You don’t have to become a bestseller to make use of your writing skills.
How Can I Make a Living as a Writer?
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indie author
SPF-124: Novel Adaptation – Turning Books into Screenplays with Paul FitzSimons
Novelist, screenwriter and playwright Paul FitzSimons talks to James about his writing career so far, including adapting screenplays and producing independent films.
This week’s highlights include:
- The winding path of Paul’s screenwriting and writing for television
- Financing an independent film
- Dealing with rejection from trad publishers
- The skills necessary to transition from writing books to writing for the screen
- Being creative while following screenwriting rules
- Writing well-developed characters for the screen
- Enjoying the interpretation of your words by others in the creative filmmaking team
- The pitfalls of adapting a novel for the screen
Resources mentioned in this episode:
PATREON: Self Publishing Formula Podcast’s Patreon page
WORKSHEET AND COUPON: Paul has prepared a worksheet on screenwriting which you can access here. This includes a coupon code for his ‘Screenwriting From Your Sofa’ course.
Our Ads for Authors course is still open for business here.
FREE LIVE SPF WEBINAR! on Monday 18th June – Mark explains how to use Facebook ads to build your list and boost book sales. Spots are limited but you can sign up for it here.
SPF-104: Book Cover Design for Authors – with Stuart Bache
Book cover designer to the stars (John Le Carre, Stephen King and more) Stuart Bache talks to James about the new course he has put together to help authors design their own professional looking book covers.
This week’s highlights include:
- Why book covers matter so much
- Considering genre when designing a book cover
- Mistakes authors make when they consider book covers
- The DIY Facebook advertisements that Stuart offers
- Details about the book cover design course Stuart has done for SPF
Resources mentioned in this episode:
PATREON: Self Publishing Formula Podcast’s Patreon page
SPF BOOK COVER DESIGN COURSE: The brand new cover design course from Stuart Bache.
SPF-101: Smart Book Delivery – with Damon Courtney
Demon coder and indie author Damon Courtney talks to James from the NINC conference about starting and running BookFunnel, an ever-evolving service that continues to support self published authors to get their books into customers’ hands.
SPF-096: A Quiet Catastrophe – with John Birmingham
British-Australian author John Birmingham was forced into a crash course on self-publishing when, through no fault of his own, his trad deals disappeared. Luckily for readers, John turned those lemons into a new, lucrative self-publishing career.
This week’s highlights include:
- John’s success as a freelance writer, and his unplanned, rapid switch from trad publishing to indie
- What’s working for John now in marketing and where his focus is
- On the shrinking mid-list at trad publishers and how that could prove to be their downfall
- How John adjusted to running an author business as well as writing
- The challenges in the Australian book market
Resources mentioned in this episode:
SPF FOUNDATION: Click here to learn more
PATREON: Self Publishing Formula Podcast’s Patreon page
ARTICLE: John Birmingham’s article at Which-50.com, called The Quiet Catastrophe
SPF-094: A Helping Hand from SPF – with Reedsy’s Ricardo Fayet
James Blatch and Lucy Dawson introduce the Self Publishing Formula Foundation, a partnership with Reedsy, that will help four authors each year to fulfill their dream of publishing and marketing their books.
This week’s highlights include:
- The origins of the SPF Foundation
- How the foundation works and how to apply
- What SPF are looking for in foundation applicants
- What Reedsy does and how they help indie authors
- Reedsy’s suggestions about the best use of the self-publishing support available from them
- Thoughts on the rise of book marketers who help authors
Resources mentioned in this episode:
More information about the Self Publishing Formula Foundation
Self Publishing Formula Patreon page
Do What You Can’t video – Casey Neistat
SPF-080: How to Sell Your Foreign Rights – with Orna Ross
The paradigm shifts in publishing have opened doors for authors. And sometimes caused challenges for those authors who have lost rights to a trad publisher and now want them back. Orna Ross, Founder and Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors, talks to James about these issues, how authors can approach getting lost rights back, what it takes to sell rights in foreign territories, and what to be aware of when doing so.
SPF-079: A Rising Tide: Author Collaboration – with Nick Stephenson
Nick Stephenson talks to James about the value in author collaboration and how even introverted authors can go about building relationships with the aim of growing their audience and widening the reach of their books.
SPF-078: One Million Sales and Counting: Success in Cross Genre Writing – with bestseller Mel Sherratt
If you’re an author that wants to write across genres but worry about the impact that approach might have on financial returns, you’ll want to listen to this week’s guest, bestselling author Mel Sherratt, who’s achieved in excess of one million sales with a cross-genre back catalogue.
SPF-077: Secrets from Seventy Novels – with author Tracy Cooper-Posey
Prolific science-fiction and romance author Tracey Cooper Posey discusses how she manages her impressive creative output and the life and living to be made as an indie author.
SPF-074: Pursuing an Indie Career with Extreme Prejudice – with author Brett Battles
Thriller author Brett Battles has seen the inside of both traditional and independent publishing. Today he chats with James about making the transition from trad to indie, the tough times and his eventual triumph as a hybrid author.
SPF-070: Life After Trad – with indie author Suzy K.Quinn
Author Suzy K. Quinn has travelled a similar road to Mark Dawson’s – going from being a traditionally published writer to becoming an independent author with more control over her books and marketing. Not to mention a larger slice of the financial pie.
SPF-068: How to get started in Self Publishing – with Mark Dawson
What happens after an indie author types THE END? Mark and James talk to several self-published authors about the journey from finished manuscript to published book, covering topics such as the importance of a durable author platform, solid launch strategies and the self publishing community.
SPF-066: The One Thing I Wish I’d Known When Starting My Indie Author Career – with Mark Dawson
Best-selling indie author Mark Dawson discusses ‘The One Thing’ he wished he’d known when starting out on his indie author career.
SPF-065: Know What Sells Before You Write – with Brian Spangler, Genre Report
Software engineer, Brian Spangler, talks to SPF about his data gathering app that helps authors understand the Amazon marketplace and reveal which categories offer the highest profit potential.
SPF-064: From Comic Book Hero to Indie Author – with 2000 AD’s Pat Mills
Legendary comic book author, Pat Mills, creator of 2000 AD, featuring Judge Dredd, talks to SPF about the state of the nation in the comic book industry, his move to writing text novels, and what he’s learned from his experiences dealing with Hollywood.
SPF-059: Top Book Launch Tips – with Tim Grahl
Book launch expert Tim Grahl talks to James about the importance of an email list, successful book launches and his own experience of writing a novel for public consumption.
SPF-058: From Flying Jets to Flying High – with indie author, Susan Grant
Fighter pilot and commercial airline captain, Susan Grant, talks to James about making the leap from traditionally published writer to successful indie author.
SPF-006: Best selling Indie Author Interview – With Russell Blake
Russell Blake is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of some 30 – count ‘em! – much loved books and has been featured in the likes of the Wall Street Journal and The Chicago Tribune. He’s become a hugely respected figure in indie publishing circles and together with Mark and James, happily discusses, amongst other things, why marketing a book is quite a different process to writing one, the whole Kindle Unlimited thing and how to be an exceptional author (i.e. one that makes a living from writing).
James: You can win a scholarship to Mark Dawson’s acclaimed premium course “Facebook Ads for Authors” by spreading the word about this podcast.
Visit selfpublishingformula.com/contest to enter.
Hello and welcome to podcast #6 from The Self-Publishing Formula.
Female: Two writers: one just starting out; the other a best-seller. Join James Blatch and Mark Dawson and their amazing guests as they discuss how you can make a living telling stories. There’s never been a better time to be a writer.
Show Notes
- What a new author should focus on.
- On marketing books and how that skill set is very different from writing them.
- What being the exception to the rule in self-publishing means.
- The perma-free strategy and whether Russell is a believer.
- Russell’s thoughts on Kindle Unlimited.
- On selling in online retail stores other than Amazon.
- Kindle Worlds fan fiction and what it’s like to read stories by other writers set in Russell’s world.
- Marketing a book that’s in a different genre than your readers / newsletter subscribers are used to, including pricing strategies.
- Questions from listeners, including what Russell’s experience working with Clive Cussler was like.
- Comparisons between the music business and the traditional publishing business.