Stark Reflections On Writing And Publishing

In this episode, Mark chats with Andrea Pearson, an author, a marketing guru and a mother. We talk about how she balances all three roles, about the tools she uses, her latest fiction, how she manages to get so much writing done as well as some of her personal takeways from the recent WMG Business Master Class workshop she had attended. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update about the status of some of his recent November goals, which include the print version of his two recent non-fiction books about writing and publishing (The 7 P's of Publishing Success & Killing It On Kobo). Mark also shares a word about the podcast's sponsor, Findaway Voices . . . During the interview Mark and Andrea discuss: The genesis of the Self-Publish Strong podcast where Andrea and her husband Nolan discuss movies in a way that writers can learn from The motivational marketing or publishing tips/quotes provided in each and every episode of the podcast The balanced blend between comedy and instruction that the t

If you are familiar with the Self Publishing Formula Podcast, you'll likely recognize James Blatch as Mark Dawson's right-hand man; his co-host, or, perhaps, his co-pilot for the podcast. But in this episode Mark puts James in the pilots seat with a focus on Blatch's own writing, his background as a reporter, a videographer and, of course, as a pilot. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a word from the podcast's sponsor, Findaway Voices . . .In his personal update, Mark reflects upon the recent death of Stan Lee and talks about the impact Lee's writing had on him, and, in particular, the influence that the character Peter Parker (Spider-Man's alter-ego) had. In the interview, Mark and James talk about: The type of specific videos or books that lend themselves best to YouTube videos VS Facebook videos How videos for most authors, specifically fiction authors, is a medium that can be used to connect and engage with a community of readers The intimacy of radio and digital audio format A bit about James' experie

In this episode Mark interviews Phillip McCollum about an intriguing project of writing 52 stories in 52 weeks. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a word from the podcast's sponsor, Findaway Voices . . . . . . and then a personal update which includes a push-up challenge he participated in at the 20Booksto50K conference in Vegas. Michael Anderle instigated this challenge for a good cause, with the following companies each donating $150 to the cause LMBPN Publishing Kobo Draft2Digital BookFunnel Reedsy $750 USD was raised for two worthy charities in a push-up challenge between Mark and Christine Munroe from Kobo. Chrissy's chosen charity was Children's Book Bank and Mark's chosen charity was First Book Canada. Mark thanks the companies previously mentioned for their generosity to two great children's reading programs and then also thanks new Stark Reflections Patron, Katie Cross, for supporting the podcast via www.patreon.com/starkreflections. In the interview Phillip and Mark talk about: The genres that P

Mark interviews authors Kerrie Flanagan and Chuck Harrelson about the steamy romantic comedy novels they have been co-authoring under the name C.K. Wiles. Before the interview, Mark shares a personal update explaining why he isn't participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this year, even though he loves it. He talks about how he will be using the month of November to get caught up on previous unpublished NaNoWriMo novels - in an effort he is calling NaNoComMo (National Novel Compleition Month) as well as a few other outstanding book projects he has in the works, including print and audiobook versions of two of his recent books on writing & publishing, The 7 P's of Publishing Success and Killing It On Kobo. He then thanks new Patron of the show, Mary Jo Rabe as well as the other existing patrons via www.patreon.com/starkreflections for their support, then gets side-tracked into remembering television shows like Romper Room and The Polka Dot Door. This episode is sponsored by Findaway Voices

Having just spent six days at the WMG Business Master Class workshop in Las Vegas, Mark reflects on the overwhelming and head-spinning influx of information, insight, wisdom, ideas, inspiriation, and perspective that he had just taken in. In this episode, he walks through some of the ideas on how authors can process such a deluge of information and adapt the curated learnings and ideas into things that are likely to best work for them. This episode is sponsored by Findaway Voices . . . Some of the elements that Mark talks about are: A few key things to remember before setting out to try to implement the ideas gathered The importance of first stepping back to take a breath and get perspective A list of questions to ask yourself when looking at all of the ideas that you have jotted down or taken in The importance not just of deciding on something, but deciding to act on that something The concept of EAT, FEED, DRAIN The FOUR-D way to update a to-do list The importance of taking responsibility for your own car

In this episode Mark chats with Dave Sweet and Sarah Graham about their new book SKELETONS IN MY CLOSET: Life Lessons from a Homicide Detective, an unorthodox police memoir taking readers on a ride-along like no other, revealing poignant truths about life and death, and how we can all work and live together. Danger and grit pair with humour and compassion in this gripping, fresh read. Dave Sweet, a conservative, veteran homicide detective has teamed up with Sarah Graham, a liberal, optimistic author to write this unconventional universal life-lessons book. Before the interview, Mark shares a personal update which includes: Why he is pushing back the release date of his book INDIE PUBLISHING INSIDER SECRETS Some reflections on how previous Stark Reflections podcast guest Dana Pharant turned a mistake into a win Mark's forthcoming trip to Las Vegas to teach at a WMG Publishing Master Class about the business of writing and publishing This episode is sponsored by Findaway Voices . . . In the interview, Mark a

In this week's episode, Mark speaks with Tina Dietz who is an award-winning and internationally acclaimed speaker, audiobook publisher, podcast producer, and content marketing expert. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a few personal updates that include the launch of his new traditionally published book Macabre Montreal, and how that book launch interfered with attending the NIGHT OF THE WRITING DEAD event in Pittsburgh that same weekend. This episode is sponsored by Findaway Voices . . . . . . and also by the Patrons of the show at www.patreon.com/starkreflections. All patrons will find, this week, the full audio of the first chapter about PRACTICE from Mark's forthcoming audiobook of The 7 P's of Publishing Success.   In their conversion, Mark and Tina talk about The link between writing/expression and entrepreneurship How writing (particularly in print) can be an enduring format as a tangable legacy Tina's introduction into podcasting and audiobook production Tina's Forbes article "Do You Sound Like a

In this solo episode, Mark reflects upon some of the things that happened at NINC and why he enjoys attending it every year. One of the things, of course, was that he recently became Director of Business Development for Draft2Digital. This episode is sponsored by Findaway Voices . . . . . . and also by the Patrons of the show at www.patreon.com/starkreflections. Links of Interest: Findaway Voices Patreon for Stark Reflections More Information about Stark Publishing Solutions Stark Reflections Survey NINC (Novelists Inc) Macabre Montreal The 7 P'S OF PUBLISHING SUCCESS   The music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0  

This episode centers upon four quick chats with industry folks from NINC (Novelists Inc) 2018 in St Pete, Florida. Mark shares chats (originally posted as Facebook Live videos on Sept 27, 2018) with: Carlyn Robertson from BookBub Damon Courtney from BookFunnel Christine Munroe from Kobo Writing Life Ricardo Fayet from Reedsy Prior to the interview, Mark shares some personal updates, including some activities that happened at the conference (such as a bookstore visit to Haslam's in downtown St. Pete) as well as prior to the conference. He also shares that his book The 7 P's of Publishing Success is now live at all the major eBook retail sites, with the print and audiobook versions coming soon. He also mentions a comment on the previous episode which inspired him to make getting the audio version of the book a priority, and talks a bit about using Findaway Voices (the sponsor for this episode, to get that book distributed and into the market).After the interview, Mark reflects upon the learning that can happ

In this episode, Mark shares an early audio draft of the chapter on Professionalism for his forthcoming book THE 7 P'S OF PUBLISHING SUCCESS which will be released under his "Stark Publishing Solutions" imprint by the end of Sept 2018. Prior to the audiobook excerpt, Mark shares a few personal updates which include: Attending NINC (Novelist's, Inc.) writer conference in St Pete, Florida, where he will be giving a talk entitled 5 CAREER KILLING ERRORS AN AUTHOR SHOULD AVOID as well as co-hosting an open discussion entitled BRAINSTORMING "THE FUTURE" FOR AUTHORS AND VENDORS Also, while at NINC, Mark will be visiting Haslam's Book Store which is allegedly haunted by Jack Kerouac (Mark wrote about it in his book Tomes of Terror) A thank you to the Patrons supporting the podcast via www.patreon.com/starkreflections A shout-out to Rook Winters for an awesome photo of some skull plates he shared on Twitter Thanking new folks who continue to fill-out the Stark Reflections Podcast Survey (with a mention of how the s

In this episode, Mark interviews Nathan Van Coops who claims that he lives on a diet comprised mainly of tacos. He enjoys old planes, motorcycles, and Volkswagens, contends that there is such a thing as “dressy” flip-flops and is the time travel adventure series, In Times Like These, and The Skylighter Adventures. Nathan, of course, isn't just an author, but he is also an aviator and the man behind Book Faces Live and we talk about all three things, and more. Prior to the interview, Mark gives a personal update that includes: His story "Active Reader" appearing in the latest issue of Pulphouse Magazine (#3) and how that had been a long-time goal The royalty check received from McGraw/Nelson for a short story "Almost" that is being used in a British Columbia high school curriculum He considers how both of these "new" items are stories that were previously published and yet can still result in residual income Mark then thanks new Stark Reflections Patron, Amy Teegan and all existing Patrons who support the sh

Mark chats with Dana Pharant, a business owner, a speaker, an author and the host of the Inner Dominatrix Podcast, about her new book The Inner Dominatrix Guide: Become a Badass in Business. Before the interview, Mark shares a few personal updates: Misadventures of the cat and the headset cord Experience using PublishDrive Getting Sean into indie audiobooks (and a mention that this podcast is sponsored by Findaway Voices) Mark also thanks new Patrons of the show, Joanna Penn and Ellie Ashe as well as all existing patrons who support the podcast via Patreon. In their chat, Mark and Dana discuss: The back-story and where the use of "Dominatrix" comes from (Dana spent 6 years as a Dominatrix) how principles of healing were learned through that experience which Dana has been able to apply to the concept of power, space and authority that are integral to the Inner Dominatrix The intriguing parallels between the role of Dominatrix and the role of Author Where the "Badass" attitude comes from and the energy that

In this solo episode, Mark talks about two specific examples from his own publishing experience, where having a crappy cover didn't help sales. He walks through the back-story for the eBooks in question, his reasoning behind the initial crappy cover as well as the positive results that came after he recognized his mistake and created a better cover. He explains that he is using personal examples for a few reasons, which include: the fact that it's easier to see fault in someone else's mistakes - perhaps seeing the mistakes Mark made makes it easier for an author to understand for their own purposes to illustrate that, even though he has fourteen years of experience in self-publishing and more than twenty-five years in bookselling, and should know better, he still makes mistakes - which means everyone can and will make these mistakes (so don't beat yourself up over it) Prior to the main content of the podcast, Mark provides a personal update about two items. 1) Recently received audiobook royalties from List

This episode includes a conversation with three guests: Ara Grigorian, Janis Thomas and Julie Strauss. Ara and Janis are the brains and brawn behind the Novel Intensive Seminar and Workshop and Julie was a writer who has attended and benefited from these sessions. The Novel Intensive Workshop is a hands-on full day collaborative workshop in which writers are able to apply the Novel Intensive Tools and Principles to their current work in progress. Guided by best-selling author Janis Thomas and award-winning author Ara Grigorian, the workshop gives writers an opportunity to share their writing, ask questions, focus on their own and unique challenges, and receive immediate feedback. Hands-on exercises are provided which are designed to help writers hone their storytelling skills. For this episode's personal update, Mark shares the fact that this week he is embarking on a two day personal writing retreat to a location that is about a two hour's drive from home; while there, he will be focusing on finishing the fi

Mark interviews Alberta writer Samantha Davidson a writer he met at the recent When Words Collide conference in Calgary about the author branding of hers that immediately caught his attention immediately and about her next plans while being just at the point of finishing the first novel she plans on publishing. They also talk about the way that she helps to inspire creative people, not just writers but creatives from all pursuits. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, including a few of the talks he presented at WWC. Knowing the Basics and Steering Clear of the Pitfalls of Digital Publishing What 25 Years as a Bookseller and Industry Rep Taught Me About the Business of Writing & Publishing The 2nd presentation is a bit of an early look at the non-fiction book on writing and publishing that Mark plans on releasing later this year. Links to PDFs of both presentations are available to all Patrons of the Stark Reflections Podcast. Mark also shares some info about a talk he did on the art a

This week's episode is a solo one, where Mark reflects on reflect the Two Wrongs That Make a Writer Spite. He takes a look at two negative things that writers often focus on which can be demotivating and make them hateful or spiteful - all things that detract from what writers should be focusing on to move onward and upward in their writer journey. Before the main content, Mark shares a few personal updates, one of which is related to the sell-direct BookFunnel and audiobook sell-direct option recently offered by Findaway Voices via Authors Direct. This week's episode is sponsored by listeners and Patreon supporters to the show. Mark explains that his nickname for listeners have been christened as Reflectives, and the outlines who he believes his ideal listening audience to this podcast is. He also outlines the ways that listeners can help support the show, which are:   a) continuing to listen to the podcast b) sharing the podcast with someone who would likely get value from it c) becoming a Patreon supporter

The feature interview in this episode is with C.C. Humphreys, an actor, playwright, fight choreographer and novelist. Chris has ten novels that were all traditionally published, several of which have been Globe and Mail Bestsellers and his historic novel "Plague won the Crime Writers of Canada's Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel in 2015. Prior to the interview Mark shares a few personal updates that include being in the Sudbury area to participate in a multi-author event in support of a book launch for his friend Mathew Del Papa for his latest book, Capreol at Bat. He also talks about how he has been slipping in the uploading of his #FreeFridayFrights weekly videos to YouTube as well as an update on how the free first in series sales for the Nocturnal Screams series are going on Kobo and iBooks. Mark then talks about how this podcast's sponsor, Findaway Voices, has soft-launched a new product called Authors Direct, a platform and app that allows authors the ability to sell their audiobooks directly and

Mark interviews Kerrie Flanagan, author of the author of Guide to Magazine Article Writing by Writer's Digest. Kerrie is a freelance writer with over 20 years of experience. As a writing consultant, she works with writers, giving them the encouragement, support, resources and tools to find success on their writing journey. She is the author of 8 other books published under her label/publishing company Hot Chocolate Press. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a message from this episode's sponsor, the BOOKS GONE BAD BUNDLE from BundleRabbit, which features about 260,000 words from 11 authors in 2 books and 10 stories of "Speculative Visions of a Uniquely Portable Magic." You can learn more about the bundle via BundleRabbit or check it out at your favorite eBook retailer. http://books2read.com/booksgonebad Mark shares a few personal updates, which are: The new FREE email course he launched via Reedsy called Kobo Hacks for Optimizing Sales. It is a series of 10 emails that each take about 5 minutes to read that

Mark chats with Dana Pharant and Barb Stuhlemmer about elements of running their own businesses that also apply to writers. Mark, Dana and Barb are 3 of 5 members of a recent business mastermind that took place where 5 business owners from different industries and areas of expertise all work together to hold one another accountable for business plans, visions, goals and next steps for growth. Mark shares his perspective on this first business mastermind group he has been a part of and then talks about his own specific takeaways, including the publication of a book he is 20,000 words into called INDIE PUBLISHING INSIDER SECRETS: What Running Kobo Writing Life, a Print-on-Demand Business and 25 Years of Bookselling Taught Me About Success for Authors, Publishers & Self-Publishing Services. He shares how the group is holding him accountable for a proposed publishing and delivery schedule for this book that he has already dropped onto the back burner. In their chat, Mark, Dana and Barb discuss: Strategies on

This episode features an interview with Canadian author Terry Fallis. who is a two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, the winner of CBC Canada Reads for "the essential novel of the decade" the winner of the CBA Libris Author of the Year Award for 2013, and someone who has had a 6-part mini-series based on his first novel appear on CBC Television.   Prior to his personal update, Mark delivers this episode's Tongue Twister, which is something Stephen King fans might be familiar with: the mantra that Bill practices when working on his stutter. "Amidst the mists and fiercest frosts, With barest wrists, and stoutest boasts, He thrusts his fists against the posts, And still insists he sees the ghosts" The Tongue Twister segment is sponsored by Findaway Voices. Learn more about how they can help authors control their audiobook production and distribution at www.starkreflections.com/findaway   For his personal update Mark shares how he has been overwhelmed with tasks and a growing list of unfinished