Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing Mark Leslie Lefebvre

Mark interviews professor, pastor, speaker, and author Donn King about writing, his podcast, and his books THE WAY OF THE THREE-YEAR-OLD WHY and MEDIUM WELL.
Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, comments from recent episodes, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.
 
In their interview Mark and Donn talk about:
Donn's gradual evolution into becoming a writer with starting work at a newspaper when he was 14 years old An experience in sixth grade discovering science fiction novels in the library and realizing reading could be fun when you weren't being forced to do it The first sci-fi novel Donn remembers reading: Robert A. Heinlein's HAVE SPACESUIT WILL TRAVEL Donn's first foray into writing short fiction in a 3-ring binder with a pencil Learning about his non-fiction writing from Bob Burg, co-author of THE GO-GIVER a bestselling business parable book How elements from writing good fiction apply when writing a parable Drawing upon autobiographical elements even when fictionalizing a parable The difference between Writer's Block and The Well Going Dry Donn's podcast, The Alignment Show The Great Realignment and pausing to step back and consider what really brings value to you Donn's book MEDIUM WELL: The Journey From Believing to Believing In The beautifully inquisitive nature of 3-Year-Olds in Donn's THE WAY OF THE THREE-YEAR-OLD WHY Principal Five - Without emotion, there is no motion The challenges of booking live speaking events when caring for family members who require that additional compassion and care The reality that none of us have any certainty - we merely live with the illusion of certainty The concept of connection before content And more . . .  
After the interview Mark reflects on a few of the topics that came up in their conversation.
 
Links of Interest:
Donn King's Website Donn King's Books The Confidence Cultivators Podcast Mark's Guest Spot on Episode 54 YouTube Video of Episode 54 EP 357 - 50 Years of Short Stories with Kevin J. Anderson Kevin's Short Story Kickstarter EP 356 - The Midlist Indie Author Mindset with T. Thorn Coyle Thorn's Patreon Site Writers of the Future - Blog Post Announcing Mark as a Judge Stark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins Agency ScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link) Mark's YouTube Channel Buy Mark a Coffee Patreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries The Relaxed Author Buy eBook Direct Buy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for Authors 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 Lover's Moon Hex and the City Only Monsters in the Building The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard  
Donn King is "The Confidence Cultivator," a professor, pastor, speaker, and author who lives in the mountains of East Tennessee. He also hosts "The Alignment Show," a podcast to support listeners in living their values so they can value their life. His book, "The Way of the Three-Year-Old Why," the first in the Sparklight Chronicles, came out in 2023, with "Medium Well," the second in the series, came out in early 2024
 
 
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

In this episode, Mark interviews Kevin J. Anderson about his writing and the new approach he is taking to incorporate Kickstarter into the launch strategies for some of his indie-published titles.
Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, comments from recent episodes, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.
 
In their interview Mark and Kevin talk about:
How Kickstarter has completely upended (in a good way), Kevin's book release strategies Kevin's first novel coming out in 1988 and all the various publishers he has worked with over the years The "Perfect Storm" that was brewing in the book industry when indie publishing became a realistic and viable option Starting to publish his own books (mostly backlist titles he got the rights back to) in 2009 after founding WordFire Press with his wife Rebecca Moesta Kevin's belief that this is the best time to be a writer How Kevin does a little bit of everything. He has a New York literary agent, he works with several major publishers, he indie publishes, and he continues to explore new opportunities that digital publishing offer The way that Kickstarter didn't just open a new door, it completely blew it down, along with a few walls too Dean Wesley Smith's perspective that helped to change Kevin's mind about what Kickstarter was all about Kevin's "Adams Family meets The Naked Gun" series of Dan Shamble Zombie PI novels, and the history of how it started off as a series with a major publisher, flopped, then Kevin got the rights back and did something truly stunning with it once he applied Kickstarter Kevin's first Dan Shamble Kickstarter which brought in 23 times the intial amount he was asking for, and that it paid him more than 6 times the advance he'd rec'd from a major publisher for the last Dan Shamble book he'd done with them The Dragon Business (The Princess Bride meets Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) Kickstarter that brought in 20 times what he'd been asking for The Persephone Kickstarter that Kevin did with Writer/Director Jeffrey Morris Kevin's latest Kickstarter which is a 7 Volume Set of over 130 of his published short stories published over 50 years Writing his first short story when he was 8 years old Publishing his very first short story when he was 14 The personal introductions that he wrote for every one of the stories in this 7 book collection The various levels and Kickstarter rewards he is planning for this Kickstarter The remarkable fact that, despite having published 180 novels with 58 of them being international bestsellers, no publisher would ever even consider publishing a 7 volume hardcover set of Kevin's complete short stories. That he can do this via Kickstarter is a significant paradigm shift How Kickstarter can replace the old "advance" model from traditional publishing The special thing Kevin is doing for all the backers of this latest Kickstarter The Kickstarter will be going live on April 30th for 3 weeks and 2 days And more . . .  
After the interview Mark reflects on Kevin's use of short, effective and very clear log lines to describe two of his series.
 
Links of Interest:
Kevin J. Anderson's Website
Kevin's Short Story Kickstarter EP 130 - Grace Under Pressure with Kevin J. Anderson Mentions of Kevin in other podcast episodes EP 356 - The Midlist Indie Author Mindset with T. Thorn Coyle Thorn's Patreon Site EP 355 - Scribbling Pen Publishing with Melanie Gilbert and Heather Karn Writers of the Future - Blog Post Announcing Mark as a Judge Stark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins Agency ScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link) Mark's YouTube Channel Buy Mark a Coffee Patreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries The Relaxed Author Buy eBook Direct Buy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for Authors An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores Wide fo

 


Mark interviews T Thorn Coyle about writing, community, and their new book The Midlist Indie Author Mindset.
Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Cruising Writers - 7 Day Western Caribbean Cruise - Feb 22 to Mar 1, 2025
Featured Guest Speakers: Erin Wright and Mark Leslie Lefebvre
More details at: Cruising Writers
 
In the interview, Mark and Thorn talk about:
Getting into writing when they were 5 years old - and the variety of types of writing they did Thorn jokingly torturing fiction and deciding to write non-fiction until a few characters showed up and knocked on their door Writing mostly fantasy-tinged fiction How most of Thorn's non-fiction guides have been about spiritual practice, but that this latest one is their first non-fiction business of writing book Thorn's author tagline: "Magic is real. And justice is worth fighting for." The way that Portland is such a fascinating city and how Thorn can find magic anywhere An appreciation of Charles de Lint Thorn's forthcoming book: The Midlist Author Mindset The massive mindset shift that comes from being curious about business the way one is curious about writing Value that came with learning what worked for Thorn, as opposed to things that work for other writers The numerous streams of income that Thorn has been developing over the years Looking at long-term sustainability by thinking of it like cultivating a garden instead of seeking out short-term dramatic spikes Some of the roadblocks that Thorn encountered on the way to establishing the Midlist Author Mindset Understanding that for Thorn marketing was about connection with readers How asking "Does social media sell books?" is the wrong question to ask The Kickstarter for the book and related materials and exclusive content that runs April 16, 2024 to May 7, 2024 A little bit about Thorn's fiction series books Thoughts and current approach to audiobooks Thorn's final words of advice that they would want to leave with writers And more . . .  
After the interview, Mark reflects on the concepts of sustainable, long-term, and burn-out as well as the important question of what is practical for you and your life and goals.
 
Links of Interest:
T. Thorn Coyle's Website
Kickstarter for The Midlist Indie Author Mindset Fiction Titles Non-Fiction Titles Thorn's Patreon Site Writers of the Future - Blog Post Announcing Mark as a Judge Stark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins Agency ScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link) Mark's YouTube Channel Buy Mark a Coffee Patreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries The Relaxed Author Buy eBook Direct Buy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for Authors 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 Lover's Moon Hex and the City Only Monsters in the Building The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard  
T. Thorn Coyle worked in many strange and diverse occupations before settling in to write full time. Buy them a cup of tea and perhaps they’ll tell you about it.
Author of The Witches of Portland, the Seashell Cove Paranormal Cozy Mysteries, the Pride Street Paranormal Cozy Mysteries, The Steel Clan Saga, and The Panther Chronicles, Thorn’s multiple non-fiction books include Sigil Magic for Writers, Artists & Other Creatives, Crafting a Daily Practice, Kissing the Limitless, and Evolutionary Witchcraft. Thorn's work also appears in many anthologies, magazines, and collections.
An interloper to the Pacific Northwest U.S., they pay proper tribute to all the neighborhood cats, and talk to crows, squirrels, and trees.
You can find

Mark interviews Melanie Gilbert and Heather Karn about their work writing and publishing together under the Scribbling Pen Publishing brand.
Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, comments from recent episodes, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Cruising Writers - 7 Day Western Caribbean Cruise - Feb 22 to Mar 1, 2025
Featured Guest Speakers: Erin Wright and Mark Leslie Lefebvre
More details at: Cruising Writers
 
In the interview, Mark, Melanie, and Heather talk about:
How Heather got started in writing before Melanie, who started a year later Writing independently for a while before they got into mutual support and collaboration The two books they've published by doing round-robin style writing a couple of paragraphs at a time The plotting VS pantsing struggle that they would sometimes find themselves in The thrill of writing a book without knowing who the bad guy was the entire time until the idea of who it was struck both of them at the same time The process they use when writing, editing, and re-writing How the two of them think of the reader experience when the writer (as related to the Disney Customer Experience training) Leveraging the cats that they made to draw people in which is a great ice-breaker getting them to the books Thinking about the "writing companions" for the books Leveraging crafted book bags in the same way to generate interest - ie "Where did you get that cool book bag?" Determing what scented candle or wax melt varieties would go well with the different books Something special they did to celebrate the "12 Days of Christmas" that they could provide to all of their fans - cover reveals, sample chapters, recipes, music, other books, etc The benefit of personal touches in the newsletter including the fun that started with Griffin the furry manager How their cats and dogs are the ones explaining what's going on in their writer newsletters and their website store How their main goal isn't to sell books but to ensure that the people who visit their table are having a good time And more . . .  
After the interview, Mark reflects on the way the sisters leverage conversational items to draw people to their in person table, their focus on creating a genuinely memorable and entertaining experience (rather than focusing on selling books), and providing intriguing entertainment in their newsletter leveraging their pets' perspectives.
 
Links of Interest:
Scribbling Pen Publishing Scribbling Pen Publishing - Instagram Cruising Writers Feb/Mar 2025 Cruise - Focus on Self Publishing The Uncollected Anthology Website Uncollected Anthology Live Author Chat (April 10, 2024 - YouTube) There Ain't No Cure For The Winter Wolf Blues 2024 The Write Stuff StoryBundle (Limited Time Offer) WMG Anthology Workshop August 2024 Stark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins Agency ScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link) Mark's YouTube Channel Buy Mark a Coffee Patreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries The Relaxed Author Buy eBook Direct Buy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for Authors 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 Lover's Moon Hex and the City The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard  
Melanie Gilbert and Heather Karn in their own words:
We grew up in the lovely state of Michigan. We lived in a small town in the country, one of those towns where everyone knows everyone. When we graduated from high school, we went to the same college along with our triplet sister. Our younger sister joined us a couple years later. We’re all really close and that has influenced how we write characters who are sib

Mark interviews Lydia and David Sherrer about their company Chenoweth Press and the books and games they produce and publish collaboratively.
Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update and a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by the awesome supporters of this podcast who provide their supprt via Patreon and Buy Me A Coffee.
With special thanks to Nikki Guerlain for the recent huge BUY ME A COFFEE donation.
In the interview, Mark talks to Lydia and David about:
How Lydia's role as a writing is part of a biological imperitive Growing up reading everything in sight and also being into Lord of the Rings by the time she was five years old Always telling herself stories and writing some of them down over the years Finding out that what she studied in college wasn't a good career fit and then following her father's example of being an entrepreneur Publishing her first two books around 2012/2013 Lydia and David setting a ten-year plan that by then David would be able to quit his full-time job David enjoying playing Magic The Gathering card game when he was young Getting invited to a gaming store that was in his town and becoming enamored with it Opening up his own gaming store when he graduated from highschool The technical engineering background that David had and how he applied those skills to ads and marketing Getting frustrated with his job at about the time that Lydia was starting to earn good money from her writing Deciding that he wanted to turn his gaming hobby into a career by starting with a spreadsheet How playing cards are one of the easiest and most flexible mediums to make a game in The game Cat Magic taking roughly twenty minutes of calculations and figuring to get the first draft of the game started The catch-phrase for Love, Lies, and Magic Book 8 in that series releasing March 1, 2024 How Cat Magic the novel was the best of Lydia's books that had an existing audience for creating the first game of David's game design career David's role in being an alpha reader and providing Lydia with early feedback on her writing The Kickstarter campaign they ran to get the Cat Magic game off the ground The important Give 90% of the time, ask 10% of the time rule with communities you are engaged in The years of behind the scenes hard work and constantly giving and sharing with the community that built up the success seen in recent Kickstarters 80% of their sales coming from direct sales versus sales from retailers Storing 15,000 copies of Lydia's books in their basement Hiring a college student to help with some of the menial tasks like packaging up books for direct sale orders The various logistics of their shipping operation Hiring a nanny to keep their kids close and at home, but allowing them the freedom to get their work done during the day Their five-year-old discovering capitalism, entrepreneurship, and wanting to become a part of their business Advice that David and Lydia would offer to other couples interested in running a business like this And more . . .  
After the interview, Mark reflects on the concept of building the kind of life that you want as well as the community-giving focus as an authentic way to connect and offer something of value.
 
Links of Interest:
Lydia Sherrer's Website Chenoweth Press Lydia Sherrer's Store EP 312 - The Dialogue Doctor Will See You Now EP 266 - "Let's Talk Dialogue with Jeff Elkins," He Said Reflectively EP 157 - A Conversation with Jeff Elkins The Dialogue Doctor The Uncollected Anthology Website Uncollected Anthology Live Author Chat (April 10, 2024 - YouTube) There Ain't No Cure For The Winter Wolf Blues 2024 The Write Stuff StoryBundle (Limited Time Offer) WMG Anthology Workshop August 2024 Stark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins Agency ScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link) Mark's YouTube Channel Buy Mark a Coffee Patreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Books

Mark interviews Tao Wong about his writing, LitRPG, entrepreneurship, and the Toronto Indie Author Conference that is coming in May 2024.
Prior to the interview, Mark forgoes the usual brief personal update, or comments, and skips right to this episode's sponsor.
This episode is sponsored by the Toronto Indie Author Conference.

 
The Toronto Indie Author Conference is a two-day event tailored exclusively for Canadian independent authors. Do you dream of transforming your passion for writing into a thriving author business? Don’t miss this opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of Canadian indie publishing’s first author business conference. www.torontoindieauthorcon.com
In their interview, Mark and Tao talk about:
How Tao has always been writing and telling stories, and how luck played a bit part in it Starting off writing LitRPG when he was living in the Yukon when it was night/dark all the time Writing a few novels and stories for fun, but then discovering Kristine Kathryn Rusch's blog about the business of publishing and how authors were beginning to leverage digital publishing to do it themselves Learning about indie publishing industry, but not being in a place where he thought he would pursue traditional publishing Beginning to put his LitRPG titles up on Amazon in 2017 at a time when it was just starting to become hot (He caught the 2nd wave of Western LitRPG authors) Not having to do any marketing in those early days because he was still working a full-time job running a business, but still bringing in a hearty income from his self-published books Tao's experience doing marketing in selling board games online Flipping between the two hats he wears. 1) The writer hat of getting the book done and 2) the marketer hat of having to sell the things that are written Realizing he was a "scenic route" author, according to Becca Syme's author structure talks and courses Getting to a point where he started to hire staff to help him with some of the tasks Being burnt out from the constant churn in hiring and training staff and them leaving within about two years Joking that being an indy author is the "easy mode" of being an entrepreneur because the cost and minimum setup is a lot less than what he had to do for his business before Laughing at the cost of a $200 cover design bill because not that long ago, he had a single bill from Canada Post that was over $100,000 Working with about 5 active co-authors but realizing that he didn't want to be a publisher Starting the Toronto Indie Author Conference initially out of spite and to bring something useful to Canadian authors who might not be able to afford to travel so far to several US based conferences The importance of not having only 6-figure authors doing the presentations at the Toronto Indie Author Conference Some of the speakers who will be at the Toronto Indie Author Confernce and the various topics they'll be covering The significant amount of time and energy Tao had to invest into this conference The Kobo sponsorship of an accessibility fund for the conference where they'll be giving out 10 to 15 pre-paid seats A discount code STARK10 that members can use to get $10 off their ticket registration for the conference And more . . . After the interview Mark reflects on the importance of those people who see gaps and step up to make a difference. It's a common theme from the past several interview episodes. He also reflects on just how easy it can be for authors as entrepreneurs when you factor in just how little an author has to invest when it comes to money, to get started, particularly in a world that has so many great free resources.
Links of Interest:
Tao Wong's Author Website Tao Wong's Publisher Website Toronto Indie Author Conference Stark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins Agency StoryGarden Summit (Virtual) - March 2024 ScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link) Mark's YouTube Channel Buy Mark a Coffee Patreon for Stark Reflections How to