by Stephen Campbell | May 18, 2015 | Podcasts
Author, editor, and writing teacher Jordan Rosenfeld is the guest in Episode 43 of The Author Biz.
What’s your biggest need as an author? It’s different for everyone, isn’t it. For you it might be more readers. For me, it’s finding enough writing time each day to make meaningful progress towards my goals.
But there’s something else we all need that’s easy to overlook.
Persistence. What some might call the ability to keep on keeping on.
Today’s guest, Jordan Rosenfeld, is the author of five books. She’s also an editor, a writing teacher, and a coach. Her most recent book is A WRITER’S GUIDE TO PERSISTENCE: How to Create a Lasting and Productive Writing Practice.
She’s also a big believer in treating your writing as a practice. In fact, she believes the more we treat our writing as a practice, the less likely we are to give into pressure, self-sabotage, and to taking bad advice. Which in turn allows us to persist as we build our author businesses.
In this 46 minute interview, we learn the value of persistence to authors, the importance of treating your writing as a practice, and more: (more…)
by Stephen Campbell | Apr 27, 2015 | Podcasts
Jennifer Fusco is the guest in this episode of The Author Biz.
When I say marketing, what’s the first thing that pops into your mind?
Is it positive, or negative?
Jennifer Fusco
Most authors aren’t in love with marketing. For many it’s a chore. Something that has to be done, rather than something they enjoy. Writers want to write, not market. But marketing is something that must be done if an author wants her work to be found in today’s world.
My guest in this episode is Jennifer Fusco. She’s a marketing professional with over a decade of experience at one of the largest companies in the world. She’s also a romance writer, with her first book coming out this fall. But for our purposes today she’s the author of the newly released book, MARKET OR DIE - A Down and Dirty Guide to Marketing Your Book.
Jennifer says that “Marketing is about building relationships. And those relationships will generate demand for you and your work.” That’s it.
Jennifer has the unique ability to take the tried and true fundamentals of sound marketing strategy and translate them into something that’s understandable, and actionable for authors at every level.
We’re spending the entire 49 minutes of this interview talking about marketing for authors. Some highlights include: (more…)
by Stephen Campbell | Apr 20, 2015 | Podcasts
Award-winning author Heather Ashby is the guest on this episode of The Author biz.
Heather Ashby
What’s the single best thing anyone has ever told you about your books?
Well written? Brilliant? Just like (insert bestselling author name here), only better?
Today’s guest, Heather Ashby has heard all of that, and more. But she’s also heard that her military romance series is being used as a healing tool for the wives of soldiers with PTSD.
Heather’s parents both served in the military. She served in the Navy, her son served in the Army, and her husband is a retired naval engineer.
Her original goals for writing were primarily to craft entertaining stories, but beginning with her second book, a theme of healing developed in her books. And she’s allowed that theme to grow with each successive book.
But that’s just the start of the story. Heather has also partnered with the Fisher House Foundation, a charity that provides housing for military families at no cost while their wounded warrior loved ones are receiving treatment.
We dig into these topics and explain how this all ties into your author business during this 51-minute interview. Other highlights include: (more…)
by Stephen Campbell | Apr 6, 2015 | Podcasts
Author’s Assistant Kate Tilton is the guest on this episode of The Author Biz
Can you remember the last time you felt like you were caught up with the work surrounding your author business?
I know you’re busy.
You’re writing, revising and polishing one book while you’re planning the next.
Kate Tilton
You’re trying to carve out time to stay active on social media. Tracking deadlines for your cover designer, editors, and your formatter. And you’ve got to do something about getting your series into audio.
I know you don’t have time to sit down and listen to this, so you’ll listen while you’re walking, or running, or picking up the kids.
And you’ll be glad you did listen because today we’re talking about what can be the busy author’s best friend. The author assistant.
Kate Tilton has been an author assistant since she was 16. She tells you what she, and others in her growing field can do to help you spend more time on your highest value work.
Writing.
She explains how authors utilize assistants and what those assistants can do to simplify your busy life.
In this 48 minute episode, we’ll discuss the role of the author’s assistant and how finding the right one can help to fuel your career. (more…)
by Stephen Campbell | Mar 30, 2015 | Podcasts
Are you ever curious about editing?
Bryon Quertermous
Oh sure, we all know what editing is, at least as it pertains to our writing. But my experience of editing is probably much different than yours.
Authors published by the Big 5 wonder if they can find the type of editor they’re used to working with if they indie publish their next book. Indie authors wonder how much control they would lose if they signed a contract with a Big 5 publisher. And, of course, new authors wonder how to find the right editor.
Being a naturally curious fellow, I searched for an editor that could clear some of this up for us. Someone with Big 5 editing experience, who’s now working as a freelancer.
Bryon Quertermous is an editor and an author. His first book, MURDER BOY, is being published March 31st.
He has over a decade of publishing experience that began in New York with Random House. He spent time spent running Angry Robot Book’s crime fiction imprint as well as working as a freelance editor for New York Times bestselling authors. Books he’s edited have been selected as the best of the year by USA Today and Library Journal among others.
Bryon answers my questions on editing and more in this 52-minute interview, including:
- Bryon describes his career in publishing, which included stops at Random House, Angry Robot Books and Carina Press (an imprint of Harlequin) among others.
- How the indie community supports one another when it comes to information sharing and recommendations for top professionals.
- An in-depth conversation covering the different types of edits and the importance of each of them, with a focus on Bryon’s specialty, the developmental edit.
- Byron shares his thoughts on whether or not there is a quantifiable difference between the quality of the editing provided to Big 5 published authors vs. that available to indie published authors.
- How much should an author be prepared to pay for a developmental edit?
- Laura Lippman describes Bryon’s new book, MURDER BOY, as a “Dark comedy with a heart.”
- Bryon describes MURDER BOY and explains why he wanted outside help for the developmental edit of his book.
- Bryon shares his making it up as he goes along marketing plan, and the way serendipity comes into play when you’re hand selling books to local bookstores.
- Bryon offers advice to traditionally published authors interested in becoming hybrid authors
- Bryon offers some surprising advice to first-time authors who will soon be looking for an editor.
Click here to listen to The Author Biz no. 36Links
Bryon’s Website - www.bryonquertermous.com/
Bryon’s book – MURDER BOY
Loren Estleman’s Website
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by Stephen Campbell | Mar 23, 2015 | Podcasts
Author Monica Leonelle is the guest in Episode 35 of the author biz
Do you ever wish you could write faster?
Monica Leonelle had freelance writer friends who wrote 3,000 - 4,000 word per hour and she wondered if it was possible for her to hit those speeds.
Many of us have asked the “how can I write faster” question, but Monica didn’t stop there. She set out to test her writing speed limits.
She started tracking, adjusting and compiling different metrics. She normalized her writing processes to track different variables. Then she tried other ways of writing, and before long she hit the speeds her freelancer colleagues were achieving.
Then, even better for us, she wrote about how she did it in her new book, WRITE BETTER, FASTER: How to Triple Your Writing Speed and Write More Every Day.
So, how did she do it? Monica answers those questions and more in this fascinating 52-minute episode. Here are just a few of the highlights:
- Monica discusses her new book, Write Better, Faster: How To Triple Your Writing Speed and Write More Every Day
- While working as a freelance writer, Monica learned that writing faster meant higher earnings for her business
- She had friends who were freelance writers who could consistently hit 3,000 to 4,000 words per hour
- The value of tracking the details of your writing
- Using the Pomodoro method to normalize writing sessions allowed her to track more details about time spent writing
- Occasionally using dictation allowed her to increase her words per minute and improve her health
- A discussion of the importance of preparation to writing speed
- Monica describes her four-step preparation process
- She shares details of her two-month challenge to teach herself to write faster
- Monica explains her dictation process. She uses Dragon Dictate for dictation and an AT2020 microphone to get the best accuracy.
- The importance of being able to recognize when you’re trying to do too much
- Monica shares three things we can do, beginning today, that will increase our writing speed.
- Write Better, Faster: How To Triple Your Writing Speed and Write More Every Day is the first in a series she’s writing called, “Growth Hacking for Writers.” You can get more information on the series by signing up for her email list at ProseOnFire.com/storytellers
Links
Monica’s Prose on Fire website www.proseonfire.com
Monica’s Guest Post at The Write Life
Monica’s original post on writing faster
Monica’s Growth Hacking for Writers Series
Monica’s Amazon author page.
Click here to listen to The Author Biz no. 35
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