The writer’s influence; the author’s inspiration.
Where Do You Get Your Ideas From?
Read More
mark dawson
SPF-142: The Three Million Book Woman – with L.J. Ross
Million selling author LJ Ross sits down to talk about taking a leap out of her first career and into writing. Spoiler: it worked out pretty well for her.
Weekly Write-Up: 17th October 2018
The Man Booker Prize winner is announced, and self-publishing (officially) continues to grow.
Increase Engagement Through Storytelling
Want to keep your readers glued to your non-fiction book? Try telling them a story.
Weekly Write-Up: 10th October 2018
Hannah Lynn wins the Kindle Storyteller award, a little boy writes a book, and Mark gets on the telly (again)!
SPF-140: Keeping It Clean – with Anne-Marie Meyer
Best selling sweet romance author Anne-Marie Meyer talks to James about learning the ropes of writing, the importance of nailing your genre, and balancing writing with parenthood and marriage.
SPF-139: BookLab #3 – with Gretchen S.B.
In this third edition of the SPF Book Lab, SPF friends Stuart Bache, Bryan Cohen and Jennie Nash put on their white coats and safety glasses to help paranormal romance author Gretchen S.B. improve her cover, book description and narrative structure.
The Secret Self-Publish Success Stories
The big names you (probably) didn’t know were self-publishing.
Weekly Write-Up: 26th September 2018
Instafreebie gets a new name, self-publishing makes a man some money, and the ebb and flow of micro-genres.
SPF-138: The Indie Publishing House – with James & Jeanette Hunter
Husband and wife team, James and Jeanette Hunter, talk to James about getting started as an indie author, learning about book marketing, and then transitioning to publishing others’ books.
Weekly Write-Up: 19th September 2018
Self-Published novels get nominated for major awards, and a Wonky Donkey makes a man some money.
SPF-137: Why You Need to be Publishing Audiobooks – with Tina Dietz
The popularity of devices like Alexa have created a rise in the demand for audio to educate and entertain commuters and laundry-folders alike. James talks to Tina Dietz about creating audiobooks from both our fiction and non-fiction work.
This week’s highlights include:
- The importance of creativity in every type of business
- How creativity makes us more productive
- The different approaches to audiobooks by fiction and non-fiction authors
- Thoughts on narrating your book yourself
- The range of cost for producing an audiobook, including what you can expect to pay a narrator
- Auditioning narrators to find the right voice for your book
- Providing character information to narrators to find a good fit
- Reading your book outloud yourself to get a sense of your characters’ voices
- The three reasons for starting a podcast
Resources mentioned in this episode:
PATREON: Self Publishing Formula Podcast’s Patreon page
TINA’S WEBSITE: StartSomethingPositive.com Creative Business Solutions
The Care and Maintenance of Critique Partners
Friends that critique together… write better books?
Word Counts. Who Needs Them?
It’s not how many words you have that counts, it’s how you use them.
The Indie Author Toolkit
The ten most valuable tools for any indie author, as voted by you!
SPF-135: The 2018 Indie Author Toolkit – with Mark Dawson
A countdown of the best and most popular tools for writers in 2018, including input from the SPF community about what their favourite authors tools are.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
PATREON: Self Publishing Formula Podcast’s Patreon page
PDF DOWNLOAD: Click here to get the PDF with all the tools and links listed.
PODCAST EP 61: with Dave Chesson from KDP Rocket
PODCAST EP 34: with the two Brads from Vellum
PODCAST EP 101: with Damon Courtney from BookFunnel
EBOOK FORMATTER: At Draft2Digital (You need an account but then the formatting tool is free.)
EBOOK FORMATTER: At Reedsy
Self Publishing 101: 5 Steps to Building a Successful Author Career
What to do after you’ve written “The End”.
SPF-134: A Successful Author Mindset – with Adam Croft
Three-peat guest, and bestselling author, Adam Croft shares his thoughts on how important the correct mindset is for authors, and how the right approach can have a positive affect on a writer’s career and business.
This week’s highlights include:
- Adam’s thoughts on the current effectiveness of Facebook ads
- The pros and cons of selling book rights to a trad publisher
- On the root origin of many of the questions authors ask Adam
- Using data, and business sense, to invest in an author career
- The three types of mindsets author require to succeed
- Changing our thinking to get different results
- On the challenges of working at home and being your own boss
Resources mentioned in this episode:
PATREON: Self Publishing Formula Podcast’s Patreon page
SPF EPISODE 60: Dragon Dictation with Scott Baker
BBC BREAKFAST: Mark Dawson sits down with the BBC One breakfast show to discuss Salisbury, spies and writing that is influenced by current events.
SPF-133: The Author Accelerator – with Jennie Nash
Book coach Jennie Nash talks to James about how writers who are stuck or frustrated can finish their books with the aid of an accountability partner in the form of a book coach.
This week’s highlights include:
- On using a book coach to get your book finished
- The difference between a book coach and an editor
- The different ways Jennie helps authors get their books finished
- How authors need to be ready to hear input to fix or complete a book
- Focusing on the fundamentals of storytelling to get a story to work
- Fixing fatal flaws in stories that can unearth a great book
- Offering accountability so that authors can get their books finished
- Jennie’s motivation for starting Author Accelerator
- Caution from Jennie about using a service that promises an easy fix for your book
Resources mentioned in this episode:
PATREON: Self Publishing Formula Podcast’s Patreon page
BOOK COACHES: AuthorAccelerator.com
SPF-132: ThrillerFest 2018 New York Stories Part 3 – with Lee Child, David Morrell, Alan Jacobson & Lexi Blake
In the final part of our three-part series of interviews from ThrillerFest 2018, James talks to prolific hybrid romance author Lexi Blake, Rambo’s father David Morrell, USA Today best-selling author Alan Jacobson, and, last but not least, megastar thriller author Lee Child.
This week’s highlights include:
- On the status of traditional publishing with Lexi Blake
- Lexi’s strengths and weaknesses as a hybrid author
- Working with a photographer for custom covers
- On Lexi’s relationship with her readers
- The importance for authors of patience and discipline
- Alan Jacobson on writing what you know, and also educating yourself about what you don’t know
- Why authenticity matters in Alan’s writing
- Choosing between having a feature film or a limited TV series made of your work
- On being a co-producer for the televised version of Alan’s Karen Vail series
- The origins of the Rambo story with the book’s author David Morrell
- Why it took four film studios and 26 scripts to get Rambo on screen
- Writing authentically about the Victorian era
- The importance for an author to continue growing, learning, developing
- Lee Child on reader feedback and how the reader creates the book as much as the writer does
- On continuing to enjoy the writing process after mega success
- Lee Child’s thoughts in the indie author movement and what it means to publishing
Resources mentioned in this episode:
PATREON: Self Publishing Formula Podcast’s Patreon page