimes be a metaphor for society, plus, thoughts on making a living as a writer.

In the intro, I discuss Brandon Sanderson's Kickstarter for the leather-bound edition of Way of Kings and why creating beautiful physical objects should be part of our indie maker movement, and check out this interview on bookbinding with Lisa Van Pelt. Plus, why we need to put our lessons learned from the pandemic into action now instead of waiting for ‘the end,' whatever that might mean!

Also, I have re-recorded my tutorials on how to build an author website, install Author Pro theme (which I use for JFPenn.com), and also how to set up your email list with ConvertKit. I've also updated the Author Blueprint which you have access to on my email list or you can sign up here.

Today's show is sponsored by ProWritingAid, writing and editing software that goes way beyond just grammar and typo checking. With its detailed reports on how to improve your writing and integration with Scrivener, ProWritingAid will help you improve your book before you send it to an editor, agent or publisher. Check it out for free or get 25% off the premium edition at www.ProWritingAid.com/joanna

Philip Athans is the New York Times bestselling author of Annihilation, and a dozen other books, including The Guide to Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction. He's also an editor, professional speaker, and writing coach. Today, we're talking about his book, Writing Monsters: How to Craft Believably Terrifying Creatures to Enhance Your Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction.

You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and full transcript below.

Show Notes

What is a monster?
How monsters are part of our human evolution
The importance for humans of fighting a common enemy
How the monster in a story can bring out a character’s true nature
Monsters as metaphors
How do we create unique monsters?
When should you reveal your monster?
Multiple streams of income as a writer. “Walk through the door that's open.”
Licensing intellectual property as a source of income

You can find Philip Athans at AthansAssociates.com and at the Fantasy Authors Handbook and on Twitter @PhilAthans

How To Write Memoir With Marion Roach Smith

July 6, 2020 by Joanna Penn 10 Comments

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:07:38 — 55.0MB)

“Write something universal as illustrated by a deeply personal tale.” This advice is true regardless of the genre we write, and in this interview, Marion Roach Smith explains how we can dig deep into our truth and experience to write memoir, plus how she has created a business around a book, and a podcast around curiosity.

In the introduction, I talk about how the pandemic impacts our energy levels and how online business is changing, and how that might impact us as authors. Business Insider reports that Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Google's Sundar Pichai, Apple's Tim Cook, and Amazon's Jeff Bezos will all testify before Congress in an antitrust hearing in late July. What are the potential impacts for authors?

Publisher Rocket now has a useful feature for discovering categories for your books. Dave Chesson talks about the new functionality and more on the Writers Ink Podcast last week.

Plus, join me and Nick Stephenson for a webinar on how to grow your book sales to $1000 a month — or add to your existing sales. We'll be going through how to build your email list and convert that traffic into sales, plus tips for revisiting the basics of your author platform + some more advanced tips for taking sales to the next level. Thurs 16 July at 3 pm US Eastern / 8 pm UK. Click here to register for your free place and also receive the replay if you can't join us live.

Today's show is sponsored by Draft2Digital, where you can get free ebook formatting, free distribution to multiple stores, and a host of other benefits. Get your free Author Marketing Guide at www.draft2digital.com/penn

Marion Roach Smith is an author, memoir coach, and teacher of memoir writing. She has online courses on writing memoir. Her books include The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life.

You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and full transcript below.

Show Notes

The difference between memoir and autobiography
Why memoir is an argument-driven genre
Where to draw the line between therapy and memoir
Tips for skillfully writing about other people
How memory works in memoir
What does research look like for memoir?
How to we ensure people care about our memoir?
Being brave when marketing books
Why podcasting is so powerful

You can find Marion Roach Smith at MarionRoach.com and on Twitter @mroachsmith. You can check out her QWERTY Podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Writing, Publishing And Book Marketing Facebook Live QA June 2020 With Joanna Penn

July 1, 2020 by Joanna Penn 2 Comments

In this Facebook Live recording, I answer questions about writing, self-publishing, book marketing, author mindset, and more.

You can watch the video below or here on YouTube.

In this video, you can access the various questions with the timestamps below, or read the transcript below.

1:10 Do you buy your own ISBNs and how do you manage them in the stores?
3:35 How to go wide after being in KU
5:50 How to stop hiding as an author and writer
7:30 Are self-publishing companies worth the money?
8:48 How to re-launch as an author
11:10 On writing in different languages and using a pen name
12:20 Finding the right genre for your book
14:25 On having more than one pen name for varied audiences
16:15 Using IngramSpark with KDP and KU
17:50 On the audiobook for the second edition of a book
18:50 Tools for planning and positioning a novel
21:15 Thoughts on audiobooks for a first book
22:31 Publishing an audiobook first and then publishing the paperback or ebook, if successful
23:50 How to create a box set
25:20 Tools for getting keywords to use for ads
26:30 The advantages of using an aggregator like Draft2Digital
28:24 Keeping up with industry changes via the Author 2.0 Blueprint
29:55 Thoughts on author branding and changes as we evolve as authors
31:23 What to look at if your sales are poor
32:39 How Joanna started her fiction career and advice she wished she'd followed
35:00 Equipment for recording and editing audiobooks
36:08 How much effort should you put into marketing a first book?
37:20 Thoughts on Facebook ads for books
41:30 Recommended books and podcasts on entrepreneurship
43:21 How to find an audience beyond friends and family
45:00 What ads provide the best return on investment?
46:55 Should you use a studio to record an audiobook? including an example home studio
48:15 Is there a market for audiobook producers?
49:17 Can you unpublish the first edition when you publish a second?
49:55 On having two different author brands
51:11 Why wait before recording your first book's audiobook?
52:22 On StoryOrigin and its uses
52:57 Should you write a whole series or write a few first-in-series to see which one resonates?
54:05 Tips for getting writing done during a pandemic (or other anxious time)
55:53 On starting a podcast
57:03 How to overcome being a perfectionist
57:52 Should you go wide with your first book?

I'll be doing more of these live Q&A sessions, so join me on Facebook.com/thecreativepenn so you get notification of the next one. You can also sign up for my email list and I'll notify you of the next one, plus you get my free Author Blueprint.

Building A Creative Business For The Long Term With Natalie Sisson

June 29, 2020 by Joanna Penn 2 Comments

Podcast: Download (Duration: 56:07 — 45.7MB)

Writing is a life-long practice, and for many of us, a long-term career. But how can you continue to thrive in a creative business while still changing over time? In this interview, I talk to entrepreneur Natalie Sisson about how she pivoted her brand after a change in lifestyle and how books play just one part in her non-fiction business.

In the intro, the latest Audio Publishers Association report on 8 years of double-digit audiobook growth, plus insights from Bookwire's audiobook conference [Publishing Perspectives] and an AI lead in a $70m sci-fi movie [Fast Company].

Today's show is sponsored by Your Author Business Plan, my mini-course on how to reboot your author career. One student, Rachel, says, “Just completed Your Author Business Plan. I literally *gasped* as I wrote my business summary. So many aha moments. The course helped me understand where I am now as an author and where I want to be.” Just US$99. Click here to learn more.

Natalie Sisson is a New Zealand entrepreneur, author, speaker, host of the Untapped Podcast, and triathlete. Her books include The Suitcase Entrepreneur and The Freedom Plan: Redesign Your Business to Work Less, Earn More and Be Free.

You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript below.

Show Notes

Knowing when to go from blog posts to book
Writing from scratch, even with blog content available
Books as part of a business ecosystem, but not the whole thing
Making sure our revenue streams align with one another
Is the blogging movement dead?
Streamlining and doing more of what you love
The importance of ‘massive clarity’
Will there be shifts in how we do business as we come out of the pandemic?
Running a global online business that is not US-centric
Marketing to those not in the US
Using systems to create freedom
On having a long-term career but also changing

You can find Natalie Sisson at NatalieSisson.com and on Twitter @nataliesisson

Reassess Your Author Business And Reboot Your Brand With Joanna Penn And Orna Ross

June 24, 2020 by Joanna Penn Leave a Comment

The last few months have given us all a time to reflect. It's been a time of honesty and a time of examination. What do you really want? What do you want to let go of? What do you need to reclaim?

Every month, I do the Advanced Self-Publishing Salon with Orna Ross for the Alliance of Independent Authors and in this episode, we talk honestly about reassessing our author businesses in the wake of the pandemic and what we truly want to achieve in our writing careers. Memento mori. Remember, you will die. So what do you want to do in the time you have?

You can watch below or here on YouTube.

You can also listen below or here on the podcast feed.

We go through:

Why now is a good time to reflect on what you really want to achieve with your author business
“How you spend your days is how you spend your life.” Annie Dillard. If you are not achieving what you want to achieve, how are you spending your days?
Examine your author mindset. Why haven't you done what you wanted to do? [I admit to being afraid as my fiction self, J.F.Penn, and some of the reasons why that may be.
What does your author business eco-system look like now? What do you want it to look like? [For example, do you have an email list set up?]
Creative business is not business as usual. Why we need to balance passion and profit.
What is your author DNA? What are the commonalities across your books?
Fear of judgment and why that is still my issue!

You can find more info here about the Alliance of Independent Authors and just search ‘Ask ALLi' or ‘Orna Ross' on your favorite podcast app to subscribe to the shows.

How To Write Monsters With Philip Athans

How To Write Memoir With Marion Roach Smith

Writing, Publishing And Book Marketing Facebook Live QA June 2020 With Joanna Penn

Building A Creative Business For The Long Term With Natalie Sisson

Reassess Your Author Business And Reboot Your Brand With Joanna Penn And Orna Ross

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Thanks for visiting The Creative Penn