Self-publishing Answers

Today the dudes chat about "compromise," or how to spend less to get a "minimum viable product," or MVP. They talk a lot about cover design, and how to make a book cover that works well enough to at least get some attention.

Today is a special day - the guys are live at the North East Texas Writer's Organization conference, doing a live podcast. That's right - they've got a table set up in the front of the meeting hall, and they discuss some of the reasons for podcasting as a marketing tool. This episode is great for beginning podcasters, but it's also just a really fun episode in general. Don't miss it!

The guys discuss the deceptively difficult genre for writers: the elusive short story. From Arthur C. Clarke to Philip K. Dick, and a few other notable short story penners in-between, they discuss how they're using them to build their platforms, how to approach them as a writing tool, and how to write them.

Today the goodly gents discuss genres with C.S. Lakin. She's a hugely successful author in different genres, both fiction and nonfiction, and she has some amazing insights into the all-too-important task of choosing a great genre for your books.

The dudes answer a couple listener questions about launching two books at the same time, building a "funnel" and setting up book giveaways, and other on-topic (really!) stuff.

Subtitle: Being Awesome, Successes, and Celebration Rituals.

...Or at least according to the guys. In this episode, the dudes chat about the most inspiring presentations, talks, books, movies, podcasts, etc. they've ever encountered and had the pleasure to consume.

Today the goodly gents discuss trilogy and serial promotion and marketing, reviews for trilogies, and what defines a "trilogy."

Today the guys discuss the rules of improve, as they apply to writers. Comedy improvisation rules are things like, "never say 'no,'" "yes/and," etc. But while these "rules" are helpful and can lead to really funny improvised comedy, it can also be a detriment to your story arcs. Which rules are meant to be broken? Which are the rules that are necessary? When should you break them? The guys chat about these rules, their processes, and what they've heard other authors do. Justin's process for writing wearing four hats during four phases of the journey: "The Madman" (first draft), "The Architect" (second draft and moving big pieces around), "The Carpenter" (moving the tinier "boards" around the story), and "The Judge" (the final "is it good" draft). Here's a great lecture explaining the process.

Rachel Starr Thomson doesn't just have a cool name. She's a veritable writing rockstar (a "wrockstar"). She's been on the show before, but we caught up with her today to discuss a HUGE topic we've been pondering for quite some time: writing Christian fiction. Specifically, we talked about: What is Christian fiction? Why write it? How in the world do you keep everyone happy ("it's too Christian," or "it's not Christian enough...") Marketing strategies for Christian fiction And way more. As usual, this was an awesome, super-informative happy-fun-time. Don't you want to be a part of it? Well, click "download" and start listening! And please don't forget to leave us a review on iTunes!

We had some podcast issues last month, so some of the later episodes appeared out of order. Not to worry though, this is the long-awaited, critically-acclaimed, and highly anticipated "goals and dreams" episode we publish every year. It's a look back at 2015, a look ahead at 2016, and a discussion of our dreams, goals, and what we want to accomplish this year. Don't miss this one. Also (IMPORTANT!): Since we had some podcast issues, we had to set up a new feed on iTunes, which means that all of your awesome reviews are gone! Would you mind heading to iTunes to leave us a fancy review? Thanks!

Today's episode is a fun look at some of the ways we're trying to get more out of our schedules, writing plans, and tackling multiple projects at once. We dive into napping, multitasking, and much more!

Today on the show, the guys invite special guest and friend Bryan Cohen, who wants to teach authors how to write book descriptions that don't suck. Happy New Year! Not much else to say about this episode, except... ...LISTEN TO IT!

Happy Christmastime Veteran's Day podcast! (It's Veteran's Day-ish when this was recorded, but Christmas-ish when it's going live) We answer a voicemail about building a website, then jump into the topic: "overcommitting." Basically, "overcommitting" is committing to too much at one time. How do you know you're overcommitted? Can you effectively diagnose overcommitment?

Today, Kevin, Nick, and Justin chat with VERY prolific writer-friend Rachel Starr Thomson, who writes on a Neo. She's the co-author of Five Editors Tackle the 12 Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing, a book that tackles writing fiction from the perspective of editors. Here's a brief overview: What sets this book apart from all other writing craft books? Instead of merely explaining how to write fiction well, this book demonstrates how. It is packed full of Before and After passages that show clearly what each “fatal flaw” looks like — in a variety of genres, POVs, and writing style—then shows how those flaws can be remedied. Some of these fatal flaws, for example, are overwriting, weak construction, faulty dialogue mechanics, telling instead of showing, and POV violations. Writers learn best by seeing examples — of both great writing and weak writing. No other fiction-instruction book goes into the depth this one does. At nearly 100,000 words, this comprehensive book gives writers the arsenal to successfully lea

Writing is hard. Writing well is near impossible for most of us. Today on the show, Nick Thacker, Kevin Tumlinson, and Justin Sloan discuss what it's like, in their own experience, to write in a "cinematic" way. Tips, tricks, and answer galore in this show!

Today the guys talk with a guy who's been on a "nuculur" submarine... and a writer.

In this episode, the guys (Justin Sloan, Kevin Tumlinson, and Nick Thacker) take some time to update the world (or whoever's listening) on their world. Kevin's selling his house (finally), Justin's finishing up an exciting book and jumping into more projects, and Nick's dealing with how to build more margin into his life.

We talk about an important issue today: when do you start getting "serious" about writing (seeing it like a business)? More specifically, when you start paying real money for "author services" like publishing help, cover design, etc.?

Only have one book? Mark's advice: write the second book. No matter what. Want more advice? Read on, and listen in to this week's show!