Your backstage pass to the world’s most prolific authors

JD Barker
Christine Daigle
Kevin Tumlinson
Jena Brown

What does it take to succeed as a writer? Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Kevin Tumlinson and Jena Brown as they pull back the curtain and gain rare insight from the household names found on bookshelves worldwide.

Want to ask your favorite author a question? Click here!

Q&A Episode – April 2022

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:

  • Just wondering how much your children are involved in your writing business and/or how much you plan to get them involved in the future.  Would you discourage them from pursuing writing full-time?
  • A question for each of you today: What one writing skill would you like to improve about your own fiction writing?
  • Is there something you’ve been wanting that represents a level up investment for your writing life (e.g. joining an exclusive mastermind, going to a new conference, buying a new computer, etc.) that you’d like to do by the end of the year?
  • I’m going to a conference that has a ‘pitch fest’ where you have 5 minutes (3 minutes to speak and 2 minutes for editor to respond) to pitch your project to editors and agents. Have any of you taken part in a pitch session? The conference organizers have provided some guidelines but would love to hear any tips. I’m pitching a non fiction book proposal. Thanks!
  • Having talked with so many authors at this point, what seems to be the same thing or advice all of them say/do (besides that they write books)?

Links:

J. D. Barker – http://jdbarker.com/

J. Thorn – https://theauthorlife.com/

Zach Bohannon – https://zachbohannon.com/

Free Writing Challenge from AutoCrit – https://autocrit.com/challenge2022 

The Author Life Summit 2022 – https://theauthorlife.com/summit2022/ 

Death of the Black Widow – https://amzn.to/3rsA97v 

Curse of the Spiral – https://books2read.com/cursespiral 

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.

Kingdom of Bones, the sixteenth book in James Rollins’ Sigma Force series, put the bestselling author to the test. From drafting the book during the rise of COVID-19 to managing the complexities of maintaining a long-standing series, he used decades of marketing and storybuilding experience to overcome the difficulties of writing and publishing a novel during the pandemic. James is the #1 NYT bestseller of international thrillers, best known for writing Sigma Force and six standalone thrillers. To preorder Kingdom of Bones, follow the link below.

Continue reading “Writers, Ink Podcast: Episode 131 – Kingdom of Bones with #1 NYT Bestseller James Rollins”

Bestseller Carter Wilson never writes the same book twice. By choosing to write standalone novels instead of series, he keeps his worldbuilding skills sharp, forcing himself to write new, unique characters in new settings for each book. Carter is a bestselling author of eight standalone psychological thrillers, including The Dead Girl in 2A and Revelation. To preorder his latest book, The New Neighbor, follow the link below.

Continue reading “Writers, Ink Podcast: Episode 130 – Sticking with Standalones with Carter Wilson”

Elissa Sussman knows how to keep her writing on schedule. Drawing from her past experience as a ghost writer and manager, she maintains a strict working regimen with set writing hours each day to maximize her productivity and availability. Elissa was a ghost writer of 15 young adult novels before writing adult novels under her own name. To preorder her latest book, Funny You Should Ask, follow the link below.

Continue reading “Writers, Ink Podcast: Episode 129 – Staying on Schedule with Elissa Sussman”