by lcelum@yahoo.com | Jan 16, 2019 | Uncategorized
Greetings and welcome to 2019! It is so
good to be back with you for this third year of the #Author Toolbox Blog Hop.
Two years ago, I discovered podcasts and shared my list of shows that I was exploring. (You can read about that here.) Because I am frequently attacked by the twin goblins of limited time and limited phone storage space, I have recently been forced to cull my list even as I discover new shows to listen to. I imagine you are also beset by these twin goblins, so today I’m offering my top three (plus one) favorite podcasts (listed in no particular order) as a way to help you refine your listening options.
Writing Excuses – hosted by Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Taylor, and Daniel Wells
Although the show names only four hosts,
there is a wide cast of well-published authors who make regular appearances on
different episodes. Each episode of the thirteen seasons features three to four
cast members who discuss various topics relating to craft and style for
approximately fifteen minutes. There is also a book recommendation / promotion
in the middle of each episode.
The fifteen-ish minute format and fast
pace are perfect for highly detailed discussions that occur in short amounts of
time while the wide assortment of cast members and guests provides a varied,
diverse perspective on each topic. As an added bonus, a writing prompt is
issued at the end of each episode.
The Novel Marketing Podcast – hosted by Thomas Umstattd Jr. and James L. Rubard.
I recently featured this podcast in a post
of its own, but I would be remiss not to include it here. Specifically
targeting the area of author marketing and how to do it in a way that’s not
smarmy, each episode runs about twenty minutes long and is filled with
practical strategies and tips listeners can implement immediately. Each of the
170 podcasts also supply excellent show notes and offers the opportunity to
engage in an after-discussion related to each episode on the active Facebook
page.
The Creative Penn Podcast – host Joanna Penn
In its 400+ episode as of the end of 2018,
the Creative Penn Podcast is hosted by a New York Times and USA Today
best-selling, independently published author. About an hour long, every episode
provides information about writing, self-publishing, and book marketing through
Joanna’s personal experiences and interviews with other author-preneurs and
industry professionals.
Since traditionally-published authors
benefit from joining their own marketing efforts with those of their
publishers, this show is a valuable source of information for traditionally
published authors, as well. One feature that’s especially helpful is the
portion of the show where Joanna discusses news and trends in the publishing
industry. Overall, the podcast is filled with inspiration and insight
beneficial to all authors in every phase of their writing careers. Subscribers
can also refer to excellently detailed show notes and a companion website.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing Podcast – hosted by Lindsay Buroker, Jeffrey Poole, and Joseph R. Lallo
Although this podcast is specifically
targeted to a certain writing niche, the authors all have multiple
self-published works, so they bring a lot of experience and insight to the
audience no matter the listener’s publishing format. With over 190 episodes,
the show is designed to help authors establish their brands and increase the
size of their audiences. These podcasts are about an hour long and include a
segment discussing publishing trends and developments. Other bonuses include
outstanding show notes, a YouTube channel, and a Facebook page.
I hope this lists gives you a good place to start your podcast imbibing of the new year. I’d love to hear about your top three podcasts in the comments below!
To continue hopping through other great blogs in the monthly #AuthorToolboxBlogHop, or to join in, click here.
by lcelum@yahoo.com | Jun 21, 2017 | #AuthorToolboxBlogHop, Creativity and the Writing Process
Unless you have been living in a cave in a very, very secluded part of the world, you have most likely heard about, if you are not actually engaged in, the trending phenomenon known as the podcast.
I, myself a resident of said cave, have heard of the term only thanks to the fact that I teach high school. Were it not for my students, my technical savvy would be lacking on a much greater scale. My students keep me updated on all things trending, and we have a secure enough relationship that they don’t laugh too much when I ask them how to use whatever new technological marvel currently obsesses their media-saturated interests.
For those of you who are quite content in caves of your own and are unfamiliar with this new-ish technological marvel, a podcast is an episodic, radio-style talk or video show you can subscribe to, most often for free. Once you are subscribed, new episodes will download automatically to the media-playing device of your choice.
I tend to ban myself from excessive use of media. It is easy for me to lose hours in the time-sucking vacuum created by the computer or television screens dotted throughout my life. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it… I enjoy it too much, and I don’t have a lot of down time. So when I first heard of podcasts, I noted the idea, then filed it in the portion of my brain labeled “Highly Interesting but of Unlikely Benefit” and moved on.
Oh, how wrong I was.
As a writer who is addicted to research, one of the ways I work myself out of being stuck is to dig deeply into researching the concept I’m stuck on or the technique I’m wrestling with. I am new to the marketing game, so as I was researching marketing strategies, I discovered for myself what a wonderful thing the podcast is. I discovered that podcasts are portable, free, and abundant. I subscribed to one focused on marketing for authors, and now consider podcasts one of my first go-to resources, especially for research on the go. I can listen to podcasts while completing mindless chores, such as folding laundry or washing dishes. Thanks to current technology that allows me to sync my phone to the sound system in my car, I can even listen to podcasts while I’m driving. As I spend a lot of time driving, this is a beautiful thing.
I should come out of my cave more often.
For those of you who are new to the podcast form, or for those who are looking for some new podcasts to try, here is my current lists of writing-helpful podcasts. They are listed alphabetically with brief descriptions of major focus in the parentheses. I hope you find something among them that meets whatever need you are experiencing on your current writing journey, and I’d love to hear of any writing or creativity based podcasts you are listening to. Happy listening!
- #AmWriting with Jess & KJ (writing in general)
- Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach (writing in general)
- Book Launch Show (book marketing)
- Create If Writing (authentic platform building)
- DIY MFA Radio (writing-specific how-to)
- Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing (grammar how-to)
- Hastag Authentic (social media how-to)
- HopeWriters (writing in general)
- Podcast Communicator Academy (writing and creativity)
- ProBlogger Podcast (blog tips)
- Save the Cat! Podcast (story structure and form)
- Story Grid Podcast (story structure and form)
- The Author Hangout: Book Marketing Tips for Indie & Self-Published Authors (book marketing)
- The Creative Penn Podcast (writing in general)
- The Portfolio Life with Jeff Goins (book marketing)
- The Sell More Books Show (book Marketing)
- The Writer Files (writing in general)
- Write Now with Sarah Werner (writing in general)
- Writing Unblocked with Britney M. Mills (creativity and inspiration hacks)
To continue hopping through other great blogs in the monthly #AuthorToolboxBlogHop, or to join in, click here.
by lcelum@yahoo.com | Oct 17, 2018 | #AuthorToolboxBlogHop, Blog
You may not know this about me, but I’m relatively new to the whole concept of podcasts—I shared my discovery of this form of media only last year. While my list of useful podcasts has grown, I have recently discovered the Novel Marketing podcast, and I am jaw-dropped amazed.
Branded as “the show for novelists who aren’t necessarily fond of marketing but still want to become best-selling authors,” this is the podcast I wish I had found years ago, when my debut novel was released and I realized how much work I needed to do to get it discovered by those beyond my personal circle. Hosted by Thomas Umstattd Jr and James L. Rubart, both of whom are proficient authors and speakers, there are 159 episodes (as of this writing) of useful information, including shows titled “How to Blog Your Book Ahead of Time,” “How to Build an Email List Before Your First Book Comes Out,” and “Amazon Book Ads—Everything You Need to Know”.
So far I have only listened to three episodes (I told you I’ve only JUST discovered it), but I’ve already learned how to make an author press kit and where to place it on my website, the type of content readers most want to see when they visit an author website, and tips tricks, and unspoken practices for using Fiverr to the greatest benefit of my marketing efforts. These episodes were so packed with useful information that it’s going to take a few weeks, at least, to implement everything I’ve learned.
In addition to the actual Novel Marketing podcast, Thomas Umstattd and James Rubart have supplemental venues, as well. There is a free Facebook group , a Patreon page, and a step-by-step guide through the first five years of your writing career titled 5 Year Plan to Become a Bestselling Author. Please note, these are NOT affiliate links. This is just information that I have spent many moons searching for and that I am sharing with you in case you are on the same quest.
I’m curious to know if you’ve found any resources as beneficial to your writing career as this one is proving to be to mine. If so, I’d love to hear about it! Please share the details in the comments below!
To continue hopping through other great blogs in the monthly #AuthorToolboxBlogHop, or to join in, click here.
Please note the #AuthorToolboxBlogHop will be taking a break for November and December 2018. We will be back in January with more awesome content!
by lcelum@yahoo.com | Jan 2, 2021 | Blog, Creativity and the Writing Process, FAQ, Lands Uncharted
Welcome to this final installment of my answer to the question of what to do with a story idea. If you’re just popping in for the first time, you can find a list and links to the entire series at the end of today’s post. If you have been following along for a while,...
by lcelum@yahoo.com | Mar 20, 2018 | Creativity and the Writing Process
I love journals. Whenever I see a blank stack of paper, my fingers itch with the urge to find the nearest pen and fill each page with line after line of story. Add a stylish cover and the sale is practically made, whether I need a new journal or not. This minor compulsion is so strong that my elder son is prone to pushing me ever-so-subtly past the stationary aisle of whatever store we happen to be in at the time.
One lovely side-effect of my addiction is the benefit a new journal brings to my writing. As already mentioned, a new journal begs to be filled, so it can be a great means of inspiration for me on those days when it’s oh-so-hard to write. Not only is a journal a great place to sketch out scenes for my current work in progress, it’s also a fabulous place to keep notes and ideas.
At least, until I need to find those ideas.
Because of my love of journals, I have a whole collection of them. Flipping through them to find a half-remembered story idea or a tidbit of inspiration is time consuming and, often, quite frustrating in spite of the elaborate indexing and coding system I’ve developed to prevent such frustration-inducing experiences. I had given up on finding any batter system, ascribing the time lost while questing through journals as part of a writer’s lot until I learned of a revolutionary new idea: note cards.
Last year, I discovered the phenomenon that is podcasting. (You can read about that discovery here.) A short while later, I drove through a suburb of Houston listening to podcasts randomly shuffled from the list on my phone. (My vehicle’s audio system syncs to my phone. How cool is that?) As I sat in rush-hour traffic waiting for my turn to be cut off by a light that changed color much too quickly, my phone landed on a show called the Hope Writers podcast. On episode 03-07, titled “How to Capture and Organize all of Your Writing Ideas,” the hosts of the blog discuss a way of using note cards to organize writing ideas and inspirations. (You can link to the podcast here. Note: This is not an affiliate link.) The system is so much like the one that I teach to my student as they compile information for research papers that I felt as if a 2×4 had struck my head. I swear I heard the timber plank crack as it figuratively crashed upside my skull.
The basic idea is this: instead of carrying a journal in which to scribble whatever piques your fancy, carry a deck of note cards. Jot one idea per card then, when you’re ready to begin new project, organize those cards by topic and viola! Another application is to organize those cards by idea (setting, character, conflict…) and file them in a box according to whatever system works best for you. It sounds so simple, but I cannot tell you how much this idea
has revolutionized my writing life. I found a durable but light-weight note card pocket at my local office supply store, so I can keep my note cards in my purse on bag without worrying that they will become tattered. This has allowed me to downsize my Mary Poppins-style purse to a cute bag and reduce the weight I consistently carry on my shoulder because of said bag. I don’t leave tons of unused pages in a journal because I left them blank in case I needed to add to the idea already begun there. It is easy to punch a hole in the note cards and add them to whatever upcoming story binder they belong to. (You know: those stories you can’t write yet but know you will soon. I collect those ideas most likely to be developed into full stories in three-ring binders of their own and add scene, conflict, and character details as I find them.) It’s also a great way to inspire creativity: find a few cards that connect in an intriguing way and you’ve got a new story idea or novel.
The possibilities are truly endless. Not only that, this system allows me to actually finish a journal to the point where I can pack it away and actually justify my next foray into the stationary aisle or—even better—stationary supply store.
While I’m not a fan of reinventing the wheel, I do appreciate discovering ways to make it run more smoothly. If you have any organizational tips or tricks you can’t live without, I would love to hear them in the comments below.
To continue hopping through other great blogs in the monthly #AuthorToolboxBlogHop, or to join in, click here.
