Stark Reflections On Writing And Publishing

Mark interviews Talena Winters about her multi-genre fiction, and the numerous other creative tasks and entrepreneurial endeavors she is involved in. Prior to the interview, Mark plays an audiobook marketing tip from an interview with Will Dages in place of the regular Ad read for this episode's sponsor.   You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. Mark then shares a few comments and tweets and then a personal update which includes: Completing NaNoWriMo while clocking in over 60,000 words An article featuring Mark entitled "Mark Leslie Lefebvre" Finds His Voice" His guest spot on the 6 Figure Authors podcast The completion and pre-order push of his new book An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries and Bookstores In their conversation, Mark and Talena talk about: The multiple creative pursuits that Talena is engaged in, and how she defines herself Talena's background as a musician and the creative evolu

Mark interviews Samantha M. Bailey about her debut thriller Woman on the Edge, about her lifelong writer journey, her relentless determination, and the patience, practice, and persistence that it took to get here. Prior to the interview, Mark gives a brief personal update about his progress on NaNoWriMo and a trip he will be taking to speak to a group of writers in Sudbury, and then shares a word about the episode's sponsor. You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.   In their interview Mark and Samantha talk about: How, at 10 years old, Samantha submitted her first manuscript to a publisher, which was rejected - and how it was her first lesson in developing a tough skin and not giving up Samantha's life-long love of really dark tales and thrillers, but how Jennifer Weiner's novels inspired her to write in a similar genre The completion of her first novel, landing an agent and trying to sell that first nov

In this episode Mark interviews Arthur Slade, the author of twenty-five novels for young readers about his writing, about his multi-layered hybrid publishing activities, about writing at a treadmill desk, and about his author newsletter. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, discusses a few social media and podcast comments, and shares a word about this episode's sponsor , Findaway Voices. You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. In their conversation, Mark and Arthur talk about: The ten years that Arthur has been writing using a treadmill desk, walking a minimum number of kilometers per day How the energy boost has come from that allowing him to get more work done Working and writing at a standing desk verses actually walking - and how long it took Arthur to get used to it The walking speed that Arthur sets to enjoy a natural pace Writing in forty-minute bursts, then taking twenty minut

In this episode, Mark interviews Gary Morris, Head of Production at the South African-based company VoiceMap. VoiceMap takes stories beyond the screen. It papers them to walls, hangs them over statues, and plants them neatly in public parks. Then, when you come along, there they are: reflections on the soul of LA, murder on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, nostalgia for the vanishing hutongs of old Beijing, and much more, by storytellers and passionate locals all over the world. The episode opens up with Mark's Voice Double from Descript's new beta program welcoming people to the podcast. He then shares a bit of information about this new opportunity for authors, which he thinks is idea to talk about during the opening of this particular interview. Mark then shares a word about this episode's sponsor, Findaway Voices. You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. In their conversation, Mark and Gary talk about: Gary's

This episode features an interview with Valerie Francis, who is is an author, a bona fide story nerd, a Certified Story Grid Editor and a podcaster. She has published fiction for both women (love stories for busy women) and children (middle grade fantasy), and is currently working on her first thriller. Prior to the interview Mark shares comments from recent episodes and also provides a short personal update He also shares a word from this episode's sponsor. You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. In their conversation, Valerie and Mark talk about: The way that Valerie slowly evolved from a full-time corporate dayjob into a full time writing career How writing was always part of Valerie's life and that she wrote her first "book" when she was 7. (It starred her teddy bear) - Her experience playing piano and jazz bass How if she is not expressing herself creatively, Valerie can get quite cranky What a Stor

In this episode, Mark shares 15 different quotes and ideas that inspired him during the Fall 2019 WMG Publishing Business Master Class workshop led by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith in Las Vegas. Mark shares a very brief personal update, explaining that this episode was recorded in a less-than-ideal acoustic environment, his hotel room in Vegas. Mark also shares a word from this episode's sponsor... You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. One of the over-arcing themes from the five day workshop event s was Diversification and the idea that "It's better to make a little bit of money from a lot of sources than to make a lot of money from one or two places." The 15 quotes come from: Kristine Kathryn Rusch Dean Wesley Smith Kevin J. Anderson Joanna Penn Loren Coleman Andrea Pearson Marie Whittaker Deidre J. Manna-Bratten Chuck Heinzelman Links of Interest: Episode 6 - 3 Things That Are Wrong

In this episode Mark interviews Vanessa Ricci-Thode, a fantasy author,  fiction editor and a NaNoWriMo veteran. Prior to the interview, Mark shares some recent comments from previous episodes and Twitter. He also shares a word from this episode's sponsor... You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. In his personal update, Mark talks about how he is approaching NaNoWriMo this year. He skipped it last year; but this year he is focusing on getting 50,000 words written for at least 3 different projects and will be tracking that. He is also curious to see how many listeners are doing NaNoWriMo this year. In their discussion, Mark and Vanessa talk about: Mark and Vanessa talk about: How Vanessa, who is an experienced NaNoWriMo veteran (doing it since 2006), first got into NaNoWriMo Managing expectations with family during a month of regular commitment to writing time Writing 50,000 words in 30 days while working

On Oct 17, 2019, Mark Lefebvre and Kevin Tumlinson from Draft2Digital hosted a live webinar "Ask Us Anything" Q&A about audiobooks, relaying questions from authors to Will Dages, head of Findaway Voices. This is a slightly abridged version of the audio track from this video, which you can see on YouTube. Discussion includes the following topics: Findaway Voices Giveaway Codes, how they work, how authors can request them and track their use StoryOrigin promotion site for audiobook giveaway codes How to get started with setting up an audiobook via Findaway Voices Standard calculation for determing finished audiobook hours (9300 words = 1 finished hour - or, for easier math, assume that 10,000 words = 1 hour) Typical studio production hours based on word count of the original manuscript (Most audio producers work on a 3 to 1 or 4 to 1 ratio - it, if the manuscript is 100,000 words, that'd be 10 finished hours and would most likely take 30 to 40 hours of production time The Voices Share royalty share program

Mark interviews international bestselling author Mark Dawson about his journey through publishing, his author support business and the ground-breaking publishing deal he just signed. Prior to the interview, Mark shares some comments left on previous episodes and via Twitter. He also shares a word about the episode's sponsor Findaway Voices. You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. In his personal update, Mark talks about Canadian Thanksgiving, putting up Halloween decorations in the front yard and a new anthology, Cursed Collectibles, edited by Angela Eschler, that he has a story in.   In their conversation, the two Marks talk about: Mark's background as a lawyer prior to becoming a writer, and how he has benefited from the skills he learned there The kick in the pants Mark received back in 1999 that led to his entry into publishing The surprisngly fast way he had found an agent and that agent had found

In this solo episode Mark talks about how authors can get their books into libraries in print, eBook and audiobook format. He covers the topic by discussing the triple A's of: AVAILABILITY, AWARENESS, and ACQUISITION. Prior to the main topic of this episode, Mark shares a word about the episode's sponsor Findaway Voices, which is suitably, all about how they can help authors get their audiobooks into libraries. You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.   Mark then shares a few comments from recent episodes as well as a personal update that includes two of his non-fiction books about writing and publishing being included in a new NaNoWriMo themed Storybundle. In his discussion of libraries, Mark talks about the following: Ways that authors can get their books in to libraries in print, audio and eBook format Questions that traditionally published authors should ask their publisher in relation to distributio

In this episode Mark interviews bestselling children's author Laurie Wright who is on a mission to empower people one book at a time through her books and the support she offers other authors to take action and publish their own books. This episode is sponsored by Findaway Voices. Mark talks about the promotional pricing tools built in to their tools. You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.   Prior to the interview, Mark shares a bit of an update about the previous week at NINC (Novelists Inc). He then congratulates the winners of copies of M.L. Buchman's ESTATE PLANNING FOR AUTHORS. Amy Tasukada And Vanessa Kier where the listeners who won by commenting on Episode 92 of the podcast. Julie Strauss and Amy Teegan were the two patron winners.   In their conversation, Mark and Laurie talk about: Laurie's background as a kindergarten teacher and how she was so motivated by the presence of "learned helplessne

In this episode, Mark shares ten tips on how authors can leverage their short fiction to earn more money as well as for various marketing activities. This episode is sponsored by Findaway Voices. Mark Talks about the promotional pricing tools built in to their tools. You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.   Links of Interest: Findaway Voices Ralan.con - (Short Fiction Market Resource) 8 Podcasts and Audio Projects Looking for Fiction Douglas Smith Article: Selling to Foreign Markets Douglas Smith's Foreign Market List Douglas Smith's Book: Playing the Short Game Active Reader (Digital Chapbook example) Snowman Shivers (Themed Collection - Free eBook) Episode 9 - Collaborative Publishing with Chuck Heintzelman of Bundlerabbit Episode 27 - Bundles, Curation, and Collaboration with Jamie Ferguson Bundlerabbit Books Gone Bad Bundle Amazing Monster Tales Collateral Damage (Short Story - Custom / Tie-in to No

This episode features an interview with Dale L. Roberts, a fitness author, self-publishing advocate and video content creator extraordinaire. The interview is filled with inspiring ideas for creative people that can be applied to your writing journey, as well as ideas for applying that creativity to auditory and visual mediums. This episode is sponsored by Findaway Voices. Mark shares insights about a great built-in pricing tool that Findaway Voices has for authors to use. You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. In his personal update, Mark shares the fact that he finally loaded a media kit to his author website, which appears as a link on his main media, press & contact page. He also talks about his forthcoming visits to Northern Hearts Romance Writers conference in Toronto and NINC (Novelists, Inc) conference in St Pete, Florida. In their conversation, Dale and Mark talk about: Dale's unlikely stor

Mark interviews author Pamela Brookes about the DOG ON A LOG series of books she writes that help kids learning to read with phonics, especially learners with dyslexia. Prior to the interview, Mark shares some recent social media comments from podcast listeners as well as a personal update about the progress he has made with a POD version of his chapbook Snowman Shivers which he is releasing in print and audiobook formats. He explains that he will share, thanks to a patron request, a full episode on marketing and making money off of short fiction, particularly with eBooks and audio, as well as release a special detailed examination of how he created the POD and audiobook versions of Snowman Shivers. Mark talks a bit about narrating the audiobook himself for that same book and how he used Findaway Voices for it (which is part of the mention of this episode's sponsor) You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.

Thanks for the Inspiration is a new type of show that will appear from time to time in the regular schedule. As writers, we often absorb elements from the world, the places, and the people around us. We observe, we ask questions, we speculative, we listen, we watch, we feel, and we write so much of that down which gets re-integrated, like some sort of sausage creation, into the stories and words and worlds we share with our readers. This Thanks for the Inspiration episode is an attempt to acknowledge and say thanks to the people, places, and things that have helped to either feed the muse, or perhaps just to feed the very soul and makeup of the writer behind that writing. This particular episode, Mark thanks Laurie Blake for his role in both his life and in his life in storytelling.   This episode is sponsored by the Patrons of the Stark Reflections Podcast via patreon.com/starkreflections   In his reflective thanks, Mark shares the influence that Laurie Blake has had on: His storytelling, in particular the

Mark shares a slightly abridged audio version of the Draft2Digital "Ask Us Anything" Webinar which was held in the Draft2Digital offices in Oklahoma City on August 29, 2019. It featured Mark, Dan Wood, and Kevin Tumlinson. Prior to the chat, Mark shares the following: The winners of Craig Martelle's book Release Strategies, which include the two winners from the comments for that Episode (Episode 90): Ted, and Chad Boyer. The two patron winners of the same book (automatically entered just for being patrons): Mary Jo Rabe and Matty Dalrymple Some recent comments from the past few episodes A personal update . . . as well as a word from this episode's sponsor Findaway Voices... You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. In the webinar, Mark, Dan, and Kevin discuss: Quite a bit about libraries and getting eBooks into libraries Successfully selling series books Digital box sets/bundles 3D covers VS Flat/Rectan

Mark interviews M. L. "Matt" Buchman about his writing journey and the importance of ensuring that an author's legacy and earning potential can be maintained for 70 years after an author's death, which is the subject of his book: Estate Planning for Authors: Your Final Letter (and why you need to write it now). Prior to the interview, Mark welcomes new patron Kathy Mac and lets patrons know that they can all download a digital version of Matt's book for free. Listeners to the podcast can comment on this episode at starkreflections.ca for a chance to win one of two print copies of Matt's book. Mark also shares a personal update about a fall he took the previous week (and how that made him think the topic of this episode was quite pertinent). This episode is sponsored by Findaway Voices... You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. In their discussion, Mark and Matt discuss: Matt's first novel, which he sold

In this episode, Mark interviews Stacey Kondla about her life as a book lover and about the recent transition into the role of literary agent. Prior to the interview, Mark announces the winners of David Wind's book The Indie Writer's Handbook via a random draw for comments on Episode 88. He also reads and reacts to comments from Episode 90 with Craig Martelle and reminds listeners they can win one of 4 copies of Craig's new book Successful Indie Author Release Strategies. Listeners can leave a comment or reflection on Episode 90 of the podcast at starkreflections.ca for a chance to win one of 2 copies. And all patrons will also be entered in a chance to win one of 2 other copies of the book. Mark then welcomes new patron Linda Hill to the podcst, and reminds folks that for $1, $3, or $5 a month, they can become a patron and get access to additional content and audio via patreon.com/starkreflections. After a personal update, where Mark talk about his new standing desk and office layout as well as being a recen

Mark interviews bestselling science-fiction author Craig Martelle about his journey into and through writing, the 20Booksto50K™ group and conferences, and his new book Successful Indie Author Release Strategies. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update about his recent visit to Calgary, Alberta for the When Words Collide conference, where he sat on panels, did 1:1 author consultations, and gave a couple of presentations, including a new one on The 7 P's of Publishing Success based on his book of the same name. Mark then shares comments on Episode 88 from Michelle Norry and Tracy Arial, discusses the comments, and reminds them that they are now entered into a chance to win a signed copy of David Wind's book The Indie Writer's Handbook. (Contest is over end of day Friday August 16, 2019 and winners will be announced in Episode 91). He also thanks patrons of the show, and reminds them that they are all already entered in a chance to win the other one of two signed copies. This is one of the bonuses

In this solo episode Mark explains why you can't have Mass Market POD books; how the very definition of the term makes it impossible. Prior to the main content, Mark shares a comment from Linda from the previous episode, with a reminder that there's a still a chance for those who comment on Episode 88 to win a copy of David Win's book THE INDIE WRITER'S HANDBOOK. Mark then welcomes Chad Boyer as a new patron to the podcast via Patreon.com/StarkReflections and mentions that this past Wednesday he loaded a new "Stark Reflections on Other Podcasts" episode for Patrons. This one was on a recent episode of The Creative Penn by Joanna Penn, whose guest, Jason Brick, shared a great bit about the four critical elements from a pitch. Mark then shares a word from this episode's sponsor... You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. As the main topic for this episode, Mark explains the background of the main formats of