thewritingcoach's podcast

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

In episode 10 of The Writing Coach, I speak with writing coach Charlotte Rains Dixon.

Charlotte is a novelist, freelance journalist, blogger, ghostwriter, fiction and non-fiction author, and writing coach. She earned her MFA in creative writing from Spalding University and is a current mentor at the Writer's Loft, a certificate writing program at Middle Tennessee State University. Her popular blog contains over a thousand articles on writing, creativity, inspiration, motivation, and the writer's life.

During the interview, Charlotte describes:

  • how she's been blogging about writing for almost 8 years;
  • why a writing career that started in freelance journalism led to fiction writing;
  • the roles writing groups and mentors played in her development as an author;
  • why the world would be a better place if everyone let their creative spirits out;
  • how her life coaching certification has helped her as a writing coach;
  • and much more!
Direct download: The_Writing_Coach_Episode_10.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 8:19pm EDT

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

 

In episode 9 of The Writing Coach, I speak with author and writing coach Cathy Yardley.

Cathy Yardley is the author of almost 20 fiction and non-fiction books spanning multiple genres and several major publishing houses. Her Rock Your Writing series of instructional writing books provide authors with practical tips and strategies for writing and business. She also works one-on-one with writers as a writing coach, and offers unique story-planning sessions.

During the interview, Cathy describes:

  • how she got started in the writing industry by joining the Romance Writers of America as a publicist
  • why she recommends genre authors produce a book a year if they want to maintain an audience and income
  • the role a support team plays in an author's success
  • the importance of motivation and goals in order to being prolific
  • why writers need to approach their writing like a business
  • her inspiration for writing non-fiction instructional books
  • and much more!

For the show notes to this episode, please visit: http://www.kevintjohns.com/writingcoach9/

Direct download: The_Writing_Coach_Episode_9.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 5:12pm EDT

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

In episode 8 of The Writing Coach, I speak with blogging and business coach Jenna Dalton.

Jenna is a certified Elite level Book Yourself Solid Coach. She works with coaches and consultants to help them get more clients by using smart, authentic and proven blogging strategies combined with a client attraction system proven to work.

During the interview, Jenna describes:

   - how she became a Book Yourself Solid Coach after having the book sitting unread on her shelf for months
   - why she recommends attending a Creative Live recording (it's on my bucket list!)
   - how she transitioned from personal trainer and nutrition consultant to business coach
   - what she learned from coaches and mentors like Michael Port and Mari Forleo
   - how listening to her community led her to specializing in blogging coaching
   - why you don't necessarily have to be a great writer to be an effective blogger
    - and much more!

For show notes to this episode, visit: http://www.kevintjohns.com/writingcoach7

Thanks for listening!

Direct download: The_Writing_Coach_Episode_8.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 10:38pm EDT

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

In episode 7 of The Writing Coach, I speak with Jason Kong of Storyrally.com.

Jason is a blogger and marketing coach dedicated to helping fiction writers with their online marketing. He is also a regular contributor to Joel Friedlander's popular website, The Book Designer.

During the interview, Jason describes:

   - why he recommends guest blogging as a key marketing strategy
   - how he uses email as his main means of providing value to his audience
   -  why he chooses to work with fiction authors
   - how authors can use free giveaways to build their audience
   - the importance of trust when marketing a book
   - the benefits an author can gain from working with a coach
   -  and much more!

For show notes to this episode, visit: http://www.kevintjohns.com/writingcoach7

Thanks for listening!

Direct download: The_Writing_Coach_Episode_7.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 7:52pm EDT

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

In episode 6 of The Writing Coach, I speak with Julia Tunstall of A Bar Above and Mastermind Finder -- a website Julia founded that helps online entrepreneurs connect and build useful and effective Mastermind Groups so that their businesses can grow and thrive.

During the interview, Julia describes:

    - how she became an expert in mastermind groups
    - why she founded Mastermindfinder.com
    - how to "gamify" a mastermind group
    - the specific benefits a writer can get from a mastermind
    - how support groups can move people towards things, not just away from them
    - the unique way mastermind groups can help writers overcome loneliness
    - the benefits and drawbacks of a free mastermind vs. a paid mastermind
    - and much more!

For the show notes to this episode, please visit: http://www.kevintjohns.com/writingcoach6

To learn more about The Novel Writer's Blueprint Mastermind Group visit: http://yournovelblueprint.com/blueprint-mastermind/

Direct download: The_Writing_Coach_Episode_6.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 1:58pm EDT

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

In episode 5 of The Writing Coach, I speak with author, writing instructor, and small press publisher Caroline Frechette.

Originally from Montreal, Caroline has been living in the Ottawa/Gatineau region for the past 9 years. She is a sequential artist and author, who has published several short stories, two graphic novels, and three young adult fiction novels. She was the editor and director for the French Canadian literary magazine Histoires à boire debout and is a founding member of Renaissance Press. She has been teaching creative writing and coaching authors since 2005.

During the interview, Caroline describes:

  • how she got started teaching writing by accepting donations in an empty yogurt container
  • how volunteer work led to jobs doing structural edits and teaching courses for the city
  • why doing work for passion, not profit, can actually lead to revenue
  • where she found the confidence to start teaching at such a young age
  • the huge impact a high school English teacher had on her writing career
  • how one of her students became a co-founder of her small press
  • and much more!

For show notes visits: http://www.kevintjohns.com/writingcoach5

Direct download: The_Writing_Coach_Episode_5.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 11:53am EDT

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

 

In episode 4 of The Writing Coach, I speak with author and online entrepreneur Jonathan Tilley.

Jonathan is the creator of The Sacred Space Sessions: a 28 day art journaling course designed to make you feel good on the inside and out, League of List Builders: a 6 week business course for creatives on how to develop long-lasting, deep, and powerful working relationships, and author of Voice Over Garden: winner of the 2013 Small Business Book Award for Start-Ups.

A former actor, singer, and dancer in past productions of A Chorus Line, Mamma Mia!, and Cats Jonathan felt it was time to start speaking his own words about The Creative Process in front of audiences. He has devoted his life to sharing his thinking in order to help other creatives and entrepreneurs take action with their own process and purpose.

During the interview, Jonathan describes:

  • how he was able to forge a successful career in stage acting, a vocation so many fail at
  • why he embraces rejection and encourages creatives to not let it stop them
  • the skills that actors are able to bring to writing and business
  • how mentors and coaches can help by giving you permission to create
  • the surprising experience that lead to the writing of his first book
  • and much more!

Show notes: http://www.kevintjohns.com/writingcoach4

Direct download: The_Writing_Coach_Episode_4.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 10:43am EDT

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

 

In episode 3 of The Writing Coach, I speak with author and book marketing expert Tim Grahl.

Tim is the head-honcho at Out:think, a marketing firm specializing in book promotion and author platforms. He has worked with hundreds of writers. His clients are New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-sellers in fiction and non-fiction, including authors like Hugh Howey, Daniel Pink, and Pamela Slim. He is also the author of Your First 1000 Copies: The Step-by-Step Guide to Book Marketing which has sold over 10K copies. Marketing and sales are often seen as a slimy task that writers hate, but Tim redefines what marketing is and shares how it can be a fun and exciting while also increasing profits.

During the interview, Tim describes:

  • the influence bloggers like Seth Godin and Hugh McCleod had on his early work
  • why he always maintains an experimental mindset
  • how he was able to put his own advice into practice to reach the 10K sales mark with his own book
  • the importance of building an audience that will cheer you on
  • how everyone can be relentlessly helpful
  • why he has decided to write a novel and what is was like working with a writing coach
  • how authors need to review their options carefully when choosing traditional and indie publishing
  • and much more!

For the show notes to this episode visit: http://www.kevintjohns.com/writingcoach3

Direct download: The_Writing_Coach_Episode_3.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 7:12pm EDT

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

 

In episode 2 of The Writing Coach, I speak with editor, publisher, literary agent, and writer Shawn Coyne.

Shawn has edited and published hundreds of books with a total gross revenue of over $150 million!  He has  worked closely with Stephen Pressfield, including editing The War of Art and Gates of Fire (two of my personal favourites!), and runs a literary agency that represents the likes of David Mamet and Robert McKee.  He's ghostwritten several best-sellers, and recently launched a new blog, The Story Grid.

During this spectacular interview, Shawn describes:

  • his early years in the publishing business and how he learned his craft
  • why today's authors need to learn to be their own editors
  • the two tracks (macro and mirco) an editor can take and how the story grid combines both
  • why authors must start their writing with a strong understanding genre
  • how experience in stage acting translates to writing
  • what separates the best of the best from everyone else
  • why a scene must revolve around a story value and move from one place to another
  • the importance of understanding surface language and subtext
  • and much more!

For show notes visits: http://www.kevintjohns.com/writingcoach2

Direct download: The_Writing_Coach_002.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 7:01pm EDT

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

 

In episode 1 of The Writing Coach, I speak with author and writing coach M. Shannon Herandez.

After 15 years as a professional educator, Shannon resigned from teaching and reinvented her life and career. Through her business, The Writing Whisper, she's now helping small businesses to succeed by teaching them how to use content to share their brand's stories and expertise. She is also coaching memoir writers one-on-one and helping them to turn their memories into manuscripts. In addition, Shannon writes for The Huffington Post and released a hit book last summer, Breaking the Silence: My Final 40 Days as a Public School Teacher. 

During the interview, Shannon describes:

  • the benefits of working with a writing coach, business coach, and professional editor
  • how she turned her personal journal into a successful published memoir
  • the emotional experience of memoir writing
  • how she helps writers find their authentic voice
  • the importance of networking to find new clients
  • how visual models can help the writing process
  • why she doesn't believe in writing drills
  • how she keeps her writing clients on track with their writing
  • why she doesn't haggle about rates with potential clients
  • how she spent her first author royalty cheque
  • and much more!

Show Notes: http://www.kevintjohns.com/writingcoach1

Direct download: The_Writing_Coach_Episode_1.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 6:05pm EDT

1