Stark Reflections On Writing And Publishing

In the introduction Mark talks about the newly announced Book2Pod service announced by Jim Kukral on the Sell More Books Show podcast and shares two of the voices available (Nigel and Jessica) to talk about one of the things he likes best about it (freeing authors to be able to work on their next book). Authors interested in testing the service out can do so at https://www.book2pod.com/testdrive/ The main content of the podcast is an interview with Scott King, writer, photographer, podcaster, overall creator. Scott has worked as a college professor teaching photography, digital arts, and writing related classes. He now works full time as a game photographer and author. As a board game photographer, he shoots games for websites, online stores, and for other marketing needs. Scott has also served as a reporter for the school newspaper and although another student was assigned the article about the movie King was determined to write it, demonstrating his willingness to break down barriers (like the ones in tradi

Today's episode is a little bit different. It's a solo one, rather than an interview. But this week I wanted to do a solid reflection, or perhaps even a rant, on something I've been thinking about a lot, especially in the last few weeks. This episode is entitled "What's Wrong With Indie Publishing" or rather, "3 Things I Worry About And That I Think Could Improve Indie Publishing" I went with the first title because it's a bit shorter and has a more active tense to it. --------- This episode has been sponsored by Findaway Voices. Findaway Voices provides all the tools that an independent author or small publisher needs in order to get into the digital audiobook market. Check them out at www.starkreflections.ca/findaway. --------- The title of this episode is WHAT'S WRONG WITH INDIE PUBLISHING. But the purpose isn't to slam, it's to support and help self-publishing, indie publishing and all the amazing opportunities that come out of the evolution of publishing in all its aspects. I love self-publishing, and ac

In the introduction, Mark talks a little about being in Colorado attending Superstars Writing Seminars in Colorado Springs, CO and the importance of understanding the business of writing and publishing. He shares that he will be doing Facebook Live videos of his experience at Superstars on his Stark Publishing Facebook page. This episode features an interview with Kelly Lytle from Findaway Voices. In their conversation, Mark and Kelly talk about: How Findaway Voices is a single service built to help independent authors and small publishers create and distribute their audiobooks, and that they are a fully non-exclusive platform to the largest network of audio sellers in the world (retailer, library and K through 12 markets) The pay per use model that Bibliotheca (3M) has. Meaning the library doesn’t need to pre-purchase the audiobook in advance. It is listed (like on any major retailer), and the purchase doesn’t happen until the library patron checks out that title The background to Findaway Voices as part of

Mark chats with Canadian Science Fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer. Sawyer is one of only eight writers in history — and the only Canadian — to win all three of the world’s top Science Fiction awards for best novel of the year: the Hugo, the Nebula, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award (the full list of such winners: Paolo Bacigalupi, David Brin, Arthur C. Clarke, Joe Haldeman, Frederik Pohl, Kim Stanley Robinson, Robert J. Sawyer, and Connie Willis). In their conversation, Mark and Rob talk about: The fact that Rob was the very first science fiction writer in the world to have a website (sfwriter.com) which has grown to over 1 million words of text and more than 800 documents since it launched in 1995, including documents about the craft and business of writing and publishing The text-heavy nature of Rob’s website and how he still manually codes his website in HTML The SEO involved in the creation of the SFWriter website using the three main key words: “science fiction writer” and how that has led to Rob

Mark interviews Sinead McElhinney, PR Coordinator on the Communications team from Rakuten Kobo in Toronto, Ontario about some interesting reading data that Kobo released near the end of 2017. They discuss the analysis of reading data, understanding core eBook readers better, as well as some of Sinead’s favorite things about her role in the book industry. During the chat, they discuss: Where she started and how she got her start at Kobo Her role in marketing and the on-brand customer/reader experience The double-edged sword of social media The difference between using social media for personal use and for a corporation that needs to keep its target demographics in mind Details about the top “actually read” books from the previous year and the data dissection performed on this reading data Just because something is a bestseller doesn’t mean that it is a book that has been read through to completion. IE, looking at books that were actually finished can be meaningful data The binge-reading that Sinead does the

Mark interviews Joanna Penn of www.thecreativepenn.com about her latest book The Healthy Writer: Reduce Your Pain, Improve Your Health, And Build A Writing Career For The Long Term (co-authored with Dr. Euan Lawson) and they also have a discussion about trends in publishing and speculation about the opportunities that might be coming for writers. In his introduction to the episode, Mark announces that Findaway Voices is now an official sponsor. He shares his own experience with using Findaway Voices to create audiobooks and also his plans for some forthcoming projects. In Mark's interview with Joanna, they talk about: The new book Joanna has co-written with Dr. Euan Lawson (The Healthy Writer) as a book she has written because it was something she needed to learn The “letter to sugar” that Joanna shares in the new book and how it was affecting both her physical and mental health How the decision to co-author this title came about (measuring the value that each brings to the project) and how Joanna and Euan

The start of a new year is always a time for reflection. It’s often a look back at the previous year and the goals accomplished during that period. And it usually also involves setting some goals or targets for the year ahead. In this episode, Mark Leslie Lefebvre shares three of the goals that he set for 2017 which he didn't complete. He walks through each of them and demonstrates not only where he missed the goal as well as how he could choose to beat himself up over not achieving his goals, or instead look at what he did manage to accomplish and how that has moved him forward. He also shares the meager earnings associated with a couple of these goals and explains why he feels it is important to share that information. When discussing audiobooks for indie authors, Mark reveals an unexpected source for his recent audiobook income, reminding authors of the importance of publishing widely to as broad a retail base as possible. He also looks at the trend of collaboration in publishing, calls out a few specific

Access to publishing has never been easier; and it's an amazing time to be a writer. But it may also be harder and more confusing than it ever has been. You currently have more choices, more options than ever in the history of publishing. What paths are right for you and for your goals? Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing is a weekly podcast starting in January 2018. Drawing upon more than a quarter century of experience as a bookseller, a writer, an editor and a respected and trusted book industry representative, I'm going to speak with folks from both the traditional publishing and indie-publishing communities, and share my own personal experiences and reflections on what I'm continuing to learn as a writer and industry consultant. I hope you'll consider me as an informative and inspirational companion on your writing journey.