Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

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Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing EP 113 - Productivity for Authors Jan 10, 2020

Show notes

This episode features a live webinar panel discussion that Mark moderated with authors:

M Jane Colette
Tracy Cooper-Posey
Andrea Pearson
Talena Winters

...who have all mastered productivity in different ways.

As Mark attempts to learn more about how to be a productive author, he asks questions and solicits tips from these masters.

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.

Prior to the panel discussion on productivity, Mark shares a recent comment as well as a brief personal update.

In the discussion, the following questions and more get discussed:

Why is productivity important?
Is it important for someone to be productive?
How do you measure productivity?
How do you figure out the best time of day that works for you to be productive?
What tools are effective in helping with your productivity?
How do you find time to write when you have conflicting priorities, such as a day job or a busy/demanding family life?

After the conversation, Mark asks listeners to share their own reflections on what they learned, or perhaps their own unique tip on productivity.

All listeners who comment on the episode show notes over at starkreflections.ca for Episode 113 will be entered into a chance to win either a hardcover or paperback (their choice) copy of Joanna Penn's Productivity for Authors.

Links of Interest:

M Jane Colette writes tragedy for people who like to laugh, comedy for the melancholy, and erotica for men and women who like their fantasies real. She believes rules and hearts were made to be broken; ditto the constraints of genres. The result? "A whole new sub-genre of her own… social realist erotica that's frenetic and complex and funny and very well observed."

Tracy Cooper-Posey is a #1 Best Selling Author. She writes romantic suspense, historical, paranormal and science fiction romance. She has published over 100 novels since 1999, been nominated for five CAPAs including Favourite Author, and won the Emma Darcy Award.

Andrea Pearson - Andrea is the author of many full-length novels (the Kilenya Chronicles, Mosaic Chronicles, and Koven Chronicles), and several novellas. Writing is the chocolate of her life - it is, in fact, the only thing she ever craves. Being with her husband and kids, family, and close friends is where she's happiest, and she loves thunderstorms, the ocean, hiking, public speaking, painting, and traveling.

Talena Winters writes page-turning fiction for teens and adults in multiple genres including young adult, urban fantasy, romantic suspense, and women's fiction. She loves travel, music, whole food, sewing, knitting, reading, and chocolate. She is addicted to tea and silver linings. She would love to be a mermaid when she grows up.

The 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

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing EP 112 - 2019 Goals and Sales Reflections Jan 03, 2020

Show notes

Mark takes a look at his 2019 goals compared with his accomplishments for the year and also shares the %'s of his eBook, audio, and print sales for his indie published books in 2019.

Prior to the main content, Mark shares some recent comments and emails received. He also talks about a forthcoming live webinar he will be hosting featuring: M Jane Colette, Tracy Cooper-Posey, Andrea Pearson, and Talena Winters talking about productivity for 2020 (On Monday Jan 6, 2020).

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.

Mark thanks Lindsay Buroker for joining the team of Patrons supporting the show over at Patreon.com/starkreflections.

In the main content, Mark reviews his 2019 goals and discusses the fact that he only achieved one of those items on his list.

He then looks at the things he DID accomplish in 2019 that weren't on the initial list. And he follows that with outlining 16 goals he has set for 2020.

He then looks into the breakdown of his sales % from his indie publishing income for 2019 broken down by format: eBook, print, audio. He then breaks each format down by source, exploring where his income earnings came from.

Links of Interest:

The 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

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing EP 111 - Progression Dec 27, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, Mark shares the chapter on Progression from his book The 7 P's of Publishing Success.

The introduction is very brief because, as Mark explains, he has been hit hard with a nasty flu virus.

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:

The 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

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing EP 110 - Working with Libraries and Bookstores Dec 19, 2019

Show notes

In this episode Mark shares an interview that was conducted in the Draft2Digital offices for a Facebook Live video where Dan Wood interviewed Mark about his new book An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries and Bookstores.

This episode is sponsored by the Patrons of this podcast, who support it over at www.patreon.com/starkreflections

Links of Interest:

The 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

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing EP 109 - 12 Takeaways from CAPS Convention 2019 Dec 12, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, Mark talks about the importance of attending events and conference outside one's own area. In this case, since Mark normally attends conferences about writing and publishing, he extols the value he reaped from attending CAPS Convention 2019. CAPS is short for Canadian Association of Professional Speakers.

Prior to the episode, Mark 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.

For his personal update, Mark shares details about the release of his new book AN AUTHOR'S GUIDE TO WORKING WITH LIBRARIES AND BOOKSTORES as well as comments on Twitter.

The twelve takeaways that Mark shares include quotes from the following CAPS CONVENTION 2019 speakers.

Donald Cooper
Mimi Brown
George Saunders
David Arvin
Gair Maxwell
Ben Moorsom
Kelly Swanson
Lisa "Longball" Vlooswyk
Clay Hebert

Links of Interest:

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing EP 108 - Silver Linings with Talena Winters Dec 06, 2019

Show notes

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 evolution of her upbringing that eventually led to writing
Getting married on the same day that both Talena and her husband had graduated from university
The full length-full scale musical that Talena and a good friend dreamed up and created and which has remained on the back-burner for many years
How inspiration strikes and keeps growing when Talena latches on to an idea
The course that Talena took from Holly Lisle while she was still home-schooling her children and how much she valued things she learned in that class
The legacy of the "story in the drawer" that Talena wrote and then tucked away
The tragic family loss which threw their lives for a loop, the public way that Talena shared that experience, and the outpouring of community support
The empty home, the overwhelming grief, and the surrounding environmental changes that led to a serious move into writing
The "creatives for hire" ad for a new magazine that caught Talena's eye the led to journalistic writing
Applying that journalistic experience to Talena's inspirational blog
How Talena divides up and prioritizes her time
The value and importance of learning how to say no to certain projects
The app Timely that helps Talena track the things she does (so you can stop lying to yourself)
The quote that Talena has on her website: "The universe is made of stories, not of atoms." by Muriel Rukeyser

After the interview, Mark reflects on the importance of saying NO and in prioritizing the many tasks that often either fall onto a writer's plate, or come within a writer's horizon.

Links of Interest:

Talena Winters - Website
Talena's Blog article: Mark Leslie Lefebvre Finds His Voice
An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
NaNoWriMo
Episode 106 - Hybrid Publishing with Arthur Slade
Episode 105 - Location Based Storytelling with VoiceMap
Findaway Voices
Patreon for Stark Reflections

Talena Winters is addicted to stories, tea, chocolate, yarn, and silver linings. She writes page-turning fiction for teens and adults in multiple genres, coaches other writers, has written several award-winning songs, designs knitting patterns under her label My Secret Wish, and is lead writer for Move Up magazine. She currently resides on an acreage in the Peace Country of northern Alberta, Canada, with her husband, three surviving boys, two dogs, and an assortment of farm cats. She would love to be a mermaid when she grows up.

The 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

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing EP 107 - Samantha M. Bailey, Woman on the Edge Nov 28, 2019

Show notes

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 novel, then a second novel and how neither of them worked out
The multiple queries Samantha sent to her current agent before the two actually connected
Her experience self-publishing one of her novels under a different name several years ago and the relationships that came out of that
How Samantha never considered giving up and knew that she just had to keep going
The way that writing Woman on the Edge changed Samantha's life and the inspiration for the novel
Why Samantha set this novel in Chicago rather than in her home of Toronto - but how Chicago, to her, invokes the spirit or essence of Toronto to her in several ways
The two perspectives in this thriller, from the POV of Morgan (the main character), and the flashback sequences of Nicole, the woman who handed Morgan her baby before she jumped
How Morgan's POV was re-written into first person to give that part of the tale such a sense of urgency
The wonderful experience of working with her agent, Jenny Bent, who worked with Samantha to polish up the manuscript and then sold the book to Headline in the UK and Simon & Schuster Canada for CA and US distribution
The sales of translation rights to 7 other countries
The exciting promo that is planned for the book for release day in Canada (Nov 26, 2019) - eBook, audiobook, and paperback
How the paperback is coming in the US in the spring of 2020, but the eBook is being launched in the US in November
How Simon & Schuster Canada is the publisher of Samantha's dreams
The morning television programs Samantha will be appearing on as part of the book's Canadian release, as well as the scheduled bookstore and library appearances
Advice that Samantha would offer to her younger self: "It won't be fast, it won't be easy, but it'll all be worth it."

After the interview, Mark reflects on Samantha's upbeat positivity and the hard work, determination, and never-give-up attitude she adopted which helped lead to her unique path of success.

Links of Interest:

Samantha M. Bailey is a Toronto-based journalist and freelance editor who's written extensively for Now Magazine, Oxford University Press, and several other publications. She is also the co-founder of "BookBuzz," a promotional and interactive author-reader event held in New York City and Toronto that has attracted the attention of prominent publicists, influential media, and bestselling authors.

Samantha holds a Master of Education in Applied Linguistics and credit that degree with her writing career because she wrote her first novel while taking a course on imagination. Now her imagination leads her to create dark and twisty stories.

Her debut psychological thriller, WOMAN ON THE EDGE, is being published in nine countries world-wide, including with Garzanti in Italy, Roca Editorial in Spain, Heyne in Germany, General Press in Hungary, Euromedia in the Czech Republic, Ikar in Slovakia, Znak in Poland, and in North America with Simon and Schuster Canada, and the UK with Headline.

Samantha loves reading as much as she loves writing, so if she's not tapping away at her computer, she's probably curled up on her couch with a book.

The 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

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing EP 106 - Hybrid Publishing with Arthur Slade Nov 22, 2019

Show notes

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 minutes off, which assists with the necessary reset for his brain
How long Arthur has been a full time writer and how he writes so much
The moderate success of self-publishing the Amber Fang series, and how they were recently acquired and released by Orca
The challenge of not being able to track sales on traditionally published titles
Death by Airship, the book that Arthur wrote by coming up with the title first, then figuring out what it would be about while writing it The book Dragon Assassin, which was picked up by Scholastic Books in Canada, but which Arthur maintains non-Canadian rights to
Working with Podium for one of his audiobooks
Arthur's novel Flickers, set in the 1920s in Hollywood, which was also hybrid published
The way that publishers and booksellers look at past sales history and how that affects their acquisition and buying decisions
The way that Arthur adds a unique personal flavor to his newsletter, and how he manages unopened reads of it
Arthur's love of audiobooks, as a writer and as a reader

After the interview, Mark reflects on Arthur's hybrid publishing journey and talks about how it is a solid long-term publishing strategy.

Links of Interest:

Arthur Slade's Website
Descript (Audio Company with advanced audio editing, transcription and a beta Voice Double program)
NaNoWriMo
StoryBundle
- NaNo Writing Tools StoryBundle
Mythulu Writing Binge Survival Pack 2019
WMG Publishing Business Masterclass
Findaway Voices
Patreon for Stark Reflections

Arthur Slade was raised on a ranch in the Cypress Hills of Saskatchewan. He is the author of twenty five novels for young readers including The Hunchback Assignments, which won the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award and Dust, winner of the Governor General's Award for Children's Literature. His lifetime of work has also received the prestigious Kloppenburg Award for Literary Excellence. All of these awards mean that when he drinks tea he has to raise his pinky. It's very fancy. He lives in Saskatoon, Canada.

P.S. He does all of his writing on a treadmill desk. And he listens to heavy metal. At the same time.

The 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

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing EP 105 - Location Based Storytelling with VoiceMap Nov 14, 2019

Show notes

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 background as a creative person in audio, his early experiences with musical instruments, and the path that led to a role in sound engineering as a music and audio producer
Joining VoiceMap two and a half years ago as an audio tour editor
What VoiceMap is and how it works
The underlying passion of VoiceMap which involves walking along while sharing a story
Partnerships that VoiceMap has with various tour and tourism organizations
How, while walking tours are the most common, there are also bicycle, driving, and boat tours
Some examples of popular tours, such as the one of the theatre district of London with Sir Ian McKellen
Specific techniques that need to be employed on a walking tour, including timely silences, directions, and reminders
How authors can set up at VoiceMap account and set up their own tour
Logistics of creating a tour map and crafting a script based on timing (word count and estimated time) to walk from location to location on a tour
VoiceMap being in a 158 different countries at this point
The types of tours that VoiceMap is looking forward to seeing authors create
The use of VoiceMap to share fictional tales
Different ways that authors can leverage promotion for the VoiceMap tours they have created
Where people can find out more about VoiceMap and download the free app to their smartphones

After the interview, Mark talks about how excited he is about the emerging audio opportunites for authors and storytelling in brave and bold new ways.

He then shares a couple of examples of the sound-track to his Downtown Hamilton Ghost Walk tour from VoiceMap

Links of Interest:

Voicemap.me
Mark's Downtown Hamilton Ghost Walk Tour on VoiceMap
Link to YouTube video of Mark presenting on Storytelling 360
The official Haunted Hamilton Website
The Ghost Walks: Hamilton, Niagara & Toronto
Mark's book Haunted Hamilton
Descript (Audio Company with advanced audio editing, transcription and a beta Voice Double program)
NaNoWriMo
StoryBundle
- Saving the World StoryBundle
- NaNo Writing Tools StoryBundle
Mythulu Writing Binge Survival Pack 2019
WMG Publishing Business Masterclass
Findaway Voices
Patreon for Stark Reflections

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.

All you need is our mobile app for iPhones and Android devices. It uses your location to play audio automatically and includes offline maps. Just put on your headphones and you're ready to explore.

If you'd like to tell a story of your own, you can start right now, for free. Our publishing tool is easy to use and our team of editors delights in bringing new stories out into the world.

The 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

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing EP 104 - Living the Writing & Editing Life with Valerie Francis Nov 07, 2019

Show notes

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 StoryGrid Editor is, as well as the background to Shawn Coyne's StoryGrid methodology
How Valerie got involved in StoryGrid
The fact that Valerie learning more in two days spent with Shawn than she did in her entire journey getting a both her Undergraduate degree and her Master's in English Literature
The two types of services that StoryGrid editors offer
The commonality of how writers often resist "masterworks" in the StoryGrid methodology
The way that writers often consume a story by analyzing novels and films
The two podcasts that Valerie is involved in
How a StoryGrid study group has been repurposed into a podcast so that more people could benefit from the ongoing learnings
The difficult concept of hearing "Valerie, you are now the product" after exposing herself on a podcast
Valerie's comparison between running and writing, which had inspired Mark when he read about it in her newsletter
How all the world only sees the finished product and not all the hard work that happens in the background, for a long time, as well as the commitment from the person who has produced that work
Advice that Valerie would offer to the person sitting there and looking at the daunting work in front of them
The four hours a day, in two-hour blocks that Valerie writes in
Six goal-achieving activities for each day, that Valerie prioritizes
The advantage of being in the first time zone in Canada, two hours earlier than the most of the rest of the continent of North America wakes up
The most recent fiction and non-fiction books that Valerie has released
The 12 parts of Valerie's latest novel that can be consumed in bite-sized chunks, soaking in the tub with a glass of wine or standing in line at the grocery store
How, given limited physical space, Valerie decides which books she will own in print as opposed to books she has in digital format (Spoiler, any books by Neil Gaiman, Ian Rankin, or Margaret Atwood always make that cut)
ValerieFrancis/innercircle as a way for writers to see how Valerie is studying and learning from masterworks

After the interview Mark reflects on the comparison Valerie makes between running a marathon and a writer's process. He also talks about being re-inspired multiple times by Valerie and the value of that.

Links of Interest:

Valerie Francis' Website
Valerie's Most Popular articles on the StoryGrid Website
Podcast Episodes about Narrative Drive:
Mark's Forthcoming Book: An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries and Bookstores
Episode 92 - Strong Authors and the IP Legacies They Deserve with ML Buchman
Episode 102 - NaNoWriMo Wisdom with Vanessa Ricci-Thode
NaNoWriMo
StoryBundle
- Saving the World StoryBundle
- NaNo Writing Tools StoryBundle
Mythulu Writing Binge Survival Pack 2019
WMG Publishing Business Masterclass
Findaway Voices
Patreon for Stark Reflections

Canadian writer, Valerie Francis is a bestselling author, 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.

As a bona fide story nerd, her passion for the craft of storytelling led her to become a Certified Story Grid Editor in 2017. Her non-fiction credits include a Story Grid Guide to Bram Stoker's Dracula (publication TBA) and regular articles for the Fundamental Fridays column on Shawn Coyne's Story Grid website.

Although Valerie writes across genre, there is a common thread in her work and that is, strong female characters. Women and girls of all ages have a particular perspective on the world and it's this point of view she's keen to explore.

You can learn more about Valerie at: www.valeriefrancis.ca

The 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

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