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

Happy New Year 2026! I love January and the opportunity to start afresh. I know it's arbitrary in some ways, but I measure my life by what I create, and I also measure it in years. At the beginning of each year, I publish an article (and podcast episode) here, which helps keep me accountable. If you'd like to share your goals, please add them in the comments below. 2026 is a transitional year as I will finish my Masters degree and continue the slow pivot that I started in December 2023 after 15 years as an author entrepreneur. Just to recap that, it was: From digitally-focused to creating beautiful physical books; From high-volume, low cost to premium products with higher Average Order Value; From retailer-centric to direct first; and From distance to presence, and From creating alone to the AI-Assisted Artisan Author. I've definitely stepped partially into all of those, and 2026 will continue in that same direction, but I also have an additional angle for Joanna Penn and The Creative Penn that I am excited about. If you'd like to join my community and support the show every month, you'll get access to my growing list of Patron videos and audio on all aspects of the author business — for the price of a black coffee (or two) a month. Join us at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn. Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author as J.F. Penn. She's also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. Leaning into the Transformation Economy The Creative Penn Podcast and my Patreon Community Webinars and live events Finish my Masters in Death, Religion, and Culture Bones of the Deep — J.F. Penn Add merch to CreativePennBooks.com and JFPennBooks.com How to Write, Publish, and Market Short Stories and Short Story Collections — Joanna Penn Other possible books Experiment more with AI translation Ideally outsource more marketing to AI, but do more marketing anyway Double down on being human, health and travel You can find all my books as J.F. Penn and Joanna Penn on your favourite online store in all the usual formats, or order from your local library or bookstore. You can also buy direct from me at CreativePennBooks.com and JFPennBooks.com. I'm not really active on social media, but you can always see my photos at Instagram @jfpennauthor. Leaning into the Transformation Economy I've struggled with my identity as Joanna Penn and my Creative Penn brand for a few years now. When I started TheCreativePenn.com in 2008, the term ‘indie author' was new and self-publishing was considered ‘vanity press' and a sure way to damage your author career, rather than a conscious creative and business choice. It was the early days of the Kindle and iPhone (both launched in 2007), and podcasting and social media were also relatively new. While US authors could publish on KDP, the only option for international authors was Smashwords and the market for ebooks was tiny. Print-on-demand and digital audio were also just emerging as viable options. While it was the early era of blogging, there were very few blogs and barely any podcasts talking about self-publishing, so when I started TheCreativePenn.com in late 2008 and the podcast in March 2009, it was a new area. For several years, it was like howling into the wind. Barely any audience. Barely any traffic, and certainly very little income.  But I loved the freedom and the speed at which I could learn things and put them into practice. Consume and produce. That has always been my focus. I met people on Twitter and interviewed them for my show, and over those early years I met many of the people I consider dear friends even now. Since self-publishing was a relatively unexplored niche in those early years, I slowly found an audience and built up a reputation. I also started to make more money both as an author, and as a creative entrepreneur. Over the years since, pretty much everything has changed for indie authors and we have had more and more opportunity every year. I've shared everything I've learned along the way, and it's been a wonderful time.  But as self-publishing became more popular and more authors saw more success (which is FANTASTIC!), other voices joined the chorus and now, there are many thousands of authors of all different levels with all kinds of different experiences sharing their tips through articles, books, podcasting, and social media. I started to wonder whether my perspective was useful anymore. On top of the human competition, in November 2022, ChatGPT launched, and it became clear that prescriptive non-fiction and ‘how to' information could very easily be delivered by the AI tools, with the added benefit of personalisation. You can ask Chat or Claude or Gemini how you can self-publish your particular book and they will help you step by step through the process of any site. You can share your screen or upload screenshots and it can help with what fields to fill in (very useful with translations!), as well as writing sales descriptions, researching keywords, and offering marketing help targeted to your book and your niche, and tailored to your voice. Once again, I questioned what value I could offer the indie author community, and I've pulled back over the last few years as I've been noodling around this. But over the last few weeks, a penny has dropped. Here's my thinking in case it also helps you. Firstly, I want to be useful to people. I want to help. In my early days of speaking professionally, from 2005-ish, I wanted to be the British (introvert) Tony Robbins, someone who inspired people to change, to achieve things they didn't think they could. Writing a book is one of those things. Making a living from your writing is another. So I leaned into the self-help and how-to niche. But now that is now clearly commoditised. But recently, I realised that my message has always been one of transformation, and in the following four areas.  From someone who doesn't think they are creative but who desperately wants to write a book, to someone who holds their first book in their hand and proudly says, ‘I made this.' The New Author. From someone who has no confidence in their author voice, who wonders if they have anything to say, to someone who writes their story and transforms their own life, as well as other people's. The Confident Author. From an author with one or a handful of books who doesn't know much about business, to a successful author with a growing business heading towards their first six figure year. The Author-Entrepreneur. And finally, from a tech-phobic, fearful author who worries that AI makes it pointless to create anything and will steal all the jobs, to a confident AI-assisted creative who uses AI tools to enhance and amplify their message and their income. The AI-Assisted Artisan Author. These are four transformations I have been through myself, and with my work as Joanna Penn/The Creative Penn, I want to help you through them as well. So in 2026, I am repositioning myself as part of The Transformation Economy. What does this mean? There is a book out in February, The Transformation Economy by B. Joseph Pine II, who is also the author of The Experience Economy, which drove a lot of the last decade's shift in business models. I have the book on pre-order, but in the meantime, I am doing the following. I will revamp TheCreativePenn.com with ‘transformation' as the key frame and add pathways through my extensive material, rather than just categories of how to do things. I've already added navigation pages for The New Author, The Confident Author, The Author-Entrepreneur, and The AI-Assisted Artisan Author, and I will be adding to those over time. My content is basically the same, as I have always covered these topics, but the framing is now different. The intent is different. The Creative Penn Podcast will lean more heavily into transformation, rather than just information — And will focus on the first three of the categories above, the more creative, mindset and business things.  My Patreon will continue to cover all those things, and that's also where I post most of my AI-specific content, so if you're interested in The AI-Assisted Artisan Author transformation path, come on over to patreon.com/thecreativepenn I have more non-fiction books for authors coming, and lots more ideas now I am leaning into this angle. I'll also continue to do webinars on specific topics in 2026, and also add speaking back in 2027. It's harder to think about transformation when it comes to fiction, but it's also really important since fiction books in particular are highly commodified, and will become even more so with the high production speeds. Yes, all readers have a few favourite authors but most will also read a ton of other books without knowing or caring who the author is. Fiction can be transformational. Reader's aren't buying a ‘book.' They're buying a way to escape, to feel deeply, to experience things they never could in real life. A book can transform a day from ‘meh' into ‘fantastic!' My J.F. Penn fiction is mostly inspired by places, so my stories transport you into an adventure somewhere wonderful, and they all offer a deeper side of transformative contemplation of ‘memento mori' if you choose to read them in that way.  They also have elements of gothic and death culture that I am going to lean into with some merch in 2026, so more of an identity thing than just book sales. I'm not quite sure what this means yet, but no doubt it will emerge. I'll also shape my JFPennBooks.com site into more transformative paths, rather than just genre lists, as part of this shift. My memoir Pilgrimage always reflected a transformation, both reflecting my own midlife shift but I've also heard from many who it has inspired to walk alone, or to travel on pilgrimage themselves. Of course, transformation is not just for our readers or the people we serve as part of our businesses. It's also for us. One of the reasons why we are writers is because this is how we think. This is how we figure out our lives. This is how we get the stories and ideas out of our heads and into the world. Writing and creating are transformative for us, too. That is part of the point, and a great element of why we do this, and why we love this. Which is why I don't really understand the attraction of purely AI-generated books. There's no fun in that for me, and there's no transformation, either. Of course, I LOVE using Chat and Claude and Gemini Thinking models as my brainstorming partners, my research buddies, my marketing assistants, and as daily tools to keep me sparkly. I smiled as I wrote that (and yes, I human-wrote this!) because sparkly is how I feel when I work with these tools. Programmers use the term ‘vibe coding' which is going back and forth and collaborating together, sparking off each other. Perhaps that I am doing is ‘vibe creation.' I feel it as almost an effervescence, a fun experience that has me laughing out loud sometimes. I am more creative, I am more in flow. I am more ‘me' now I can create and think at a speed way faster than ever before. My mind has always worked at speed and my fingers are fast on the keys but working in this way makes me feel like I create in the high performance zone far more often. I intend to lean more into that in 2026 as part of my own transformation (and of course, I share my experiences mainly in the Community at patreon.com/thecreativepenn ). [Note, I pay for access to all models, and currently use ChatGPT 5.2 Thinking, Claude Opus 4.5, and Gemini 3 Pro). So that's the big shift this year, and the idea of the Transformation Economy will underpin everything else in terms of my content. The Creative Penn Podcast and my Patreon Community The Creative Penn Podcast continues in 2026, although I am intending to reduce my interviews to once every two weeks, with my intro and other content in between. We'll see how that goes as I am already finding some fascinating people to talk to!  Thank you for your comments, your pictures, and also for sharing the episodes that resonate with you with the wider community. Your reviews are also super useful wherever you are listening to this, so please leave a review wherever you're listening this as it helps with discovery.  Thanks also to everyone in my Patreon Community, which I really enjoy, especially as we have doubled down on being human through more live office hours. I will do more of those in 2026 and the first one of the year will blearily UK time so Aussies and Kiwis can come. I also share new content almost every week, either an article, a video or an audio episode around writing craft, author business, and lots on different use cases for AI tools.  If you join the Patreon, start on the Collections tab where you will find all the backlist content to explore. It's less than the price of a coffee a month so if you get value from the show, and you want more, come on over and join us at patreon.com/thecreativepenn My Books and Travel Podcast is on hiatus for interviews, since the Masters is taking up the time I would have had for that. However I plan to post some solo episodes in 2026, and I also post travel articles there, like my visits to Gothic cathedrals and city breaks and things like that. Check it out at https://www.booksandtravel.page/blog/  Webinars and live events Along with my Patreon office hours, I'm enjoying the immediacy and energy of live webinars and they work with my focus on transformation, as well as on ‘doubling down on being human' in an age of AI, so I will be doing more this year. The first is on Business for Authors, coming on 10 and 24 January, which is aimed at helping you transform your author business in 2026, or if you're just getting started, then transform into someone who has even a small clue about business in general!Details at TheCreativePenn.com/live and Patrons get 25% off. In terms of live in-person events, it looks like I will be speaking at the Alliance of Independent Authors event at the London Book Fair in March, and I'll attend the Self-Publishing Show Live in June, although I won't be speaking. There might be other things that emerge, but in general, I'm not doing much speaking in 2026 because I need to … Finish my Masters in Death, Religion, and Culture This represents a lot of work as I am doing the course full-time. I should be finished in September, and much of the middle of the year will be focused on a dissertation. I'm planning on doing something around AI and death, so that will no doubt lead into some fiction at a later stage! Talking of fiction … Bones of the Deep — J.F. Penn The Masters is pretty serious, as is academic research and writing in general, and I found myself desperate to write a rollicking fun story over the holiday break between terms. I've talked about this ‘tall-ship' story for a while and now I'm committing to it. Back in 1999, I sailed on the tall-ship Soren Larsen from Fiji to Vanuatu, one of the three trips that shaped my life. It was the first time I'd been to the South Pacific, the first time I sailed blue water (with no land in sight), and I kept a journal and drew maps of the trip. It also helped me a make a decision to leave the UK and I headed for Australia nine months later in early 2000, and ended up being away 11 years in Australia and New Zealand. I came home to visit of course, but only moved back to the UK in 2011, so that trip was memorable and pivotal in many ways and has stuck in my mind. The story is based on that crossing, but of course, as J.F. Penn my imagination turns it into essentially a ‘locked room,' there is no escape out there, especially if the danger comes from the sea. Another strand of the story comes from a recent academic essay for my Masters, when I wrote about the changes in museum ethics around human remains and medical specimens i.e. body parts in jars, and how some remains have been repatriated to the indigenous peoples they were stolen from. I've also talked before about how I love ‘merfolk' horror like Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant, All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter, and Merfolk by Jeremy Bates. These are no smiling fantasy mermaids and mermen. They are predators. What might happen if the remains of a mer-saint were stolen from the deep, and what might happen to the ship that the remains are being transported in, and the people on board?  I'm about a third in, and I am having great fun! It will actually be a thriller, with a supernatural edge, rather than horror, and it is called Bones of the Deep, and it will be out on Kickstarter in April, and everywhere by the summer.  You can check out the Kickstarter pre-launch page with photos from my 1999 trip, the cover for the book, and the sales description at JFPenn.com/bones Add merch to CreativePennBooks.com and JFPennBooks.com I've dipped my toe into merch a number of times and then removed the products, but now I'm clear on my message of transformation, I want to revisit this. My books remain core for both sites, but for CreativePennBooks, I also want to add other products with what are essentially affirmations — ‘Creative,' ‘I am creative, I am an author,' and variants of the poster I have had on my wall for years, ‘Measure your life by what you create.' This is the affirmation I had in my wallet for years! For JFPennBooks, the items will be gothic/memento mori/skull-related. Everything will be print-on-demand. I will not be shipping anything myself, so I'm working with my designer Jane on this and then need to order test samples, and then get them added to the store. Likely mid-year at this rate! How to Write, Publish, and Market Short Stories and Short Story Collections — Joanna Penn I have a draft of this already which I expanded from the transcript of a webinar I did on this topic as part of The Buried and the Drowned campaign. It turns out I've learned a lot about this over the years, and also on how to make a collection, so I will get that out at some point this year. I won't do a Kickstarter for it, but I will do direct sales for at least a month and include a special edition, workbook, and bundles on my store first before putting it wide. I will also human-narrate that audiobook. Other possible books I'm an intuitive creative and discovery writer, so I don't plan out what I will write in a year. The books tend to emerge and then I pick the next one that feels the most important. After the ones above, there are a few candidates. Crown of Thorns, ARKANE thriller #14. Regular readers and listeners will know how much I love religious relics, and it's about time for a big one! I have a trip to Paris planned in the spring, as the Crown of Thorns is at Notre Dame, and I have some other locations to visit. My ARKANE thrillers always emerge from in-person travels, so I am looking forward to that. Maybe late 2026, maybe 2027. AI + religion technothriller/short stories. I already have some ideas sketched out for this and my Masters thesis will be something around AI, religion, and death, so I expect something will emerge from all that study and academic writing. Not sure what, but it will be interesting! The Gothic Cathedral Book. I have tens of thousands of words written, and lots of research and photos and thoughts. But it is still in the creative chaos phase (which I love!) and as yet has not emerged into anything coherent. Perhaps it will in 2026, and the plan is to re-focus on it after my Masters dissertation.  I feel like the Masters study and the academic research process will make this an even better book, But I am holding my plans for this lightly, as it feels like another ‘big' book for me, like my ‘shadow book' (which became Writing the Shadow) and took more than a decade to write! How to be Creative. I have also written bits and bobs on this over many years, but it feels like it is re-emerging as part of my focus on transformation. Probably unlikely for 2026 but now back on the list … Experiment more with AI translation AI-assisted translation has been around for years now in various forms, and I have experimented with some of the services, as well as working with human narrators and editors in different languages, as well as licensing books in translation. But when Amazon launched Kindle Translate in November 2025, it made me think that AI-assisted translation will become a lot more popular in 2026. AI audiobook narration became good enough for many audiobooks in 2025, and it seems like AI-translation will be the same in 2026. Yes, of course, human translation is still the gold standard, as is human narration, and that would be the primary choice for all of us — if it was affordable. But frankly, it's not affordable for most indie authors, and indeed many small publishers. Many books don't get an audiobook edition and most books don't get translated into every language. It costs thousands per book for a human translator, and so it is a premium option. I have only ever made a small profit on the books that I paid for with human translators and it took years, and while I have a few nice translation deals on some books, I'm planning to experiment more with AI translation in 2026. More languages, more markets, more opportunities to reach readers. More on this in the next episode when I'll cover trends for 2026. Ideally outsource more marketing to AI, but do more marketing anyway You have to reach readers somehow, and you have to pay for book marketing with your time and/or your money. Those authors killing it on TikTok pay with their time, and those leaning heavily on ads are paying with money. Most of us do a bit of both. There is no passive income from books, and even a backlist has to be marketed if you want to see any return. But I, like most authors, am not excited about book marketing. I'd rather be working on new books, or thinking about the ramifications of the changes ahead and writing or talking about that in my Patreon Community or here on the podcast. However, my book sales income remains about the same even as I (slowly) produce more books, so I need to do more book marketing in 2026. I said that last year of course, and didn't do much more than I did in 2024, so here I am again promising to do a better job! Every year, I hope to have my “AI book marketing assistant” up and running, and maybe this will be the year it happens. My measure is to be able to upload a book and specify a budget and say, ‘Go market this,' and then the AI will action the marketing, without me having to cobble together workflows between systems. Of course, it will present plans for me to approve but it will do the work itself on the various platforms and monitor and optimize things for me. We have something like that already with Amazon auto-ads, but that is specific to Amazon Advertising and only works with certain books in certain genres. I have auto-ads running for a couple of non-fiction books, but not for any fiction. I'd also ideally like more sales on my direct stores, JFPennBooks.com and CreativePennBooks.com which means a different kind of marketing. Perhaps this will happen through ChatGPT shopping or other AI-assisted e-commerce, which should be increasing in 2026. More on that in trends for the year to come in the next show. Double down on being human, health and travel I have a lot of plans for travel both for book research and also holidays with Jonathan but he has to finish his MBA and then we have some family things that take priority, so I am not sure where or when yet, but it will happen! Paris will definitely happen as part of the research for Crown of Thorns, hopefully in the spring. I've been to Paris many times as it's just across the Channel and we can go by train but it's always wonderful to visit again. Health-wise, I'll continue with powerlifting and weight training twice a week as well as walking every day. It's my happy place! What about you? If you'd like to share your goals for 2026, please add them in the comments below — and remember, I'm a full-time author entrepreneur so my goals are substantial. Don't worry if yours are as simple as ‘Finish the first draft of my book,' as that still takes a lot of work and commitment! All the best for 2026 — let's get into it! The post My 2026 Creative And Business Goals With Joanna Penn first appeared on The Creative Penn.

In this solo episode, I talk about my lessons learned from 13 years as a full-time author entrepreneur. You can read/listen to previous updates at TheCreativePenn.com/timeline. Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller, dark fantasy, horror, crime, and memoir author as J.F. Penn. She's also an […] The post Lessons Learned from 13 Years as an Author Entrepreneur first appeared on The Creative Penn.

What's hiding in your shadow self, and how can you use it to improve your writing?Today's conversation with Joanna Penn is a brilliant look at what it takes to unearth the raw essence of author creativity. Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author as J.F. Penn. She's also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. www.TheCreativePenn.com In this interview, we talk about her book "Writing the Shadow" while reflecting on our own personal strides in writing and business - from transitioning from the corporate world to the arts, tackling email conundrums, and developing a growth mindset.Follow Us! Joanna PennWebsite: http://www.thecreativepenn.com Podcast: The Creative PennBooks: https://creativepennbooks.comInstagram: @jfpennauthor The Author Wheel:Website: www.AuthorWheel.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorWheelGreta Boris:Website: www.GretaBoris.comFacebook: @GretaBorisAuthorInstagram: @GretaBorisMegan Haskell:Website: www.MeganHaskell.comFacebook & Instagram: @MeganHaskellAuthorTikTok: @AuthorMeganHaskellClarify | Simplify | Implement Newsletterhttps://meganhaskellauthor.substack.com/The Writing Romance Mastery SummitThere's still time to register and learn from some of the best authors and coaches in the writing industry. The summit takes place from February 19, 2024 through February 23, 2024, and we promise it'll be a top-notch event. We're proud to be included in this year's lineup of guests, talking about how to decide if you should self-publish or get an agent. By clicking this link, we may earn a commission from your purchase, at no additional cost to you. Support the showFREE Mini Email CourseHave you ever struggled to explain to others exactly what you write? Or wondered which of the many fiction ideas running through your brain you should tackle? If so, The Author Wheel's new mini-course might be your solution. 7 Days to Clarity: Uncover Your Author Purpose will help you uncover your core writing motivations, avoid shiny-thing syndrome, and create clear marketing language. Each daily email will lead you step by step in defining your author brand, crafting a mission statement, and distilling that statement into a pithy tagline. And, best of all, it's free. Click here to learn more!

How can you let your creative dark horse run? What is the Shadow — and why explore your Shadow side? This episode features excerpted chapters from the audiobook of Writing the Shadow: Turn Your Inner Darkness Into Words, written and narrated by Joanna Penn, available on Kickstarter until 25 October 2023: www.TheCreativePenn.com/shadowbook (link will redirect […] The post Let Your Dark Horse Run. Writing The Shadow With Joanna Penn first appeared on The Creative Penn.

A really exciting episode today! Joanna Penn and I talk about her NEW writing book about The Shadow, something she's a veritable expert in. This is for you if you want to go deep with your writing (and yourself). Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author as J.F. Penn. She's also an award winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. Writing the Shadow is her next non-fiction for authors. Find it at http://TheCreativePenn.com/shadowbookHow Do You Write Podcast: Explore the processes of working writers with bestselling author Rachael Herron. Want tips on how to write the book you long to finish? Here you'll gain insight from other writers on how to get in the chair, tricks to stay in it, and inspiration to get your own words flowing. ✏️ Can I email you some writing help? http://rachaelherron.com/write

Joanna Penn on Writing the Shadow   Episode 89.  Special Edition Interview with Author, Creative, Businesswoman and Host of the Creative Penn podcast, Joanna Penn. Joanna is a multidimensional person with interests spanning psychology, theology, business, writing, publishing, and Artificial Intelligence among many pursuits. She is the author of over 45 books, and she's already imagining the next one. Her most recent is Writing the Shadow: Turn your Inner Darkness into Words. That's the focus of our conversation in this episode. To join the kickstarter campaign or buy the book click here www.TheCreativePenn.com/shadowbook     Personal Updates On Wednesday evening, October 11, I'll be joined by local musician Mike Bussey for an evening called “Songs and Stories of Weird Wisdom.” Cross Mills Library in Charlestown, Rhode Island. Write me at jim@jameshazelwood.net My Weekly Newsletter with an Essay on Mysticism and Psychology https://jameshazelwood.substack.com/ Guest Bio - Joanna (J.F. Penn) Penn www.TheCreativePenn.com  www.CreativePennBooks.com She is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with 45+ books, with almost a million sold across 169 countries and 5 languages. She is a podcaster, international speaker, and award-winning creative entrepreneur.   Joanna (J.F.) Penn  New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Thriller Author Podcaster. Speaker. Award-winning Entrepreneur.  For authors and writers: www.TheCreativePenn.com  www.CreativePennBooks.com The Creative Penn Podcast: www.TheCreativePenn.com/podcasts/ www.twitter.com/thecreativepenn   Thrillers, dark fantasy, crime, horror:  www.JFPennBooks.com  www.instagram.com/jfpennauthor www.Facebook.com/jfpennauthor     Host: James Hazelwood   James Hazelwood, author, bishop, and spiritual companion, is the author of Weird Wisdom for the Second Half of Life and Everyday Spirituality: Discover a Life of Hope, Peace, and Meaning. His website is www.jameshazelwood.net  

In this solo episode, I talk about my lessons learned from 12 years as a full-time author entrepreneur. You can read/listen to previous updates at TheCreativePenn.com/timeline. In the intro, Finding readers [ALLi blog]; Writing the Shadow Kickstarter. Today's show is sponsored by ProWritingAid, writing and editing software that goes way beyond just grammar and typo checking. […] The post Lessons Learned from 12 Years as an Author Entrepreneur first appeared on The Creative Penn.

What are some of the fundamentals behind self-publishing success? James Blatch shares tips and insights as well as introducing the Launchpad course from Self Publishing Formula. I'm an affiliate of the course, which you can find at www.TheCreativePenn.com/launchpad James Blatch is a historical military thriller author. He's also the co-founder of Self-Publishing Formula, Fuse Books, Hello Books, and […] The post Self-Publishing LaunchPad With James Blatch first appeared on The Creative Penn.

J F Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers, dark fantasy, and crime. We are talking about Tomb Of Relics, her twelfth book in her best-selling Arkane series. The series has been likened to Dan Brown's thrillers and it's got all the popular themes: relics of power, international locations, and adventure with an edge of the supernatural. Hi there, I'm your host Jenny Wheeler, and today on Binge Reading J F – Joanna – talks about her attraction to dark mystery and being a successful author in the 21st century. Of course as usual we have a free book giveaway - this week is Out of Time Mysteries and Thriller Giveaway: https://claims.prolificworks.com/gg/2pNOBFed21srn5v1aNfU DOWNLOAD FREE MYsTERIES AND THRILLERS If you'd like enjoy the show and would like to thank us for all our work, support us by buying me a cup of coffee at buymeacoffee.com/jennywheelX BUY ME A COFFEE - AND THANK YOU! Links mentioned in this episode: Dan Brown and Da Vinci Code: https://danbrown.com/ Anne Rice: http://annerice.com/ Sandra Bullock movie like Romancing the Stone: The Lost City: https://screenrant.com/lost-city-romancing-stone-similar-different/ Mick Herron: https://www.mickherron.com/ Daniel Silva: Portrait of An Unknown Woman: https://danielsilvabooks.com/ John Connolly: Charlie Parker series: https://www.johnconnollybooks.com/ Mick Herron: https://www.mickherron.com/ Pilgimrage St Cuthbert's Way: https://www.stcuthbertsway.info/ Camino Way: https://caminoways.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Camino-de-Santiago.jpg Where to find J F Penn: New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Thriller AuthorPodcaster. Speaker. Award-winning Entrepreneur. Get your FREE Successful Author Blueprint: www.TheCreativePenn.com Podcast: www.TheCreativePenn.com/podcasts/ Twitter: joanna@TheCreativePenn.comwww.twitter.com/thecreativepenn  Facebook:  www.facebook.com/TheCreativePenn Instagram: www.instagram.com/jfpennauthor Love Books and Travel? www.BooksAndTravel.page What follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to the show notes in The Joys of Binge Reading.com for important mentions.But now, here's Joanna. Introducing thriller author JF Penn Jenny Wheeler: Hello there, Joanna, and welcome to the show. It's fabulous to have you with us Thriller author JF Penn J F Penn: Thanks so much, Jenny. I'm thrilled to be here. Jenny Wheeler: You are really well known for your work in the non-fiction area with your podcast, The Creative Penn, but today we are talking about the other 50% of your career, maybe even 60%, your fiction writing, which doesn't often get quite so much attention. You are an award nominated New York Times and USA Today best-selling author. You combine genres, multi genre books, which are thrillers, dark fantasy and crime – something that sometimes the trad publishers aren't quite so keen on because they don't know where to put them on the shelf, but you have just published your 12th book in your Arkane series, Tomb of Relics. When you started out, did you appreciate that you were tackling this as a multi-genre and that it might get a little bit complicated as you went along? J F Penn: I think when you start writing a story, you write the story you are interested in. My Arkane series was sort of shaped by the Dan Brown Da Vinci Code era, back in the day. It seems a long time now, but essentially I love the Da Vinci Code and I have a degree in Theology and I love thrillers. I was working in Australia at the time, miserable in my day job, and I would read these religious and historical Arkane-type thrillers back then, and that's what I decided to write. Action thriller with a supernatural edge The Arkane series is action, adventure, thriller, but has this supernatural edge and is based on religious history and religious myth,

This week on the Writers Advice Podcast I am joined by the queen of Rom-Com's Sally Thorne. Hot off the huge success of the movie adaption of her book, The Hating Game. Sally's new book Angelika Frankenstein Meets Her Match. On this episode Sally and I talk about: - Beginning her writing journey in Fan-Fiction and building her writing community and creating contacts. - The inital idea that began The Hating Game and her brand new book - Angelika Frankenstein Meets Her Match. - The process of turning The Hating Game Into a film adaption. - Finding your voice and being the best writer you can authentically be. - Plus all of Sally's wonderful writing advice she had learnt from her incredible career. Grab a copy of one of Sally's book's here. Her brand new book Angelika Frankenstein Meets her Match is out on the 6th of September, you can preorder it now! While you're there you can grab a copy of my new book Have We Met Before? or download the free pages here. If you would like to see the full video podcast or to submit questions to our upcoming guests as well as a chance to shout out your latest work. Join us over on the Writers Advice Patreon Community - Olivia Hillier is creating Podcast & Books | Patreon To Contact Sally:Website: sallythorneauthor.comInstagram:@sallythorneauthor To Contact Me:Website: oliviahillier.comInstagram: @oliviahillierauthorTikTok:@oliviahillierauthor

Kent talks to Joanna Penn about her brand-new book, How to Write a Novel. You'll learn how writing a novel changes you, whether you should try discovery writing or outlining, how to choose a story structure, how to get over the fear of being judged, and much more. Joanna Penn is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers, writing under the pen name J.F. Penn. She also writes non-fiction for authors. Joanna is also the host of The Creative Penn podcast and an award-winning creative entrepreneur. Her site, TheCreativePenn.com has been voted in the Top 100 sites for writers by Writer's Digest.

Kent talks to Joanna Penn about her brand-new book, How to Write a Novel. You'll learn how writing a novel changes you, whether you should try discovery writing or outlining, how to choose a story structure, how to get over the fear of being judged, and much more. Joanna Penn is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers, writing under the pen name J.F. Penn. She also writes non-fiction for authors. Joanna is also the host of The Creative Penn podcast and an award-winning creative entrepreneur. Her site, TheCreativePenn.com has been voted in the Top 100 sites for writers by Writer's Digest.

This interview with the podcast host of the award-winning The Creative Penn podcast, Joanna Penn, proves the old adage that “you never know until you ask.” I am a big fan of Joanna's podcast, website, and books. On a whim, I pitched an interview to her and she graciously and generously agreed to it. I am still on a high from this interview and the fabulous information Joanna shared.Joanna is a successful writer and entrepreneur.  She covers every aspect of self-publishing from writing, to publishing, to distributing, and to marketing a book in her over 30 books and her podcasts as host of The Creative Penn Podcast . She has grown a successful business as an author of both fiction and non-fiction books as an indy author. How did she do it and what tips can she share with the aspiring writer?Have a listen… Always positive and a self-proclaimed “cheerleader” for authors she believes that an already published book can find more success than a newly launched book with the right marketing techniques and new publishing outlets. She offers insights into the indie publishing field and how she feels it is transformative for new authors in getting their work out into the world. She answers all of my questions - some pretty basic - ie. can you place your book with two different online retailers as the same time? - Sorry, Joanna. But, hey, this is how my mind works. Listen and learn.Any business owner will discover tips from Joanna's expereince.  Her positivity and enthusiasm is contagous.  She shares the story of her pivotstory, we love pivots stories at Stories and Strategies for Women from a traditional career to scaling a true love business.  In addition to books on publishing and marketing and fiction fantasy books, Joanna's 1st book helps to make a career change titled Career Change: Stop hating your job, discover what you really want to do with your life, and start doing it! | The Creative Penn.You can find Joanna Penn and all about her books and her podcasts at her website, TheCreativePenn.comClaudine Wolk Substack: Get Your Book Seen and SoldClaudine Wolk Website: ClaudineWolk.comClaudine's Instagram - @ClaudineWolkThis episode of Stories and Strategies for Women is brought to you by Eyebobs.  Enter code 'StoriesandStrat10" for a 10% discount at eyebobs.comand by ThriftBooks.com, the fun site to buy and collect used books.

Joanna Penn is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers under J.F.Penn. She also writes inspirational non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning creative entrepreneur and international professional speaker. Her site, TheCreativePenn.com is regularly voted one of the top 10 sites for writers and self-publishers. In this episode, Joanna discusses: How she got started writing The mindset needed for authors and writers to successfully go full-time How to diffuse comparisonitis and turn it into positive, productive energy The importance of writing down goals How to build your audience using the host of tools available to authors and writers The big advantages indie authors have over traditionally published authors What Patreon is and how she uses it to build her publishing empire through her podcast

Mark and Joanna Penn talk about collaborating on the writing and release of their co-authored book THE RELAXED AUTHOR: Take the Pressure Off Your Art and Enjoy the Creative Journey. Prior to the main content, Mark shares comments from a recent episode, thanks Patrons and offers a few words about this episode's sponsor. This episode is sponsored by Findaway Voices. You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. In their conversation, Mark and Joanna talk about: How pretty and beautifully designed the book turned out to be Where the idea for this book came from and why they decided to write it Knowing one another both personally and professionally for so long and the inherent trust and understanding they had getting into this project How to determine that a potential opportunity is with the right partner The contract that Joanna and Mark signed as part of this agreement/collaborative publishing The logistics behind publishing the book under Curl Up Press, Joanna's imprint How they divided up the responsibilities for the overall book project Use of Draft2Digital's payment splitting for the eBook and the other ways the book is being published in different formats as well as available to purchase direct from Joanna Their different approaches to outlining and writing a non-fiction book How each chapter of the book includes both of Joanna and Mark's voice in answer to specific topic areas The different tools that each of them enjoy using, such as Google spreadsheets, Dropbox, Scrivener, ScribeCount Creating the original draft of the book in audio first via a series of conversations Some of the challenges and frustrations of the re-writing and editing of the work in a collaborative manner that they encountered The relaxed approach Joanna and Mark are both taking in the launch of the book Why they both admitted to not always being relaxed as an important thing to include in the book How the practices that Mark and Joanna talk about help prepare them for the long-term author journey The way that the things they shared in this book aren't all that different than the things they've shared in their previous books for authors, but that the focus is "the relaxed author" so it's more of a concise and narrowed down focus on that topic The inclusive way that their suggestions for being a relaxed author include "do X, or don't" How an author's writing should be where they can turn to for solice and comfort, not for stress And more... After the conversation Mark reflects on just how lucky he is that he got to work on a collaborative project like this with Joanna. He then asks listeners to reflect on their own experience around being, or trying to be a relaxed author.   Links of Interest: Joanna Penn's Website The Creative Penn Podcast The Books and Travel Podcast Joanna's Books The Relaxed Author Buy eBook Direct Buy Audiobook Direct Related YouTube Videos The Relaxed Author (Sample Excerpt) Video of the Conversation in this Episode Episode 203 - A Rand on Unprofessional Author Behavior Episode 002 - Living the Healthy Writer's Life with Joanna Penn Episode 148 - AI Voice Double Conversation with Joanna Penn Episode 164 - Reflections on The Creative Penn Podcast Episode 517 Publishing Pitfalls for Authors Patreon for Stark Reflections 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   Joanna Penn is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers under J.F.Penn and also writes non-fiction for authors. She's an award-winning creative entrepreneur and podcaster. You can learn more about Joanna at www.thecreativepenn.com.   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

AI text and speech generation tools are developing at a greater rate than we could have imagined. We are now at the point where a text box can serve as my writing partner, who pitches me ideas and makes suggestions on my plot. We are now at the point where an application can read my text out loud for me, in my own voice, and at times, it even tricks me into thinking I had forgetten which parts I actually recorded myself. All the parts of this episode that I wrote, besides the introduction are read out loud by my AI voice double. And all the parts of this episode that were written by my AI writing partner, are read out loud by me. See if you can spot all the switches. For fun, I also included some of the funniest suggestions provided me by Sudowrite at the end of the episode. If you'd like to try either of these AI-powered tools, simply go to Sudowrite.com, Descript.com, and check out The Creative Penn podcast for great insights into the ongoing development of these technologies and the way they will affect our lives, for better or worse, at TheCreativePenn.com. For a transcript of this episode, please go to TheWritersEverything.org/transcripts. If you'd like to listen to future episodes, be sure to subscribe on the app of your choice, and be sure to give it a rating while you're at it to let me know what you think of the podcast. If you'd like to support the podcast, you can do so at Patreon.com/QJMartin. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/writeanovel/support

Episode Notes How do you succeed as an author? Once you get started, how do you stay motivated to finish the book? What's the best way to market a book? And when should you start building an online presence? Today's guest is Joanna Penn, and she's a successful self-publishing author who writes books and creates content to help others. Follow Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Get a copy of How to Make a Living with Your Writing Get a copy of The Successful Author Mindset Get a copy of How to Write Non-Fiction Get a copy of Successful Self-Publishing For more, visit TheCreativePenn.com Check out Joanna's podcast For the interview transcript visit www.TheRewiredSoul.com/interviews Follow @TheRewiredSoul on Twitter and Instagram Support The Rewired Soul: Get books by Chris Support on Patreon Try BetterHelp Online Therapy (affiliate) Donate

In this episode of Intermittent Fasting Stories, Gin talks to Joanna Penn, author and podcaster from Bath, England. Are you looking for intermittent fasting support in a cozy community that celebrates the clean fast? Join us on the Delay, Don't Deny Social Network! Instead of relying on the big social network most of us have been on for years, we now have a community that is completely separate and just for us, with a variety of groups you can join for the support and community you need. You can connect directly with Gin in the Ask Gin group, and she'll answer all of your questions personally. If you're new to intermittent fasting or recommitting to the IF lifestyle, join the 28-Day FAST Start group, and both Gin and the other group members will walk virtually beside you each day of your FAST Start. Members of the DDD Social Network have access to all episodes of Intermittent Fasting Stories streaming within the DDDSN platform, ad-free! That's just one reason to join. Visit dddsocialnetwork.com to join our membership community. An annual membership is $59.95. If you aren't ready to fully commit for a year, join for $9.99 a month and you can cancel at any time. If you know you'll want to stay forever, we also have a lifetime membership option available. IF is free. You don't need to join our community to fast. But if you're looking for support from a community of like-minded IFers, we are here for you at dddsocialnetwork.com. Joanna learned of intermittent fasting from a podcast in 2015. The way it was described, Joanna got the idea that IF was only for men, something that was medical, it took too much discipline, and was for only people who didn't like food. "I decided IF was not for me," and she carried on with life. During the pandemic that began in March of 2020, Joanna found she was putting on weight. Knowing she had to do something, she recalled IF and did some new research. She came across Delay, Don't Deny, Fast Feast Repeat, and The Obesity Code, and read all three. In July of 2020, Joanna began with 20:4, and she has never looked back. Her husband also joined her with IF. He had struggled with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) for many years, trying several things to manage it. But within three days of IF, his IBS was gone! Joanna has lost roughly 17 pounds, going from 170 to 153. She has loads of energy and feels great! IF is simply a part of her life now. The advice Joanna would give new IFers: Have patience! It may take a couple months to figure it all out. You may find Joanna Penn at: TheCreativePenn.com and The Creative Penn Podcast Get Gin's books at http://www.ginstephens.com/get-the-books.html, including her New York Times Bestseller, Fast. Feast. Repeat., available wherever you buy books! Share your intermittent fasting stories with Gin: gin@intermittentfastingstories.com Follow Gin on Twitter @gin_stephens Follow Gin on Instagram @GinStephens Visit Gin's website at ginstephens.com Check out Gin's Favorite Things at http://www.ginstephens.com/gins-favorite-things.htmlSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author under the pseudonym J.F. Penn. She has written more than 30 books and sold over 600,000 of them in 149 countries and 6 languages. Joanna is also a podcaster whose The Creative Penn Podcast has been downloaded over 4 million times in 220 countries. Joanna’s website, TheCreativePenn.com, offers information and inspiration on writing, self-publishing, book marketing and how to make a living from your writing. TheCreativePenn.com has been voted in the Top 100 sites for writers by Writer's Digest. Podcast host Matthew Felix and Joanna began with an in-depth discussion of the pros and cons of traditional versus indie publishing, including some common misconceptions. Matthew and Joanna talked in detail about making money as a writer, as described in her book, How to Make a Living with Your Writing. Joanna talked about the importance of writers being clear on their own definitions of success and emphasized the need to develop multiple streams of income. She also shared ways to go about that and examples of potential streams. Joanna noted the importance for writers to be aware of and possibly change their attitudes toward money. Joanna discussed common obstacles that can get in the way of an "author mindset" and ways to address them, including self doubt, writers block, fear of judgement, and fear of failure.   Listen here or on: iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | TuneIn | Amazon | Player FM | Deezer Watch on YouTube   Links https://www.thecreativepenn.com/ https://jfpenn.com/ https://www.facebook.com/TheCreativePenn https://twitter.com/thecreativepenn

Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Joanna writes fiction and non-fiction. Her novels have sold over 350,000 copies. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur. Joanna was voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals. Joanna's site TheCreativePenn.com has been voted one of the [...] The post What Does It Take To Sell 350,000 Books – with New York Times Bestselling Author Joanna Penn appeared first on Small Business Advice Help For Startups and Entrepreneurs.

Welcome to the first Business of Writing Episode for 2021. Today Pam chats to indie fiction author, podcaster and creative entrepreneur Joanna Penn about her latest book, Your Author Business Plan. Joanna is an award nominated New York times and USA today best-selling thriller author under the name J. F. Penn. She also writes nonfiction for authors and is widely known for her brilliant podcast, The Creative Penn, which has been downloaded over 4 million times in 220 countries. Joanna has written over 30 titles and sold more than 600,000 books in 149 countries and six languages. She's an indie author, an international professional speaker and an award-winning creative entrepreneur. She's based in Bath, England and lived in Australia and New Zealand for 11 years.  She's also turned her love of travel into a newish podcast called Books and Travel and spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporates across the globe before becoming a full-time author entrepreneur in September, 2011. Your Author Business Plan contains so much great advice this is an episode you will not want to miss whether you're trad or indie published.    SHOWNOTES: Writes4Women www.writes4women.com Facebook @writes4women Twitter / Instagram @w4wpodcast   W4W Patreon https://www.writes4women.com/support-us-on-patreon   Joanna Penn Website: https://www.thecreativepenn.com/resources/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCreativePenn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecreativepennofficial/ Your Author Business Plan is available at all online stores and through Joanna's website:. https://www.thecreativepenn.com/author-business-plan/ Joanna opening her first kindle on youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fUMhDodTI0  From Oct 2009, you can see boxes behind me as we were moving from Ipswich to Indooroopilly after selling everything to downsize. Around 2:30, I talk about why it's exciting for authors.    Pamela Cook www.pamelacook.com.au Facebook @pamelacookauthor Twitter @PamelaCookAU   This episode produced by Pamela Cook for Writes4Women     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a special "Reflections on Other Podcasts" style episode. Mark reflects on Episode 517 of The Creative Penn Podcast, where Joanna Penn interviews Holly Worton. The description from that episode, which is highly recommended that you listen to is this: How can you prevent self-doubt and fear from blocking your creative expression? What if you've built an audience for your books, but then you want to change direction? Joanna Penn discusses these issues and more with Holly Worton in Episode 517 (November 23, 2020) of The Creative Penn Podcast. Holly Worton is the author of 17 nonfiction and self-help books about business mindset and personal growth, as well as on walking and the wisdom of trees and nature. She's also the host of the Into the Woods podcast. Prior to the episode's main content, Mark shares comments from previous episodes, a word from this episode's sponsor . . . You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. Mark also shares a personal update, which includes. Progression on NaNoWriMo The launch of the OBSESSIONS anthology Publishing another book (unexpectedly) - Nocturnal Screams Vols 1 to 8 The forthcoming release of RUDE AWAKENINGS FROM SLEEPING ROUGH by Peter C. Mitchell   Links of Interest: Episode 517 of The Creative Penn Podcast: Business Mindset and Pivoting Your Author Career with Holly Worton The Creative Penn Holly Worton Mark's NaNoWriMo Profile Episode 163 - Getting a Creative Edge with Mickey Mikkelson Episode 32 - Hybrid Author Publishing with C. C. Humphreys Kobo Writing Life NaNoWriMo Promo (use coupon code NANO2020) Obsessions: An Anthology of Original Fiction Rude Awakenings from Sleeping Rough Mark's Canadian Werewolf Series This Time Around (Book 0) A Canadian Werewolf in New York (Book 1) Stowe Away (Book 1.5) Fear and Longing in Los Angeles (Book 2) Findaway Voices Books2Read Draft2Digital Wide for the Win Submission Form Patreon for Stark Reflections   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

Joanna Penn, The Creative Penn, discusses FUTURIST TRENDS WE CAN PREPARE FOR NOW. She talks about the role persistence plays in making a career as an indy author, the opportunities offered by content curation—for both creators and consumers—and the importance of bringing a global / digital / mobile mindset to your business model, while also recognizing that we can't beat the machine, so we have to double down on being human. Joanna Penn is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers as J.F. Penn. As an award-winning creative entrepreneur, she also writes non-fiction for authors and hosts The Creative Penn Podcast. Her site TheCreativePenn.com has been voted in the Top 100 sites for writers by Writer's Digest.

J.F.Penn is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author and also writes non-fiction for authors as Joanna Penn. She’s a podcaster and an award-winning creative entrepreneur. Her site, TheCreativePenn.com has been voted in the Top 100 sites for writers by Writer's Digest. Find Joanna and her work at TheCreativePenn.com //Draft2Digital is where you start your Indie Author Career//Looking for your path to self-publishing success? Draft2Digital is the leading ebook publisher and distributor. We’ll convert your manuscript, distribute it online, and support you the whole way, and we won’t charge you a dime. We take a cut of royalties on each sale you make through us, so we only make money when you make money! • Get started: https://Draft2Digital.com Get insider info on indie author success from our blog. • Visit: https://Draft2Digital.com/blog Tune in to our monthly livestreams and ask us anything! • D2D Live: https://D2DLive.com Promote your books with our Universal Book Links! • Books2Read: https://books2read.com//Get ahead of the Self-Publishing game with our Amazing Partners// Findaway Voices || Find a narrator, produce your audiobook, and distribute it to retailers worldwide, including Audible.com and Apple Books. • http://findawayvoices.com/d2dReedsy || Assemble your team of publishing professionals! Find editors, cover designers, marketing experts, ghostwriters and more. • https://reedsy.comBookBrush || Build graphics and video that help you market and promote your books. • https://bookbrush.com/d2d-mockups///Join the D2D Community Online// Facebook || https://facebook.com/draft2digitalTwitter || https://twitter.com/draft2digital

Welcome to our first bonus episode of Your Breakout Book! These bonus episodes are previously recorded and will hopefully tide you over until the season two premiere in January.First up, is an interview I did with Joanna Penn. She is an Award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers under J.F.Penn and also writes non-fiction for authors. She’s an award-winning entrepreneur, podcaster, and YouTuber. Her site, TheCreativePenn.com has been voted in the Top 100 sites for writers by Writer's Digest.In this interview, Joanna shares how she created brands for both her thrillers and her non-fiction titles, and why she’s launching a new podcast for books and travel. She shares what she’s learned from years of podcasting, and what she’s doing differently this time around. She also shares how she monetizes through “soft marketing” and how her content marketing serves a dual purpose.If you enjoyed this interview, you have to join us in Your Breakout Book, where conversations like these are happening every day. As a member of Your Breakout Book, you’ll gain access to live trainings, roundtable discussions, plus plenty of templates and tutorials to help you launch your breakout book. You also have the opportunity to be paired with an accountability partner to ensure you stay on track. Visit kayepublicity.com/yourbreakoutbook for more info.

All rights reserved and protected under copyright law through Novum publishing. Disclaimer (heightened): contains mature themes/ strong violence, gore and contains graphic depictions unsuitable for persons between the ages of 12 and 15 years of age. Listener discretion is advised and if unsure consult a parent/ carer. This is a work of fiction and any characters which reflect existing peoples should be viewed as coincidental. Overcoming self doubt: https://www.TheCreativePenn.com/podcasts Taylor's trades: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylorstrades Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Taylorstrades/posts Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/TaylorSTrades

In this special bonus/additional episode, released between regular weekly episodes of the podcast, Mark has a conversation with Joanna Penn about emerging digital A.I. technologies and what it means for writers. The initial conversation is using the words that Mark and Joanna would share in conversation, but the voice was generated using their respective Voice Doubles from Descript OverDub. After the AI Voice Double conversation, the real Mark and Joanna share their thoughts and reflections on the conversation, the process behind creating the computer-generated conversation and what it all means for the publishing and writing communities.   Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author as J.F.Penn. She's a podcaster and an award-winning creative entrepreneur. Her site, TheCreativePenn.com has been voted in the Top 100 sites for writers by Writer's Digest.   Links of Interest: The Creative Penn Episode 002 - Living the Healthy Writer's Life with Joanna Penn Episode 103 - 15 Takeaways from the WMG Publishing Master Class The Creative Penn Podcast - Episode 482 - How to Get Your Book Into Libraries and Bookstores with Mark Leslie Lefebvre Descript Patreon for Stark Reflections   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

Joanna Penn from TheCreativePenn.com discusses the benefits and future of podcasting, audiobooks, and AI.

Joanna Penn from TheCreativePenn.com discusses the benefits and future of podcasting, audiobooks, and AI.

EPISODE 200!! Today’s guest is the wonderful (https://www.thecreativepenn.com/) , author, podcaster, speaker, and all-around lovely lady! When I asked myself who, in my wildest happy dreams, I would like to be a guest on my 200th episode, Joanna was my first thought. And lucky me, she said yes! :-D I asked Joanna to start by taking us on a quick tour of her journey, how she started, how she learned about publishing, and how she earned and then surpassed the good salary she'd been earning in her day job. Joanna urges listeners to consider the long-term game, and practice persistence. If you quit too soon, you might think you were failing only because you didn't realize the road was longer than you'd realized. You also need to keep in mind that you don’t have to do everything, and you don't have to follow the path of those around you. Everyone will have a slightly different journey. You need to find what makes you happy and is sustainable. How do you want to live? There is an abundance of information on The Creative Penn website, @TheCreativePenn (https://twitter.com/thecreativepenn) .

Mark interviews Sacha Black about her role and brand as a Rebel Author, about her writing, her podcast, and about her books for writers on crafting heroes, villains, and prose. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, talking about recent birthday activities, a recent Star Wars parody video he created, and what that type of creation means to him as a writer. He then shares some comments from recent episodes and a word from this podcast's sponsor, Findaway Voices. You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. In their conversation, Sacha and Mark talk about: Where Sacha's "Rebel Author" brand came from, and how she has always been a bit of a rebel How, the best way to get Sacha to do something is to ask her not to do it The way that being an indie author is a bit rebellious in and of itself The thrill of being a little bit naughty How people are able to connect when you are being more authentic Being on the border of introvert/extrovert and the connection with others that Sacha values from running her podcast The appearance of confidence from the outside, and how the indie author community has allowed Sacha to regain some confidence Being very intentional about wanting to leave her full time job to become a full time writer, and the planning and staging she worked on to get there Sacha's life of being passionate about reading and writing How a character Sacha originally wrote when she was 9 years old became the protagonist in her first novel The randomness in the way that characters Sacha creates come to her The combination of terrible memory and super geek that is part of Sacha's process as a writer How she never intended to write non-fiction, but completely fell in love with it The way that an overnight 100K of hits on a series of blog posts she wrote about villains led to filling a hole in the market and a path of loving writing non-fiction How Sacha's new non-fiction title, The Anatomy of Prose, started off as a labor of love The purposeful branding on the covers of these three non-fiction books for writers and how they incorporate three core values The process of recording the audiobooks herself How Sacha and her wife have negotiated the landscape of raising a six year old and each of them getting their work done Katie Forest's book called Time Management for Writers and what she has to say about times of crisis How the hardest thing for Sacha in terms of her work-life balance is letting go of the parental guilt The challenge of finding books for a young reader whose comprehension for words has surpassed most content meant for people their age The fact that if Sacha is terrified of something she is compelled to jump right in Using made-up swear words   After the interview, Marks a few reflections about things the chat with Sacha made him think about. He also shares how listeners can win a signed copy of Sacha's latest book by commenting on this episode. (Opportunity to win ends May 29, 2020 when a random drawing of commenters will take place). He also thanks Patrons of the show and shares that Patrons will be automatically entered in a chance to win a set of Sacha's three books for writers, just by being patrons. The random draw for that will take place at the same time.   Links of Interest: Sacha Black's Website Sacha's Podcasts Sacha's Facebook Author Profile Sacha on Instagram Episode 132 - Lauding the Art of Music with Martin Popoff Episode 130 - Grace Under Pressure with Kevin J Anderson Episode 97 - 10 Tips for Marketing and Making Money off Your Short Fiction The Creative Penn - EP 487 - Writing and Selling Short Fiction with Matty Dalrymple Findaway Voices Patreon for Stark Reflections Mark's Proposal Video (Song "Liz" by Alicia Witt) Spud Wars: A New Helplessness (Parody Movie Trailer) Stuck in this House here with You (Parody Music Video)     Sacha Black is an author, rebel podcaster, speaker and developmental editor. She has five obsessions; words, expensive shoes, conspiracy theories, self-improvement, and breaking the rules. Sacha writes books about people with magical powers and other books about the art of writing. When she's not writing, she can be found laughing inappropriately loud, sniffing musty old books, fangirling film and TV soundtracks, or thinking up new ways to break the rules. She lives in Hertfordshire, England, with her wife and genius, giant of a son.   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

Joanna Penn is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers under J.F.Penn and also writes non-fiction for authors. She’s also a podcaster and an award-winning creative entrepreneur. Her site, TheCreativePenn.com has been voted in the Top 100 sites for writers by Writer's Digest.TRANSCRIPT AVAILABLESHOW LINKS:Written World Podcast: WrittenWorld.usSubscribe to my YouTube Channel: youtube.com/c/KevinTumlinsonWordslinger Podcast on YouTube: youtube.com/c/wordslingerpodcastAuthor.Email: author.emailIndie Author Blueprint: indieauthorblueprint.comGUEST LINKS:Website:: www.TheCreativePenn.com , www.TheCreativePenn.com/voicedoubleAmazon Author Page:: https://www.amazon.com/Joanna-Penn/e/B002BM8ICWTwitter Handle:: @thecreativepennFacebook Page:: https://www.facebook.com/TheCreativePenn/How can people join your mailing list?: www.thecreativepenn.com/blueprintMENTIONS- https://www.descript.com/- https://wavve.co/- Otter.aiSPONSORS:DRAFT2DIGITAL: Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslingerACORNS: Start an Acorns account today and get FREE MONEY! kevintumlinson.com/acornsAUDIBLE.COM: Get a FREE 30-day trial of Audible and listen to any audiobook in their vast library, when you go to http://audibletrial.com/wordslinger

Joanna Penn spent the last ten years designing a career as an authorpreneur. As a self-published author, business owner, and podcaster, she thrives on self-investment and brand recognition. Penn is most known for her international and award-winning podcast, The Creative Penn. She has written many titles for independent writers including How To Market a Book and Successful Self-Publishing. In addition, Joanna publishes a unique brand of dark fiction under the name J.F. Penn. When she isn’t writing, she runs Curl Up Press and speaks professionally around the world.From Amazon.com:Joanna Penn is a bestselling author, international speaker and award-winning entrepreneur based in Bath, England. Her site, www.TheCreativePenn.com helps authors with creativity, writing, publishing, book marketing and creative entrepreneurship. It has been voted one of the top 100 sites for authors by Writers Digest. Joanna has a popular podcast, The Creative Penn, and a YouTube Channel.Whether you’re traditionally published or indie, writing a good book is only the first step in becoming a successful author. The days of just turning a manuscript into your editor and walking away are gone. If you want to succeed in today’s publishing world, you need to understand every aspect of the business - editing, formatting, marketing, contracts. It all starts with a good book, then the real work begins.Join international bestselling author J.D. Barker and indie powerhouse, J. Thorn, as they gain unique insight and valuable advice from the most prolific and accomplished authors in the business.In this episode, you’ll discover:How to find an enjoyable careerHow to establish a brandWhy time comes before moneyHow to scale a productWhy to invest in yourselfLinks:Joanna Penn - https://jfpenn.com/The Creative Penn Podcast - https://www.thecreativepenn.com/Books and Travel Podcast - https://www.booksandtravel.page/listen/Successful Self-Publishing by Joanna Penn - https://books2read.com/PennSelfPublishingHow To Market a Book by Joanna Penn - https://books2read.com/HowToMarketABookJ. D. Barker - http://jdbarker.com/J. Thorn - https://theauthorlife.com/Music by Nicorus - https://cctrax.com/nicorus/dust-to-dust-ep Voice Over by Rick Ganley - http://www.nhpr.com and recorded at Mill Pond Studio - http://www.millpondstudio.comContact - https://writersinkpodcast.com/contact/ *Full disclosure: Some of the links are affiliate links. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

For more show notes, tools and resources, please visit: https://www.feisworld.com/blog/joanna-penn  Joanna Penn (https://www.thecreativepenn.com/) helps authors make a living writing through her bestselling books, courses and podcast. She's an award-winning entrepreneur, international professional speaker and also writes bestselling thrillers and dark fantasy novels. Trivia Joanna Penn’s main website - thecreativepenn.com has over 800,000 unique visitors each month She is from the UK and she currently lives in London She posted her first blog post on TheCreativePenn.com on December 3rd, 2018 She runs a 6-figure business today. (She hit 6-figure for the first time in 2015 and her husband joined the business shortly after) Joanna has been podcasting for over 10 years before it was called podcasting (but downloadable audios) She has two podcasts - The Creative Penn Podcast and her new podcast called Books and Travel She’s on Patreon and has nearly 700 patrons (as of October 2019)   Cheat Sheet In this episode, we talk about: How Joanna got started How you can begin doing your creative work (writing, podcasting, filmmaking, whatever it may be) Why it’s important to start a business you're passionate about and you can be consistent The truth about finding your niche The trends of podcasting over the past 10 years (and why you should consider getting transcripts for your podcast - Joanna uses Trint.com) Why your listeners want to learn more about you What to avoid as a creator (hint: create a big bucket for your brand so you can change over time) How Joanna created “scalable income” and what these income streams are (her incomes is currently 95% scalable)   Favorite Quotes Find role models who are making a living in the way that you want to. And that's not just about like the products they have. It's about the lifestyle they live. Find someone who's making money and has a life that you would like to live and then see how they did it. The idea of scalable, the fact that it's not about your time. These are sort of principles that can free you from the day job mentality.   People Mentioned Tony Robbins Yaro Starak Robert Kiyosaki  

Today's guest has written 28 books and sold over 500,000 books in 84 countries and 5 languages. But it didn't start that way. In 2007, when her first book didn't sell, she resolved to solve that problem by learning marketing and the book publishing industry. And that she did, so well in fact that today, Joanna Penn is an Award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, who also writes and publishes non-fiction books and courses for authors. In 2011, after 3 years of research, study and application, Joanna Penn and her husband downgraded their lifestyle so they could leave their jobs and focus full time on Joanna's author business. Today, Joanna—along with her husband and business partner—run their own small press publishing company, Curl Up Press. In addition to being a prolific fiction and non-fiction author, Joanna teaches authors how to make a living from your books through her courses and books, along with a ton of free information on her fabulous podcast and website… called… what else but, TheCreativePenn.com. We're thrilled to welcome none other than the lovely Joanna Penn! Conversation Points:Joanna's story and background Writing her first book Making the leap from job to self-employed The craft versus the business Downsizing lifestyle in the beginning Starting with your end goals as a writer Joanna's creative and business habits How Joanna started writing fiction Helping her dad publish a book Co-writing a book with her mom How Joanna plans her year Maintaining health as a creator Creating habits around your lifestyle Travel, research, and goals for books Joanna's new podcast Multiple income streams Future of voice and voice AI for authors Final advice for writers Joanna's future goals and vision “Figure out who you are, what you want, and your definition of success. Then figure out what you're willing to do, to get to that.”~Joanna Penn, author, podcaster, writer RESOURCEShttps://www.thecreativepenn.com/timeline/ (The Creative Penn website (Joanna's non-fic site)) https://jfpenn.com/ (JF Penn website (Joanna's novels)) https://www.amazon.com/Joanna-Penn/e/B002BM8ICW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2&qid=1561056548&sr=1-2&linkCode=ll2&tag=icd-p-20&linkId=c4d21b79d961e286ca9210326ad5fb3c&language=en_US (Joanna's non-fiction books on Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/J-F-Penn/e/B00AVLL4WG/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1561056502&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll2&tag=icd-p-20&linkId=affea23eb1280d179897d08499c3a2a8&language=en_US (Joanna's fiction books on Amazon) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnFC-s2nOtI (Deep Fake Voice AI) http://icreatedaily.com/90-day-goals-journal (90 Day Goals Journal & Planner)   https://icreatedailypodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Joanna-Penn-Quote.jpg () https://www.icreatedaily.com/gratitude-journal/ (A movement for creators serious about their art.)https://www.icreatedaily.com/free-goals-planner/ (The Day is the Way.)https://www.icreatedaily.com/store/ (iCreateDaily!)

Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, and Orna Ross, director of the Alliance of Independent Authors, explain copyright in this edition of the AskALLi Advanced Self-Publishing Salon. Think copyright is boring? Think again. Copyright controversies have seen people take to the streets in recent months, sign petitions, boycott certain companies, and even black out Wikipedia. As big content, big tech and big legal fight court battles, Joanna and Orna talk about what it all means for the independent author, and ALLi’s new Copyright Bill of Rights. Plus: should authors try to stop piracy? And more! Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, http://selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish! About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. For more information about Joanna, visit her website: http://thecreativepenn.com Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller’s “100 top people in publishing”. She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. For more information about Orna, visit her website: http://www.ornaross.com

Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, and Orna Ross, director of the Alliance of Independent Authors, explain how to scale your author business without compromising your creativity or giving up on your life. Topics discussed this week include: What you really want Diversity of products Multiple streams of income How to build positive routines Tools and teams And more! Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, http://selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish! About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. For more information about Joanna, visit her website: http://thecreativepenn.com Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller’s “100 top people in publishing”. She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. For more information about Orna, visit her website: http://www.ornaross.com

Claire's guest today is Joanna Penn, who's a bit of a superstar in the world of self-publishing. She's the author of 28 books to date, including thrillers and non-fiction to help authors with their careers, and she's an award-winning creative entrepreneur, podcaster, and professional speaker. Her website, TheCreativePenn.com, has been named as one of the Top 100 sites for writers by Writer's Digest. She talks about her own career journey, the state of self-publishing now and how it has changed, and more. If you're an aspiring author, this episode is full of practical tips -- as well as a lot of encouragement! Books Mentioned on the Podcast: Valley of Dry Bones, by JF Penn How To Write Non-Fiction, by Joanna Penn Successful Self-Publishing, by Joanna Penn Map of Shadows, by JF Penn A Thousand Fiendish Angels, by JF Penn Crypt of Bone, by JF Penn Danse Macabre, by Stephen King Rot & Ruin, by Jonathan Maberry State of Play: Under the Skin of the Modern Game, by Michael Galvin. Four Feet Under: Thirty Untold Stories of Homelessness in London, by Tamsen Courtenay. The Island, by M A Bennett Prague Spring, by Simon Mawer Unscripted, by Claire Handscombe (A note on my book links: they usually take you to Amazon, and I get a few pence per sale at no extra cost to you if you click them and buy from there, which will help me make this podcast viable long-term. But better than Amazon, who are, let's be honest, not the greatest, is Blackwells or Waterstones, or, even better, your local independent bookshop. If you live in the US or elsewhere further afield, you can find UK books at Book Depository (also owned by Amazon) at a good price and with no postage cost, or sometimes at Wordery.com, or you can buy them from Amazon US, or, even better, an independent bookshop.) ***** Support Claire on Patreon to get bonus content and personalised book recommendations. Buy Brit Lit Podcast merch to show your love for your podcast and help support it. Pre-order Claire's novel, Unscripted, help make the book happen, and get rewards too. For daily news and views from British books and publishing, follow the Brit Lit Blog. Questions? Comments? Need a book recommendation? Email Claire at britlitpodcast@gmail.com ***** The Brit Lit Podcast Instagram / Twitter / Facebook / Website Claire Twitter / Facebook / Blog / Novel Joanna Penn Twitter / Website / Podcast

#39: That is Joanna Penn, an award-nominated New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers under J.F.Penn and also writes non-fiction for authors. She’s a professional speaker and award-winning entrepreneur. Her website, TheCreativePenn.com is regularly voted one of the Top 10 sites for writers. I met Joanna at Youpreneur Summit in London, she was one of the fantastic speakers, her presentation successfully persuaded all 300 plus attendants to write our next books.  This is one of those episodes you probably want to download it, so you can listen and take notes again. Why? Just look at what we are about to learn: Key Lessons From This Episode: Her journey from highly-paid cubicle slave to fulltime multiple 6-figure income earner, mainly from her books. The right way to review the pros and cons of the self-publishing and traditional publishing: As a business owner, your end goal for the book The formats you desire to publish The amount of control you desire for the book How to write books that sell Which platforms you’d like to be on Financial planning for publishing your books Possible income streams from your books Major benefits for self-publishing How to do time-budgeting for your book writing process The right way to price your books Now, let’s chat with Joanna! Important Links & Mentions in this episode: Joanna’s Website: https://www.thecreativepenn.com (https://www.thecreativepenn.com) Joanna’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/thecreativepenn Subscribe + Review on iTunes: https://kellybaader.com/review (https://kellybaader.com/review) Subscribe + Listen on Spotify  https://kellybaader.com/Spotify (https://kellybaader.com/Spotify) Thank You for Tuning In! I hope you enjoyed the conversation as much as I did. Joanna has pulled back the curtains and showed us what it really takes to become a successful author and business owner, in this case by writing, publishing, and marketing our books in the right way.  Did you know you can listen to our show on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Tunein, GooglePlay, Android, and Stitcher. That means, if you have Alexa from Amazon at home, you can also give the commend to play our show, pretty cool, right? Please do Subscribe + Review at https://kellybaader.com/review (https://kellybaader.com/review) . It helps more people can find the show, my team and I would really appreciate it! Remember, YOU Matter! See you in the next episode.

Joanna Penn is an author, speaker and entrepreneur.  Award-nominated author, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers under J.F.Penn. She also writes inspirational non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning creative entrepreneur and international professional speaker. Her site, TheCreativePenn.com is regularly voted one of the top 10 sites for writers and self-publishers.   https://www.thecreativepenn.com/   StoryHinge http://storyhinge.com Where we dig deeper into story and story creation.  We amplify personal stories to consider more possibility and realize more potential and happiness in life.

Joanna Penn (@thecreativepenn) is one of the leaders in helping self-published, or I should say "indie" authors, find their way. She has been self-publishing since 2009. She's written 27 books under 3 different pen names, and she earns a multi-six-figure income. She writes about writing and running an indie author business at thecreativepenn.com, and she has a podcast called The Creative Penn. Regular listeners know that I recently self-published for the first time. In the process of self-publishing, I've discovered a whole new world. I used to think that self-publishing would be a step down for me. After all, I had a traditional publisher for my first book. It was nice to have the vote of confidence, and the advance check, from the publisher. And it was nice to have the support on editing, design, and distribution. But it turns out there's more and more opportunity in self-publishing. You have full control over your writing, and you're going to be responsible for your most of your marketing anyway. You actually have more control over that as a self-published author. There are more six-figure authors than ever. A recent survey from Written Word Media found that, in 2017, the number of authors making $100,000 or more jumped by 70%. In this episode, you'll learn: Why is "self-published" the wrong term. I keep saying "self-publishing," and I'll probably keep saying it, but Joanna prefers the term "indie author." Why is that? How can you hit the New York Times' best-seller list as an indie author? Joanna has done it. She explains why she thinks it's not such a big deal. Why have pen names? As I said Joanna publishes under three different names, which I think is a very cool and interesting way to break down creative resistance. But I was surprised to hear why she does it. Buy The Heart to Start on Amazon You have something to offer the world. Break through fear, self-doubt, and distractions to finally make it real. Buy The Heart to Start. Donate on Patreon Supporters are currently covering more than half of production costs for Love Your Work. Support the show, get early access to episodes, as well as bonus masterclasses and office hours with me. Sign up at kadavy.net/donate. Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Show Notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/joanna-penn-podcast/

EP#80: Welcome to AskALLi, the self-Publishing advice weekly broadcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi). In this, our monthly advanced salon, Orna Ross, ALLi Director, and Advisor Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, analyse the latest tools and trends of interest to experienced indie authors. Topics discussed this week include: An update on Orna and Joanna's personal projects ALLi's plans for the London Book Fair Changing the name of ALLi's online publishing conference for authors: from "Indie Author Fringe" to "Self-Publishing Advice Conference" ... and why An update on Amazon, KDP, and Apple Books, Kobo, Nook, and Walmart Complete reliance on Amazon is not a good business model Author Earnings Report... is it wrongly named? Need for personal branding for authors as Facebook and other organic reach declines Joanna focusing more on YouTube in 2018 Selecting your social media outlet Orna finishing ALLi's white paper on Blockchain Joanna writing a nonfiction book on how to write a nonfiction book Don't put more time into any other website -- including Mark Zuckerberg's -- than you put into your own. Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include: ALLi Member Q&A with Dan Blank and Michael La Ronn Beginners' Salon with Jyotsna Ramachadaran and Iain Robb Wright Indie Voices - Interviews with Significant Players in Self-Publishing Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven’t already, is it time you joined us. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now... go write and publish. About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter: @thecreativepenn Orna Ross is an award-winning, bestselling novelist. She also writes poetry and nonfiction and is Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors and the Creativist Club. Her work for ALLi has seen her named "one of the 100 most influential people in publishing" (The Bookseller).  Connect with Orna on Twitter: @OrnaRoss

With her coauthor, Dr. Euan Lawson, Joanna Penn has just come out with a new book on living the writer’s life healthily - enjoy! Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers under J.F.Penn. She also writes inspirational non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning creative entrepreneur and international professional speaker. Her site, TheCreativePenn.com is regularly voted one of the top 10 sites for writers and self-publishers. How Do You Write Podcast: Explore the processes of working writers with bestselling author Rachael Herron. Want tips on how to write the book you long to finish? Here you'll gain insight from other writers on how to get in the chair, tricks to stay in it, and inspiration to get your own words flowing.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Leaving Her Job to Create a Multi Six Figure Online Business - A Writing Blogger Tells Her Story We're continuing our series of blogger stories, and handing the podcast over to you so you can tell your stories and tips of starting and growing your blogs. This series, which started with episode 221, is all part of the launch of our new (and completely free) ‘Start a Blog' course, which goes live on 10 January 2018. You can sign up to reserve your spot in the course at problogger.com/startablog. In today’s episode we hear from Joanna Penn, who has done amazing things with her blog at www.TheCreativePenn.com. Joanna blogs about fiction and non-fiction writing, independent publishing, and making a living from writing. And she's built an amazing business around that topic. I first met Joanna at the very first ProBlogger conference in Melbourne back in 2010. Joanna is English, but at the time she was living in Brisbane, Australia. Blogging and podcasting has allowed Joanna to move on from a cubicle job she really didn’t like and build a business that not only brings in a multiple six-figure income each year, but has also provided many opportunities for her to travel and speak on the topic she covers. Joanna’s story is one of my favorites in this series, so settle in and enjoy. Links and Resources for From Crying in the Bathroom at Work to a Multi Six Figure Online Business The Creative Penn Blogger Joanna Penn Canva PB094: 5 Mistakes Bloggers Make with SEO and What To Do About Them 194: 5 SEO Tools for Bloggers 221: From 0 to 500,000 Page Views a Month – A DIY Blogger Shares Her Story Register for ProBlogger's FREE Ultimate Guide to Start a Blog Course Facebook Group Full Transcript Expand to view full transcript Compress to smaller transcript view Darren: Hey there, it’s Darren Rowse from ProBlogger here. Welcome to Episode 228 of the ProBlogger Podcast. ProBlogger is a blog, a podcast, an event, job board, series of ebooks, and a course all designed to help you to start an amazing blog that’s gonna change the world in some way, and hopefully change your life too by building a bit of profit for you. You can learn more about ProBlogger at problogger.com. In today’s episode, we’re continuing our series of blogger stories which I started back in Episode 221. Essentially, this series is all about handing the podcast over to listeners so that I can share their stories of starting blogs. We’ve heard some amazing stories so far, and today I’ve got a really great one, an inspiring one for you. As I said, this started back in Episode 221, go back and listen to those previous episodes. They’re all relatively short stories, and some of the episodes actually have two or three bloggers sharing their stories as well. This is all leading up to our Start A Blog course which launches on the 10th of January, 2018, which is all designed to really help you to start a blog, or someone you know to start a blog. We all know someone who should be blogging, and my hope is that you’ll share that course with them. You can find the course and sign-up where you can register to be part of it at problogger.com/startablog. Please do feel free to share that with others. It’s a completely free course. In today’s episode, we’re hearing from a blogger who has done something quite amazing with blog and podcasting since she started. She has a blog on the topic of fiction and non-fiction writing, covers independent publishing, and making a living with your writing and has built an amazing business on that particular topic. The blogger’s name is Joanna Penn from thecreativepenn.com. I know many of you are familiar with Joanna already, because she’s been hanging around ProBlogger for years now. In fact, I first met her at the very first ProBlogger Conference back in 2010, back in Melbourne. Joanna is English,

EP#79: Welcome to Ask ALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. In a monthly salon type discussion, Orna Ross, Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors and Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, talk about the latest tools and trends of interest to emerging and experienced self-publishing authors. Topics discussed this week include: Choosing a micro niche Being an Author Entrepreneur Money for Writers How to create anything Successful author mindset Embracing business as an author The Author business model Author mindset Creating money and meaning The healthy writer The Role of creative rest and creative play Print on Demand ISBNs Global Markets Author Collaboration Writing Partnerships 2018 Self-Publishing Trends Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi’s free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller’s “100 top people in publishing”. She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Joanna Penn is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers under J.F.Penn. She also writes inspirational non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning creative entrepreneur and international professional speaker. Her site, TheCreativePenn.com is regularly voted one of the top 10 sites for writers and self-publishers. In this episode, Joanna discusses: How she got started writing The mindset needed for authors and writers to successfully go full-time How to diffuse comparisonitis and turn it into positive, productive energy The importance of writing down goals How to build your audience using the host of tools available to authors and writers The big advantages indie authors have over traditionally published authors What Patreon is and how she uses it to build her publishing empire through her podcast Resources Mentioned: The Creative Penn - Joanna's Podcast How to Market a Book - Her Book BookBub Freebooksy Get to Know Joanna: Website Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter YouTube Podcast Let's Hear from You: Leave a comment below Message me on Twitter Join my Facebook Group Share this show on Twitter or Facebook Leave a review on iTunes Subscribe to The Art & Business of Writing Podcast: iTunes Stitcher Google Play iHeart Radio 

My guest today is Joanna Penn, New York Times bestselling thriller writer. She writes inspirational non-fiction for aspiring authors. We talk about the business of being a writer, her habits, and routines, how she shapes her environment to fuel her creative work and shortcutting the process to get into the flow. I learned a lot from Joanna and appreciated her insights derived from her experience of leaving her day job to build a successful creative empire. She has excellent advice for self-publishing and marketing authors and compelling ideas, mindset shifts to make the work happen. You can find her work at TheCreativePenn.com

My guest today is Joanna Penn, New York Times bestselling thriller writer. She writes inspirational non-fiction for aspiring authors. We talk about the business of being a writer, her habits, and routines, how she shapes her environment to fuel her creative work and shortcutting the process to get into the flow. I learned a lot from Joanna and appreciated her insights derived from her experience of leaving her day job to build a successful creative empire. She has excellent advice for self-publishing and marketing authors and compelling ideas, mindset shifts to make the work happen. You can find her work at TheCreativePenn.com

Ep#76: Welcome to Ask ALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. In a monthly salon type discussion, Orna Ross, Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors and Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, talk about the latest tools and trends of interest to emerging and experienced self-publishing authors. Topics discussed this week include: Establishing yourself as an non-fiction influencer The stabilization of the author business model Writing more non-fiction Blockchain & Micro-payments Selling your books direct BookFunnel integration with direct sales channels Pronoun's closure The fundamentals of your author business Romance audiobook subscription model Going Global: The world outside the US New Podcasts for authors Starting an author podcast Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi’s free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller’s “100 top people in publishing”. She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss    

Ep#70: Welcome to Ask ALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. In a monthly salon type discussion, Orna Ross, Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors and Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, talk about the latest tools and trends of interest to emerging and experienced self-publishing authors. Topics discussed this week include: Benefits of Co-writing with other authors Putting Your Audience First Avoiding Author Stress and Burnout The Evolving World of Audiobooks The impact of Supermarket Discounting of Books The Changing Face of Self-Publishing Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi’s free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller’s “100 top people in publishing”. She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Every writer deals with fear and self doubt. In this episode, Ryan interviews prolific and international bestselling author Joanna Penn. She explains how mindset is what allowed her to leave a suffocating day job and build a writing and publishing empire. Regardless of where you are in your writing journey Joanna will inspire you to go further. But first, you have to deal with what's between your ears. Find Joanna Penn and her work at: TheCreativePenn.com.  Prolific Writer Takeaways: Mindset is essential for success. You have to write through the fear. You can make a living writing. Multiple streams of income. Know yourself. Recommended Resources: Software- Scrivener Books- Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield Books- Goals and Dreams by Kathryn Rusch Books- The Stand by Stephen King Free email course- theprolificwriter.net/free

Ep#65: Welcome to Ask ALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. In a monthly salon type discussion, Orna Ross, Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors and Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, talk about the latest tools and trends of interest to emerging and experienced self-publishing authors. Topics discussed this week include: Using Editors and Beta Readers The impact of dictating on a first draft Evolution of your writing process The importance of an author blog Are you a Rewriter or Polisher? Our new ALLi Publications Manager How to Create Anything Large Print Editions Physical Book Stores Blockchain for Books Amazon KDP Select Changes Micro Payments Facebook Chat Bots Authors carving their own path Benefits of Co-writing with other authors Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi’s free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller’s “100 top people in publishing”. She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Joanna Penn is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers under the pen name, J.F.Penn. She also writes inspirational non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning creative entrepreneur and international professional speaker. And her site, TheCreativePenn.com is regularly voted one of the top 10 sites for writers and self-publishers. Check out Joanna's stuff!https://www.thecreativepenn.comhttps://jfpenn.comhttps://curluppress.comMUSIC by Disasterpeace. The Story Studio — a podcast where an independent publishing company explores the world of self-publishing, independent art, and the future of storytelling. A show for filmmakers, authors, writers, comic book makers, crowdfunders, authorpreneurs, creators, and anyone looking to tell stories in the modern world. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ep#61: Welcome to Ask ALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. In a monthly salon type discussion, Orna Ross, Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors and Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, talk about the latest tools and trends of interest to emerging and experienced self-publishing authors. Topics discussed this week include: ALLi Weekly Podcast Series Development of Writers Being Creative & Increasing your Writing Output Joanna at Thrillerfest in New York & Self-Doubt Rebranding with New Book Covers Print and Bookstores Discoverability and Digital Marketing Being an Ethical Author & Self-Publishing Service Provider Amazon Kindle Storyteller Awards Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi’s free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller’s “100 top people in publishing”. She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#57: Welcome to Ask ALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. In a monthly salon type discussion, Orna Ross, Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors and Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, talk about the latest tools and trends of interest to emerging and experienced self-publishing authors. Topics discussed this week include: Orna Judging the Amazon Storyteller competition AskALLi's Getting your Self-Publishing Book into Bookstores publication update The new AskALLi Broadcast schedule and presenter changes Working with a writing coach Creative non-fiction techniques New book covers and Go Creative logos A summary of the Dublin Writers Conference How to Market a Book Third Edition publication schedule from Joanna Using dictation to improve punctuation How the length of your manuscript impacts audiobook sales Audiobook news from Draft2Digital ACX global updates Vanity Publishing discussion IPR License and Rights Multi-Currency pricing at PublishDrive Amazon's new smartphone.  Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi’s free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller’s “100 top people in publishing”. She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#55: Welcome to Ask ALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. In a monthly salon type discussion, Orna Ross, Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors and Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, talk about the latest tools and trends of interest to emerging and experienced self-publishing authors. Topics discussed this week include: Money and Creativity Where Readers Convene Amazon Buy Button How to Market a Book – 3rd Edition Choosing a Self-Publishing Service KDP Categories Dublin Writer's Conference What Penn pages are selling? New Amazon Charts Attention Economy Indie Author Fringe Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi's free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's “100 top people in publishing”. She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#54: Welcome to Ask ALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. In a monthly salon type discussion, Orna Ross, Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors and Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, talk about the latest tools and trends of interest to emerging and experienced self-publishing authors. Topics discussed this week include: Money and Creativity Where Readers Convene Amazon Buy Button How to Market a Book – 3rd Edition Choosing a Self-Publishing Service KDP Categories Dublin Writer’s Conference What Penn pages are selling? New Amazon Charts Attention Economy Indie Author Fringe Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi’s free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller’s “100 top people in publishing”. She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#51: Welcome to Ask ALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. In a monthly salon type discussion, Orna Ross, Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors and Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, talk about the latest tools and trends of interest to emerging and experienced self-publishing authors. Topics discussed this week include: Orna and Jo are back from travels (in San Francisco and New Zealand) and they discuss the international scene and what they experienced while touring The latest report from Author Earnings. News of Kobo Plus launching in the Netherlands The purchase of Bookouture by Hachett The importance of author self-empowerment.  Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi’s free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller’s “100 top people in publishing”. She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Ep#49: Welcome to Ask ALLi, the Self-Publishing Advice Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors. In a monthly salon type discussion, Orna Ross, Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors and Joanna Penn, of TheCreativePenn.com, talk about the latest tools and trends of interest to emerging and experienced self-publishing authors. Topics discussed this week include: Orna and Jo are back from travels (in San Francisco and New Zealand) and they discuss the international scene and what they experienced while touring The latest report from Author Earnings. News of Kobo Plus launching in the Netherlands The purchase of Bookouture by Hachett The importance of author self-empowerment.  Our weekly Self-Publishing Advice broadcast is brought to you by ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors. This Advanced Self-Publishing Salon is one of four regular shows, which include an ALLi Member Q&A, a beginners' salon and a special guest highlight presentation from the Indie Author Fringe, ALLi’s free online author conference. Find more author advice, tips and tools at our self-publishing advice center, www.selfpublishingadvice.org. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at www.allianceindependentauthors.org. Now, go write and publish. About the Hosts Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. She is also a professional speaker and entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporations across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller’s “100 top people in publishing”. She also publishes poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and is greatly excited by the democratising, empowering potential of author-publishing. Connect with Orna on Twitter @OrnaRoss Orna Ross and Joanna Penn launch the first episode of their Self-Publishing Salon. This month we welcomed the launch of our Self-Publishing Salon with Orna and Joanna. Usually this duo hosts our month Ask ALLi Q&A event to answer Member's self-publishing questions, but this Salon has a new format and instead of answering Member questions, they're having a conversation about what's going on in the publishing industry and about their own indie author events and experiences. Whereas our month Ask ALLi Q&A is aimed at emerging and experienced indie authors, the topics discussed in our Salon events will be skewed towards the more experienced authors who have already mastered industry terms and are familiar with the basics of self-publishing. Topics discussed this month are Digital Book World, The Data Guy, ISBNs, Audio books, Niche Markets, Box Sets, Pronoun, Microsoft, and Kobo. Visit our Membership site: http://allianceindependentauthors.org Visit our Self-Publishing Advice Centre http://selfpublishingadvice.org

  Hey there word nerds! Thanks for being here with me today. I’m so excited to share this interview with you. It’s a little bit different from what I usually do. Instead of being the one hosting the interview, in this episode I’m sharing an interview that I gave for my friend Joanna Penn on The Creative Penn Podcast. You might remember Joanna from episode 106 when she came on DIY MFA Radio and I got to interview her! She is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers under J.F.Penn and also writes nonfiction for authors. She’s also a professional speaker and award-winning entrepreneur. Her site, TheCreativePenn.com, is regularly voted one of the Top 10 sites for writers. She is a self-publishing superstar and I’m thrilled that she had me on her show. Embed Episode Here In this episode Joanna interviews me about: How I started DIY MFA, where I got that first glimmer of the idea, and how I built it into what you see today. The writer’s need for validation and why that “stamp of approval” needs to come from within. Honoring and understanding your process, and how there’s no right way to be a writer. The importance of author identity, and being the best version of yourself, but still be authentically you. I also share some of my signature DIY MFA techniques, like: The Angst Jar—what it is and why it’s my go-to tool for handling rejection, imposter syndrome, and any other curve ball my inner critic throws at me. The Revision Pyramid and how to use it so you can rock your post-NaNoWriMo revisions and make your manuscript sing. Visual outline techniques and why I’m so obsessed with design and graphics. Hint: It comes from my former life as a toy designer and psychology researcher. DIY MFA (the book!) Have you ever... Dreamed of writing a book but had no idea where to start? Started a writing project, but couldn’t stay motivated? Struggled to carve out time in your life for your writing? Searched for a writing community, but didn’t know where to look? Been overwhelmed by all the writing and publishing advice online? Order your very own copy direct from the publisher by clicking this affiliate link. As with any affiliate products we promote on this site, when you purchase via this link, DIY MFA gets a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you supporting DIY MFA! DIY MFA is the definitive guide for writers who can’t–or don’t want to–go back to school. Inspired by material I’ve created and compiled since the inception of this website, this is more than a writing guide in book form. Based on proven techniques and graduate-style curriculum, DIY MFA won’t just help you improve your writing skills, it will empower you to take control of your creative life. If DIY MFA were a school, this book would be the student handbook. It’s a one-stop-shop with all the fundamental elements from the website in one place. If you are new to DIY MFA, this book is the perfect springboard to get you going, and if you’ve taken one or more of our courses, this book will supplement and expand on what you learned. DIY MFA: Write with Focus, Read with Purpose, Build Your Community will help you get that graduate-level experience without going to school. Don’t put your life on hold for two or three years and accrue a huge amount of student debt. Instead, learn to recreate that MFA experience for yourself and seamlessly incorporate writing into your life. This book will show you how. I wrote this book for word nerds of all stripes, but particularly with these three particular writer groups in mind. Writers in the trenches: If you’re one of these writers, then you are in the thick of it, actively engaged in a writing project at this very moment. You work hard to improve your craft and are hungry to learn tools and skills you can apply to work-in-progress. This book will give you the techniques you crave. Serious newbies: Just because you’re new to writing doesn’t mean you’re not serious. If you’re one of these serious newbies, then you are motivated to learn all you can, so you can start your writing journey on the right foot. Learn how with this book. Career authors who need a boost: No matter how experienced a writer you are, sometimes you lose “that loving feeling” and it’s hard to get those words on the page. This book can help shake up some of those stale habits and get you pumped up about your writing again. Warning: If you are dabbler or dilettante looking for a “magic bullet” solution or a shortcut to success, this book is not for you. Seriously, it might spontaneously combust in your possession. (Just kidding. Sort of.) For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/127

J.F.Penn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers on the edge, as well as bestselling non-fiction for authors published under Joanna Penn. Joanna’s site for writers, TheCreativePenn.com has been voted one of the Top 10 sites for writers three years running. She is a professional speaker on creative entrepreneurship, digital publishing and internet marketing, and was voted one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. How Do You Write Podcast: Explore the processes of working writers with bestselling author Rachael Herron. Want tips on how to write the book you long to finish? Here you'll gain insight from other writers on how to get in the chair, tricks to stay in it, and inspiration to get your own words flowing.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers under J.F.Penn. She also writes inspirational non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning creative entrepreneur and international professional speaker. Her site, TheCreativePenn.com is regularly voted one of the top 10 sites for writers and self-publishers. Joanna has successfully grown her business from a side hustle to making over 100k a year writing full time so we talked about her process. We spoke about planning and making goal in Olympic year cycles (every 4 years) and talked about tips on how to grow your writing business and stay inspired. To connect with Joanna Penn and find out information on her podcast, you can go to www.thecreativepenn.com. You can connect at www.laurapowers.net. You can also find her on facebook via Write Hot and follow her on twitter @thatlaurapowers.

Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers under the name J.F.Penn. She also writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning creative entrepreneur and international professional speaker. Her site, TheCreativePenn.com is regularly voted one of the top 10 sites for writers and self-publishing and in this episode I talk to her about self-publishing audiobooks. We discuss how to use Amazon's ACX platform to find a narrator and arrange a royalty split, the issues of narrating the book yourself and the issue with Audible having the audiobook market sewn up. The post Audiobooks with Joanna Penn appeared first on Begin Self-Publishing.

Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, Professional Speaker, Coach & Entrepreneur. She was voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. She is currently based out of London, England but spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporates across the globe majorly in Australia and New Zealand for 11 years before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011.Her books include the ARKANE conspiracy thriller series, the London Psychic crime thrillers an d Risen Gods, a dark fantasy thriller. Joanna's site www.TheCreativePenn.com helps people achieve their dream of becoming an author, and she is the host of The Creative Penn Podcast.    Joanna's latest book Destroyer of Worlds, will be released on March 31, 2016. She has invited listeners particularly from India to read her book.Shownotes and ways to reach out to her are available at www.mykitaab.in/joanna In this podcast episode, Joanna and I discuss her journey as an author. We also talk about audiobooks, translations, publishing across platforms and international markets. In other words, we cover a variety of topics which are near and dear to MyKitaab Podcast. Joanna also offers her advice to authors who are looking to get their book published.

Prolific, multi-brand entrepreneur Joanna Penn has turned her passion for writing into a successful career as both an educator and bestselling indie author.   Rainmaker.FM is Brought to You By   Discover why more than 80,000 companies in 135 countries choose WP Engine for managed WordPress hosting. Start getting more from your site today! As her dark, alter ego — J.F.Penn — she has notched chart-toppers on both The New York Times and USA Today bestsellers lists. As a nonfiction writer, professional speaker, podcaster, and entrepreneur, she’s been voted one of The Guardian UK’s Top 100 Creative Professionals. Her site — TheCreativePenn.com — offers both publishing and marketing resources and is regularly voted a Top 10 website for writers. Join us for this two-part interview. If you missed the first half you can find it here: How Bestselling Author Joanna Penn Writes: Part One In Part Two of the file Joanna Penn and I discuss: Why It’s Still Hard to Write a Book in the Future How Getting Lost Can Inspire Your Writing Why the ‘Destination’ (and Reward of Writing) is the Journey How Trusting Your Creative Curiosity Can Reap Rewards Listen to The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience below ... Download MP3 Subscribe by RSS Subscribe in iTunes The Show Notes The Creative Penn J.F. Penn Thriller Author The Creative Penn Podcast Books by Steven Pressfield Joanna Penn on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter

Prolific, multi-brand entrepreneur Joanna Penn has turned her passion for writing into a successful career as both an educator and bestselling indie author.   Rainmaker.FM is Brought to You By   Discover why more than 80,000 companies in 135 countries choose WP Engine for managed WordPress hosting. Start getting more from your site today! As her dark, alter ego — J.F.Penn — she has notched chart-toppers on both The New York Times and USA Today bestsellers lists. As a nonfiction writer, professional speaker, podcaster, and entrepreneur, she’s been voted one of The Guardian UK’s Top 100 Creative Professionals. Her site — TheCreativePenn.com — offers both publishing and marketing resources and is regularly voted a Top 10 website for writers. Join us for this two-part interview. In Part One of the file Joanna Penn and I discuss: How to Turn Your Passion into a Career The Cumulative Successes of Creating Every Day How Rewarding Your Inner Child Can Boost Productivity Why Input Equals Output for Writers How to Write Books While Competing in an Ultra-Marathon Listen to The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience below ... Download MP3 Subscribe by RSS Subscribe in iTunes The Show Notes How Bestselling Author Joanna Penn Writes : Part Two The Creative Penn J.F. Penn Thriller Author The Creative Penn Podcast Noisli.com Joanna Penn on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter

Joanna Penn, NYT Bestselling Indie Author and popular podcaster, has a masters degree in theology from Oxford. Joanna then spent 13 years working in IT consulting. She would implement accounts payable into large corporates.  Like many cubicle slaves… she was paid well, traveled lots, had what you are “meant to want” in life and was miserable. She tried everything to get out of IT. Like starting a scuba diving company in New Zealand (which tanked). She did property investing in Australia, which she couldn’t care less about. She tried lots of things and always went back to her day job. Three years ago she left her day job to become a full time author and professional speaker.

J.F.Penn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers on the edge, as well as bestselling non-fiction for authors published under Joanna Penn. Joanna’s site for writers, TheCreativePenn.com has been voted one of the Top 10 sites for writers three years running. She is a professional speaker on creative entrepreneurship, digital publishing and internet marketing, and was voted one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013. In this interview we talk about career change, writing, success and author entrepreneurship. Food for thought "You have to define what success is or you never know when you get there! Fiction is a long term game. If you've only got one book - you need another book. Paying somebody for cover design is smartest marketing you can do. Focus on one thing at a time. Finish your book! Useful links Joanna Penn's fiction website Joanna Penn's non-fiction website The Creative Penn podcast Joanna Penn's books Blog post: The Arc Of The Indie Author Journey. From First Book To CEO Of Your Global Media Empire Author Earnings Don't forget to download my e book "You Wrote A Book: Now What?" for free

Joanna is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers and inspirational non-fiction, as well as a professional speaker and entrepreneur. She was voted one of The Guardian's Top 100 creative professionals 2013 and her site TheCreativePenn.com is one of the Top 10 blogs for writers.

Joanna Penn is an author, speaker, and creative entrepreneur. She founded TheCreativePenn.com as a home for all her her writing projects. She jumped from corporate years ago to begin her writing career. She creates fiction, non-fiction and blogs and shares her story about what it takes to produce content in droves, her advice on how to be in the business of writing and how to self-publish successfully. She is full of great information!

Janna Penn describes her path to making multiple streams of income through her writing.