Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #101 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak Paul Wilson, author of Bad Karma: The True Story of a Mexican Surf Trip from Hell. Paul is a lifelong resident of coastal San Diego, attending high school at a time when Independent surfing was an option for Phys. Ed., and Rock Poetry was passed off as an advanced English course. It didn’t take much for him to become disenchanted with formal education and drop out of The University of Southern California to embrace his entrepreneurial side. Paul is a multi-patented inventor, a photographer, and has built several successful businesses. Embracing his love of baseball and the ocean, he attends every San Diego Padres home game, and lives in Mission Beach, California with his wife Susan.

During our discussion, Paul describes:

- Why he had to wait for the statute of limitations to run out before he could write his memoir

- His thoughts on the relationships between photography and writing

- How his experiences traveling in Mexico taught him that some of the poorest people in the world can also be the most generous

- Why surfing and storytelling mix so well

- The unique challenges of writing memoir

- How last year’s The Writer’s Craft Summit helped him finish and publish his book - What he learned working with a professional editor on the book

- How a great cover has helped him get the book into book stores and surf shops

- The unique niche he’s found for the book amongst Volkswagen Bus aficionados

- And much more! Listen now!

For full show notes visit: http://www.kevintjohns.com

Welcome to episode #100 The Writing Coach podcast.

In this special milestone episode, Kevin answers questions from listeners and clients!

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #99 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak Sydney Liu.

Sydney is the co-founder of Commaful, a storytelling site where people go to share discover fiction. The site is home to hundreds of thousands of fanfics, short stories, and poems, all shared in a picture-book style format. He loves thinking about the intersection of art, technology, and storytelling and is always down to hear a great story.

During our discussion, Sydney describes:

• Why a desire to encourage his friends to read his writing was the original inspiration for the Commaful platform
• How Commaful differs from traditional blogs and social media platforms
• The unique ways in which the platform combines visual media with fiction storytelling and poetry
• What he and his co-founder are doing to ensure the Commaful community remains supportive of artists and writers and is able to avoid toxicity
• How Commaful is using contests to put the spotlight on new writers as well as attract diverse voices
• Which genres are most popular on Commaful
• How Commaful is helping authors promote their books and find a community
• And much more!

Click below to listen now:

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #98 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with Julie Evelyn Joyce.

Julie is an award-winning author and a proud Canuck. When she’s not writing quirky and witty romances, she spends her time molding young minds, playing sports, singing karaoke, juggling, and dancing like there’s no tomorrow. Sometimes simultaneously. She’s also in hot pursuit of her own happily ever after, and anxiously awaits the day serial dating becomes an Olympic event. Her debut novel, Steeped in Love, has received glowing reviews and is the winner of the 2019 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize in romance.

During our discussion, Julie describes:

• How she got her start as an author by writing Gilmour Girls fanfiction
• The important role her mother played in supporting her writing career
• The crossroads she came to after the traditional publisher she had been working with disbanded
• The vast and supportive community she discovered in the world of indie publishing
• Her experiences teaching fiction writing to high school students
• What it was like winning the 2019 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize
• How writing and teacher access two different aspects of her personality
• And much more!

Click below to listen now:

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #97 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with author Jennifer Blanchard.

Jennifer Blanchard is a best-selling author, a screenwriter, a Developmental Book Editor and the Writing Industry’s Mindset Coach. It’s her mission in life to change the way people think and challenge what they believe is possible. Her screenplay, “The Rules,” placed as a Semi-Finalist in the Stage32 Rom-Com Script Contest in 2019. She previously in episode 77 of The Writing Coach and was an expert speaker at The Writer’s Craft Summit.

During our discussion, Rea describes:

• Why she loves teaching story structure in particular
• How her novel-writing craft knowledge has helped launch her screenwriting career
• Why an understanding of fundamental writer’s craft techniques is essential to the success of authors
• How her workshop Write Your Damn Story got started almost a decade ago, how it has evolved over the years, and what workshop attendees can expect when they enroll this month
• And much more!

Click below to listen now!

In episode #96 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with author Rea Frey. With a degree in creative writing from Columbia and six traditionally published books under her belt, Rea has helped hundreds of clients refine, hone, and craft their own ideas into full-fledged books. Whether it’s working on a book proposal to sell to a publisher, ghostwriting a memoir, or consulting on a great idea, Rea’s fifteen years in the publishing industry will clarify the message, mission, audience, and ultimately help find a home for a client’s work. During our discussion, Rea describes: - How she balances a busy writing schedule with homeschooling her daughter - What it was like studying creative writing in an academic environment - Why her early books not being as successful as she would have liked helped set her up for success later in her career - What is was like optioning the rights to adapt her novel to Argent Pictures and then being hired to write the pilot episode of the series - How she helps authors craft incredible book proposals that land them big publishing deals - And much more! For full show notes visit http://www.kevintjohns.com

In episode #95 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with author and book marketing expert Amy Collins.

Amy is the President of New Shelves Books, one of the largest book sales and marketing content providers in the US. She is a USA TODAY and WALL STREET JOURNAL bestselling author and as a former Book Buyer for a chain of bookstores in New York and Sales Director for a large publishing company, she has spent her career working with Barnes & Noble, Target, Costco, Books-A-Million, Wal-Mart, and is a trusted expert, speaker, and recommended sales consultant for some of the largest book and library retailers and wholesalers in the publishing industry.

In the last 20 years, Amy and her team have sold over 40 Million books into the bookstore, library, and Chain store market for small and midsized publishers. She is on the national advisory board for IngramSpark, is a board member of Author U, a featured columnist for THEBOOKDESIGNER, BookWorks, IBPA, and a trusted teacher in the world of small press publishers.  

She has taught and spoken at many of the publishing industry’s top festivals and conferences including Publisher’s Weekly’s BookCon, Oklahoma Writer’s Conference, Author U, AAPS, Dublin Writers Conference, BAIPA, PALA, St. Louis Writer’s Conference, Writers Digest indieLAB, Henderson Writers Conference, and many others.

When not in the office, her focus is on the working poor and poverty elimination, and she spends a great deal of time personally and professionally working with and training women from disadvantaged backgrounds.  A member of several charitable and political organizations, she donates not only her time, but a portion of her company’s profits to grant based charities that work to alleviate the cycle of poverty.

During our discussion, Amy describes:

• Why there are so many talented authors, but only a handful of successful authors
• How getting a job at a book store led to her 30-year career in publishing
• The role book buyers play at brick and mortar book stores
• Why not every idea needs to become a book
• The one thing she does every day to build her audience
• Her top tips for what authors need to do to find their audience
• And much more!

Listen now!

In episode #94 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with author Fred Waitzkin.

Fred was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1943. When he was a teenager he wavered between wanting to spend his life as a fisherman, Afro Cuban drummer, or novelist. He went to Kenyon College and did graduate study at New York University.

His work has appeared in Esquire, New York magazine, the New York Times Sunday Magazine, the New York Times Book Review, Outside, Sports Illustrated, Forbes, the Huffington Post, and the Daily Beast, among other publications. His memoir, Searching for Bobby Fischer, was made into a major motion picture released in 1993. His other books are Mortal Games, The Last Marlin, The Dream Merchant, and Deep Water Blues. Recently, he has completed an original screenplay, The Rave.

Waitzkin lives in Manhattan with his wife, Bonnie, and has two children, Josh and Katya, and two grandsons, Jack and Charlie. He spends as much time as possible on the bridge of his old boat, The Ebb Tide, trolling baits off distant islands with his family.

During our discussion, Fred describes:

• Where he finds the ideas for his stories
• How he views the unique relationship between fiction and non-fiction
• What his daily writing process looks like
• How having his memoir adapted into a hit Hollywood film impacted his life and his writing
• His approach to mentoring writers
• How a coaching experience led to a breakthrough in the writing of his latest book, Deep Water Blues
• And much more!

For full show notes visit http://www.kevintjohns.com

In episode #93 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with graphic recorder, Kit Irwin.

Kit creates visual representations of live events in real time to make meetings more effective, presentations more memorable, and participants more engaged. Her short stories have been published online, in literary magazines, and in anthologies, such as Flash Fiction Forward. She also creates visual bios for solo entrepreneurs to tell their story on their website’s About Us page.

Link to my website http://TheVisionScribe.com

During our discussion, Kit describes:

• What the work of a graphic recorder entails
• The role metaphor plays in the creation of her sketchnotes
• How a Master’s degree in Critical and Creative Thinking have benefited her career
• Why her desire to make e-learning less boring led to her work as a graphic recorder
• Her number one tip on  making the leap into a career in creative work
• The non-linear nature of graphic communication
• And much more!

For full how notes visit: http://www.kevintjohns.com

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #92 of The Writing Coach podcast, I discuss why sometimes the most creative periods in our lives look and sound like silence to outside observers.

In episode #91 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with Jennifer Louden.

Jennifer Louden is a personal growth pioneer who helped launch the concept of self-care with her first best-selling book The Woman’s Comfort Book. Since then, she’s written six additional books on well-being and whole living, with a million copies of her books in print in nine languages.

Jennifer has spoken around the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and has written a national magazine column for Martha Stewart magazine. Plus, she’s been profiled or quoted in dozens of major magazines, two of Brené Brown’s books Daring Greatly and Dare to Lead, appeared on hundreds of TV, radio shows and podcasts, and even on Oprah.

Jennifer has been teaching women’s writing and self-care retreats and creative writing workshops since 1992 and creating vibrant online communities and innovative learning experiences since 2000.

During our conversation, Jennifer describes:

• How a time of great desperation, unhappiness, and depression ultimately launched her career as a successful author
• The danger of wrapping up your entire self-worth in your writing
• The importance of self-care and why she rejects the notion that artists must be tortured souls
• What aspects of writing she struggles with and how she overcomes challenges in her writing
• Three things you need to know before you start writing
• What differentiates successful writers from those who fizzle out
• Why she thinks being a writer is the coolest calling in the world
• And much more!

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #90 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with Chad Allen.

Chad Allen is a writer, speaker, editor, and writing coach. A 20-year publishing professional, he has worked with many bestselling authors and is creator of Book Proposal Academy, an online course, and BookCamp, a mentoring and community hub for writers. His passion is helping writers get their books into the world, and he blogs athttp://www.chadrallen.com/.

During our conversation, Chad describes:

• How his passion for the writing of C.S. Lewis led to a career in publishing
• Why he feels called to help writers
• How his blog served as the launching pad for his coaching business
• The origins of his Book Proposal Academy
• Why coaching feels like it is the thing he was born to do
• And much more!