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What if the most transformative thing you can do for your writing craft and author business is to face what you fear? How can you can find gold in your Shadow in the year ahead? In this episode, I share chapters from Writing the Shadow: Turn Your Inner Darkness Into Words. In the intro, curated book boxes from Bridgerton's Julia Quinn; Google's agentic shopping, and powering Apple's Siri; ChatGPT Ads; and Claude CoWork. Balancing Certainty and Uncertainty [MoonShots with Tony Robbins]; and three trends for authors with me and Orna Ross [Self-Publishing with ALLi Podcast]; plus, Bones of the Deep, Business for Authors, and Indie Author Lab. This show is supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers, dark fantasy, and memoir as J.F. Penn. She's also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. What is the Shadow? The ‘creative wound' and the Shadow in writing The Shadow in traditional publishing The Shadow in self-publishing or being an indie author The Shadow in work The Shadow in money You can find Writing the Shadow in all formats on all stores, as well as special edition, workbook and bundles at www.TheCreativePenn.com/shadowbook Writing the Shadow: Turn Your Inner Darkness Into Words The following chapters are excerpted from Writing the Shadow: Turn Your Inner Darkness Into Words by Joanna Penn. Introduction. What is the Shadow? “How can I be substantial if I do not cast a shadow? I must have a dark side also if I am to be whole.” —C.G. Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul We all have a Shadow side and it is the work of a lifetime to recognise what lies within and spin that base material into gold. Think of it as a seedling in a little pot that you're given when you're young. It's a bit misshapen and weird, not something you would display in your living room, so you place it in a dark corner of the basement. You don't look at it for years. You almost forget about it. Then one day you notice tendrils of something wild poking up through the floorboards. They're ugly and don't fit with your Scandi-minimalist interior design. You chop the tendrils away and pour weedkiller on what's left, trying to hide the fact that they were ever there. But the creeping stems keep coming. At some point, you know you have to go down there and face the wild thing your seedling has become. When you eventually pluck up enough courage to go down into the basement, you discover that the plant has wound its roots deep into the foundations of your home. Its vines weave in and out of the cracks in the walls, and it has beautiful flowers and strange fruit. It holds your world together. Perhaps you don't need to destroy the wild tendrils. Perhaps you can let them wind up into the light and allow their rich beauty to weave through your home. It will change the look you have so carefully cultivated, but maybe that's just what the place needs. The Shadow in psychology Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychologist and the founder of analytical psychology. He described the Shadow as an unconscious aspect of the human personality, those parts of us that don't match up to what is expected of us by family and society, or to our own ideals. The Shadow is not necessarily evil or illegal or immoral, although of course it can be. It's also not necessarily caused by trauma, abuse, or any other severely damaging event, although again, it can be. It depends on the individual. What is in your Shadow is based on your life and your experiences, as well as your culture and society, so it will be different for everyone. Psychologist Connie Zweig, in The Inner Work of Age, explains, “The Shadow is that part of us that lies beneath or behind the light of awareness. It contains our rejected, unacceptable traits and feelings. It contains our hidden gifts and talents that have remained unexpressed or unlived. As Jung put it, the essence of the Shadow is pure gold.” To further illustrate the concept, Robert Bly, in A Little Book on the Human Shadow,uses the following metaphor: “When we are young, we carry behind us an invisible bag, into which we stuff any feelings, thoughts, or behaviours that bring disapproval or loss of love—anger, tears, neediness, laziness. By the time we go to school, our bags are already a mile long. In high school, our peer groups pressure us to stuff the bags with even more—individuality, sexuality, spontaneity, different opinions. We spend our life until we're twenty deciding which parts of ourselves to put into the bag and we spend the rest of our lives trying to get them out again.” As authors, we can use what's in the ‘bag' to enrich our writing — but only if we can access it. My intention with this book is to help you venture into your Shadow and bring some of what's hidden into the light and into your words. I'll reveal aspects of my Shadow in these pages but ultimately, this book is about you. Your Shadow is unique. There may be elements we share, but much will be different. Each chapter has questions for you to consider that may help you explore at least the edges of your Shadow, but it's not easy. As Jung said, “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure, however, is disagreeable and therefore not popular.” But take heart, Creative. You don't need courage when things are easy. You need it when you know what you face will be difficult, but you do it anyway. We are authors. We know how to do hard things. We turn ideas into books. We manifest thoughts into ink on paper. We change lives with our writing. First, our own, then other people's. It's worth the effort to delve into Shadow, so I hope you will join me on the journey. The creative wound and the Shadow in writing “Whatever pain you can't get rid of, make it your creative offering.” —Susan Cain, Bittersweet  The more we long for something, the more extreme our desire, the more likely it is to have a Shadow side. For those of us who love books, the author life may well be a long-held dream and thus, it is filled with Shadow. Books have long been objects of desire, power, and authority. They hold a mythic status in our lives. We escaped into stories as children; we studied books at school and college; we read them now for escape and entertainment, education and inspiration. We collect beautiful books to put on our shelves. We go to them for solace and answers to the deepest questions of life. Writers are similarly held in high esteem. They shape culture, win literary prizes, give important speeches, and are quoted in the mainstream media. Their books are on the shelves in libraries and bookstores. Writers are revered, held up as rare, talented creatures made separate from us by their brilliance and insight. For bibliophile children, books were everything and to write one was a cherished dream. To become an author? Well, that would mean we might be someone special, someone worthy. Perhaps when you were young, you thought the dream of being a writer was possible — then you told someone about it. That's probably when you heard the first criticism of such a ridiculous idea, the first laughter, the first dismissal. So you abandoned the dream, pushed the idea of being a writer into the Shadow, and got on with your life. Or if it wasn't then, it came later, when you actually put pen to paper and someone — a parent, teacher, partner, or friend, perhaps even a literary agent or publisher, someone whose opinion you valued — told you it was worthless. Here are some things you might have heard: Writing is a hobby. Get a real job. You're not good enough. You don't have any writing talent. You don't have enough education. You don't know what you're doing. Your writing is derivative / unoriginal / boring / useless / doesn't make sense. The genre you write in is dead / worthless / unacceptable / morally wrong / frivolous / useless.  Who do you think you are? No one would want to read what you write. You can't even use proper grammar, so how could you write a whole book? You're wasting your time. You'll never make it as a writer. You shouldn't write those things (or even think about those things). Why don't you write something nice? Insert other derogatory comment here! Mark Pierce describes the effect of this experience in his book The Creative Wound, which “occurs when an event, or someone's actions or words, pierce you, causing a kind of rift in your soul. A comment—even offhand and unintentional—is enough to cause one.” He goes on to say that such words can inflict “damage to the core of who we are as creators. It is an attack on our artistic identity, resulting in us believing that whatever we make is somehow tainted or invalid, because shame has convinced us there is something intrinsically tainted or invalid about ourselves.” As adults, we might brush off such wounds, belittling them as unimportant in the grand scheme of things. We might even find ourselves saying the same words to other people. After all, it's easier to criticise than to create. But if you picture your younger self, bright eyed as you lose yourself in your favourite book, perhaps you might catch a glimpse of what you longed for before your dreams were dashed on the rocks of other people's reality. As Mark Pierce goes on to say, “A Creative Wound has the power to delay our pursuits—sometimes for years—and it can even derail our lives completely… Anything that makes us feel ashamed of ourselves or our work can render us incapable of the self-expression we yearn for.” This is certainly what happened to me, and it took decades to unwind. Your creative wounds will differ to mine but perhaps my experience will help you explore your own. To be clear, your Shadow may not reside in elements of horror as mine do, but hopefully you can use my example to consider where your creative wounds might lie. “You shouldn't write things like that.” It happened at secondary school around 1986 or 1987, so I would have been around eleven or twelve years old. English was one of my favourite subjects and the room we had our lessons in looked out onto a vibrant garden. I loved going to that class because it was all about books, and they were always my favourite things. One day, we were asked to write a story. I can't remember the specifics of what the teacher asked us to write, but I fictionalised a recurring nightmare. I stood in a dark room. On one side, my mum and my brother, Rod, were tied up next to a cauldron of boiling oil, ready to be thrown in. On the other side, my dad and my little sister, Lucy, were threatened with decapitation by men with machetes. I had to choose who would die. I always woke up, my heart pounding, before I had to choose. Looking back now, it clearly represented an internal conflict about having to pick sides between the two halves of my family. Not an unexpected issue from a child of divorce. Perhaps these days, I might have been sent to the school counsellor, but it was the eighties and I don't think we even had such a thing. Even so, the meaning of the story isn't the point. It was the reaction to it that left scars. “You shouldn't write things like that,” my teacher said, and I still remember her look of disappointment, even disgust. Certainly judgment. She said my writing was too dark. It wasn't a proper story. It wasn't appropriate for the class. As if horrible things never happened in stories — or in life. As if literature could not include dark tales. As if the only acceptable writing was the kind she approved of. We were taught The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie that year, which says a lot about the type of writing considered appropriate. Or perhaps the issue stemmed from the school motto, “So hateth she derknesse,” from Chaucer's The Legend of Good Women: “For fear of night, so she hates the darkness.” I had won a scholarship to a private girls' school, and their mission was to turn us all into proper young ladies. Horror was never on the curriculum. Perhaps if my teacher had encouraged me to write my darkness back then, my nightmares would have dissolved on the page. Perhaps if we had studied Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, or H.P. Lovecraft stories, or Bram Stoker's Dracula, I could have embraced the darker side of literature earlier in my life. My need to push darker thoughts into my Shadow was compounded by my (wonderful) mum's best intentions. We were brought up on the principles of The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale and she tried to shield me and my brother from anything harmful or horrible. We weren't allowed to watch TV much, and even the British school drama Grange Hill was deemed inappropriate. So much of what I've achieved is because my mum instilled in me a “can do” attitude that anything is possible. I'm so grateful to her for that. (I love you, Mum!) But all that happy positivity, my desire to please her, to be a good girl, to make my teachers proud, and to be acceptable to society, meant that I pushed my darker thoughts into Shadow. They were inappropriate. They were taboo. They must be repressed, kept secret, and I must be outwardly happy and positive at all times. You cannot hold back the darkness “The night is dark and full of terrors.” —George R.R. Martin, A Storm of Swords It turned out that horror was on the curriculum, much of it in the form of educational films we watched during lessons. In English Literature, we watched Romeo drink poison and Juliet stab herself in Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet. In Religious Studies, we watched Jesus beaten, tortured, and crucified in The Greatest Story Ever Told, and learned of the variety of gruesome ways that Christian saints were martyred. In Classical Civilisation, we watched gladiators slaughter each other in Spartacus. In Sex Education at the peak of the AIDS crisis in the mid-'80s, we were told of the many ways we could get infected and die. In History, we studied the Holocaust with images of skeletal bodies thrown into mass graves, medical experiments on humans, and grainy videos of marching soldiers giving the Nazi salute. One of my first overseas school field trips was to the World War I battlegrounds of Flanders Fields in Belgium, where we studied the inhuman conditions of the trenches, walked through mass graves, and read war poetry by candlelight. As John McCrae wrote: We are the Dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields. Did the teachers not realise how deeply a sensitive teenager might feel the darkness of that place? Or have I always been unusual in that places of blood echo deep inside me? And the horrors kept coming. We lived in Bristol, England back then and I learned at school how the city had been part of the slave trade, its wealth built on the backs of people stolen from their homes, sold, and worked to death in the colonies. I had been at school for a year in Malawi, Africa and imagined the Black people I knew drowning, being beaten, and dying on those ships. In my teenage years, the news was filled with ethnic cleansing, mass rape, and massacres during the Balkan wars, and images of bodies hacked apart during the Rwandan genocide. Evil committed by humans against other humans was not a historical aberration. I'm lucky and I certainly acknowledge my privilege. Nothing terrible or horrifying has happened to me — but bad things certainly happen to others. I wasn't bullied or abused. I wasn't raped or beaten or tortured. But you don't have to go through things to be afraid of them, and for your imagination to conjure the possibility of them. My mum doesn't read my fiction now as it gives her nightmares (Sorry, Mum!). I know she worries that somehow she's responsible for my darkness, but I've had a safe and (mostly) happy life, for which I'm truly grateful. But the world is not an entirely safe and happy place, and for a sensitive child with a vivid imagination, the world is dark and scary. It can be brutal and violent, and bad things happen, even to good people. No parent can shield their child from the reality of the world. They can only help them do their best to live in it, develop resilience, and find ways to deal with whatever comes. Story has always been a way that humans have used to learn how to live and deal with difficult times. The best authors, the ones that readers adore and can't get enough of, write their darkness into story to channel their experience, and help others who fear the same. In an interview on writing the Shadow on The Creative Penn Podcast, Michaelbrent Collings shared how he incorporated a personally devastating experience into his writing:  “My wife and I lost a child years back, and that became the root of one of my most terrifying books, Apparition. It's not terrifying because it's the greatest book of all time, but just the concept that there's this thing out there… like a demon, and it consumes the blood and fear of the children, and then it withdraws and consumes the madness of the parents… I wrote that in large measure as a way of working through what I was experiencing.” I've learned much from Michaelbrent. I've read many of his (excellent) books and he's been on my podcast multiple times talking about his depression and mental health issues, as well as difficulties in his author career. Writing darkness is not in Michaelbrent's Shadow and only he can say what lies there for him. But from his example, and from that of other authors, I too learned how to write my Shadow into my books. Twenty-three years after that English lesson, in November 2009, I did NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, and wrote five thousand words of what eventually became Stone of Fire, my first novel. In the initial chapter, I burned a nun alive on the ghats of Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges River. I had watched the bodies burn by night on pyres from a boat bobbing in the current a few years before, and the image was still crystal clear in my mind. The only way to deal with how it made me feel about death was to write about it — and since then, I've never stopped writing. Returning to the nightmare from my school days, I've never had to choose between the two halves of my family, but the threat of losing them remains a theme in my fiction. In my ARKANE thriller series, Morgan Sierra will do anything to save her sister and her niece. Their safety drives her to continue to fight against evil. Our deepest fears emerge in our writing, and that's the safest place for them. I wish I'd been taught how to turn my nightmares into words back at school, but at least now I've learned to write my Shadow onto the page. I wish the same for you. The Shadow in traditional publishing If becoming an author is your dream, then publishing a book is deeply entwined with that. But as Mark Pierce says in The Creative Wound, “We feel pain the most where it matters the most… Desire highlights whatever we consider to be truly significant.” There is a lot of desire around publishing for those of us who love books! It can give you: Validation that your writing is good enough Status and credibility Acceptance by an industry held in esteem  The potential of financial reward and critical acclaim Support from a team of professionals who know how to make fantastic books A sense of belonging to an elite community Pride in achieving a long-held goal, resulting in a confidence boost and self-esteem Although not guaranteed, traditional publishing can give you all these things and more, but as with everything, there is a potential Shadow side. Denying it risks the potential of being disillusioned, disappointed, and even damaged. But remember, forewarned is forearmed, as the saying goes. Preparation can help you avoid potential issues and help you feel less alone if you encounter them. The myth of success… and the reality of experience There is a pervasive myth of success in the traditional publishing industry, perpetuated by media reporting on brand name and breakout authors, those few outliers whose experience is almost impossible to replicate. Because of such examples, many new traditionally published authors think that their first book will hit the top of the bestseller charts or win an award, as well as make them a million dollars — or at least a big chunk of cash. They will be able to leave their job, write in a beautiful house overlooking the ocean, and swan around the world attending conferences, while writing more bestselling books. It will be a charmed life. But that is not the reality. Perhaps it never was. Even so, the life of a traditionally published author represents a mythic career with the truth hidden behind a veil of obscurity. In April 2023, The Bookseller in the UK reported that “more than half of authors (54%) responding to a survey on their experiences of publishing their debut book have said the process negatively affected their mental health. Though views were mixed, just 22%… described a positive experience overall… Among the majority who said they had a negative experience of debut publication, anxiety, stress, depression and ‘lowered' self-esteem were cited, with lack of support, guidance or clear and professional communication from their publisher among the factors that contributed.” Many authors who have negative experiences around publishing will push them into the Shadow with denial or self-blame, preferring to keep the dream alive. They won't talk about things in public as this may negatively affect their careers, but private discussions are often held in the corners of writing conferences or social media groups online. Some of the issues are as follows: Repeated rejection by agents and publishers may lead to the author thinking they are not good enough as a writer, which can lead to feeling unworthy as a person. If an author gets a deal, the amount of advance and the name and status of the publisher compared to others create a hierarchy that impacts self-esteem. A deal for a book may be much lower than an author might have been expecting, with low or no advance, and the resulting experience with the publisher beneath expectations. The launch process may be disappointing, and the book may appear without fanfare, with few sales and no bestseller chart position. In The Bookseller report, one author described her launch day as “a total wasteland… You have expectations about what publication day will be like, but in reality, nothing really happens.” The book may receive negative reviews by critics or readers or more publicly on social media, which can make an author feel attacked. The book might not sell as well as expected, and the author may feel like it's their fault. Commercial success can sometimes feel tied to self-worth and an author can't help but compare their sales to others, with resulting embarrassment or shame. The communication from the publisher may be less than expected. One author in The Bookseller report said, “I was shocked by the lack of clarity and shared information and the cynicism that underlies the superficial charm of this industry.” There is often more of a focus on debut authors in publishing houses, so those who have been writing and publishing in the midlist for years can feel ignored and undervalued. In The Bookseller report, 48 percent of authors reported “their publisher supported them for less than a year,” with one saying, “I got no support and felt like a commodity, like the team had moved on completely to the next book.” If an author is not successful enough, the next deal may be lower than the last, less effort is made with marketing, and they may be let go. In The Bookseller report, “six authors—debut and otherwise—cited being dropped by their publisher, some with no explanation.” Even if everything goes well and an author is considered successful by others, they may experience imposter syndrome, feeling like a fraud when speaking at conferences or doing book signings. And the list goes on … All these things can lead to feelings of shame, inadequacy, and embarrassment; loss of status in the eyes of peers; and a sense of failure if a publishing career is not successful enough. The author feels like it's their fault, like they weren't good enough — although, of course, the reality is that the conditions were not right at the time. A failure of a book is not a failure of the person, but it can certainly feel like it! When you acknowledge the Shadow, it loses its power Despite all the potential negatives of traditional publishing, if you know what could happen, you can mitigate them. You can prepare yourself for various scenarios and protect yourself from potential fall-out. It's clear from The Bookseller report that too many authors have unrealistic expectations of the industry. But publishers are businesses, not charities. It's not their job to make you feel good as an author. It's their job to sell books and pay you. The best thing they can do is to continue to be a viable business so they can keep putting books on the shelves and keep paying authors, staff, and company shareholders. When you license your creative work to a publisher, you're giving up control of your intellectual property in exchange for money and status. Bring your fears and issues out of the Shadow, acknowledge them, and deal with them early, so they do not get pushed down and re-emerge later in blame and bitterness. Educate yourself on the business of publishing. Be clear on what you want to achieve with any deal. Empower yourself as an author, take responsibility for your career, and you will have a much better experience. The Shadow in self-publishing or being an indie author Self-publishing, or being an independent (indie) author, can be a fantastic, pro-active choice for getting your book into the world. Holding your first book in your hand and saying “I made this” is pretty exciting, and even after more than forty books, I still get excited about seeing ideas in my head turn into a physical product in the world. Self-publishing can give an author: Creative control over what to write, editorial and cover design choices, when and how often to publish, and how to market Empowerment over your author career and the ability to make choices that impact success without asking for permission Ownership and control of intellectual property assets, resulting in increased opportunity around licensing and new markets Independence and the potential for recurring income for the long term Autonomy and flexibility around timelines, publishing options, and the ability to easily pivot into new genres and business models Validation based on positive reader reviews and money earned Personal growth and learning through the acquisition of new skills, resulting in a boost in confidence and self-esteem A sense of belonging to an active and vibrant community of indie authors around the world Being an indie author can give you all this and more, but once again, there is a Shadow side and preparation can help you navigate potential issues. The myth of success… and the reality of experience As with traditional publishing, the indie author world has perpetuated a myth of success in the example of the breakout indie author like E.L. James with Fifty Shades of Grey, Hugh Howey with Wool, or Andy Weir with The Martian. The emphasis on financial success is also fuelled online by authors who share screenshots showing six-figure months or seven-figure years, without sharing marketing costs and other outgoings, or the amount of time spent on the business. Yes, these can inspire some, but it can also make others feel inadequate and potentially lead to bad choices about how to publish and market based on comparison. The indie author world is full of just as much ego and a desire for status and money as traditional publishing. This is not a surprise! Most authors, regardless of publishing choices, are a mix of massive ego and chronic self-doubt. We are human, so the same issues will re-occur. A different publishing method doesn't cure all ills. Some of the issues are as follows: You learn everything you need to know about writing and editing, only to find that you need to learn a whole new set of skills in order to self-publish and market your book. This can take a lot of time and effort you did not expect, and things change all the time so you have to keep learning. Being in control of every aspect of the publishing process, from writing to cover design to marketing, can be overwhelming, leading to indecision, perfectionism, stress, and even burnout as you try to do all the things. You try to find people to help, but building your team is a challenge, and working with others has its own difficulties. People say negative things about self-publishing that may arouse feelings of embarrassment or shame. These might be little niggles, but they needle you, nonetheless. You wonder whether you made the right choice. You struggle with self-doubt and if you go to an event with traditional published authors, you compare yourself to them and feel like an imposter. Are you good enough to be an author if a traditional publisher hasn't chosen you? Is it just vanity to self-publish? Are your books unworthy? Even though you worked with a professional editor, you still get one-star reviews and you hate criticism from readers. You wonder whether you're wasting your time. You might be ripped off by an author services company who promise the world, only to leave you with a pile of printed books in your garage and no way to sell them. When you finally publish your book, it languishes at the bottom of the charts while other authors hit the top of the list over and over, raking in the cash while you are left out of pocket. You don't admit to over-spending on marketing as it makes you ashamed. You resist book marketing and make critical comments about writers who embrace it. You believe that quality rises to the top and if a book is good enough, people will buy it anyway. This can lead to disappointment and disillusionment when you launch your book and it doesn't sell many copies because nobody knows about it. You try to do what everyone advises, but you still can't make decent money as an author. You're jealous of other authors' success and put it down to them ‘selling out' or writing things you can't or ‘using AI' or ‘using a ghostwriter' or having a specific business model you consider impossible to replicate. And the list goes on… When you acknowledge the Shadow, it loses its power Being in control of your books and your author career is a double-edged sword. Traditionally published authors can criticise their publishers or agents or the marketing team or the bookstores or the media, but indie authors have to take responsibility for it all. Sure, we can blame ‘the algorithms' or social media platforms, or criticise other authors for having more experience or more money to invest in marketing, or attribute their success to writing in a more popular genre — but we also know there are always people who do well regardless of the challenges. Once more, we're back to acknowledging and integrating the Shadow side of our choices. We are flawed humans. There will always be good times and bad, and difficulties to offset the high points. This too shall pass, as the old saying goes. I know that being an indie author has plenty of Shadow. I've been doing this since 2008 and despite the hard times, I'm still here. I'm still writing. I'm still publishing. This life is not for everyone, but it's my choice. You must make yours. The Shadow in work You work hard. You make a living. Nothing wrong with that attitude, right? It's what we're taught from an early age and, like so much of life, it's not a problem until it goes to extremes. Not achieving what you want to? Work harder. Can't get ahead? Work harder. Not making a good enough living? Work harder. People who don't work hard are lazy. They don't deserve handouts or benefits. People who don't work hard aren't useful, so they are not valued members of our culture and community. But what about the old or the sick, the mentally ill, or those with disabilities? What about children? What about the unemployed? The under-employed? What about those who are — or will be — displaced by technology, those called “the useless class” by historian Yuval Noah Harari in his book Homo Deus? What if we become one of these in the future? Who am I if I cannot work? The Shadow side of my attitude to work became clear when I caught COVID in the summer of 2021. I was the sickest I'd ever been. I spent two weeks in bed unable to even think properly, and six weeks after that, I was barely able to work more than an hour a day before lying in the dark and waiting for my energy to return. I was limited in what I could do for another six months after that. At times, I wondered if I would ever get better. Jonathan kept urging me to be patient and rest. But I don't know how to rest. I know how to work and how to sleep. I can do ‘active rest,' which usually involves walking a long way or traveling somewhere interesting, but those require a stronger mind and body than I had during those months. It struck me that even if I recovered from the virus, I had glimpsed my future self. One day, I will be weak in body and mind. If I'm lucky, that will be many years away and hopefully for a short time before I die — but it will happen. I am an animal. I will die. My body and mind will pass on and I will be no more. Before then I will be weak. Before then, I will be useless. Before then, I will be a burden. I will not be able to work… But who am I if I cannot work? What is the point of me? I can't answer these questions right now, because although I recognise them as part of my Shadow, I've not progressed far enough to have dealt with them entirely. My months of COVID gave me some much-needed empathy for those who cannot work, even if they want to. We need to reframe what work is as a society, and value humans for different things, especially as technology changes what work even means. That starts with each of us. “Illness, affliction of body and soul, can be life-altering. It has the potential to reveal the most fundamental conflict of the human condition: the tension between our infinite, glorious dreams and desires and our limited, vulnerable, decaying physicality.” —Connie Zweig, The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul The Shadow in money In the Greek myth, King Midas was a wealthy ruler who loved gold above all else. His palace was adorned with golden sculptures and furniture, and he took immense pleasure in his riches. Yet, despite his vast wealth, he yearned for more. After doing a favour for Dionysus, the god of wine and revelry, Midas was granted a single wish. Intoxicated by greed, he wished that everything he touched would turn to gold — and it was so. At first, it was a lot of fun. Midas turned everything else in his palace to gold, even the trees and stones of his estate. After a morning of turning things to gold, he fancied a spot of lunch. But when he tried to eat, the food and drink turned to gold in his mouth. He became thirsty and hungry — and increasingly desperate. As he sat in despair on his golden throne, his beloved young daughter ran to comfort him. For a moment, he forgot his wish — and as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek, she turned into a golden statue, frozen in precious metal. King Midas cried out to the gods to forgive him, to reverse the wish. He renounced his greed and gave away all his wealth, and his daughter was returned to life. The moral of the story: Wealth and greed are bad. In Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is described as a “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner.” He's wealthy but does not share, considering Christmas spending to be frivolous and giving to charity to be worthless. He's saved by a confrontation with his lonely future and becomes a generous man and benefactor of the poor. Wealth is good if you share it with others. The gospel of Matthew, chapter 25: 14-30, tells the parable of the bags of gold, in which a rich man goes on a journey and entrusts his servants with varying amounts of gold. On his return, the servants who multiplied the gold through their efforts and investments are rewarded, while the one who merely returned the gold with no interest is punished: “For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” Making money is good, making more money is even better. If you can't make any money, you don't deserve to have any. Within the same gospel, in Matthew 19:24, Jesus encounters a wealthy man and tells him to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor, which the man is unable to do. Jesus says, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Wealth is bad. Give it all away and you'll go to heaven. With all these contradictory messages, no wonder we're so conflicted about money! How do you think and feel about money? While money is mostly tied to our work, it's far more than just a transactional object for most people. It's loaded with complex symbolism and judgment handed down by family, religion, and culture. You are likely to find elements of Shadow by examining your attitudes around money. Consider which of the following statements resonate with you or write your own. Money stresses me out. I don't want to talk about it or think about it. Some people hoard money, so there is inequality. Rich people are bad and we should take away their wealth and give it to the poor.  I can never make enough money to pay the bills, or to give my family what I want to provide. Money doesn't grow on trees.  It's wasteful to spend money as you might need it later, so I'm frugal and don't spend money unless absolutely necessary. It is better and more ethical to be poor than to be rich. I want more money. I read books and watch TV shows about rich people because I want to live like that. Sometimes I spend too much on things for a glimpse of what that might be like.  I buy lottery tickets and dream of winning all that money.  I'm jealous of people who have money. I want more of it and I resent those who have it. I'm no good with money. I don't like to look at my bank statement or credit card statement. I live off my overdraft and I'm in debt. I will never earn enough to get out of debt and start saving, so I don't think too much about it. I don't know enough about money. Talking about it makes me feel stupid, so I just ignore it. People like me aren't educated about money.  I need to make more money. If I can make lots of money, then people will look up to me. If I make lots of money, I will be secure, nothing can touch me, I will be safe.  I never want to be poor. I would be ashamed to be poor. I will never go on benefits. My net worth is my self worth. Money is good. We have the best standard of living in history because of the increase in wealth over time. Even the richest kings of the past didn't have what many middle-class people have today in terms of access to food, water, technology, healthcare, education, and more. The richest people give the most money to the poor through taxation and charity, as well as through building companies that employ people and invent new things. The very richest give away much of their fortunes. They provide far more benefit to the world than the poor.  I love money. Money loves me. Money comes easily and quickly to me. I attract money in multiple streams of income. It flows to me in so many ways. I spend money. I invest money. I give money. I'm happy and grateful for all that I receive. The Shadow around money for authors in particular Many writers and other creatives have issues around money and wealth. How often have you heard the following, and which do you agree with? You can't make money with your writing. You'll be a poor author in a garret, a starving artist.  You can't write ‘good quality' books and make money. If you make money writing, you're a hack, you're selling out. You are less worthy than someone who writes only for the Muse. Your books are commercial, not artistic. If you spend money on marketing, then your books are clearly not good enough to sell on their own. My agent / publisher / accountant / partner deals with the money side. I like to focus on the creative side of things. My money story Note: This is not financial or investment advice. Please talk to a professional about your situation. I've had money issues over the years — haven't we all! But I have been through a (long) process to bring money out of my Shadow and into the light. There will always be more to discover, but hopefully my money story will help you, or at least give you an opportunity to reflect. Like most people, I didn't grow up with a lot of money. My parents started out as teachers, but later my mum — who I lived with, along with my brother — became a change management consultant, moving to the USA and earning a lot more. I'm grateful that she moved into business because her example changed the way I saw money and provided some valuable lessons. (1) You can change your circumstances by learning more and then applying that to leverage opportunity into a new job or career Mum taught English at a school in Bristol when we moved back from Malawi, Africa, in the mid '80s but I remember how stressful it was for her, and how little money she made. She wanted a better future for us all, so she took a year out to do a master's degree in management. In the same way, when I wanted to change careers and leave consulting to become an author, I spent time and money learning about the writing craft and the business of publishing. I still invest a considerable chunk on continuous learning, as this industry changes all the time. (2) You might have to downsize in order to leap forward The year my mum did her degree, we lived in the attic of another family's house; we ate a lot of one-pot casserole and our treat was having a Yorkie bar on the walk back from the museum. We wore hand-me-down clothes, and I remember one day at school when another girl said I was wearing her dress. I denied it, of course, but there in back of the dress was her name tag. I still remember her name and I can still feel that flush of shame and embarrassment. I was determined to never feel like that again. But what I didn't realize at the time was that I was also learning the power of downsizing. Mum got her degree and then a new job in management in Bristol. She bought a house, and we settled for a few years. I had lots of different jobs as a teenager. My favourite was working in the delicatessen because we got a free lunch made from delicious produce. After I finished A-levels, I went to the University of Oxford, and my mum and brother moved to the USA for further opportunities. I've downsized multiple times over the years, taking a step back in order to take a step forward. The biggest was in 2010 when I decided to leave consulting. Jonathan and I sold our three-bedroom house and investments in Brisbane, Australia, and rented a one-bedroom flat in London, so we could be debt-free and live on less while I built up a new career. It was a decade before we bought another house. (3) Comparison can be deadly: there will always be people with more money than you Oxford was an education in many ways and relevant to this chapter is how much I didn't know about things people with money took for granted. I learned about formal hall and wine pairings, and how to make a perfect gin and tonic. I ate smoked salmon for the first time. I learned how to fit in with people who had a lot more money than I did, and I definitely wanted to have money of my own to play with. (4) Income is not wealth You can earn lots but have nothing to show for it after years of working. I learned this in my first few years of IT consulting after university. I earned a great salary and then went contracting, earning even more money at a daily rate. I had a wonderful time. I traveled, ate and drank and generally made merry, but I always had to go back to the day job when the money ran out. I couldn't work out how I could ever stop this cycle. Then I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, a book I still recommend, especially if you're from a family that values academic over financial education. I learned how to escape the rat race by building and/or accumulating assets that pay even when you're not working. It was a revelation! The ‘poor dad' in the book is a university professor. He knows so much about so many things, but he ends up poor as he did not educate himself about money. The ‘rich dad' has little formal education, but he knows about money and wealth because he learned about it, as we can do at any stage in our lives. (5) Not all investments suit every person, so find the right one for you Once I discovered the world of investing, I read all the books and did courses and in-person events. I joined communities and I up-skilled big time. Of course, I made mistakes and learned lots along the way. I tried property investing and renovated a couple of houses for rental (with more practical partners and skilled contractors). But while I could see that property investing might work for some people, I did not care enough about the details to make it work for me, and it was certainly not passive income. I tried other things. My first husband was a boat skipper and scuba diving instructor, so we started a charter. With the variable costs of fuel, the vagaries of New Zealand weather — and our divorce — it didn't last long! From all these experiments, I learned I wanted to run a business, but it needed to be online and not based on a physical location, physical premises, or other people. That was 2006, around the time that blogging started taking off and it became possible to make a living online. I could see the potential and a year later, the iPhone and the Amazon Kindle launched, which became the basis of my business as an author. (6) Boring, automatic saving and investing works best Between 2007 and 2011, I contracted in Australia, where they have compulsory superannuation contributions, meaning you have to save and invest a percentage of your salary or self-employed income. I'd never done that before, because I didn't understand it. I'd ploughed all my excess income into property or the business instead. But in Australia I didn't notice the money going out because it was automatic. I chose a particular fund and it auto-invested every month. The pot grew pretty fast since I didn't touch it, and years later, it's still growing. I discovered the power of compound interest and time in the market, both of which are super boring. This type of investing is not a get rich quick scheme. It's a slow process of automatically putting money into boring investments and doing that month in, month out, year in, year out, automatically for decades while you get on with your life. I still do this. I earn money as an author entrepreneur and I put a percentage of that into boring investments automatically every month. I also have a small amount which is for fun and higher risk investments, but mostly I'm a conservative, risk-averse investor planning ahead for the future. This is not financial advice, so I'm not giving any specifics. I have a list of recommended money books at www.TheCreativePenn.com/moneybooks if you want to learn more. Learning from the Shadow When I look back, my Shadow side around money eventually drove me to learn more and resulted in a better outcome (so far!). I was ashamed of being poor when I had to wear hand-me-down clothes at school. That drove a fear of not having any money, which partially explains my workaholism. I was embarrassed at Oxford because I didn't know how to behave in certain settings, and I wanted to be like the rich people I saw there. I spent too much money in my early years as a consultant because I wanted to experience a “rich” life and didn't understand saving and investing would lead to better things in the future. I invested too much in the wrong things because I didn't know myself well enough and I was trying to get rich quick so I could leave my job and ‘be happy.' But eventually, I discovered that I could grow my net worth with boring, long-term investments while doing a job I loved as an author entrepreneur. My only regret is that I didn't discover this earlier and put a percentage of my income into investments as soon as I started work. It took several decades to get started, but at least I did (eventually) start. My money story isn't over yet, and I keep learning new things, but hopefully my experience will help you reflect on your own and avoid the issue if it's still in Shadow. These chapters are excerpted from Writing the Shadow: Turn Your Inner Darkness Into Words by Joanna Penn  The post Writing The Shadow: The Creative Wound, Publishing, And Money, With Joanna Penn first appeared on The Creative Penn.

Orna Ross and Joanna Penn compare notes from the indie front line, drawing on Jo's new novel and her renewed focus on business basics for ALLi's Indie Author Lab at the London Book Fair, alongside Orna's shift to Substack and a clear-eyed look at what is changing fastest for authors. In this forward-looking conversation, two self-publishing veterans unpack agentic AI, the challenge of staying discoverable in a sea of content, and how permission-based audiences, reader trust, and real-world connection can make authors harder to replace. Show Notes Indie Author Lab 2026 Trends And Predictions For Indie Authors And The Book Publishing Industry with Joanna Penn About the Hosts Joanna Penn writes nonfiction for authors and is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author as J.F.Penn. She's also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction and is greatly excited by the democratizing, empowering potential of author-publishing. For more information about Orna, visit her website.

Chaque jour, en quelques minutes, un résumé de l'actualité culturelle. Rapide, facile, accessible.Notre compte InstagramDES LIENS POUR EN SAVOIR PLUSLITTÉRATURE FRANÇAISE : Huffpost, Cosmopolitan, BeauxArts, The Bookseller, SNEM6 PRIME : LesNumériques, Amazon Prime LA FOUINE KAARIS : Kultur, Gentsu PLAINTE JULIO IGLESIAS : FranceInfo, LeMonde PRIX MUSÉE : LeParisien, Euronews ZOE SALDANA : TheGuardian, VarietyÉcriture : Mathys DebrilIncarnation : Blanche Vathonne Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.

Miss Marple and Poirot have been household names for decades but now one of Agatha Christie's lesser-known sleuths – Lady Eileen ‘Bundle' Brent - is finally getting her time in the spotlight. The fearless young amateur detective is the focus of new Netflix mystery series Seven Dials. Mia McKenna-Bruce is the award-winning actor bringing ‘Bundle' to the screen, alongside Helena Bonham-Carter and Martin Freeman, and Mia joins presenter Nuala McGovern live in the studio.How do you spot misinformation online? BBC Bitesize has launched a new series for schools tackling the problem, after new research with more than 400 teachers highlighted their growing concern about teenagers' relationship with online content. It shows most teachers believe critical thinking is now the most essential skill for young people, yet only a third feel able to teach it. Nuala is joined by psychologist Dr Martha Deros Collado and Pip Sanderson from the Center for Digital Information Literacy in Schools to discuss the issue and how to approach talking to teenagers about it. A new BBC investigation has been examining one of Russia's most covert war operations: the recruitment of foreign nationals as frontline soldiers for its invasion of Ukraine. A central figure of the documentary is a woman called Polina Alex-an-drovna Azarnykh. She's a former teacher turned recruiter who is now accused of misleading economically vulnerable men across the world into joining Russia's military. BBC documentary Into the Void: Putin's Foreign Fighters follows Senior International Investigations Correspondent Nawal Al-Maghafi as she exposes this shadowy system and the human cost behind it. She joins Nuala to discuss the story. Publishing "isn't taking the power of older women seriously" according to author Lesley Kara, in an article for industry bible The Bookseller. Lesley wrote about the number of older female authors, why there aren't enough books about middle-aged and older women and why she thinks the protrayals that do exist are often cliched. She joins Nuala along with book critic and journalist Alex Clark.Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Sarah Jane Griffiths

Notes and Links to Kasim Ali's Work   Kasim Ali was born and raised in Alum Rock, Birmingham. He is the author of the debut novel Good Intentions, has written fiction for BBC Radio 4 and has a column at The Bookseller. His short fiction has been longlisted for the 4th Estate and Guardian 4thWrite Short Story Prize, and Good Intentions was shortlisted for the Mo Siewcharran (Sue Sharon) Prize. He works as an editor in publishing and now lives in London. Buy Who Will Remain   Kasim Ali's Website   Interview from Hyphen Magazine: “Kasim Ali: ‘Some men think that shifting to the right is what's going to save them' ”   From The Observer UK: ‘What did we do to make you want to leave?'     At about 1:20, Kasim reflects on his experience since Who Will Remain was released in July 2025 At about 2:45, Kasim responds to Pete's question about he balances the commercial and the aesthetic   At about 5:00, Kasim discusses his editing process for his own books, especially with regard to the fact that he is an editor At about 7:20, Kasim expands on why he calls himself “1.5” with regards to generations and immigration, as well as his early language and literature life At about 13:35, Pete asks about Urdu, and if Kasim can trace any of his writing in English to echoes of his familial language At about 16:15, Kasim talks about his confidence (or lack thereof) in his writing of dialogue after Pete compliments his dialogue skills At about 17:40, Kasim expands on “but” and “therefore” in dialogue-interesting and necessary writing advice At about 20:30, Kasim schools Pete on schooling structures in the UK At about 21:10, Kasim highlights formative and transformative writing and writers At about 24:00, Kasim writes about his first novel as a departure from his “usual” writing style At about 26:00, Does Kasim know Elena Ferrante's identity???? At about 27:05, Pete asks Kasim about the book's dedication, and Kasim expands upon his life trajectory At about 30:05, Kasim riffs on Suella Braverman's racist and xenophobic comments that became his book's epigraph At about 35:00, Kasim reflects on ideas of dealing with stereotypes and reflecting broader Pakistani/immigrant/communities is general and getting past “limiting conversations”  At about 37:05, Pete lays out some of the novel's exposition At about 38:15, Kasim expands on ideas of “fitting in” with different familial groups and shifting roles within the family for real-life brothers and Bilal and Amir in the novel At about 43:05, Kasim reflects on his interest in “duality” and connects to the novel's opening funeral scene At about 46:10, Kasim responds to Pete's question about tropes of masculinity dealt with in the book  At about 47:20, Kasim discusses incorporating real-life violence into the book At about 50:00, Pete highlights simple and powerful writing (“Then then then”) that he asks Kasim about  At about 51:50, The two discuss arguments and bitterness over money  At about 52:35, Kasim responds to Pete's noting of the affections between men in the novel At about 59:40, Pete notes a nice nostalgic moment, and Kasim reflects on Amir's reintroduction to Adnan, a young man he previously would have avoided; Kasim connects to his own life and seeing ex-classmates At about 1:03:00, Kasim shares how the book Doppelganger fascinated him and gave him inspiration for his own writing about duality At about 1:06:20, Kasim responds to Pete's question about ideas of the “manosphere” and its connection to Amir and his connections with Farrah and the way he and friends talk about women At about 1:10:35,  At about 1:11:50, Kasim talks about an “easy and boring” job and how it in a strange way leads to nice and welcome conversations between brothers At about 1:14:50,  At about 1:17:40, Amir “growing into the mask”  At about 1:18:30,  At about 1:18:50, Kasim posits some possible actors for a movie      You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow Pete on IG, where he is @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where he is @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both the YouTube Channel and the podcast while you're checking out this episode.       Pete is very excited to have one or two podcast episodes per month featured on the website of Chicago Review of Books. The audio will be posted, along with a written interview culled from the audio. His conversation with Jeff Pearlman, a recent guest, is up soon at Chicago Review.     Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl      Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting Pete's one-man show, DIY podcast and extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!    This month's Patreon bonus episode features an exploration of formative and transformative writing for children, as Pete surveys wonderful writers on their own influences.    Pete has added a $1 a month tier for “Well-Wishers” and Cheerleaders of the Show.     This is a passion project, a DIY operation, and Pete would love for your help in promoting what he's convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.    The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.     Please tune in for Episode 318 with Timothy Wellbeck, Esquire, a leader in the fight for justice and racial equity. Timothy presently serves as the founding Director of the Center for Anti-Racism at Temple University, where he has led the Center from its inception into becoming one of the leading institutions of its kind. A Civil Rights Attorney by training and practice, Timothy is a scholar of law, race, and cultural studies. He and Pete will be talking about his standing-room only, incredibly popular Temple University classes about Kendrick Lamar and his music.    The episode airs today, Jan 13.    Please go to ceasefiretoday.org, and/or https://act.uscpr.org/a/letaidin to call your congresspeople and demand an end to the forced famine and destruction of Gaza and the Gazan people.

What does 2026 hold for indie authors and the publishing industry? I give my thoughts on trends and predictions for the year ahead. In the intro, Quitting the right stuff; how to edit your author business in 2026; Is SubStack Good for Indie Authors?; Business for Authors webinars. If you'd like to join my community and support the show every month, you'll get access to my growing list of Patron videos and audio on all aspects of the author business — for the price of a black coffee (or two) a month. Join us at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn. Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author as J.F. Penn. She's also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. (1) More indie authors will sell direct through Shopify, Kickstarter, and local in-person events (2) AI-powered search will start to shift elements of book discoverability (3) The start of Agentic Commerce (4) AI-assisted audiobook narration will go mainstream (5) AI-assisted translation will start to take off beyond the early adopters (6) AI video becomes ubiquitous. ‘Live selling' becomes the next trend in social sales. (7) AI will create, run, and optimise ads without the need for human intervention (8) 1000 True Fans becomes more important than ever You can find all my books as J.F. Penn and Joanna Penn on your favourite online store in all the usual formats, or order from your local library or bookstore. You can also buy direct from me at CreativePennBooks.com and JFPennBooks.com. I'm not really active on social media, but you can always see my photos at Instagram @jfpennauthor. 2026 Trends and Predictions for Indie Authors and Book Publishing (1) More indie authors will sell direct through Shopify, Kickstarter, and local in-person events — and more companies like BookVault will offer even more beautiful physical books and products to support this. This trend will not be a surprise to most of you! Selling direct has been a trend for the last few years, but in 2026, it will continue to grow as a way that independent authors become even more independent. The recent Written Word Media survey from Dec 2025 noted that 30% of authors surveyed are selling direct already and 30% say they plan to start in 2026. Among authors earning over $10,000 per month, roughly half sell direct. In my opinion, selling direct is an advanced author strategy, meaning that you have multiple books and you understand book marketing and have an email list already or some guaranteed way to reach readers. In fact, Kindlepreneur reports that 66% of authors selling direct have more than 5 books, and 46% have more than 10 books. Of course, you can start with the something small, like a table at a local event with a limited number of books for sale, but if you want to consistently sell direct for years to come, you need to consider all the business aspects. Selling direct is not a silver bullet. It's much harder work to sell direct than it is to just upload an ebook to Amazon, whether you choose a Kickstarter campaign, or Shopify/Payhip or other online stores, or regular in-person sales at events/conferences/fairs. You need a business mindset and business practices, for example, you need to pay upfront for setup as well as ongoing management, and bulk printing in some cases. You need to manage taxes and cashflow. You need to be a lot more proactive about marketing, as you won't sell anything if you don't bring readers to your books/products. But selling direct also brings advantages. It sets you apart from the bulk of digital only authors who still only upload ebooks to Amazon, or maybe add a print on demand book, and in an era of AI rapid creation, that number is growing all the time. If you sell direct, you get your customer data and you can reach those customers next time, through your email list. If you don't know who bought your books and don't have a guaranteed way to reach them, you will more easily be disrupted when things change — and they always change eventually. Kindlepreneur notes that “45% of the successful direct selling authors had over 1,000 subscribers on their email lists,” with “a clear, positive correlation between email list size and monthly direct sales income — with authors having an email list of over 15,000 subscribers earning 20X more than authors with email lists under 100 subscribers.” Selling direct means faster money, sometimes the same day or the same week in many cases, or a few weeks after a campaign finishes, as with Kickstarter. And remember, you don't have to sell all your formats directly. You can keep your ebooks in KU, do whatever you like with audiobooks, and just have premium print products direct, or start with a very basic Kickstarter campaign, or a table at a local fair. Lots more tips for Shopify and Kickstarter at https://www.thecreativepenn.com/selldirectresources/ I also recommend the Novel Marketing Podcast on The Shopify Trap: Why authors keep losing money as it is a great counterpoint to my positive endorsement of selling direct on Shopify! Among other things, Thomas notes that a fixed monthly fee for a store doesn't match how most authors make money from books which is more in spikes, the complexity and hassle eats time and can cost more money if you pay for help, and it can reduce sales on Amazon and weaken your ranking. Basically, if you haven't figured out marketing direct to your store, it can hurt you.All true for some authors, for some genres, and for some people's lifestyle. But for authors who don't want to be on the hamster wheel of the Amazon algorithm and who want more diversity and control in income, as well as the incredible creative benefits of what you can do selling direct, then I would say, consider your options in 2025, even if that is trying out a low-financial-goal Kickstarter campaign, or selling some print books at a local fair. Interestingly, traditional publishers are also experimenting with direct sales. Kate Elton, the new CEO of Harper Collins notes in The Bookseller's 2026 trend article, “we are seeing global success with responsive, reader-driven publishing, subscription boxes and TikTok Shop and – crucially – developing strategies that are founded on a comprehensive understanding of the reader.” She also notes, “AI enables us to dramatically change the way we interact with and grow audiences. The opportunities are genuinely exciting – finding new ways to help readers discover books they will love, innovating in the ways we market and reach audiences, building new channels and adapting to new methods of consuming content.” (2) AI-powered search will start to shift elements of book discoverability From LinkedIn's 2026 Big Ideas: “Generative engine optimization (GEO) is set to replace search engine optimization (SEO) as the way brands get discovered in the year ahead. As consumers turn to AI chatbots, agentic workflows and answer engines, appearing prominently in generative outputs will matter more than ranking in search engines.” Google has been rolling out AI Mode with its AI Overviews and is beginning to push it within Google.com itself in some countries, which means the start of a fundamental change in how people discover content online. I first posted about GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) in 2023, and it's going to change how readers find books. For years, we've talked about the long tail of search. Now, with AI-powered search, that tail is getting even longer and more nuanced. AI can understand complex, conversational queries that traditional search engines struggled with. Someone might ask, “What's a good thriller set in a small town with a female protagonist who's a journalist investigating a cold case?” and get highly specific recommendations. This means your book metadata, your website content, and your online presence need to be more detailed and conversational. AI search engines understand context in ways that go far beyond simple keywords. The authors who win in this new landscape will be those who create rich, authentic content about their books and themselves, not just promotional copy. As economist Tyler Cowen has said, “Consider the AIs as part of your audience. Because they are already reading your words and listening to your voice.” We're in the ‘organic' traffic phase right now, where these AI engines are surfacing content for ‘free,' but paid ads are inevitably on the way, and even rumoured to be coming this year to ChatGPT. By the end of 2026, I expect some authors and publishers to be paying for AI traffic, rather than blocking and protesting them. For now, I recommend checking that your author name/s and your books are surfaced when you search on ChatGPT.com as well as Google.com AI Mode (powered by Gemini). You want to make sure your work comes up in some way. I found that Joanna Penn and J.F. Penn searches brought up my Shopify stores, my website, podcast, Instagram, LinkedIn, and even my Patreon page, but did not bring up links to Amazon. If you only have an author presence on Amazon, does it appear in AI search at all? Do you need to improve anything about what the AI search brings up? Traditional publishers are also looking at this, with PublishersWeekly doing webinars on various aspects of AI in early 2026, including sessions on GEO and how book sales are changing, AI agents, and book marketing. In a 2026 predictions article on The Bookseller, the CEO of Bloomsbury Publishing noted, “The boundaries of artificial intelligence will become clearer, enabling publishers to harness its benefits while seeking to safeguard the intellectual property rights of authors, illustrators and publishers.” “AI will be deeply embedded in our workflows, automating tasks such as metadata tagging, freeing teams to focus on creativity and strategy. Challenges will persist. Generative AI threatens traditional web traffic and ad revenue models, making metadata optimisation and SEO critical for visibility as we adjust to this new reality online.” (3) The start of Agentic Commerce AI researches what you want to buy and may even buy on your behalf. Plus, I predict that Amazon does a commerce deal with OpenAI for shopping within ChatGPT by the end of 2026. In September 2025, ChatGPT launched Instant Checkout and the Agentic Commerce Protocol, which will enable bots to buy on websites in the background if authorised by the human with the credit card. VISA is getting on board with this, so is PayPal, with no doubt more payment options to come. In the USA, ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Free users can now buy directly from US Etsy sellers inside the chat interface, with over a million Shopify merchants coming soon. Shopify and OpenAI have also announced a partnership to bring commerce to ChatGPT. I am insanely excited about this as it could represent the first time we have been able to more easily find and surface books in a much more nuanced way than the 7 keywords and 3 categories we have relied on for so long! I've been using ChatGPT for at least the last year to find fiction and non-fiction books as I find the Amazon interface is ‘polluted' by ads. I've discovered fascinating books from authors I've never heard of, most in very long tail areas. For example, Slashed Beauties by A. Rushby, recommended by ChatGPT as I am interested in medical anatomy and anatomical Venuses, and The Macabre by Kosoko Jackson, recommended as I like art history and the supernatural. I don't think I would have found either of these within a nuanced discussion with ChatGPT. Even without these direct purchase integrations, ChatGPT now has Shopping Research, which I have found links directly to my Shopify store when I search for my books specifically. Walmart has partnered with OpenAI to create AI-first shopping experiences, and you have to wonder what Amazon might be doing? In Nov 2025, Amazon signed a “strategic partnership” with OpenAI, and even though it's focused on the technical side of AI, those two companies in a room together might also be working on other plans … I'm calling it for 2026. I think Amazon will sign a commerce agreement with OpenAI sometime before the end of the year. This will enable at least recommendation and shopping links into Amazon stores (presumably using an OpenAI affiliate link), or perhaps even Instant Checkout with ChatGPT for Amazon. It will also enable a new marketing angle, especially if paid ads arrive in ChatGPT, perhaps even integrating with Amazon Ads in some way as part of any possible agreement, since ads are such a good revenue stream for Amazon anyway. The line between discovery, engagement, and purchase is collapsing. Someone could be having a conversation with an AI about what to read next, and within that same conversation, purchase a bookwithout ever leaving the chat interface. This already happens within TikTok and social commerce clearly works for many authors. It's possible that the next development for book discoverability and sales might be within AI chats. This will likely stratify the already fragmented book eco-system even more. Some readers will continue to live only within the Amazon ecosystem and (maybe) use their Rufus chatbot to buy, and others will be much wider in their exploration of how to find and discover books (and other products and services). If you haven't tried it yet, try ChatGPT.com Shopping Research for a book. You can do this on the free tier. Use the drop down in the main chat box and select Shopping Research. It doesn't have to be for your book. It can be any book or product, for example, our microwave died just before Christmas so I used it to find a new one. But do a really nuanced search with multiple requirements. Go far beyond what you would search for on Amazon. In the results, notice that (at the time of writing) it does not generally link to Amazon, but to independent sites and stores. As above, I think this will change by the end of 2026, as some kind of commerce deal with Amazon seems inevitable. (4) AI-assisted audiobook narration will go mainstream I've been talking about AI narration of audiobooks since 2019, and over the years, I've tried various different options. In 2025, the technology reached a level of emotional nuance that made it much easier to create satisfying fiction audio as well as non-fiction. It also super-charges accessibility, making audio available in more languages and more accents than ever before. Of course, human narration remains the gold standard, but the cost makes it prohibitive for many authors, and indeed many small traditional publishers, for all books. If it costs $2000 – $10,000 to create an audiobook, you have to sell a lot to make a profit, and the dominance of subscription models have made it harder to recoup the costs. Famous narrators and voice artists who have an audience may still be worth investing in, as well as premium production, but require an even higher upfront cost and therefore higher sales and streams in return. AI voice/audio models are continuing to improve, and even as this goes out, there are rumours on TechCrunch that OpenAI's new device, designed by Jony Ive who designed the iPhone, will be audio first and OpenAI are improving their voice models even more in preparation for that launch. In 2026, I think AI-narrated audio will go mainstream with far-reaching adoption across publishing and the indie author world in many different languages and accents. This will mean a further stratification of audiobooks, with high quality, high production, high cost human narrated audio for a small percentage of books, and then mass market, affordable AI-narrated audio for the rest. AI-narrated audiobooks will make audio ubiquitous, and just as (almost) every print book has an ebook format, in 2026, they will also have an audio format. I straddle both these worlds, as I am still a human audiobook narrator for my own work. I human-narrated Successful Self-Publishing Fourth Edition (free audiobook) and The Buried and the Drowned, my short story collection. I also use AI narration for some books. ElevenLabs remains my preferred service and in 2025, I used my J.F. Penn voice clone for Death Valley and also Blood Vintage, while using a male voice for Catacomb. I clearly label my AI-narration in the sales description and also on the cover, which I think is important, although it is not always required by the various services. You can distribute ElevenLabs narrated audiobooks on Spotify, Kobo Writing Life, YouTube, ElevenReader, and of course your own store if you use Shopify with Bookfunnel. There are many other services springing up all the time, so make sure you check the rights you have over the finished audio, as well as where you can sell and distribute the final files. If they are just using ElevenLabs models in the back-end, then why not just do that directly? (Most services will be using someone's model in the back-end, since most companies do not train their own models.) Of course, you can use Amazon's own narration. While Amazon originally launched Audible audiobooks with Virtual Voice (AVV) in November 2023, it was rolled out to more authors and territories in 2025. If your book is eligible, the option to create an audiobook will appear on your KDP dashboard. With just a few clicks, you can create an audiobook from a range of voices and accents, and publish it on Amazon and Audible. However, the files are not yours. They are exclusive to Amazon and you cannot use them on other platforms or sell them direct yourself. But they are also free, so of course, many authors, especially those in KU, will use this option. I have done some for my mum's sweet romance books as Penny Appleton and I will likely use them for my books in translation when the option becomes available. Traditional publishers are experimenting with AI-assisted audiobook narration as well. MacMillan is selling digital audiobooks read by AI directly on their store. PublishersWeekly reports that PRH Audio “has experimented with artificial voice in specific instances, such as entrepreneur Ely Callaway's posthumous memoir The Unconquerable Game,” when an “authorized voice replica” was created for the audiobook. The article also notes that PRH Audio “embrace artificial intelligence across business operations—my entire department [PRH Audio] is using AI for business applications.” And while indie authors can't use AI voices on ACX right now, Audible have over 100 voices available to selected publishing partnerships, as reported by The Guardian with “two options for publishers wishing to make use of the technology: “Audible-managed” production, or “self-service” whereby publishers produce their own audiobooks with the help of Audible's AI technology.” In 2026, it's likely that more traditional publishers — as well as indie authors — will get their backlist into audio with AI narration. (5) AI-assisted translation will start to take off beyond the early adopters Over the years, I've done translation deals with traditional publishers in different languages (German, French, Spanish, Korean, Italian) for some fiction and non-fiction books. But of course, to get these kinds of deals, you have to be proactive about pitching, or work with an agent for foreign rights only, and those are few and far between! There are also lots of languages and territories worldwide, and most deals are for the bigger markets, leaving a LOT of blue water for books in translation, even if you have licensed some of the bigger markets. I did my first partially AI-translated books in 2019 when I used Deepl.com for the first draft and then worked with a German editor to do 3 non-fiction books in German. While the first draft was cheap, the editing was pretty expensive, so I stopped after only doing a couple. I have made the money back now, but it took years. In 2025, AI Translation began to take off with ScribeShadow, GlobeScribe.ai, and more recently, in November 2025, Kindle Translate boosting the number of translated books available. Kindle Translate is (currently) only available to US authors for English into Spanish and also German into English, but in 2026, this will likely roll out to more languages and more authors, making it easier than ever to produce translations for free. Of course, once again, the gold standard is human translation, or at least human-edited translations, but the cost is prohibitive even just for proof-reading, and if there is a cheap or even free option, like Kindle Translate, then of course, authors are going to try it. If the translation gets bad reviews, they can just un-publish. There are many anecdotal stories of indie success in 2025 with AI-translated genre fiction sales (in series) in under-served markets like Italian, French, and Spanish, as well as more mainstream adoption in German. I was around in the Kindle gold-rush days of 2009-2012 and the AI-translation energy right now feels like that. There are hardly any Kindle ebooks in many of these languages compared to how many there are in English, so inevitably, the rush is on to fill the void, especially in genres that are under-served by traditional publishers in those markets. Yes, some of these AI translated books will be ‘AI-slop,' but readers are not stupid. Those books will get bad reviews and thus will sink to the bottom of the store, never to be seen again. The AI translation models are also improving rapidly, and Amazon's Kindle Translate may improve faster than most, for books specifically, since they will be able to get feedback in terms of page reads. Amazon is also a major investor in Anthropic, which makes Claude.ai, widely considered the best quality for creative writing and translation, so it's likely that is used somewhere in the mix. Some traditional publishers are also experimenting with AI-assisted translation, with Harlequin France reportedly using AI translation and human proofreaders, as reported by the European Council of Literary Translators' Associations in December 2025. Academic publisher Taylor and Francis is also using AI for book translation, noting: “Following a program of rigorous testing, Taylor & Francis has announced plans to use AI translation tools to publish books that would otherwise be unavailable to English-language readers, bringing the latest knowledge to a vastly expanded readership.” “Until now, the time and resources required to translate books has meant that the majority remained accessible only to those who could read them in the original language. Books that were translated often only became available after a significant delay. Today, with the development of sophisticated AI translation tools, it has become possible to make these important texts available to a broad readership at speed, without compromising on accuracy.” (6) AI video becomes ubiquitous. ‘Live selling' becomes the next trend in social sales. In 2025, short form AI-generated video became very high quality. OpenAI released Sora 2, and YouTube announced new Shorts creation tools with Veo 3, which you can also use directly within Gemini. There are tons of different AI video apps now, including those within the social media sites themselves. There is more video than ever and it's much easier to create. I am not a fan of short form video! I don't make it and I don't consume it, but I do love making book trailers for my Kickstarter campaigns and for adding to my book pages and using on social media. I made a trailer for The Buried and the Drowned using Midjourney for images and then animation of those images, and Canva to put them together along with ElevenLabs to generate the music. But despite the AI tools getting so much easier to use, you still have to prompt them with exactly what you want. I can't just upload my book and say, “Make a book trailer,” or “Make a short film.” This may change with generative video ads, which are likely to become more common in 2026, as video turns specifically commercial. Video ads may even be generated specifically for the user, with an audience of one, maybe even holding your book in their hands (using something like Cameos on Sora), in the same way that some AI-powered clothing stores do virtual try-ons. This might also up-end the way we discover and buy things, as the AI for eCommerce and Amazon Sellers newsletter says about OpenAI's Sora app, “OpenAI isn't just trying to build a TikTok competitor. They're building a complete reimagining of how we discover and buy things …” “The combination of ChatGPT's research capabilities and Sora's potential for emotional manipulation—I mean, “engagement”—could create something we've never seen before: an AI ecosystem that might eventually guide you through every type of purchase, from the most considered to the most impulsive.” In 2026, there will be A LOT more AI-generated video, but that also leads to the human trend of more live video. While you can use an AI avatar that looks and sounds like you using tools like HeyGen or Synthesia, live video has all the imperfect human elements that make it stand-out, plus the scarcity element which leads to the purchase decision within a countdown period. Live video is nothing new in terms of brand building and content in general, but it seems that live events primarily for direct sales might be a thing in 2026. Kim Kardashian hosted Kimsmas Live in December 2025 with a 45 minute live shopping event with special guests, described as entertainment but designed to be a sales extravaganza. Indie authors are doing a similar thing on TikTok with their books, so this is a trend to watch in 2026, especially if you feel that live selling might fit with your personality and author business goals. It's certainly not for everyone, but I suspect it will suit a different kind of creator to those who prefer ‘no face' video, or no video at all! On other aspects of the human side of social media, Adam Mosseri the CEO of Instagram put a post on Threads called Authenticity after Abundance. He said, “Everything that made creators matter—the ability to be real, to connect, to have a voice that couldn't be faked—is now suddenly accessible to anyone with the right tools.” “Deepfakes are getting better and better. AI is generating photographs and videos indistinguishable from captured media. The feeds are starting to fill up with synthetic everything. And in that world, here's what I think happens.Creators matter more.” It's a long article so just to pick a few things from it: “We like to talk about “AI slop,” but there is a lot of amazing AI content … we are going to start to see more and more realistic AI content.” I've talked to my Patreon Community about this ‘tsunami of excellence' as these tools are just getting better and better and the word ‘slop' can also be applied to purely human output, too. If you think that AI content is ‘worse' than wholly human content, in 2026, you are wrong. It is now very very good, especially in the hands of people who can drive the AI tools. Back to Adam's post: “Authenticity is fast becoming a scarce resource, …The creators who succeed will be those who figure out how to maintain their authenticity [even when it can be simulated] …” “The bar is going to shift from “can you create?” to “can you make something that only you could create?” He talks about how the personal content on Instagram now is: “unpolished; it's blurry photos and shaky videos of people's daily experiences … flattering imagery is cheap to produce and boring to consume. People want content that feels real… Savvy creators are going to lean into explicitly unproduced and unflattering images of themselves. In a world where everything can be perfected, imperfection becomes a signal. Rawness isn't just aesthetic preference anymore—it's proof. It's defensive. A way of saying: this is real because it's imperfect.” While I partially love this, and I really hope it's true, as in I hope we don't need to look good for the camera anymore I would also challenge Adam on this, because pretty much every woman I know on social media has been sent sexual messages, and/or told they are ugly and/or fat when posting anything unflattering. I've certainly had both even for the same content, but I don't expect Adam has been the target for such posting! But I get his point. He goes on:“Labeling content as authentic or AI-generated is only part of the solution though. We, as an industry, are going to need to surface much more context about not only the media on our platforms, but the accounts that are sharing it in order for people to be able to make informed decisions about what to believe. Where is the account? When was it created? What else have they posted?” This is exactly what I've been saying for a while under my double down on being human focus. I use my Instagram @jfpennauthor as evidence of humanity, not as a sales channel. You can do both of course, but increasingly, you need to make sure your accounts at places have longevity and trust, even by the platforms themselves. Adam finishes: “In a world of infinite abundance and infinite doubt, the creators who can maintain trust and signal authenticity—by being real, transparent, and consistent—will stand out.” For other marketing trends for 2026, I recommend publicist Kathleen Schmidt's SubStack which is mostly focused on traditional publishing but still interesting for indies. In her 2026 article, she notes: “We have reached a social media saturation point where going viral can be meaningless and should not be the goal; authenticity and creativity should. She also says, “In-person events are important again,” and, “Social media marketing takes a nosedive… we have reached a saturation point … What publishers must figure out is how to make their social media campaigns stand out. If they remain somewhat uninspired, the money spent on social ads won't convert into book sales.” I think this is part of the rise of live selling as above, which can stand out above more ‘produced' videos. Kathleen also talks about AI usage. “AI can help lighten the burden of publicity and marketing.” “A lot of AI tools are coming to market to lessen the load: they can write pitches, create media lists for you, send pitches for you, and more. I know the industry is grappling with all things AI, but some of these tools are huge time savers and may help a book more than hurt it.” On that note … (7) AI will create, run, and optimise ads without the need for human intervention Many authors will be very happy about this as marketing is often the bane of our author business lives! As I noted in my 2026 goals, I would love to outsource more marketing tasks to AI. I want an “AI book marketing assistant” where I can upload a book and specify a budget and say, ‘Go market this,' then the AI will action the marketing, without me having to cobble together workflows between systems. Of course, it will present plans for me to approve but it will do the work itself on the various platforms and monitor and optimize things for me. I really hope 2026 is the year this becomes possible, because we are on the edge of it already in some areas. Amazon Ads launched a new agentic AI tool in September 2025 that creates professional-quality ads. I've also been working with Claude in Chrome browser to help me analyse my Amazon Ad data and suggest which keywords/products to turn off and what to put more budget into. I'll do a Patreon video on that soon. Meta announced it will enable AI ad creation by the end of 2026 for Facebook and Instagram. For authors who find ad creation overwhelming or time-consuming, this could be a game-changer. Of course, you will still need a budget! (8) 1000 True Fans becomes more important than ever Lots of authors and publishers are moaning about the difficulty of reaching readers in an era of ‘AI slop' but there is no shortage of excellent content created by humans, or humans using AI tools. As ever, our competition is less about other authors, or even authors using AI-assisted creation, we're competing against everything else that jostles for people's attention, and the volume of that is also growing exponentially. I've never been a fan of rapid release, and have said for years that you can't keep up with the pace of the machines. So play a different game. As Kevin Kelly wrote in 2008, If you have 1000 true fans, (also known as super fans), “you can make a living — if you are content to make a living but not a fortune.” [Kevin Kelly was on this show in 2023 talking about Excellent Advice for Living.] Many authors and the publishing industry are stuck in the old model of aiming to sell huge volumes of books at a low profit margin to a massive number of readers, many of them releasing ever faster to try and keep the algorithms moving. But the maths can work for the smaller audience of more invested readers and fans. If you only make $2 profit on an ebook, you need to sell 500 ebooks to make $1000, and then do it again next month. Or you can have a small community like my patreon.com/thecreativepenn where people pay $2 (or more) a month, so even a small revenue per person results in a better outcome over the year, as it is consistent monthly income with no advertising. But what if you could make $20 profit per book? That is entirely possible if you're producing high quality hardbacks on Kickstarter, or bundle deals of audiobooks, or whole series of ebooks. You would only need to sell to 50 people to make $1000. What about $100 profit per sale, which you can do with a small course or live event? You only need 10 people to make $1000, and this in-person focus also amplifies trust and fosters human connection. I've found the intimacy of my live Patreon Office Hours and also my webinars have been rewarding personally, but also financially, and are far more memorable — and potentially transformative — than a pre-recorded video or even another book. From the LinkedIn 2026 Big Ideas article: “In an AI-optimized world, intentional human connection will become the ultimate luxury.” The 1000 True Fans model is about serving a smaller, more personal audience with higher value products (and maybe services if that's your thing). As ever, its about niche and where you fit in the long long long long long tail. It's also about trust. Because there is definitely a shortage of that in so many areas, and as Adam Mosseri of Instagram has said, trust will be increasingly important. Trust takes time to build, but if you focus on serving your audience consistently, and delivering a high quality, and being authentic, this emerges as part of being human. In an echo of what happened when online commerce first took off, we are back to talking about trust. Back in 2010, I read Trust Agents: by Julien Smith and Chris Brogan, which clearly needs a comeback. There was a 10th anniversary edition published in 2020, so that's worth a read/listen. Chris Brogan was also on this show in 2017 when we talked about finding and serving your niche for the long term. That interview is still relevant, here's a quick excerpt, where I have (lightly edited) his response to my question on this topic back in 2017: Jo: The principle of know, like, and trust, why is that still important or perhaps even more important these days? Chris: There are a few things that at play there, Joanna. One is that the same tools that make it so easy for any of us to start and run a business also allow certain elements to decide whether or not they want to do something dubious. And with all new technologies that come, you know, there's nothing unique about these new technologies. In the 1800s, anyone could put anything in a bottle and sell it to you and say, this is gonna cure everything. Cancer — gone. And the bottle could have nothing in. You know, it could be Kool-Aid. And so, the idea of trying to understand what's behind the business though, one beautiful thing that's come is that we can see in much more dimensions who we're dealing with. We can understand better who's the face behind the brand. I really want people to try their best to be a lot clearer on what they stand for or what they say. And I don't really mean a tagline. I mean, humans don't really talk like that. They don't throw some sentence out as often as they can that you remember them for that phrase. But I would say that, we have so many media available to us — the plural of mediums — where we can be more of ourselves. And I think that there's a great opportunity to share the ‘you' behind the scenes, and some people get immediately terrified about this, ‘Ah, the last thing I want is for people to know more about me,' but I think we have such an opportunity. We have such an opportunity to voice our thoughts on something, to talk about the story that goes behind the product. We were all raised on overly produced material, but I think we don't want that anymore. We really want clarity, brevity, simplicity. We want the ability for what we feel is connection and then access. And so I think it's vital that we connect and show people our accessibility, not so that they can pester us with strange questions, but more so that you can say, this person stands with their product and their service and this person believes these things, and I feel something when I hear them and I wanna be part of that.” That's from Chris Brogan's interview here in 2017, and he is still blogging and speaking at writing at ChrisBrogan.com and I'm going to re-listen to the audiobook of Trust Agents again myself as I think it's more relevant than ever. The original quote comes from Bob Burg in his 1994 book, Endless Referrals, “All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like and trust.” That still applies, and absolutely fits with the 1000 True Fans model of aiming to serve a smaller audience. As Kevin Kelly says in 1000 True Fans, “Instead of trying to reach the narrow and unlikely peaks of platinum bestseller hits, blockbusters, and celebrity status, you can aim for direct connection with a thousand true fans.” “On your way, no matter how many fans you actually succeed in gaining, you'll be surrounded not by faddish infatuation, but by genuine and true appreciation. It's a much saner destiny to hope for. And you are much more likely to actually arrive there.” In 2026, I hope that more authors (including me!) let go of ego goals and vanity metrics like ranking, gross sales (income before you take away costs), subscribers, followers, and likes, and consider important business numbers like profit (which is the money you have after costs like marketing are taken out), as well as number of true fans — and also lifestyle elements like number of weekends off, or days spent enjoying life and not just working! OK, that's my list of trends and predictions for 2026. Let me know what you think in the comments. Do you agree? Am I wrong? What have I missed? The post 2026 Trends And Predictions For Indie Authors And The Book Publishing Industry with Joanna Penn first appeared on The Creative Penn.

On this episode, past guests of Books with Betsy and I share our favorite books of 2025! Listen to hear about lots of great 2025 books and the excellent backlist we got to this year.    Books mentioned in this episode:    Betsy's Top 11 Books (in no particular order):  The Sisters by Jonas Hassan Khemiri  Endling by Maria Reva The Director by Daniel Kehlmann  The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones Biography of X by Catherine Lacey  Say Hello to My Little Friend by Jennine Capó Crucet  Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism by Eve L. Ewing Devil is Fine by John Vercher  There is a Rio Grande in Heaven by Ruben Reyes, Jr.  A Guardian and A Thief by Megha Majumdar  Reservoir Bitches by Dalia de la Cerda    Books Highlighted by Guests: Tina of TBR, etc:  One Yellow Eye by Leigh Radford  Dominion by Addie E. Citchens Red Clay by Charles B. Fancher  Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid  Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy Jen Price: The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis Canada by Mike Myers  Everyone is Lying to You by Jo Piazza Saltwater by Katy Hays Come Fly With Me by Camille Di Maio Bre of Brezzylovesbooks:  Plantains and Our Becoming: Poems by Melania Luisa Marte What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing From Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo  Maggie; or, a Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar by Katie Yee  Maggie Brennan:  There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib  Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar  The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai  Wolf Pack by Amelia Brunskill  Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed   Amy Smalley:  Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce  You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith  The Carpool Detectives: A True Story of Four Moms, Two Bodies, and One Mysterious Cold Case by Chuck Hogan  Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon by Matthew Norman  Carrie Vittitoe:  My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for His Family's Past by Ariel Sabar   Angel Down by Daniel Kraus  The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon  Mary Hopper:  The Black Wolf by Louise Penny  Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park by Conor Knighton The God of the Woods by Liz Moore  The Moscow Sleepers by Stella Rimington  The Searcher by Tana French  The Hunter by Tana French  Aflame: Learning From Silence by Pico Iyer  Karishma Verma:  The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading by James Patterson and Matt Eversman  You Wanna Be on Top?: A Memoir of Makeovers, Manipulation, and Not Becoming America's Next Top Model by Sarah Hartshorne  Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez  The Housemaid's Secret by Frieda McFadden  The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom by Shari Franke Alayna Mills:  Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid Flashlight by Susan Choi  We Do Not Part by Han Kang  Last Call at the Local by Sarah Grunder Ruiz  Heart the Lover by Lily King

As a music genre, plunderphonics is somewhat misunderstood. While the genre is based on samples, much like hip-hop, it isn't just music made from other music. It utilizes samples to push the boundaries of copyright -- what is fair use, what is public domain, who truly owns a piece of music? Matthew Blackwell's new book for 33 1/3's GENRE series, Plunderphonics, traces the genre back to the quote-heavy compositions of early 20th Century composer Charles Ives and follows it up through the mash-up madness of Danger Mouse and Girl Talk. Along the way, Blackwell looks at the recordings and legal battles of diverse artists like Bay Area pranksters Negativland, comedy pioneers Buchanan and Goodman, hip-hop legends De La Soul, Biz Markie, and Beastie Boys, Aussie art-poppers The Avalanches, and avant-garde theorist (and coiner of the term Plunderphonics) John Oswald. Bookseller and writer Justin Remer talks with Blackwell about all these artists and more of the tidbits contained in his new book. Hosted and produced by Justin Remer.  Recorded remotely via Zencastr.  Fan of audiobooks? Check out the "On the Skylight Pod" playlist on Libro.FM - https://libro.fm/playlists/skylight-podcast Opening music: "Optimism (Instrumental)" by Duck the Piano Wire.  Closing music: "Rule of 3s (Solemnity Child)" by Elastic No-No Band. 

Lisa Swayze has been the General Manager at Buffalo Street Books for 8 years and will transition to becoming the Executive Director of the bookstore's new literary nonprofit in 2025. Lisa is on the board of directors of the American Booksellers Association and the Downtown Ithaca Alliance. Laura Larson is the owner of Odyssey Bookstore. In 2019 Laura decided to return to her hometown of Ithaca NY to satisfy her life-long dream of opening her own bookstore. Now Laura enjoys spending her days talking about books, reading books and thinking about what to read next. Recommended Books from our Booksellers: Lisa's Favorites Cursed Daughters - Oyinkan Braithwaite The Bone Thief - Vanessa Lillie Wild Dark Shore - Charlotte McConaghy The Hounding - Xenobe Purvis I Want to Burn This Place Down - Maris Kreizman Laura's Favorites Calculation of Volume I-III by Solvej Balle (9780811237253, 9780811237277, 9780811238397) Exophony: Voyages Outside the Mother Tongue by Yoko Tawada (9780811237871) The End of Drum Time by Hanna Pylvainen (9781250871817) January by Sara Gallardo (9781953861641) Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino (9781250338020) Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst (9780593854280) Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (9781984820716 The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai (9780307700155) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lisa Swayze has been the General Manager at Buffalo Street Books for 8 years and will transition to becoming the Executive Director of the bookstore's new literary nonprofit in 2025. Lisa is on the board of directors of the American Booksellers Association and the Downtown Ithaca Alliance. Laura Larson is the owner of Odyssey Bookstore. In 2019 Laura decided to return to her hometown of Ithaca NY to satisfy her life-long dream of opening her own bookstore. Now Laura enjoys spending her days talking about books, reading books and thinking about what to read next. Recommended Books from our Booksellers: Lisa's Favorites Cursed Daughters - Oyinkan Braithwaite The Bone Thief - Vanessa Lillie Wild Dark Shore - Charlotte McConaghy The Hounding - Xenobe Purvis I Want to Burn This Place Down - Maris Kreizman Laura's Favorites Calculation of Volume I-III by Solvej Balle (9780811237253, 9780811237277, 9780811238397) Exophony: Voyages Outside the Mother Tongue by Yoko Tawada (9780811237871) The End of Drum Time by Hanna Pylvainen (9781250871817) January by Sara Gallardo (9781953861641) Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino (9781250338020) Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst (9780593854280) Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (9781984820716 The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai (9780307700155) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

TRADE SEMINARS, HEALTH INSPECTIONS, AND A PROPER DESK Colleague Oliver Darkshire. The guest describes attending a trade seminar in York, noting that booksellers are typically reclusive rather than social. He recounts a health and safety inspection that left the official in a "fugue state" due to the shop's conditions. Finally, Oliver celebrates eventually receiving a desk he fits under. NUMBER 4 1896 iIRELAND

"Be more human," we are told, if we want to thrive as indie authors in the age of AI, continue to sell our books, and remain relevant to readers. But what does that mean in practical terms? In this session, based on ALLi's Reach More Readers guidebook, Orna Ross surveys how machine and human intelligences are becoming more integrated. She explores ways to strengthen and augment humanity in book marketing, offers tips on using AI assistance across three marketing models, and explains how to let go of what no longer serves your purpose as a writer and publisher while optimizing what does. Sponsor This podcast is proudly sponsored by Bookfunnel. Do you have reader magnets, ARCs, and direct digital sales? Want to join multi-author promotions? Thousands of authors trust BookFunnel for seamless delivery and real human support. Visit BookFunnel.com. Find more author advice, tips, and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. Show Notes Reach More Readers book can be found on SelfPublishingStore.com About the Host Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction and is greatly excited by the democratizing, empowering potential of author-publishing. For more information about Orna, visit her website.

Leyla Kazim takes a look at the best food books and writing from 2025, and chats to food writer Ruby Tandoh about her new book looking at why we eat the way we eat now. We hear picks from the rest of The Food Programme presenters - Sheila Dillon, Dan Saladino and Jaega Wise; books to get you cooking and books to get you thinking.Tom Tivnan from The Bookseller discusses the latest bestsellers, and Carla Lalli - cookbook author and former Bon Appétit food director - helps bust some common myths and even lies we see in about recipe books and in online recipes.Food Books for 2025: * Serving the Public: The Good Food Revolution in Schools, Hospitals and Prisons by Professor Kevin Morgan * Give It a Grow: Simple Projects to Nurture Food, Flowers and Wildlife in Any Outdoor Space by Martha Swales * Food Fight: From Plunder and Profit to People and Planet by Stuart Gillespie * Boustany: A Celebration of Vegetables from My Palestine by Sami Tamimi * Naturally Vegan: Delicious Recipes from Around the World That Just Happen to Be Plant-based by Julius Fiedler * WINE: Everything You Need to Know by Olly Smith * Winter Wellness: Nourishing Recipes to Keep You Healthy When It's Cold by Rachel de Thample * Abundance: Eating and Living with the Seasons by Mark Diacono * Kapusta: Vegetable-Forward Recipes from Eastern Europe by Alissa Timoshkina * Indian Kitchens: Treasured Recipes from India's Diverse Food Culture by Roopa Gulati * All Consuming: Why We Eat the Way We Eat Now by Ruby Tandoh * Chop Chop: Cooking the Food of Nigeria by Ozoz Sokoh Presented by Leyla Kazim Produced by Natalie Donovan for BBC Audio in Bristol.

Send us a textIn this episode, I chat with Amanda and Anthony Stromoski, co-owners of Rough Draft Bar & Books located at Kingston, New York's historic four corners.What if your favorite bookstore also poured a perfect espresso and kept an impeccable tap list? Amanda and Anthony explain how a 1774 schoolhouse became a living room for the Hudson Valley. From Brooklyn careers to a life anchored in community, they share the turning points—personal loss, a craving for connection, and a decade of dreaming—that led to opening a bookstore-bar where people want to linger.We dig into the choices that shape trust and atmosphere: building with reclaimed wood and approachable furniture, prioritizing comfort over polish, and crafting a bar and coffee program that serves readers from morning to late night. On the shelves, their mantra—something for everyone, not all things to all people—guides a curated mix of literary fiction, evolving genre sections, and a standout local interest collection: Catskills hiking guides, Hudson Valley geology and architecture, and beloved regional cookbooks. They break down how staff picks, customer requests, and real-time feedback keep the selection fresh and relevant.Beyond the shop, we map the region's creative heartbeat. Expect insider recs for Overlook Mountain, Huckleberry Point, and the rugged Devil's Path, plus a post-hike stop at West Kill Brewing. We also spotlight neighboring indie bookstores—Spotty Dog Books and Ale in Hudson and the Golden Notebook in Woodstock—that helped inspire Rough Draft's hybrid model. The conversation closes with two standout reads: Álvaro Enrigue's You Dreamed of Empires for its empathy-forward perspective on history, and David Litt's It's Only Drowning for the lessons of learning hard things as an adult.If you love independent bookshops, Hudson Valley travel, Catskills hikes, craft beer, and the art of thoughtful curation, you'll feel right at home here. Subscribe, share this episode with a friend who needs a new third place, and leave a review to help more listeners discover the show.Rough Draft Bar & BooksYou Dreamed of Empires, Álvaro EnrigueIt's Only Drowning, David LittSupport the showThe Bookshop PodcastMandy Jackson-BeverlySocial Media Links

I interview Heather Morris about The Wish.You can buy The Wish by Heather Morris here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16356/9781786582164Also:I review The Bookseller of Hay by James Manning and you can buy it here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16356/9781472159786I review The Last Tree by Luke Adam Hawker and you can buy it here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16356/9781781578704& I review The Picasso Heist by James Patterson and Howard Roughan (audiobook version) and you can buy the printed book here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16356/9781529943580You can contact Philippa at: Email quickbookreviews@outlook.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/quick_book_reviewsThreads: @quick_book_reviewsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@quickbookreviewsX: https://x.com/quickbookrevie3Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/quickbookreviews.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this edition of Madison BookBeat, host Sara Batkie chats with Madison booksellers Mira Branek from A Room of One's Own, Hilary Burg from Mystery to Me, and Molly Fish from Lake City Books to see how their 2025 went.  Take a listen to learn about the new releases they loved, event highlights from the past year, recommended reads that'll keep you cozy this season, and what's in store for them in 2026. And for those still doing some holiday shopping, stick around until the end to hear their order deadlines this December! Photo by Jessica Ruscello.

We're back to Africa! Last month we kicked off a little Kenyan series on ​3 Books​ and today I'm thrilled to share another chapter recorded in the heart of pulsing downtown Nairobi in the country's top bookstore. I landed after an overnight flight and immediately filled my belly with fresh samosas, pakoras, curried goat tripe, and fresh tamarind juice ... for breakfast! ... and then, after seeing the city I hopped into a car with Perlexy, who works with our guest in Chapter 104 and current Kenyan Presidential nominee ​Boniface Mwangi​, and drove downtown... We parked the car and met up with Boniface and his son before walking up together to the second floor of a busy plaza. Tucked inside was a 1000-square-foot bookshop that happens to be one of the most influential literary hubs in the country: ​Nuria Bookstore​. That's where I met Bulle (pronounced "Boo-lay") who is of Somalian descent and born 700km north of Nairobi where he was largely raised by his wise camel-herding grandmother (who is 101 today!). Bulle took a business path early in life but as we'll hear his plans changed and now he runs what many consider the most successful bookstore in Kenya and is a huge champion and evangelist for African authors and African literature. Let's hang out upstairs in the Nairobi bookshop and talk about amplifying African voices, growing up among camels, the winding path of purpose, Bulle's 3 most formative books, and so much more … Let's flip the page to Chapter 155 now …

Adam and Jordana 11a hour!

Ambient Music, as a genre, is one that is meant to be experienced consciously or unconsciously. It can be focused upon or ignored. It can feed your soul, brighten your day, or just counterpoint the din of the everyday. Dusty Henry, in his new book for 33 1/3's GENRE series, focuses upon 20TH CENTURY AMBIENT. The book looks at early and unexpected influences like Erik Satie and Blind Willie Johnson. It highlights leading artists of the form like Brian Eno, Harold Budd, Laraaji, Suzanne Ciani, and Hiroshi Yoshimura. It also touches upon artists like Wendy Carlos and Aphex Twin whose relationship to the genre is only part of their identity. Bookseller and writer Justin Remer talks with Henry about the book, which is one of his Holiday Catalog staff picks! Hosted and produced by Justin Remer.  Recorded remotely via Zencastr.  Opening music: "Optimism (Instrumental)" by Duck the Piano Wire  Closing music: "Rule of 3s (Solemnity Child)" by Elastic No-No Band 

Orna Ross and Joanna Penn sit down for a candid, back-and-forth debrief on Author Nation and SelfPubCon 2025, and some of the bigger creative questions raised by the conferences. They unpack the benefits and challenges of physical versus online events, then broaden the conversation into creative courage and change. Discover Drew Davies's "kill two things" rule, why Orna pressed pause on her Go Creative! series, and how Joanna is stepping into a new season with her Masters in Death, Religion, and Culture. As ever, you'll enjoy honest reflection, practical takeaways, and permission to step boldly into your own next creative chapter. About the Hosts Joanna Penn writes nonfiction for authors and is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author as J.F.Penn. She's also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction and is greatly excited by the democratizing, empowering potential of author-publishing. For more information about Orna, visit her website.

Meet Penelope Fletcher, who runs two Paris bookshops, side by side near the Luxembourg Gardens. The shops: The Red Wheelbarrow and The Red Balloon The Red Balloon is just for children's books, and is almost certainly the most likely of all shops in Paris to have all our own children's books.  Addresses: 9-11 Rue de Médicis, 75006. This episode is from The Earful Tower podcast archives.  Here are all the books that Penelope mentioned, in order: Books for adults Stories from the Magic Canoe of Wa'xaid, by Cecil Paul.  A Moveable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway. Selected Letters, by Madame De Sevigne. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, by Gertrude Stein. The Flight Portfolio, by Julie Orringer. Almost French, by Sarah Turnbull. Circe, by Madeline Miller. Walking on the Ceiling, by Aysegül Savas. Demystifying the French, by Janet Hulstrand. Books for children Paris Chien, Adventures of an Expat Dog, by Jackie Clark. Marielle in Paris, by Maxine Schur. I'm sure you can find these and more at The Red Wheelbarrow. Check out the site here. Music in the episode was from Pres Maxson, his take on the classic Charles Aznavour song Hier encore. *********** The Earful Tower exists thanks to support from its members. For the past 92 months and counting it has cost just $10 a month to unlock almost endless extras including bonus podcast episodes, live video replays, special event invites, and our annually updated PDF guide to Paris.  Membership takes only a minute to set up on Patreon, or Substack. Thank you for keeping this channel independent.  For more from the Earful Tower, here are some handy links: Website  Weekly newsletter  Walking Tours

We recently launched our holiday gift guide, and we're going through the books our booksellers submitted as their favorite reads of 2025. Each bookseller sent in a short clip about why they loved their pick, and the mix of genres amongst everyone is fantastic. We know there is something for everyone, and we hope you enjoy listening. Don't forget to browse our Holiday Gift Guide and find something perfect for yourself or someone in your life.  SHOW NOTES: Browse the Dog-Eared Books 2025 Holiday Gift Guide HERE. ______________________________________________________________________ Make sure to subscribe and rate the Bubbles & Books Podcast. And don't forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on Instagram: @bubblesandbookspodcast Follow Dog-Eared Books on Instagram: @dogearedbooksames Shop Dog-Eared Books and pick up your books in store or have shipped HERE. Interested in audiobooks? Listen while supporting Dog-Eared Books HERE. Interested in e-books? Listen while supporting Dog-Eared Books HERE. Learn more about a Dog-Eared Books book subscription HERE. Visit us! www.dogearedbooksames.com

On the Self-Publishing with ALLi Podcast, Orna Ross talks about the latest ALLi projects designed to support both the creative and commercial sides of an indie author's life. In this episode, she discusses the new indie author bookstore, the Indie Author Income Survey, and why understanding your own definition of success matters as much as the numbers. Orna encourages authors to think about what "enough" looks like in their writing lives and offers practical steps to move toward those goals, whether that means updating your author profile, planning your next release, or carving out regular time for business decisions. About the Host Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction and is greatly excited by the democratizing, empowering potential of author-publishing. For more information about Orna, visit her website.

Former deputy editor of the Independent on Sunday, James Hanning, takes us behind the scenes of The Bookseller of Hay, his immersive portrait of Richard Booth, the man whose eccentric brilliance (and spectacular unruliness!) turned Hay-on-Wye into a world-famous literary destination.We talk about Booth's larger-than-life personality, his love–hate relationship with the Hay Festival, his spectacular mischief, and the contradictions that made him both impossible and irresistible. James also shares how his upbringing and his instinct for “getting to the bottom of things” shaped this book and career.

Watch this episode as a full video interview on YouTubePhoebe Morgan is the Executive Fiction Publisher at Simon & Schuster, with a career spanning major publishing houses including HarperCollins, Orion, Octopus Books, and Hodder & Stoughton. Specialising in crime fiction while also working across general and book club fiction as well as romantasy, she has published numerous Sunday Times, New York Times, and Kindle bestsellers. A passionate champion of new voices, she was shortlisted for Editor of the Year at the British Book Awards (2022) and has received both a Shooting Star Award (in association with The Bookseller) and a Trailblazer Award (with the London Book Fair). She also runs a very informative blog for authors called The Honest Editor, as well as being a successful author in her own right, with five novel published, the latest one being The Trip.We had a great chat with Phoebe, hearing all about how she first moved into publishing and what her day-to-day as an editor for one of the Big 5 publishing houses is really like. We also talk about the role of sales and marketing in publishing houses' decisions on what to acquire, hear about how book auctions work, and get into whether the mid-list is sometimes a neglected part of publishing.Links:Phoebe's websiteFollow Phoebe on InstagramVisit her Honest Editor siteSupport us on Patreon and get great benefits!: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageonePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on ThreadsPage One - The Writer's Podcast is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast, Dan Holloway reports on Grammarly's rebrand as Superhuman and what it signals about the growing role of AI in writing tools. He also outlines the European and International Booksellers Federation's new AI charter, which emphasizes copyright protection and fair treatment for small publishers, and highlights a new $50 million Literary Arts Fund aimed at supporting organizations that help writers and creators. Sponsor Self-Publishing News is proudly sponsored by PublishMe—helping indie authors succeed globally with expert translation, tailored marketing, and publishing support. From first draft to international launch, PublishMe ensures your book reaches readers everywhere. Visit publishme.me. Find more author advice, tips, and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. About the Host Dan Holloway is a novelist, poet, and spoken word artist. He is the MC of the performance arts show The New Libertines, He competed at the National Poetry Slam final at the Royal Albert Hall. His latest collection, The Transparency of Sutures, is available on Kindle.

James Laurie tells us about his new bookstore in Minneapolis.

Fairway's independent bookstore Rainy Day Books has been going strong for 50 years, thanks to the large community it's built. To celebrate, Rainy Day's founder will share highlights and stories of the big name authors who have helped propel the small Kansas shop to the national stage.

Sunday Times best selling author Alice Slater is with me today talking about her second novel Let The Bad Times Roll, a dark and delicious follow up to her debut Death of a Bookseller. Alice talks with me about the pleasures of writing immoral characters, finding her way into her 'difficult' second novel, the challenges of shift work (and why bookselling is a bad profession to have alongside writing) and why she is no where near ready to give up the day job just yet. LinksLet The Bad Times Roll by Alice SlaterDeath of A Bookseller by Alice SlaterAlice Slater on SubstackThe Fold Membership for WritersThis series of the podcast is sponsored by award winning audio book app xigxagListeners of Not Too Busy To Write can receive their second book FREE To redeem, download the xigxag app from the App Store or Google Play. Go to My xigxag/Settings, then click on Account. Under Vouchers, click on the ‘Enter code' button and add your voucher code TOOBUSY to your account. After your first purchase, your second title will be free!

Christa Carmen returns to The Dark Mind Podcast for a dive into psychological horror.We discuss her new novel, How to Fake a Haunting, and the devastating effects of addiction.Christa shares insight into creating multidimensional characters and blurring the line between reality and fiction.We explore toxic relationships, gaslighting, and the thrill of staging hauntings.Christa reflects on humor, dread, and motherhood in dark fiction.Stories of recovery, trauma, and haunted spaces take center stage in this conversation.Plus, we chat about her inspiration, subgenres in horror, and her latest projects.Don't miss this engaging episode packed with depth, darkness, and unexpected moments of humor.Website, Booksellers, Interviews, and Social Media: https://www.christacarmen.comhttps://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15179583.Christa_Carmenhttps://www.amazon.com/Christa-Carmen/e/B07HMKGLTLhttps://x.com/christaquahttps://www.instagram.com/christaqua/?hl=enhttps://www.facebook.com/christaquahttps://www.substack.com/@christacarmenhttps://christacarmen.com/books.aspxhttps://bookshop.org/contributors/christa-carmenhttps://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/christa+carmenhttps://www.christacarmen.com/events.aspxhttps://christacarmen.com/fiction.aspxhttps://www.christacarmen.com/interviews.aspxhttps://www.christacarmen.com/contact.aspxhttps://www.christacarmen.com/about.aspxhttps://www.christacarmen.com/media-02.aspxhttps://oceanstatestories.org/q-a-with-award-winning-westerly-writer-christa-carmen/https://rkbwrites.com/2024/01/author-interview-christa-carmen/https://aspiringauthor.com/interview-author-christa-carmen/https://www.bramstokerawards.com/works-of-superior-achievement/2022-long-fiction/

On the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast, host Orna Ross speaks with Roz Morris, editor-in-chief at ALLi, about ALLi's new marketing guide and why marketing today is less about algorithms and more about authentic human connection. They explore how shifts in the industry, including the rise of AI, are transforming how authors reach readers, and they discuss how understanding your values, reader journey, and publishing personality can lead to more effective, sustainable marketing. Sponsor This podcast is proudly sponsored by Bookfunnel. Do you have reader magnets, ARCs, and direct digital sales? Want to join multi-author promotions? Thousands of authors trust BookFunnel for seamless delivery and real human support. Visit BookFunnel.com. Find more author advice, tips, and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. Show Notes Reach More Readers: ALLi's Definitive Guide to Book Marketing (50 percent off) About the Host Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's “100 top people in publishing”. She also publishes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction and is greatly excited by the democratizing, empowering potential of author-publishing. For more information about Orna, visit her website. About the Guest Roz Morris is editor-in-chief at the Alliance of Independent Authors and lead editor of ALLi's new marketing guide. She has extensive experience helping authors develop their publishing strategy and connect more effectively with readers. Roz is also an accomplished writer and mentor known for her clear, human-centered approach to book marketing. Learn more on her website.  

How can authors write about climate change without preaching? What happens when your publisher goes under just before your book launch? How do theatre skills translate to better dialogue, readings, and author events? With author and theater director Laura Baggaley. In the intro, Indie presses are in existential crisis [The Bookseller]; what to do when […] The post Performance Tips For Authors, And Writing Climate Fiction With Laura Baggaley first appeared on The Creative Penn.

In this episode, the second of our feature on African Queenship, host Ellie Woodacre interviews Paula Akpan. Our discussion mirrors the same lines as the conversation in episode 1 of this mini-series, drawing deeply on her fantastic new book, When We Ruled (see links below) and the various case studies Paula examined in her research.Guest Bio: Paula Akpan is a historian, journalist and author. Her writing has appeared in British Vogue, Teen Vogue, The Independent, The i Paper, VICE, GAY TIMES, The Bookseller, DIVA Magazine, i-D and more. Her essays have featured in Loud Black Girls, The Queer Bible and The Black History Book. Paula holds a BA in Sociology and an MA in Black British History.  When We Ruled: The Rise and Fall of Twelve African Queens and Warriors is her first book.Follow Paula on Insta @paulaakpan 

Hosts Michael Tamblyn and Nathan Maharaj caught up on a landmark legal decision about books and AI, the perils of bookstore merch, plus a whole lot more. This episode covers: Anthropic AI v. Authors and Authors v. Apple How Powell's Books' new mugs got them into hot water Barnes & Noble buying Books Inc. C-suite changes at Simons & Schuster and Harper UK A novel approach to creative writing this November Somehow, neither of them mentioned a specific book this time. They've been spoken to and have promised to do better in the future. More author interviews coming soon to kobo.com/conversation

Asia Bookroom exhibits their most precious items at rare and antiquarian book fairs in Melbourne, Sydney, and Hong Kong. Look for them at the Sydney Rare Book Fair from Oct. 23-25. In this podcast we discuss some of the items on offer at the Sydney Rare Book Fair:The Disputed Islands Controversial Japanese Map by Hayashi Shihei from around 1790. This is a manuscript copy (written by hand), and includes the Takeshima/Dokdo islands indicating they belong to Korea.A silk sample book from the 1950sA Japanese policeman's notebook from shortly after Japan took over Taiwan. It details experiences with indigenous people of Taiwan.Materials from Communist ChinaBooks:The Tokyo Higher Normal School: Life of the Japanese Women of Today (from 1937)Samurai Tales: Manuscript Writing's on Revenge Killings and LoyaltyBooks mentioned in the podcast:The Shortest History of Japan, by Lesley Downer, China Running Dog by Mark Kitto, Samurai and Silk, by Haru Matsukata Reischauer.Books recommended by Sally Burdon:Myself a Mandarin by Austin Coates, about Hong Kong,Country Driving by Peter HestingsGhosts of the Tsunami by Richard Lloyd ParryYou can visit Asia Bookroom online at https://www.asiabookroom.com/      The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

Andrea Romanzi"Il giorno in cui Nils Vik morì"Frode GryttenCarbonio Editorehttps://carbonioeditore.it/le-collane/cielo-stellato/il-giorno-in-cui-nils-vik-mori-frode-grytten/Traduzione a cura di Andrea Romanzi.Nel cuore della Norvegia, in una mattina di novembre, una barca salpa da una banchina per l'ultima volta. A bordo c'è Nils Vik, traghettatore da sempre, uomo di poche parole e gesti misurati, rimasto solo dopo la morte della moglie Marta. Quel giorno, insieme al suo cane Luna, Nils non trasporta passeggeri qualunque, ma volti del passato: affetti scomparsi che riaffiorano per un ultimo saluto. Mentre il traghetto scivola tra i fiordi avvolti da una quiete solenne, la traversata si fa contemplazione, un canto sommesso sulla vita e sulla morte, sulla dolcezza dei ricordi che resistono allo scorrere impietoso del tempo.Con scrittura lirica e profondamente evocativa, Frode Grytten intreccia la malinconia del paesaggio norvegese alla delicatezza delle emozioni più intime, trasformando la quotidianità di un uomo qualunque in una meditazione profonda sulla perdita, sull'amore che perdura, sulla bellezza nascosta nelle cose più semplici.Il giorno in cui Nils Vik morì è un viaggio silenzioso attraversato dalla luce della vita e delle presenze che non ci abbandonano mai.Frode Grytten (Bergen, 1960) è fra i più acclamati scrittori contemporanei norvegesi. Giornalista e autore di romanzi, racconti, poesie e libri per l'infanzia, è stato tradotto in tutto il mondo e ha ricevuto numerosi riconoscimenti. Il giorno in cui Nils Vik morì è stato candidato al Booksellers' Prize e al Libraries' Prize of Literature, e ha vinto il Norwegian Book Prize nel 2023.Andrea Romanzi è docente di letterature scandinave e traduzione presso l'università degli Studi di Milano e ricercatore presso l'Istituto Italiano di Studi Germanici. Ha tradotto romanzi di autori e autrici scandinavi come Victoria Kielland, Thomas Korsgaard, Gert Nygårdshaug, Ruth Lillegraven ed è impegnato nella curatela e traduzione di un'antologia di poesie di Jon Fosse.Diventa un supporter di questo podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/il-posto-delle-parole--1487855/support.IL POSTO DELLE PAROLEascoltare fa pensarehttps://ilpostodelleparole.it/

We're revisiting one of our most popular episodes: a 2023 conversation with rare bookseller Tom Ayling. Tom shares insights into the world of rare and antiquarian books — from the thrill of uncovering forgotten first editions to the evolving market for collectors.Now running his own business in Oxfordshire, Tom offers a behind-the-scenes look at book collecting, the history of the trade, and the enduring appeal of physical books. Perfect for anyone curious about rare books, literary history, and the stories hidden on library shelves.Find Jonkers Rare Books: https://www.jonkers.co.uk/Follow me @litwithcharles for more book reviews and recommendations!

Kelly Mullen is a creative powerhouse who has just released her debut novel, 'This Is Not a Game'. Previously, Kelly has produced in Hollywood, working on the movie 'Trumbo', and the series 'Dads' for Apple TV+. She works as a marketing consultant, helping brands achieve their creative potential, and now she's trying to realise her own. She's been named by Cosmopolitan, The Bookseller, and the Daily Mail as 'One to Watch', and the rights to her new novel have already been snapped up in the USA and Germany.'This Is Not a Game' is about the hard-drinking, crossword solving Mimi, who enlists her stranged granddaughter Addie to help solve a murder. It was inspired by a summer taking care of her own grandma, and dreaming of the strange scrapes they could get into.We talk about why she wasn't trying to reinvent the wheel, what she learned from working in Hollywood, and how she made sure her characters got to her ending. You can hear Kelly's path to publication, what she's taken from her writing career so far, and whether she's taking on too much.Get a copy of the book, and NOW find ebooks to support your local independent book store, at uk.bookshop.org/shop/writersroutineSupport the show - patreon.com/writersroutineko-fi.com/writersroutineThis week's episode is sponsored by IngramSpark, who let you publish like a pro. Try it for free at ingramspark.com/learnmore@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do you publish what YOU want to read, or what the market says people want to read? We're back with last year's PNBA trade show talking to publishers about how they decide what they acquire and publish, and the various things that go into it.************Thank you for catching the People's Guide to Publishing vlogcast!  We post new episodes every Thursday about publishing, authors, and the book industry. You can also listen via your preferred podcast app, or by visiting linktree.com/microcosmGet the book: https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/3663Get the workbook: https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/zines/10031More from Microcosm: http://microcosmpublishing.comMore by Joe Biel: http://joebiel.netMore by Elly Blue: http://takingthelane.comSubscribe to our monthly email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/gIXT6vFind us on social media:Facebook: http://facebook.com/microcosmpublishingBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/microcosm.bsky.socialInstagram: http://instagram.com/microcosm_pub************

If you listened to our episode yesterday about Total Recall, you also heard an exciting announcement about our latest adventure. Starting in October, we're collaborating with Troubadour Booksellers to present our very first book club: FoGadour.Once a month, you're invited to the Charlotte, NC area to visit Troubadour Booksellers for a discussion with fellow friends and FoGgers about that month's book. Our lineup begins with Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix, followed by Jesus and John Wayne by Kristen Kobe du Mez for November, Charles Dickens' immortal classic A Christmas Carol in December, and we'll kick off the new year with David Gushee's book Changing Our Minds.If you're local (or driving distance) from the Charlotte area, we'd love to see you in person. But stay tuned here as well for ways you can join us in a broader internet community as we read and discuss books together. In case you missed yesterday's episode, here's a special presentation telling you all about FoGadour. We hope to see you there!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On the Self-Publishing with ALLi Podcast, Orna Ross and Joanna Penn focus on business models and ethics for indie authors. They look at how “windowing” releases and short KU stints can fit into a publishing strategy, and why managing cash flow is critical for crowdfunding and direct sales. They also examine the collapse of Unbound/Boundless, highlighting the importance of rights-reversion clauses in contracts, and discuss issues of reader trust in memoir. The conversation extends to pen names, ghostwriting, and AI, emphasizing the need for transparency in building lasting relationships with readers. About the Hosts Joanna Penn writes nonfiction for authors and is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author as J.F.Penn. She's also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's “100 top people in publishing”. She also publishes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction and is greatly excited by the democratizing, empowering potential of author-publishing. For more information about Orna, visit her website.

Send us a textIn this episode, I chat with James Anderson, co-owner of Saturn Press with his with Diedre. The humble greeting card might seem like a relic in our digital age, but as James reveals, these tactile treasures carry meaning far beyond their paper boundaries. James shares how Saturn Press creates distinctive cards using vintage presses from the 1940s-60s, explaining that the very constraints of letterpress technology drive a creativity that digital perfection cannot replicate. "I'm not a Luddite who hates technology," he clarifies. "I just love that technology from 60 or 80 years ago remains relevant today." These limitations in color palette and printing technique result in cards that feel comforting, unique, and beautiful – qualities increasingly sought after in our screen-dominated world.  Behind each Saturn Press card lies a thoughtful process of selecting art from their extensive ephemera collection, commissioning licensed artists, or revitalizing work from overlooked historical artists. The company prints on carefully selected natural white paper with deckle edges, creating a wholesome tactile experience that enhances the visual design. Sustainability guides their decisions too, as they work to eliminate plastic from packaging while maintaining the product's integrity.  Perhaps most compelling is James's insight into why greeting cards still matter: "A sympathy text just doesn't cut it. If you're participating in a social relationship, you want to show it's worth enough to buy a nice card, write something meaningful, and put it in the mail." This intentionality explains why independent bookshops increasingly embrace stationery as both a profit center and a natural extension of their literary community.  Discover the magic of letterpress and why these cards aren't just purchased but treasured, displayed, and even framed as keepsakes. Visit saturnpresscards.com to experience these distinctive designs for yourself. Saturn PressThe Gold, Neil Forsyth and Thomas TurnerSupport the showThe Bookshop PodcastMandy Jackson-BeverlySocial Media Links

My website: https://www.gadsaad.com   If you appreciate my work and would like to support it: https://subscribestar.com/the-saad-truth https://patreon.com/GadSaad https://paypal.me/GadSaad To subscribe to my exclusive content on X, please visit my bio at https://x.com/GadSaad _______________________________________ This clip was posted on September 1, 2025 on my YouTube channel as THE SAAD TRUTH_1886: https://youtu.be/RjO_PXLWeoQ _______________________________________ Please visit my website gadsaad.com, and sign up for alerts. If you appreciate my content, click on the "Support My Work" button. I count on my fans to support my efforts. You can donate via Patreon, PayPal, and/or SubscribeStar. _______________________________________ Dr. Gad Saad is a professor, evolutionary behavioral scientist, and author who pioneered the use of evolutionary psychology in marketing and consumer behavior. In addition to his scientific work, Dr. Saad is a leading public intellectual who often writes and speaks about idea pathogens that are destroying logic, science, reason, and common sense.  _______________________________________  

What does it really mean to think like a coach at work? Jude Sclater shares how her practical model is transforming managers into empowering leaders, unlocking real team potential. Drawing on her experience with coaching, workshops and her new book, Jude reveals why traditional management training falls short and how simply shifting the way we listen and ask questions can spark growth, autonomy and fulfilment at work and beyond. If you want to empower managers for impact and learn how to bridge the gap between knowing and doing, adopt her two step coaching method to think like a coach.   KEY TAKEAWAY ‘When you give someone your best quality attention, everything just flows so much more beautifully.'   BOOK RECOMMENDATION* Think Like a Coach by Jude Sclater - https://amzn.eu/d/beFftEH    ABOUT THE GUEST – JUDE SCLATER Jude Sclater is a leadership coach, author of ‘Think Like a Coach' and former internal coach at Deloitte. She helps managers step up from doing the work to leading the team, without burning out or losing their best people. Her work focuses on practical coaching skills that make everyday conversations more impactful, even when time is short.    Through her book, training programs and ‘Think Like a Coach' weekly insights, she supports leaders to ask better questions, build trust, and grow high-performing teams. With deep experience in professional services, she's coached hundreds of managers to lead with empathy and impact.    Originally from New Zealand, she's lived in London for almost 20 years. When she's not coaching, she's working hard on transforming her garden, creating home-made pizzas with her husband and learning the art of wine tasting.   CONNECT WITH JUDE Website: www.thinkwithjude.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/judesclater Instagram: www.instagram.com/thinkwithjude Blog Signup: www.thinkwithjude.com/signmeup Booksellers: www.thinkwithjude.com/think-like-a-coach#buy     ABOUT THE HOST - AMY ROWLINSON Amy is a purpose and fulfilment coach, author, podcast strategist and mastermind host who empowers purpose-driven leaders to boost productivity, engagement and meaning in life and work. Through transformational conversations, Amy helps individuals overcome overwhelm and live with clarity, building living legacies along the way.   WORK WITH AMY If you're interested in how purpose can help you and your business, please book a free 30 min call via https://calendly.com/amyrowlinson/call    KEEP IN TOUCH WITH AMY Sign up for the weekly Friday Focus - https://www.amyrowlinson.com/subscribe-to-weekly-newsletter    CONNECT WITH AMY https://linktr.ee/AmyRowlinson    BUY AMY'S BOOK (Shortlisted in the 2025 Business Book Awards) * Focus on Why by Amy Rowlinson with George F. Kerr – https://amzn.eu/d/6W02HWu    HOSTED BY: Amy Rowlinson   DISCLAIMER The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the host and guest speakers. Please conduct your own due diligence.  *As an Amazon Associate, Amy earns from qualifying purchases.  

On this episode, Karishma Verma, an English professor who keeps her reading life outside of school alive, talks about her love for celebrity memoirs, and gives a really great list of places she gets her book recommendations. She also talks about her own podcast, Gilmore Gals, which discusses and recaps all things Gilmore Girls.    Karishma on Instagram  Gilmore Gals   Books mentioned in this episode:    What Betsy's reading:  Ask Me Again by Claire Sestanovich Monkey Grip by Helen Garner Biography of X by Catherine Lacey   Books Highlighted by Karishma: Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman By The Book by Jasmine Guillory The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians by James Patterson I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy Yes Please by Amy Poehler   All books available on my Bookshop.org episode page.   Other books mentioned in this episode: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware  Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park & Denise Brunkus  The Clique by Lisi Harrison  A Promised Land by Barack Obama  Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple Educated by Tara Westover The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls  Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling  Why Not Me?  by Mindy Kaling  The Meaning of Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey

When Paul's Book Store announced it would close its State Street shop after 70 years in business, many Madisonians mourned the loss. But amid this loss, Augie McGinnity-Wake saw a unique opportunity. He bought roughly 2,000 books from Paul's collection and used them as the foundation for his new business, Augie's Books. We caught up with Augie to learn more about how he's carrying the Paul's legacy forward and the role bookstores play in the Madison community. 

Send us a textIn this episode, I chat with Amanda Friss, the founder of Parentheses Books, which is nestled in the heart of Harrisonburg, Virginia. Parentheses Books is more than just a bookstore—it's a space for community, curiosity, and connection. Since opening its doors, the shop has become a vibrant gathering place for readers of all kinds, offering a carefully curated selection of titles and a welcoming atmosphere that invites exploration. Parentheses BooksThe Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore, Evan FrissNo Less Strange or Wonderful, A. Kendra GreeneSupport the showThe Bookshop PodcastMandy Jackson-BeverlySocial Media Links

How do you write a great query letter, find the right agent, and stand out in today's crowded submissions inbox? In this special compilation episode, four top literary agents: Ed Wilson, Lucinda Halpern, Madeleine Milburn & Sam Copeland, share their honest advice on getting signed, writing marketable books, and navigating today's publishing industry.*Timestamps:Ed Wilson - 1:01Lucinda Literary -  19:11Madeleine Milburn - 37:20Sam Copeland - 48:47 ABOUT THE LITERARY AGENTS Ed Wilson is a literary agent and director at Johnson & Alcock, a London-based literary agency with a diverse and developing list of authors of fiction and nonfiction. He represents everything from award-winning literary fiction to bestselling crime, science-fiction, and fantasy. Ed's profile at Johnson & AlcockEd's Twitter accountJohnson & Alcock's submission guidelinesFull LWS episode: #071: Ed Wilson — Submitting to Agents & Navigating Publishing, Junior vs Experienced Agents, How to Follow up with Agents, Smaller vs Larger Literary Agencies*Lucinda Literary is a New York literary agent and the author of Get Signed: Find an Agent, Land a Book Deal, and Become a Published Author. She represents a range of New York Times and internationally bestselling authors in the categories of business, health, lifestyle, popular science, narrative nonfiction, memoir, and upmarket fiction. *Get Signed: Find an Agent, Land a Book Deal, and Become a Published AuthorLucinda LiteraryFollow up question? Get in touch with Lucinda here.Full LWS episode: #96: Lucinda Halpern — How to Get Signed With a Literary Agent, Unlock Your Book's Big Idea, Query Letter Essentials, Unconventional Ways to Engage With Beta-Readers*Madeleine Milburn has been responsible for discovering some of the highest-selling and award-winning contemporary authors who consistently hit the bestseller lists in the New York Times, including Nita Prose (The Maid), Costa Book Award winner and bestseller Gail Honeyman (Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine). She represents bestselling crime and thriller brands including C.L. Taylor, C.J Tudor, Mark Edwards and Teresa Driscoll.WebsiteSubmitting your work to the Madeleine Milburn AgencyFull LWS episode:  #064: Madeleine Milburn — Catching an Agent's Eye & Building an Author-First Agency*Sam Copeland was shortlisted for Literary Agent of the Year at the 2020 and 2021 British Book Awards and selected for the Bookseller's Most Influential People in Publishing in 2020. He welcomes e-mail submissions and can be contacted on sam@rcwlitagency.com. He is also a children's author.  His Charlie Changes series was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book of the Year shortlistedSam Copeland RCW Literary AgencyFull LWS episode: #118: Sam Copeland — How to Catch The Eye Of A Literary Agent, Compelling Pitch Letters & Writing Funny Children's Fiction For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.For free writing sessions, join free Writers' Hours: writershour.com.*FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS' SALONTwitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalonIf you're enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

We have been skimping on including independent booksellers in our show lately (and we are sorry) but here is a whole show worth of bookseller conversations!  Source Books in Detroit Michigan is owned by Janet Webster Jones.  And Print: A Bookstore in Portland ME is owned by Emily Russo.  These are two incredible independent booksellers with two incredible stores.  It's a master class in bookselling on this week's Book Case! Find books mentioned on The Book Case: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned on this week's episode: Beloved by Toni Morrison These Precious Days by Ann Patchett The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jenette McCurdy This is Happiness by Niall Williams Lobster by Guillame Lecasble Sky Daddy by Kate Folk Win by Harlan Coben The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing: Bookish Moments: shifting our perspectives and bookish friends stepping up Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately Deep Dive: we are bossing some more TBRs The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site) .  .  .  .  1:23 - Our Bookish Moments Of The Week 5:36 - Our Current Reads 5:47 - My Friends by Fredrik Backman (Kaytee) 8:16 - Anxious People by Fredrik Backman 8:21 - Beartown by Fredrik Backman 10:16 - Night Film by Marisha Pessl (Meredith) 15:23 - The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt (Kaytee) 20:29 - The Big Four by Agatha Christie (Meredith) 22:38 - Poirot by Mark Aldridge 24:28 - The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie 26:00 - Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa (Kaytee) 26:38 - Pride by Ibi Zoboi  31:05 - The Beast and the Bookseller by Eva Devon (Meredith) 35:15 - The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare 36:42 - Boss My TBR From DactylJD 38:19 - Broken Country by Claire Leslie Hall 39:42 - The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz 39:45 - Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan 39:48 - Real Americans by Rachel Khong 39:51 - Belle Green by Alexandra Lapierre 39:55 - The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton From Terri Melton 44:42 - Hyde by Craig Russell 44:43 - The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett 44:49 - Falling by T.J. Newman  45:02 - Fang Fiction by Kate Stayman-London 45:04 - Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie 45:07 - To Shape A Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose 45:11 - A Boy and his Dog at the End of the World by C.A. Fletcher 49:05 - Meet Us At The Fountain 49:12 - I wish for us to try new things. (Kaytee) 51:32 - I wish to press Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore. (Meredith) 51:38 - Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore   Support Us: Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon Bookish Friends Receive: The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. May's IPL is a new indie to the rotation - Dog Eared Books in Ames, Iowa. Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business.  All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts Connect With Us: The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!