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

Changes In Ebook Publishing Over The Last Decade And Possible Changes Ahead With Len Edgerly Of The Kindle Chronicles Podcast

August 31, 2020 by Joanna Penn 2 Comments

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:03:55 — 52.0MB)

The last decade has seen a dramatic change in the publishing industry as ebooks and digital audio have gone from a side note to a huge part of the reader experience — and a significant part of independent author incomes. In this episode, I talk to Len Edgerly from The Kindle Chronicles Podcast which started in July 2008. We also talk about the recent US Senate hearing on Big Tech and consider the possible changes ahead.

In the introduction, MS Word has a new Transcribe function as part of its built-in dictation [The Next Web]; Audible launches Audible Plus as the audio subscription model heats up [The Verge]; Amazon releases the Halo, a wearable band that assesses your health but also your tone of voice [Business Wire]; James Daunt of B&N and Waterstones is interested in reviving the Nook as a bigger part of Barnes and Noble [The New Publishing Standard]; plus The Writers Well final episode and why we all need to reassess the direction of our lives during these historic times.

Do you need help finding an editor, book cover designer, or someone to do your book marketing? Find a curated list of vetted professionals at the Reedsy marketplace, along with free training on writing, self-publishing, and book marketing. Check it out at www.TheCreativePenn.com/reedsy

Len Edgerly is a nonfiction author with degrees in business and poetry. He's also the host of the long-running Kindle Chronicles Podcast, where he's interviewed Jeff Bezos, Margaret Atwood, and Dean Koontz among many others.

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

Changes in the publishing industry in the past 12 years
The impact of KU and whether the subscription model is the future for ebooks and audiobooks
What it’s like to interview Jeff Bezos and his real passion for books
A discussion on the US Senate hearings on big tech and anti-trust and possible ramifications for publishing [CNBC]
Audiobooks and the future of reading and listening

You can find Len Edgerly at TheKindleChronicles.com and on Twitter @lenedgerly

How To Write Narrative Non-Fiction With Matt Hongoltz-Hetling

August 24, 2020 by Joanna Penn 2 Comments

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:04:14 — 52.2MB)

What is narrative non-fiction and how do you write a piece so powerful it is nominated for a Pulitzer? In this interview, Matt Hongoltz-Hetling talks about his process for finding stories worth writing about and how he turns them into award-winning articles.

In the intro, I talk about Spotify (possibly) getting into audiobooks and Amazon (possibly) getting into podcasts as reported on The Hotsheet, and the New Publishing Standard. David Gaughran's How to Sell Books in 2020; a college student who used GPT3 to reach the top of Hacker News with an AI-generated blog post [The Verge]; and ALLi on Is Copyright Broken? Artificial Intelligence and Author Copyright. Plus, synchronicity in book research, and my personal podcast episode on Druids, Freemasons, and Frankenstein: The Darker Side of Bath, England (where I live!)

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

Matt Hongoltz-Hetling is a Pulitzer finalist and award-winning investigative journalist. He's also the author of A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear.

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

From writing for pennies an article to writing a Pulitzer–nominated article
What is narrative non-fiction?
How does narrative non-fiction differ from fiction?
Where ideas come from and how to begin forming a story idea
The necessity of being respectful of the real lives being examined and written about
Portraying interview subjects with shades of grey
Turning hours of source material into something coherent
Finding the balance between story structure and meaning
Knowing when an idea is appropriate for a book

You can find Matt Hongoltz-Hetling at matt-hongoltzhetling.com and on Twitter @hh_matt

How To Reboot A Flagging Author Career With Michaelbrent Collings

August 17, 2020 by Joanna Penn 16 Comments

Podcast: Download (Duration: 56:49 — 52.8MB)

What happens when you've written award-winning books, get amazing reviews from readers, and your sales still start a downward spiral? You can give up writing — or you can take a step back, review your catalog, figure out a plan and up-skill, then reboot your author career.

In this episode, Michaelbrent Collings shares how he ended up delivering pizza to support his family because his sales had stalled and how he turned it around, reinvigorating his career, taking his book sales income and reader engagement to new heights.

In the introduction, I mention the Voice Double in-between-isode, as well as Findaway Voices launch of Authors Direct, which enables you to sell audiobooks direct to listeners in US, UK and Europe, Canada and Australia.

Today's podcast sponsor is Findaway Voices, which gives you access to the world's largest network of audiobook sellers and everything you need to create and sell professional audiobooks. Take back your freedom. Choose your price, choose how you sell, choose how you distribute audio. Check it out at FindawayVoices.com.

Michaelbrent Collings is an award-winning and internationally best-selling horror novelist, and screenwriter. His novel, The Deep was a finalist in the Bram Stoker Awards. His latest novel is The Forest.

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

How to recognize when an author business needs attention and a revamp (and it's not a craft issue!)
Facing reality and being honest about what needs to change
Marketing strategies that stopped working
Tips for growing an email list and using paid advertising
Balancing marketing and writing
Knowing your worth and when it’s time to outsource some of your work
The importance of being endlessly curious

You can find Michaelbrent Collings at WrittenInsomnia.com and on Twitter @mbcollings

AI And Creativity Update: A Voice Double Conversation Featuring Joanna Penn And Mark Leslie Lefebvre

August 14, 2020 by Joanna Penn 6 Comments

Podcast: Download (Duration: 34:35 — 28.5MB)

In mid-2019, I shared 9 Ways That Artificial Intelligence Might Disrupt Authors and Publishing, and one of those possible disruptions concerned voice technologies, which I also wrote about in Audio for Authors.

In 2020, we have seen an acceleration of AI with the release of GPT-3 for natural language processing and generation, as well as the development of ever more sophisticated voice recognition and creation. In this episode, Mark Leslie Lefebvre and I share a conversation between our Voice Doubles and our thoughts on the ramifications.

Our Voice Double conversation
Thoughts from some of my Patrons
How we created the Voice Doubles using Descript with just 30 mins of training (reading a story)
What we had to change and edit to get around a few of the pronunciation issues e.g. I could not get it to say ‘creatives' correctly so changed the word to ‘authors.' I also couldn't get it to say ‘mass-market' in my voice, so I changed that text as well.
Our thoughts on the development of the tech and why we think it's important for authors and creatives to engage with the technology rather than avoid it
A warning of deep fakes and why Kevin Kelly's 1000 True Fans is more important than ever

You can get your own Voice Double at Descript.com. You can find Mark at MarkLeslie.ca. Mark also recorded a special episode with more of his thoughts in episode 148 of Stark Reflections.

We'd love to know what you think so please leave a comment or tweet me @thecreativepenn and Mark @markleslie

Joanna Penn and Mark Leslie Lefebvre over the years — London, Charleston, Toronto, St Petes Beach

How To Write A Bestseller With Suzy K Quinn

August 10, 2020 by Joanna Penn 2 Comments

Podcast: Download (Duration: 40:59 — 38.3MB)

How can you write what you love and still aim for bestseller status? How can you combine craft and business in your writing life? Suzy K Quinn answers these questions and more in this fascinating interview.

In the intro, entrepreneur and author Derek Sivers sells $250K worth of ebooks and audiobooks direct from his website [Sivers]; Amazon Decoded by David Gaughran; 150 Self-Publishing Questions Answered by Michael La Ronn and ALLi; The Ultimate Collection of Audiobook Marketing Examples from BookBub Blog; 6 Figure Author Podcast episode 50 on taking your author income to the next level. Plus, ARKANE Thriller #11, Tree of Life, is now available for pre-order.

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

Suzy K. Quinn is the bestselling author of romance, comedy, and thrillers. She also teaches a course on How to Write a Bestseller for Mark Dawson's Self-Publishing Formula.

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

The definition of a bestselling book
Does writing a bestseller mean you have to write to market?
Hooking readers with a strong book package
The importance of communicating how people are going to feel when they read a book
The long term view of building an author brand
What the future of publishing might look like

You can find Suzy K Quinn at SuzyKQuinn.com and on Twitter @SuzyKQuinn. You can find the course at: www.SelfPublishingFormula.com/bestseller

[Note, I am not an affiliate for this course. I took it myself and thought it was super useful, so I wanted to tell you about it!]

Photo in sharing image by Corinne Kutz on Unsplash

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Changes In Ebook Publishing Over The Last Decade And Possible Changes Ahead With Len Edgerly Of The Kindle Chronicles Podcast

How To Write Narrative Non-Fiction With Matt Hongoltz-Hetling

How To Reboot A Flagging Author Career With Michaelbrent Collings

AI And Creativity Update: A Voice Double Conversation Featuring Joanna Penn And Mark Leslie Lefebvre

How To Write A Bestseller With Suzy K Quinn

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