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Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Facebook, Australia, and owning your own library. Then, stick around for a chat with Daniel Silva! Daniel Silva has been called his generation's finest writer of international intrigue and one of the greatest American spy novelists ever. Compelling, passionate, haunting, brilliant: these are the words that have been used to describe the work of award-winning #1 New York Times bestselling author Daniel Silva. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about pocket books, podcast publicity, and a quirky vocab. Then, stick around for a chat with David Weiden! David Heska Wanbli Weiden, an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu Lakota nation, is the author of Wisdom Corner, forthcoming in July, 2026 from Ecco/HarperCollins. He's also the author of the national bestseller Winter Counts (Ecco, 2020), which was nominated for an Edgar Award for Best First Novel. The book was also the winner of the Anthony, Thriller, Lefty, Barry, Macavity, Spur, High Plains, Tillie Olsen, CrimeFest (UK), Crime Fiction Lover (UK) Awards, and was the winner of the Electa Quinney Award from the Association for the Study of American Indian Literatures. The novel was longlisted for the Hammett Prize, Shamus Award, Colorado Book Award, Reading the West Award, and the VCU Cabell First Novel Award. The novel was a New York Times Editors' Choice, an Indie Next pick, main selection of the Book of the Month Club, and named a Best Book of the year by NPR, Amazon, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, The Guardian, and other magazines. The novel is included in Time magazine's list of the 100 best mystery and thriller novels of all time. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about ElevenLabs, Porter Square Books, Tinder, and ThriftBooks. Then, stick around for a chat with Maurice Broaddus! Maurice Broaddus: An Award-Winning Afrofuturist, editor, and librarian, Maurice Broaddus has had over a hundred short stories published in such places as Lightspeed Magazine, Black Panther: Tales from Wakanda, Out There Screaming (edited by Jordan Peele), The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King's The Stand, Asimov's, Weird Tales, Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Apex Magazine. With over a dozen novels in print, his latest include Sweep of Stars, Breath of Oblivion, A City Dreaming, Black Panther: T'Challa Declassified, & Unfadeable. Some of his short stories have been collected in The Voices of Martyrs. Learn more at MauriceBroaddus.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Simon & Schuster, Elias Thorne, and why publishing more content is making your SEO worse. Then, stick around for a chat with Sarah Vaughan! Sarah Vaughan is the Sunday Times and international bestselling author of Anatomy of a Scandal, Little Disasters and Reputation, plus two earlier novels. Translated into 26 languages, Anatomy of a Scandal became a worldwide number one Netflix limited series, watched for 200 million hours in its first month alone, and starring Sienna Miller, Michelle Dockery and Rupert Friend. Little Disasters dropped on Paramount Plus in May 2025, and stars Diane Kruger, Jo Joyner and a “powerhouse cast” including JJ Feild, Shelley Conn, Emily Taaffe and Stephen Campbell Moore. Reputation has been optioned by Made Up Stories and 3dot productions, the team behind Anatomy of a Scandal. Before writing fiction, Sarah spent 15 years as a journalist, including 11 at the Guardian as a political correspondent and news reporter: great preparation for thrillers exploring power, privilege and misogyny, and incorporating police investigations and criminal trials. Brought up in Devon, she lives near Cambridge, England with her family and dog. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Authors Guild, Subterranean Press, Google's AI Overviews, and The Odyssey. Then, stick around for a chat with Lauren Oliver! Lauren Oliver is an author, screenwriter, and media entrepreneur. She is the author of the upcoming novels WHAT HAPPENED TO LUCY VALE (Sep 1, 2025) and THE GIRL IN THE LAKE (May 2026). Her previous works include multiple New York Times bestselling novels for teens, including Before I Fall (which spent seventeen weeks on the list and was adapted into a feature film released by Open Road), the Delirium trilogy (a two-million-copy-selling dystopian series translated into thirty-five languages), and Panic, which she later adapted into the streaming TV show on Amazon Prime of the same name, for which she wrote every episode and served as Executive Producer. Along the way, Lauren founded the IP company StoryGiants and helped to package and edit nearly one hundred other novels. She is also the co-founder of Incantor AI, a self-scaling digital media engine built on a new and proprietary foundational model of artificial intelligence that respects copyright by providing both IP attribution and royalty shares to contributing sources. Raised in Westchester, New York, Lauren attended the University of Chicago and got her MFA from NYU. She now divides her time between Maryland and Los Angeles. You can follow her on Goodreads, Amazon, or Instagram (lauren_oliver_books) to learn more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Netflix, Audio Erotica, and trademarks. Then, stick around for a chat with Caroline Kepnes! Caroline Kepnes is the New York Times bestselling author of You, Hidden Bodies, Providence and You Love Me. Her work has been translated into a multitude of languages and inspired a television series adaptation of You, currently on Netflix. Kepnes graduated from Brown University and then worked as a pop culture journalist for Entertainment Weekly and a TV writer for 7th Heaven and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She grew up in Cape Cod, and now lives in Los Angeles. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Kindle Translate, ChatGPT book recommendations, and John Grisham's new legal drama. Then, stick around for a chat with Lee Goldberg! Lee Goldberg is a two-time Edgar Award and two-time Shamus Award nominee and the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty novels, including the Eve Ronin series, the Sharpe & Walker series, the Ian Ludlow trilogy, fifteen Monk mysteries, and five internationally bestselling Fox & O'Hare books co-written with Janet Evanovich. He has also written and/or produced many TV shows, including Diagnosis Murder, SeaQuest, and Monk, and is the co-creator of the hit Hallmark movie series Mystery 101. As an international television consultant, he has advised networks and studios in Canada, France, Germany, Spain, China, Sweden, and the Netherlands on the creation, writing, and production of episodic television series. He is also co-founder of the publishing company Brash Books. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Bloomsbury, Minotaur, and subscription addiction. Then, stick around for a chat with Lori Foster! Lori Foster is a New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than 100 titles. She's known for her fun, very sexy contemporary romance novels revolving around alpha males who meet (and fall in love with) strong, independent women. Lori's been a recipient of the prestigious RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award for Series Romantic Fantasy, and for Contemporary Romance. Even more fun, Lori's been a clue in the New York Times crossword puzzle, a clue in the USA Today Quick-cross puzzle, and the sensual and sexy Too Much Temptation was Amazon's 2002 top-selling title in Romance. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Hollywood, Hachette Book Group, and AI Slop. Then, stick around for a chat with Shannon Chakraborty! Shannon Chakraborty is the critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of The Daevabad Trilogy and The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. Her work has been translated into over a dozen languages and nominated for the Hugo, Locus, World Fantasy, Crawford, and Astounding awards. You can find her online at www.sachakraborty.com or on Instagram at @SAChakrabooks. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, JP Rindfleisch, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Octavia Butler, Indie Bookstore Day 2026, and The Small Press View. Then, stick around for a chat with Dominique Raccah! Sourcebooks: "We're an entrepreneurial publisher built on the belief that books change lives. From our humble beginnings in a spare bedroom in 1987, with just one book and a single employee — our founder, Publisher and CEO Dominique Raccah — we've stayed true to our passion for stories and our dedication to helping authors reach readers. We're an innovative, mission-driven book publisher that champions diverse voices in publishing." Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Jena Brown, JP Rindfleisch, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Character.ai, BookCon 2026, and rare stolen books. Then, stick around for a chat with Anthony Horowitz! Anthony Horowitz is one of the most prolific and successful writers working in the UK – and is unique for working across so many media. Anthony is a born polymath; juggling writing books, TV series, films, plays and journalism. Anthony has written over 50 books including the bestselling teen spy series Alex Rider, which is estimated to have sold 21 million copies worldwide and has been turned into a hugely successful TV series by Amazon Freevee. A third series has just been filmed and the fourteenth Alex Rider novel, Nightshade: Revenge will be published in 2023. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Most podcasters sit on a content library worth far more than any ad deal they will ever sign. J. Kevin Tumlinson launched the Wordslinger Podcast with a $25 Fiverr theme song and a soundproofed spare closet. Today that show reaches 80,000 listeners. He spent seven years as the public face of Draft2Digital, one of the leading indie publishing platforms, and has published more than 70 novels alongside it. J. Kevin Tumlinson is the author of more than 70 award-winning novels, host of the Wordslinger Podcast, and a leading voice in the indie publishing world. In this episode of Podcasting Secrets with host Nathan Gwilliam, Kevin reveals why a nonfiction book built from your existing podcast episodes outperforms any business card, how Amazon's search engine gives nonfiction podcasters a built-in discoverability advantage, the content repurposing approach he calls using the whole buffalo, a psychological trigger from the book Influence that gets more listeners to share your show, and how to simplify production so burnout never becomes a reason to quit. Want to turn your existing podcast content into revenue without waiting for a sponsor? Start treating your episodes as raw material. Subscribe and follow Podcasting Secrets on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube for weekly strategies from creators building businesses through their shows. Follow, Like & Subscribe: Podcasting Secrets: Website: https://podcastingsecrets.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@podcasting-secretsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/podcastingsecrets/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/poduppodcasting/ Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcasting-secrets/id1726056241 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0edA45tyPxFRfiUmDxYSUj Nathan Gwilliam: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathangwilliam/ J. Kevin Tumlinson: Website: https://www.kevintumlinson.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevintumlinson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/KevinTumlinson Substack: https://kevintumlinson.substack.com/ X / Twitter: https://x.com/kevintumlinson Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevintumlinson/ Wordslinger Podcast: https://wordslingerpodcast.com/
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Draft 2 Digital, Spotify, and Entangled Publishing. Then, stick around for a chat with R.M. Caldwell! R.M. Caldwell is based in Hamilton, New Zealand, and writes and directs theatre, as well as being on the board of an independent theatre. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, J.P. Rindfleisch, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Audible, querying writers, and Dan Brown. Then, stick around for a chat with Evelyn Clarke (V.E. Schwab and Cat Clarke)! V. E .Schwab was born in California, raised in Tennessee, and currently splits her time between Denver, Colorado and Edinburgh, Scotland. She got her undergraduate degree in book design at Washington University in St. Louis, and her masters in depictions of monstrosity in medieval art at the University of Edinburgh. In addition to writing books and hosting a podcast called No Write Way, she spends her time on tour, or plagued by the knowledge of how short life is, in terms of the number of books she'll be able to read, and obsessively saving tiktok videos for recipes she'll probably never make. She also likes to run, and cycle, and swim—though not all at once. V.E. is the author of more than 25 books, spanning MG, YA, and Adult, though she's never been keen on labeling stories for a certain audience. Plenty of young readers like Vicious, and plenty of older ones like Cassidy Blake, and she believes the best story is the one that finds you when you need it. Her greatest goal as an author is to make you doubt your reality. Not by convincing you that magic is real, but by planting a seed of doubt that it's not. Cat Clarke was born in Zambia and brought up in Edinburgh and Yorkshire, which has given her an accent that tends to confuse people. Cat has written non-fiction books about exciting things like cowboys, sharks and pirates, and now writes YA novels. She lives in Edinburgh with a couple of cats, Jem and Scout, who spend their days plotting to spit up furballs at the most inconvenient times. She likes cheese A LOT, especially baked camembert. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about romance cover models, cellphones on silent, and Woodside Motion Co. Then, stick around for a chat with Steve Berry! Steve Berry is the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of twenty-eight novels. His books have been translated into 41 languages with over 26,000,000 copies in 52 countries. They consistently appear in the top echelon of The New York Times, USA Today, and Indie bestseller lists. Somewhere in the world, every thirty seconds, one of his novels is sold. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about BookTok, book output topping four million, and Tracy Wolff. Then, stick around for a chat with Karen Robards! Karen Robards is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than fifty books and one novella. Karen published her first novel at age 24 and has won multiple awards throughout her career, including six Silver Pens for favorite author. Karen was described by The Daily Mail as one of the most reliable thriller....writers in the world." Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, JP Rindfleisch, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Amazon categories, Spotify, and Simon & Schuster's new CEO. Then, stick around for a chat with J.R. Thornton! J.R. Thornton is a writer and the author of two novels, Beautiful Country, and Lucien. Born in London, UK, J. R. graduated from Harvard College in 2014, where he studied history, English, and Chinese. An internationally ranked junior tennis player, he later competed for Harvard and on the men's professional circuit. Shortly after graduating from Harvard, J. R. published his first novel, Beautiful Country, loosely inspired by experiences he had living in Beijing as a teenager. The novel became a best-seller in China, and the film rights were subsequently purchased by WME/IMG. J. R. returned to China in 2016 as a member of the inaugural class of Schwarzman Scholars, earning an M.A. from Tsinghua University. He speaks Chinese and Italian, and lives in Milan, where he works for AC Milan. Lucien is his second novel. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about all-male book clubs, literature discovered through pop music, and scams. Then, stick around for a chat with Kat Rosenfield! Kat Rosenfield is a freelance pop culture and political writer, and the author of five books, including the Edgar-nominated No One Will Miss Her. A former reporter for MTV News, her work has appeared in outlets including Vulture, Entertainment Weekly, Playboy, Reason, The New York Times, and Unherd, where she is a regular columnist. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Ingram, Spotify, Topps, and scams. Then, stick around for a chat with Lyla Lane! Lyla Lane is the pen name for author Sonia Hartl whose books have received starred reviews from BookPage and Booklist, and earned nominations for the Georgia Peach Book Award, YALSA's Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers, Bank Street College of Education's Best Children's Books of the Year, ALA's Rise: A Feminist Book Project List, and ALA's Rainbow Booklist, and was named an Amazon Editors' Pick for Best Young Adult. When she's not writing she enjoys board games with her family, attempting to keep her garden alive, or looking up craft projects she'll never get around to completing on Pinterest. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Draft2Digital, Bookshop DRM, Harper's Bazaar Short Story Contest, and AI Slop books. Then, stick around for a chat with Benjamin Hale!Benjamin Hale is the author of the novel The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore (Twelve, 2011), the short fiction collection The Fat Artist and Other Stories (Simon & Schuster, 2016), and the nonfiction book Cave Mountain: A Disappearance and a Reckoning in the Ozarks (HarperCollins, 2026). He has received the Bard Fiction Prize, a Michener-Copernicus Award, and nominations for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the New York Public Library's Young Lions Fiction Award. His writing has appeared, among other places, in Conjunctions, Harper's Magazine, the Paris Review, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Dissent and the LA Review of Books Quarterly, and has been anthologized in Best American Science and Nature Writing. He is a senior editor at Conjunctions, teaches at Bard College and Columbia University, and lives in a small town in New York's Hudson Valley. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, JP Rindfleisch, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about ProWritingAid's Novel Beginnings, the Washington Post, bookshop.org, and bookstreaming. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Anthropic, IPG, and what's happening in the book market. Then, stick around for a chat with Oliver Evensen!Oliver Evensen: For nearly four years, Oliver has been helping writers thrive. He tests tools, strategies, and systems to save you time and share what actually works. Whether you're starting out or leveling up, his goal is to give you the confidence and resources to focus on what matters—your writing.Join us live on Feb 5 @ 1pm ET! https://bit.ly/WIPLive226Meeting ID: 867 0031 3844 | Passcode: 851563 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Matty Dalrymple talks with Kevin Tumlinson about OPTIMIZING THE ROI OF AN AUTHOR ASSISTANT, including how authors can use an author assistant to improve marketing ROI, which publishing and marketing tasks make sense to outsource, how to evaluate return on investment, how AI can support an author assistant's work, and how indie authors can free up time to write more while building a scalable, sustainable author business. Interview video at https://bit.ly/TIAPYTPlaylist Show notes, including extensive summary, at https://www.theindyauthor.com/episodes-all If you find the information in this video useful, please consider supporting The Indy Author! https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple J. Kevin Tumlinson is an award-winning and bestselling author, a prolific podcaster and public speaker, and Chief Brand Officer of Author Anchor. Matty Dalrymple is the author of the Lizzy Ballard Thrillers, beginning with ROCK PAPER SCISSORS; the Ann Kinnear Suspense Novels, beginning with THE SENSE OF DEATH; and the Ann Kinnear Suspense Shorts. She is a member of International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime. Matty also writes, speaks, and consults on the writing craft and the publishing voyage, and shares what she's learned on THE INDY AUTHOR PODCAST. She has written books on the business of short fiction and podcasting for authors; her articles have appeared in "Writer's Digest" magazine. She is a Partner Member otthe Alliance of Independent Authors.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, JP Rindfleisch, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Substack TV, Spotify, and a £50,000 ‘reader-led' writing prize. Then, stick around for a chat with Samantha Sotto Yambao!Samantha Sotto Yambao is a professional daydreamer, aspiring time traveler, and speculative fiction writer based in Manila. She is the Sunday Times, USA Today, and Indie List Bestselling author of Water Moon, Before Ever After, Love and Gravity, A Dream of Trees, and The Beginning of Always. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about a new bestseller list, Matthew McConaughey, and how artists can reclaim foreign rights. Then, stick around for a chat with Bekah Brinkmeier!Bekah Brinkmeier is a USA Today Bestselling author and ghostwriter of more than 90 novels. She works with AutoCrit as an instructor and author coach, leading Team Plantser in the Novel 90 Writing Challenge. She loves helping writers untangle their ideas, build confidence, and turn rough drafts into finished books. When she's not coaching or writing, she speaks at conferences and on podcasts about writing with ADHD, strategy, full-time author life, and book marketing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Audible, Robert Munsch, and 2026 social media trends. Then, stick around for a chat with Amy Suto!Amy Suto: I've devoted my life to the art of storytelling. I graduated from USC's presitigious film school with a BFA in Writing for Screen and Television. I worked my way up the ranks from agency assistant to being able to write my own episode of TV, fully immersing myself in the art of writing fast-paced thrillers for global audiences. In my spare time, I also created a live events company (Kingdom of Pavement) that I would pivot to a scripted podcast company when the pandemic hit.In 2021, I started traveling the world with friends and leaned even further into my work as a freelance memoir ghostwriter.These days, I balance my freelance work with my own career as a romantasy author. I've published three books so far: my how-to book Six-Figure Freelance Writer: A Holistic Guide on Finding Freedom in Freelancing, The Nomad Detective: Volume I, and my debut romantasy novel The Ash Trials. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about best-selling books and genres, and cultural works becoming public domain in 2026. Then, stick around for a chat with Christopher Locke!Christopher Locke is the Director of Membership & Member Services at IBPA. He assists the more than 3,000 IBPA members as they travel along their publishing journeys. Major projects include managing the member benefits to curate the most advantageous services for independent publishers and author publishers; managing the Innovative Voices Program that supports publishers from marginalized communities; and hosting the IBPA podcast, “Inside Independent Publishing (with IBPA).” He's also passionate about indie publishing, because he's an author publisher himself, having published two novels so far in his YA trilogy, The Enlightenment Adventures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about a 70-year-old debut novelist, new names on fiction bestseller lists, and why certain contract clauses are scary. Then, stick around for a chat with Mark Gottlieb!Mark Owen Gottlieb is an executive vice president and highly ranked literary agent in overall deals and other individual categories. He is actively building his client list of authors using that same initiative and insight for identifying talented writers. Mark Gottlieb is excited to work directly with authors, helping to manage and grow their careers with all of the unique resources available at book publishing's leading literary agency, Trident Media Group. Mark Gottlieb continues to represent numerous New York Times bestselling and prominent award-winning authors through his work at Trident Media Group. He has optioned and sold books to film and TV production companies. Following his time at Penguin Books, he previously ran the agency's audiobook department and worked in international rights. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Kindle, Audible, TikTok, and Barnes & Noble. Then, stick around for a chat with Jenna Blum!Jenna Blum is the New York Times and # 1 internationally bestselling author of novels Those Who Save Us, The Stormchasers, and The Lost Family; memoir Woodrow on the Bench; audiocourse “The Author at Work: The Art of Writing Fiction” and WWII podcast The Key of Love. Jenna's fifth book and first psychological thriller, Murder Your Darlings, will be published by HarperCollins in January 2026. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Netflix, Entangled, and Kindle. Then, stick around for a chat with Magen Mintchev!Magen Mintchev helps businesses and leaders grow their online influence through Instagram strategy, LinkedIn executive management, content development, and analytics-driven social media support. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, JP Rindfleisch, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Smashwords, Edelweiss, and the word of the year. Then, stick around for a chat with Mark Tavani!Mark Tavani started his publishing career in 2000 with Ballantine Books and spent over 23 years with Penguin Random House, Bantam, Del Rey, and G.P. Putnam's Sons. He edited bestsellers and award-winners across numerous categories of fiction and nonfiction, including books by Jim Abbott, Steve Berry, C.J. Box, Robert Crais, Justin Cronin, Clive and Dirk Cussler, Jeffery Deaver, George Dohrmann, Lisa Gardner, Jack McCallum, Lisa Scottoline, Bill Simmons, and R.L. Stine. He represents both fiction and nonfiction. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about B&T, James Patterson, Bookshop.org, and Barnes & Noble. Then, stick around for a chat with Bob Lingle!Bob Lingle: https://www.instagram.com/bookstorebob/Bob Lingle: "I've owned Good Neighbor Bookstore since 2018, and despite everything else going on in the world. It's been the best years of my life. My three kids have the opportunity to grow up in a bookstore. And collectively we have learned about the power and importance of community, and having a place where we've curated stories for people to enjoy, to learn from, to foster empathy, and maybe even change their life." - https://boldjourney.com/meet-bob-lingle/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Shein, Sourcebooks, and Anthropic. Then, stick around for a chat with Richard Kirshenbaum!Richard Kirshenbaum is CEO of NSG/SWAT, a high-profile boutique branding agency. He has lectured at Harvard Business School, appeared on 20/20, was named to Crain's New York Business's "40 under 40" list, and has been inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame. He is the author of Under the Radar, Closing the Deal, Madboy, andIsn't That Rich? and the New York Observer's "Isn't That Rich?" column. He lives in New York City with his wife and three children. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Kindle Translate and Spotify's audiobook recaps. Then, stick around for a chat with James Patterson!James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time and the creator of such unforgettable characters and series as Alex Cross, the Women's Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride. He has coauthored #1 bestselling novels withBill Clinton, Dolly Parton, and Michael Crichton, as well as collaborated on #1 bestselling nonfiction, including The Idaho Four, Walk in My Combat Boots, and Filthy Rich. Patterson has told the story of his own life in the #1 bestselling autobiography James Patterson by James Patterson. He is the recipient ofan Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, JP Rindfleisch, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about a $50 million fund, Tertulia, and second-hand book threats. Then, stick around for a chat with J. Luke Bennecke! J. Luke Bennecke is a veteran civil engineer with a well-spent career helping people by improving Southern California roadways. He has a civil engineering degree, an MBA, and a private pilot's certificate. Luke is the bestselling and award-winning author of three published novels, Civil Terror: Gridlock, Waterborne and Echo From a Bayou, and has written several other novels and screenplays, a creative process he thoroughly enjoys. He is currently pitching the third Jake Bendel thriller and writing his seventh novel. Luke resides in Southern California with his wife of 34 years and three spunky cats. In his leisure time he enjoys philanthropy, traveling, playing golf, making videos, and voiceover acting. Bennecke is a member of International Thriller Writers and looks forward to attending ThrillerFest every year in New York. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about the Frankfurt Book Fair, New York Comic Con, and the Pushkin job. Then, stick around for a chat with Thomas Olde Heuvelt! Thomas Olde Heuvelt is an international bestselling author from The Netherlands. His breakthrough novel HEX was published in over twenty-five countries and hailed as 'totally, brilliantly original' by Stephen King and as 'phenomenal, phenomenal' by film director Mike Flanagan. His follow-up novels Echo and Oracle have since seen global publication, the former boasts, according to the Guardian, 'possibly the most frightening prologue ever written', while the latter was judged by The New York Times to be his 'sharpest, most compelling work to date'. His newest novel, Darker Days, is a devastating modern take on the Faustian bargain. It will be published in the US with Harper Books and in the UK with Bantam in October 2025. Olde Heuvelt, whose last name in Dutch dialect means 'Old Hill', was the first translated author to win a Hugo Award, in 2015. He lives in the south of France with his partner and pet lizard. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about a new fund for literary arts organizations, James Patterson's podcast, and how to read a book and feed a neighbor. Then, stick around for a chat with Orson Scott Card!Orson Scott Card is the author of the novels Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, and Speaker for the Dead, which are widely read by adults and younger readers. His most recent series, the young adult Pathfinder series (Pathfinder, Ruins, Visitors), the fantasy Mithermages series (Lost Gate, Gate Thief, Gatefather) and the Side Step series (Wakers, Reawakening) are taking readers in new directions.Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables, Sarah), the American frontier fantasy series The Tales of Alvin Maker (beginning with Seventh Son), poetry (An Open Book), and many plays and scripts, including his "freshened" Shakespeare scripts for Romeo & Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, and The Merchant of Venice.Card was born in Washington and grew up in California, Arizona, and Utah. He served a mission for the LDS Church in Brazil in the early 1970s. Card currently lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife, Kristine Allen Card. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Jena Brown, Kevin Tumlinson, and Jena Brown as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about B&T, Ingram Spark, confusing books, and TikTok. Then, stick around for a chat with A.G. Riddle! A.G. Riddle spent ten years starting internet companies before retiring to pursue his true passion: writing fiction. His novels have sold over six million copies worldwide and been translated in twenty-four languages. Several of his works are in development for feature films. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife, daughter, and an eccentric dog. No matter where he is, or what's going on, he tries his best to set aside time every day to answer emails and messages from readers. You can reach him at: ag@agriddle.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about a new report for publishers, Amazon's algorithm change, and Gen Z's screens survey. Then, stick around for a chat with Edoardo Ballerini! Edoardo Ballerini: Called "a master in his field" (The New York Times) and "in a class by himself" (Oprah Daily), Edoardo Ballerini is an award winning narrator of audiobooks, a familiar face on screens (from "The Sopranos" to the recent "A Murder at the End of the World"), and a few other things, too. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about a new fund for literary arts organizations, James Patterson's podcast, and how to read a book and feed a neighbor. Then, stick around for a chat with Orson Scott Card!Orson Scott Card is the author of the novels Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, and Speaker for the Dead, which are widely read by adults and younger readers. His most recent series, the young adult Pathfinder series (Pathfinder, Ruins, Visitors), the fantasy Mithermages series (Lost Gate, Gate Thief, Gatefather) and the Side Step series (Wakers, Reawakening) are taking readers in new directions.Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables, Sarah), the American frontier fantasy series The Tales of Alvin Maker (beginning with Seventh Son), poetry (An Open Book), and many plays and scripts, including his "freshened" Shakespeare scripts for Romeo & Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, and The Merchant of Venice.Card was born in Washington and grew up in California, Arizona, and Utah. He served a mission for the LDS Church in Brazil in the early 1970s. Card currently lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife, Kristine Allen Card.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about a new report for publishers, Amazon's algorithm change, and Gen Z's screens survey. Then, stick around for a chat with Edoardo Ballerini!Edoardo Ballerini: Called "a master in his field" (The New York Times) and "in a class by himself" (Oprah Daily), Edoardo Ballerini is an award winning narrator of audiobooks, a familiar face on screens (from "The Sopranos" to the recent "A Murder at the End of the World"), and a few other things, too.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about the Frankfurt Book Fair, New York Comic Con, and the Pushkin job. Then, stick around for a chat with Thomas Olde Heuvelt! Thomas Olde Heuvelt is an international bestselling author from The Netherlands. His breakthrough novel HEX was published in over twenty-five countries and hailed as 'totally, brilliantly original' by Stephen King and as 'phenomenal, phenomenal' by film director Mike Flanagan. His follow-up novels Echo and Oracle have since seen global publication, the former boasts, according to the Guardian, 'possibly the most frightening prologue ever written', while the latter was judged by The New York Times to be his 'sharpest, most compelling work to date'.His newest novel, Darker Days, is a devastating modern take on the Faustian bargain. It will be published in the US with Harper Books and in the UK with Bantam in October 2025. Olde Heuvelt, whose last name in Dutch dialect means 'Old Hill', was the first translated author to win a Hugo Award, in 2015. He lives in the south of France with his partner and pet lizard.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Jena Brown, Kevin Tumlinson, and Jena Brown as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about B&T, Ingram Spark, confusing books, and TikTok. Then, stick around for a chat with A.G. Riddle!A.G. Riddle spent ten years starting internet companies before retiring to pursue his true passion: writing fiction. His novels have sold over six million copies worldwide and been translated in twenty-four languages. Several of his works are in development for feature films. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife, daughter, and an eccentric dog. No matter where he is, or what's going on, he tries his best to set aside time every day to answer emails and messages from readers. You can reach him at: ag@agriddle.com.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Jena Brown, Kevin Tumlinson, and Jena Brown as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about anxiety, Reading Rainbow, and the publishing industry's gambling problem. Then, stick around for a chat with Ariel Sullivan!Ariel Sullivan is the author of Conform. She lives in Connecticut with her husband, two sons, and their two French bulldogs. Growing up a military brat, Ariel moved every two years. As a perpetual new kid, Ariel often observed from the outskirts, where a deep love of reading was born. When she isn't writing, Ariel loves to read everything from poetry to psychology, bake with her sons, listen to live music, and travel.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Jena Brown, Kevin Tumlinson, and Jena Brown as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about PoP, ReaderLink, B&T, and reader community networks. Then, stick around for a chat with Kelsea Yu!Kelsea Yu is a Taiwanese Chinese American writer who lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and children. Whether through a speculative or real-world lens, her writing explores diaspora identity, twists on folklore, complicated interpersonal relationships, and characters who make unconventional choices.Kelsea's novella, Bound Feet (Cemetery Gates Media), was nominated for a 2022 Shirley Jackson Award. Her debut novel, It's Only a Game, is published by Bloomsbury Children's, and her next novella, Demon Song, is forthcoming from Titan Books in 2025. Her debut adult novel, Stormraven, is forthcoming from Gallery Books and Titan Books in 2026. She has stories published in magazines such as Clarkesworld, Apex, PseudoPod, and Fantasy, and in various anthologies. Her nonfiction has been published in Nightmare, Apparition Lit, Sarah Gailey's Personal Canons Cookbook, and elsewhere.During Kelsea's time as a first reader khōréō, the magazine received an Ignyte Award, two Hugo nominations, and a Locus nomination. She is also an active member of SFWA, HWA, and ITW. Find her on Instagram as @anovelescape or Bluesky as @anovelescape.bsky.social. She is represented by Jennifer Azantian of Azantian Literary Agency.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Jena Brown, Kevin Tumlinson, JP Rindfleisch, and Jena Brown as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about YouTube, Amazon, and a big threat to books. Then, stick around for a chat with Johnny B. Truant!Johnny B. Truant: I'm the author of Fat Vampire (which became SyFy's Reginald the Vampire), plus 100+ books across most genres. My books are layered, intelligent, and often funny. I love what I do, never cut corners, and would rather earn 10 true fans than sell 10,000 copies.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Jena Brown, Kevin Tumlinson, and Jena Brown as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about book club scammers, Kindle Unlimited, and BookTok Hub. Then, stick around for a chat with Alma Katsu!Alma Katsu: NYT bestselling author Alma Katsu's books have been nominated for and won multiple prestigious awards including the Stoker, Goodreads Readers Choice, International Thriller Writers, Locus Magazine, the Western Heritage Awards, Spain's Celsius 232 festival, and appeared on numerous Best Books lists including NPR, the Observer, Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, Goodreads, and Amazon.She has written two spy novels (RED WIDOW and RED LONDON), the logical marriage of her love of storytelling with her 30+ year career in intelligence. She also writes novels that combine historical fiction with supernatural and horror elements. THE HUNGER (2018), a reimagining of the story of the Donner Party, was named one of NPR's 100 favorite horror stories, was on numerous Best Books of the Year lists, sold rights in 17 languages, and continues to be honored as a new classic in horror. Her first book, THE TAKER (2011), was named one of the top ten debut novels of 2011 by Booklist.Ms. Katsu is also a contributor to the Washington Post Book World, where she reviews thrillers. She has relocated from the Washington, DC area to the mountains of West Virginia, where she lives with her musician husband Bruce and their two dogs, Nick and Ash.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Jena Brown, Kevin Tumlinson, and Jena Brown as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about James Patterson, certifying human-made writing, and ElevenReader. Then, stick around for a chat with Sophia Efthimiatou!Sophia Efthimiatou: "I am the Head of Writer Relations at Substack. I love words and I love working with people who spend their lives thinking about them.I live in New York but I am orginally from Athens, Greece, which explains why my last name resembles a UPS tracking number.I've worked in academic and professional book publishing, at a literary magazine, and for a powerhouse agent. I did the MFA thing. I helped put archaeological exhibitions together, curated artistic programs and public events. I have been lucky in my wanderings. Substack is the most interesting thing I've ever done..." Read more at sophia.substack.com!
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Jena Brown, Kevin Tumlinson, and JP Rindfleisch as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Anthropic, Grok chats, and C-SPAN. Then, stick around for a chat with Brian McAuley!Brian McAuley grew up in Weird NJ on a steady diet of Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark? episodes. He received his BA in Creative Writing and Horror Theory from NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study before getting his MFA in Film from Columbia University.As a WGA screenwriter, Brian has written five films for the Lifetime Network in addition to writing and producing the award-winning thriller Dismissed for BoulderLight Pictures. He sold his TV series pitch Affliction to Syfy Network in a pilot development deal and penned an episode of Fuller House for Netflix.Brian's debut novel Curse of the Reaper was named one of the Best Horror Books of 2022 by Esquire. His 2023 Christmas horror novella Candy Cain Kills received praise from Booklist, Library Journal, and Kirkus Reviews, leading to the 2024 sequel Candy Cain Kills Again: The Second Slaying.His new novel Breathe In, Bleed Out will publish on September 2nd, 2025 from Poisoned Pen Press. His short fiction and non-fiction have appeared in various magazines and anthologies.Brian teaches as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Screenwriting at the Sidney Poitier New American Film School of Arizona State University.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about $100,000 memoirs, Focus Friend, and Anthropic. Then, stick around for a chat with Jeffrey James Higgins!Jeffrey James Higgins is a retired supervisory special agent who writes thrillers, short stories, creative nonfiction, and essays. He has wrestled a suicide bomber, fought the Taliban in combat, and chased terrorists across five continents.Jeffrey received the Attorney General's Award for Exceptional Heroism and the DEA Award of Valor. CNN, Fox News, and The New York Times have interviewed him, and he's appeared on CNN Declassified, National Geographic's Narco Wars, and ABC News. He has a BS in Journalism and an MS in Criminal Justice.He's a #1 Amazon bestselling author who's won the Claymore Award, PenCraft's Best Fiction Book of the Year, and a Reader's Favorite Gold Medal. His debut novel, Furious, is Black Rose Writing's bestselling thriller, and The Forever Game was selected as one of the best medical thrillers of the 21st century. In 2025, Severn River Publishing will publish The Havana Syndrome, followed by three more thrillers in the Nathan Burke international espionage series.Jeffrey owns Elaine's Literary Salon in Alexandria, VA, where he counsels writers, interviews authors, and hosts a podcast. He's an Authors Guild ambassador for the DC area and a frequent panelist at conferences and book festivals. Jeffrey's an active member of International Thriller Writers, Sisters in Crime, The Northern Virginia Writers Club, and the Royal Writers Secret Society.