Creative Writing Career

Latest Episodes:

Barnes and Noble Book Event and Building Your Thousand Fans with Jessub Flower Sep 12, 2016

Show notes

Author Jessub Flower shares how he goes up to the managers in Barnes and Noble and demands they let him show off his books there, and how he takes over Meetup.com groups to show off his work (kidding, he does it all very politely... maybe - listen to find out!).

He wrote an awesome book called RED BIRD,:

Jordy Nichols is eleven-almost-twelve. He's also an orphan, having no other family than his Uncle Carver.
The pair have hazy, almost nonexistent memories of their past -- in fact, the only thing they know is that Uncle Carver adopted him as a baby, and the uncle simply cannot remember life without the boy. Jordy, whose birthday is on Christmas Day, receives incredible and over-the-top gifts every year from an unidentified benefactor -- and the boy and his uncle try in vain to research the source.

This year, however, something changes.

Jordy receives two plane tickets to Prague, a hotel room key, and a note that simply says ""Merry Christmas and Happiest of Birthdays, Jordy. This year differs greatly. We look forward to seeing you. With our whole hearts."

Guided by a mysterious and almost-mythical Crimson Partridge, Jordy and Uncle Carver begin an adventure that leads them to a mysterious realm known only as "Olde World" and come face to face with amazing (and often frightening) legends as they journey toward their goal of discovering the truth behind Carver's past -- and Jordy's heritage.

Check out his cool blog here.

Jessup's bio on his Amazon Page:

Jessub Flower is a writer that resides in the Bay Area. He has written three novels, several screenplays, a few plays for the theatre, and has published articles and short stories.

Follow him on Twitter @jessflower

Visit his website at jessubflower.com

Promoting your Books and Leveraging Instafreebie with JN Chaney Sep 05, 2016

Show notes

Fantasy, scifi, and steampunk author J.N. Chaney sits down with the crew to share his experience growing his mailing list via Instafreebie, finding reviewers, and promoting his fiction via free promos.

J.N. Chaney was one of 8 authors included in the #Instafreebie 8 Fantasy Free Books promo. Get the free books HERE.

To get a free book from the author, go here: jnchaney.com/stay-up-to-date

J. N. Chaney has a Master’s of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and fancies himself quite the Super Mario Bros. fan. When he isn’t writing or gaming, you can find him somewhere online, probably goofing off. He spends most of his downtime reading, catching up on netflix, and building a weapon to combat the oncoming invasion of fifth dimensional beings (probably shaped like spaghetti or something).

After serving in the US Air Force, Chaney decided to pursue writing full time. Since then, he’s published two novels in his ongoing Variant Saga. It’s a cool series about genetic engineering, dystopian societies, and other neat stuff. Check it out if you’re into that sort of thing.

Buy his books HERE.

Visit his website.

Instafreebie and Author Giveaways with Ashley Durrer Aug 29, 2016

Show notes

Have you heard of Instafreebie yet? If not, you need to get on this! Head over to Instafreebie.com and you can set up some book giveaways to build a mailing list. It can also be used for advanced reader/ review copies, gaining some pre-release excitement around your product, and more.

Ashley Durrer shares some tips with us about how to leverage Instafreebie to get the most out of it. At the top of the list are group promotions (that are different here than some places you might have seen them), and the newsletters / website featured area and blog.

Don't forget to keep emailing your list and stay engaged! It's all about building that relationship with your readers. Maybe set up some more giveaways exclusively to your list, to show them you care. This helps create authentic buzz, and Intafreebie will then be able to boost and help to increase that buzz too.

How do you leverage Instafreebie?

Basically, just share your products that are on there (and other people's projects if you're nice), and Instafreebie shares you back! It's a great system of reciprocity and cross promotion! Yay.

More on Instafreebie:

You want to do the $20 a month option. For sure. Do unlimited giveaways, share like crazy, and you'll have it made. Oh, and require opt-in (meaning they have to provide their email address to get the book).

Let readers opt-in to your list.
As the reader claims your book, give them the opportunity to opt-in to your mailing list. Get more value from your giveaways.

Start building a relationship.
You can thank readers for claiming your book, give them exclusive content, and introduce them to your next project.

Add your readers to MailChimp.
Connect instaFreebie to MailChimp, add readers directly once they opt-in to your list.

Links to Justin and Kevin's books on Instafreebie:

Justin's FALLS OF REDEMPTION: EPISODE 1 AND OTHER STORIES

Kevin's CITADEL: FIRST COLONY

And because we love you, a couple more cool freebies on Instafreebie.com:

Michael Scott Earle's THE DESTROYER
(He was on the podcast here)

JN Chaney's THE OTHER SIDE OF NOWHERE
(He'll be on the podcast soon)

JL Hendricks ECLIPSE OF THE BEGINNING
(She'll be on the podcast soon)

Laxmi Hariharan’s TAKEN (for all those paranormal, shifter, romance, action/adventure fans). It is set in a dystopian world.

Adapting Screenplays to Novels and Writing Hacker Fiction with E.C. Myers Aug 22, 2016

Show notes

EC Myers is the author of The Silence of Six and its new sequel, Against All Silence.

He joins Justin and Kevin to discuss how he got started writing Young Adult (YA) fiction, how he became involved with Adaptive Studios, and what it means to adapt a screenplay into a novel in this model.

His website is ecmyers.net, and you can find out more about his work with adaptive studios at ecmyers.net/tag/adaptive-studios.

The cool serial project E.C. mentions: www.serialbox.com

E.C. Myers' Bio, per his Amazon page:

E.C. Myers is the author of the Norton Award-winning FAIR COIN, QUANTUM COIN, and THE SILENCE OF SIX. He was assembled in the U.S. from Korean and German parts and raised in Yonkers, NY by his mother and the public library. He is a graduate of the Clarion West Writers Workshop and a member of the prolific NYC writing group Altered Fluid. In the rare moments when he isn't writing, he blogs about Star Trek at theviewscreen.com, reads constantly, plays video games, watches films and television, sleeps as little as possible, and spends far too much time on the internet.

Distractions from Writing and Coping with Always Having Too Much Going On Aug 15, 2016

Show notes

In this episode, Justin and Kevin discuss how to continue to write when your life is full of distractions. Maybe it's just about changing your schedule to fit with the distractions, or learning to do creative work at a certain time of day, and the more menial tasks at 'distraction time.'

They talk Gen Con and lessons learned there, such as how to stop always "Muster-bating." Yeah, you'll have to listen to see what that is. Also, how can partnerships help in this regard? Are they sometimes a distraction?

If you deal with distractions, tune in and then go to the comments let us know what we left out.

And of course, we talk about how AMAZING the Stranger Things show is.

What is Draft2Digital?

Oh, this Unofficial Minecraft book looks cool... BLADE OF THE SEA.

Patrick Rothfuss' blog.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_Q3N3XUj5M

Writing Fiction, Hacking the System, and Forming a Writing Posse with Michael Anderle Aug 08, 2016

Show notes

You may know Michael Anderle from his amazing 20Booksto50k group, as well as his books that have done AMAZINGLY well on Amazon. He is a KU fan, meaning you can get all of his books #Free if you're a KU subscriber.

Tune in to hear how Michael hacks the system with his crew of mentees / students, and how he uses his business background to ensure his publishing success.

Visit Michael's Amazon page.

Michael's bio:

Michael Anderle (1967-Hopefully a long time from NOW) was born in Houston, Tx. A very curious child, he got into trouble - a lot. What to do with an inquisitive mind when he was grounded? Read! That hasn't changed since he was in elementary school. The Kindle was developed with him in mind. In the first 20 years, he mostly read Science Fiction and Fantasy. In the last 10 years he has enjoyed Urban Fantasy and Military Fiction. Using these influences, he has developed The Kurtherian Gambit. A series dedicated to watching how one genetically modified person with an incredible team behind her might be able to change the future, if she can survive along the way.

@MichaelAnderle

His books: http://kurtherianbooks.com

Writing Fiction as a Business and Being Awesome with Michael Scott Earle Aug 02, 2016

Show notes

Kevin, Justin, and Stephan are joined by the amazing author of THE DESTROYER (epic fantasy) and some other amazing books -- Michael-Scott Earle. He shares how he taught Justin to treat fiction like a business, and it's not just a saying. Want to get serious about your fiction too? Tune in to this episode!

What else do you need to know about Michael-Scott Earle?

You can find out all of his deep, dark secrets at these websites:

www.michaelscottearle.com
www.facebook.com/authormichaelscottearle
www.amazon.com/Michael-Scott-Earle/e/B019QSNVA2

Michael' book recommendations:

BOOK OF THE WEEK: Rhinoceros Success : the Secret to Charging Full Speed Toward Every Opportunity

And more:

Heroes Die by Matthew Woodring Stover
The Lions of al-Rassan
Sailing to Sarantium
A Song for Arbonne
by Guy Gavriel Kay
and then "The Sword" by Luna Brothers

And you can get them on Audible for free with a trial!

Michael's Bio from his AMAZON PAGE:

Thanks for reading my books! If you enjoyed any of my novels please leave a review, join my mailing list, and share with your friends.

I'm currently working on a space opera series and have outlines for a supernatural horror series, a Western horror series, a futurist cyber-punk series, a comedic fantasy series, and a series in the Destroyer universe that will take place a few months after the end of book 4.

When I am not working or writing, I enjoy cycling (road and mountain), guitar/bass guitar playing, esoteric music, reading, exercising, and spending time with my family.

check out www.michaelscottearle.com for more info.

Writing Survival Fiction and Post-Apocalyptic with Bobby Adair Jul 25, 2016

Show notes

Author Bobby Adair of The Last Survivors series shares his advice for becoming an author, building a mailing list, and writing with partners.

Bobby's bio:

After rewarding and successful careers in widow bilking, candy stealing, and puppy punting, Bobby served for a time in the peas corps. That last one was an accident of not paying attention. He thought he was joining the Peace Corp and instead found himself shacked up with migrant farm workers harvesting tiny vegetables.

It wasn't until the winter of '83 when the migrants were snowed in and forced to eat a three-legged transient in order to survive that Bobby began an introspective journey that led him to the summits of average-height mountains, through semi-arid deserts, and across relatively narrow oceans, that he discovered that the word introspection didn't mean what he thought it did. So, he sat down on a heavily trafficked thoroughfare in Bangalore, India and thought about things for a while.

Affluent Indians with high-tech jobs often offered to lend him assistance and kindly left him with enough Rupees to buy fried-bug sandwiches and used apple cores. His hair grew long, and his beard turned scraggly. His clothes wore thin. Puny parasitic insects befriended him in one-sided relationships.

Then one day, a dark-skinned man with dreadlocks and a New Jersey accent came and squatted beside Bobby on the road and asked him what he was doing among the beggars and stray animals. Bobby told him that he was on a journey of the mind and was searching for a direction in a life that seemed to have no meaning.

Dreadlock Man laughed and laughed.

Bobby asked, "Why are you laughing?"

Dreadlock Man said, "You're a writer, you idiot. Stop sitting on a curb doing nothing and go write something." Then he smiled and walked away.

After sitting on the curb begging for Rupees for another thirteen years while his head told him that Dreadlock's prediction made no sense, Bobby couldn't overcome the contrary certainty in his heart that Dreadlock Man had spoken true. He had to be right. Bobby realized, he had to write.

So, he did.

www.bobbyadair.com
www.bobbyadair.com/subscribe (sign up for his newsletter)
www.facebook.com/BobbyAdairAuthor

Sex and Violence in Your Fiction Jul 18, 2016

Show notes

Kevin, Justin, and Stephan discuss the issue of sex and violence any how it works in fiction, or doesn't. When should you show it, or should you ever? Should you avoid the topic altogether? Does including sexual violence downgrade your story or have affect our society in negative ways, or is it more important to stay true to the art and characters? Would Game of Thrones be the same if Ramsay didn't do all his horrible stuff?

Though calls! We have our advice on how to tackle it. Let us know what you think.

LINKS:

Something To Think About Before Writing That "Edgy" Rape Scene

Why are you writing a rape scene?

Rape Scenes Aren’t Just Awful. They’re Lazy Writing

Writing for others versus writing for yourself in video games, screenwriting, and freelance prose writing Jul 11, 2016

Show notes

Kevin Tumlinson, Justin Sloan, and Stephan Bugaj go into their experience writing for others, to include freelancing for clients, writing video games, and working for producers and studios on screenplays, and discuss the challenges involved. The gang also spends a good amount of time discussing notes.

If you're considering freelancing or landing a JOB as a writer, this episode is for you.

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