How important is solitude for the creative process, and how can you balance finding solitude for your creative work with everything else that's going on in your busy life? In this week's episode, I catch up with Bryan Crosson. He's the author of the Lonesome Thread , and his book is all about creativity, solitude for creatives, and why it's so important. In his book, Bryan draws on his experiences when he was serving in Afghanistan, and he relates that to creative work and writing. The book part...
Jul 04, 2022•28 min
How can you write creative non-fiction? And what makes it stand out? I am fascinated by creative non-fiction. It is a type of writing where the writer or author injects something of themself from their personal life or a little bit of creativity into the work. In other words, it's not simply researching a topic and turning it into another dry business book. Writing creative non-fiction can be a challenge. In addition to selecting an intriguing idea, you need to find the best way to express that ...
Jun 27, 2022•32 min
How can you collaborate with other writers and authors? And what should you know before you decide to write an article, essay, or book with someone else? This week's interview is all about collaborative writing, and I caught up with two authors from Nebraska, Becky Breed, and Lucy Adkins, to discuss the process. They are collaborative authors who have known each other for over 20 years. Collaborative writing involves embarking on a creative project, whether big like a book or small like an essay...
Jun 20, 2022•34 min
In this episode, I caught up with Sharlene Anders, better known as Shallalla who is a creativity coach based in Germany. Shallalla turns the tables during our conversation and asks me questions about my creative work and what I do when I feel like a project doesn’t have any meaning. Like all authors, I enjoy the process of writing. But when I was writing my parenting book, I would turn on the news and be faced with grim stories about the virus, lockdowns, and other world issues. It left me feeli...
Jun 13, 2022•34 min
If you're a regular listener to this podcast, you know I stick to a format where I interview an expert on a particular topic. I talk to them about their background and ask them about their writing process and journey. I like the interview format, but there are other formats that you can use for podcasts like the one popularized by Serial, where you script out an episode in advance and tell a story within the episode. That takes a lot more work, but it's an excellent format for writers. I wanted ...
Jun 06, 2022•32 min
Steve Krug is the author of the book Don’t Make Me Think . He’s rewritten the book three times, and so far, it’s sold over 600,000 copies. During the interview, I got into why he decided to rewrite the book several times and how the book helped him build a business around writing technical non-fiction for his audience. Steve also talks to me about what he’s up to these days and gives some valuable tips for overcoming problems in the creative process like procrastination and writer’s block. Liste...
May 30, 2022•33 min
As a writer, you may be concerned that AI writing tools will replace you. The answer is no, at least not just yet. I've tested multiple tools, and while they're helpful and save time, they won't help if you are writing something complex or requiring creativity or in-depth research. What they can do is help overcome problems like writer's block. They can help you figure out topics you need to cover in your articles and content. They can also help you develop headlines, meta descriptions, and othe...
May 23, 2022•31 min
Jessica Artemisia Mathieu is a sci-fi, fantasy author and digital marketing agency owner. She's also the creator of The Sovereigntii, which uses NFTs on blockchain as a new form of storytelling, community, and income. Jessica is one of the few writers I've talked to so far who's successfully using NFT as part of her writing career. I wanted to find out how she's doing it and how writers can get involved today. My key takeaway from talking to Jessica is that we're still incredibly early, so if yo...
May 16, 2022•31 min
Dr. Joan Smoller is a creative non-fiction writer, a writing coach, a former lecturer at NYU, and author of three books. She’s also written for multiple high-profile publications in the United States, including the New York Times . In this interview, she talks about the power of non-fiction, how writers could use it to inspire social change and what non-fiction has done for her. Joan demonstrates that a writing career can be diverse. She has taught, instructed, edited, has prepared multimillion-...
May 09, 2022•29 min
Jay Clouse is the host of the popular podcast, Creative Elements. A couple of months ago, I took one of Jay's podcasting courses, which changed how I think about podcasting and creative work. In this episode, Jay and I discuss the value of consistency. He's interviewed several top performers, like Seth Godin, and turning up and doing consistent work is often the key to their success. Jay also says that it's not too late to start a podcast, write a book, or whatever your creative goals are. Jay h...
May 02, 2022•32 min
Amardeep Parmar is a content creator and a prolific Medium writer. Within around two years, he built up approximately 60,000 followers. One of his articles went viral, he's got millions of views, and he's featured in top-tier publications online like Wired and Morning Brew. Amar's experience shows that if you feel like it's too late to start online writing or it's too hard to build an online portfolio and stand apart, you can still do it. It is possible to start writing today and have readers an...
Apr 25, 2022•35 min
Debbie Gartner is known as The Flooring Girl. Her website is all about home improvements, but the emails she sends to her list are all about SEO, creating content, and affiliate marketing. I wanted to find out how somebody can run two different business models and earn a living. Debbie is very open and transparent about what works in her business and what she earns from it. She produces monthly income reports where you can see the types of digital courses that people are interested in and she pr...
Apr 18, 2022•29 min
Dan Clarke is the founder of Brain.fm, a service designed to help you focus on your task. It was popularized in 2016 via an AppSumo deal but has gone through many iterations since then. Brain.fm helps you manage distractions which can be a real challenge for writers. Distractions can take you away from your flow state and affect your writing. Dan Clark talked with me about how Brain.fm evolved and how writers and creatives can use it. Dan also states that it pays to understand what time of the d...
Apr 11, 2022•55 min
The internet thrives on great content. Somebody has to write it, and while some people say AI could replace writers, that’s not going to happen anytime soon. That's a topic I talk about in this week’s interview with the expert content marketer, Pam Didner. Smart content marketers write books, articles, or publish content that aligns with a product or service that they create. Non-fiction authors like Pam will write a book about a topic which potential clients find interesting so they may then hi...
Apr 04, 2022•33 min
Matty Dalrymple has been the host of The Indy Author Podcast since 2016 and published her first book in 2013. She's the author of the Ann Kinnear suspense novels and suspense shorts and the Lizzy Ballard thrillers. In this episode of the podcast, I ask Matty why she decided to set up her podcast and if it’s too late for aspiring podcasters today. We also get a little bit into the workflow of podcasting and the various software and hardware that she uses. Matty also describes how podcasting has s...
Mar 28, 2022•36 min
Jon Tromans is a fellow podcaster. His podcast is called Not Another Marketing Podcast, and he uses content marketing to build his business and provide consultancy services to his clients. It can be challenging to balance creative work, like writing a book or writing stories, with content marketing, so I wanted to talk to Jon about his productivity tips for creatives. Jon explains that if you want to build a lasting business, you need to experiment with different formats like blogging and podcas...
Mar 21, 2022•31 min
Treasa Edmond has been an accomplished ghostwriter for over 15 years. She's written across many different genres and, in this interview, she talks about how much ghostwriters can earn, how to get started, and the types of questions you should ask clients before you decide to work with them. You'll learn a lot from this interview, especially if you are a freelancer who struggles to find clients and never really negotiate a proper contract. Treasa covers both of these topics in this interview. Tre...
Mar 14, 2022•31 min
Mariah Sinclair is an Arizona-based book cover designer who recently set up and sold a book cover directory. I wanted to know what a book cover directory is, how authors can use them, and how her sale went. I also asked Mariah to critique a book cover for one of my earlier books that didn’t sell well. Mariah gave me some interesting insights that I could use if I decided to relaunch the book at some point. Book covers are an investment in your craft. I’ve spent anywhere from $100 or $200 to over...
Mar 07, 2022•35 min
If you've not heard of it before, the Zettelkasten Method is a way that will help you collect and organize your research, thoughts, and ideas, and any information you come across in a structured manner or a single system. It has its origins in the mid part of the 20th century. The German scholar Niklas Luhmann is the man behind it, and he used the Zettelkasten Method to write over 70 books and more than 400 different articles. His Zettelkasten method was a paper-based system. When Niklas read or...
Feb 28, 2022•20 min
In this episode, I talk to Geoff Kullman about his writing journey and how he became an instructor in the art of copywriting. Geoff also helps authors turn their ideas and non-fiction books into emails, landing pages, and other digital assets, which help them earn more money. Geoff taught me that there are different types of copywriting. If you’re uncomfortable with the idea of using words to sell, then take heart because copywriting can help you convince your audience to make a decision that’s ...
Feb 23, 2022•30 min
NFTs are a topic that has been in the news a lot lately. I recently went down the NFT rabbit hole by reading up on the subject, joining Discord channels, watching videos on YouTube, and reading articles. One person who knows more than me is this week’s guest, Shane Neeley. He wrote a fantastic article about how writers and authors can use NFTs to sell some of their books and increase their income. The other thing we got into in this week’s interview is using AI writing software. I was fascinated...
Feb 14, 2022•26 min
The self-publishing landscape has changed quite a bit since I self-published my first book in 2014. It was easy to sell your book using Amazon ads back then. These days, you've got to invest a lot more time and money and learn the basics of Amazon advertising. That's on top of learning how to commission a book cover, finding an editor, and the rest! But what if you don't want to do all of that? An alternative is to work with a small indie press. Maria Dismondy is the founder of Cardinal Rule Pre...
Feb 07, 2022•22 min
Amy S. Peele is a successful indie author who’s written across several genres, including medical mysteries and, more recently, rom-com. Amy says that when you start writing in a new genre, it’s natural to feel a sense of imposter syndrome. After all, this is something that you haven’t written in before. But, with a little bit of practice and some know-how about the genre, you can easily overcome this natural part of the creative process. Amy proves that it is possible to build a writing career o...
Jan 31, 2022•34 min
Katja Kaine is the founder of The Novel Factory, a piece of software that makes it easier to write compelling stories. Katja developed the software and now uses real-world feedback from readers to improve the product. Katja talks about how she balances creative work and writing with running a business. She told me she writes for between two and three hours in the morning before she starts work on her business. The remainder of her day involves working in her Novel Factory business. She handles a...
Jan 24, 2022•29 min
If you've never tried affiliate marketing before, it can be an excellent way to earn some passive income. I've been using affiliate marketing for some time, and I've also promoted some courses directly as an affiliate. How it works is, when there's a big course launch, you get invited to recommend it to your audience by an affiliate manager. Matt McWilliams is one of the most well-known affiliate managers online today. I met Matt several years ago online when he invited me into the affiliate pro...
Jan 17, 2022•36 min
Julie Broad is the author of Self-Publish & Succeed and she is an expert when it comes to book launches. If you've written a book and have been thinking about its launch, there are several strategies that you can try. On her YouTube channel, Book Launchers, Julie offers practical advice about how to launch your book on Amazon, get reviews, and sell more books. I caught up with Julie to get some first-hand advice on launching a book. In this episode, we discuss. Why are there so many boring s...
Jan 10, 2022•29 min
Many of you who listen to Become a Writer Today want to write a book and take action and do it. Others say they want to write a book or have a book inside of them, but somehow, that goal or that intention never actually happens. The best way to start writing your book is to think about your intention. Do you want to be more creative, build a business, make an impact or share your stories? Or is it simply something that you want to tick off your bucket list? Travis Bell is known as The Bucket Lis...
Jan 03, 2022•33 min
As the founder of Filthy Rich Writer, Nicki Krawczyk teaches other people how to become profitable copywriters. In our chat, Nicki talks about how you can become a copywriter, the skills you need to land clients, how to pitch your first client, and how to set your rates so you can get paid well for doing it. I also asked Nicki what courses copywriters should take and which books they should read. Nicki has her own courses, and she details some of the lessons and how she helps her students. In th...
Dec 27, 2021•36 min
My guest in this podcast episode is Geoffrey Bunting, a book cover designer based in the UK. He’s worked for publications like HarperCollins and National Geographic. In this episode of the podcast, we get into how you can get ready to work with your book cover designer, how much you should expect to pay, and how to figure out the types of book covers that will work in your niche. In the second half of the interview, we also talked about Geoffrey’s other type of work, designing and laying out boo...
Dec 20, 2021•31 min
Frank Scalise is a crime writer who also writes under the pen name Frank Zafiro. His books include the River City series and he has also written several fantasy books. Frank has been writing since he was 13 years old. After entering the police force, he wrote before or after shift work. In 2013, Frank did what many writers dream of: he retired from the police force to write full time. During our chat, Frank told me that if you collaborate with somebody else, you can accomplish a lot more, and to...
Dec 13, 2021•28 min
