Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

Latest Episodes:

EP 243 - Creating Nurturing Email Welcome Sequences with Holly Darling Mar 31, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, Mark interviews Holly Darling, an author and email marketing consultant.

Prior to the main content, Mark welcomes new Patron Holger Nils Pohl, shares a brief personal update, and a word about 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.

During their conversation, Mark and Holly Talk About

Holly's background as a romance author and how that led to her passion about email marketing
Her background in the entertainment business doing email and social media for musicians with large record companies
Responding to questions like: "Why do I need an author email?" or the idea of: "I'm a new author and don't yet have a readership yet."
The industry average of open rates being anywhere between 18% and 22% but how open-rates are not a reliable metric
How author email offers you a lot more control over the reader journey
The importance of a four-email 2nd phase nurturing aspect of the welcome sequence
Building a welcome sequence on paper first before moving on to the email service provider
How readers are 42% more likely to buy from an author inside of a welcome sequence than in a standard newsletter update
The way that a well-thought-out nurturing plan can help reduce your emails getting targeted as spam
What a lead magnet is and what type of content can work best in that regard
How, in sales, people buy from other people they know, like, and trust
That the trust element is what we're working on inside of the nurturing phase of the welcome sequence
The first short email in that sequence which usually contains the following elements:
- A picture of yourself
- A link to the reader magnet being offered
- Orientate them by reminding them how they got there
- Set the tone for what's to come
The importance of the trust in the email delivery service and the receiving email's trust of you
How clicks signal to the email service provider that the person sending the email is "legit"
Holly's typical email timing sequence for those 1st four emails is: 1) immediately when they sign up 2) 2 days later 3) 4 days later 4) 7 days later
Why Holly is a huge fan of the double opt in
That every email service provider out there allows you to customize your standard double opt-in message
The survey Holly has added to her emails asking if subscribers to the email want to receive all of the news she has, or if they only want to know about new releases and promotional offers
What tends to happen, statistically, when you give someone more than two choices or options
The importance of tagging people based on their interactions or status, including why it's good to tag people on their way "out"
eMail service providers that Holly would recommend
How the initial emails, particularly in the welcome sequence, need to have a heavier text component to them
A reminder to focus on the click rather than on the email open rate
The free courses Holly has on her site, as well as the 1:1 coaching she does with authors
Use code MARK20 to get 20% off any of Holly's paid courses
And more...

Links of Interest:

Holly Darling is a self-published author and an email marketing consultant for authors based in the theatre city of Stratford, Ontario. Over the years, she has helped nearly 1,000 entrepreneurs grow their businesses with proven email marketing strategies. And it all began with her passion for writing!

Holly's mission is to teach writers how to use emails to increase their sales and cultivate loyal fan bases. Her signature course, Email Marketing for Authors, is for writers looking to use email to grow their business. Whether you're a brand new author or an experienced writer trying to cut through the noise, Holly's passion is to help authors turn their readers into raving fans.

The introductory, end, and bumper 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

EP 242 - Helping Others Share Important Stories with Kim Lengling Mar 24, 2022

Show notes

An interview with Kim Lengling, author, writer, and host of Let Fear Bounce podcast and the Write Stuff, the author's voice TV Show.

Prior to the main content, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, and a word about 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.

During their conversation, Mark and Claire talk about:

How Kim accidentally fell into writing after being asked to share a very personal story about her grandfather who was a WWI veteran in front of an audience of 800 people and a bunch of television cameras
Being invited to write a monthly column on veteran issues after this speech
The evolution of this writing into personal stories that Kim helped veterans shared
Being the person who can help other people share their stories
A little about her grandfather's personal story that Kim had shared on that fateful day
The unique manner by which some of the veterans Kim has spoken to wanted to share their stories, and just how difficult sharing those stories can be for them
How with each story, Kim's passion for helping other people sharing their stories grew
Kim's transition from sharing those stories to her podcast and television work
The circumstances that led to Kim wanting to start a podcast
Why Kim named her first podcast "Let Fear Bounce"
The universality of fear and how that means virtually anyone can be a guest on that podcast regardless of their background
The 3 faith-based anthologies Kim published in the "When Grace Found Me" series that shares real life stories of women of faith
Kim's advice for writers that includes the negative self-talk authors can often do to sabotage themselves
Reaching out to Kim if you're interested in being on her podcast: VIA: lengingauthor@gmail.com
And more...

After the interview Mark shares a brief reflection about something Kim said that really stuck about continuing to do something because of the fulfilling feeling that comes from doing it.

Links of Interest:

Kim Lengling "accidentally", began writing in 2004. With her writing, she shares her faith, nature, love of rescue animals, and living with PTSD. She has been featured as a co-author in seven anthologies, is the lead author and coordinator of a collaborative 3-book faith-based series titled When Grace Found Me, the host of the podcast Let Fear Bounce, and host of The Write Stuff, the author's voice TV Show. You can regularly find Kim taking walks with her rescue dog, Dexter, reading, drinking coffee, and jotting down story ideas about her Realm. She is also 20+ year advocate for Veterans who live with PTSD .

EP 241 - Indie Publishing Has a Creep Problem Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

A reading, by the author (H. Claire Taylor) of her March 7, 2022 Medium article entitled: "Indie Publishing Has a Creepy Problem"

Links of Interest:

Claire Taylor's Website
Indie Publishing Has a Creep Problem (Original Article)
Buy Mark a Coffee
Patreon for Stark Reflections

Claire Taylor is the founder and owner of FFS Media. She also leads the Story Alignment services offered by FFS Media.

With over a dozen top-selling humor novels published (and many more on the way), she can write the crap out of a funny book. And she can help you bring out the humor in your story, too, without sacrificing a compelling narrative or strong character development.

She has professionally edited 200+ fiction manuscripts, with experience in every stage of the editing process from outline evaluation to proofreading. Her passion lies in telling a story that sticks with readers long after they finish the last page, and she loves helping others achieve that goal.

EP 240 - Character, Story, and Industry Alignment with Clarie Taylor Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

Mark has a conversation with Claire Taylor, founder and owner of FFS Media, about her writing, about story alignment, and about a creep problem that exists in the indie publishing industry.

Prior to the main content, Mark shares some randomly drawn prizes for three of his Patrons (two copies of a book on worldbuilding by Angeline Trevena and a virtual course by Claire Taylor), a personal update, and a word about 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.

During their conversation, Mark and Claire talk about:

How long it has been since the last time they saw one another in person due to that "thing that happened" (a global pandemic)
Claire's start on The Sell More Books Show Podcast (with co-host Bryan Cohen) in Jan 2020 and the importance of how the two hosts can raise different points to bring perspective to the news and tips
The challenge of reading news articles aloud live
Claire's FFS media company and how her story alignment work first started
The Enneagram (a typology system that describes human personality as a number of interconnected personality types) that Claire uses for her story alignment process
Mark's mispronunciation of Enneagram as angiogram
Aligning characters to their core motivations
The different genres and series novels that Claire writes in. H. Claire Taylor as a writer of contemporary comedy novels; H. Clarie Taylor co-authoring with Brock Bloodworth (a pseudonym for Claire) writing a paranormal cop comedy adventure series; Nova Nelson writing cozy mysteries and magical Renaissance fiction; CLaire Feeny writing serial killer fiction
Claire's passion for Renaissance Fairs
Leveraging her husband's experience as a police officer (and soon to be detective) in making her cop fiction more realistic
The culmination of having been writing since May 2015
Learning the importance of rest and changing her previous habits of being a chronic over-achiever
The origin of Claire's "The Waffling" series of videos and its relation to her giving in to peer pressure
Claire's social media "Hot Walks"
Being at the two year anniversary of when everything shut-down/locked-down for "two weeks"
Her publishing strategy of "Exclusive to Amazon Kindle" VS "Wide"
The genesis for Clarie's March 14, 2022 Medium article "Indie Publishing Has a Creep Problem"
How important it is for men to be aware that this type of thing is happening and how it's not going to be reported, and why women don't report it
The importance of paying attention to and focusing on that "sixth sense" of just knowing something is wrong, or the body language being witnessed seems off
How woman are often programed to diminish such an experience and to also gaslight themselves - so having someone acknowledge the wrong taking place can be extremely beneficial to them in validating the experience
Claire's own Enneagram type and how that aligns with her deep-rooted satisfaction in doing what is right and what needs to be done
And more...

After the interview Mark shares a brief reflection about something that Claire said that really stuck with him. "My fear of seeming awkward in a situation is less important than the possibility of a woman being in a bad situation I haven't intervened in." He also shares that the article Claire published to Medium will be the main content of Episode 241 which will be published almost immediately after Episode 240.

Links of Interest:

Claire Taylor is the founder and owner of FFS Media. She also leads the Story Alignment services offered by FFS Media.

EP 239 - Public Lending Right for Authors Mar 11, 2022

Show notes

In this solo episode Mark talks about Public Lending Right programs.

Public Lending Right (PLR) is the right of authors and other rightsholders to receive payment for the free public use of their works in libraries. PLR has been in existence since the 1940s and is currently available for authors in more than 30 countries around the world.

Prior to the main content, shares a personal update that includes Writers for Ukraine: The Million Word Challenge, and a word about 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.

Links of Interest:

EP 238 - This is Not a Real Interview with Jeff Cottrill Mar 04, 2022

Show notes

Mark interviews Jeff Cottrill, a fiction writer, poet, journalist and spoken-word artist based in Toronto, Canada, about spoken-word art and his new novel HATE STORY.

Prior to the main content, Mark welcomes a Patreon supporter, shares a personal update, comments from recent episodes and a word about 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.

During their conversation, Mark and Jeff talk about:

How Jeff had always been writing since he was young, including silly poems and sketches and stories
The writing becoming a bit more serious in nature in high school, and then later in university, where he was actually discouraged from writing for a while
Discovering the unique nature of spoken-word and open mics and then adapting his own style and adaptation of the art
How really bad workshops can be traumatizing and can set back a writer for years
The lack of (or overabundance of) life and energy within spoken-word poetry
Reading the room and playing off the crowd
Jeff's Octobe 2020 article on Digital Journal called "Meet the Zoom Poets: How lockdown has connected artists globally"
A bit of a backstory about and a short reading from Jeff's poem: ""This Is Not Real Poetry"
Jeff's new novel Hate Story, which is a mix of satire and mystery that has a plot structure that's like a loose parody of Citizen Kane
How social media gaffs can completely destroy a person's life
The Justine Sacco 2003 Twitter fiasco
Trying agents, and then discovering Dragonfly Publishing in Australia for this book
The virtual book launch on March 19, 2022 that is going to include guest musicians and other authors, performance poets and creative artists
Advice Jeff would offer to budding writers and spoken word artists
And more...

After the interview, Mark talks about what writers can learn from witnessing really good spoken word performances as well as the idea that sometimes your idea for a project may not always come at the proper time.

Links of Interest:

Jeff Cottrill is a fiction writer, poet, journalist and spoken-word artist based in Toronto, Canada. He has headlined in countless literary series throughout Canada, the U.K., the U.S., France and Ireland over the last twenty years. His performance style is influenced by slam conventions, but subverts them with wit, ironic humour and a satirical tone.

His poem "This Is Not Real Poetry" is currently nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and his first novel, "Hate Story", is coming soon from Dragonfly Publishing.

EP 237 - Building and Destroying Worlds with Angeline Trevena Feb 24, 2022

Show notes

In this episode Mark interviews Angeline Trevena, an author of dystopian urban fantasy and post-apocalyptic fiction, a podcaster, an events manager, and the author of a number of phenomenal books about world-building.

Prior to the main content, Mark shares a short personal update, including the fact one of his patrons will win a copy of Angeline's latest edition of 30 Days of Worldbuilding, a coupon code to get $100 off registration for Superstars Writing Seminars 2023 (STARKSSWS2023) and a word about 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.

During their conversation, Mark and Angeline talk about:

The release of the 2nd edition of her book 30 Days of World-Building
How Angeline has always loved fantasy, and choose-your-own-adventure books
The way reading The Chronicles of Narnia was one of the factors that led to her love and passion for world-building
The original 30 Days of World-Building starting as an 30 day Instagram challenge, that became a worksheet, that eventually became a book
How to Destroy the World, the 2nd world-building book in the same series that Angeline released
The original 30 days of world-building prompts that takes you from scratch, all the way up to creating a world ready to drop your characters into
Angeline's three rules for world-building: Revealing character, pushing the plot forward, and exploring the themes of your novel
Being a panster and an avid world-builder at the same time
Destroying a world or creating a dystopian or post-apocalyptic setting
How dystopian stories can often be filled with a lot of hope
Food within world-building, including all the rituals and festivals that have been created around food
How food can be a massive part of religion and magic
Some of the other writing that Angeline has done
Involving her 9 year old in the writing/early critique process of her middle grade books
And more...

After the interview, Mark reflects on the use of food in culture, religion, society, in rituals, as well as a way to help demonstrate or establish character and conflict in a scene.

Links of Interest:

Angeline Trevena was born and bred in a rural corner of Devon, but now lives among the breweries and canals of central England with her husband, their two sons, and a rather neurotic cat. She is a dystopian urban fantasy and post-apocalyptic author, a podcaster, and events manager.

In 2003 she graduated from Edge Hill University, Lancashire, with a BA Hons Degree in Drama and Writing. During this time she decided that her future lay in writing words rather than performing them.

Some years ago she worked at an antique auction house and religiously checked every wardrobe that came in to see if Narnia was in the back of it. She's still not given up looking for it.

EP 236 - Reflective Round Table Feb 2022 Feb 23, 2022

Show notes

Mark has a panel discussion with four of his patrons.

This episode is sponsored by the patrons of the Stark Reflections Podcast who supposed this podcast via www.patreon.com/starkreflections.

Matty Dalrymple
Alyssa Kuron
Kathy Mac
Faye Whyte

The round-table discussion focuses mainly on the following topics:

Digital/virtual versus real-world/in-person connections
POD and bookstore returns

Mark also gives out a coupon code for $100 off of for first-time attendees of Superstars Writing Seminars (Colorado Spring, CO), for Feb 2023. Use STARKSSWS2023 to get $100 off if you register before June 1, 2022.

Links of Interest:

EP 235 - Inspiring Readers Through Fiction with Annaliese Morgan Feb 18, 2022

Show notes

Mark interviews Annaliese Morgan, an author, traveller, a solo mum of two boys, and an award winning Advanced Veterinary Surgical Nurse, about writing, her book STAY WILD, and her passion for inspiring young adults and young readers through fiction.

Prior to the main content, Mark shares a personal update and a word about 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.

During their conversation, Mark and Annaliese talk about:

Annaliese's entrance to writing in the 1990s after her extensive veterinary work
Those veterinary related books, and how that led to a successful blog of autobiographical vignettes
The way that real life elements can be incorporated into her fiction
Annaliese's first novel, STAY WILD, an urban fantasy story set in present day London
Her imprint, Black Daisy Press, and her plans for it
The importance of inspirational fiction, particularly for younger readers
Advise that Annaliese would offer to beginning writers
And much more...

After the interview Mark reflects on a couple of things Annaliese said about there being no half-way when you're a writer, as well as big decisions and small decisions.

Links of Interest:

Annaliese Morgan is an author, traveller and solo mum of two boys... Max an actor and Woody, a gamer, You Tuber and aspiring chef. Originally from Yorkshire but based in London the three are rather like the three musketeers; they have a Basset hound called Pineapple, but he is more meh than musketeer.

Formerly, and in a different life, Annaliese was an award winning Advanced Veterinary Surgical Nurse in the UK. She co-authored a book on veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia in 1999 for the BSAVA. In 2007 and 2009 she was sought after to write three books (NVQ2, NVQ3 and A-Z for Veterinary Nurses) to help students pass their exams. In 2008 she opened the first pet health spa in the UK and published Desperate Housepets: Become a Chic Pet Owner Without Being a Bitch in 2014, and ran a successful blog of inspiring autobiographical vignettes entitled The Annaliese Journals - terrible title with some dodgy writing in parts but we all start somewhere - thousands loved it and were helped by the blog pieces, which is the bit that matters.

Since a child Annaliese has always been a writer and traveller, but after recovery from a near fatal motorbike accident including over eleven operations and learning to walk again, losing her brother to suicide and divorce in 2009, she chucked the burnt boil-in-the-bag rice in the bin and decided to up level.

Fast forward a few soul-searching years trekking across the planet and enough rejections professional and personally to defy the law of averages, Annaliese brought her edgy style, love for the supernatural and all things magical, together with her abilities, influence and passion for young people.

She started Black Daisy Press, her own publishing company dedicated to young and new adults. She also holds accredited diplomas in symbology, vampirology and Ancient Egyptian magic, and is an expert in the supernatural and mystical worlds.

Her mission is to encourage young and new adults to embrace being unique individuals and to stand out in a world of followers, whilst providing enchanting and entertaining material so they never feel alone, she she always did.

EP 234 - Reflections on a Reflective Talk Feb 11, 2022

Show notes

This episode goes a bit meta with Mark sharing a recording of Kathy Mac interviewing a group of her students shortly after a virtual talk that Mark gave to them on the opportunities available to authors within the traditional and indie publishing realms.

It is a "reflections on a reflective talk" episode.

Prior to the main content, Mark shares a word about 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.

Links of Interest: