The WritersWeekly Podcast

Brian Whiddon
  • 5.0 (7)
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From the creators of WritersWeekly.com, the WritersWeekly Podcast delves into everything involving professional writing. WritersWeekly.com has been helping and informing writers and authors for over 25 years. We cover book publishing, article writing, getting writing gigs, paying markets, writing technology, etc. 

  1. FEB 5

    Episode 35: Prolific Author of 18 Books, Rickey Pittman, Shares His Secrets about Writing AND Book Selling!

    In this episode, we are joined by BookLocker.com author, Rickey Pittman, The Bard of the South!    Rickey is an author, musician, storyteller, historian, and college professor. His major focus is on Southern America. He unearths and creatively covers old stories that tell of the South’s rich history, struggles, and unique identity. And, his fiction is AMAZING, too! (Read more about that under Episode 35 at https://writersweekly.com/podcast.)    Rickey performs all around the Southern states as “The Bard of the South,” with a style that mixes old southern ballads with even older Celtic folk music. He is just as comfortable playing for a Highland Days event as he is playing for a Civil War re-enactment. Some of his songs seem reminiscent of something one may have heard while sitting around a fire with Davie Crockett and the boys. You can find many of his songs on YouTube.     Rickey's writing interests span from biographies of little-known local celebrities (like the sea captain who became a mayor of New Orleans) to dark fiction that brings you into the mysterious underground occult world of the Big Easy. (That one is part autobiographical, by the way!).     Did you know that Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate States, actually adopted a young black boy to rescue him from abusive parents, only to have the child snatched away when the South lost the war? Rickey’s book, Jim Limber Davis: A Black Orphan in the Confederate White House, tells the sad story.     Rickey has published twelve books with BookLocker.com, and has published 18 books in all over the years.     Rickey also puts a lot of miles on his car, AND on his guitar. He travels all over the south, performing and marketing his books.   Here, on Episode #35 of the WritersWeekly Podcast, Rickey discusses where he gets the ideas for what books to write, his writing style and schedule, and, most importantly, his marketing strategy.     Join us for a fun-filled hour with a man who can be described as an “encyclopedia” of the South. You might just find yourself craving some cornbread and crawdads! Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode! Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com

    1h 3m

  2. JAN 30

    EPISODE 34: When Fake 1-Star “Book Reviews” Are Actually Character Assassinations of Authors

    Have YOU, too, received a bad book review that was all about you and not about your book at all? JOIN THE CLUB! In this episode, we share several real examples sent to us by authors who have been the victims of this type of vendetta online. We also share how you can respond to these personal attacks with maturity and class. And, by doing so, you can save your book sales!  =======================================================  You’ve finally gotten your book published! With pride similar to a new parent, you keep checking the various sales platforms, and watch the reviews start coming in.   Suddenly, a 1-STAR review comes in. Is someone is trashing your book? You read through the review to figure out what the person disliked about it. But, it doesn’t mention anything specific about your book at all. They didn’t even read it!  What's worse than someone trashing your book without reading it? When a so-called “book reviewer” attacks you, personally, as an author. Instead of writing anything about the book, they criticize you, attack your character, and worse! It’s happening ALL OVER!!! In many instances, the authors knows exactly who posted the fake 1-star review!   But, Amazon still won’t remove those fake 1-star reviews!  Welcome to the Wild West World of online book reviews in the current age! People have left the manners and morals at the door!!  In this episode, we explore the issues that accompany this feature of online mega-bookstores. We share real stories from authors who have had their books maligned by family members, ex-lovers, rival authors (yes, really!), disgruntled employees, neighbors, and, in some cases, online bots! Did you know there are businesses people can PAY to bombard someone else’s book listings with bad reviews?   It’s the Internet, folks – and almost anything goes. You need to listen to this episode to prepare yourself for what is out there, learn how to counter those fake 1-star reviews, and prevent your book sales from tanking.  Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode! Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com

    1h 4m

  3. JAN 17

    Episode 33 - Tough 91-Year-Old Author of 5 Books Refuses to Bow to Scammer's Extortion Attempts!

    In this week's episode, Brian and Angela welcome friendly and feisty Bob Wahl to the podcast! Bob is 91 years young, and is the author of five books. He contacted a company called Authors Hike / AuthorsHike.com to help promote his books. After paying them $4,000, he was shown a web page that had a graphic of more than 1400 (fake!) "orders" for his book. Author's Hike then tried to scam Mr. Wahl into paying to have those books printed.  He reached out to WritersWeekly, which, of course, exposed Author's Hike's scam to the world.  When Author's Hike realized they'd been exposed, that's when the threats and attempted extortion began... You don't want to miss this one!!! Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode! Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com

    1h 10m

  4. JAN 7

    Episode 32 - Walkthrough: Our Scam-Detection Process Explained Step by Step

    Could this publisher be a scammer??? We keep receiving emails asking this exact question DOZENS of times every week.  Now, in this Episode, using the examples of Ashbery.com, NYBookPublishers.com, and McGilliganpublishing.com, we SHOW you, step by step: WHERE to look for the evidence that an online publisher is potentially a scam.WHAT to look for to determine if an online publisher is potentially a scam.HOW to sort out the evidence you find and determine the likelihood that an online publisher may be a scam.Follow along on your computer, as we walk through this process, and you will walk away with the skills and confidence to determine for yourself if a potential publishing partner will rip you off! You have our promise that, with a little practice, you will be able to identify a potential scammer in less than 10 minutes.   Do you have an extra $5000, $10,000, or $20,000 to throw away and donate to a scammer in Pakistan, India, Nigeria, or the Philippines? If your answer is "NO," then listen to this episode, learn the easy process weeding out these crooks, and save yourself from financial ruin. Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode! Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com

    1h 2m

  5. JAN 3

    Episode 31: Another Brave Publishing Scam Victim Shares Her Story After Losing $18K

    Michaele Aldophe had a heart-wrenching but also hopeful and faith-filled story to tell the world. As a 14-year-old migrant from Haiti, Michaele (Mickka) was raised by her abusive father. She grew up, graduated from college, got married, and gave birth to a premature child who wasn't expected to live. Through prayer and the grace of God, he did! A divorce then left her raising her child alone. Then, both of her brothers were killed. Yet, one thing has kept Mickka strong through all of that - her faith in God. Mickka wanted to share her story and her faith with the world, so she wrote her book: It Wasn't for Nothing: A True Story of Faith - https://www.amazon.com/Wasnt-Nothing-Powerful-Story-Faith/dp/B0FBKT93RB/ref=sr_1_1 She searched online for someone to publish her book, and found Ashbery Publishing / ashberry-publishing.com / ashberypublishing.com. They seemed so helpful, so professional, and so caring. Mickka didn't know it at the time but the female "rep" was grooming her, calling all the time, and pretending to really care about Mickka (straight from the scammers' playbook!). They were going to edit her book, and create a cover for only $499 (a ridiculous and unbelievably low price, designed to draw her in, and upsell her later...for thousands). Then they started talking about marketing. That was going to cost a little over $17,000. Mickka paid. Then, they wanted $12K more!! Mickka balked and that's when the nightmare began. They took control of HER website and HER social media accounts and she was not able to get them back. Yes, the scammer was (and still is) holding HER website and social media accounts hostage. Brian and Angela team up once again with attorney James M. Walsh to listen to Mickka's story, and hear firsthand about her experience with this online scam "publishing company" (and other websites we connected them to!). Mickka is highly educated, extremely intelligent, and a successful entrepreneur. If these highly-trained scammers could fool her, they can fool anyone... SCAMMERS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Ashbery Publishing / ashberry-publishing.com / ashberypublishing.com  Click here for the warning we already published about this scammer: https://writersweekly.com/this-weeks-article/i-was-scammed-by-ashbery-publishing-ashberypublishing-com McGilligan Publishing / mcgilliganpublishing.com (Exact same website as Ashbery Publishing, and even the same book covers!) Ghostwriting Hub / ghostwritinghub.com See 1-star reviews on TrustPilot: https://www.trustpilot.com/review/ghostwritinghub.com?stars=1 New York Publishers / NY Publishers / nypublishers.co See 1-star reviews on TrustPilot: https://www.trustpilot.com/review/nypublishers.co?stars=1     Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode! Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com

    55 min

  6. 12/19/2025

    Episode 30: We Saved This Author from a $50,000 “FOX Entertainment” and “WGA” SCAM!

    It was all coming together. His five-book series were going to become a movie! A "literary agent" had reached out to him via email just last month.   Then, in emails shared with the author, that agent was negotiating between a “Fox Entertainment” executive, and a famous screenwriter (a member of the Writers Guild of America) who is currently in California, working on the next season of "NCIS."  The names checked out. The Fox executive and screenwriter were real people. The author had even seen a business card in the emails. And, he also had a Zoom video conference with the Fox executive. He'd been copied on every conversation between the three people who were going to launch his books into Hollywood fame.  The pieces were quickly coming together but there was just one sticking point:  They wanted $50,000 dollars from the author to get the project started. That was just for the film treatment by the “screenwriter.”  The author’s attorney thought it looked legit. So did the author’s friend, who was a banker for more than two decades. It looked so legit that the author’s investor friend offered to pay the fee.  There was only one problem. All three people, the agent, the executive, and the screenwriter, were one person - a scammer! And, Angela and Brian were able to connect them to a known publishing scammer that was previously featured on WritersWeekly.com! They were STRONGLY pressuring the author to pay RIGHT AWAY or the project would get cancelled! Their offer, on official letterhead, promised him millions of dollars in the future! What would YOU do if you were in this author’s shoes?  Lucky for him, he reached out to his publisher, Angela Hoy at BookLocker.com. Angela only had to ask the author one question. And, his one-line answer proved it was an elaborate and sophisticated scam. You’ll hear how he responded, and what cracked the case! The pieces came tumbling down and it was AWESOME!  In this episode, we will explain how Angela uncovered the clues that the author, a lawyer, AND a banker with over 20 years’ experience didn't see.   She reached out to the REAL Fox Entertainment and the REAL screenwriter, who is a celebrity himself. He responded to Angela. You’ll hear what he said in this episode.  Angela and the BookLocker.com team saved this author from a $50,000 trap! You don't want to miss this disturbing episode!! UPDATE: After the episode was recorded, Angela Hoy was contacted by the REAL screenwriter’s law firm and agent. They’re going after the scammer. They asked for all of the emails and contact information for the three fake individuals and, of course, we provided it. Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode! Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com

    1h 2m

  7. 12/13/2025

    Episode 29: AWKWARD! When Friends and Family Lie About Having Bought Your Book

    We've heard it a thousand times: "I KNOW my mother (father, sister, brother, Uncle Cletus, Aunt Ethel, etc.) bought my book! Where are my royalties?!" And, a thousand times over, we've had to break it to an author: "We're sorry but your relative actually did not buy your book. They lied to you to keep the peace." And, we provide proof to the author that the sale never occurred. In every single instance, the author's relatives refused to send the author copies of their receipts proving they actually bought the book (because the receipts didn't exist).  This is an awkward situation that we run into over and over again, especially around the holidays. We get it. You wrote a book. More than anyone else in the world, you want your family and closest friends to read your book, and be proud of what you've accomplished. That's human nature! But, are your expectations realistic? The reality we've seen is that most people who are closest to an author actually do not purchase or read the author's book for a variety of reasons. We'll tell you why in this episode. And, to be perfectly honest, it doesn't matter that much. If you want to impressive book sales, it's a matter of marketing. Market to the masses, not your friends and family. We discuss that in this episode as well with our special guest, book editor and marketer, Clayton Jones, who is also an English Professor at the University of Tennessee. Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode! Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com

    1h 10m

  8. 12/01/2025

    Episode 28 - I was a Teacher - and a CIA Spy. Interview with author Linda Allison

    Please excuse the audio quality on this episode. You can hear and understand the conversation perfectly, but we had a technical glitch with the microphones. As a result, our audio went through the computer microphone rather than our professional grade exterior mics. This is still a wonderful and VERY intriguing story and we know you will enjoy it. ****** The year was 1971. A young, twenty-something couple fresh out of college with their teaching degrees accepted a job at an international school in Nairobi, Kenya. The new job, foreign land, and unique culture was challenging. However, they embraced the adventure, exploring their new surroundings, meeting new people, and taking in all that Kenya had to offer.  A year later, the father of one of their students befriended them. Unbeknownst to them, he was the CIA station chief for the region…and he’d been watching them! In the 70s, there was a lot happening in Africa and the CIA was trying to stay ahead of it all. The agency needed "normal" people who could get in close to other foreigners, and find out what America's rivals were up to Africa. Their new friend approached the young couple with an offer to serve their country, and make the extra money they needed to supplement their teaching income.  They accepted, and the ride began! With expert story-telling talent, Linda Shields Allison shares the stories that define the precarious balancing act that she and her husband lived through as they monitored listening devices, and attended cozy neighborhood parties...with potential enemies.  While teaching young children by day, they were also hosting shadowy agents in their home, who trained them in the arts of secrecy and subversion. They glided casually through their social circles while their family home doubled as a safe-house for mysterious men, with no names, who would appear one night, and vanish the next. They lived two lives - one of which they couldn't even tell their own families about. Lower the blinds. Pour yourself a martini - shaken, not stirred. Then listen to this tale of espionage and international intrigue told by a woman you could easily mistake for just the gal next door ... because she IS the gal next door. Join us as Linda Shields Allison gives us the backstory behind her spy memoir: {Code Names} Betsy and Babe. Find Linda's book HERE: https://booklocker.com/books/13738.html Also available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever books are sold. Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode! Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com

    1h 16m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

From the creators of WritersWeekly.com, the WritersWeekly Podcast delves into everything involving professional writing. WritersWeekly.com has been helping and informing writers and authors for over 25 years. We cover book publishing, article writing, getting writing gigs, paying markets, writing technology, etc. 

Information

  • Creator
    Brian Whiddon
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    35
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The WritersWeekly Podcast
  • Show Website
    The WritersWeekly Podcast