The Book Creator Podcast

Hey There bookcreators, welcome back to episode # 37 of the book creator podcast! I was working on a couple of client books projects that will launch in this fall and I noticed that there have been some MAJOR updates to the Library PCN, or Preassigned Control Number, website! So today I wanted to fill you in on all the changes to help you figure out to get your title the the appropriate cataloging information that it needs for self publishing, or if you have your own indie publishing label. Alright book creators, let's get down to book creating business. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

Learn all about the NEW DIY Picture Book Academy-- created based on listener feedback! Hope you enjoy it! Check out the details on https://www.thepicturebookacademy.com! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

I had a great question come through from one of our listeners! Shout out to Dr. Edna for the inspiration of this episode! She wanted to know what writers can do to be more helpful to their illustrators and what the writer-illustrator process and contract looks like. So today we are going to talk about just that! Be sure to check out the DIY picture book academy on ThePictureBookAcademy.com! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

As summer approaches, events start popping up all over the place, family and friends seem to come out of the winter woodwork and want to do more-- it can be tough to maintain our momentum with our creative goals! Life moves by quickly especially when you have a lot of things splitting your focus like work, your family, friends, maintaining your house, grocery shopping… you know all the stiff that seems to be a time-vampire to our day! We all have things tugging at us! So today we are going to talk about how to be able to spend time where we need to and enjoy life while continuing to pursue our passions and actually have productive work time when we sit down to get things done! Grab your free worksheets on TheBookCreatorPodcast.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

I NEED to talk to you about something that I honestly don't know why it isn't a focused theme taught in high school, college or really anywhere for that matter! And this is the art of Creative Prospecting. Creative Prospecting is the ability to partner with the ‘other half' to your creative whole. So for example, let's say you make birthday cakes, the prospect would be the person who is in the market for a birthday cake! The act of prospecting is how to find that person so that we can do business and turn that passion into a profit! This week we are going to investigate creative prospecting. Grab your free worksheets on TheBookCreatorPodcast.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

Whether you are an author an illustrator or both, it usually means that you are of the personality type where you genuinely enjoy some quality YOU time working on your next creation. I am with you! But it is also super important that we involve ourselves with the market and publishing community so that we can stay on top of our game and also make connections in the field. This week we are going to talk about how to get involved in the publishing world everywhere from clubs, to guilds, to societies, challenges, conferences, writers and illustrators groups and more. Grab your free worksheet onTheBookCreatorPodcast.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

When it comes to books, we are designing a story that works just for our character. If we could easily remove our character and replace her with someone else, then it is a good indication that we probably need to rework our character a bit to make sure her purpose exists within the story telling. How do we make sure we have a detailed and complicated character? We spend time to create a Persona. Grab your free worksheet onTheBookCreatorPodcast.com #selfpublishedauthor #authorillustrator #getpublished #authorvisit #selfpublishing #childrensbooks #scbwi #nanowrimo #authorschallenge2019 #futureauthor --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

I am just getting back from an awesome author visit and thought that this would be the perfect time to answer some of the top questions that you all send over about author visits! Author visits are a big deal. When you come out with your book, one major service that you can offer (and that people will ask you to do) is to come speak about your work. Today I am going to answer your questions all about author presentations and visits so that you can get out there, spread your message, and start making an income doing what you LOVE! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

I know a lot of you want to know more about the self publishing route to see if it's right for you or could fit somewhere in your long term publishing strategy! So today, I wanted to give you a high level overview of all of the stuff I wish someone would have told me ahead of time in a a 10 minute dose about what would be in-store for you if you decide to take your manuscript out in the world on your own and pursue self publishing! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

How do we manage a combination of life, a day job perhaps, maybe kids, and yet continue to stay motivated to pursue our creative calling? We ALL could use some help finding that drive sometimes-- especially on days when we are tired and the weather may not be so delightful! This week we are going to talk about how to staying motivated as creative individuals. Alright book creators, let's get down to book creating business. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

So this whole subject of web presence is a big topic. If we are going to get out there as creators: start to make pitches, try to start selling our book, or try to line up author talks-- whatever it might be, we need the right information out there that not only sells our products and services, but allows us to be found in the first place! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

I get to talk to a lot of you at varying stages in your book making process! Some are just getting started, some have made a book in the past and want to create a second book maybe in a different genre, and others have put work into their first book and are wondering-- is it done? Am I ready to self publish this? Should I pitch? Is this book even ready to pitch? Today, we are going to talk a bit about this situation-- how do you know if a book is ready to pitch or self publish and at what stage are you ready to go? --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

I thought it would be fun to talk about how to start drawing! Maybe you haven't drawn in a while and just want to get back into it, or maybe you've always wanted to learn: in this episode we will talk about how to start learning to draw! And these are the things that EVERYONE can do. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

You've written something, you're excited, and someone tells you DON'T SHOW THIS TO ANYONE OTHERWISE SOMEONE MAY TAKE YOUR IDEA! How much of this is true? Is this something to worry about? When should you show someone your idea? Today, we are going to discuss fear/question as it is something many of us struggle with! We will talk about copyright, confidants, and our digital world. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

Of course we can pitch our manuscripts to agents and even go direct to publishing, but there are so many other ways to get going as a book creator as well: especially if you consider what it is you are actually pitching! As I get to know more about you and your publishing aspirations, I want to make sure that I am telling you about all of your possible publishing opportunities that might fit your project. Today I want to tell you about one such opportunity called iBooks Author: a free application, yes I said FREE, that you can download in the Mac App Store and it is a diamond in the ruff that you need to know about! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

This topic really does not get enough attention! For all the illustrators out there, as well as writers, it is super important to show a cohesive body of work. But what does this mean exactly? I learned so much recently from Cecilia Yung, the art director at Penguin Random House, and I wanted to share with you some of my big take aways as well as what I have learned from years of trial and error to hopefully help you make an awesome portfolio from the get-go! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

The title of Episode #21 says it all! It is so important as illustrators and writers to know how to get out of a creative blocks, ruts, low points: what ever you want to call them! These are periods we ALL got through as artists. I am just getting out of one of these periods, and I realized that it is so important to talk about what we do when we are feeling this way because there are many actions that we can take to get us back on the right path. Alright book creators, let's get down to book creating business. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

In Episode #20, we are going to have some fun thinking outside the box a bit of ways that you can sell your book and start to make a living from your title. Here are 8 tips for you to pursue. Alright book creators, let's get down to book creating business. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

Very early on in this podcast, as I started to get to know many of you, it became quite clear that there are a group of Book Creators who would like more of a hands-on/coaching experience where someone will help you to complete your book step by step! This, my friends, is why I am creating the Picture Book Academy: a course where I can personally take a small group of people step by step through the picture book creation process. For the past few months, I have been asking questions to our book creator community about what it is that you want to learn about? I have taken all of those questions, ideas, and feedback, and have used them to shape The Picture Book Academy curriculum so that it can be as helpful as possible. In this episode of the book creator podcast, I am going to tell you all about what the PBA course is going to look like. If you want to attend, it is only going to be opened to a limited group of people so that we can keep the discussion intimate-- all you have to do is shoot me an email at Rachel@StudioRadish.com and ask to be on the early bird list. This list of people will get first dibs at registering for the course and a guaranteed seat. I cannot wait to work with you on your books! If you are ever looking for a door to open to help you take the first step toward creating your picture book-- this is it. Looking forward to meeting all of you!!! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

I know for a few years now I have been trying to decide when would be the right time to go to a writers and illustrators conference. Even just this year I was still reaching out to ask questions to see if it was worthwhile to invest in this kind of experience! What I can tell you is that SCBWI Winter Conference was incredible and filled with so much Book Creation knowledge! In Episode 18, I am going to share with you all that happened at the SCBWI Winter Conference so that you can make your own decision whether or not you'd like to attend in the future! Also friends! I am just ramping up to launching the FIRST ever Picture Book Academy Course where I will take you step by step through the picture book creation process! We will work on creating your book product to work for either publishing avenue! I am only going to take a small amount of people in the first cohort, probably 15-20, so if you are interested shoot me an email rachel@studioradish.com and I will add you to my early bird list! This way you will get first crack when registration opens. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

Whether you are choosing to go the self publishing route or the traditional route: either way you will need to have some technical know-how to be able to create a working manuscript or dummy of your book! In this episode we are going to talk about some AMAZING book creation tools for your tool belt that will help you to create your book. Want to be a part of the FIRST ever Picture Book Academy Course? I will take you step by step through the picture book creation process! We will work on creating your book product to work for either publishing avenue! I am only going to take a small amount of people in the first cohort, probably 15-20, so if you are interested shoot me an email rachel@studioradish.com and I will add you to my early bird list! This way you will get first crack when registration opens. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

If you've been listening-in to a bunch of Book Creator Podcasts, you know that I am a BIG fan of keeping things as simple as possible. If you start Googling self publishing, you will find a whole lot of companies out there that offer services-- by all means look into as many as you'd like! Just remember that you need to create a title that can be affordable to consumers, and also compensate you enough/unit to cover your title costs and then eventually make a profit! Today, we are talking about a couple of different self publishing avenues: Ingram Spark and KDP. Also friends! I am just ramping up to launching the FIRST ever Picture Book Academy Course where I will take you step by step through the picture book creation process! We will work on creating your book product to work for either publishing avenue! I am only going to take a small amount of people in the first cohort, probably 15-20, so if you are interested shoot me an email rachel@studioradish.com and I will add you to my early bird list! This way you will get first crack when registration opens. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

I know that there are so many questions on your mind about which publishing avenue is right for you! So I thought we would spend some time talking about the pros and cons of self versus traditional l publishing. Also friends! I am just ramping up to launching the FIRST ever Picture Book Academy Course where I will take you step by step through the picture book creation process! We will work on creating your book product to work for either publishing avenue! I am only going to take a small amount of people in the first cohort, probably 15-20, so if you are interested shoot me an email rachel@studioradish.com and I will add you to my early bird list! This way you will get first crack when registration opens. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

Welcome back to episode #14 of the Book Creator Podcast. Today we are going to have some fun talking about Book Business Plans. Building a business plan is not something you want to skip over! Remember, your book is a product-- and a product that you hope will be purchased by actual consumers! If we treat a book like any other product development, we can have confidence that what we are developing will fly in the marketplace. Alright book creators, lets get down to book creator business. Please connect with Rachel on Instagram and Facebook @TheBookCreatorPodcast or @ThePictureBookAcademy. Grab your free Book Creation worksheets on http://TheBookCreatorPodcast.com! If you have an idea for an episode, feel free to reach out to Rachel through any of these channels! Talk to you soon Book Creators! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

In Episode #13, we are going to talk all about the wonder that is a Book Map! I've been so excited to nerd-out a bit talk with you about this topic! I love creating book maps-- it is one of the most exciting stages of the book making process in that you get your very first glimpse of what your final book is going to be like. Book Maps help us to create a 5000 foot view of our book so that we have an architectural plan to follow moving forward. Listen anywhere you listen to podcasts! For a full list of options, head to TheBookCreatorPodcast.com. Please connect with Rachel on Instagram and Facebook @TheBookCreatorPodcast or @ThePictureBookAcademy. Grab your free Book Creation worksheets on http://TheBookCreatorPodcast.com! If you have an idea for an episode, feel free to reach out to Rachel through any of these channels! Talk to you soon Book Creators! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

I've been getting a good deal of questions about how to get out there as an author/illustrator or soon to be author/illustrator! This is a great topic for all of us to be thinking about, no matter what stage of the game we are in! I thought it would be fun to do something a little different and answer a few of YOUR questions! So here we go, in episode #12 we are going to talk about YOUR top 5 questions about social media as it pertains to book creating. Listen anywhere you listen to podcasts! For a full list of options, head to TheBookCreatorPodcast.com. Please connect with Rachel on Instagram and Facebook @TheBookCreatorPodcast or @ThePictureBookAcademy. Grab your free Book Creation worksheets on http://TheBookCreatorPodcast.com! If you have an idea for an episode, feel free to reach out to Rachel through any of these channels! Talk to you soon Book Creators! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

Description: Have you ever noticed that when you go to the gym for the month of January there is a crazy surge of people there and it is busy almost every day? Then by the time February hits, the gym population is back down to its normal size. This is the perfect example of creating a non-sustainable new years resolution. As you launch your 2019, I want to make sure that your BIG Book creation goal is something that doesn't fall by the wayside. Today we are going to talk about 5 tips to a No Excuses New Year that will help you accomplish all that you set out to do! Let's get down to book creation business! Listen anywhere you listen to podcasts! For a full list of options, head to TheBookCreatorPodcast.com. Please connect with Rachel on Instagram and Facebook @TheBookCreatorPodcast or @ThePictureBookAcademy. Grab your free Book Creation worksheets on http://TheBookCreatorPodcast.com! If you have an idea for an episode, feel free to reach out to Rachel through any of these channels! Talk to you soon Book Creators! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

In episode #10, we are going to have some fun talking all about some things I want to add to your creative stockings this year: a whole bunch of Book Creator resources and more podcasts! No one can know everything, and that is why it is OH SO important to know how to use your resources. Listen anywhere you listen to podcasts! For a full list of options, head to TheBookCreatorPodcast.com. Please connect with Rachel on Instagram and Facebook @TheBookCreatorPodcast or @ThePictureBookAcademy. Grab your free Book Creation worksheets on http://TheBookCreatorPodcast.com! If you have an idea for an episode, feel free to reach out to Rachel through any of these channels! Talk to you soon Book Creators! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

In episode #9, we are going to discuss how at every stage of the game, whether your book is out or not, how you can start to build your audience of loyal fans. Alright book creators. In this episode we will talk all about: 1. Building your book-brand and becoming an known authority on your topic 2. How to come out publicly as an author 3. How to turn your social accounts to author accounts 4. How to build your unique author-brand. 5. How to grow your followers before you even have a book 6. How to create/grow an audience 7. Build Your Network of Buyers Listen anywhere you listen to podcasts! For a full list of options, head to TheBookCreatorPodcast.com. Please connect with Rachel on Instagram and Facebook @TheBookCreatorPodcast or @ThePictureBookAcademy. Grab your free Book Creation worksheets on http://TheBookCreatorPodcast.com! If you have an idea for an episode, feel free to reach out to Rachel through any of these channels! Talk to you soon Book Creators! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

Something that you will guaranteed come across in your search is something that is referred to in the industry as a Vanity Press. These companies offers sound really appealing and are designed to market to a very specific person in a very specific state of mind. As you may have guessed-- the person most susceptible to these offers are book creators early in their careers. In this day and age, there are so many options and considerations to make when you are creating your book: Should you self publish? Should you pursue an agent? Should you try to pursue publishers directly? If you are a writer, should you hire an illustrator, should you hire an editor? Should you jump on the cutting edge publishing approach of chapter by chapter releases to gain and grow your audience for your first book? We are very fortunate to have SO many avenues but with these avenues comes SO many questions. So let's start to dig in and talk all about which avenues are good to pursue and which to watch out for in the wide world of publishing. Alright book Creators, let's get down to book creating business. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

Today we are going to be talking about a REALLY big topic-- one that haunts us all because it is so gosh darn important--and that is, Style. Today we are going to go through 5 Exercises that will help you get on your style path! Alright book creators, let’s get down to book creating business. Please connect with Rachel on Instagram and Facebook @TheBookCreatorPodcast or @ThePictureBookAcademy. For free Book Creation worksheets, visit TheBookCreatorPodcast.com. If you have an idea for an episode, feel free to reach out to Rachel through any of these channels! Talk to you soon Book Creators! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

First thing's first: what is an Author Page? An Author Page is your author website! As you start working on your book project, there is one thing to keep in mind: it is NEVER too early to start building your audience. We want to start connecting with people and allow them to get to know you as who you intend to be: a developing author, Illustrator, or author-illustrator. Starting to build an intentional audience early will start our process of having book buyers lined up and ready to go when our book is ready and launched! The next step is being findable as a book creator. When individuals are searching for you on the web, it is important that people can easily find: your social media accounts, (if you have a blog) your blog, and an author page. All of these need to be findable through a quick google search… and consistent branding needs to be found across all platforms! So with that, join me for episode #6 to get started talking all about your Author Page. Please connect with Rachel on Instagram and Facebook @TheBookCreatorPodcast or @ThePictureBookAcademy. For free Book Creation worksheets, visit TheBookCreatorPodcast.com. If you have an idea for an episode, feel free to reach out to Rachel through any of these channels! Talk to you soon Book Creators! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

Creating a book means that you are creating a product: there is so much that needs to happen to make it a success! Check out episode #5 to learn all about how to set yourself up for success beginning with mindset, then a short talk about the power of creating a creative environment for yourself, followed by the 5 phases of book creation! You don't want to miss it. Please connect with Rachel on Instagram and Facebook @TheBookCreatorPodcast or @ThePictureBookAcademy. For free Book Creation worksheets, visit TheBookCreatorPodcast.com. If you have an idea for an episode, feel free to reach out to Rachel through any of these channels! Talk to you soon Book Creators! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

Rachel jumps into Part II of our creativity conversation and talks all about the creative journey. In this episode you will get to know all about her journey so far, where she is along her path, and how she can help you discover your own book creation path! Please connect with Rachel on Instagram and Facebook @TheBookCreatorPodcast or @ThePictureBookAcademy. For free Book Creation worksheets, visit TheBookCreatorPodcast.com. If you have an idea for an episode, feel free to reach out to Rachel through any of these channels! Talk to you soon Book Creators! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

Being creative is not a choice, it's part of who you are. To deny it means you are trying to get one of purist parts of you— the one that makes you, you! In this episode we talk all about what it means to be a creative person, how to decide which paths to pursue and which paths maybe you should pivot away from, and the importance of staying true to your authentic self. You get to where you want to go by taking action: whether that means pursuing one path at a time or three, you must start. The important thing to realize is that, nothing happens at once, and the road creates itself as you take steps forward. In this episode Rachel shares part of her creative journey as well as a big discovery that helped her to arrive at where she is today. Part one of a two part episode. Please connect with Rachel on Instagram and Facebook @TheBookCreatorPodcast or @ThePictureBookAcademy. For free Book Creation worksheets, visit TheBookCreatorPodcast.com. If you have an idea for an episode, feel free to reach out to Rachel through any of these channels! Talk to you soon Book Creators! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

Creativity takes such courage! Only you can safeguard your idea and develop it until it is ready to be born into the world: and then after that, it will need to be able to stand on its own two feet! It is critical for us to talk not only about strategy, sales, marketing and product development (those items that will allow your book to hold its own in the consumer world) but we need to make sure that we talk about mental preparedness so that we can practice the mindset that it takes to get us to where we need to be! This episode is all about adopting a mindset that will help you take your seed of an idea and get it past the finish line of a flourishing book. Please connect with Rachel on Instagram and Facebook @TheBookCreatorPodcast or @ThePictureBookAcademy. For free Book Creation worksheets, visit TheBookCreatorPodcast.com. If you have an idea for an episode, feel free to reach out to Rachel through any of these channels! Talk to you soon Book Creators! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support

The very first episode of The Book Creator Podcast! This podcast is made for those who dream to lead a creative lifestyle: particularly those who aspire to be an author, illustrator, or author illustrator! If you have that idea (or maybe tons of ideas in your head) this is the show... this is the show that is going to help you turn that dream into a reality. In this day and age... there is no reason why anyone should be limited or blocked from creating their book. Alright Book Creators, let's get down to book creating business! Please connect with Rachel on Instagram and Facebook @TheBookCreatorPodcast or @ThePictureBookAcademy. For free Book Creation worksheets, visit TheBookCreatorPodcast.com. If you have an idea for an episode, feel free to reach out to Rachel through any of these channels! Talk to you soon Book Creators! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebookcreatorpodcast/support