Bleeding Ink

I interviewed Maggie so that she could enlighten us on the mystical topic of “hybrid publishing.” What you’ll get in this episode of Bleeding Ink is a better understanding of what traditional publishers provide their authors—and if you are willing to put your own skin in the game, how to obviate your need of a large publisher, and how to keep your royalties and rights (at a much greater upfront cost). It’s a fascinating approach—though the cost might dissuade some right off the bat (we are talking $30k from idea to book) and it will push you toward traditional publishing (because you don’t have the budget) or it will make you scream for joy since you can essentially skip the gatekeepers without sacrificing quality. Bear with me. Maggie and LifeTree provide authors a team of seasoned professionals that are as good as, if not better than, what a new author would receive at from a Big Five contrract. This is it: the start of the Big Five model’s dissolution. In its stead will rise a new medium that enables and

About ten years ago I stumbled onto a website that, for all intents and purposes, appeared a legitimate portal to the Department of Heuristics and Research on Material Applications—or the Dharma Initiative. It’s Japanese inspired logo gleamed scientific credibility. It’s many pages revealed grants that had gone to scientists and their experiments. It had a contact page, an about page, a page explaining what it was like to work there--it even had job openings. Being a nosy computer nerd, I snooped around the source code and came across some peculiar lines. There was a glaring security hole which I quickly took advantage of—soon I was deep into restricted areas of the site that spoke of a special experiment on a remote island whose participants included Jack, Sayid, Hugo, Kate and so on. I cannot tell you how much time passed. I can only relate to you that my fingers tingled and my heart raced. I had become an active participant in an Alternate Reality Game for the TV show Lost. And it changed my understandi

First of all: Grab A FREE Ticket to the Self-Publishing Success Summit There’s never been a better time to self-publish. I’m constantly amazed at how the industry evolves on what seems like an hourly basis. It’s tough to keep up! Fortunately there are plenty of folks who help cut through the noise and provide solid info. People like Chandler Bolt. Chandler will woo you with his southern drawl—if you can keep up. Words flee from his mouth and plead “You too can self-publish. You too can be a successful writer.” From this petition Chandler has founded a school to help would-be writers become successful authors. It’s aptly named the Self-Publishing School. In this episode of Bleeding Ink, Chandler and I talk about how he went from a C- English student to 5x bestselling author, how he’s helped thousands achieve their dreams and publish their first novel, how to launch your book, how your book can unlock new career moves, and much more. You will be astounded at the opportunities and confidence that arise from

Daunting endeavors often start with a sketch. Perhaps on the back of a napkin, a few words sitting above some squiggly lines. These seedling notions are the genesis to boggling achievements. Words are power—they provide the scaffolding so that larger ideas may stand firm. To assume this isn’t an effective method to develop a novel is silly. It may not be the only method, but a method it is—a method called outlining, and this method has been judiciously applied by the likes of Faulkner to Follett. Outlining allows the author to hammer out the knotty bits of a story’s shape and aids them in a few ways. It frees the mind of pesky plot corrections as the author undergoes the overwhelming task of writing prose. It maps a series of waypoints toward which the author may confidently point their pen. As Anne Lamott states to us in her self-deprecating and practical writing guide Bird by Bird: “I go back to trying to breathe, slowly and calmly, and I finally notice the one-inch picture frame that I put on my desk t

Did you know that the modern-day commuter makes more death-avoiding decisions on their way to work than an age-old agrarian farmer made in an entire year? Sound stressful? It is. No wonder we seek hits of serotonin and dopamine from entertainment. Sugary Delights A firehose of sugar water is pointed at you. Look around. Count the number of distractions vying for your attention. Social media? Work? Email? News? Video games? The next bestseller? The latest viral video? Blog posts? Shopping? A glass of wine? Ahem—this podcast? The list grows in inverse proportion to our societal demands. Go to work—go to happy hour. Help the kids with homework—binge-watch hours of Netflix. Do something difficult—do something enjoyable. Where attention equates to dollars there is an attention economy, a marketplace that fosters an influx of candied products to delight, to offer a respite over challenge, to numb rather than invigorate. It leads to “peak content,” where products are engineered to strip away pain—much like heroin

TL;DL Nick Stephenson has spent 24 months researching and discovering techniques to help you earn a living from your books (or other products). Oh yeah, he’s a seven-figure bestselling fiction and non-fiction author. I’ve hired more than my share of book coach consultants. They are great. They unshackle you from the manacles of tired ideas—force you to dare bigger, do larger. My guest today, Nick Stephenson, went from a dreading his soul-sucking job to becoming a best-selling author. He spent years stumbling, got fed up with what seemed like an impossible production schedule, and cleverly set about building an audience that couldn’t wait to purchase his next novel. It occurred to him that the whole “release a book every six weeks” cycle was unsustainable and offered little in return for the time spent. He noticed the success of services like BookBub, who had massive mailing lists, and decided, “Hey, why can’t I do the same?” If you have an engaged audience, you can skip the middle man. But how does an

TL;DL Harry Dewulf has an intimate relationship with the English language. He’s helped shape numerous writers into award winning authors. This vitamin-infused episode will teach you “how” to be edited, how to boost your writing culture, how to write “for” an audience, and, above all, it will teach you the holy grail of writing. “Pull up Pavement Cafe at Night,” Harry said to me. I did. And look, I so kindly provided it above. Harry and I discuss it in episode 17 where he explains how personal culture influences the lens through which we view art. This also applies to writing. Once you’ve identified the lens' prescription for a given audience, you can create crystal clear works for them. Writers today face peak content as enemy number one. So much noise. Even great writers can’t break through. But some writers can cut like a knife through butter. How? With words calibrated against a specific spectrum of culture. Culture is a general word, however. Culture is the shape of your psyche after years of

TL;DL Paul Jarvis has penned five books. They hit bestseller charts. He’s raked in half a million dollars from his products in the past 18 months. You need to listen to Paul. “I feel like I’m doing life wrong if I’m working all the time.” The above quote is from a writer who raked in half a million dollars while enjoying time on an island off the coast of Vancouver. His name is Paul Jarvis. And he’s my guest on this episode of Bleeding Ink. Take powdered zen master, add half a cup of hustler and a cup of geek with a healthy pinch of weirdo, and stir into this mix the finest Canadian maple syrup to concoct a Paul. Like few other content creators he slices through the internet’s deafening garble by staying true to a voice sincere and made of Grade A Helpfulness™. You need to listen to Paul Jarvis. He’s got this marketing stuff figured the hell out. Twitter, Facebook, SnapChat, Instagram, make the world a teeny tiny place. They are integral to the shape of humanity’s future communication, for better or

TL;DL Reedsy.com connects writers with industry-leading editors, designers, publicists and marketing specialists. Take matters into your own hands, select the services you need to produce a work of fiction or non-fiction indistinguishable from Big-5 products. Publishpocalypse "NY-based editor + consultant. Formerly of a big five publisher." The above quote should concern a Big-5 exec. It’s a common slogan among Reedsy.com editor profiles. These brave free agents are tuned into a growing sentiment that publishers turn their nose at: there’s a teaming pool of writers out there who find the middleman a hinderance rather than an asset. Come all ye editors, for a market needs you. Reedsy.com connects writers with editors, designers, publicists and marketing specialists. They sift through thousands of applicants (10,000 thus far), vet their skills and present to you only the finest self-publishing industry talent. No more second guessing whether an editor is an medaled veteran or a suave amateur. Th

TL;DR Victoria (V.E.) Schwab is a wildly ambitious author with years of success under her multi-dimensional reversible Moschino belt. She’ll teach you a thing or two about writing craft. You may be wondering, “JSL, I’m an indie author, but you keep interviewing traditionally published folks! That’s not very indie, is it?.” Sure it is. Discovering what traditional publishers offer authors will allow you to reproduce those those offerings. It gives perspective, shows you what you are up against. And you never know, the traditional route may be a better choice for you. I’m fond of the entire publishing spectrum. Self-published? A somewhere between hybrid? Puritan for niche imprints? Big five champion? Sure, why not? We are all snowflakes with unique, sticky preferences. In this episode I interview a traditionally published author. She will teach you a thing or two about craft and targeting a wide swath of audiences. Victoria (V.E.) Schwab has published with Disney/Hyperion, TOR and Harper Greenwillow, who sele

I run across a lot of marketing folks. Their sensibility, demeanor and genuine empathy for audiences tell me that times have changed: marketing is no longer a filthy bag of tricks. We can substitute “marketing” with acts of telling story or encouraging revolutionary change or feats that enable creatives to perform their universe-given work. Today’s advice revolves around providing value to human beings who need it. I don’t know—that feels like a worthwhile mission to me. Writing is a difficult pleasure. Convincing readers to grant you a moment of their precious time is more difficult still, and there is nothing more pleasing than affecting change in a reader’s heart. It is why we write. We have power over our fingers, we can force ink to bleed, but we can’t force good, kind-hearted people to digest our words. We need to synchronize their needs with our offerings. We need to market ourselves. WrittenWordMedia helps authors connect with readers. It is one of the few marketing outlets I’ve found that warms my

Constance Hale is a delight. An honest, heart-warming delight. She projects a buoyant, youthful energy that inspires me to keep placing pen to paper (or fingers to keys) no matter the brain strain. She’s a pat on the back and a gentle nudge out of the nest. “You have wings. Take flight. Soar. Write.” She also endures. While most may view her vast readership as an enviable success, she struggles with Peak Content like most writers. Words are “cheap.” Publishing doesn’t pay. This realization forced her to reconsider her career, but she stuck with it, stayed frosty and hitched to the love of her life. She chose writing over a fancier car. She chose more ingenious means to generate income with writing as the fuel. Her book Sin and Syntax took my feeble grip of English and tightened it like a vice. It is among my most highly recommended books on learning how to write well, to write with moxie and shake things up. It allows me to be wicked while good, mischievous while remarkable. She taught me to how to captiva

Wicked writers evolve like stubborn single-celled amoebas. They thrive in hostile environments, tweak a gene here or there, produce more cells, eventually grow a limb and go prehensile. They adapt. When I look for new interviewees, I search first for wicked writers—I hope this is obvious—and then I mine their successes and struggles for evidence of adaptation. By what twisted means did they achieve their success? Sometimes it’s plain fortune. Often it’s a veteran cleverness empowered from years of dusting phoenix ash off oneself. These writers stand against the impossible, persevere and revel in reward. And what greater reward can a writer possibly possess than over 100,000 consistent readers*? Aaron Mahnke is one such writer. His hit podcast Lore grew out of an obsession with supernatural fiction. You see, Aaron didn’t find success with his first four books. Instead of abandoning the effort (or continuing down the rut), he pivoted, sought advice, thought of a new medium for readers to consume his work

Authors have it rough. Fungibility seeks to infect you at every turn of phrase, every scrap of dialogue, every edit, red slash, and cut scene. To be common is to flicker as a pixel in cold television static. The effective writer is in a constant and thrashing dance of disruption. They flee from comfort, and often sensibility, in their quest to flip genre convention while simultaneously honoring it. It’s a barefoot dance on broken glass: one misstep and blood swamps the floor. When an author’s feet remain unharmed (save for a knick here and there) and arrive at the dance floor’s opposing end, it is like magic. Like the first time you witnessed a magnet swirl iron filament and alerted you to mysterious invisible forces that defy common sense and alter reality’s potential. Max Gladstone is kinda like that. It was my sheer, selfish pleasure to interview Max Gladstone in Episode 10 of Bleeding Ink. My intent was to bask in the glow of an author whose line-level polish would make proud any literary snob and w

Josh Bernoff’s blog WithoutBullshit.com feeds a cool million readers a year. His message is simple: “reduce, reduce some more, and here’s how.” By judging his readership numbers and the enthusiasm in which his readers receive his content I am confident that reduction is an antidote to the overwhelmingly complex world we meet daily. Josh is the doctor and he’s got the cure. In my first reading of Strunk and White’s canonical Elements of Style, William Strunk’s Rule 17 presented to me a lifetime challenge: omit needless words. Its impact redirected my writing and, in one of those “hey this applies to other things!” moments, it redirected my life. A greater tenet I have yet to discover, for we need not limit omitting to only our words, but to all aspects of our lives. Minimal wins. It’s zen man. I’m just going to leave the expanded Rule 17 here: Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no

Don’t let Tim Grahl’s boyish smile and kind exterior fool you. He is relentless. Sure, relentlessly helpful, but too when attacking insurmountable goals. He orchestrates ruthless plans, beats down the door of the finest mentors, lays bare his flaws for critique and finds every shortcut to wrangle success in the shortest possible time. At his core Tim is an artisan blend of marketer and scientist—and damn good ones at that. We need more Tims in the book-selling world. Full disclosure: I work with Tim on my own book launches and author platform. I turn to him for advice. You can thank Tim for this very podcast—it was his suggestion. His counsel continues to deliver and its only limitation is in how I perform it, not in the guidance itself. He’s helped a milieu of best-selling authors—Hugh Howey, Chip and Dan Heath, Michael Moss, Charles Duhigg and Daniel Pink to name some notable characters—and what’s worked for them will work for you. Tim’s book Your First 1000 Copies should live on every author’s bookshel

Nick is a renaissance man. He possesses a varied skill set authors envy: can write well, can design well, can organize well and can get shit done. He crafted with unattended Nick-only hands his book Cadence&Slang—a delightful guide that instills tenets of Interaction Design as a Strunk or White might. Self-publishing just made sense for him. Why, oh why, would he consider a publisher when Mr. Disabato could accomplish 95% of the task unaided? He didn’t. And, to date, he has raked in $48,000 in sales from the eloquent C&S (how us cool kids mention Cadence&Slang). Would he do it differently today? Maybe, depending on how a publisher might promote his name and how that name may climb a respected list in New York—then, “Yea, maybe I’d choose to use a publisher.” (I’m paraphrasing) We explore this struggle in the interview. Nick was one of the first authors to use Kickstarter. That’s watering it down. Nick was one of the first human beings to launch a Kickstarter campaign. By serendipity his long-lost

Before this podcast Jeff Goins and I engaged in a riveting discussion on the dizzying responsibilities an artist must fulfill to increase their odds of commercial success. Part chief officer, part brazen artist, part handshake-get-in-your-face salesperson, creatives must split their personalities or find delegates for these roles. How does one go about this? Jeff has some ideas—as Jeff brims with ideas and quotes and “Have you read…?” and my-goodness-Jeff-let-me-get-my-pen-out! He is mid-distillation, having thrown together a frothy funky mash and, for the first time, has shared his fermentation process in this very episode. (tips hat) Take today’s successful artists. They share moxie, a gusto for disruption. They do not sit on their laurels and await discovery—they thrust themselves upon the world and use every friggin’ smartcut available to cast a spotlight on their work. This model of disruptive-artist will become the norm. Self-patronage is the new A&E record contract. The internet, with its Kickstar

I’m a big fan of those bold few willing to take on the task of bettering their peers. Joe is one such guy. He struck me as a gentleman on our first encounter—dapper, nice smile, good posture—and projected an affable, though introverted energy. It’s a kind of vibe I immediately recognize and respect: humility with a tinge of gusto, the mark of future good conversation. Joe founded the Write Practice in 2011. Each month it helps more than 250k writers on their journey to authordom. Not bad. The Practice’s comment sections teem with activity and have become a watering hole for a community of writers bent on helping each other. It’s an impressive feat when other such corners of the internet teem with trolls and slander. You will learn what makes Joe go. Where he comes from. Where he’s headed. Why he cares and how he goes about helping so many writers. You will learn how The Write Practice can help you and your sojourn toward sharing your inner stuff with the outer whole. Enjoy! SNIPPETS Learn how Joe starte

Unfurling an idea among some fertile mental soil and tending to its incessant and desperate demands until it takes its natural shape, ready for harvest, has killed many a good writer. These ideas recruit the unwavering if they wish to see themselves realized. And though we may falter, it is through brash perseverance that we sow words into novels. To put it plainly: this shit is hard. But does it need be as hard? Is there some means of reducing these sky-scraping hurdles and lend a plow to our weathered hands? I think David Bruns and J.R. Olson have discovered how. In this episode of Bleeding Ink, we learn of their co-writing process, of taking complementary skill-sets and mashing them into a solid whole, into a sane reaper of words. Yeoman metaphors aside, David and J.R. impressed me with a cleverness few writers seem to throw at the writing process. Kickstarter deflected budget issues. Questionnaires enhanced beta-reader data. While David wrote, J.R. researched. Their efforts rewarded one another’s weakn