Q&A Episode – December 2021
In this monthly q & a session, the guys answer listener questions.
J.K. Rowling was nearly homeless when she wrote the first Harry Potter book. Stephen King penned CARRIE on a small desk wedged between a washer and dryer. James Patterson worked in advertising and famously wrote the Toys “R” Us theme song long before becoming an author.
Join New York Times best-seller, J.D. Barker, and indie powerhouses J. Thorn and Zach Bohannon as they pull back the curtain on some of the world’s most prolific authors. Where did they start? What is their process? The biggest names in publishing all have origin stories, all have a process, all have tips and secrets… What does it take to consistently top the bestseller lists? Get your notepad out. School’s in session. This, is Writers, Ink.
Join us on Patreon and ask a question guaranteed to be answered on the podcast!
https://www.patreon.com/writersinkpodcast
Questions asked:
- How does someone begin an email list when they don’t have any books written or any content on their website?
- Out of the 3 of you, who would be on Santa’s naughty list?
- Marvel movie fans or not marvel movie fans? If fans, to what level?
- What is the best way to rejuvenate your backlist?
- Travel back in time: What advice would you give your younger self about working on your very first book?
- Getting into NFTs for books early: is J crazy or brilliant?
- Given that FB is going into the metaverse, do you think that in the near future, your Avatar will walk along a metaverse road, see an advertising hoarding advert for a book, go into a metaverse bookshop and then buy the ebook version of the book you saw advertised? Discuss.
Links:
J. D. Barker – http://jdbarker.com/
J. Thorn – https://theauthorlife.com/
Zach Bohannon – https://zachbohannon.com/
Proudly sponsored by Kobo Writing Life – https://kobowritinglife.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.com
Contact – https://writersinkpodcast.com/dev/contact/
*Full disclosure: Some of the links are affiliate links.
Reckless Road: Guns N’ Roses and the Making of Appetite for Destruction with Jason Porath
In Reckless Road, author Jason Porath unveils the true stories behind Guns N’ Roses. Through a collaboration with Marc Canter, a close friend of the band for many years, he used his writing expertise to turn an archive of photos, videos, and interviews into a captivating narrative history of the early days of one of rock and roll’s biggest bands. To check out Reckless Road, follow the link below.
Jason is the author of Reckless Road: Guns N’ Roses and the Making of Appetite for Destruction as well as Mugshots: A Celebration of the Journey from Ruin to Redemption. He’s won multiple achievement awards for his work and his writing has been translated into eight languages. Jason’s background with multimedia storytelling spans a wide array of mediums including documentary films, photojournalism, mobile apps and technology startups. He was a pioneer with some of the first iOS storytelling apps to hit the market and founded Storycode, a storytelling mobile app development agency, which he sold in 2015.
Marc has entrusted Jason with his vast archive of photographs, recordings and stories to create entertaining and engaging products for generations of Guns N’ Roses fans around the world.
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 powerhouses, J. Thorn and Zach Bohannon, as they gain unique insight and valuable advice from the most prolific and accomplished authors in the business.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
- If Jason ever predicted a GNR reunion
- How his collaboration with Marc came about
- How to internally deal with a pivot
- The Hero’s Journey of Guns n’ Roses
- How he built a narrative from Marc’s archive of content
Links:
J. D. Barker – http://jdbarker.com/
J. Thorn – https://theauthorlife.com/
Zach Bohannon – https://zachbohannon.com/
Reckless Road – https://mybook.to/RecklessRoad
Story Rubric – http://storyrubric.com
Nonfic Rubric – http://nonficrubric.com
Proudly sponsored by Kobo Writing Life – https://kobowritinglife.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.com
Contact – https://writersinkpodcast.com/dev/contact/
*Full disclosure: Some of the links are affiliate links.
The Art of Simplicity with Derek Sivers
Derek Sivers is a master of keeping it simple. Whether he’s drafting in an ancient 70s terminal, writing concise newsletters, or living with a single minifridge, he uses simplicity as a method to stay calm, collected, and down-to-earth in his writing. Derek is well known as the founder of independent music website CD Baby. He was a musician for many years and currently publishes books independently. To purchase his latest book, How to Live, follow the link below.
From Amazon.com:
After making a living as a professional musician, Derek Sivers went looking for ways to sell his own CD online and ended up creating CD Baby, once the largest seller of independent music on the web with over $100M in sales for over 150,000 musician clients. Since 2008, Derek has traveled the world and stayed busy creating and nurturing creative endeavors, like Muckwork, his newest company where teams of efficient assistants help musicians do their “uncreative dirty work.” Derek writes regularly on creativity, entrepreneurship, and music on his blog: http://sivers.org/.
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 powerhouses, J. Thorn and Zach Bohannon, 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 stop getting angry
- Why How to Live is the best book Derek’s ever written
- How to cut 1,200 pages from your rough draft
- How Derek developed his minimalistic writing style
- Why brevity is key
Links:
J. D. Barker – http://jdbarker.com/
J. Thorn – https://theauthorlife.com/
Zach Bohannon – https://zachbohannon.com/
Derek Sivers – https://sive.rs/
J.’s ZIGGURAT by Mike Shinoda – https://ziggurats.xyz/#/gallery/90
Story Rubric – http://storyrubric.com
Nonfic Rubric – http://nonficrubric.com
Proudly sponsored by Kobo Writing Life – https://kobowritinglife.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.com
Contact – https://writersinkpodcast.com/dev/contact/
*Full disclosure: Some of the links are affiliate links.
Writing About the Pandemic with NYT Bestseller Jodi Picoult
Bestseller Jodi Picoult didn’t back down from the challenge of writing a story set during the pandemic. In her latest novel, Wish You Were Here, she uses her excellent character writing skills and days of research and interview material to compel readers to relive the relatable confusion and chaos of early lockdown through the lens of two lovers separated by travel restrictions. Jodi is well known for bestselling novels like My Sister’s Keeper and Small Great Things. She has published 26 books, selling over 40 million copies worldwide. To purchase Wish You Were Here, follow the link below.
From Amazon.com:
Jodi Picoult is the author of twenty five internationally bestselling novels, including MY SISTER’S KEEPER, HOUSE RULES and SMALL GREAT THINGS, and has also co-written two YA books with her daughter Samantha van Leer, BETWEEN THE LINES and OFF THE PAGE. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children. Her most recent adult novel, A SPARK OF LIGHT first published in the UK on 30th October 2018, and was a #1 Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller.
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 powerhouses, J. Thorn and Zach Bohannon, 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 Jodi got through a 16-month quarantine
- How the pandemic changed her writing process
- How to settle on a setting for your story
- Why now is the best time to write about the pandemic
- The importance of writing yourself into your characters
Links:
J. D. Barker – http://jdbarker.com/
J. Thorn – https://theauthorlife.com/
Zach Bohannon – https://zachbohannon.com/
Dragons of a Different Tail: 17 Unusual Dragon Tales – https://books2read.com/dragonantho
Jodi Picoult – https://www.garygrossman.com/
Wish You Were Here – https://mybook.to/WishUWereHere
Story Rubric – http://storyrubric.com
Nonfic Rubric – http://nonficrubric.com
Proudly sponsored by Kobo Writing Life – https://kobowritinglife.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.com
Contact – https://writersinkpodcast.com/dev/contact/
*Full disclosure: Some of the links are affiliate links.