• EP 360 - Foreign Rights Licensing with Roseanne Cheng of DropCap
    May 17 2024
    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 writersThe 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 heartWorking with Wise Ink Creative Publishing and the great respect that Roseanne has for the women who run that businessThe 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 journeysTaking 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 bookWorking with authors to create their own custom marketing plans based on their goalsMeeting and connecting with a dear friend, Josie, and teaching one another things they were each good atCreating an online school with Josie called Evergreen Authors in about 2019How the pandemic ended up helping these courses and various other online teaching and Roseanne's ghostwriting business to really take offThe genesis of her first book, The Take Back of Lincoln Junior HighReading 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 goodHow Roseanne's role as a teacher helped prepare her for the work she does in helping authorsThe co-authored book BUZZ: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO BOOK MARKETINGRoseanne's books THE EVERYGREEN AUTHOR: MASTER THE ART OF BOOK MARKETING and PORTABLE MAGICThe 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 RoseanneGetting involved in the "Rights" side of publishing and the entire distribution network that she had not yet been tapped intoA 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 workThe creation of DropCap Marketplace as a match-making service between indie authors/small publishers and agents and book scoutsThe various other marketing resources available for authors on the DropCap siteHow DropCap marries technology with relationship resources within the industryThe special coupon code for Stark Reflections listeners. STARK20 - to get 20% off the listing at DropCap marketplaceAnd 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's Website Roseanne's Books Evergreen Authors WebsiteDropCap Marketplace Use coupon STARK20 to get 20% off Cruising WritersStark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins AgencyScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link)Mark's YouTube ChannelBuy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and LibrariesThe Relaxed Author Buy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover's MoonHex and the CityOnly Monsters in the Building The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard 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 ...
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    49 mins
  • EP 359 - Capturing the Flow with Aaron Palmer
    May 9 2024
    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 pitchPicking up a guitar for the first time around 6th gradeThe first big concert he saw when he was in 5th grade was Van Halen - and he was convinced he wanted to do thatA time in life when ambitions outweighed abilitiesHow playing the guitar came pretty naturally to AaronBeing a pretty avid reader when he was growing up, consuming almost anything he could get his hands onThe writing of Michael Crichton and the very cinematic way he had of writing proseBeing in college and having a professor suggest he change his major to EnglishBeginning to write short fiction shortly after thatAaron's podcast Native Tongues and the theme for the showDealing with ADHD and also regularly multi-taskingHow Aaron works through writing down log lines and concepts that are streaming through his mind to return to later to flesh outFinding out that Dave Grohl does something similarThe 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 launchStarting off with a concept or idea and then later fleshing out the characters and character developmentThe idea of spending more time developing characters once you fully understand the world that they're inReaching to the darker, more speculative or fantastical elements in storytelling out of a relatively mundane, safe, and normal existenceNot taking himself very seriously as a writer or creative personGravitating toward 12-year-old Bacoo rumLoving live music in multiple venues and formsHow Aaron's podcast is helping to tie multiple creative aspects togetherAnd 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: Native Tongues Podcast ApplePodbeanSpotify Native Tongues InstagramEP 358 - The Way of the Parable Writer with Donn KingEP 353 - Tao Wong on the Toronto Indie Author ConferenceEP 349 - Edward Willett of Shadowpaw PressCruising WritersStark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins AgencyScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link)Mark's YouTube ChannelBuy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and LibrariesThe Relaxed Author Buy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover's MoonHex and the CityOnly Monsters in the Building The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard 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
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    1 hr and 12 mins
  • EP 358 - The Way of the Parable Writer with Donn King
    May 2 2024
    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 oldAn 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 itThe first sci-fi novel Donn remembers reading: Robert A. Heinlein's HAVE SPACESUIT WILL TRAVELDonn's first foray into writing short fiction in a 3-ring binder with a pencilLearning about his non-fiction writing from Bob Burg, co-author of THE GO-GIVER a bestselling business parable bookHow elements from writing good fiction apply when writing a parableDrawing upon autobiographical elements even when fictionalizing a parableThe difference between Writer's Block and The Well Going DryDonn's podcast, The Alignment ShowThe Great Realignment and pausing to step back and consider what really brings value to youDonn's book MEDIUM WELL: The Journey From Believing to Believing InThe beautifully inquisitive nature of 3-Year-Olds in Donn's THE WAY OF THE THREE-YEAR-OLD WHYPrincipal Five - Without emotion, there is no motionThe challenges of booking live speaking events when caring for family members who require that additional compassion and careThe reality that none of us have any certainty - we merely live with the illusion of certaintyThe concept of connection before contentAnd more . . . After the interview Mark reflects on a few of the topics that came up in their conversation. Links of Interest: Donn King's WebsiteDonn King's BooksThe Confidence Cultivators Podcast Mark's Guest Spot on Episode 54YouTube Video of Episode 54 EP 357 - 50 Years of Short Stories with Kevin J. Anderson Kevin's Short Story Kickstarter EP 356 - The Midlist Indie Author Mindset with T. Thorn Coyle Thorn's Patreon Site Writers of the Future - Blog Post Announcing Mark as a JudgeStark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins AgencyScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link)Mark's YouTube ChannelBuy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and LibrariesThe Relaxed Author Buy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover's MoonHex and the CityOnly Monsters in the Building The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard 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
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    55 mins
  • EP 357 - 50 Years of Short Stories with Kevin J. Anderson
    Apr 26 2024
    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 strategiesKevin's first novel coming out in 1988 and all the various publishers he has worked with over the yearsThe "Perfect Storm" that was brewing in the book industry when indie publishing became a realistic and viable optionStarting to publish his own books (mostly backlist titles he got the rights back to) in 2009 after founding WordFire Press with his wife Rebecca MoestaKevin's belief that this is the best time to be a writerHow 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 offerThe way that Kickstarter didn't just open a new door, it completely blew it down, along with a few walls tooDean Wesley Smith's perspective that helped to change Kevin's mind about what Kickstarter was all aboutKevin'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 KickstarterKevin'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 themThe Dragon Business (The Princess Bride meets Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) Kickstarter that brought in 20 times what he'd been asking forThe Persephone Kickstarter that Kevin did with Writer/Director Jeffrey MorrisKevin's latest Kickstarter which is a 7 Volume Set of over 130 of his published short stories published over 50 yearsWriting his first short story when he was 8 years oldPublishing his very first short story when he was 14The personal introductions that he wrote for every one of the stories in this 7 book collectionThe various levels and Kickstarter rewards he is planning for this KickstarterThe 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 shiftHow Kickstarter can replace the old "advance" model from traditional publishingThe special thing Kevin is doing for all the backers of this latest KickstarterThe Kickstarter will be going live on April 30th for 3 weeks and 2 daysAnd 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's Website Kevin's Short Story Kickstarter EP 130 - Grace Under Pressure with Kevin J. Anderson Mentions of Kevin in other podcast episodes EP 356 - The Midlist Indie Author Mindset with T. Thorn Coyle Thorn's Patreon Site EP 355 - Scribbling Pen Publishing with Melanie Gilbert and Heather KarnWriters of the Future - Blog Post Announcing Mark as a JudgeStark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins AgencyScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link)Mark's YouTube ChannelBuy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and LibrariesThe Relaxed Author Buy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover's MoonHex and the CityOnly Monsters in the Building The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard 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 ...
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    50 mins
  • EP 356 - The Midlist Indie Author Mindset with T. Thorn Coyle
    Apr 18 2024
    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 didThorn jokingly torturing fiction and deciding to write non-fiction until a few characters showed up and knocked on their doorWriting mostly fantasy-tinged fictionHow 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 bookThorn'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 anywhereAn appreciation of Charles de LintThorn's forthcoming book: The Midlist Author MindsetThe massive mindset shift that comes from being curious about business the way one is curious about writingValue that came with learning what worked for Thorn, as opposed to things that work for other writersThe numerous streams of income that Thorn has been developing over the yearsLooking at long-term sustainability by thinking of it like cultivating a garden instead of seeking out short-term dramatic spikesSome of the roadblocks that Thorn encountered on the way to establishing the Midlist Author MindsetUnderstanding that for Thorn marketing was about connection with readersHow asking "Does social media sell books?" is the wrong question to askThe Kickstarter for the book and related materials and exclusive content that runs April 16, 2024 to May 7, 2024A little bit about Thorn's fiction series booksThoughts and current approach to audiobooksThorn's final words of advice that they would want to leave with writersAnd 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's Website Kickstarter for The Midlist Indie Author MindsetFiction TitlesNon-Fiction Titles Thorn's Patreon SiteWriters of the Future - Blog Post Announcing Mark as a JudgeStark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins AgencyScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link)Mark's YouTube ChannelBuy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and LibrariesThe Relaxed Author Buy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover's MoonHex and the CityOnly Monsters in the Building The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard 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
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    50 mins
  • EP 355 - Scribbling Pen Publishing with Melanie Gilbert and Heather Karn
    Apr 11 2024
    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 laterWriting independently for a while before they got into mutual support and collaborationThe two books they've published by doing round-robin style writing a couple of paragraphs at a timeThe plotting VS pantsing struggle that they would sometimes find themselves inThe 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 timeThe process they use when writing, editing, and re-writingHow 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 booksThinking about the "writing companions" for the booksLeveraging 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 booksSomething 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, etcThe benefit of personal touches in the newsletter including the fun that started with Griffin the furry managerHow their cats and dogs are the ones explaining what's going on in their writer newsletters and their website storeHow their main goal isn't to sell books but to ensure that the people who visit their table are having a good timeAnd 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: Scribbling Pen Publishing Scribbling Pen Publishing - Instagram Cruising Writers Feb/Mar 2025 Cruise - Focus on Self PublishingThe Uncollected Anthology Website Uncollected Anthology Live Author Chat (April 10, 2024 - YouTube)There Ain't No Cure For The Winter Wolf Blues 2024 The Write Stuff StoryBundle (Limited Time Offer)WMG Anthology Workshop August 2024Stark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins AgencyScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link)Mark's YouTube ChannelBuy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and LibrariesThe Relaxed Author Buy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover's MoonHex and the City The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard 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 ...
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • EP 354 - Lydia and David Sherrer on Power Couple Publishing
    Apr 5 2024
    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 imperitiveGrowing up reading everything in sight and also being into Lord of the Rings by the time she was five years oldAlways telling herself stories and writing some of them down over the yearsFinding out that what she studied in college wasn't a good career fit and then following her father's example of being an entrepreneurPublishing her first two books around 2012/2013Lydia and David setting a ten-year plan that by then David would be able to quit his full-time jobDavid enjoying playing Magic The Gathering card game when he was youngGetting invited to a gaming store that was in his town and becoming enamored with itOpening up his own gaming store when he graduated from highschoolThe technical engineering background that David had and how he applied those skills to ads and marketingGetting frustrated with his job at about the time that Lydia was starting to earn good money from her writingDeciding that he wanted to turn his gaming hobby into a career by starting with a spreadsheetHow playing cards are one of the easiest and most flexible mediums to make a game inThe game Cat Magic taking roughly twenty minutes of calculations and figuring to get the first draft of the game startedThe catch-phrase for Love, Lies, and MagicBook 8 in that series releasing March 1, 2024How 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 careerDavid's role in being an alpha reader and providing Lydia with early feedback on her writingThe Kickstarter campaign they ran to get the Cat Magic game off the groundThe important Give 90% of the time, ask 10% of the time rule with communities you are engaged inThe years of behind the scenes hard work and constantly giving and sharing with the community that built up the success seen in recent Kickstarters80% of their sales coming from direct sales versus sales from retailersStoring 15,000 copies of Lydia's books in their basementHiring a college student to help with some of the menial tasks like packaging up books for direct sale ordersThe various logistics of their shipping operationHiring a nanny to keep their kids close and at home, but allowing them the freedom to get their work done during the dayTheir five-year-old discovering capitalism, entrepreneurship, and wanting to become a part of their businessAdvice that David and Lydia would offer to other couples interested in running a business like thisAnd 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's WebsiteChenoweth PressLydia Sherrer's StoreEP 312 - The Dialogue Doctor Will See You NowEP 266 - "Let's Talk Dialogue with Jeff Elkins," He Said ReflectivelyEP 157 - A Conversation with Jeff Elkins The Dialogue DoctorThe Uncollected Anthology Website Uncollected Anthology Live Author Chat (April 10, 2024 - YouTube)There Ain't No Cure For The Winter Wolf Blues 2024 The Write Stuff StoryBundle (Limited Time Offer)WMG Anthology Workshop August 2024Stark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins AgencyScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link)Mark's YouTube ChannelBuy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and LibrariesThe Relaxed Author Buy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover's MoonHex and the City The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard 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 ...
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    58 mins
  • EP 353 - Tao Wong on the Toronto Indie Author Conference
    Mar 29 2024

    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.

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    39 mins