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Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Isaac Hayes III.
Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Isaac Hayes III.
After dedicating his career to understanding and sharing the power of transformative ideas, entrepreneur and author Eric Jorgenson has seen how the right book can inspire action and drive personal growth. Best known for “The Almanack of Naval Ravikant,” Eric shares how reading sharpens decision-making and unlocks new opportunities. In this episode, he discusses his latest work, “The Anthology of Balaji: A Guide to Technology, Truth, and Building the Future,” featuring insights from visionary entrepreneur Balaji Srinivasan, and offers a sneak peek into an exciting project on Elon Musk's groundbreaking innovations. In this episode, Darius and Eric will discuss: (00:00) Introduction and Guest Introduction (03:08) The Impact of Books on Personal Growth (05:49) Eric's Journey to Writing “The Almanack of Naval Ravikant” (08:54) The Process of Writing and Publishing (12:00) The Influence of Naval Ravikant (14:53) Exploring Wealth and Its Definitions (17:53) The Role of Leverage in Success (21:01) The Importance of Knowledge and Skills (24:11) Elon Musk: A New Book Project (27:01) The Future of Network States (29:59) Final Thoughts and Greatness Question Eric Jorgenson is an author, investor, and creator known for distilling complex ideas into accessible wisdom. His bestselling book, “The Almanack of Naval Ravikant,” guides readers to wealth and happiness through Naval's most impactful insights. Following its success, Eric published “The Anthology of Balaji,” showcasing the visionary ideas of engineer and futurist Balaji Srinivasan. As the founder of Rolling Fun, Eric invests in early-stage tech startups, writes at ejorgenson.com, and hosts the Smart Friends podcast. His blog has engaged over a million readers since 2014. When not working, he's on a mission to craft the perfect sandwich. Connect with Eric: Website: https://www.ejorgenson.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erjorgenson Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erjorgenson/ Books: https://www.ejorgenson.com/books-1 Twitter: https://twitter.com/EricJorgenson Connect with Darius: Website: https://therealdarius.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dariusmirshahzadeh/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imthedarius/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Thegreatnessmachine Book: The Core Value Equation https://www.amazon.com/Core-Value-Equation-Framework-Limitless/dp/1544506708 Write a review for The Greatness Machine using this link: https://ratethispodcast.com/spreadinggreatness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jeff and Rebecca talk about the growth of the number of books (and authors) vying for reader dollars, continue to lament the long 2025 award season, wonder about the expansion of PRH's audio initiatives, talk about recent reading, and more. Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Join The Book Riot Podcast Patreon for bonus content and ad-free listening. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to get the most out of your reading life. The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Discussed in this episode: Amazon's best of the year so far US audiobooks sales increased 9% in 2025 j/k we weren't done with 2025 book awards - Stoker Award winners and Nebula Award winners And we're also starting this year's: The 2026 Barnes & Noble Discover Award finalists Authors Guild survey looks at why author income is declining Reese's Book Club launches Fan Fest event series The Marriage Plot is getting an adaptation This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Right now, Merit Beauty is offering our listeners their Signature Makeup Bag with your first order at meritbeauty.com. Thanks to our sponsor, Quince! Go to Quince.com/bookriot for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Isaac Hayes III.
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, we delve into the remarkable journey of Providence Monthly magazine as it marks its 30th anniversary. Host Bill Bartholomew sits down with Chris Revill, a media veteran and current account manager at Hayrode Media, to explore how the magazine has thrived in a changing media landscape and its vital role in fostering community connection.In this episode:The origins and resilience of Providence Monthly since 1996The importance of genuine journalism and community focus in mediaHow local media reflects and influences Providence's cultureThe evolving landscape of media, from legacy outlets to new mediaThe upcoming 30th anniversary party as a community celebrationThe unique appeal of print and local media in a digital ageThe role of authenticity and passion in media successThe personal impact of media work on professional and life transformationsThe significance of community events in strengthening local bondsTimestamps:00:00 - Introduction to Providence Monthly and its legacy00:49 - The history and survival of a print magazine in a digital world01:36 - The story behind the magazine's 30-year milestone02:57 - The challenge of maintaining relevance post-COVID03:34 - Community, love, and storytelling as core values of Providence Monthly04:12 - Announcing the 30th anniversary celebration at Medici Lounge05:24 - The importance of community and connection over politics06:20 - The craving for local media and the nostalgia it provides07:05 - How legacy media is embracing new media trends08:15 - Rhode Island's media ecosystem and national attention09:01 - The emotional and cultural significance of fostering community through media09:56 - The enduring appeal of print, radio, and magazines in the digital age10:14 - Personal stories of media impact and career pivoting11:19 - Reflection on local media's role in amplifying voices and ideas11:36 - The power of authentic relationships and external validation12:22 - Personal growth through media ventures and the importance of passion13:02 - Closing remarks and upcoming 30th anniversary celebrationSupport the showFollow Bill on Instagram and YouTube
Watch as a full video episode on YouTubeThis week, we discuss why the publishing industry is pointing fingers at libraries for declining author incomes, but we wonder about the reasons they aren't talking about. Plus, have you heard of Elias Thorne? We talk about AI's repetition problem and why that may be good news for authors. And we revisit the thorny issue of book lists - after we criticised the Guardian's first 'Best 100 books', is their Readers' list any better?00:00 Intro01:14 Declining Author Income - Libraries to Blame?14:13 Thorne in the Machine - AI Running Out of Ideas?23:38 Guardian Top 100 - Readers vs Critics30:40 Stranger Than Fiction - Nadine's Idea Factory38.23 The Final Chapter - Horrifyingly GoodLinks:Authors Guild Looks at Why Author Incomes are in DeclineChatbots Keep Telling Stories about Lighthouse Keeper 'Elias Thorne'. We Might Know WhyWikipedia may have built the best AI writing detection guideThe Guardian Readers top 100 novels of all timePokémon Go data trained AI that could assist military drones in war zonesAdventures in Publishing-land is brought to you by STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing podcast needs, featuring Page One - The Writer's Podcast, The Conversation with Nadine Matheson and more! Find all our shows here!Follow us on BlueskyFollow us on Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
XTC's 1986 album Skylarking is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of the decade, but its creation was anything but smooth.Author Alfredo Marziano joins me to discuss his book XTC: Skylarking – A Life in a Day: The Making of a Pop Classic. We explore the legendary creative clash between Andy Partridge and producer Todd Rundgren, the stories behind songs like "Dear God," "Grass," and "Earn Enough for Us," the album's controversial artwork, and how a record born from tension became a beloved masterpiece.Was Todd Rundgren the perfect producer for XTC? How did "Dear God" become one of the band's defining songs? And why does Skylarking continue to captivate listeners nearly 40 years after its release?Find out in this deep dive into one of rock's most celebrated albums.Purchase a copy of XTC: Skylarking. A Life in a Day: The Making of a Pop Classic (Milestones)Follow Alfredo Marziano on FacebookVisit the L.I.L.Y. Publishing website----------
When is a writer not alone?You sit at a keyboard wrestling with plot problems, self-doubt, unfinished drafts, and that nagging voice asking whether you're good enough to keep going.This week on Tell The Damn Story, Chris Ryan shares what happened when he pushed past those doubts and attended StokerCon, the annual conference of the Horror Writers Association.What he found wasn't just panels, workshops, and industry professionals.He found a room full of people facing many of the same struggles every writer faces.Imposter syndrome.Creative uncertainty.Publishing questions.The search for community.Along the way, Chris talks with authors, organizers, and publishing professionals about why conferences matter, what new writers can gain from attending them, and how finding your tribe can change your creative journey.You'll also hear practical insights on:• Networking without feeling awkward • Meeting editors, agents, and publishers • Pitching your work • Learning directly from working professionals • Building a support system that understands the writing lifeBecause sometimes the most important thing a writer learns is this:You are not alone.https://horror.org/Have any questions, comments, or suggestions?Then, please leave them in the Comments Section.Write: TTDSOnAir@gmail.comAnd follow us on ...@Tell The Damn Story www.TellTheDamnStory.comwww.Facebook.com/Tell The Damn Story YouTube.com/ Tell The Damn StoryStories change lives. They always have. At *Tell The Damn Story*, we believe in lifting voices and passing stories on. Your support keeps them alive for future generations. Help us by supporting TTDS → Buy Me A Coffee!
Victoria Purman talks to Cheryl Akle about her former career in journalism, her path into publishing, her writing routines, and her love of both vintage and contemporary books. Her latest novel, The Marriage Trap, is out now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
You hired help so publishing would feel easier. Instead, your Amazon listing disappears, your book ends up connected to the wrong author page, and suddenly nobody can figure out who actually owns the account. Sound dramatic? We wish it were rare.In this episode, Penny Sansevieri and Amy Cornell pull back the curtain on the publishing disasters they keep seeing behind the scenes, many caused not by outright scams, but by freelancers, “experts,” and AI-generated advice that sounds confident while quietly breaking your publishing foundation. From KDP accounts set up incorrectly to authors losing access to their own metadata, royalties, and retail pages, we unpack the mistakes that can create months of cleanup and long-term visibility problems.We also talk about the growing role AI is playing in publishing confusion. ChatGPT and other tools can absolutely help authors brainstorm and streamline work, but publishing platforms evolve constantly, and outdated instructions combined with inexperienced providers can create expensive messes fast. Just because advice sounds polished does not mean it is current, strategic, or even correct.Most importantly, we explain how to protect yourself before problems happen. We cover the must-have ownership rules every author needs to know, the red flags that should immediately make you pause, the questions to ask before hiring anyone, and why retaining control of your Amazon infrastructure, website, and publishing assets is non-negotiable if you want a sustainable author career.If you want to avoid the publishing mistakes that cost authors time, money, rankings, and sanity, this episode is required listening.Send us your feedback!Help shape our 2026 content by taking our 30-second listener poll!
This episode features an excerpt from Chapter 1 of Mark's book STARK REALITIES: Stacked-up Lessons Every Writer Needs To Know About The Business of Writing and Publishing. The chapter is called "The Pinocchio Problem." Prior to the main content Mark shares a brief personal update and a word from this episode's sponsor. This episode is sponsored by the book STARK REALITIES: Stacked-up Lessons Every Writer Needs To Know About The Business of Writing and Publishing. The Truth About Building a Writing Career With No Sugarcoating, Just Real Talk. The Honest, practical guide that every writer needs. Learn more about this book at markleslie.ca/starkrealities Links of Interest: Stark Realities Book Manuscript Report (Mark's affiliate link - use MARK10 to save 10%) Buy Mark a Coffee Patreon for Stark Reflections Mark's YouTube channel ElevenLabs (AI Voice Generation - Affiliate link) Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup) An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries The Relaxed Author Buy eBook Direct Buy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for Authors An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores Wide for the Win Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story) A Canadian Werewolf in New York Stowe Away (Novella) Fear and Longing in Los Angeles Fright Nights, Big City Lover's Moon Hex and the City Only Monsters in the Building Once Bitten (Novella) The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation I Think It's A Sign That The Pun Also Rises The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST — Where do magazine designers go after all the magazines are gone? That's a question we've often pondered in recent years. Well, if you've been paying close attention, you'd probably guess, as it turns out, a lot of them go to Cupertino. And much of this migration can be traced to 2014, when today's guest, AIGA Medalist and Emmy award-winning creative director Arem Duplessis, left his storied job at The New York Times Magazine to go to work at Apple. You might be asking yourself, "Why would one of America's most high-profile magazine designers leave a coveted job at an iconic publication—one that brought him global recognition, countless awards, and deep creative satisfaction—for a famously secretive company known, well, for locking away its talent in a vault of non-disclosure agreements?" But the better question might be, "Why wouldn't he?" Duplessis is arguably one of the most influential creative directors of his time. His ten years of covers for The New York Times Magazine shaped its vision and identity. As creative director at GQ, he helped create the now-ubiquitous Gotham family of fonts. And he's blazed the trail for print designers in search of digital futures. While the departure of big-name magazine designers like Rem to Silicon Valley may strike fear in some, it reaffirms what many of us have long known: Despite years of slumping newsstand sales and magazine closures, the all-purpose skills of elite creative directors are still very much in demand. As former ESPN creative director Neil Jamieson says, “Why wouldn't Apple be hiring magazine designers? No category of designer is more multifaceted. Beyond the fundamentals, they do branding, packaging, identity, storytelling. They have experience on set, with video, social, and short-form storytelling.” There's no question there's a dire need in the corporate field for these kinds of skills. The question that remains unanswered, so far, is: Can that kind of digital work ever deliver the same creative fulfillment that magazines do? We talked to Duplessis about learning to scuba dive in his Dad's Virginia quarry, the modeling career that wasn't, cutting his teeth at the controversial hip-hop magazine, Blaze, adapting to life on the West Coast, and what he's planning for life after work. — THIS EPISODE IS MADE POSSIBLE BY OUR FRIENDS AT COMMERCIAL TYPE AND FREEPORT PRESS. A production of Magazeum LLC ©2021–2025
CHECK, PLEASE — Thanks for tuning in. Just a note before we get going: This is the 50th episode of The Full Bleed, and I, along with the team here at Magazeum, truly appreciate the time you spend with us. Waiting is what I consider a perfect magazine. Not because of its design or the writing, though both are stellar. But mostly because it functions as a closed loop. How? The subject and the audience are one and the same. Waiting, you see, is a magazine about creatives in New York's service industry. And it is a magazine for creatives in New York's service industry. That's a neat trick and also makes me wonder why no one had done this before founder, editor-in-chief, and complete magazine neophyte Adele Blanton hit upon the idea. Adele has done the math: 10 percent of the estimated 700,000 people working in the food and beverage industry in New York are artists of some kind. Artists, actors, writers, dancers. You name it. And that number is a healthy baseline for any publication. Waiting has published three well-received issues and now she and the team behind it has to figure out how to maintain and grow the media. That's one of the many things we talk about on the show. Did we tell you this is our 50th episode? Because it's our 50th episode. — This episode is made possible by our friends at Freeport Press. A production of Magazeum LLC ©2021–2025
This Friday, SAfm’s radio anchor Bongiwe Zwane, once again spoke to Martin Creamer, publishing editor of Engineering News & Mining Weekly, delving deeper into the world of mining and engineering.
You would think that if you publish more books, you'll make more money. But that's not always the case! While expanding your title list might feel like the easiest path to profit, you should also factor in staff time and bandwidth, resources, and retailer overwhelm.This week on the podcast, Microcosm's Marketing and Publicity Supervisor, Daley Farr, joins Joe and Elly to talk about her suggestion for us to publish fewer books, and why the data backs it up.************Thank you for catching the People's Guide to Publishing vlogcast! We post new episodes every Thursday about publishing, authors, and the book industry. You can also listen via your preferred podcast app, or by visiting linktree.com/microcosmGet the book: https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/3663Get the workbook: https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/zines/10031More from Microcosm: http://microcosmpublishing.comMore by Joe Biel: http://joebiel.netMore by Elly Blue: http://takingthelane.comSubscribe to our monthly email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/gIXT6vFind us on social media:Facebook: http://facebook.com/microcosmpublishingBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/microcosm.bsky.socialInstagram: http://instagram.com/microcosm_pub************
In this episode of the Written Melanin Podcast, host C. M. Lockhart welcomes USA Today bestselling author Kimberly Lemming. They discuss Kimberly's unique approach to writing fantasy romance, her journey to becoming a successful author, and the importance of writing without overthinking.00:00 Welcome to the Written Melanin Podcast02:19 Introducing Kimberly Lemming and Her Works11:18 The Journey of a Bestselling Author20:09 The Reality of Publishing in the Romantic Era24:37 Exploring New Genres: The Shift from Romance to Gamer Lite28:15 The Importance of Laughter in Writing32:40 Advice for New Authors: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome40:48 Upcoming Works and Future Plans-Kimberly Lemming
Could using AI in your book create a legal problem you never saw coming?What if parts of your manuscript are not actually protected by copyright? And what should authors know before using AI for research, outlines, editing, or content creation?In this eye-opening conversation, legal expert Elissa Hecker breaks down what nonfiction authors need to understand about AI, copyright, contracts, and protecting their intellectual property in a fast-changing publishing world.This episode answers the questions many authors are afraid to ask.Key TakeawaysCan You Copyright AI Content? The surprising truth about what parts of AI-assisted work may not be legally protected.Are You Using AI Safely? Smart ways to use AI without risking ownership, credibility, or control of your content.The Contract Clause Authors Cannot Ignore Why publishers are paying attention to AI use and what disclosures may soon become standard.Your Biggest Competitive Advantage in an AI World Why your voice, experience, and originality matter more than ever and how to protect them.One Copyright Mistake That Could Cost You The difference between “having copyright” and protecting it when problems arise.If AI feels exciting, confusing, or a little intimidating, this conversation will help you separate hype from reality and make smarter decisions about your book, your ideas, and your intellectual property.Here's how to connect with Elissa:Email Elissa for your complimentary 30-minute consultationWebsiteResources: US Copyright OfficePatent and Trademark Office*************************************************************************When Book Marketing Feels Overwhelming, Clarity Changes EverythingIf you know your book deserves more visibility, but marketing feels confusing or inconsistent, the Author Influencer Circle helps nonfiction authors build authority, attract opportunities, and market with confidence.Learn more about the Author Influencer Circle and turn your book into money making opportunities!*************************************************************************
Bestselling authors William Bernhardt (The Superman Wars) and Lara Bernhardt discuss the latest news from the book world, offer writing tips, and interview...William Bernhardt, whose 67th published book is The Superman Wars, the true story of Superman's creator, Jerry Siegel, and his fight to create, then recover, his iconic character.0:00 Opening ThoughtsThe Superman Wars, WriterCon 2026, and the host steps into the interview chair!4:25 News1) Protest Filed Over AI Audiobooks—Including One from John Grisham2) New Literary Scout Program Wants to Send Your Work to Hollywood15:21 Interview with William BernhardtThe guest would like you to know that when he talked about Jerry Siegel serving his "company," he of course actually meant "country," but he just gets so excited when he talks about Siegel and Superman that his stutter returns and he trips over his own tongue. Which Superman would never do. 47:34 Parting WordsWriterCon 2026 will take place in Oklahoma City on Sept 4-7 with over sixty presenters headlined by #1 NYTimes bestselling author William Martin, and Edgar Award-winner Lou Berney. Visit the website for more info: www.writercon.comIf you want a small-group enviroment and a chance to workshop your work-in-progress, consider the WriterCon Retreat, at Canebrake Resort near Tulsa on July 15-19. More info on the website: www.writercon.com/retreat/Until next time, keep writing, and remember: You cannot fail, if you refuse to quit.William Bernhardt www.williambernhardt.comwww.writercon.com
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions!In this heartfelt interview, author Cinelle Barnes shares her journey through writing A Way Home (Little A, June 9, 2026), a heart-wrenching memoir about remembering and rebuilding a life after everything known disappears in a flash. Her latest memoir takes us alone with her as she recovers from a sudden ruptured brain aneurysm. But her journey was far more than physical. It's the healing of soul, of body, of identity. It's a woman/mother/daughter/immigrant/writer redrawing the map of herself. The mere existence of this book is a triumph, and the beautiful magic of it is a feat of awe. Cinelle is also the author of Monsoon Mansion: A Memoir and Malaya: Essays on Freedom.
What would you do if you were pressured to support a rebellion that you believed was misguided and doomed to failure? What if the safety of your family and business depended on your answer? In A Ram for Mars (NFB Publishing, 2026), Marcus and Miriam, recently freed slaves from Asia Minor, arrive in Israel buoyed by hopes of finding Marcus's long-lost mother and starting a new life together. They discover that the land is seething with social and political unrest, with anti-Roman parties in the ascendancy. Marcus, who grew up in a Roman colony and owes his present prosperity to a Roman master, finds these anti-Roman sentiments perplexing. His uncertainty increases when war breaks out and he's asked to ship supplies to the rebel army, including a newfound cousin who protects the northern front. As his entanglement with the rebellion deepens, Marcus is torn between loyalty to the world in which he was nurtured and the need to secure his family's safety. Then his adopted son runs off to join the rebels. What is he to do? Fans of Conn Iggulden, Ken Follett, and Robert Graves will be captivated by this richly detailed and compelling exploration of the Jewish revolt against Rome (66-73 AD/CE) through the lens of a pro-Roman Jew in the rural district of Galilee. More about A Ram for Mars, as well as the trilogy, “A Slave's Story,” can be found here. Christopher D. Stanley is a social and religious historian who writes about early Christianity and Judaism in the Greco-Roman world. He served for over twenty years as a professor at St. Bonaventure University in western New York, where he holds the title of Professor Emeritus. Dr. Stanley has written or edited ten books and dozens of professional articles on early Christian texts and history and presents papers at academic conferences around the world. The “A Slave's Story” trilogy, which grew out of his historical research on first-century Asia Minor, is his first foray into fiction. He continues to write for the academic world as well, including a recently finished book on sickness and healing in the Greco-Roman world that explores some of the history behind this trilogy, Paul and Asklepios: The Greco-Roman Quest for Healing and the Apostolic Mission (T&T Clark, 2023). Jonathon Lookadoo is Associate Professor at the Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary in Seoul, South Korea. While his interests range widely over the world of early Christianity, he is the author of books on the Epistle of Barnabas, Ignatius of Antioch, and the Shepherd of Hermas, including The Christology of Ignatius of Antioch (Cascade, 2023). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
Join us as Mike Fiedler (AWS Hero, PyPI Safety & Security Engineer, Python Software Foundation) makes the case for eliminating long-lived credentials from your release workflow - before an attacker does it for you. Mike walks through the real-world incidents that motivated Trusted Publishing, how OIDC-based short-lived tokens work under the hood, and the step-by-step process for setting it up in GitHub Actions. You'll learn how the 2024 Ultralytics compromise was forensically investigated thanks to Sigstore attestations, why that API token in your repo is just a password with a fancy hat, common pitfalls that will have you debugging for four hours, and why deleting your old token after setup is the step everyone forgets. PyPI went from 10% Trusted Publishing adoption in February 2024 to 36% today - this episode is how you become part of that number. Timestamps 0:00 Welcome & Introduction 4:00 Mike's PyCon US World Tour Recap 8:00 The Scale of PyPI: 13B Requests/Day & 36% Adoption 12:09 Why Long-Lived Tokens Fail: Four Attack Models 16:47 Case Study: The 2024 Ultralytics Compromise 21:44 What is Trusted Publishing? OIDC Explained 27:04 How the GitHub Actions Flow Actually Works 34:12 Other Registries: npm, RubyGems, crates.io, NuGet 36:34 Common Pitfalls & Debugging Tips 42:29 Provenance & Sigstore Attestations 44:22 The Step Everyone Forgets: Delete Your Old Token 47:06 Migration Guide & Getting Started This Week How to find Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miketheman/ https://www.python.org/psf-landing/ Links from the show:
Devolver QA experts Shona Feltham and Barnaby Panton take a crack at trying to decipher exactly what's wrong with JM, Jared, and the Forkcast as a whole, but mostly talk about what it means to break games for the good of mankind.
In this episode of the KWL Podcast, we were joined by Skye MacKinnon, best-selling author of over seventy romance novels. She also publishes children's books under the pen name Isla Wynter. She loves to help other indie authors succeed and had much great advice to share about self-publishing during our conversation! We spoke to Skye about her writing journey, how she started writing full-time, writing under multiple pen names, publishing wide, working with other authors, translating her books, and much more! Plus, listen to Skye's previous appearance on the KWL Podcast here. Learn more about Skye on her website.
What would you do if you were pressured to support a rebellion that you believed was misguided and doomed to failure? What if the safety of your family and business depended on your answer? In A Ram for Mars (NFB Publishing, 2026), Marcus and Miriam, recently freed slaves from Asia Minor, arrive in Israel buoyed by hopes of finding Marcus's long-lost mother and starting a new life together. They discover that the land is seething with social and political unrest, with anti-Roman parties in the ascendancy. Marcus, who grew up in a Roman colony and owes his present prosperity to a Roman master, finds these anti-Roman sentiments perplexing. His uncertainty increases when war breaks out and he's asked to ship supplies to the rebel army, including a newfound cousin who protects the northern front. As his entanglement with the rebellion deepens, Marcus is torn between loyalty to the world in which he was nurtured and the need to secure his family's safety. Then his adopted son runs off to join the rebels. What is he to do? Fans of Conn Iggulden, Ken Follett, and Robert Graves will be captivated by this richly detailed and compelling exploration of the Jewish revolt against Rome (66-73 AD/CE) through the lens of a pro-Roman Jew in the rural district of Galilee. More about A Ram for Mars, as well as the trilogy, “A Slave's Story,” can be found here. Christopher D. Stanley is a social and religious historian who writes about early Christianity and Judaism in the Greco-Roman world. He served for over twenty years as a professor at St. Bonaventure University in western New York, where he holds the title of Professor Emeritus. Dr. Stanley has written or edited ten books and dozens of professional articles on early Christian texts and history and presents papers at academic conferences around the world. The “A Slave's Story” trilogy, which grew out of his historical research on first-century Asia Minor, is his first foray into fiction. He continues to write for the academic world as well, including a recently finished book on sickness and healing in the Greco-Roman world that explores some of the history behind this trilogy, Paul and Asklepios: The Greco-Roman Quest for Healing and the Apostolic Mission (T&T Clark, 2023). Jonathon Lookadoo is Associate Professor at the Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary in Seoul, South Korea. While his interests range widely over the world of early Christianity, he is the author of books on the Epistle of Barnabas, Ignatius of Antioch, and the Shepherd of Hermas, including The Christology of Ignatius of Antioch (Cascade, 2023). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/jewish-studies
Building a fiction author platform in 2026 is a fundamentally different game than it was a decade ago, evolving from basic promotion into a robust, data-driven ecosystem. In this episode, we pull back the curtain on the modern author's toolkit, exploring how to leverage AI-assisted branding, targeted sales funnels, and strategic book launches to maximize reach without relying on outdated tactics. Whether you are a first-time novelist or a seasoned writer looking to modernize your promotion, you will learn the exact systems—from crafting effective landing pages and navigating algorithmic changes to executing high-converting book swaps—that turn an unknown manuscript into a sustainable, consistent business.Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! https://superbrandpublishing.com/podcast/
What would you do if you were pressured to support a rebellion that you believed was misguided and doomed to failure? What if the safety of your family and business depended on your answer? In A Ram for Mars (NFB Publishing, 2026), Marcus and Miriam, recently freed slaves from Asia Minor, arrive in Israel buoyed by hopes of finding Marcus's long-lost mother and starting a new life together. They discover that the land is seething with social and political unrest, with anti-Roman parties in the ascendancy. Marcus, who grew up in a Roman colony and owes his present prosperity to a Roman master, finds these anti-Roman sentiments perplexing. His uncertainty increases when war breaks out and he's asked to ship supplies to the rebel army, including a newfound cousin who protects the northern front. As his entanglement with the rebellion deepens, Marcus is torn between loyalty to the world in which he was nurtured and the need to secure his family's safety. Then his adopted son runs off to join the rebels. What is he to do? Fans of Conn Iggulden, Ken Follett, and Robert Graves will be captivated by this richly detailed and compelling exploration of the Jewish revolt against Rome (66-73 AD/CE) through the lens of a pro-Roman Jew in the rural district of Galilee. More about A Ram for Mars, as well as the trilogy, “A Slave's Story,” can be found here. Christopher D. Stanley is a social and religious historian who writes about early Christianity and Judaism in the Greco-Roman world. He served for over twenty years as a professor at St. Bonaventure University in western New York, where he holds the title of Professor Emeritus. Dr. Stanley has written or edited ten books and dozens of professional articles on early Christian texts and history and presents papers at academic conferences around the world. The “A Slave's Story” trilogy, which grew out of his historical research on first-century Asia Minor, is his first foray into fiction. He continues to write for the academic world as well, including a recently finished book on sickness and healing in the Greco-Roman world that explores some of the history behind this trilogy, Paul and Asklepios: The Greco-Roman Quest for Healing and the Apostolic Mission (T&T Clark, 2023). Jonathon Lookadoo is Associate Professor at the Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary in Seoul, South Korea. While his interests range widely over the world of early Christianity, he is the author of books on the Epistle of Barnabas, Ignatius of Antioch, and the Shepherd of Hermas, including The Christology of Ignatius of Antioch (Cascade, 2023). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What would you do if you were pressured to support a rebellion that you believed was misguided and doomed to failure? What if the safety of your family and business depended on your answer? In A Ram for Mars (NFB Publishing, 2026), Marcus and Miriam, recently freed slaves from Asia Minor, arrive in Israel buoyed by hopes of finding Marcus's long-lost mother and starting a new life together. They discover that the land is seething with social and political unrest, with anti-Roman parties in the ascendancy. Marcus, who grew up in a Roman colony and owes his present prosperity to a Roman master, finds these anti-Roman sentiments perplexing. His uncertainty increases when war breaks out and he's asked to ship supplies to the rebel army, including a newfound cousin who protects the northern front. As his entanglement with the rebellion deepens, Marcus is torn between loyalty to the world in which he was nurtured and the need to secure his family's safety. Then his adopted son runs off to join the rebels. What is he to do? Fans of Conn Iggulden, Ken Follett, and Robert Graves will be captivated by this richly detailed and compelling exploration of the Jewish revolt against Rome (66-73 AD/CE) through the lens of a pro-Roman Jew in the rural district of Galilee. More about A Ram for Mars, as well as the trilogy, “A Slave's Story,” can be found here. Christopher D. Stanley is a social and religious historian who writes about early Christianity and Judaism in the Greco-Roman world. He served for over twenty years as a professor at St. Bonaventure University in western New York, where he holds the title of Professor Emeritus. Dr. Stanley has written or edited ten books and dozens of professional articles on early Christian texts and history and presents papers at academic conferences around the world. The “A Slave's Story” trilogy, which grew out of his historical research on first-century Asia Minor, is his first foray into fiction. He continues to write for the academic world as well, including a recently finished book on sickness and healing in the Greco-Roman world that explores some of the history behind this trilogy, Paul and Asklepios: The Greco-Roman Quest for Healing and the Apostolic Mission (T&T Clark, 2023). Jonathon Lookadoo is Associate Professor at the Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary in Seoul, South Korea. While his interests range widely over the world of early Christianity, he is the author of books on the Epistle of Barnabas, Ignatius of Antioch, and the Shepherd of Hermas, including The Christology of Ignatius of Antioch (Cascade, 2023). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/israel-studies
Sign up for Practi, a new platform that helps law firms use subscription billing.Here are the top 5 takeaways from this episode:* Ditch hourly billing for subscriptions: Billing by the hour incentivizes inefficiency. Subscription and fixed-fee models align attorney success with client outcomes, rewarding speed and quality rather than time spent.* Sharpen your ax: Constantly grinding without pausing to strategize and refresh leads to burnout; taking deliberate time to improve your tools and thinking produces better long-term results.* AI accelerates legal work without replacing judgment: Purpose-built AI tools (like Paxton for legal research, Perplexity for internet research, and NotebookLM for document-based Q&A) drastically reduce the time to deliver high-quality work, but human expertise and context remain essential.* Pricing transparency builds client trust: Publishing your fees, engagement terms, and scope upfront removes friction, reduces client anxiety, and leads to better working relationships and faster conversions.* Context is everything: Whether working with AI tools or advising clients, providing full context yields dramatically better results. Give AI the same rich background you'd give a brilliant first-day employee.__________________________Want your question to be answered on a future show? Fill out this short survey.Have subscription model question? Check out this free resource to ask all of your questions at notebook.practi.ai.Check out Light Bulb Moments.Sign up for Paxton, my all-in-one AI legal assistant, helping me with legal research, analysis, drafting, and enhancing existing legal work product.Get Connected with SixFifty, a business and employment legal document automation tool.Sign up for Gavel, an automation platform for law firms.Visit Law Subscribed to subscribe to the weekly newsletter to listen from your web browser.Prefer monthly updates? Sign up for the Law Subscribed Monthly Digest on LinkedIn.Check out Mathew Kerbis' law firm Subscription Attorney LLC.Want to use the subscription model for your law firm? Click here to sign up for a new platform that helps law firms use subscription billing. Get full access to Law Subscribed at www.lawsubscribed.com/subscribe
What would you do if you were pressured to support a rebellion that you believed was misguided and doomed to failure? What if the safety of your family and business depended on your answer? In A Ram for Mars (NFB Publishing, 2026), Marcus and Miriam, recently freed slaves from Asia Minor, arrive in Israel buoyed by hopes of finding Marcus's long-lost mother and starting a new life together. They discover that the land is seething with social and political unrest, with anti-Roman parties in the ascendancy. Marcus, who grew up in a Roman colony and owes his present prosperity to a Roman master, finds these anti-Roman sentiments perplexing. His uncertainty increases when war breaks out and he's asked to ship supplies to the rebel army, including a newfound cousin who protects the northern front. As his entanglement with the rebellion deepens, Marcus is torn between loyalty to the world in which he was nurtured and the need to secure his family's safety. Then his adopted son runs off to join the rebels. What is he to do? Fans of Conn Iggulden, Ken Follett, and Robert Graves will be captivated by this richly detailed and compelling exploration of the Jewish revolt against Rome (66-73 AD/CE) through the lens of a pro-Roman Jew in the rural district of Galilee. More about A Ram for Mars, as well as the trilogy, “A Slave's Story,” can be found here. Christopher D. Stanley is a social and religious historian who writes about early Christianity and Judaism in the Greco-Roman world. He served for over twenty years as a professor at St. Bonaventure University in western New York, where he holds the title of Professor Emeritus. Dr. Stanley has written or edited ten books and dozens of professional articles on early Christian texts and history and presents papers at academic conferences around the world. The “A Slave's Story” trilogy, which grew out of his historical research on first-century Asia Minor, is his first foray into fiction. He continues to write for the academic world as well, including a recently finished book on sickness and healing in the Greco-Roman world that explores some of the history behind this trilogy, Paul and Asklepios: The Greco-Roman Quest for Healing and the Apostolic Mission (T&T Clark, 2023). Jonathon Lookadoo is Associate Professor at the Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary in Seoul, South Korea. While his interests range widely over the world of early Christianity, he is the author of books on the Epistle of Barnabas, Ignatius of Antioch, and the Shepherd of Hermas, including The Christology of Ignatius of Antioch (Cascade, 2023). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biblical-studies
Have you ever lost the joy in your creative work — that sense of fun you had when you were starting out, before the admin and the algorithms drained it away? How do mid-career creatives get it back, and what can a four-year-old teach us about play? Austin Kleon talks about productive procrastination, silly rituals, the case for paper reference books in an AI world, and how his newsletter went from a marketing cost to the day job that keeps the lights on. In the intro, Does social media still sell books? [Self-Publishing with ALLi]; Trial by algorithm [The Bookseller]; Publishing's AI Hypocrisy Problem [The New Publishing Standard]; ALLi AI survey for authors; Brave New Bookshelf Podcast, and Pics from signing at BookVault. 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 Austin Kleon is the New York Times and international bestselling author of nonfiction books, including Steal Like an Artist, Show Your Work!, and Keep Going, as well as an artist, professional speaker, and poet. His latest book is Don't Call It Art: 10 Ways to Create Like a Kid Again. 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 Why Austin wrote Don't Call It Art now, and what his kids taught him about creative joy Productive procrastination, silly rituals, and treating writing like Lego Comedy as a philosophical position, and giving yourself permission to be bad in private Sharing process in the algorithm era, and why your whole life is the process Bibliomancy, paper reference books, and what AI can't give you that a dictionary can Style, the Taco Bell distinctiveness rule, and how Austin's newsletter became his day job You can find Austin at AustinKleon.com. Transcript of the interview with Austin Kleon Jo: Austin Kleon is the New York Times and international bestselling author of nonfiction books, including Steal Like an Artist, Show Your Work!, and Keep Going, as well as an artist, professional speaker, and poet. His latest book is Don't Call It Art: 10 Ways to Create Like a Kid Again. So welcome back to the show, Austin. Austin: Thank you for having me back. It's nice to talk to you again. Jo: You were on the show in March 2020, and at the time, your book was Keep Going, which was prescient considering the pandemic and politics. So I wondered, why this book, Don't Call It Art, now? Was this something you see in the creative community or your own life that made you want to write this book? Austin: Keep Going is a book about what happens when the world goes crazy around you and you're still trying to do your creative work. This is a book about what happens when inside has bottomed out. Keep Going is a book about the world bottoming out, and you're worried that your own creative work is going to bottom out too. How do you keep pushing through and keep making stuff? This book, to me, is about what happens when you bottom out inside—when you've lost that love and feeling for the thing that you wanted to do, and you're just not connecting with it in the way that you used to or the way that you want to. How do you get back? How do you return to that sense of joy and wonder and fun that we have when we're starting out? And for me, it was being around my little kids that taught me how to tap into that. My kids were natural—they didn't have any creative hangups. I would spend all day talking to people who had creative hangups, and then I'd get back in the house, and I'd just be around these beings who didn't have any of them. It was really instructive. I felt like, if I could bottle the energy of my kids when they were about four years old and try to put it in a book, I think it could really help a lot of the people that I run into, and the people with the kinds of problems I hear from. Jo: You mentioned bottoming out. How do people know when they've hit that point? Austin: You just don't want to do it anymore. You're kind of like, “This just isn't giving me back what it used to.” When we start with our creative work, that's the thing that juices us. We come away from it feeling full up. I think you hit a certain point where you start to feel drained after it. Or maybe you don't feel drained by the thing itself that you're doing—maybe it's all the stuff around it, which is more often the case. For example, if you're a mid-career writer like me, who's been publishing books for 16 years now, I still really like writing. I still really like drawing. I still really like cutting and pasting and putting things together. It's the admin around the work—the emails, the meetings, the running-a-business part of it—that's super draining for me, and that stuff can start to bleed over into the creative work. So it's really important for me to make sure that I'm having some playtime, some R&D, some research and development time, to make sure it's not just all business. When you take the thing that you love and you turn it into the thing that you make a living from, you can really run into a lot of problems. Jo: I'm at 20 years, so I know exactly what you're saying, and a lot of listeners are the same. We love writing books, but it's all the stuff that goes around it. So for those of us who do this for money as well as passion, what are some practical ways to have more fun with our creativity? Austin: Something I learned from my kids is that you really are your most creative when you're supposed to be doing something else. So one of the things I use a lot in the studio is productive procrastination. Whatever I'm supposed to be working on, I start another little project, and that's my little naughty fun time. When I first come into the studio, I try to do something that I'm not supposed to be doing—something that I won't have much to show for. That could be making one of my blackout poems. That could be making a collage in my notebook. It could also be sitting here. I have a bass in the studio now, so I can practise my bass guitar. Sometimes I'll do that for the first 15 minutes just to get in that headspace of, “Hey, what's it like to do something just for yourself? Just because you want to do it?” The juice that you get from that little naughty “I'm going to do what I'm not supposed to be doing right now” thing, that carries into the rest of the day. It's like a nice start to things. Jo: Do you think that play could be something different to what we make our money with? For me, writing novels and stories is great fun in one way, but it's also what I then publish and make money on. So writing stories is more serious, I guess, than playing with Lego or something. Austin: Right. So the trick is, how can you make writing your stories like playing with Lego? That's kind of been my whole career. I hate staring at Microsoft Word and that blinking cursor, taunting you like, “Come on, what have you got?” A lot of my creative life has been about trying to make it more playful, trying to make it feel more like a game. That's how I came up with my blackout poems. I take an article from The New York Times and I black it out until it only has a few words left behind. It sort of looks like if the CIA did haiku, for some people listening. That was one little exercise. Then weirdly, that side thing that I thought was just play, just fun—that turned into my first book. So then it's, okay, what else can I mess around with and play with? I do a lot of collage work in the studio, and I rarely actually use that for any of the books. Sometimes I use it for my newsletter to illustrate the newsletter. But it's always about trying to figure out, how can I make writing a game? How can I make it more playful? There are different things that I do to make it feel more playful. One of them's really stupid. I really believe in silly rituals because I think silliness is really powerful. People talk about their daily rituals—Mason Currey has that great book, Daily Rituals: How Artists Work. When I was reading that book, I realised it was really the silly stuff that I really liked. There was, I think it was Balzac counting out coffee beans or something before he got to write. Or Steinbeck sharpening 12 pencils or something goofy like that. So one of the things I like to do before I write is that I have these cigarette pencils. They're pencils that look like cigarettes in the studio. I put one in my mouth before I start writing, and I pretend to be some old '40s writer on a typewriter. I like doing goofy stuff in the studio because I think when you do goofy stuff—stuff that you'd be embarrassed if anyone else saw it—it gets you in that playful state. Jo: It's interesting. In your book, you have a section that says, “Don't take things too seriously.” For many of us, we write memoir for example, and that is very close to us. It's like the deepest expression of what we want to say in the world. It feels very serious. So how can we hold things more lightly and not take things so seriously? Austin: For me, comedy is actually a philosophical position. What I mean by that is, I think a lot of people set out with a tragic model of creative work. They think, “Oh, I have this special gift,” or, “I have this thing that I really need to do, and I need to put it out into the world, and I need to make the world look more like I want it to look.” They have this idea that, “Through blood and sweat and tears, I'm going to see this thing through, and I'm going to push it into the world, and I'm going to have my way.” I think there's another way of working where it's more like, “I'm just a normal person trying to play with my environment, and take my experiences and put them into something interesting. So I'm going to play and use my wits, and we're going to see what we come up with.” Those really are two modes of life. The pandemic taught me that it was really when we were keeping our sense of humour, when we were having a laugh and keeping our egos in check around the house and just acknowledging how goofy we all were and how ridiculous the situation was, that seemed to be when we were really thriving. Versus, “Well, we're in this tough situation. We've got to make it into what we want it to be.” That felt really bad. But when we cruised along and we were just improvisational, when we went at things with a kind of lightness, that worked. There's a great Italo Calvino essay about lightness in Six Memos for the Next Millennium. Lightness is really underrated. Even when we're going about heavy work, having a sense of lightness and play with it just makes the work better. That's a philosophical position of mine. I aspire to comedy. I aspire to a comic outlook on life. I'm just a creature with a body who's going to die, and I'm fundamentally ridiculous. Life is pretty absurd. You just make the best of it. Jo: There's certainly some truth there. Staying on a similar theme, you have a chapter in the book on permission to be bad. Many of the listeners also have your book Show Your Work, and it shaped many of us into sharing our work in progress. It feels quite dangerous now, in a world where judgment is much louder than it maybe was when you wrote Show Your Work. So tell us a bit about permission to be bad versus should we keep some of this private? Austin: Permission to be bad is about the making part of things. It's the private part. It's permission to be bad when you're in private, when you're actually doing the work. Show Your Work is a book about what you do after you've done the work, or while you're doing the work. It was never about putting up a webcam and running a 24/7 feed. It was more like, hey, what are the ways that I can connect with the kind of audience I can build while I'm making the work itself? So the way I see permission to be bad is, you really have to give yourself permission when you're not sharing, when you're off screen, to really be as bad as you want to be. It doesn't necessarily mean quality-wise. I think it also means letting yourself write stuff that you would never say on social media. Letting yourself read stuff that you wouldn't admit you were reading on social media. Letting yourself listen to stuff. Letting yourself really be that unfiltered, unhinged, private person that you want to be. Then when it comes to sharing, you put some time in between that input time, that making time, and the sharing time, and then you share what you think is going to be useful or helpful or interesting to other people. Jo: I think you wrote that book before TikTok, and how fast people are moving. Do you think people need to slow down a bit in what they share, maybe? Austin: I don't know. I obviously had a lot more faith in social media back then. I use all the principles from Show Your Work in my newsletter. Newsletters are very much the new kind of great thing. They're doing a lot of the work that social media used to do, in that you're still able to have this direct connection with the people that you're trying to reach. The big problem with social media now is that it's all algorithmically tuned, where the people that are following you don't see the stuff that you're doing most of the time. What you have to do now, if you want the people who are following you to see your stuff on social media, is you have to make stuff that the algorithm likes. That's a whole different thing. As far as the Show Your Work principle—which is share your process as much as your product—that carries over to any platform. In my newsletter every Friday, I share a list of 10 things that were going on behind the scenes here. It might have been what I was watching on TV, what I listened to, a new pen I was trying out, or something like that. The Friday newsletter is almost always process stuff. When I talk about process, my definition is actually very broad. For a lot of people, it's drafting, editing, whatever. For me, the process is the whole life. The process is almost everything except the finished thing. A writer's life is 24/7. My friends who have real jobs really are like, “What do you do all day?” And I'm like, “Well, what do you mean?” They're like, “Well, I see you out on your bike ride.” I'm like, “Yes, when you see me out on a bike ride, I'm thinking through something half the time.” If I'm watching TV, I'm thinking, “Hey, would this be good in the newsletter?” I'm never off. My whole life—everything is copy, as Nora Ephron said. That's part of the job. It's very hard to turn off. So I see the whole life as process, and the question becomes, what little bits and pieces of that life and that process can you share with people while you're making the things that you hope to sell them later? Right now, I'm in a cycle where I'm selling this book, but all these people have showed up because I've shared my process every week for the past seven years since I put out a book. Jo: It's funny you say that. I was at the dentist yesterday, and— My dentist literally asked me, “So where do you get all your ideas?” This is a common question for all of us, right? And it just becomes so hard to explain that to people who don't walk around in the world just constantly getting ideas. Austin: I can't believe I'm going to tell this story. I was getting my vasectomy after my second kid, and I was talking to this doctor just before the operation. He said, “So what do you do for a living?” I said, “I'm a writer.” He said, “Oh, that must be cool. You get to use your brain.” And I said, “That's everything that you want your doctor to say.” I was going to say, “Please use your brain,” before he's about to cut into you. He said, “Oh, no, no. What I mean is, I know what I'm going to do every day for the next 10 years.” He knew exactly what his day was going to look like. He said, “You have to use your brain. You've got to figure out new stuff.” I was like, “Oh, that's really interesting.” That's the trade-off, right? He's got the job security. He knows what he's going to do. Every writer has a moment where they have to talk to a normal person about what you do. Jo: I was going to say, I'm married to one. Austin: Now, my wife, on the other hand, grew up the daughter of a writer, so she knows exactly what it's like. Nothing ever phases her. She's totally used to it. She's used to me staring off into space, completely checking out of a conversation. She's used to me using lines on her that I'm going to put in a piece later. She's used to the whole rigmarole. It's very handy. I've been very lucky in that sense. Jo: Coming back to the book, you talk about your use of bibliomancy for inspiration. Since we're talking about that, tell us about it. I think all the book people listening will be happy. Austin: I'm a person who still keeps a dictionary nearby—a paper dictionary. I keep a big old American Heritage. It's just a big, thick book. When I really don't have any ideas, I will turn at random to the dictionary, close my eyes, stick my finger down the page, open my eyes, and just see what I come up with. Sometimes just that act will give me an idea. I also do that with books. I'll go around the studio, pick up a book, flip to a random page, and just see what it says there, or read an old piece of marginalia that I've left in a book. I believe deeply in the power of bibliomancy, and I think it's a case for paper books. I'm one of those people that still really believes in reference books. I've started collecting more and more of them. I have an old, big dictionary that's always open on my desk, and I look up words. I learned from John McPhee, the writer, that you should look up words that you think you know. That was the first time I'd ever heard anyone say that. So I look up words that I think I know. Instead of reaching for a thesaurus when I need a different word, I actually just look up the definition of the word that I already have. That's another McPhee tip. The other thing that happened that I thought was really interesting is, I got a Roget's for the first time—a thesaurus. I don't think most people know what an actual thesaurus is. Most people think of a thesaurus as a synonym finder, and that's not actually what a thesaurus is at all. A thesaurus is more like an encyclopaedia, weirdly. You look up things based on big concepts, and then it gives you a bunch of words to look up later. It's a very strange thing. It's not what most people think it is. I have a couple of editions of Roget's in here. I like the really old Roget's from the 1900s because they actually have opposing ideas facing each other on the page. Do you have an old-school Roget's? Have you ever looked through one? Jo: I don't have one now, but I certainly grew up with them. I was literally just thinking, I wonder if there are ones for Americans and ones for British people, because so often we say different things and mean different things. I always hear Americans say, “Oh, that's a doozy,” or something, and it means the complete opposite thing here. Austin: Like if you say “fanny pack” over there. That means something very different than it means here, right? Chips or fries, that kind of stuff. So I wonder if there are different ones for different cultural references. Jo: I don't know. Austin: As people, with ChatGPT and all these LLMs and stuff, people are like, “Why would you ever pick up a paper reference book?” And I'm like, “I actually like the friction.” I like having to move in space and go over to my dictionary. I like flipping the pages. I like having to scan a page for the word I'm looking for, because— This marvellous thing happens when you're looking for the word, where you bump into all these other words. If you're a word nerd, you get to start thinking about the root of the word—oh, why is this word next to this word? Well, it's because they share the same root. Then you're going down all these fun rabbit holes. The thing that I'm trying to do as a writer and a creative person is, I'm trying to get to the thing that I didn't know I was looking for. The thing that people misunderstand about AI, I think personally, is that it's a great tool if you know what you're looking for. If you're like, “Find me this thing. I want exactly this. I want to see a picture of a dog wearing a king's costume,” or some crap like that, then it can spit that picture out for you. Or, “I want to know what happened on this day,” and whatever. It can do that. But that's not actually what I'm doing most of the time when I'm writing or making something. I start with an idea, but what really happens—the magic of writing and the magic of making stuff in general—is when you discover something that you didn't even know you were headed for. That's the real magic for me. Sometimes I have an idea and I want to articulate it for people, but more often than not, there's something that bothers me or something that I want to talk about, and I sit down and write, and I figure out what it is that I actually have to say and what I actually think. Every writer really knows this, and that's why the dictionary, stuff like that, those are ways of training you to get in that discovery mode. “Well, let me—oh, I bumped into this. I went looking for this one thing and then I ran into this other thing.” That's why I love the library. I don't know what system you use over there, but you look for one book in the Dewey Decimal System over here, and then, okay, here's all these other weird books next to it. Then you end up with three other books other than the one that you were looking for. That's the magic. To me, that's the magic of creative work, discovering what you didn't know you were looking for. That was particularly important for me when I was writing this book because we discovered that my wife has a condition called aphantasia. It's very rare in the population, about 2 to 3% of people. There's probably some people listening to this right now who are like, “What is this? Tell me.” Jo: Aphantasia actually more common in the creative industries. Austin: Yes. What it is, is that you don't see—when I say close your eyes and picture an apple, you don't actually see the apple in your head. You can think about an apple and the qualities of an apple, but you don't actually see it. Some people, and it's a matter of degree—some people like me, I can close my eyes, I can tell you what the apple looks like, I can tell you what colour it is, I can tell you where the shading is. Someone like my wife doesn't see the apple. She can tell you what an apple is. It's really interesting because she has a degree in architecture, which is known as a very visual field. But the thing you discover about aphantasia is, it doesn't keep people from becoming artists. In fact, it's the opposite. Someone like Ed Catmull, who co-founded Pixar, writes about it in his book, and so many of the great animators at Pixar are actually aphantasics. The reason is that they learned that they had to draw in order to see things. When you don't have a picture in your head of what you want something to look like, things appear in the drawing, and you find things that you couldn't even picture. A lot of writers actually are aphantasics. John Green discovered recently that he has aphantasia. It turns out that it's a superpower for writers, because if you don't have a picture in your head, then you don't have to translate that picture into words. A lot of writers talk about thinking in radio, like they have a constant narrator. My wife—she's probably going to kill me for talking about her this much—when she describes it to me, she's like, “Oh, it's like a radio in my head. I'm constantly hearing a voice, and it's a narrator.” I was like, “Holy shit, that would be really helpful to me.” I don't have anything like that in my head. I read Mrs Dalloway for the first time, and I gave it to her and I said, “You've got to read this book. I think this must be what it's like in your head.” And she said, “Oh my God, it is.” Part of the thing that I took away from that experience—this is a long-winded way of getting here—is that I take a lot of inspiration from people with this condition. Most of the people I know in the arts or the creative fields, they set out with this grand vision, and then they start working on the thing and it's nothing like what they had in their head, and they get really depressed: “This isn't what I had in mind.” Whereas if you set out without a picture in your head, and you just start manipulating things and you see what appears, that's more of the comic mode I was talking about earlier. What would happen if we just sat down with our materials and we started playing and we saw what appeared on the page? What if we started typing and saw what appeared, and then we played with that? That's the kind of joy. That's more like how kids operate. Kids are better at that. They're better at reacting to what's actually in front of them, instead of having these grandiose visions about what they're trying to achieve. Jo: Just coming back on the longevity of a creative career. Your books are very distinctive. You have a very distinctive visual style, your handwriting and the way the books are done. I wondered if another part of the ennui, perhaps, or the draining of the later career is that we get trapped into doing something that feels like it looks the same. Or we have a voice, and we're happy in that voice, but sometimes we want to do something completely different. For authors, we have different names. I write under two different names, and that helps. But equally— How do you define author voice, and do you ever feel like doing something completely different to your normal style? Austin: Style, in a lot of ways, is self-plagiarism. Style is the repeated things that we notice in people's work. Hitchcock talked about this in films. Wes Anderson is someone like that—Wes Anderson has a style. I'm sure that he gets really sick of it too sometimes, but you also can't help it in some ways. I thought a lot about this because people worry about style so much. A lot of the time, what we call style is what Adrian Tomine one time said: “Style is just the distance between what's in my head and what comes out of my hand.” I really like that definition. With this book, I was trying to think, “Okay, if I do another book in this series, how can I push things a little bit?” And then I was reading this article about Taco Bell. You guys have Taco Bell over there, don't you? Do you have Taco Bell? Jo: No. Austin: So Taco Bell, for people who don't know, is this American Mexican chain, and they have tacos and burritos and stuff like that. They're well known for making these really insane… it's so American, this company. They make a taco with a Doritos as a shell. Doritos are crisps, I guess. Jo: Yes, we have Doritos. Austin: Okay. I spent time in England, I just don't remember if I ate Doritos when I was in England. Anyway, I was reading this article about Taco Bell. It was really funny. They have an innovation kitchen at Taco Bell, and they have a rule about new products. The rule is called the distinctiveness rule, and the rule is: you can change the flavour or you can change the taste, or you can change the form, but you can't change both at the same time. I got really obsessed with this concept because I thought, “Well, this could be kind of interesting.” If you're someone who's had success and you're known for something, this presents an interesting thing. You could do a complete break and do something completely new, or you could try the distinctiveness rule. Okay, well, what if I play with this idea of taste versus form? What if I change the taste and keep the form? So the idea for Don't Call It Art was, what if I do another one of these books, but the taste is more like if my kids made it? It had the texture of kids' art, it had lots of scribbles in it, it was loose and messy. That was kind of the idea. The actual book ended up being more like the other books. It ended up looking like an Austin Kleon book, because I just can't help that. The thing you said about having multiple names that you write under, that's kind of what I do with the newsletter. I think of the newsletter as very different from the books. The newsletter is this twice-weekly thing where I can be a little bit more of myself. In the books, I'm this very helpful, happy version of myself. It's me, but it's me on my best day. I'm really helpful and interesting for you. The newsletter is still a highlight reel in a sense, but it's a little bit more of my weird everything-I'm-into. It's more of the unclipped version of me. The newsletter becomes a place where I can do a lot of the weird stuff that's much different from the books. I have these little projects going all the time. Sometimes I'll make a bunch of prints and put them online. Sometimes I'll make a bunch of zines on a topic I haven't covered in the book. Sometimes I'll do a mixtape. As someone who's interested in a lot of different forms and genres and just different modes of output, having something like a newsletter has been really creatively fruitful for me. It's kept me from getting too bottomed out with the books because the books do a certain thing for the reader, and as much as I'd love to do a book that was radically different, I also think I've been given a real gift with the form of my books, in that I kind of own the way that they feel and look. There aren't a lot of books that look like those books and feel like those books, and so I like playing with that form. It would be hard to get rid of it now. The pseudonym for me is kind of like the newsletter in a sense. The newsletter is a little bit more of where I get to be wild and wacky. Then the books are a little bit more of a chiselled thing. Jo: The books are perfect examples of the form, as you say, but it's interesting about the newsletter. You mentioned at the beginning that we can be drained by the admin around the work. For many people listening, a newsletter becomes admin. So how does the newsletter fit into your business? The books are traditionally published, they're very professional. How do you have your independent side, and how does all of that work together in your business? Austin: Thank you for asking that question. I run the whole show at the newsletter. The newsletter is just me, and then my wife edits it, and no one else is involved. I don't have an assistant. I don't have a team. It is just me, and that's why I love it. I control everything. I pick who gets in there. I pick everything. I love that. I grew up watching David Letterman over here, and Letterman had a nightly show, and I always thought that was killer. I thought, “Man, what a fun job. You have a show every night where you have a new guest, and you have all these wacky things going on.” It was like a variety show. I always thought that would be really fun, so the newsletter is my version of that. I started the newsletter in 2013, and it was just a Friday newsletter. It quickly became a list of 10 things I thought were worth sharing. I had a friend, Hugh MacLeod, who was like, “Hey, I have a newsletter. It's bigger than any conference you've ever gone to.” He was talking about South by Southwest here in Austin. He's like, “I have a newsletter now, and it's bigger than South by Southwest.” Jo: Oh, I remember him. Austin: He would say, “Every time I have a new print, I put it out, and there's a button, and then they buy it.” He was like, “You've got to get it. This newsletter thing is killer.” This was in 2011 or something. Jo: Yes, I still have his books. Blogging in Your Underwear or something. Austin: Totally. So Hugh's a whole different story, but I was just like, “Oh, I should really get a newsletter.” Letterman always had a top 10 list on his show. I just always thought a 10 list was really fun. And of course the books are lists of 10 too. So it just worked to have a weekly list of 10. It felt good, and it felt like an infinitely repeatable format. What I'm looking for as a creative person is an infinitely repeatable format that can go on and on and on and be new every time. So the list of 10 is something that people know the form of. It goes back to the Taco Bell thing. They know the form, but they're not sure what's going to go inside. They know it's going to be a burrito, but they don't know what's going to be in the burrito, and that's the exciting part. The newsletter, business-wise, was always a marketing cost for about the first eight years of its existence. I paid MailChimp to send it out. Then in about 2021, when I hadn't done a book for a while, my agent said, “You know, you should really think about doing a paid tier of your newsletter.” And this is to his credit, because he doesn't make anything off the newsletter. He said, “There's this thing called Substack now that makes that really easy.” So we moved to Substack in 2021 in October, and I started doing a Tuesday edition of the newsletter that was just for paid people. That grew enough that it's gone from a marketing cost to something that's almost—it's not quite as much as I make on my books, but it's close. And to be candid, my books sell pretty well. So suddenly the newsletter has become this really healthy income stream. The newsletter to me is actually the day job now. The newsletter is what really keeps the lights on. It's also the perfect mix. It's the day job, it's the thing that keeps income coming in on a regular basis, but it's also the thing I like to do the most. I'm not like a traditional writer who likes to just get lost in their book and take years and years and go away. I'm someone who loves to be doing a lot of different things. The newsletter is a perfect format for me. I'm talking myself into not quitting, actually. It's funny. It's gone from this thing that was a marketing cost to now it's a significant part of our income. That journey—such a bad word, journey—that trip has been very interesting. It's been really cool. But I'm also just lucky. I've been really lucky, and I think part of my thing is, I'm always just trying not to squander my luck. Jo: Well, the book is fantastic, and I know people are going to love it. And the newsletter, of course. So tell us— Where can people find you and your books and newsletter online? Austin: The easiest thing to do is to just go to AustinKleon.com, and that has links to everything—the books, the newsletter. I do actually keep an old-school blog still. I'm one of the few people that still maintains their blog and keeps it up to date. I'm hedging my bets because I think in the end everything will come back to a self-hosted website. I think in the end everyone's going to just go back to their little websites, or at least I hope so. Jo: Well, that was great, Austin. Thanks so much. Austin: Oh, thank you. The post Don't Call It Art: Rediscovering Creative Joy With Austin Kleon first appeared on The Creative Penn.
How difficult is it to publish a book? It's a nuanced question, especially when there are different avenues for aspiring writers to explore. This hour, guest host Julie Philipp sits down with local authors to talk about what new writers face when they're trying to get their books in the hands of readers. How do authors go about finding an audience? How can they attract the attention of agents? What about indie and self-publishing? And what does it all mean for readers who are looking for new voices? Our guests discuss it. In studio: Aries J, author of "Journey to Womanhood: A Poetic Rite of Passage," and founder of Just Write Experience Tyler Barton, artistic director of Writers & Books ---Connections is supported by listeners like you. Head to our donation page to become a WXXI member today, support the show, and help us close the gap created by the rescission of federal funding.---Connections airs every weekday from noon-2 p.m. Join the conversation with questions or comments by phone at 1-844-295-TALK (8255) or 585-263-9994, email, Facebook or Twitter. Connections is also livestreamed on the WXXI News YouTube channel each day. You can watch live or access previous episodes here.---Do you have a story that needs to be shared? Pitch your story to Connections.
Kelsi interviews Pastor Brian W. Thomas about his latest book with 1517 Publishing, By Water and the Word: God's Gift of Baptism for You at the latest Northwest Arkansas HWSS conference. The book serves as a visual and written guide to the Lutheran view of baptism which Kelsi and Brian both argue lines up with the Scriptural view of baptism. Brian W. Thomas is the pastor of Grace Lutheran in San Diego, California. He frequently contributes to 1517 and has written several books, including Wittenberg vs. Geneva: A Biblical Bout in Seven Rounds on Doctrines that Divide and Clothed with Christ: A Biblical Style Guide for Sinners.Show Notes:Support 1517 Podcast Network1517 Podcasts1517 on Youtube1517 Podcast Network on Apple Podcasts1517 Events Schedule1517 Academy - Free Theological EducationMore from Kelsi:Kelsi KlembaraFollow Kelsi on InstagramFollow Kelsi on TwitterKelsi's SubstackSubscribe to the Show:Apple PodcastsSpotifyYoutubeMore from Brian: Purchase By Water and the Word
In this episode of the Christian Artist Mentorship Podcast, Wisdom Moon sits down with songwriter, producer, and worship leader Chris Clayton for an honest conversation about songwriting, production, publishing, and building a sustainable music ministry.Chris shares how a mentor helped launch his career, why relationships matter more than talent in co-writing rooms, and how he approaches both songwriting and production with a heart to serve artists well. They also discuss the growing role of AI in music creation, the importance of strong songwriting before production begins, and why every artist should have clear agreements in place when working with producers.The conversation takes a deeper turn as Chris unpacks his passion for theologically rich worship songs, his thoughts on trends in modern worship music, and what it means to write songs that are both biblically grounded and congregationally accessible.Chris also shares the story behind signing a publishing deal with Story House Collective, founded by Matthew West, and offers practical advice for songwriters and producers pursuing a career in Christian music.Topics Covered:• How Chris got started as a songwriter and producer• The value of mentorship and apprenticeship• What makes a successful co-writing relationship• AI tools like Suno and their role in songwriting• Writing theologically grounded worship songs• Why congregational worship songs matter• Producer points and music industry agreements• The role of a music publisher• Chris' journey to signing with Story House Collective• Whether songwriters need to move to Nashville• Advice for aspiring songwriters, producers, and artistsConnect With Chris Clayton:Website: chrisclayton.comInstagram: @chrisclaytonmusicConnect With Wisdom Moon:Website: wisdommoon.comInstagram: @wisdommoonChristian Artist Mentorship: christianartistmentorship.comIf you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a songwriter, producer, worship leader, or Christian artist who would benefit from the conversation.
This week on The Conversation, Nadine Matheson welcomes the insightful Deepa Anappara, journalist, creative writing lecturer and author of the award-winning debut novel Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line. Deepa joins Nadine to discuss her latest book, The Last of Earth, a historical novel set in 1869 that explores the complexities of imperialism through the eyes of its characters.In this captivating episode, Deepa shares her experiences navigating the literary world as a writer of color, the challenges of portraying historical figures authentically, and the impact of societal expectations on storytelling. The conversation delves into the nuances of race, representation, and the importance of diverse voices in literature, all while highlighting the personal motivations that drive Deepa's writing.Listeners will gain insight into the realities of writing during a pandemic, the role of AI in the publishing industry, and the significance of mentorship for emerging writers. This episode is a heartfelt exploration of resilience, creativity, and the power of storytelling.Buy The Last of EarthFollow Deepa AnapparaPre- Order 'The Shadow Carver' PbBuy me a cup of coffee ☕️ | Buy books by my guestsFollow Me Bluesky | Substack | Instagram | Facebook | Threads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
EPISODE 806 ⭐️ Part 1 ⭐️ Dear beloved creatives, In Part 1 of this bonus long weekend episode, Dani Vee and Mary Anastasiou take you through the process from production, choosing an illustrator, design elements, editing and everything about publishing behind the scenes. We come at the industry from a multitude of angles, including publisher, designer, marketing and publicity, podcaster and writers, and share everything we know, everything we've learnt as well as all the things we don't know! We also open a can of worms and address the elephant in the room … including how many contracts they've had cancelled, dealing with rejection, balancing publishing and being a writer, navigating professional and personal relationships, and the contentious issue of rhyme. We chat about: ⭐️ The greatest behind the scenes challenge ⭐️ Why a contract might get cancelled ⭐️ When writers should push back and when they shouldn't ⭐️ How much collaboration does the author and illustrator have when the book is in production ⭐️ How a cover can make or break a book ⭐️ Dani's obsession with data We discuss the common mistakes made by aspiring authors and self-published authors. We reveal what was the writing process switch that made a bestseller? Thanks for listening Dani x PS Part 2 - Promotion and Marketing Coming soon!
Welcome to a special series spotlighting the people, stories, and talent working behind the scenes to create impact every day.Jemarie Lopez Gumban is an Editor for She Rises Studios Publishing, a Licensed Professional Teacher, and holds a Master of English in Applied Linguistics. With a strong background in education, language, and communication, she previously taught research, writing, literature, and public speaking courses at colleges and universities in the Philippines before transitioning into publishing and editorial work.Since joining She Rises Studios in 2025, Jemarie has edited and proofread numerous anthology chapters and standalone books, helping authors strengthen their manuscripts while preserving their unique voice and message. Her expertise spans developmental editing, proofreading, language refinement, and manuscript development.Passionate about storytelling and empowering others through the written word, Jemarie approaches every project with professionalism, patience, and a commitment to helping authors create meaningful impact through their stories.
Death in the Strike Zone: The Mystery of America's First Baseball Hero — Thomas W. Gilbert — David Godine — Hardcover — 978-1-56792-759-7 — 192 pages — $27.95 — March 24th, 2026 – ebook edition available at lower cost As most of my listeners probably know by now, I love baseball and I really love […] The post Thomas W. Gilbert: Death in the Strike Zone first appeared on WritersCast.
How do we actually raise our children in the faith? In this episode, host Elizabeth Pittman sits down with Rev. Dr. W. Mart Thompson, author of Family Discipleship with Christ. Dr. Thompson maps out a partnership between the home and the congregation that is both theologically grounded and practically usable. He draws on Luther's Small Catechism, extensive field research, and his own experience of daily prayer with his family to help parents and pastors understand what faithful, grace-filled family discipleship looks like in today's changing cultural landscape.Episode Timestamps1:51 — Introduction — Welcome & book overview2:30 — The quest begins — a seminary student's question that launched a lifetime of research5:00 — Map and compass — the Lewis & Clark framework for navigating family discipleship8:00 — The compass of new creational wisdom — God's design, sin, and grace working together11:30 — Defining family discipleship — the partnership of home and congregation14:00 — Starting with common ground — the bold claim that all parents want the best for their children17:30 — Secular liturgies — how culture forms children's hearts away from Christ21:30 — Parents as the primary faith-formers — why God has creationally positioned them for this work24:30 — The Flathead Lake aha moment — Luther's catechism as a daily family prayer book29:00 — The congregational paradigm shift — from church-centered to a home-and-congregation partnership33:30 — Seven things for the congregation, seven for the home — the map in practice37:30 — Tools in the book — the family audit, family mission statement, and bibliography41:30 — All kinds of families — how this approach serves non-traditional and single-parent households44:00 — Closing encouragement — there is always more grace in ChristAbout the GuestRev. Dr. W. Mart Thompson is associate professor of practical theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. He presents at workshops and conferences on the vocation of raising children in the faith and is the project manager for the Family Discipleship Initiative at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, in partnership with the Concordia Center for the Family. Prior to being called to the seminary, he served as a campus pastor, sole pastor, and senior pastor. Mart, and his wife, Cheryl, are blessed with three children who are married and have children of their own, in whose homes the legacy of family discipleship continues. Resources MentionedFamily Discipleship with Christ by Rev. Dr. W. Mart Thompson — cph.orgDr. Thompson's blog post on family discipleship (a dialogue between a professor and a seminary student, forthcoming) — concordiatheology.orgConcordia Publishing House: Bringing you God's enduring Word in a changing world.
Grace and Alvina run through some basic terms in publishing, including what a publishing division vs a publishing imprint might mean. They talk about the different departments in a publishing house, including the differences between marketing and publicity, and some other different titles and departments, including the distinction between Production and Production Editorial. They talk about advances and royalties. and P&Ls, too! For the Fortune Cookie segment, in honor of graduation season, they talk about what they might give a commencement speech about if ever given the opportunity. And they end as always with what they're grateful for. Click here to become a Patreon member: https://www.patreon.com/Bookfriendsforever1. Follow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Bookfriendsforever_podcast Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookfriendsforever_podcast/
Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBkBuzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850
It's a New York state of mind on Radio 831. Hosts Sanjana Basker and Tyler McCall open with a conversation about publishing cadence in romance: Why readers want to be fed constantly, what category publishing and self-pub have to do with it, and what it actually means when an author takes their time. Then Tia Williams joins to talk about her new novel, The Missed Connection, and writing New York City as a character: the specificity of neighborhoods, the weight of gentrification, and why a character's apartment is never just an apartment. Plus: Sanj and Tyler name their favorite NYC romance novels and ask for listener recs set in Chicago, L.A., etc., etc.! To share yours, leave a message at 833-831-LOVE. Tia Williams is the author of the much-anticipated The Missed Connection (out June 9th!) as well as Seven Days in June, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde, and Audre & Bash Are Just Friends. Favorite NYC romances! You, Again by Kate Goldbeck from Tyler and Truly by Ruthie Knox from Sanj. Honorable mentions: One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston, Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn, Joanna Shupe's Gilded Age historicals, and Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Gawker was a pioneering, era-defining blog that covered the world of media and celebrities and was known for its snarky creative voice and questionable journalistic ethics. Ten years after the billionaire-funded lawsuit that drove it into bankruptcy, Frank DiGiacomo, entertainment reporter and co-author of Paper of Wreckage: An Oral History of The New York Post, discusses the outlet's enduring legacy as described in his recent piece, "At Gawker, They Battled a Billionaire. 10 Years Later, the Scars Are Still Healing." Photo by John Pendygraft-Pool/Getty Images: Terry Bollea, aka Hulk Hogan, testifies in court during his trial against Gawker Media at the Pinellas County Courthouse on March 8, 2016 in St Petersburg, Florida. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Sales reps are crucial pieces of the book industry puzzle. They are the the ones who help stores find the titles that would be good fits, give feedback to publishers about their title lists, and so much more!This week on the pod, we're back chatting with sales rep extraordinaire Maureen Karb to talk about the process of selling books to bookstores, and what makes a great rep.************Thank you for catching the People's Guide to Publishing vlogcast! We post new episodes every Thursday about publishing, authors, and the book industry. You can also listen via your preferred podcast app, or by visiting linktree.com/microcosmGet the book: https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/3663Get the workbook: https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/zines/10031More from Microcosm: http://microcosmpublishing.comMore by Joe Biel: http://joebiel.netMore by Elly Blue: http://takingthelane.comSubscribe to our monthly email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/gIXT6vFind us on social media:Facebook: http://facebook.com/microcosmpublishingBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/microcosm.bsky.socialInstagram: http://instagram.com/microcosm_pub************
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions!In this episode, Elizabeth Lyons and Liz Lawson discuss Liz's journey from YA to adult fiction (It Happened One Murder, July 2026), the realities of book launches, and insights into the publishing industry. She shares personal experiences, misconceptions about launch days, and the evolving landscape of genre categories.TOPICS INCLUDE:- Transitioning from YA to Adult Fiction- Understanding Reader Expectations- The Differences in Writing YA vs. Adult- Navigating Genre and Audience- The Evolution of YA and Adult Fiction- The Challenge of Engaging Young Readers- The Complexity of Book Marketing
This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.If you've been sleeping on sports romance, this episode is your wake-up call. Tennis romance is officially having its moment in publishing — and the author who was writing it a decade before anyone else is finally getting her flowers.In this episode, Laura chats with Jennifer Iacopelli, author of Game Set Match and its sequel Wild Card — new adult tennis romances newly re-released through Little Brown's Requited imprint after Jennifer's YA novel Finding Her Edge was adapted into a Netflix series. They dig into Jennifer's 15-year publishing journey, the ensemble cast storytelling structure of the Game Set Match series, the road from canceled Olympics to Netflix, and why tennis provides the perfect natural force-proximity setup for romance. Plus, Jennifer shares her top sports romance recs (including a few you can grab right now) and a YA F1 romance that's coming in 2027 that you'll want to add to your TBR immediately.Perfect for fans of Challengers, sports romance, and anyone who loves a resilience arc — in fiction and in real life.
[REBROADCAST FROM May 18, 2026] In the new acclaimed Broadway play "Giant," the beloved children's author Roald Dahl is forced to confront the consequences of a book review he wrote that has been interpreted as antisemitic. Dahl is confronted by Jessie Stone, a woman working for his publishing company who is sent to help clean up the mess. Aya Cash, who plays Stone, and playwright Mark Rosenblatt discuss "Giant," up for 4 Tony Awards. Cash and Rosenblatt are both nominated. Photo by Joan Marcus Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
On Your World of Creativity, we travel around the world talking with creative professionals who turn ideas into impact. Today we're diving into music and business with Don Rodriguez — a former general contractor who left a 20-year career to pursue his passion for music… and ended up redesigning the record label model itself.Don's WebsiteDon on YouTubeDon's Facebook pageIntroductionDon Rodriguez is an 18-year entrepreneur and general contractor who walked away from a successful construction career after becoming burned out and disillusioned. He pivoted into music — not just as a creative outlet, but as a producer and founder of The I&I Music Studio, a recording studio, record label, and music publisher for independent artists.Drawing on two decades of business and contract experience, Don created a radically different label structure: one where artists own their masters and publishing, while the label generates its own revenue streams and collects points — flipping the traditional industry model on its head.Today, he's here to talk music, ownership, contracts, publishing, and how independent artists can thrive without giving away their future.1 — From Construction to CreationDon, you spent nearly two decades as a general contractor before pivoting into music full-time. What happened internally that made you leave that career — and how did music pull you into a new chapter? When you entered the music industry, what did you immediately see that didn't sit right with you?2 — Why Artists Still Need a LabelThere's a strong narrative right now that independent artists don't need record labels anymore. From your perspective, why is it still necessary for independent artists to have a label structure around them? What's the difference between an artist trying to build alone versus having the right kind of team behind them? • Spotlight on Lexsey (emerging pop star)3 — Flipping the Contract ModelYou've created what you describe as a complete 180 from how record contracts have operated for the last 70 years. Walk us through how your contract works — and why artist ownership of masters and publishing is so critical. How are traditional big-label contracts typically structured — and where do artists lose leverage? • Spotlight on the classical-to-fantasy-grunge artist4 — Publishing, Production & RevenueYou've said that music publishing is the key to making money in music. For listeners who aren't deep in the industry, what exactly is publishing — and why does it matter so much? In today's world of home studios and DIY production, why does an artist still need a producer and professional studio environment?5 — Building a Sustainable EcosystemOne of the most interesting parts of your model is that your label generates its own revenue instead of relying solely on artists' music. How does that work — and how does that change the power dynamic between label and artist?If an artist has already released music under a different structure, can they pivot into a more ownership-driven future? What's possible?We tie together all these themes:• Creative reinvention• Ownership vs exploitation• Entrepreneurship in music• Designing a better ecosystem• Artists as business partners
In recent years there has been a resurgence of serial publishing on Internet platforms. In this episode Mick Donahue and Andy Patton talk with Jonathan Rogers about serial publishing. Mick and his wife Rachel are is the co-founder of the new serialization platform, Flicker.Press. Andy, besides being the Rabbit Room’s Director of Content, is the author of the serialized novel The Ill Starred Knight, published on the Royal Road platform under the pen name Ix.Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/memberSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.