Podcasts about publish

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An Army veteran wants to help new military enlistees get a leg up in training. What's the best format for his material? Side Hustle School features a new episode EVERY DAY, featuring detailed case studies of people who earn extra money without quitting their job. This year, the show includes free guided lessons and listener Q&A several days each week.Show notes: SideHustleSchool.comEmail: team@sidehustleschool.comBe on the show: SideHustleSchool.com/questionsConnect on Instagram: @193countriesVisit Chris's main site: ChrisGuillebeau.comRead A Year of Mental Health: yearofmentalhealth.comIf you're enjoying the show, please pass it along! It's free and has been published every single day since January 1, 2017. We're also very grateful for your five-star ratings—it shows that people are listening and looking forward to new episodes.

In this Defend, Publish, and Lead podcast episode host Christine Tulley discusses the process of categorizing revision tasks before tackling them and making a battle plan for a book revision. Episodes Mentioned: Episode 130: Categorizing Revision Tasks Resources Mentioned: It's not too late to join our Fall 2026 Writing Accountability Group - just $60 for 15 weeks and sessions are recorded. Email christine@defendpublishlead.com to sign up. DPL Resources Set your writing goals with us! Try us out in a free consultation. Check out our current and past workshops at Eventbrite for writing support content. A FREE webinar is posted each month. Missed a workshop? Request a workshop or webinar recording from christine@defendandpublish.com Don't forget about the wonderful resources at Textbook and Academic Authors Association. The organization can be found at: https://www.taaonline.net New to TAA? Join for just $25 using discount code DP26! You will also receive a copy of the eBook, Guide to Making Time to Write: 100+ Time & Productivity Management Tips for Textbook and Academic Authors.

Send us Fan MailEvery journey through a male-dominated field has its challenges. For women in STEM, those challenges often feel both personal and universal. In my latest conversation on the Authors Who Lead podcast, I sit down with Meleah Ashford—author of Fiercely Feminine—as she opens up about her mission: helping women not only enter, but stay and thrive in STEM careers without losing their sense of self. Here is what her story, process, and insights teach us about strength, authenticity, and the power of asking for help.Timestamp:00:00 Interview with Malia Ashford05:50 Struggles of writing a book08:24 Facing imposter syndrome while writing09:53 Turning off the editor brain13:40 Helpful feedback from editors17:43 Recognizing challenges for women in STEM20:10 Bringing empathy into STEM fields25:39 Supporting women's unique expression29:06 Women leaving STEM fields32:05 Launching and promoting a book34:05 Taking Your Time with Promotion39:22 Closing gratitude and encouragement40:22 Describing music soundsFull show notesCOMMUNITY PROGRAMS

Sam Kroonenburg sold his last company, A Cloud Guru, to Pluralsight for just over $2 billion. Now he's back with Cuttable, an AI ad-creative platform, and Nathan's been using it for months on a client account.This is the behind-the-scenes on how it works, and the counterintuitive truth about winning on Meta: it's a volume game. You can't pick the winning ad up front, and neither can Meta, so the only lever you control is how many shots on goal you take.In this episode:Winning Meta is a volume game, take more shots, because you can't pick the winner and neither can the algorithmGive people control over AI output, because what's valuable isn't a generated ad, it's an ad they're willing to publishOnly build what couldn't have existed two years agoAdd To Cart listener offer: a 3-month Cuttable subscription and an extra USD$100 a month in credits. Book a demo at https://app.cuttable.com/m/get-started and mention Add To Cart. No affiliate or sponsorship arrangement here.Connect with Sam Kroonenburg Explore CuttableSubscribe to the Add To Cart newsletter  SMS us to Suggest a Guest Connect with Nathan Bush Join the Add To Cart Community 

In this Defend, Publish, and Lead podcast episode host Christine Tulley explains what to do when your boomerang projects come back around and interrupt what you are currently working on. Episodes Mentioned: Episode 130: Categorizing Revision Tasks Resources Mentioned: It's not too late to join our Fall 2026 Writing Accountability Group - just $60 for 15 weeks and sessions are recorded. Email christine@defendpublishlead.com to sign up. DPL Resources Set your writing goals with us! Try us out in a free consultation. Check out our current and past workshops at Eventbrite for writing support content. A FREE webinar is posted each month. Missed a workshop? Request a workshop or webinar recording from christine@defendandpublish.com Don't forget about the wonderful resources at Textbook and Academic Authors Association. The organization can be found at: https://www.taaonline.net New to TAA? Join for just $25 using discount code DP26! You will also receive a copy of the eBook, Guide to Making Time to Write: 100+ Time & Productivity Management Tips for Textbook and Academic Authors.

How can you redesign your author business for the publishing environment that actually exists, rather than the one you wish you had? And how do you decide which marketing efforts will still bring readers to your books in ten years' time? Tracy Cooper-Posey shares her solar sail theory after more than 25 years as an author. In the intro, reviving your backlist [The Indy Author]; AI as a medium [Tim O'Reilly]; How to Write, Publish, and Market Short Stories – Joanna Penn. ProWritingAid Storyteller sale: Thursday, 3rd September until September 13th 2026 — 25% off all annual licenses as well as Story Critique credits. Today's show is sponsored by ProWritingAid, writing and editing software that goes way beyond just grammar and typo checking. With its detailed reports on how to improve your writing and integration with writing software, ProWritingAid will help you improve your book before you send it to an editor, agent or publisher. Check it out for free or get 15% off the premium edition at www.ProWritingAid.com/joanna This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn Tracy Cooper-Posey is the multi-award-winning author of over 200 novels and works of nonfiction, science fiction, fantasy, romance, and historical fiction under three pen names. Her books for authors include The Indie Author Survival Guide and The Productive Indie Fiction Writer. 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. Show Notes Learning to write again after chemo, one sentence at a time What enshittification means, and why it is the environment rather than you The hallmarks of an indie author business that persists over time The solar sail theory of long-term discoverability Why social media and paid ads have such a short half-life How to find and reduce the operational drag on your business You can find Tracy at ProductiveIndieFictionWriter.com or StoriesRulePress.com. Transcript of the interview with Tracy Cooper-Posey Jo: Tracy Cooper-Posey is the multi-award-winning author of over 200 novels and works of nonfiction, science fiction, fantasy, romance, and historical fiction under three pen names. Her books for authors include The Indie Author Survival Guide and The Productive Indie Fiction Writer. So welcome back to the show, Tracy. Tracy: Hi, Jo. It's great to be back. Jo: Yes. So you were last on the show in October 2023 talking about The Productive Indie Fiction Writer, and we went into depth then. So give us a bit of an update on your author business and also your life. Because it has been a bit of an up and down. Tracy: Yes, it's been a very interesting three years, because I had just gone into remission with cancer when we were talking last. Now I'm out of remission again and facing treatment in the next few weeks. My husband got cancer and went through treatment, and he's cured. So life has been pretty interesting. All that has made me do a lot of deep thinking about the indie author business and my own business and writing in general. So I'm still here. I'm still publishing, 200 plus books now. I had to learn how to write again. But the writing has shifted a lot towards science fiction and fantasy, including cosy science fiction now, which is the new genre that's just creeping in. All three pen names have been Aurealis Award finalists, which is nice. I'm still continuing the nonfiction work, which is something that you said the last time that we spoke. You said, “Now that you've written one, it's likely you'll write more nonfiction.” And I did. Jo: You did. They're excellent books. Just on that, you mentioned cosy sci-fi. For anyone who might not know, where is that genre? What's in that genre of cosy sci-fi? Tracy: It's not really officially a genre yet. It started off with cosy fantasy, which was where the cosy started. Actually, technically it started with cosy mystery, and everyone understands cosy mystery. The body and the murder are off stage. There's a lot of tea drinking. There's lots of friends, and it's all very polite and mannered. You're focusing more on the emotions and the feel, and they've picked up that cosy aspect of mystery and put it on fantasy. So you get books like, I think the primary one is Legends and Lattes. It's about an orc that's running a coffee shop because they got sick of fighting, and the adventures that they have trying to run their coffee shop. So if you pick up that same cosy sensation and put it on science fiction, that's cosy science fiction. But it's so new that it doesn't have a category on Amazon or anything like that. Cosy fantasy does now. Amazon just created a cosy fantasy category a while ago. But cosy science fiction is so new that people are still arguing over which books are cosy science fiction and which are not. Jo: Oh, that's interesting. You're incredibly prolific. You always have been. You mentioned there that you had to learn how to write again after cancer. What do you think happened, and how did you relearn? Because there are people listening who go through these similar things. Tracy: I think a lot of what happened was, well, life just became incredibly complex and challenging, and just getting through a day of pain took a lot of the energy, what they call the spoons. I didn't have the spoons to write anymore. Also you get chemo brain, which is the really interesting one. When I was going through chemo, I would look at a spreadsheet and just couldn't figure out how it worked. It just didn't make sense to me, so I had to hand over the finances and everything to Mark, which was rather interesting. The way I got myself back into writing again was, it was such an alien idea that writing wasn't even on my radar from day to day. I just didn't have the energy or the concentration to do it. So I started off really, really small. The first thing I did was read a lot of favourite books from other authors just to remember why I loved reading. Then I started reading my own books that I had written, just to remind myself of what I used to love about my own work. Then I just cracked the manuscript one day and read as far as I had written and thought, “Okay, what's the next sentence?” And that's the only thing that I would let myself do, was just write the next sentence. That's it. So I wrote the next sentence, and sat there and thought, “Do I want to write the next sentence?” On that particular day, no, I didn't. But I just kept opening the manuscript and looking and thinking about the next sentence, and eventually I wrote a few more. I think it was that coming back to the manuscript over and over with no pressure, just look at it, can you get the next sentence written? Very slowly I started building up, and now I'm pretty much back to the speed that I was at before the diagnosis. Jo: So I guess we could think about it in the same way that your body is physically recovering, your mind is also recovering. It almost feels like people want to disconnect the two. If you get a physical injury, that shouldn't affect your brain. But as you mentioned, having chemo, that in itself is difficult and has impacts on your brain. So if people think about it more as an injury you have to come back from, rather than day one you're back in, I guess. Tracy: Yes. It's really a rehabilitation-style process, and I think the key is you've got to take all pressure off yourself. I know that, for me in particular, because I was such a workhorse, I could feel this stress because I just wasn't getting things done. Once I gave myself permission to just take as long as it takes and just keep coming back to it, that helped enormously. It still took time for that rehabilitation process to actually work. There's a lot of forgiving yourself, and it has to be a gentle process, I think, because situations like cancer and chemo and whatever the situation is that's pulled you away from your manuscript, they're big life events, and there is a lot of stress involved with them both physically and mentally. So you have to give yourself time. Jo: Yes, it's so important. Okay, well, also in these last three years, as you said, you've got back to writing, and one of the books you have also written is The Anti-Enshittification Field Manual for Indie Authors. You also use Cory Doctorow's enshittification concept around the mature indie author industry. So just talk about what that term [enshittification] means? We think it is now established in the industry, in terms of what is going on there. How do we recognise it and adjust? Tracy: It's a very interesting term. The first time I heard it I raised my brows a bit. I was thinking, “Well, that's a bit cheeky.” The more you think about it, the more appropriate the name is. Basically, Cory Doctorow's idea is that any platform, so for the sake of this discussion, let's say Amazon, starts out serving its users extremely well because it needs them. When everyone first got into indie publishing, Amazon was open doors and you could just publish a book and it would sell, because they would push the book and they would do everything they could to make sure that readers saw your book. Then slowly and increasingly, the platform extracts value from those users for somebody else's benefit, usually shareholders, and ultimately for itself. You can track this process where it starts off really great for the users and then slowly shifts so that it becomes a less than stellar experience for the users. For indie authors, we're particularly exposed because our business sits on top of these platforms. So recognising that a lot of the platforms that we use now have enshittified, excuse me, or are in the process of doing that, that really helps. Because I think for years we were treating everything as a separate problem. We were worrying about organic reach, we were worrying about advertising becoming more expensive. There's subscription creep, there's deteriorating customer service, algorithm changes. Visibility was increasingly pay to play, and it's so much more than that now. The platforms keep removing features or changing the terms. Individually it just looks like a mess, but as soon as you put them together and say, “Oh, I understand now. The platform is enshittifying,” you can see the structural pattern. It actually applies to so many platforms and services. Once you see it, well, for me in particular, that was an enormously positive realisation, because until I saw the pattern, I thought I was failing, and nothing I was doing seemed to work anymore. Once I understood the environment itself had changed, I could stop trying to fix myself and start redesigning the business for the environment that actually exists. Jo: Yes, and that is the point. Redesigning your business for the environment that exists. Because what you mentioned there, I feel like some people still think that organic reach exists. I guess some people will say, “Oh, well, at the moment you can still put a video on, say, TikTok, and it might find an audience there.” Are people still building an audience in these newer platforms? But I think that's the point, isn't it? I guess Substack would be another one. Although we already see that heading in the same direction, with various things. As soon as you go in there thinking, “Yes, I'm going to get organic reach,” even if there is any, it follows this way, doesn't it? Tracy: It does. And this is what's so great about it, is once you recognise this pattern, you see it everywhere, and you can actually track a new platform through that process, and you can anticipate that, okay, maybe we're going to get organic discovery right now, but that's going to diminish. That way you're not disappointed, and you're all set up for when that happens. That means that you can reduce your dependency on these platforms and not expect them to behave like they did in 2011. Jo: It's interesting, though, with Amazon, for example, we've definitely seen that as authors. But on the other side, as a customer, as a reader particularly, I used to find a lot of books on Amazon directly. I'm almost entirely now finding books elsewhere, often through AI, actually, often through Claude. Tracy: Yes, exactly. Jo: And then going on Amazon to maybe get the book. It feels like for readers it's changed too, right? Tracy: Exactly. I mean, indie authors are particularly vulnerable because their entire business is built on these platforms, but this applies to everyone. It's not just indie authors. As you say, it's readers. They're noticing too that the decay of these platforms is starting to impact them as users. I'm exactly like you. I tend to buy my books from Kobo, but I will buy my books from anywhere, and I learn about those books from a dozen different places. I don't rely on just one platform anymore. It's really great once you understand this because then you can build an independent mindset that lets you flex around issues. Jo: Yes, and obviously we like to dwell on the positives here. So given that this is just a reality of the market and various platforms— What are the hallmarks of an indie author business that is more likely to persist over time given the reality of this? Tracy: Okay. Well, I think that the biggest part of it is, as I mentioned before, it's the mindset. Recognising these patterns is really a big one, recognising where a platform is in the process. Also developing a very independent mindset. I mean, we've been saying we're indie authors since 2011, but we were still really relying on those platforms to provide most of our business. I think these days the new indie author is much more independently minded. Even though you're using the platforms, and we're all using them, you develop a flexibility. You understand the industry, and you're making plans ahead of it, so you've got the flexibility there, and the business thinking, which really helps. You deal with any problems that come up. Every time there's an algorithm change, you're not going to wake up in the morning and just go through mourning because half your income has disappeared. You're ready with alternatives, and you've got different things that you can try. So that mindset, that thinking about and recognising patterns and how the industry is going, is critical. Once you've got that in place, then there's a huge number of strategies that you might want to incorporate. This is the thing, every indie author's business is different. We're all in different situations. I have health challenges, someone else may have a day job. I write a lot of books. Someone may be only able to produce a couple of books a year. We're writing in different genres. If you're writing literature, that's different from the sort of science fiction that I write. So the business and how it responds to the conditions out there is going to be different as well. So what you do as an author and for your business will be different. There's a lot of strategies that you can try and see which are most effective for you. One of the biggest, for instance, is something that you say a lot too, diversify your income. Have a durable backlist. Work to get your backlist built up. Direct sales is another strategy that I would say is almost mandatory for every indie author these days. I know a lot of indie authors are going, “Oh, but I've only got two books.” Doesn't matter. If you can sell from your site using just a PayPal link, that's direct sales, and that works. That gives you a lot more independence and agency. Owning your reader relationships, making sure that you keep the readers close, I think that's another critical one. Making sure that you're resilient for the platform so you can adjust when there's changes. And on and on. There's a lot of things that you can do to adapt. Jo: Yes. I think it's interesting just thinking about when you said, for example, direct sales is good for every indie author. I would say every indie author who wants to have a long-term business—and I think that's a really key thing. Because I feel like it's still important to have a difference between people who are writing primarily as a hobby or are not looking for the financial income that you and I think about. So I think that's one thing. I totally agree with you that just having a PayPal button or even selling some physical copies at a local fair or something, that all counts. I think it almost proves something and gives you that more independent mindset. It's like, “Yes, I can actually do this.” That is such a powerful reframe rather than, “I cannot do anything except upload my book on Amazon.” Tracy: Yes. And actually, funny you should mention the live markets, because we experimented over the last year with attending a few live markets and selling books, and there is a genuine power, a little thrill that you get when you sell a book, and you can sign it on the spot for them, and the reader is right there and you're face to face. That process is suddenly not this anonymous process, where you find that you've sold a book overnight and you've got no idea who it is that bought it. That person's right there in front of you, so you can sign the book for them and you have a little exchange. It's really empowering to build that independence into your business. Jo: Yes, and then you also mentioned the durable backlist. Do you think that having books in multiple genres, including nonfiction, is part of how you can make a living? As in, I think people often think, “Oh, maybe if I just write 20 books in one series.” I mean, maybe that works in some genres. I guess thrillers, actually, that can sometimes work, but you do so many things. Is it the 80/20 rule, that 20% of your books make 80% of the income, or does it literally vary from year to year? Tracy: Well, it does swing from year to year. But yes, generally the 80/20 rule holds. It's different from year to year, which 20% is making the 80% of the money. As I mentioned, I'm moving into science fiction and fantasy more, because that's actually more successful for me right now than the romance is. The other thing is, I think it really comes down to the individual author too. Some authors do very well just doing the one genre or even just the one series, and for them it's great. I always worry that that's putting all your eggs in one basket. I think, though, to counter that vulnerability, if you're just doing one series or one genre, go wide. Sell as wide as you can, and that gives you a bit of a hedge against vulnerability. It's a different situation for every author, and it's very hard for me to say, “Well, here's a 15-step list that'll give you all the answers,” because that 15-step list doesn't exist anymore, if it ever did. Just because everyone's business is so different. You need to do a lot of experimenting, I think, and find what works for you. That sounds like I'm waving off the answer, but I'm really not. You really do have to figure it out for yourself. If you do adopt that experimental mindset and say, “Okay, I'm going to do this for six months and track my statistics and see if there's any results there worth pursuing.” Jo: See what happens. Yes, and it's interesting you've also moved more into the nonfiction. Let's get into your solar sail theory, because I've followed you on and off since we met, like a decade ago. Tracy: It was 10 years ago. Jo: I know. It's crazy. It's really crazy. For those listening, we met in Oregon, at the Oregon Workshops with Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. I've been reading your blog pretty avidly around this solar sail theory, which I love, and now you're talking about writing science fiction, I can appreciate it more. What is your solar sail theory and some of the ways to build it? Tracy: Okay, so solar sail theory is a theory in science. Well, I was going to say science fiction, but there's solid science behind it. Solar sails are a way, they think, because it's never been proven yet, of propelling a spacecraft. You have this huge sail, like kilometres wide, and what it does is it captures photons. Photons are basically light. So when the light hits the solar sail, it gives it a minuscule amount of push, but there's no friction in space, so that push just keeps the ship going and going. So when you've got kilometres of sail, all the photons hitting that can bring a ship up to enormous speeds, like a fraction of light speed, which sounds small if you're not used to science, but a fraction of light speed is enormously fast, and these solar sails can bring a ship up to those sorts of speeds. So you can cross to the next star without needing faster-than-light travel or warp speed or something like that. Put that theory over the top of the indie publishing industry and you suddenly get a very interesting way of thinking about the industry, and it helps you make decisions. So it's not a prescription. Again, it's not a 15-step, here's how to conquer the universe. It's a decision matrix. It helps you figure out what's going to work for you. Whatever strategy or tactic it is that you're thinking about doing, you can ask the question, does this extend my sail? So does it leave something behind that can continue to make me discoverable? So for instance, a 30-second radio advertisement probably is not going to leave anything behind that'll let readers discover you, because once it's aired, it's gone. On the other hand, a podcast interview like this. The podcast interview that I did with you three years ago, I'm still getting people finding me and finding The Productive Indie Fiction Writer three years later because of that. So that's extending the sail, and it's just a little tiny push, like a photon. Blog posts also, they surface indefinitely, so readers can find them 10 years later. And because you're the host of your own podcast, all your podcast interviews and the website, they're also creating surface area, so people keep finding you years later. Also guest articles, and a book in a library. Your entire back catalogue is all part of the solar sail. Jo: I know people listening are going, “But what about social media?” Tracy: Yes. Social media is a tricky one because it's such a short half-life. I think on Facebook, if anyone sees your post at all, after two hours it's basically gone. They never see it unless they actually go to your account, and they need to have heard of you in order to go to your account and see the post. So that makes social media not really a good solar sail builder. It has other uses, and as long as you understand that it does have this very short half-life, then you can use it for the things that it's good at. Jo: Yes, the same with paid ads, for example. Paid ads are the same as social media. Perhaps a quicker push, but as you say, the half-life is quicker. Tracy: Yes. Exactly. Paid ads come and go. There's nothing out there that'll let the reader find you in a couple of years' time. So they're very short term. A lot of people can build their business on these short-term things. They spend thousands of dollars on paid ads each month, and that works for them, but if they stop doing it, then their business halts. It comes to a grinding halt. Whereas if you're building your solar sail, it's a long-term way of setting up your business, so it just keeps ticking on. Jo: Your series of posts on the solar sail, which are also in The Indie Author Survival Guide, they are nonfiction, useful things. So what about for the fiction side? What do you suggest people do around content marketing? Tracy: Well, it all applies to both fiction and nonfiction. I usually write, because The Productive Indie Fiction Writer is addressing fiction authors, this does all apply to fiction as well. As I was saying, your book catalogue, because you're on Amazon, and Barnes & Noble, and Kobo, and Apple, and maybe Google as well, all of those pages are part of your sail. Your own site, all the book pages on your own site are part of the sail. There's different ways to do it, but the common one is you have this standard sail out there that helps readers find you. You coax them to come to your site, and there you try to capture them as readers. So that usually means your email list. Some people use Substack now. There are other alternatives I'm sure I haven't thought of, but email seems to be the principal one. Then you can build that relationship with the readers over the long term. The solar sail just brings all those readers to you so that you can develop that relationship and keep the readers close. For fiction authors, I think this is critical. This helps you build independence from the retail platforms. Jo: Yes, it is interesting. I would put podcasting and YouTube in particular. So I had someone, they were in my Patreon, and they said, “I'm no longer subscribed to your email list because I hear from you in Patreon and on the podcast.” I was thinking about my own behaviour, and for the podcast that I am a hardcore fan of, I'm not on their email list. I was thinking it is because my relationship with those people is more auditory, I guess. The same with YouTubers. People end up subscribing to your YouTube channel. Then the problem still is, if I stop podcasting today, then I can't contact those people again. Except that I know lots of podcasters who stop podcasting and then maybe two years later they just pop on with an update episode. And people are like, “Oh, I never unsubscribed from you on my feed.” So that can appear years later. I definitely still agree that the email list is primary. But if you're somebody listening and you're a more audio or video person, I think we can probably think about the relationship with people on these different dimensions. Tracy: Yes, and some people definitely prefer the audio. I'm utterly text-based myself. I prefer to read. But yes, podcasting, apart from anything else, is a way of keeping contact with the readers, and they can email you in return. So it is a two-way process, so you can develop that relationship. So if that works for you, that is a good alternative. The other thing is too, of course, every episode that you've recorded and put on a webpage is also building your sail. So more and more people are finding you. So podcasting is interesting. If you're guest posting on someone else's blog, that's a somewhat time-consuming way, but it does build up your sail as well. Jo: The only problem with that, I would say, as someone who used to have guest posts, is it's still my website. When it came to auditing my website, about five years ago—and the thing is, because my website's been around since 2008, I had some people guest posting in the early days—and I was like, “This should not be here anymore.” So I am able to get rid of people's things when they're on my site, in the same way that Amazon can take down your book or whatever. Tracy: Yes, and that's where the anti-enshittification process comes in. That's where developing that independent mindset comes in. One of the questions that you need to ask is, how permanent is this? What happens if it goes away? Tat's why blogging on your own site is probably a stronger and better decision than guest blogging on other people's sites, because they have control of that. Jo: Yes, absolutely. So there's so much in these books. These are all excellent books. I feel like you know so much after decades in the trenches, and I love that you're putting out everything in these books. I did want to ask you one specific thing, because obviously we're increasing the size of our sail. But if we have massive amounts of drag, so we have sea anchors or whatever we want to call it in our metaphor, we have to sort that out too. So in The Indie Author Survival Guide, you have a section on protecting the margins. So I wondered if you would talk about the specific ways to think about what is operational drag and how can we reduce it? Tracy: Well, we just actually hit the perfect example. Guest blogging has more drag than blogging on your own site does, because you don't have control over it, so it can disappear. It requires maintenance. It takes your time. So drag is basically anything that is going to slow you down once you've built up speed, coming back to the solar sail theory. The sail will keep you moving, but because we're not working in a vacuum anymore, we're not in space, there are things that can slow you down. Particularly for mature author businesses, we accumulate all this cruft. For instance, Barnes & Noble recently changed their website so that all the URLs for a book changed, and that doesn't sound like a big deal, but I've got 200 books. So suddenly the links didn't work pointing to Barnes & Noble for every book. So the Books2Read universal book links had to be changed for all 200 books. Jo: Oh, I did know that and I haven't done it. Tracy: This is the thing, is when you've only got five books, it's like 10 minutes' worth of work, no problems, and you just move on. When you've got 200 books, that's suddenly a big deal. I only found out accidentally that they had changed them, and once I had confirmed that every single link no longer worked, it was suddenly a massive project. There's also the money drag. Everything these days is software as a subscription. Even Microsoft Office, you've got to pay the fee every year. It works well in theory, because you're getting updated software all the time, but you have a dozen of those or two dozen, suddenly you're spending a lot of money every year for software that once upon a time we used to pay a flat fee for and that was it. So it pays to go through and figure out what expenses you can get rid of or diminish, or can you find a cheaper version. There's advertising. Some advertising just isn't worth spending the money on. If you're doing pay-per-click advertising, you need to monitor it all the time, so that's a time sink that you're blowing money on, technically, because your time is money. There's also, you may not be managing it quite as well as you could, so you're actually burning more money because the ads are not working as effectively as they could. More drag. You need to go through every aspect. There's time drag, repetitive tasks. For instance, Mark and I have, for about, I think we're coming up on 11 years now, we track our sales. Every morning we sit down and go through every platform and record the sales for that day in a spreadsheet so that we can do analysis. It's a good way to spend time because it's got extreme uses. There's a lot of little tasks that you might do, especially if you've been working in the business as long as I have. All these little tasks will build up, and suddenly you forget why you're doing them. Or the conditions have changed and it's not worth doing them anymore. They may not be providing the value that they once used to. So you have to go through and make sure that you're reducing the drag on your business as much as possible so that you can keep moving. Jo: Yes. I had two more extra ones there. You mentioned the things that we do that perhaps we don't need to do anymore. If people are outsourcing, if you have virtual assistants, if you are paying for some kind of service outside your own time, sometimes you can have that going and then when you think, do I need that anymore? So I know some people still do pay for turning posts into social media or making book trailers. That's a good one. Or there's things that people are paying for, and then you might realise that you don't need that service anymore, or you don't need everything that that social media manager is doing anymore. So realistically looking at the benefits of what you're getting. Tracy: Yes, constant review. Jo: Yes. Constant review. Then the other thing I was thinking is a mindset drag. So right now, as we're recording this, in the author community, there's this witch hunting going on around AI usage. Tracy: Yes. Jo: It's the latest thing that's causing massive drama. I feel like it's almost mindset drag to get dragged into some of this drama, and it saps the energy. That can really pull on your boat, on your solar boat. Tracy: Well, actually, I've found that, and this is all part of the indie author mindset, and it's also part of the anti-enshittification process too. I did a lot of research on AI. I did a lot of reading. I listened to a lot of different discussions about it, and then I formed my own policy. What's my policy for AI? What's my policy around AI and its use and so forth? I find that once I had developed that policy for myself, suddenly there's not as much mental drag with all the AI discussions and the witch hunts and all the drama that's going on around it, because I know where I'm sitting and I'm quite comfortable with my position. So I think for a lot of people, it can become very emotional and draining if you still haven't figured out where you sit on the spectrum of AI use. But that's actually how I tackled it, because I was getting very tired of all the dramas. It is draining, and it worries you. So I deliberately went out and did a lot of research and reading, and figured out where I stood, and that made a huge difference for me. Jo: Yes. And again, that's something to look at on your schedule. So maybe in a year's time you re-look at things again and change your decision. I think the same thing with the traditional versus self-publishing versus wide versus KU, and you could just go on. There are pros and cons in every single direction, right? At the end of the day, it's almost the decision fatigue that's stopping you. Or you could say, again, our solar boat has to go in a particular direction. You can't go in every direction at the same time. You just have to make a decision, right? Tracy: Yes. I think being as informed as possible about the industry is one of the big ones. I've spent a lot of time doing a lot of reading, not just about indie publishing over the last few years, but everything to do with publishing and also everything to do with business, because we are in business. That's a bit of a cliché, that a lot of indie authors, their eyes just glaze over when they hear that you're in business. There are aspects of running a business that we just don't get taught as indie authors or as creatives that I think we should be teaching each other or getting each other to learn, because it's basic business survival. Things like pricing, that is an enormously complex business topic, pricing. Most of us are, “Well, what's everyone else doing? Okay, I'll do that.” That's how they make their decisions. There's a lot more to it than that, and it's very complex. We don't have to get a PhD in business management, but I think a little bit more awareness about basic business principles would serve all of us much better. Jo: Yes, there's always so much to learn, but I actually think you've done a really good job with your books. I mean, The Indie Author Survival Guide is a great place to start. They're super, super useful. I do want to talk about—as we come to an end—you've been doing this a long time, as have I, and we've both got some battle scars along the way. You do end your books with hopeful realism, which I like. Now, I'm definitely more of an optimist than you, but I feel like hopeful realism is a good place. So how can people cultivate that feeling of hopeful realism around the business? Tracy: I don't know. Are you more of an optimist than me? Anyway. Well, let's see, because for me, all the book writing and all the research and all the reading that I've been doing over the last few years have given me back a lot of optimism that I didn't have. As I was saying, it was feeling as though I couldn't do anything right. So learning that it wasn't just me that's the problem gave me back my confidence. So that's where the hopeful realism and the optimism came in. So hopeful realism, okay, it comes from understanding, from agency, and from choice. If you understand the industry as it actually exists, not the way you wish it did, and you understand the forces acting on your business and where you sit within them, that helps enormously. Just having that knowledge there, you can see what's going on, you understand what's going on. It's not all a mystery, and you're not scratching your head wondering what to do next. Because of that understanding, you get agency. You're not helpless. When circumstances change, you can respond. You can make decisions instead of simply having things happen to you, and all of that gives you choice. You can go out and research and find out what your options are, and you can choose the best option for you. If that doesn't work, you can go and try something else. So you've got a lot of choices, and you've got things that you can do. You're not helpless. So hopeful realism, I think, is pretty optimistic. Jo: Brilliant. So where can people find you and your books online? Tracy: If you're interested in my nonfiction, the best place to find me is at The Productive Indie Fiction Writer. If you want to find out more about my fiction, the best place to find that is to go to StoriesRulePress.com. My three pen names are there, and also Mark, my husband, who is a writer as well. And shortly, I think, another member of the family's going to be joining us as well. So it's a very family affair on Stories Rule Press. Jo: Well, thanks so much for your time, Tracy. That was great. Tracy: Thank you very much. I'm thrilled I was able to come back and talk again. Thanks, Joanna. The post How To Redesign Your Author Business For The Environment That Actually Exists, With Tracy Cooper-Posey first appeared on The Creative Penn.

In this episode, we are joined by Ramona Ausubel, national best-selling author of six books, including The Last Animal, Awayland, and more! Her latest work is the non-fiction title Unstuck: 101 Doorways Leading from the Blank Page to the Last Page, a book designed to help writers remain excited about their writing. Ramona is also a professor at Colorado State University and has experience teaching writer's workshops in the Bennington Writing Seminars, Tin House Writing Workshop, and more. If you are a writer looking for advice on how stay in love with your writing, look no further than this interview with Ramona. We discuss Ramona's writing career, her teaching experience, her latest book, Unstuck, her creative process, how she structured Unstuck, how her students inspire her, hear some great advice for aspiring and long-time authors, and more! Ready to start your own publishing career? Publish your book today with Kobo Writing Life.

In this Defend, Publish, and Lead podcast episode host Christine Tulley explains clear decision making through writing project management. She discusses looking at the ebb and flow of a semester such as specific semester nuances, then months within the semester, and then days to choose what projects to work on and when. Episodes Mentioned: Episode 293 - Matching Your Writing Project Mix to the Semester Episode 108 - Your Writing Project Mix Resources Mentioned: It's not too late to join our Fall 2026 Writing Accountability Group - just $60 for 15 weeks and sessions are recorded. Register here DPL Resources Set your writing goals with us! Try us out in a free consultation. Check out our current and past workshops at Eventbrite for writing support content. A FREE webinar is posted each month. Missed a workshop? Request a workshop or webinar recording from christine@defendandpublish.com Don't forget about the wonderful resources at Textbook and Academic Authors Association. The organization can be found at: https://www.taaonline.net New to TAA? Join for just $25 using discount code DP26! You will also receive a copy of the eBook, Guide to Making Time to Write: 100+ Time & Productivity Management Tips for Textbook and Academic Authors.

Should You Publish a Bad Interview? (Even If It Hurts Their Feelings)You just finished recording. The audio is clean, the guest showed up on time... and the conversation was completely forgettable. Do you publish it anyway, or do you tell your guest "no thanks" and risk an awkward, guilt-ridden conversation?A Reddit question kicks off this episode: a new podcaster recorded an interview that just wasn't interesting, and now feels guilty about shelving it. I break down why that guilt is misplaced, how to spot the guests who never cared about your audience in the first place, and the exact line you can use to say no without burning a bridge.In this episode, Dave covers:Why a "meh" episode is sometimes on you, not the guest — and the research questions to ask before you ever hit recordHow to spot a guest who wants to pitch himself to you instead of serving your listenersThe pre-interview trick that saves you from wasting a full hour on a guest who isn't a fitThe exact script to use when you have to tell someone their interview won't airWhy setting the "I reserve the right not to publish" expectation up front makes the hard conversation so much easierThe goalie mindset: why protecting your audience from mediocre content matters more than one guest's feelingsA line worth remembering: "Do I want one stranger mad at me, or my entire audience going, 'Is it time to swipe left and unsubscribe?'"If you're building (or fixing) your podcast and want help with exactly this kind of decision, Dave's been coaching podcasters for over 20 years at School of Podcasting. Use coupon code LISTENER for a discount, backed by a 29-day money-back guarantee.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

In this episode, Jill explores the vulnerability of "broadcasting" content—publishing podcasts, emails, blog posts, or social media without receiving real-time feedback—and how the addiction to likes, shares, and instant validation can derail your momentum and confidence as you build your online business. Self-awareness and self-trust are the antidotes to this discomfort: knowing your quirks, owning your imperfections, and sharing your best work without waiting for audience permission or applause. Jill introduces the "attract and repel" concept, explaining that authentic content will naturally draw the right people while turning off others, and that this is not just acceptable but a sign of a strong personal brand. Try not to rely on your audience to dictate your content. Instead, lead with a message you believe in, because that's the real mark of confident, effective personal branding.   Join Jill's FREE Personal branding workshop! https://jillfitfree.com/personal-brand-2026/   Jill is a fitness professional and business coach who effectively made the transition from training clients in person and having no time to build anything else to training clients online and actually being more successful. Today, Jill helps other coaches to do the same.   Connect with me! Instagram: @jillfit | @fitbizu Facebook: @jillfit Website: jillfit.com

Are you a scholar sitting on a manuscript that you think could be a book — but you have no idea where to start? In this episode of The Publishing Playbook, host Sarah Russo sits down with Laura Portwood-Stacer, founder of Manuscript Works and author of two books about academic publishing: “The Book Proposal Book” and “Make Your Manuscript Work.” Laura shares what pulled her out of academia and into editorial consulting, and why “publish or perish” no longer guarantees the payoff it once promised. She breaks down the essential elements of a strong academic book proposal, the real differences between the types of publishers out there, and why authors and editors are on the same team more often than they realize. Laura also dishes on whether academic authors actually need a literary agent, and how generative AI is reshaping trust in publishing. Plus: what it was really like competing on “Jeopardy!” For more information on Laura's work, please visit Manuscript Works. Books mentioned in this episode: “The Book Proposal Book” by Laura Portwood-Stacer “Make Your Manuscript Work” by Laura Portwood-Stacer “Trans Technologies” by Oliver Haimson (both Laura and the Page One team worked with Oliver on his book) “The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World” by Bettany Hughes Key Moments 00:00 – “That's Not the Answer”

MY NURSE OPENED MY EYES — BRITAIN IS AT BREAKING POINT! #JonGaunt #JonGauntTV #BritainAtBreakingPoint #WhyDoIBother #AnnaTurley #Labour #UKPolitics #Police #EarlyRelease #PrisonCrisis I went into hospital to get my eyesight fixed. I came out seeing Britain more clearly than ever — and what I see frightens me. Yesterday I had an eye procedure. But it wasn't the doctors who really opened my eyes. It was one of the nurses. We started talking about the horrific A66 crash that killed PCs Matthew Blades and Tom Clough. Two police officers went to work to protect the public and never came home. Yet Labour MP and Home Office minister Anna Turley offered condolences to all SEVEN families — including the families of the five men in the car that had been pursued by police before travelling the WRONG WAY down the A66 and smashing into the officers' vehicle. What the hell has happened to this country? Then my nurse told me something that made my blood run cold. She is frightened that a man who attacked her is being released under the early-release scheme. Think about that. She goes to work. She looks after patients. She raises her children. She pays her taxes. She obeys the law. And SHE is frightened because the system is releasing the man who attacked her. Then we talked about the Channel, illegal immigration and public concern about serious sexual offences committed by some migrants. And here's my question for the Government: Why won't you give us the fullest possible figures on the ethnicity and immigration status of sexual offenders? Publish the data. ALL OF IT. Let the British people see the facts and make up their own minds. What are you frightened the figures might show? Then my nurse summed up the mood of this country in one devastating sentence: "WHY DO I BOTHER?" Why bother getting up and going to work? Why bother getting your kids to school? Why bother paying your taxes? Why bother obeying the law? Why bother doing the right thing when you increasingly feel that law-abiding people come LAST? That is what politicians need to understand. Millions of ordinary people aren't asking for special treatment. THEY WANT FAIR TREATMENT. They want criminals punished. They want victims protected. They want secure borders. They want the truth from their Government. And they want to stop being smeared as gammons, bigots or racists simply because they dare to ask difficult questions. Britain is angry. Britain is frustrated. And I believe Britain is approaching BREAKING POINT. Do you feel the same? Have YOU reached the point where you're asking: WHY DO I BOTHER? Join me LIVE at 6PM on Jon Gaunt TV. I want to hear from YOU — and tonight, DO NOT HOLD BACK. #JonGaunt #JonGauntTV #BritainAtBreakingPoint #WhyDoIBother #AnnaTurley #Labour #LabourGovernment #UKPolitics #BreakingPoint #Police #BritishPolice #EarlyRelease #PrisonCrisis #Crime #Victims #LawAndOrder #IllegalImmigration #SmallBoats #ChannelCrossings #Immigration #BorderCrisis #SexualOffences #UKNews #BritishPolitics #FreeSpeech #LiveDebate Jon Gaunt, JonGauntTV, Jon Gaunt TV, Britain at Breaking Point, Why Do I Bother, Anna Turley, Labour, Labour Government, UK politics, British politics, police, British police, early release scheme, prison crisis, crime, victims of crime, law and order, illegal immigration, small boats, Channel crossings, immigration, border crisis, sexual offences, UK news, free speech, live debate This is political blogging and hard-hitting social commentary from Triple Sony Gold Award-winning talk radio legend, Jon Gaunt — former host on BBC, Talk Radio, and Sky News. On Jon Gaunt TV, we cut through the noise and say what others won't. No political correctness. No censorship. Just real conversations that matter.

Are you a scholar sitting on a manuscript that you think could be a book — but you have no idea where to start? In this episode of The Publishing Playbook, host Sarah Russo sits down with Laura Portwood-Stacer, founder of Manuscript Works and author of two books about academic publishing: “The Book Proposal Book” and “Make Your Manuscript Work.” Laura shares what pulled her out of academia and into editorial consulting, and why “publish or perish” no longer guarantees the payoff it once promised. She breaks down the essential elements of a strong academic book proposal, the real differences between the types of publishers out there, and why authors and editors are on the same team more often than they realize. Laura also dishes on whether academic authors actually need a literary agent, and how generative AI is reshaping trust in publishing. Plus: what it was really like competing on “Jeopardy!” For more information on Laura's work, please visit Manuscript Works. Books mentioned in this episode: “The Book Proposal Book” by Laura Portwood-Stacer “Make Your Manuscript Work” by Laura Portwood-Stacer “Trans Technologies” by Oliver Haimson (both Laura and the Page One team worked with Oliver on his book) “The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World” by Bettany Hughes Key Moments 00:00 – “That's Not the Answer”

New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti is on the podcast this week to discuss her writing process and what her experience has been like as a hybrid author. Rebecca talks to us about her decision to try indie publishing and why she chose to self-publish her most recent series, The Anna Albertini Files, she discusses the challenges of juggling multiple publishing contracts as well as her indie publishing schedule, and she gives us some great insight into why so many successful writers have a history of practicing law. Ready to start your own publishing career? Publish your book today with Kobo Writing Life.

Brands pay five figures for AI workflows that turn repetitive creative work into reusable systems teams can run at scale.Drew Brucker and Rory Flynn speedrun their way into a useful business model while trying to explain node-based AI without melting anyone's brain. The opportunity itself is practical. Find expensive, repetitive creative bottlenecks, turn them into reusable workflows, and make the complicated machinery simple enough that an entire team can actually use it.The boys break down Figma Weave, node-based AI workflows, system prompts, batch processing, arrays, Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Flux, Nano Banana, Gen Effect, and MCP. SharkNinja and BarkBox examples show how AI workflows support localization, product visualization, asset re-versioning, creative production, team handoff, and scalable content generation.The bigger idea here is that the value comes from encoding the process, creative logic, and standards into a system that can be reused across hundreds of assets without starting from zero.#AIWorkflows #CreativeAutomation #GenerativeAI #FigmaWeave #aiforbusiness ---⏱️ Fast Hour00:00 Cold opener07:22 Why a full Figma Weave episode09:53 How node workflows went mainstream in a year14:10 Why use a node-based AI tool at all?19:02 Inside the Figma Weave AI toolbox20:53 How to sell AI workflows to businesses23:24 Why brands pay five figures for AI workflows24:33 How SharkNinja localizes across 35 markets30:07 Why recurring tasks belong in workflows31:34 Live build: your first AI workflow39:09 What the Gen Effect node can do44:00 How to turn an image into a 3D asset48:46 Scale one fashion image into reusable assets55:18 How to build a batch-processing engine1:03:24 Prompt vs system prompt: what's the difference?1:05:38 Turn a node graph into a reusable tool1:12:17 Engineering an automated listicle video1:14:51 One-shot video vs modular AI production1:24:29 How BarkBox fixed one production bottleneck1:35:20 Where AI workflows create business ROI1:38:20 Why workflows survive every new AI model1:39:29 Paste your workflow into Claude to debug it1:42:57 Use AI workflows as callable functions1:44:28 Publish your workflows into Claude MCP1:46:09 Resources and wrap-up---FIGMA WEAVE 15% OFF: Use code FASTHOURS15 at checkout- 15% off the first purchase of a Figma Weave Starter, Pro, or Team subscription- One-time use per person- Applies to the first month (for monthly plans) OR first year (for annual plans)OUR FREE FIGMA WEAVE WORKFLOWS:Drew's Apparel Photoshoot: https://app.weavy.ai/flow/JV8vBtbkOl3vNeiJjAYwxNDrew's Product Social Images: https://app.weavy.ai/flow/la8iMD20eGX4eGF91qunVuRory's Listicle: https://app.weavy.ai/flow/SpLj0jsU8hThMmHWtfmT37Rory's SD2.5 Prompting: https://app.weavy.ai/flow/MdYt6UJi6ch0MkgxTaCe6rRory's GenEffects Collage: https://app.weavy.ai/flow/sX4dJgsrp9DIrOz5f9ojX1Rory's Batch Generator: https://app.weavy.ai/flow/f9OljOQLkPbJ9Q04iN8UouRory's El Camino Concept: https://app.weavy.ai/flow/BPfVXywHhoymEi3CFxOO3Q

In a bonus #amwriting podcast episode, host Jennie Nash talks with academic writing coach Kathy Mazak of Scholar's Voice (and host of Academic Writing Amplified) about how writers keep going after completing a blueprint and finish what they start. Mazak explains her mission-based work helping academics—especially women and non-binary scholars—publish their research by aligning time management and writing with an academic mission statement. She argues that big blocks of time are unrealistic and that one to two hours once or twice a week can be enough if protected and supported by project management systems. They discuss common obstacles like not honoring writing time, fear of disappointing oneself, and harsh peer review, and emphasize mindset work as at least half the solution. Mazak describes managing multiple projects by focusing on a top three, letting others “sleep,” and “killing” stalled “zombie projects,” plus recognizing stage transitions and solving the right problem at the right level. She shares details on her 12-week Navigate program (scholarsvoice.org/navigate) and why members stay for years.#AmWriting is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Learn more at http://scholarsvoice.org/.TranscriptJennie: [00:00:00] Hi, I'm Jennie Nash, and you're listening to the #amwriting podcast, the place where we help writers of all kinds play big in your writing life, love the process, and stick with it long enough to finish what matters most. Hey everyone, it's Jennie, and I'm here with a bonus episode of the podcast because a lot of our community has been working on their blueprints this summer to begin a new project, find momentum for one that's gotten derailed, or to work on a revision.And obviously stopping to think before you write is critical, but then the question is, what next? And how, how do we keep going? How do we finish what we started? And I invited my friend Kathy Mazak to join me today to have a conversation about this and to get her insights on this topic. Kathy, we're in a business mastermind together.That's how we met, [00:01:00] and we, um, immediately connected because Kathy runs a company called Scholar's Voice, which you can find at scholarsvoice.com. She has an incredible strategic mind, and her work focuses on helping tenured professors get their research and writing out of the endless backlog and actually submitted and published.So it's a different kind of writing than we normally talk about on the podcast, but I know we have a lot of a- academics in our audience, um, who are trying to write nonfiction or fiction or memoir, but also probably trying to publish the papers that are sitting on their desk. And Kathy helps so many people do that work and do it well, and she has really Amazing systems for doing that.And so she's gonna talk a little bit about her program and what she offers at the end, um, or maybe at the beginning too. But, [00:02:00] um, welcome Cathy.Cathy: Yay. Thank you so much for having me. So I know that we met in the business mastermind, but I've been following you for many years before that, and been listening to this podcast, and been subscribed to this podcast for, like, at least since 2019 when I started to, like, look at other writing podcasts.Jennie: Yeah.Cathy: And so it is ... It actually has been, like, a dream of mine to be on this podcast, so it's, like, so- Look at us ... great that we're doing this here today. Yes.Jennie: I completely forgot to say that you have a podcast as well. What is, what is the name of that?Cathy: Yeah. The podcast is called Academic Writing Amplified.It has, like, we're headed towards 350 episodes all about, like, getting your, uh, academic papers out there in the world when you're a busy professor. So yeah.Jennie: One of the things that I most like about your business is the way you describe it as it's really mission based. Yeah. It's, it's [00:03:00] really about helping academics take control of the narrative.Yeah. Right? Do you- Yeah ... do, will you tell us about that, ‘cause I love that.Cathy: Yeah. So for me, right, like, as a writing coach, so I was a full professor, like I went through, I have a PhD. I, I, I got my tenure track job. I went all the way through all the ranks, um, before I left and started this, uh, academic adjacent business.But I do it because, like, my big, like, mission is that the more, especially women and non-binary academics who get their papers out in the world, like, the more those voices are changing fields, and influencing research, and influencing thinking. And I just think, like, that is just so important. That's why the business is called Scholar's Voice, ‘cause it's about getting more diverse, typically marginalized voices out in these research spaces.Um, so [00:04:00] to me that's my mission, and when I have ... You know, when, when scholars come and do my program they write an academic mission statement, and really their whole time management, um, and writing project management, and sustainable writing practice is designed to, like, support that academic mission. So it's a very mission based, uh, business for me.But it's also, like, a, like my clients, like w- who take my programs are also, like, putting their academic missions, like, right at the center of their work. Which also puts writing at the center. Because to me, like, the writing is absolutely, is, is, like, the path to creating this better career, this focus on writing.Jennie: Well, and an academic has courses to teach and committees to go to, meetings to go to, and, you know, so many other demands on their time. And somebody trying to write a book has- Yep ... not [00:05:00] exactly those things, but probably a day job, and kids, and, you know, aging parents they have to care for, and the dog, and the car, and, you know, it's, it's writing in, in the real world.Mm-hmm. And the way you set your program up is you've honed this over so many years, i- and it's designed to, to help people actually get the work done. Yeah. So can you tell us a bit about how you structure that program? ‘Cause I think it'll be instructive to helping folks. Like, okay, here, you've finished your blueprint, now what?So- Yeah ... how do you, how do you get people to do it?Cathy: Yeah, yeah. So the first part is that I think that many people, when they think about writers, right, like if they just imagine themselves as a writer, they think that the ideal is, oh, I have like eight hours a day to dedicate to writing, or all my life, or whatever, you know, dreamy scenario we have in our minds.And I [00:06:00] think, like, for academics, i- the, the... it's like, oh, I need to be on a sabbatical, or I need to not be teaching. I need to... I cannot be doing any other thing. Um, or I can be doing other things, but I need like these big blocks of time to write. And the problem is, like you're saying, like writing in real life, like that just doesn't happen.And then when it might happen for academics is over the holiday breaks, like the semester breaks or the summer, but that also isn't true because you're also like, you know, being a mom and, and th- you know, doing things with your family, and managing your house, and maybe your aging parents, and whatever else.Like there's never a time where there's like nothing going on. So we have to stop thinking that that's the ideal and rather think, like what I tell my people, and they- Fight me on this, but at the beginning. But I tell them, actually one to two hours once or twice a [00:07:00] week is enough.Jennie: Ah. AndOutro: they'll be like, “No,Cathy: no,Outro: no,Cathy: IOutro: need-” Say that again.Cathy: Yeah, no. Say that again. One to two hours once or twice a week is enough, ‘cause remember, like, the low end of that means one hour a week, and the high end of that is four hours a week. And so a lot of times people come in and, and I'm, you know, for your, for the audience here, like, think about are you doing one hour a week consistently?Are you doing two hours a week consistently? If you're not, then let's just, like, back up and go there instead of thinking like, “Oh no, I need these big blocks of time that I can never actually get and hold.” ‘Cause that's the other thing, it's so hard to hold a big block. Um, like a four-hour block is hard to o- to hold.Uh, and alsoOutro: hard- Oh my gosh, four hours? ... to maintain your energy through.Cathy: No, no, people- What? No ... people haveOutro: all kinds of ideas.Cathy: And I'm like, and, and the other thing too I think is related to this idea, like for my people, right, that the work day is, like, this eight-hour day. [00:08:00] Like, but you can't ... I'm thinking you're not knowledge work for eight hours a day.Like, your brain can't do that, you know? So we really have to start, just, like, dial it back and start with, like, can I get consistency? Consistency doesn't have to mean every day. Could I get consistent with one or two hours once or twice, or twice a week, and actually do writing during that time so I have project management skills that mean when I sit down I know what to work on, and see how that works?Because guess what? If you did that, you would be ... Like, everything would be moving towards publication, and there would be many more words on the page.Jennie: Well, I love that so much because one of the things that I find is- Well, with writing or business or anything is I'll say, “Oh, I'm working so hard, and I'm so busy on it, and I'm spending all this time on it,” but really what I'm doing is sitting down at my desk and- Yeahrearranging, you know, [00:09:00] the folders on my desktop again. Or- Yeah ... um, you know, oh, I'll just go take a little peek over on Instagram, uh, to transition from... You know, like, it's just- Yeah ... I waste so much time. And-Cathy: Yeah ...Jennie: the- it's- if the, if the idea is, “Well, I got one to two hours, I'm gonna, I'm gonna use that time.”Cathy: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, and that's why you have a blueprint, right? Like, this is why you do the blueprint because every time you sit down, you are faced with either the blinking cursor, right, the blank page, or you're faced even before that with maybe, like, what do I wanna work on? And so for academics, we're always working on more than one project at once.We always have, like, most academ- some academics are book writers. Many academics are... Almost all academics are article writers, and so you always have... Like, you never just, like, start the research for an article and [00:10:00] then just only do that until it's submitted and out in the world. You always have things at these different stages, like I call it your publication pipeline, but, like, you have things that are in the idea stage, in the data collection stage, in the analysis stage, the writing up stage, things that are submitted, you're waiting to get editorial feedback on them.All of that is happening all the time. So you, when you sit down, you're making a choice between all of these possible projects, unless you have a great project management system, you know? Or unless you have a roadmap that says like, “Okay, well, here's my roadmap. Let me... You're my blueprint. Like, let me sit down and start here.”You know? You ha- you need to have that place to start, or you'll just wheel spin with those, uh, one or two hours once or t- once or twice a week.Jennie: So I'm curious about what other objections people bring to your method. You said the first- Mm-hmm ... objection was, “Well, I, I need these giant blocks of time.” Yeah.What are some of the other objections that you hear to it?Cathy: Yeah. I think a lot of them, and [00:11:00] I think this is so common in, in writers of all kinds, is like, “I'm, I'm gonna let myself down.” Like, the, the, the biggest kind of mental thing is like, “Oh, I've tried it. I've tried to hold that time before, but I've never been successful at it, so if I keep trying, I'll just keep disappointing myself.”Um, whereas, like, the more structures and systems you put into place, the better those things can hold up those one to two hours once or twice a week, and then potentially grow them even. But you have to have, like, it, it can't be just I put it on my calendar- Because there has to be, the mindset has to be in the right place.You have to be honoring that time. Like, you- finding the time on your calendar is problem one for sure, like, because people are booked up. But the second part of that problem is I found it, I [00:12:00] put it there, and then when a student tried to make an appointment with me and they just couldn't possibly find any other time, I put them right on top of my writing.Or what many of the other possible scenarios where you would just schedule over what you had held for writing, and I think that's a That's a situation that's common among everybody with a life, right? Like, “Oh, the plumber said they could come during that time, and here I am just writing.” Just writing. You know, like, that's the first thing that has to change.Like, you have to f- to honor that writing time just like you would honor that really hard to get dermatologist appointment.Outro: That's what it needs to be. That's the level of honoring that we're, that we're talking about.Jennie: I'm laughing- Am I- ... ‘cause I'm looking, I, like, literally have been thinking whilst on this, we're looking at video while we're recording this at how beautiful your skin is, so it's hilarious that you mention that.I'm like, “Oh, wait. Maybe I need to be centering the dermatologist more.” [00:13:00]Cathy: Listen, I don't have a dermatologist appointment. If I did, I would, I would hold that. The one that really resonates for me, and maybe with some other moms of, like, kids, like, school-aged kids, is the freaking dentist. Like, I can't get a freaking kid's dentist appointment.Like, I call and they're like, “Yeah, we're just all booked up.” I'm like, “How is this possible?” You know, and so if there's a dentist appointment, I hold on to that. That's the kind of tenacity we want around the honoring the writing appointments.Jennie: So I wanna stick with this concept a little bit more, because I, I actually was writing about this for the Write Big, uh- Mmbook that I'm working on. Mm. And this idea that the reward of writing is way down the road. It- Mm. We don't really have any evidence that it's gonna actually pay off. Yeah. And I think that that tends to be the reason why it's so easy to say, “Well, this doesn't really matter,” or, [00:14:00] “I c- shouldn't really commit to this,” or, “I shouldn't go all in on this.”And some of that pressure comes from our own selves, as you mentioned. Yeah. But a lot of it comes from the people who love us, who are in our homes even, or, you know- Yeah ... the pressure, like, if you're trying to protect that hour or that four hours in your week and it's, you know, “Well, can you do this errand?”Or, “This kid got sick,” or this. To be, to say, “Well, no, that's my writing time”-Cathy: Yeah ...Jennie: it, it's like, well, what evidence do you have that that's worth anything? Yeah. Right? Is ... Do you find that with academics too?Cathy: Uh, I think that, yes, 100%, um, because the payoff is really far away. Um, but even, like, I would argue that another thing happening in people's heads is that the payoff might be somebody read it and hated it.[00:15:00]Like, so you're also avoiding it because- You know, like the end result might be that you, like turn it into your book coach, and the book coach says you have to redo it all. Right. You know? Or like- You missedJennie: the mark. Right ...Cathy: you missed the mark. Exactly. And so, but like we just don't think of that, or so that fear of that we're gonna do this work, we're gonna hold our writing time, which feels very selfish and feels like who do you think you are that you're gonna hold time for your writing, you know?Like, who are you, Ernest Hemingway? Like, like, you know what I mean? Like we, we have these thoughts in our head, and then we, and then, um, the, the great payoff of all of that hard work of holding the time and actually doing the writing might be, in the case of my people, like that some real A-hole reviewer tears you apart.And-Jennie: Because your- Yeah ... people have to have peer reviews- That's right ... for everything, right?Cathy: For [00:16:00] everything. Even books. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So everything is peer reviewed, and I mean, I was just coaching somebody yesterday on like why are, why we have, I call it like submission friction. Like I talk about all these different points in the writing process, and how- Every point, there's like, there's friction to move the work from one kind of thing to another kind of thing.So there, like when you go from draft to like submitted article, y- it's becoming something different, and your job and your relationship to the, that piece of writing is different between when you've drafted it and when you've submitted it to a journal. Um, there's lots of other transition points, but I was coaching somebody yesterday who was like, “Yeah, I got all this really bad feedback,” like really badly worded feedback, right?Like, it wasn't just critical, it was also delivered poorly because peer review in academia is blind, so you don't know who read it, and so people say all kinds of things [00:17:00] without you, you know, without fear that you're g- they're gonna see you at a conference. So you know, supposedly they don't know who you are, you don't know who they are.And it can be like really horrible, and this, this client, she was like, “I just can't... I have trouble, I'm having trouble submitting anything from that study because that person's words are in my head.” Oh. So like, so we also have like for the great effort of holding the writing time and doing, we might get these terrible things that like stop us in our tracks, and then we have to like coach our own minds through like, okay, why is it true that submitting again won't necessarily have those same results, you know, and whatever else you need to, you know...Like I work with my clients on different things they can think to get over that friction of submitting and that fear. But, but yeah, like sometimes there's a payoff, and sometimes the payoff is like, “Congratulations, we're g- people are really mean.”Jennie: [00:18:00] Yeah. Yeah,Cathy: yeah. Yeah,Jennie: so how much time do you spend in your program, would you say, on You know, so there's the tactics and the- Mm-hmmsetting up the systems- Yeah ... versus mindset. Yeah. Like, what's the balance?Cathy: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So my program is set up so that you do the program in 12 weeks, and guess how long it takes to do the program every week? One to two hours. And you do it once or twice a week. So, like, if you take the program, it forces you to hold, like, an hour to do the material and an hour for a live call.So the live call is where we're really getting into the coaching stuff. Like, I, you know, there's only so much coaching you can do on, like, a prerecorded lesson, right? But we do talk about mindset, um, throughout the whole thing. But on the coaching calls is really when we talk about mindset and, and get to figure out, like, [00:19:00] is the problem that you're having actually a strategy problem, or are you having a mindset problem?Is it, like, something that's happening, or is it the way you're thinking about what's happening? So I would say it's, like, a half and half, um, kind of breakdown between strategies and, um, techniques and, like, here's processes, and let's get your mind right.Jennie: Well, I mean, that's, to me, a, a giant revelation. I, I believe that mindset is at least 50% as well.Yeah, yeah. And I think most writers don't have any idea that, how important mindset is. And the program you and I are in together, the business mastermind that we're in together, is hugely mindset focused, and it- Yeah ... it's hard to show up with your mindset stuff. It's embarrassing. Mm. Mm. And, you know, it's hard to get coaching on it, at least for me anyway, because it's, oftentimes it's like, “You're saying the same thing in a different way.[00:20:00] Like, that's just the same story, different words,” you know? You really have to confront the narratives that you have in your head, and where they came from, and what they're serving, and that's work too, right? Yeah,Cathy: absolutely. Yeah. Yeah,Jennie: absolutely. And I mean, that's, to me, the thing that I've, I've really learned, and your program honors that idea by half the time that people are spending is the, the mindset.Cathy: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And, and then we also... Like, the program is designed so that you take it once, and then you can keep taking additional rounds of the program. The content of the program doesn't change, but you continue to have these mi- these, these coaching calls, right? Where we talk about, there's kind of two part- like, two themes of the coaching calls.Like, one theme is like, oh, now I- my whole calendar is really mission aligned, and I'm holding my writing time and whatever. And then what is the series of problems that happens after that, [00:21:00] right? Like, what's the next level? Like, now that we've solved these things, ‘cause there's never no, there's never no problems.Like, like, the next set of problems, uh, presents itself. Um, so we coach on those things. But also, like, I've just been, especially this, in this next group, I've told people, like, I'm like, “We're gonna do more mindset than ever.” Like, we're just gonna really coach your brains on, um, you know, on perfectionism, on procrastination, on transition friction, on zombie projects, on like, um-Jennie: What's a zombie project?Cathy: Ooh, those are those things that are like, they're not going anywhere. They're dead, but you're holding onto them in your mind, like someday I'm gonna get back to that. And it is not healthy to do that. So we, I, when I talk about, like, um, how to manage multiple projects at once, like so think multiple articles that you're writing at once, people [00:22:00] have...Like, academics have, I don't know, like 10, 20 articles that they have, like that they're holding in their mind as like these are possible articles that I could work on or these are projects that... I call them projects in play, right? Well, a lot of times like five of those are like, “Oh, this is a project I started.There might be words on the page, but it stalled out.” We needed to do a reanalysis, and we didn't n- and, and it was gonna be a lot of work to go back and do that, so it's just kind of like alive but dead, right? Like a zombie. Yeah. So I tell people, and again, they fight me on this, like I'm like, “You need to kill them.”Like you need... Zombie projects aren't for resuscitating. They are for blessing and releasing. They are for like this is done. This is not going to... Because they're in the way of all of the other living projects. So I talk about the projects as like we have a top three that are kind of, that we're maybe rotating between or [00:23:00] that like once we, we, we submit something from the top three we can like promote something else, and then everybody else is sleeping.You know? Just tell them they need to take a nap. And then the zombie projects we're just, we kill them. You can, if you must, have a folder on your computer and put them there, but you need to get them out of like your working mind. They shouldn't be in your pipeline. They should be like they... Because we can only hold so many things, and we can only manage so many projects at once, so we have to create systems and processes to make it feel like we're only working on one thing at a timeJennie: Well, I think this idea, which I adore now that I know what it is-um, applies to book writers as well. Everybody has more than one book idea, and they have the book idea that they wanna write after the book that they're working on, or they started three at a time or s- you know, oftentimes there's a thing that happens, I think it happens about two-thirds of the way through a [00:24:00] book- Hmmwhere suddenly you have a great idea for another book that is shinier and prettier and brighter and better- Yes ... than the one you're working on.Outro: Yep.Jennie: And so this idea, I think, really applies to book writers, and most of us who are writing and sharing anything are also writing other content like- Yes. YesSubstack and, um, or a newsletter or a podcast or whatever th- whatever the content that we're working on is. So do you think that this idea of the zombie project- Mm-hmm ... or folder can apply there as well?Cathy: For sure, because here's the thing, right? The shiny object syndrome is really real be- and it, and it relates actually to the submission friction that I was talking about.Like, I did a call about that just yesterday. Like, it relates because- Before your project is done, right, before it's submitted, before it's turned in, whatever, [00:25:00] it has the potential to be the very most amazing, best book that has ever been written by anyone. And as long as I don't submit it, it is holding that potential.Jennie: Yes. Okay.Cathy: And so once the, so the more, but the more done the book gets, the less po- Like, almost like the less that po- the, the more that potential is kind of decreasing because it, it's not that it's not great, maybe it is that book, but like the potential of what it could become when it actually has become something is less, right, than the new shiny idea because the new shiny idea then has like all of this potential.So, so I think that's the, the newness of something like is, i- is very attractive, and it has so much to do with like our brains trying to avoid the hard work of the finishing and trying to... Like, [00:26:00] w- when something is new, you don't know what the writing problems are yet. Yeah. But what, what's existing, you have a lot of problems to solve.There's a ton of decisions to make.Jennie: Yeah.Cathy: And, um, and, and that, that feels hard and heavy.Jennie: So for our listeners who are finishing up their blueprints, they're coming across one of those friction points you talked about, where you're going from planning your book, thinking about it, solving some problems, to you're going back to writing ‘cause the- Yeahblueprint is a kind of a pause. Not kind of, it's a pause, and now you're going back to the writing, and that s- transition is something a lot of writers don't acknowledge- that it's a different thing. So that idea- Right ... you were talking about of, um, when your academic writers are shifting from, you know, one thing to another.They have a lot more shifts in a lot [00:27:00] more compressed period of time. But writers absolutely go through this, and then when they, when they call it done and get it to beta readers, and then they get it back and get it to, you know, going to pitch, those are all transition points. So a lot of our listeners are at one of those right now.Yeah. What is, what is the mindset work to, that you guide people for shifting from one, um, process to another?Cathy: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So your job changes. Like, that's the, that, that's the, you know ... Like, the job of, like, when you're doing the blueprint, right? It's a planning, it's a pausing, it's a thinking, it's aRight? The same thing we do, like, I teach a writing planning process, and that process is one kind of job, right? The job of, like, making decisions- And executing on those decisions. So the making decisions is another job, and the [00:28:00] executing on the decisions is another job. So just realizing, like, what is my job in this moment, that is a really powerful thing to think about and think like, “No, in the scope of this whole project, my job right now is to make decisions that then I can execute on.”Jennie: Yes.Cathy: And also... Yes. And not, and remember then, like, you execute on the decisions, and you might have to go back and make new decisions and execute differently. Like, that's what composition, that's what composing is, right? But you, you know, keep the job that you're, for the stage that you're at, and stop trying to solve the problems of another stage in the process.Jennie: So bleeding into other jobs sounds like it's a energy suck. So for, uh, a, somebody finishing the blueprint, it might be, “Well, now I'm gonna start researching agents and conferences I can go to to pitch at.” And it's like, “No, you gotta write the book,” right? Yes. Is that-Outro: Exactly, [00:29:00] exactly ...Jennie: is that the kind of thing- Yesyeah.Cathy: Yeah, and so, like, a- and it's also, I talk a- I talk in the program about, like, you're solving the wrong problem at the wrong level, right? Like, that's an in- perfect example of I'm solving the wrong problem. Like, I don't, I don't need to be, like, thinking about pitching agents. I need to be figuring out what my book idea is.Like, you know what I mean? And so for, like, in, in, in our, in my program, there's, you know, let's say I think that what I have is a writing time problem, but if I don't have writing project management, like if I don't know how to plan a paper and I don't know what the stages it needs to go through are, and I don't know how to manage it in relation to other papers that I have, I can have two hours of writing, and I will sit there and not know what to do with it.Jennie: Yes.Cathy: So, like, there has to be, you know, you ha- so solving, you have to solve the right problem. You know? Like I, okay, I have a backlog of papers. I think it's ‘cause I don't have enough time. Like, you probably don't have enough time, but that's not the [00:30:00] only problem, you know? And that might not be the most pertinent problem to solve first.Jennie: Right. I love this. I love this for our people finishing Blueprint. Um, and w- I'm curious just to sort of wrap up our conversation, why do you think... ‘Cause something that's remarkable about the program that you run, which is again at scholarsvoice.com-Cathy: It's actually .org, but yeahJennie: Oh, dang.Outro: Dot org.Jennie: I said it wrong. Don't worry about it. It's fine. Scholarsvoice.org. We'll put it down in the show notes. It'll go in the show notes. Yeah. Um, well, the remarkable thing is that people love your program. Like, once they find it, they don't leave. Yeah. They, they stay for a long time. Years. Yeah. Years and years and years.Yeah, yeah, yeah. Why do you think that is?Cathy: Because we're never done. We're never done as writers.Jennie: Yeah.Cathy: Right? Like, we're always developing, and we're always [00:31:00] changing, and we're always responding to new situations. And I just think, like, I think it would be terrible to think, like, “I've learned how to write a novel or a book or an article, and now I'm done.Like, and now I just, like, rinse and repeat for 30 years.” Like, no, that's not how it works. First of all, it's just not how it works, and also, would you really want it to work like that? Don't you want it to get more interesting, different, better? Like, and so that's why people stay, ‘cause the, the, the curriculum is...I- it's called, like, a spiral curriculum, where you could just, like, keep doing it again and again. And as you are going through your career, you are changing, and your situation is changing, and actually the demands of your career are changing. And so you can just continue to do this work over and over again, and, and many people do it and then come back after they've had, like, a little career change, and they realize, “Ooh, now all of these things have [00:32:00] shifted, and I need to, like, go back and figure all of this out again.”And that's normal and natural and fine and actually amazing.Jennie: Um, so how can... If people are listening to this, and they're like, “Wait, I wanna get in on this academic writing-” Yeah ... thing, I... So it's only for tenured professors. It's not- So- ... for people who want to be that, right? No.Cathy: Yeah, so we... It is really for academics.It's really geared towards people who are in academic careers, tenured or hoping, you know, tenure-track professors or whatever they call it in the country that you live in, ‘cause it's called different things. Um, it- we have a lot of people who are mid-career. Like, so it's not just for early career. Um, but we, we have people at all different career stages, including post-docs, including full-time researchers, and so...And even sometimes people from industry, like, or nonprofit who are doing research work and need to put out publications [00:33:00] into academic journals. So yeah, and you can go to scholarsvoice.org, and at the top navigation it says, “Publish your backlog,” and that is my Navigate program, which is really focused on helping you publish that backlog of papers and keep papers, like, flowing out into the world.Um, scholarsvoice.org/navigate is where you'll find all the information, and you can apply, and it's open until, open for applications until August 28th.Jennie: That is awesome. Well, if you're, if you're listening, um, now and that speaks to you, you can jump on that. If you're listening in the future, uh, there will be another opportunity, uh, to get into- YeahCathy's program. And if you're listening to the hashtag amwriting, uh, podcast and you're not an academic, and- You're finishing a blueprint or you're realizing after this conversation, “Gosh, I'm doing the wrong job at the wrong [00:34:00] time,” or, “I don't have a time problem, I have a mindset problem,” or any of these, these ideas that Cathy has shared with us.Put them into practice and, and I think that for writers listening to podcasts like this is part of the mindset work because- Yes ... you're listening to bigger conversations and bigger ideas, and you're getting something in your ear that counteracts that story you're telling your own self. So, um, I'm just grateful for you, Cathy, for sharing those stories and thoughts with us today, and for doing this amazing work that you're doing out in the world.So thank you for joining us.Cathy: Thank you for having me on the podcast.Jennie: And for our listeners, thanks for being here. Now let's get back to work and finish what matters most.Outro: The #amwriting podcast is produced by Andrew Perilla. Our intro music, [00:35:00] aptly titled Unemployed Monday, was written and played by Max Cohen. Andrew and Max were paid for their time and their creative output because everyone deserves to be paid for their work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

In this Defend, Publish, and Lead podcast episode , host Christine Tulley explains her "right now to-do list" strategy for the chaotic first week of the fall semester, when standard to-do lists become useless due to sheer volume. Rather than planning days or weeks ahead, she advocates writing down just the few things that must get done in an immediately available time block  Episodes Mentioned: Episode 136: Write the First Week of Class Resources Mentioned: Join our Fall 2026 Writing Accountability Group - just $60 for 15 weeks and sessions are recorded. Register here DPL Resources Set your writing goals with us! Try us out in a free consultation. Check out our current and past workshops at Eventbrite for writing support content. A FREE webinar is posted each month. Missed a workshop? Request a workshop or webinar recording from christine@defendandpublish.com Don't forget about the wonderful resources at Textbook and Academic Authors Association. The organization can be found at: https://www.taaonline.net New to TAA? Join for just $25 using discount code DP26! You will also receive a copy of the eBook, Guide to Making Time to Write: 100+ Time & Productivity Management Tips for Textbook and Academic Authors.

The publishing industry is getting serious about AI authorship, and one major publishing CEO has some surprising thoughts on AI detectors and proving who actually wrote a book. Lulu is rolling out a dead-simple new direct-sales tool, while Dibbly Create finally adds manuscript imports. Plus, Get Authentic Book Reviews and Book Bounty launch new features for authors, along with more updates in the Rapid-Fire Newsflash. Catch up on the latest Self-Publishing News for August 20, 2026.  Publisher Rocket - https://DaleLinks.com/PublisherRocket (affiliate link)  Publishers Weekly: Brian Murray Addresses AI Authorship Issues - https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/copyright/article/101002-brian-murray-calls-for-industrywide-solutions-to-issues-around-ai-authorship.html Jane Friedman: After Editing Two AI-Assisted Manuscripts, I Rewrote My Client Agreement - https://janefriedman.com/after-editing-two-ai-assisted-manuscripts-i-rewrote-my-client-agreement/ Lulu: Single-Click Selling Option Waitlist - https://lulu-press.myklpages.com/l/Yvt5xc Lulu Publishing: How to Set Up a Lulu Buy Button for Direct Sales | Complete Tutorial - https://youtu.be/OslwjE5oUSg?si=BIMoMmd2ZAoqT1C- Dibbly Create - https://DaleLinks.com/DibblyCreate (affiliate link)  Authentic Book Reviews - https://GetAuthenticBookReviews.com Book Bounty - https://DaleLinks.com/BookBounty (affiliate link)  Rapid-Fire Newsflash  Voice by INAudio - https://www.voicesbyinaudio.com/ Spoken Multi-Cast™ Deep Dive Webinar - https://www.spoken.press/magicmodewebinar Dale L. Roberts: How to Build an Author Website With No Tech Skills | Tertulia for Authors - https://www.youtube.com/live/ofmFpEP6tnA?si=PprfosdkMKV2ZVqv ProWritingAid: Creative Nudge - https://prowritingaid.com/features/creative-nudges?afid=6615 (affiliate link) ProWritingAid: Is Your Manuscript Really Ready to Publish? - https://prowritingaid.com/ready-to-publish/sign-up Women in Publishing Summit: The Marketing Power of Book Covers: From Market Research to Promotion - https://womeninpublishingsummit.com/event/marketing-power-book-covers-miblart/ The Indy Author Podcast: What Draft2Digital's New Fees Mean for Indie Authors with Kris Austin - #349 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzutAVKlYxc&list=PLDnpWFQZeQuYxOVgBG8u9DUO-aIjphmG_&index=2 Draft2Digital: YouTube for Authors - https://www.youtube.com/live/T71o5yHGKhY?si=g_QuOp3_hLnn9iVH   Subscribe to my email newsletter - https://DaleLinks.com/SignUp Join Channel Memberships - https://DaleLinks.com/Memberships Join Me on Discord - https://DaleLinks.com/Discord Check out my main YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@dalelroberts My Books - https://DaleLinks.com/MyBooks  Wanna tip me? Visit https://dalelroberts.gumroad.com/coffee. Where noted, some outbound links financially benefit the channel through affiliate programs. I only endorse programs, products, or services I use and can stand confidently behind. These links do not affect your purchase price and greatly helps to building and growing this channel. Thanks in advance for understanding! - Dale L. Roberts

In this episode of the Ink and Impact Podcast, host Dalene Bickel sits down with Andy Robinson, a pastor from just south of London, England, and first-time author of The Big C in Me: Life, Hope and Faith on the Road Through Cancer. Diagnosed with stage four terminal cancer in January 2023, Andy shares how a devastating prognosis launched him into the deepest questions of faith, purpose, and mortality — and ultimately into writing a memoir that's about far more than illness.The conversation also dives into:How Andy balanced chemotherapy, pastoral leadership, and fatherhood while writing his first book.Writing breakthroughs that happened far from home.The distinction between honesty and full disclosure when sharing a health journey publicly.This candid, faith-filled conversation offers practical encouragement not just for those facing cancer, but for anyone processing grief, mortality, or a calling interrupted — and for writers wondering how to actually finish the book they've been meaning to write.RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEWayMaker - Andy Robinson's UK-based Christian charity with a global heart, with a particular focus on Africa and Eastern Europe. The Big C in Me - Andy Robinson's book about Life, Hope, and Faith on the Road Through Cancer1:1 Book Coaching with DaleneSend us Fan MailJoin my new free Publish with Purpose Substack community for industry updates, live Q&A sessions, and to connect with fellow Christian writers!

In this episode, we are joined by Marta Molnar, artist and author of The Secret Life of Sunflowers, a historical women's fiction dual timeline novel that focuses on Vincent van Gogh's sister-in-law, Johanna Bonger. Marta is also the author of Girl Braiding Her Hair, Raising the Titanic, and more. As an art history enthusiast, she has a particular passion for including art history in her novels. She also dedicates her time writing about women that often get overlooked in history, bringing their stories to light. We had a wonderful conversation with Marta about her passions and more. We spoke about Marta's journey to becoming an author, her previous publications and genre pivot, her best-selling book The Secret Life of Sunflowers, why her book is so popular with libraries, how she preps her books for book clubs, and much more! Learn more about Marta on her website. Publish your book today with Kobo Writing Life.

In this episode of Defend, Publish, and Lead, Christine Tulley argues that the most productivity happens when writing projects are matched to the nuances of the semester and offers strategies for making decisions about what projects to work on. Episodes Mentioned: Episode 108 - Your Writing Project Mix Resources Mentioned: Join our Fall 2026 Writing Accountability Group - just $60 for 15 weeks and sessions are recorded. Register here DPL Resources Set your writing goals with us! Try us out in a free consultation. Check out our current and past workshops at Eventbrite for writing support content. A FREE webinar is posted each month. Missed a workshop? Request a workshop or webinar recording from christine@defendandpublish.com Don't forget about the wonderful resources at Textbook and Academic Authors Association. The organization can be found at: https://www.taaonline.net New to TAA? Join for just $25 using discount code DP26! You will also receive a copy of the eBook, Guide to Making Time to Write: 100+ Time & Productivity Management Tips for Textbook and Academic Authors.

This week's episode is part of a series of replays while I'm on vacation (or "holiday," as they say in Europe!). Rita and I pulled together some of our favorites—and yours—to share while I'm away. With over 250 episodes to choose from, there's a good chance you haven't heard this one, and if you have, maybe it's just the reminder you need this week. Enjoy, and I'll be back with you before you know it!In this episode, I'm walking you through a realistic book publishing timeline—from first idea to finished book launch. Whether you're planning to self-publish or go hybrid, this guide will help you understand what takes how long, what tasks overlap, and how to create a schedule that fits your life.Here's what we'll cover:How long writing the first draft actually takesWhat editing involves and how to plan for itAll the moving pieces in the publishing processWhat your launch timeline should really look likeWhy rushing rarely leads to great resultsAnd two timeline options to help you plan your own path: a 12-month sprint or an 18-month steady marathon.

Nick is joined by ITV Racing presenter Oli Bell to discuss the latest from around the racing world. This episode begins with a lengthy contribution from George Boughey, outlining the nature of the injury sustained by Bow Echo that led to his retirement, as well as a wider appreciation of the horse's career, supported by Timeform's Dan Barber. Also today, betting industry veteran Vaughan Lewis offers a detailed rejoinder to Prime Minister Andy Burnham's disparaging remarks about betting shops, while Juddmonte's Barry Mahon brings news of a typically powerful team for next week's York Ebor Festival, and has an update on long-absent one-time Classic fancy Publish.

Dan Sullivan used to write books the hard way: long, lonely hours at the keyboard. In this episode, he explains the small‑book production system he created in 2014—focused ideas, a repeatable structure, and an editorial team that lets him produce a new book every quarter—and shows how entrepreneurs can adopt the same approach. Here's some of what you'll learn in this episode:What first got Dan writing books over 30 years ago.The commitment he made at 70 to write a different kind of book every quarter.Why his new book project stalled just four weeks in.Who the books are for and how they're meant to be used.How Dan selects each quarter's book topic. Show Notes: You can choose to write only about ideas your clients have already paid you for and that are proven in the marketplace. Long-term creative goals, like a book every quarter for 25 years, keep you active, productive, and future-focused. Advertising taught Dan to write succinctly by getting a complete message across in just a few seconds or inches of space. Strategic Coach® books are written specifically for Program members and for their associates who may want to join. Every quarterly book follows the same structure, with eight chapters, an introduction, a conclusion, and a consistent layout. Short, focused books can reveal which ideas deserve to become bigger, mass market books. Writing a book entirely on your own is often slow, lonely work that doesn't suit most entrepreneurs. If you maintain your health, you can keep doing meaningful creative work for your entire lifetime. When a company pays you to advise its people, your recommendations can be constrained by the organization's agenda. Most entrepreneurs get better results by collaborating with an interviewer or editor who can draw out their ideas. When you're stuck on a project, asking a capable team member to take over the “How” can instantly create momentum. Resources:The 21st Century Agent by Dan Sullivan The Entrepreneur's Guide To Time Management Wanting What You Want by Dan SullivanThe Impact Filter® Who Not How by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy

Nick is joined by ITV Racing presenter Oli Bell to discuss the latest from around the racing world. This episode begins with a lengthy contribution from George Boughey, outlining the nature of the injury sustained by Bow Echo that led to his retirement, as well as a wider appreciation of the horse's career, supported by Timeform's Dan Barber. Also today, betting industry veteran Vaughan Lewis offers a detailed rejoinder to Prime Minister Andy Burnham's disparaging remarks about betting shops, while Juddmonte's Barry Mahon brings news of a typically powerful team for next week's York Ebor Festival, and has an update on long-absent one-time Classic fancy Publish.

Montage Gold share their Q2 construction update. 1911 Gold has released a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate for its Ogama-Rockland deposit. New drill results from Andina Copper and Meridian. Corporate updates from Kingfisher Metals, Alaska Silver, Aldebaran Resources, Pirate Gold and Collective Mining.This episode of Mining Stock Daily is brought to you by... ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Revival Gold ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Vizsla Silver⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Equinox Gold⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Integra Resources ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

In this episode, we spoke to bestselling author Ruth Ware about one of her latest releases, Zero Days. Ruth's novels have been translated into over 40 languages as well as optioned for film and TV, and she has garnered numerous bestsellers internationally. Zero Days is a tech-based, fast-paced thriller wherein the protagonist finds that there is nowhere to hide, and enemies are everywhere. We are very excited for everyone to read Ruth's latest! We discussed Ruth's journey to becoming a full-time writer, how she develops the plots for her thrillers, what her writing process looks like, the difference between a "twist" and a "reveal" in storytelling, and, of course, her latest, Zero Days. Ruth also offered some great advice for aspiring thriller authors, and provided us with an amazing reading list of mysteries and thrillers – from old classics to brand new hits. Ready to start your own publishing career? Publish your book today with Kobo Writing Life.

Marvel launches Compact Comics line. DC celebrates 100 years of Joe Kubert. Marvel to publish One World Under Doom omnibus.SUBSCRIBE ON RSS, APPLE, SPOTIFY, OR THE APP OF YOUR CHOICE. FOLLOW US ON BLUESKY, INSTAGRAM, TIKTOK, AND FACEBOOK. SUPPORT OUR SHOWS ON PATREON.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The European, Asian and North American football confederations have published an open letter in a new push to pressure FIFA boss, Gianni Infantino, to quit.Joining Ciara to discuss this is Sports Writer, Kieran Cunningham…

Send us Fan MailPublishing a video podcast shouldn't mean juggling multiple platforms, logins, formats, and workflows.With Buzzsprout's new video distribution to Spotify and YouTube, you can upload your video once and we'll publish it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and audio podcast apps all from one place!We also discuss early video stats from Buzzcast, and talk about why YouTube is such a powerful way to reach new audiences, while traditional podcast apps continue to build deeply loyal listenership. And we've got another distribution update to share: one-click submission to iHeartRadio.Video distribution to Spotify and YouTube is available on all Buzzsprout video plans, with 1080p HD included.Links mentioned:Ed Mylett's 21 days a week routineContact BuzzcastSend us Fan MailTweet us at @buzzcastpodcast, @albanbrooke, @kfinn, and @JordanPodsThanks for listening and Keep Podcasting!

When five-time published author Helen ONeill entered the coaching space, she found that many coaches had misconceptions about writing and publishing. Some felt they needed permission to write their book, while others were held back by gatekeeping, snobbery and exploitative business practices.Her response was to set up Coach Write, the book coaching business she runs to help coaches make the choices that are right for them as they navigate their publishing journey, drawing on her expertise as an EMCC-accredited coach and a published author in a range of genres.The Coach Write stream of Helen's business forms part of her portfolio career, and in this episode of The Coach's Journey Podcast, she tells host Alex Swallow about how she spent 20 years gaining experience in recruitment, human resources and psychometrics before becoming a portfolio career and change management specialist.Helen helps people who want a life and a career comprised of several threads to weave them together in a way that is sustainable and nourishing, ensuring the common pitfall of burnout is avoided altogether. She speaks about the boundaries and strategies that underpin this process, and describes the many synergies between the secrets of building a thriving author business and becoming a successful coach.Helen is passionate about creating a space for coaches to write and publish, where they can build a truly fulfilling life of variety, challenge and achievement. In this episode she cuts through the nonsense with practical, inspirational advice for anyone seeking to make a well-chosen next step in their career.Helen and Alex also talk about: • How to structure a portfolio career to ensure your time, energy, and income are in balance
 • Setting up a no-stress side hustle that puts a bit of joy into the world • The “messy middle” of mid-to-senior level work and the many different paths that it can lead to • ‘AI vertigo' and how to get on the front foot rather than living in fear of AI • How to build your online presence without draining your soul by focusing on what you love doing
THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT THAT YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN:- Coach Write https://coachwrite.co.uk/ - Gather and Grow https://www.gatherandgrow.community/ - EMCC https://emccglobal.org/ - Time to Think by Nancy Kline https://www.timetothink.com/books/time-to-think/ - Barefoot Coaching https://barefootcoaching.co.uk/ - The Sheffield Coaching Exchange https://www.linkedin.com/company/sheffield-coaching-exchange/ - Robbie Swale's Coaching Business Flywheel https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/the-coaching-business-flywheel BIOGRAPHY FROM HELENHelen ONeill spent 20 years leading complex change portfolios before embarking on her own successful portfolio career. Today she's an EMCC accredited coach, five-time published author, and the founder of Coach Write, where she helps coaches write and publish books that position them as thought leaders.She rarely watches television, she's rubbish at updating social media, and she tries to avoid the news as much as possible. Instead, she packs her life with experiences, achievements, and laughter, and she loves helping others do the same.

What if the sentence that changes your life is the one you almost didn't publish? In this episode, I'm sharing the story of how a single sentence from an old blog post unexpectedly ended up on a billboard in Europe, and why it completely changed the way I think about creativity, publishing, and trusting your work. If you've been sitting on an essay, a book idea, a Substack post, or even a single paragraph because you're waiting for it to be better, this episode is your reminder that you don't get to decide which piece of your work will resonate with someone else. Your job isn't to predict the outcome. It's to keep showing up. By the end of this episode, I hope you'll give yourself permission to stop overthinking, start publishing, and remember that one honest sentence has the power to change everything.

What can you do to be an unforgettable company that customers continue to buy from and rave about to others? What are ways to lead and unite your organization that would "Make Mom Proud?" In this episode of Doing CX Right®, host Stacy Sherman talks with Jeanne Bliss about these topics, including the value of goal mapping versus journey mapping to be an unforgettable customer-centric company, workforce trends, and earning the right to customer-driven growth. What You Will Learn Build a goal map that names what the customer needs to accomplish before your team designs any internal process step. Replace department-level output metrics with one shared outcome metric, such as tracking how many days a product or service stays functional instead of counting units sold. Test any fee, policy, or contract term by asking whether you would apply that same term to your own parent, then rewrite any term that fails the test. Publish a documented list of pre-approved actions frontline employees can take on the first contact, without routing the decision to a manager for approval. Keep a live person reachable behind every automated tool, so customers who need a human for a complex or high-value request always have that option. Have a question or thoughts to share? Leave a voice message: https://www.speakpipe.com/StacySherman Learn more at DoingCXRight.com and subscribe to the newsletter for more actionable strategies.

In this episode, we are joined by cover designer Jake Clark, founder of J Caleb Design. Jake has designed over 2000+ covers since 2014, and projects featuring his work have collectively sold over 4 million copies. His cover design ethos revolves around creating "badass covers for badass stories," and that couldn't be more accurate! Jake's covers are bold, exciting, and propulsive, and we were so excited to sit down with him and talk about all things cover design. We ask Jake about his career as a cover designer, his cover design process, how he uses 3D modeling in his design process, what authors can do when collaborating with cover designers, what authors shouldn't do when working with cover designers, what makes a successful cover, and more! Publish your book today with Kobo Writing Life.

Send a question for 'Ask Megan'Hey, Podcasters!If you're already recording video, you know the work doesn't end when the recording does. Next comes uploading the same episode file to multiple platforms just to get it everywhere you want it.But now, you can publish video episodes to Spotify and YouTube directly from your Buzzsprout account.Upload one video to Buzzsprout, and we'll publish it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube while continuing to share your audio everywhere else.Instead of juggling multiple logins, you can manage your podcast from one place.One upload gives your audience more ways to watch or listen to your podcast!You can get started with Spotify and YouTube video in your Buzzsprout account today.Get StartedEpisode of the WeekListeners often drop off at the beginning or end of an episode when the intro runs too long, or the outro loses momentum.In this episode, PodMatch founder Alex Sanfilippo joins Buzzsprout's Head of Marketing, Alban Brooke, to share practical ways to tighten your podcast intros and outros, keep listeners engaged, and improve episode completion.Listen to EpisodeI know we've been talking a lot about video podcasting lately, but I promise we have some fun audio-only updates in the mix. Be sure to check back next week for something new! Have a question for Megan? Send a text!That's all for this week! Thanks for listening & keep podcasting!

Have you ever had a great idea while you were out for a walk, driving in the car, or lying awake in the middle of the night...only to forget it a few hours later? I truly believe that most women entrepreneurs don't have an idea problem. We have an execution problem. We have notebooks full of ideas, voice notes we forgot about, client conversations packed with wisdom, and years of thought leadership that never makes it back out into the world. In this episode of Doing Business Like a Woman, I'm sharing my simple three-part framework I use to capture ideas, organize them, and turn them into meaningful content with the help of AI. If you've been looking for a simpler, more sustainable way to create content, this episode will completely change how you think about your marketing. Timestamps 00:00 - Welcome and Part 2 of the Marketing & AI series01:30 - A quick recap of the three ways I use AI as my marketing assistant02:30 - Today's focus: Capture, Synthesize, Publish03:15 - Why creating content used to take half a day04:15 - You already have more valuable ideas than you realize05:30 - The hidden challenge isn't ideas. It's organizing them.06:15 - Where your thought leadership already exists08:15 - Step 1: Capture your ideas before they're gone10:00 - Creating a simple system using voice notes, journals, and notes apps11:20 - Your ideas deserve to be captured12:30 - Capturing client conversations and everyday insights13:15 - Step 2: Synthesize everything you've already created14:15 - Using AI to identify themes, stories, frameworks, and common client questions15:30 - Building a content flywheel around your own thought leadership16:45 - AI helps me remember ideas I've forgotten17:35 - Step 3: Publish your ideas in multiple formats18:15 - Using AI to draft articles, social posts, podcast ideas, and workshops19:10 - You're always the final editor19:45 - How AI has reduced hours of content creation into about one hour20:30 - You already have incredible ideas. Let AI help you expand your reach. Stay Connected:

What Happens When the Story You're Reporting Is the Story You're Not Allowed to Tell?  Gabriel Harrison was 30, working as a journalist in Tunisia, and had been handed the story that would end his career. It described a specific mechanism operating across North Africa in the years after Gaddafi's fall, one whose implications did not align with the version of that region most Western audiences had been given. His editor said the story was "not relevant to Libya."  He understood immediately what that meant. Three months later he quit.  Two years of a dark night of the soul followed. Then he moved to South America to join what he was told was an autonomous community, which turned out to be a sophisticated scam whose leaders are now being searched for by Interpol. Gabriel is known online as Orpheus. He crossed 65,000 Instagram followers in four weeks by saying, publicly, the things he had spent years being told he could not. He is the founder of Aquari, a bioresonance jewelry brand backed by peer-reviewed cell research.  He is a student of Rupert Sheldrake's work on morphic resonance and formative causation. He thinks seriously about what he calls the fork between transhumanism and ultrahumanism, and whether the next chapter of human civilization merges us with machine systems or takes us in the opposite direction entirely.Topics include:  What two years after Gaddafi actually looked like from the ground The story his editor would not let him publish Belonging to yourself at 33 The autonomous community in Paraguay and the four-year legal battle it produced Transhumanism vs ultrahumanism Morphic resonance and the hundredth monkey Why attention is currency, and most people are spending it without knowing.CONNECT WITH GABRIEL HARRISON  Instagram: @disco_orpheus  Bioresonance jewelry: aquari.storeWORK WITH DOV Website: https://dovbaron.com Email: dov@dovbaron.com    Please rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen. It helps the show reach the leaders it was built for. Connect with Dov Baron:https://DovBaron.comdov@dovbaron.comRate, review, and send this episode to the most thoughtful builder you know. That is how the algorithm finds the people who still ask why. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On this episode of The Jon Gordon Podcast, join Jon and Kathryn Gordon for a candid, behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to write, publish, and market a book that makes an impact. Drawing from their own experience - rejections, bestselling success, and the wisdom gained along the way - Jon and Kathryn share why your message matters and how a single book can ripple across lives, industries, and even generations. From the "burning desire" that signals it's time to write, to the struggles of clarifying your core message and avoiding the trap of cramming several books' worth of ideas into one, Jon and Kathryn are honest about both the challenges and rewards of the writing process. You'll hear how discipline, consistency, and a willingness to write amidst life's chaos helped shape books that continue to change lives years after publication. The episode dives deep into the realities of publishing today - demystifying traditional, self, and hybrid publishing paths, including the financial and creative tradeoffs of each. Jon and Kathryn pull back the curtain on royalties, rights, and the practical business of owning your words, with insights from their own journey and the authors they guide through Gordon Publishing. But writing and publishing are only the beginning. This episode is packed with actionable marketing strategies—to build your platform, launch teams, and connect directly with readers. You'll also discover what's working now to make your book stand out, from leveraging newsletters to fostering authentic author communities. Above all, this is a conversation driven by belief in the power of story and encouragement for every aspiring author. If you're wrestling with self-doubt, paralyzed by the search for the "perfect" format, or unsure of your next step, you'll leave this episode inspired: your words have worth, your process matters, and the right guidance can help you bring your book—and your purpose—into the world. Let us help you take your next steps in writing or publishing your book! Schedule a free Author Session at: https://gordonpublishing.com/session   Rather watch this message? You can access the workshop replay at: https://jongordon.com/webinar-how-to-write-publish-and-market-a-book/  Here's a few additional resources for you… Follow me on Instagram: @JonGordon11 Check out my newest book, The Power of Positive Habits.  Every week, I send out a free Positive Tip newsletter via email. It's advice for your life, work and team. You can sign up now here and catch up on past newsletters. Ready to lead with greater clarity, confidence, and purpose? The Certified Positive Leader Program is for anyone who wants to grow as a leader from the inside out. It's a self-paced experience built around my most impactful leadership principles with tools you can apply right away to improve your mindset, relationships, and results. You'll discover what it really means to lead with positivity… and how to do it every day. Learn more here! Do you feel called to do more? Would you like to impact more people as a leader, writer, speaker, coach and trainer? Get Jon Gordon Certified if you want to be mentored by me and my team to teach my proven frameworks principles, and programs for businesses, sports, education, healthcare!

Update! The definitive follow-along walkthrough guide is ready! Check it out here: https://theneuron.ai/explainer-articles/how-to-publish-an-ai-built-iphone-app-to-the-app-store/Building an app with AI is getting easier. Getting it through Apple's doors is still a different adventure.Join Corey Noles and Grant Harvey live on Thursday, July 30 at [10AM PT / 12PM CT / 1PM ET] as they walk through what it actually takes to move an AI-built app from a working prototype into TestFlight and the Apple App Store.In this livestream, we'll cover:

On this episode of the Ink and Impact podcast, host Dalene interviews guest Dr. Dave Jones, a former Air Force member and professional hockey player turned founder of the Christian advertising agency M Is Good. Dave shares how losing his hockey identity led him to faith-driven mentorship and eventually launching his agency. Dave advises authors to ground vision in a healthy identity in Christ rather than performance, manage toxic motivators, build community, and market by making your content resonate quickly.Resources Mentioned in This Episode:Dave's Marketing Agency: M Is Good Dave's New Book:  Plan to Win: How to Manage Your Fear, Lust, Anger Pride While Building Your Christian OrganizationDave's Free Assessment: Plan to Win TodayConnect with Dalene:Step 1: Join the Publish with Purpose Substack communityStep 2: Get more personalized support through 1:1 book coaching at www.dalenebickel.com/bookworthy-coaching Send us Fan MailJoin my new free Publish with Purpose Substack community for industry updates, live Q&A sessions, and to connect with fellow Christian writers!

Welcome to the Kobo ReWriting Life Podcast! Alongside your regularly scheduled Kobo Writing Life podcast episode releases, we will also be featuring some highlights from our backlist. In this episode, we spoke with best-selling author of over 30 romantic comedies, Lauren Layne! Lauren is also a proficient marketer and expert at author branding. We are excited to share her great advice on author branding yet again. Lauren Layne is a New York Times bestselling author and branding superstar. She shares her secrets on cultivating an author brand and mastering trickier social media platforms, specifically Instagram and Pinterest. Lauren demystifies author branding and explains how authors can find their own aesthetic. She also discusses why she chose to limit her social media presence to two platforms and how she has made these platforms work for her. Further we discuss the evolution of her newsletter and how it has changed throughout the years. Publish on Kobo Writing Life.

You could finish four books this year and only ever get to publish one of them.That's the traditional publishing timeline in a nutshell — and it's why more authors are quietly going hybrid: keeping one foot in a trad deal and self-publishing everything else on their own schedule, without waiting on anyone's calendar.In this episode, Beth and Lisa break down what a hybrid author actually is (not to be confused with a hybrid publisher — totally different thing), why it's suddenly everywhere in publishing conversations, and the different ways real authors are structuring it: splitting genres between trad and self-pub, keeping e-book/audio rights on a trad print deal, reissuing backlist titles that reverted back to them. They also get into the real tradeoffs — creative control and faster cash flow vs. running two jobs at once (author and small business owner) — plus a few authors doing it well right now, like Rebecca Thorne.Also in this episode: a shoutout to listener and author Kate McCarrell Moore's new release, Walter and Benny: Good Guys, Nature Spies, and a preview of next episode's guest, bestselling author Wendelin Van Draanen.Hit play, and if you're new here, follow the show — new episodes every week. Find more at writerswithwrinkles.net. Support the showVisit the WebsiteFind Full Episodes on YouTube!Writers with Wrinkles Link Tree for socials and more!

What if the real question isn't whether to use AI, but where to use it? ------------Mike Schmitz believes the best creators aren't choosing between AI and human creativity. They're learning where AI adds value, where it gets in the way, and how their own taste remains the one thing no tool can replicate.Mike shares his "AI is a dial, not a switch" philosophy, introduces his Creativity Flywheel for turning ideas into original work, and explains how a personal knowledge management system can help creators build better content over time. We also explore Obsidian, second brains, AI-assisted writing, and why consistently creating, not just collecting ideas, is what develops your unique voice.Key Points:AI is a dial, not a switch. The key is knowing which parts of your creative process to hand off and which to protect.Your taste, judgment, and voice are what make your work stand out in a world of AI-generated content.The Creativity Flywheel: Capture, Curate, Connect, Cultivate, and Create.A second brain should help you generate ideas, not become another place to store information you'll never use.AI works best when it's given your own notes, ideas, and context instead of a blank page.Publish consistently. Creating regularly is how you develop your taste and sharpen your creative instincts.Remove friction when capturing ideas, but add intentional friction when deciding which ideas deserve your attention.Resources:Mike Schmitz: Website | YouTube | Focused Podcast | Bookworm PodcastCheck out his LifeHQ, a Life Operating System inside Obsidian!Paul Gowder: Website | Facebook | Powwows.comPaul's got an awesome Facebook Challenge going on right now!Books MentionedSteal Like an Artist by Austin KleonCo-Intelligence by Ethan MollickHow to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren Atomic Habits by James ClearThe Power of Habit by Charles DuhiggTiny Habits by BJ FoggTriggers by Marshall Goldsmith------------Ecamm - Your go-to solution for crafting outstanding live shows and podcasts. - Get 15% off your first payment with promo code JEFF15CreatorNewsLive.com - Dive into our website for comprehensive episode breakdowns.Youtube.com - Tune in live, chat with us directly, and be part of the conversation. Or, revisit our archive of past broadcasts to stay updated.Facebook - Stream our show live and chat with us in real time. Connect, engage, and be a part of our community.Email - Subscribe and never miss a live show reminder.----------------------JeffSieh.com - Unlock the power of authentic storytelling with me! With over 20 years of marketing experience, I'm here to elevate your brand's narrative in an ever-competitive market. My expertise spans consulting, visual marketing, and producing podcasts and live videos.Additionally, as a seasoned speaker, I'm not just about sharing knowledge--I believe in entertaining audiences and injecting humor into every presentation. I'm available to enlighten and engage audiences at your events, conferences, or institutions. My talks cover a diverse range of subjects, from purposeful repurposing and captivating storytelling to podcast promotion, social media strategies, visual marketing insights, the art of live video, and much more.

"Fake it till you make it" has always bothered me — not because the sentiment behind it is wrong, but because the framing removes power from the person saying it. It positions your current knowledge as a performance you're hoping no one notices, rather than a genuine stage of expertise that has real value for the people who are one step behind where you are now.This episode started as a memory — something my guest Denise Duffield-Thomas said in our season four conversation that I kept coming back to while thinking about content creation, expert positioning, and the particular exhaustion that comes from feeling like you always need to know more before you publish. I'm playing a short clip from that interview, and then unpacking what it means for how you think about your podcast catalog, your current level of knowledge, and the question of what actually makes a podcast episode worth publishing.Something I come back to often in my work with podcasters is the gap between what they know and what they believe they're allowed to say. The knowledge is there — compounding with every episode published, every client conversation, every industry shift they've tracked and responded to. What holds them back isn't expertise, but the story they're telling themselves about whether that expertise is enough yet.Resources mentioned in this episode:For the full list of links, resources, and show notes, please visit:https://www.thepodcastspace.com/podcast/s5-119-your-content-from-three-years-ago-is-someones-perfect-starting-point-dont-touch-it

Why is a peacock more beautiful than it needs to be? Because God makes marvelous things to delight us! Discover why “extravagant beauty” is not a problem for science when we understand that every beautiful thing—including shimmering blue and green peacocks—reflect the glory of our Maker.Here's our trail map:What Kind of Bird Is a Peacock?Why Do Peacocks Shake Their Tails?Why Is a Peacock Dressed So Fancy?Why Did God Make Beautiful Things?Download this lesson's free coloring sheet: https://thenaturaltheologyproject.com/why-is-a-peacock-so-fancy/Related Lessons to listen to next:Can a Mantis Shrimp Really Punch Through Glass? Lesson 87: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/24b18ca5-51d6-4f72-80f1-ec2ea2b1f27d/How Fast Is a Peregrine Falcon? Lesson 132: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/17a0dbe5-7f64-44e6-8017-fae682ab0090/Do Ostriches Bury Their Heads in the Sand? Lesson 115: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/5eaf8961-e99d-4591-a73e-dd7729bc2e90/Eryn's Books:Where Wonder Leads: An Adventure in God's Wild and Wonderful World: https://thenaturaltheologyproject.com/wonderMade to Marvel: 52 Family Devotions Exploring the Wild Wonders of God's Creation: https://thenaturaltheologyproject.com/marvelThe Nature of Rest: What the Bible and Creation Teach Us About Sabbath Living: https://www.amazon.com/Nature-Rest-Creation-Sabbath-Living/dp/0825448891Rooted in Wonder: Nurturing Your Family's Faith Through God's Creation: https://www.amazon.com/Rooted-Wonder-Nurturing-Familys-Creation/dp/0825447615936 Pennies: Discovering the Joy of Intentional Parenting: https://www.amazon.com/936-Pennies-Discovering-Intentional-Parenting/dp/0764219782Save 25% During Apologia's Summer Sale Through August 2026Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day Course: https://www.apologia.com/shop/zoology-1-course-set/Episode Links:Nat Theo Club Bonus Video: https://thenaturaltheologyproject.com/memberGet full lesson guides in the Nat Theo Club: https://thenaturaltheologyproject.com/clubFree Peacock Coloring Sheet: https://thenaturaltheologyproject.com/why-is-a-peacock-so-fancy/Ask your nature question: https://thenaturaltheologyproject.com/askScriptures Referenced in This Episode:“One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek:that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” Psalm 27:4 (NIV)“Sing a new song to the Lord! Let the whole earth sing to the Lord!Sing to the Lord; praise his name. Each day proclaim the good news that he saves.Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does.Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods.The gods of other nations are mere idols, but the Lord made the heavens!Honor and majesty surround him; strength and beauty fill his sanctuary.” Psalm 96:1-6 (NLT) Terms Learned in This Episode:Peacock: A male peafowl.Galliformes: An order or category of mostly ground-dwelling birds often called landfowl that includes chickens, turkeys, pheasants, quail, grouse, and peafowl.Peahen: A female peafowl.Peachick: A baby peafowl.Train Rattling: When a peacock raises, fans out, and shakes his feathers to get a female peahen's attention.Iridescence: When something seems to change colors or shimmer as light hits it from different angles and refracts.Structural Color: Color caused by tiny 3D structures that change how light bounces back to our eyes.Ocelli Feathers: Eye spot feathers on a male peafowl (peacock).Extravagant Beauty: Beauty that seems to go beyond what is simply needed or practical.This podcast episode contains paid advertisements.

VR38 - This week in Vapid Response Thomas, Lydia, and Matt review some truly awful takes from a MAGA economist on the true cause of low crime rates, Rep. Nancy Mace on her extremely real and not-at-all-racist concerns about the dangers of judges with dual citizenship, and a then-20-year-old Rolling Stone columnist in 1969 on his immediate disdain for what would become one of the greatest rock albums of all time. “Trump's Immigration Enforcement Really is Slashing Violent Crime,” John R. Lott, Jr, The Federalist (July 9, 2026) FBI's National Crime Victims Survey data “Governing America means loyalty to America,” Rep. Nancy Mace, Newsweek (July 4, 2026) Judge Sparkle Sooknanan's preliminary injunction order in League of Women Voters v DHS Judicial nominee Sparkle Sooknanan's responses to Sen. Lindsay Graham's judicial questionnaire (March 20, 2024) “The Top 15 Bullshit Album Reviews That Rolling Stone Magazine Had the Balls to Publish,” Reel Harmonies (July 14, 2014) Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

For most of publishing history, creating an audiobook meant writing a check for thousands of dollars and hoping you'd earn it back in sales. Because of the expense, many authors decided it wasn't worth the risk. So, they skipped audio entirely.Here's the problem. That decision now backfires in a way nobody saw coming.The number one sign that a book was written by AI isn't bad writing. It's the missing audiobook.In this week's episode, audiobook expert Derek Doepker will map out exactly how to avoid that trap. We discuss the five tiers of audiobooks.You'll discoverWhy skipping the priciest tier might be the smartest move for some authorsWhich budget-friendly option still makes your book look unmistakably human-writtenThe tier almost no author is using, even though it's cheaper and sounds like a full productionListen to the full episode to get the complete map of all five audiobook tiers, so you can pick the right one for your book and your sales goals.Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/the-5-tiers-of-audiobooks-which-one-should-you-publish/Authormedia.social link:  https://authormedia.social/c/novel-marketing/the-5-tiers-of-audiobooks-which-one-should-you-publishYT Link:https://youtu.be/oEYxV2iE-iMYT Collab Link: https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCB_jQHE1Jz8f2Gq40_zZz2w/collaboration/UCT-0HmBAtZpaLX2liUNebiQSupport the show

Custom Maid Palestine for New World Disorder https://custommaidbooks.com/product/custom-maid-palestine-for-new-world-disorder/ Publish and ship date: August 1, 2026 The book proposes a two-state solution that will require Arab countries and Israel to redraw their borders to let a Palestinian state take shape with Jerusalem as its capital. Historical Palestine included the territory that Israel, Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon, southern Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt occupy today. The idea that Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank relocate to a new homeland has merit. However, rather than moving to Jordan, Egypt, South Sudan, or other countries in Africa, it could be a newly created state in what has always been part of the Territorial Province of Palestine. It is well known that the borders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Israel, were established by the British and French for their own political and economic interests. Therefore, there is no reason these borders cannot be redrawn to accommodate a Palestinian state. What is essential now is for Palestinians worldwide to unite and advocate for the establishment and global recognition of a Palestinian state that is independent of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. The proposed Palestinian state deserves serious consideration as it presents the best opportunity to create a viable modern nation that can peacefully coexist with Israel.

Only 17% of podcasters make it to episode TEN....that's scary! A big part of why this is happening is because podcasters are OVERCOMPLICATING everything! In this episode I map out my three phase Content Flywheel Strategy that helps me: Put out a new podcast episode every single week for 11 years in a row. Publish a newsletter every week for 8 years in a row. Post on social media 6-10x per day. All while: -Working 2.5 days per week. -Not using a VA -Not using any AI   ********* Join my new Podcasting Business School community on Skool! https://www.skool.com/podcastingbusinessschool/about