Episodes

  • Ep. 10 - Dr. Maggie Gilewicz and HOW TO MAKE SURE YOUR LIFE DOESN'T SUCK

    Ep. 10 - Dr. Maggie Gilewicz and HOW TO MAKE SURE YOUR LIFE DOESN'T SUCK
    Aug 25 2022
    Questions We Asked
    Let’s talk about your background. Tell us about your journey toward obtaining your doctorate and your practice in sociology.
    You are also transformative coach which, Im sure, spawned the content for you book as How to Make Sure Your Life Doesn’t Suck, can you give us a glimpse into the practice of personal transformation as a profession, and how translating it into a book has gone for you?
    So, 2020 has been quite the black hole for many people worldwide. Emotions have been ran through the wringer so to speak and people’s self esteems are low. We’re tired, we’re stressed. We’re seeking human connection in a world that won’t let us leave our houses for anything but groceries and emergencies. How can we learn to thrive on a personal level during this time? How can we re-design our lives to maximize our happiness?
    Ok, let’s backtrack a bit and return to your book How to Make Sure Your Life Doesn’t Suck. You released in in January of this year and since then how have you been monitoring its success?
    It currently has 62 starred reviews on Amazon. What methods have you gone through to make sure your readers are willing and able to post so many reviews?
    Many people see social media as a negative influence in their lives. If we were to poll my listeners (and the world in general) and ask them “Have you ever felt that online life is a source for negativity in your progress be it spiritual, emotional, professional, academic, etc,” I’d be willing to be a high percentage would answer that our digital habit don’t produce the happiness we hope they would. You, however, seem to go against that current- your online life seems really quite jovial and happy. What advice do you have for those of us who are leery about using screens and social media to feed our hunger for happiness?
    Show More Show Less
    32 mins
  • Ep. 9- Katherine Grub and WRITING EFFICIENCY FOR BUSY AUTHORS

    Ep. 9- Katherine Grub and WRITING EFFICIENCY FOR BUSY AUTHORS
    Aug 25 2022
    Questions We Asked
    You’re a mom of many and you homeschool your kiddos which I think is awesome. Here’s what I find even more amazing: you actually have time to write! How is that humanly possible? And while you’re answering that question, please share a little bit about you work through 10 Minute Novelists.
    Did you find that, when your children were really young, that you had to do something else with your creative side during those elusive free moments when you could let your mind wonder?
    Approximately how many words can you have written in 10 minutes (on average)?
    What advice do you have for the grammar perfectionist who can’t fathom even the idea of “word vomiting?”
    Aside from finding 10 minutes to write here and there, are there other methods that you use to get your word count throughout the day?
    What advice do you have to the writer who has the time to both write their stories and build their platforms?
    How many books have you written and published since you began taking you writing career seriously?
    Having both self-published and traditionally published your books, do you have a preference?
    If you were to give writing advice to the mother with a newborn, a mother with kiddos in elementary/middle school, and a parent with high school/ college aged kids, how would your advice differ for each of them?
    Do you find that you have passed your writing gene to your children?
    How does your family support your writing dreams?
    Show More Show Less
    32 mins
  • Ep. 8 - Shayla Raquel and AUTHOR BRANDING

    Ep. 8 - Shayla Raquel and AUTHOR BRANDING
    Aug 25 2022
    Questions We Asked
    Do you find it difficult to triple brand yourself as a writing coach, a writer a non-fiction, and an author of fiction?
    Having come from a fairly successful marketing practice that had its start in the early 2010s, I was thrilled to pick up your book, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF AUTHOR BRANDING, last year around this time. But I'm not going to lie, it shook me. It forced me to pivot my platform building and break free from the old ways of doing things. What are some of the newest ways to brand yourself as an author now as opposed to 10 years ago?
    You've recently stepped away from Facebook to focus on other marketing platforms that work better for you. Mind telling us why the blue F got the drop?
    Which platforms are you seeing authors succeed most on in today’s social media de jour.
    What advice do you have for the writer who claims that they are not entrepreneurs and they they wish they could just do away with the marketing process.
    Did you self publish your fictional book THE SUICIDE TREE?
    Your site ShaylaRaquel.com is a plethora of resources and advice for writers, can you point us to the ones that will give your tribe the biggest bang for their site view buck?
    What is next for Shayla Raquel? Are you planning to create multiple versions of the 10 commandments as the industry shifts? Are you writing more fiction? Are you coaching the next NYT best-selling author?

    Pre Publishing Checklist: https://shaylaraquel.com/prepublishingchecklist

    How to Videos: https://shaylaraquel.com/howtovideos

    Shayla's Blog: https://shaylaraquel.com/blog
    Show More Show Less
    34 mins
  • Ep. 7 - Benjamin Bryant and THE ART OF STORYTELLING

    Ep. 7 - Benjamin Bryant and THE ART OF STORYTELLING
    Aug 25 2022
    Questions We Asked
    You are a man who wears many hats, and has worn many others during the course of your career. Can you tell us how many jobs you’ve had, approximately, and how the creative process has helped you in each?
    You’ve worked in showbiz and newsbiz for some time now. How did working as a journalist, radio host, broadcaster, etc., help you understand the delicate intricacies that go into telling a story?
    In one of Steven Pressfield’s books on writing, he stated that a good nonfiction story is best told as if it were fiction; following a 3 act process that includes narrative to engage the reader. I’m thinking about books like Enrique’s Journey and Unbroken which tell stories of people who survived atrocious injustices. Having written both non-fiction and fiction, do you find that following traditional fictional methods to write non-fiction books is useful?
    I’d be mad at myself if I didn’t ask this question while we have you on the mic: speechwriting - how does that even work? Do you have to consider the speaker’s personality and mannerisms when writing a speech for them? Or is it boiling a large set of run-of-the-mill cue cards that he/she simply reads?
    Let’s talk about screenplay writing. I know a lot of writers who think they are novelists but, when, (actually I should say IF), they finish their manuscript, it’s clear that their story is better fit for a screenplay. What types of things make screenplay writing different from writing a novel?
    What advice do you have to creatives, especially writers, who are trying to get their foot in the door of any creative outlet (be it filmmaking, novel writing, broadcasting, etc.)?
    Show More Show Less
    43 mins
  • Ep. 6 - Dzintra Sullivan and INDIE PUBLISHING

    Ep. 6 - Dzintra Sullivan and INDIE PUBLISHING
    Aug 25 2022
    Questions We Asked
    From start to finish, manuscript idea to hitting publish on Kindergartner’s Direct Publishing, how long does it typically take you to write a book and have it in the hands of your readers?
    Your primary genre is supernatural and the paranormal. Would you consider this the same thing as low to mid fantasy?
    Tell us about your work. Which books should we pick up first and why?
    I noticed that you are one of the few successful authors I’ve ever met to not have a website. I’d be willing to bet I have a handful of listeners who would love to know how you pull that off so that they, too, won’t have to create one.
    As an indie author, getting your book “out there” takes on a whole new level. Granted, most publishers won’t help you much with marketing either but as an indie author, you are all by your lonesome. What marketing strategies have you found to be the most successful?
    Let’s talk Twitter. You’ve been on the bird site for 7 years now and you’ve created a phenomenal community during the course of that time. How’d you do it?
    Now, you are a working mother with four kiddos, what does your daily schedule look like for your writing, marketing, and taking care of your family?
    Tell us about your podcast, "What the Book?”
    Show More Show Less
    30 mins
  • Ep. 5 - Annie Sullivan and TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING

    Ep. 5 - Annie Sullivan and TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING
    Aug 25 2022
    Questions We Asked
    You graduated with a degree in Creative Writing which means you had an affinity for writing even before you left for college. After studying the writing process and reading mountains of good literature, it shows in your books that you understand both the science and the art that is novel writing. What specific advantages did taking courses provide you as an author?
    Last year, you came to visit my school district and we had the pleasure of hearing your advice to young writers. There were some very poignant details that helped not only my own students understand the writing process, but it helped me as well. Can you give us a quick rundown of the of the advice you give to writers during your travels?
    The focus of your currently published books is on fairytale retellings. Can you give us a brief rundown of which fairytales you choose to redevelop and why?
    I imagine that many schools have opted to use your books as resources for studying the legends that they explore. I also saw on your website that you created teacher guides to help educators teach students about the history of these fairytales. This is a genius way to help extend the reach of your books into the classrooms around the world. Was this part of your marketing strategy from the get-go or was this an afterthought?
    How do you strike a good balance between writing your current work in progress and marketing your already published titles? Specifically, which platforms are your primary focus?
    You're currently employed as a Copywriter at the John Wiley and Sons, Inc. publishing company, having also worked there in Editorial and Publicity capacities. So you know how the publishing world works from the inside. What tips and tricks would you give to writers who have finished their manuscript and are ready to start querying agents and seeking publishers?
    One of the best ways to help make your books rise above the flooded publishing market is garner positive reviews on goodreads, amazon and any other platform on which books are published or talked about. I noticed that your books have tons of reviews, the vast majority very positive. Aside from writing very well-developed books, what is your strategy to ensure that your books get so many positive reviews?
    What books are you currently working on? What can we expect to see in on Annie Sullivan’s published works list in the near future?
    Show More Show Less
    23 mins
  • Ep. 4 - Chris Grabenstein and THE LEMONCELLO LIBRARY SERIES

    Ep. 4 - Chris Grabenstein and THE LEMONCELLO LIBRARY SERIES
    Aug 25 2022
    Questions We Asked Chris:
    Did you like to read when you were younger
    I would like to know how you make your writing so expressive.
    How do you not get bored writing the whole series?
    How long did it take you to write these books?
    Which character do you like the most?
    Where do you get all of the wacky ideas for the Lemoncello books?
    Is there going to be more backstory on Charles?
    Is there any chance that you would create a Mr. Lemoncello board game in real life?
    What is your favorite book you've written?
    What are other books you have written other than the Lemoncello series?
    What is it like having a movie made of your book, did you get to have a say on what went in the movie?      
    How do you come up with all the puzzles are they hard to think of?
    Can you tell us about what it’s like to co-author a book as opposed to writing it by yourself?
    What is life like as a professional author?
    What advice do you have for anyone who aspires to become an author?
    Show More Show Less
    25 mins
  • Ep. 3 - Nancy Springer and WHEN YOUR BOOK BECOMES A NETFLIX MOVIE

    Ep. 3 - Nancy Springer and WHEN YOUR BOOK BECOMES A NETFLIX MOVIE
    Aug 25 2022
    I heard through one of your tweets that, and I quote:
    "I've been doing many interviews asking what "inspired" me to create #EnolaHolmes. Sorry, but it was just business as usual!  An editor asked me to write something set in darkest London at the time of Jack the Ripper, that's all.  My first reaction was 'ick!'  I almost declined."
    How did Jack the Ripper time period transition into Enola Holmes?
    What does Enola have in common with Sherlock and what makes her different?
    As you might know I am a big Sherlock fan. Like many, the BBC series got me hooked. I have read about half of the Conan Doyle's Sherlockian stories and, as a 6th grade teacher, I'm always hesitant to recommend them to my students. Enola, however, brings the Sherlockverse to the Middle Grade audience and now I have a series I can put in their hands. What kind of feedback have you heard from young readers of the Enola Holmes mysteries?
    Enola has been made into a movie trough the sage wisdom of Legendary and Netflix who took the project on. How has it been working with screenwriters to bring Enola to the screen?
    Since the movie dropped, how has the response been from your fans, the public, etc?
    Stephen Fry wrote and recorded a series of essays on the body of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock collection and, in one of those he made the argument that Sherlock was a type of proto-Suoerman, a super hero before there were Superheros. Granted, there were always heroes in literature's prior to Doyle, think Odysseus and others, but Sherlock was different because of his intellectual super powers of deduction and reasoning. When I discovered that Henry Cavill was playing Sherlock in the Enola Holmes movie, I couldn't help but be pleasantly satisfied with that casting choice for, as you know, he has played Superman in the most recent movies in the DC cinematic universe. Does your character Enola, share any superhuman qualities like Sherlock’s advanced intelligence?
    Are there plans to add more to the Enola Holmes series?
    Show More Show Less
    21 mins