Inspiration and information about writing craft and author business. For independent creatives.
Going indie, From blog to book, Proving demand for your stories, and Finding finishing energy
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Hello Creatives, It is very hot here in the UK and I am still battling my Masters dissertation. I am dredging up all my finishing energy for this one! I'm also about to start narrating the audiobook for How to Write, Publish, and Market Short Stories, coming end Sept/October, and I have some website rejigging for my fiction self as J.F. Penn. Lots to do! Are you struggling with a writing or author-related project? Click reply and let me know. We're all in it together this August! From blog to community to book: A non-fiction author's journeyHow can content marketing in a tight niche build the audience that launches your book? And how do you decide whether to hand your self-published bestseller to a traditional publisher. Suzanne Smith shares what she learned in four years of going from blog to book deal. In the intro, how to stand out as a writer in the age of AI, and thoughts on asset maintenance. Click here to listen or read the transcript Going Indie, Publishing Innovation, and the Challenges of Book MarketingHow can you tell where the real innovation in publishing is happening right now, and why is it emerging from the indie side first? How do you market your own book when you've spent 35 years marketing everyone else's? John Bond talks about Going Indie and what he's learned about authors who last. In the intro, my thoughts on writing with AI, Charles Dickens and encouragement for the 3-year-old dancing to K-Pop at the wedding, and the end of an era. Click here to listen or read the transcript How to prove demand for your storiesHow can building an audience in advance help your stories reach the people who make movies? And how can you prove there's demand for your book or screenplay before you've written it? Brooks Elms shares his advice after more than 20 years as a WGA screenwriter. In the intro, what doesn't work for book marketing and what does. Click here to listen or read the transcript
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Joanna Penn, The Creative Penn
Inspiration and information about writing craft and author business. For independent creatives.
Hello Creatives, I've been working hard on the Fourth Edition of How to Market a Book, which will be pretty extensive! (and hopefully out in Dec/Jan). But it gets a little intense at the desk, so yesterday I went to Kew Gardens in London to see the Henry Moore sculpture exhibition for a (much needed) Artist's Date. I love large sculptures as they change as you move around them and the light and shadow is part of the experience. Moore was also frequently inspired by bones, as of course, am I!...
Hello Creatives, We are heading into the last few months of the year, so I hope you are doing well with your creative goals for 2026! I'm just back from an inspiring trip to Los Angeles to attend the Moonshots Live conference, and I also visited the cathedral, and tried my first Waymo, which was fun! I am now focused on How to Market a Book Fourth Edition, so please click here to do my short survey before 7 October. It should be out on my store in December, and everywhere in early 2027....
Hello Creatives, I'm just back from a week's walking in the Algarve in Portugal, a much-needed break after finishing my Masters dissertation and my little book on writing short stories. Multi-day longer distance walking always helps clear the mind — and the creative cycle begins to turn once more ... I'm working on the 4th Edition of How to Market a Book next, and if you want to sell more print books in-person, check out Mark Leslie Lefebvre's Kickstarter for A Book in Hand: Optimizing Print...