This week on The Indy Author Podcast, Kathy Meis talks about THE IMPORTANCE OF SPECIFICITY. She discusses the importance of having a goal for your content; how specificity narrows down your audience (and how specific keywords find specific audiences); how readers look for a familiar experience; the importance of acknowledging that your book is not for everyone; and how to connect with your target audience by building a relationship and by allowing them to sample your content.
Do any of those topics pique your interest? Check out 2 MINUTES OF INDY https://bit.ly/2MinutesOfIndy, where over the week following the airing of the episode, you'll find brief video clips from the interview on each of those topics. You can also catch up on some highlights of previous episodes there.
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
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Kathy Meis is the founder and CEO of Bublish, a complete one-stop publishing solution for today’s independent author. With more than 30 years of experience in the media and publishing industries, Kathy has served in a wide variety of editorial and management positions at some of the industry’s leading companies. She has worked as a television reporter for CBS, was a founding editor of Forbes MediaCritic, and was a founding partner of PubSmart, an author-centric publishing conference held in Charleston, South Carolina. Kathy speaks and blogs regularly about book promotion, author branding, social marketing, and discoverability. She lives in Charleston, South Carolina.
This week on The Indy Author Podcast, Michaelbrent Collings talks about HOW HORROR IS THE GENRE OF HOPE. He discusses how horror externalizes right and wrong, using genre as a marketing tool, respecting audience expectations, pushing boundaries appropriately, the final effect of the story, and how art creates community.
Do any of those topics pique your interest? Check out 2 MINUTES OF INDY https://bit.ly/2MinutesOfIndy, where over the week following the airing of the episode, you'll find brief video clips from the interview on each of those topics. You can also catch up on some highlights of previous episodes there.
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting The Indy Author!
https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor
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While he is best known for horror and was recently voted one of the top 100 Greatest All-Time Horror Writers in a Ranker poll of over 15,000 readers, Michaelbrent Collings has also written internationally-bestselling thriller, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, humor, young adult, and middle grade works, and romance. In addition to being a bestselling novelist, Michaelbrent is the only person who has ever been a finalist for a Bram Stoker Award, a Dragon Award, and a RONE Award, and he and his work have been reviewed and/or featured on everything from Publishers Weekly to "Scream Magazine" to NPR.
In this solo inbetweenisode of The Indy Author Podcast, I discuss CREATING AN AI-NARRATED AUDIOBOOK. I talk about Google Play's instructions for AI audio, tips for better AI narration, working around the AI-narration's quirks, selling beyond Google Play, and file names and ID3 tags.
Do any of those topics pique your interest? Check out 2 MINUTES OF INDY https://bit.ly/2MinutesOfIndy, where over the week following the airing of the episode, you'll find brief video clips from the interview on each of those topics. You can also catch up on some highlights of previous episodes there.
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting The Indy Author!
https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor
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Matty Dalrymple podcasts, writes, speaks, and consults on the writing craft and the publishing voyage as The Indy Author. She is the host of THE INDY AUTHOR PODCAST and the author of THE INDY AUTHOR’S GUIDE TO PODCASTING FOR AUTHORS. She is also the co-author, along with Mark Leslie Lefebvre, of TAKING THE SHORT TACK: CREATING INCOME AND CONNECTING WITH READERS USING SHORT FICTION. Matty is a member of the Alliance of Independent Authors.
In this week's episode of The Indy Author Podcast, Jessie Kwak talks about the process of going FROM BIG IDEA TO BOOK. She discusses the importance enjoying the process, letting your mind be still, of “working the word mines,” balancing creativity and efficiency, and leaving yourself a breadcrumb trail.
Do any of those topics pique your interest? Check out my YouTube playlist 2 MINUTES OF INDY https://bit.ly/2MinutesOfIndy, where over the week following the airing of the episode, I’ll be posting brief video clips from the interview on each of those topics! You can also catch up on some highlights of previous episodes there.
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor or Buy Me a Coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple
Jessie Kwak is the author of multiple science fiction series, a supernatural thriller, and productivity guides From Chaos to Creativity and From Big Idea to Book: Create a Writing Practice that Brings You Joy. When she’s not raving about her favorite books to her friends, she can be found sewing, mountain biking, or out exploring new worlds both at home and abroad. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and their house plant jungle.
Jeff Elkins, the Dialogue Doctor, discusses THE COLOR WHEEL OF CHARACTERIZATION. He discusses the building blocks of character voice, getting past physical description, the musicality of character voice, letting modulation happen, bolstering scene tone with character voice, and creating the emotional journey.
Do any of those topics pique your interest? Check out my new YouTube playlist 2 MINUTES OF INDY https://bit.ly/2MinutesOfIndy, where over the week following the airing of the episode, I’ll be posting brief video clips from the interview on each of those topics! You can also catch up on some highlights of previous episodes there.
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple).
Jeff Elkins is a novelist, ghostwriter, and editor with more than 10 novels on the market. During the day, he leads the writing team for a company that simulates difficult conversations for professionals to practice. He also helps authors improve their dialogue to engage readers more fully through one-on-one consulting and through his podcast The Dialogue Doctor.
This week on The Indy Author Podcast, Dale L. Roberts of Self Publishing with Dale discusses OUTSOURCING YOUR CONTENT CREATION. He talks about trading money for time; crafting the idea; recency, consistency, and relevance; vetting ghostwriters; credit and responsibility; and considerations for content reuse.
Do any of those topics pique your interest? Check out my new YouTube playlist 2 MINUTES OF INDY https://bit.ly/2MinutesOfIndy, where over the week following the airing of the episode, I’ll be posting brief video clips from the interview on each of those topics! You can also catch up on some highlights of previous episodes there.
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple).
Dale L. Roberts is a fitness author, video content creator, and self-publishing advocate. Voted by Feedspot among the Top 100 websites and Top 50 YouTube channels devoted to self-publishing, Dale has cemented his position as the go-to authority in the indie author community. Anyone who meets Dale for the first time will discover his enthusiasm and passion for business and life. When Dale isn’t publishing books, creating videos, and networking with business professionals, he loves to travel with his wife Kelli and spend time playing with his cat Izzie. He lives in Columbus, Ohio.
Mike Kuczala discusses how a sedentary lifestyle restricts not only our health but also our creativity; how to introduce movement into our lives; how we can combat the mindset that a more movement-oriented lifestyle is something we’ll do tomorrow; and (something that I was relieved to hear) the fact that walking is enough. Mike also shares how movement helped him transform his life, from tackling challenges that might otherwise have seemed insurmountable to overcoming the grief of his father’s death.
Do any of those topics pique your interest? Check out my new YouTube playlist, 2 Minutes of Indy (https://bit.ly/2MinutesOfIndy), where you can find a brief video clip from the interview on each of those topics!
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple).
Mike Kuczala has delivered keynotes, given presentations, facilitated professional development, and taught graduate courses on 4 continents on his area of expertise: the importance of movement to health and creativity. He is the coauthor of THE KINESTHETIC CLASSROOM: TEACHING AND LEARNING THROUGH MOVEMENT, and the author of TRAINING IN MOTION: HOW TO USE MOVEMENT TO CREATE AN ENGAGING AND EFFECTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT and READY, SET, GO! THE KINESTHETIC CLASSROOM 2.0. His fourth book, THE PEAK PERFORMING TEACHER: 5 HABITS FOR SUCCESS, launched in February 2022.
Do any of those topics pique your interest? Check out my YouTube playlist, 2 Minutes of Indy (https://bit.ly/2MinutesOfIndy), where you can find a brief video clip from the interview on each of those topics!
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple).
John Gaspard is author of the Eli Marks mystery series as well as four other stand-alone novels, "The Greyhound of the Baskervilles,” “A Christmas Carl,” "The Sword & Mr. Stone," and "The Ripperologists." He also writes the Como Lake Players mystery series, under the pen name Bobbie Raymond.
In real life, John’s not a magician, but he has directed six low-budget features that cost very little and made even less – that’s no small trick. He’s also written multiple books on the subject of low-budget filmmaking. Ironically, they’ve made more than the films. John lives in Minnesota and shares his home with his lovely wife, several dogs, a few cats and a handful of pet allergies.
Do any of those topics pique your interest? Check out my new YouTube playlist, 2 Minutes of Indy (https://bit.ly/2MinutesOfIndy), where you can find a brief video clip from the interview on each of those topics!
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple).
Patrick Hoffman has been a private investigator for 17 years. He started his career in San Francisco as a private investigator before becoming an investigator in the homicide unit of the San Francisco Public Defender's office. For the last seven years he's been working on wrongful conviction cases for the New York civil rights firm, Neufeld, Scheck & Brustin. His first three crime thrillers have all been selected as top ten thrillers of the year by the Wall Street Journal, and his second book, EVERY MAN A MENACE was selected as a top ten crime thriller of the past decade by Crimereads. He lives in Brooklyn.
Michael La Ronn discusses ESTATE PLANNING FOR AUTHORS. He talks about making it easy for your heirs ... planning and managing your estate ... sharing passwords securely ... protecting against scammers ... and the first step to take.
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
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Michael La Ronn is the author of over forty science fiction & fantasy novels and self-help books for writers. He also runs the popular YouTube channel Author Level Up, where he publishes weekly advice videos for writers. Michael also serves on the staff of the Alliance of Independent Authors as a US Ambassador, and he co-hosts the AskAlli Member Q&A Podcast where he answers new writers’ most burning questions about self-publishing.
Bryan Collins discusses THE SEVEN MOST COMMON MISTAKES OF NON-FICTION AUTHORS … AND HOW TO AVOID THEM. He talks about writing different things at once ... not organizing the ideas ... waiting for passion or inspiration to strike ... writing only on the weekends ... writing and editing at the same time ... believing that working harder will make it happen ... and waiting until it's perfect
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple).
After attempts at careers as a journalist and short story writer, Bryan Collins spent a year as a stay-at-home dad. Broke, lacking self-belief and feeling a lack of purpose, Bryan decided to go back into writing, but this time focused on learning skills like copywriting and content marketing. He launched ‘Become a Writer Today’ which has racked up millions of views, and has written for LIFEHACKER, FASTCOMPANY, COPYBLOGGER, and FORBES. He’s a podcaster and the author THE ART OF WRITING A NON-FICTION BOOK, THE POWER OF CREATIVITY, and YES, YOU CAN WRITE.
This week on The Indy Author Podcast, Tara Cremin of Kobo Writing Life discusses SUBSCRIPTION MODELS, including Kobo Plus. She talks about the rise of subscription models ... what sets subscription readers apart ... how authors get paid in subscription models, and why Kobo chose minutes read as the measure of reader engagement ... and Kobo's “globally local” approach. She also discusses how authors can reach libraries through Kobo.
Do any of those topics pique your interest? Check out my new YouTube playlist, 2 Minutes of Indy (https://bit.ly/2MinutesOfIndy), where you can find a brief video clip from the interview on each of those topics!
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple).
Tara Cremin is the Director of Kobo Writing Life, Kobo’s independent publishing platform. As a subject matter expert in all aspects of indie publishing, her aim is to make KWL the greatest and most user-friendly self-publishing platform available, and she’s and always looking for ways for indies to reach a new audience of readers. Tara hosts KWL’s monthly live events with author and industry experts and you can sometimes hear her as a guest host on the Kobo Writing Life Podcast.
This week on The Indy Author Podcast, Jacob Hess discusses BUILDING ENGAGING WORLDS. He talks about:
- The importance of building a consistent world
- How much is too much
- Genre-specific considerations
- Using backstory as a reader magnet
- The importance of taking the same care in building your characters' interior worlds as you do in building their exterior world
Do any of those topics pique your interest? Check out my new YouTube playlist, 2 Minutes of Indy (https://bit.ly/2MinutesOfIndy), where you can find a brief video clip from the interview on each of those topics!
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple).
Jacob Hess grew up in Oregon and received a Master of Divinity from Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. He and his wife now live in Seattle, where he works as a minister in their local church. Jacob has always had a love for stories, whether they're told with pen and page or the rhythms and rhymes of song. He agrees with J. R. R. Tolkien, who said, “the Pot of Soup, the Cauldron of Story, has always been boiling, and to it have continually been added new bits, dainty and undainty." As humans we simply cannot escape a need to tell stories as a way to reach beyond ourselves and connect to the deeper truths of who we are and what it means to live a life of meaning.
Nat Connors of Kindletrends discusses USING DATA TO GUIDE YOUR CRAFT, including how authors can assess whether their covers, blurbs, content, and mechanics (such as release schedule and price) attract browsers, impact readers, and set the stage for a book’s sales. He discusses the importance of having a consistent throughline across the cover, blurb, and content. And he talks about how being market-aware doesn't mean following market trends slavishly, but rather developing an understanding of genre expectations and how you can fulfill them in a way that’s right for your own style and writing goals.
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple).
Nat Connors is a romantic comedy writer, medical scientist, and dance teacher, and creator of the Kindletrends newsletter for genre fiction authors. Nat created Kindletrends when he got fed up with trying to make sense of the Kindle store and wanted a no-nonsense summary of the most important information. As an indy author himself, Nat understands the need for focused, relevant, and actionable information with which to make decisions.
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple).
Edwin Hill’s critically acclaimed crime novels include the standalone thriller, The Secrets We Share, and three novels featuring Hester Thursby: Watch Her, The Missing Ones, and Little Comfort. He has been nominated for Edgar and Agatha Awards, featured in Us Magazine, received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal, and was recognized as one of “Six Crime Writers to Watch” in Mystery Scene magazine. He lives in Roslindale, Massachusetts with his partner Michael and his favorite reviewer, their lab Edith Ann, who likes his first drafts enough to eat them.
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple).
Kris Austin is the CEO and co-founder of Draft2Digital, a company offering online, author-assistance tools to enhance the business of publishing. Before taking this post with Draft2Digital, Kris worked for a private information technologies firm, where he managed the IT departments of dozens of Oklahoma City businesses. He received a B. S., Computer Science from Oklahoma Christian University in 2004.
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple).
Kathy Meis is the founder and CEO of Bublish, a complete one-stop publishing solution for today’s independent author. With more than 30 years of experience in the media and publishing industries, Kathy has served in a wide variety of editorial and management positions at some of the industry’s leading companies. She has worked as a television reporter for CBS, was a founding editor of Forbes MediaCritic, and was a founding partner of PubSmart, an author-centric publishing conference held in Charleston, South Carolina. Kathy speaks and blogs regularly about book promotion, author branding, social marketing and discoverability. She lives in Charleston, South Carolina.
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple).
Alan Baxter is a British-Australian multi-award-winning author of horror, supernatural thrillers, and dark fantasy, with more than twenty books including novels, novellas, and short story collections. He’s also a whisky-soaked swear monkey and dog lover. He creates dark, weird stories among dairy paddocks on the beautiful south coast of New South Wales, Australia, where he lives with his wife, son, hound, and other creatures.
Philippa Werner discusses the key pieces of sales and income data that an indy author should be collecting and tracking; the fact that consolidated sales and earnings reporting is a good reminder of how much of an indy author’s income may not (should not) come from Amazon; and how familiarity with this data can make you more nimble and responsive to marketing and promotion opportunities.
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple).
Philippa Werner is the public face of ScribeCount, overseeing the customer interaction, content, and overall service side of the company. Holding a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a minor in Mathematics, she brings analytic skills and creative abilities to her work at ScribeCount. With 19 novels to her name, including 2 USA Today Bestsellers, Philippa speaks the complicated language of indie-author very well.
In this inbetweenisode of The Indy Author Podcast, I pose a question to fellow podcaster Jeff Elkins about what he's getting from The Dialogue Doctor podcast, both for himself and in terms of his goals related to helping other authors, that's different after over 70 episodes than he expected when he did his first episode. As is often the case when I speak with Jeff, he took that question in a truly wonderful direction. He talked about the importance to him of building community, and how that differs from podcasters like me whose primary goal is to provide content (and he illustrated the difference with examples of several other podcasters whose names you’ll recognize). He talked about factoring in where your energy comes from in a way that’s much more useful than the usual introvert / extrovert model, and about how we can change the story we tell ourselves to achieve the results we are aiming for. And he offered some great insights about serving one’s community while also enlisting the support of that community in keeping a creative endeavor going. In fact, I was inspired by my conversation with Jeff to update The Indy Author patronage program, as I describe after the conversation with Jeff.
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple).
Jeff Elkins is a novelist, ghostwriter, and editor with more than 10 novels on the market. During the day, he leads the writing team for a company that simulates difficult conversations for professionals to practice. He also helps authors improve their dialogue to engage readers more fully through one-on-one consulting and through his podcast The Dialogue Doctor.
Fantasy author and Content Manager for Kindlepreneur Jason Hamilton discusses Kindle Vella, Amazon’s new platform for serialized fiction. We discuss the opportunity Vella provides for authors to earn money, to interact with readers, and to gain input and insights from their readership, with the caveat that material on Vella needs to be as carefully polished as on any other platform. We discuss the importance of experimentation, and of recognizing that the Vella platform, its readership, and its terms and conditions will change as Amazon expands and tweaks it based on customer feedback. And we speculate about where Amazon might take Vella from here.
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple).
Jason Hamilton is a fantasy author and Content Manager for Kindlepreneur. He has a particular love of mythology, history, and geek culture. When he's not writing, his favorite hobbies include hiking, Netflix, chilling with his wife, spouting nonsense words at his baby daughter, and developing his website MythBank.com.
Erin Wright of Wide for the Win talks about some of the criteria that indy authors should consider when selecting your distribution platforms, using PublishDrive as an example. She talks about the dangers of putting all your eggs in one distribution basket, and the fact that an author can’t really claim to be wide if they rely on one distribution platform for their author business. Erin shares some insights into the choice of IngramSpark or the Draft2Digital print beta as a distribution option for your print books. And she also talks about how her experiment with being a creator on the road in her RV worked out for her and her husband, and the importance of the lesson that your creative adventures might take a different direction than you think they're going to when you start out.
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple).
USA Today Bestselling author Erin Wright has worked as a library director, barista, teacher, website designer, and ranch hand helping brand cattle, before settling into the career she’s always dreamed about: Author. As she’s also paying it forward to the author community as the founder and admin of the Wide for the Win Facebook Group.
L.E. DeLano talks about WHAT AUTHORS CAN LEARN FROM THEATER, including how her theater experience helped her as an introvert in both her writing craft and her publishing voyage … the exercise of “losing the dialogue and finding the beats,” including the importance of the quiet moment … the idea of “acting beyond the mask” as a way of exploring what secrets your characters are keeping … and how you can use editors and beta readers to gauge the reactions of your larger audience.
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple).
L.E. DeLano began her career as a blogger for Woman's Day Magazine and Mom's Magazine. After a foray into fan fiction, she began self-publishing romance in 2012 (under a different pen name), branched out to YA, and landed a traditional publishing deal with the novels TRAVELER and DREAMER. TRAVELER was selected as a Keystone To Reading Secondary Book Award finalist for 2018-19 and was also voted one of The 20 Most Beautiful Books in the World for 2017 by MTV UK. L.E.’s most recent work, the YA fantasy novel BLUE, was named a 2021 NYC Big Book Award Distinguished Favorite in Young Adult Fiction. Though mostly raised in New Mexico, she now lives in Pennsylvania with two adventurous kids and two ridiculous cats.
In this week's episode of The Indy Author Podcast, Tiffany Yates Martin talks about how she was not willing to grant rights to her non-fiction book INTUITIVE EDITING, and how that differed for her fiction work. We talk about aspects of an author career over which you may have more control than you think, and aspects over which you may have less control. We talk about the importance, if you are granting rights to your work to a third party such as a publisher, of approaching it as a commodity, not as your baby. And Tiffany advises you not to write what you think others, such as publishers, want you to write, but to write what you love and then find a market for that.
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple).
Tiffany Yates Martin has spent nearly thirty years as an editor in the publishing industry, working with major publishers and New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling, award-winning authors as well as newer writers. She is the author of the Amazon bestseller INTUITIVE EDITING: A CREATIVE AND PRACTICAL GUIDE TO REVISING YOUR WRITING. She's led workshops and seminars for conferences and writers' groups across the country and is a frequent contributor to writers' sites and publications. Under the pen name Phoebe Fox, she's the author of the Breakup Doctor series, including the most recent release, THE WAY WE WEREN’T.
This week on The Indy Author Podcast, Jeff Elkins, the Dialogue Doctor, talks about USING ENGINES, ANCHORS, AND HAZARDS TO DEFINE CHARACTER VOICE. He talks about how words like hero and villain, while useful for assessing plot, are less useful for assessing character development, or how the character operates in culture and how he or she negotiates the relationships with the people around them. We delve into examples, including BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY, LORD OF THE RINGS, HARRY POTTER, and GAME OF THRONES, to understand how the characters surrounding the protagonist, or vehicle character, function as engines, anchors, or hazards to bring out the best or worst in that vehicle character.
For a transcript of this interview and links to more information, go to https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html.
Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting my work at The Indy Author via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple).
Jeff Elkins is a novelist, ghostwriter, and editor with more than 10 novels on the market. During the day, he leads the writing team for a company that simulates difficult conversations for professionals to practice. He also helps authors improve their dialogue to engage readers more fully through one-on-one consulting and through his podcast The Dialogue Doctor.