The Daily Writer

We’re often told that the key to productivity is saying “no” to distractions and protecting our time. But sometimes the most important opportunities come from saying “yes.” In this episode, I share how a small writing workshop with only seven attendees led to a conversation that ultimately changed the trajectory of my career. You never know which invitation, opportunity, or relationship might lead...

I’m currently training for my first marathon, and one of the lessons I’ve learned is that there’s no substitute for getting on the actual course. The same is true with writing. In this episode, I share how marathon training mirrors the writing process—and why the most important thing you can do today is stop preparing and start writing. I’d love to hear what you’re working on. Email me at kent@ken...

Welcome back! In this episode, I share why I’m bringing back The Daily Writer podcast, what prompted the change from The Profitable Writer, and where the show is headed in the coming weeks. The central idea behind everything I do comes down to one word: authorship. My goal is to help writers become the authors of their own lives and careers. I’d love to hear what you’re working on these days. Emai...

One of the most consistent themes I hear from writers is that many struggle with the business side of things. They become writers because they love the craft, the storytelling, or simply creating content. But the need for clear business thinking and processes often comes as a surprise. That’s why I’m excited to share this conversation with J.D. Barker, who’s here to help us understand how to navig...

I was born in 1974 and you’ve heard me talk about my love of 80s music before. And why not? The 80s, in my humble opinion, was simply the greatest decade in American culture as far as the amount and quality of music created. That’s why I’m excited to bring you this exceptionally fun and inspiring conversation with Jim Daneker . Jim is an award-winning and Billboard-charting composer and producer w...

I’ve always operated on the assumption that most of my listeners are introverts. If you don’t think of yourself as an introvert, that doesn’t make you less of a writer, of course. But I do believe most writers feel they get their energy from being alone, and that most of the time, being around people drains them. I certainly relate to that! Which is probably why I’m a full-time writer instead of s...

Today I’m bringing you an interview that will absolutely help you grow your impact and income, particularly if you’re a ghostwriter. You’ve probably heard of Gotham Ghostwriters, a New York City ghostwriting agency. It’s headed up CEO Dan Gerstein, who is a nationally recognized political writer, communications strategist, and idea man. He’s been writing professionally for more than thirty years....

I’m excited to bring you this conversation with Chelle Honiker, publisher of Indie Author Magazine. She has a real passion for serving and empowering authors, and in her role as publisher, she helps authors navigate the business of storytelling with confidence, strategy, and community. I’ve been a subscriber to the magazine for a couple of years now. If you’re looking for a fantastic resource to h...

As you know, I talk a lot about ghostwriting on this show since that’s my primary business. However, I’m thrilled today to bring on three other guests to help me dive even deeper into lots of ghostwriting-related topics. Maria Chapman is the Founder of Connected Ghostwriting, a writing agency built on one clear principle: connection drives success. Her agency does a variety of services, including...

If you think back to the early days of your writing journey, no matter if you’re at the beginning or you’ve been doing it a while, I’ll bet you were filled with joy and wonder at the power of writing. But somewhere along the way, you probably lost the spark a bit. You grew up, life got hard, and you felt overwhelmed with responsibilities in your family and career. It’s a common story most of us ha...

If you write nonfiction, I’m sure you’re familiar with the idea that your book can be the first step your reader takes with you, but not the last step. Although many people certainly make a great living selling lots of books, there are also lots of consultants, speakers, and trainers who make the bulk of their income from those offerings. Their book is just the first step in their readers’ journey...

I talk to a lot of writers who are just getting started in their 40s and 50s. That was certainly the case for me. I was a college professor for many years, then made the transition to ghostwriting and author coaching in my mid-40s. I can name dozens of other writers who have made similar transitions to a writing career mid-life. It’s tempting to feel like you’re getting a late start, but I believe...

As an author, there are lots of ways to collaborate with other writers. You can co-write a book, ghostwriter for people and remain in the background, be part of a series or anthology, and more. However, I confess that until recently, I had never heard of MAPs, otherwise known as Multi-Author Projects. These are typically a series of books written by different authors, but set in the same world or...

Nearly three years ago, in October 2022, the book The Faith of Elvis was published. I had the honor of writing it for Billy Stanley, Elvis’s stepbrother and the author of the book. Billy grew up with Elvis and spent 17 years by his side, working for Elvis, sharing his life, and being a core part of his entourage. Very few people knew Elvis as well as Billy and his brothers. We had an absolutely fa...

There’s one topic I am asked about far more than any other. As you can imagine, that topic is ghostwriting. The questions come from all perspectives. Writers who want to build a business ask me about how I got started and what it takes to build a successful ghostwriting business. Business leaders and others who want to write a book, but don’t have the time or skills to do it themselves, ask me how...

It goes without saying that there are two main words in the title of this podcast: Profitable and Writer. Chances are pretty high that, like me, you became a writer because you wanted to express yourself or tell stories. Or perhaps you were drawn to other elements of writing like publishing, editing, or research. But we do ourselves a huge disservice when we neglect the other component, which is t...

If you talk to any career writer, especially those who have been at it for a while, you’ll discover that the vast majority of them do several different things. In my experience, most full-time writers do a mix of client work in addition to their own projects. Regardless of the specific kinds of client work they do, or the particular projects they create for themselves, the common element is that t...

As human beings, we are wired to crave stories. I’ll bet a day doesn’t go by when you don’t dive into stories in some fashion, whether it’s movies, TV shows, novels, audiobooks, or talking to your family about the crazy things that happened to you that day. We crave stories so much that even at night, when we’re asleep, our brains continue to concoct stories for us! Many writers give life and brea...

In the last couple of decades, audiobooks have exploded in popularity. In fact, audiobooks are the fastest-growing segment of digital publishing, with Audible distributing well over half of all audiobooks. And what’s not love? You can listen to audiobooks anywhere, you can listen while you’re doing other things, and most people can listen to a book faster than they can read them. If you’ve ever co...

When I started podcasting over ten years ago, one of my major motivations was getting to have interesting conversations with interesting people who were doing interesting things. That sentence sounds a little convoluted on purpose but it still rings true: I love getting to sit down with people who are doing meaningful work and talk about the themes and threads running through it—and what you and I...

Imagine if you were taking a trip across the country, from New York to L.A. You probably wouldn’t just hop in the car and start driving. Instead, you’d plot out your journey via Google Maps, Apple Maps, if you’re a bit old-fashioned, maybe even a good old paper map. Yet failing to plan out the journey is exactly what many authors do when it comes to their books. That’s why putting together a book...

One of the realities that binds us all together as human beings is that we experience pain. It doesn’t matter what culture you’re from, how old you are, or what your life experience is … you deal with suffering on a daily basis. My guest today is here to help us understand that our pain and suffering can be a useful tool for writing. In fact, if we are willing to face our pain in life and use it a...

If you’ve listened to this show any length of time, you have heard me talk about the value of building multiple streams of income. Almost every successful writer I know has followed this path of building their business. No matter what the specific income streams are, the common element of almost all successful career writers is that they have a variety of outlets for their writing. That’s certainl...

What label would you use to describe what you do? Would it be writer, editor, designer, author, creative, artist, ghostwriter, publisher, entrepreneur, or maybe something else? Most of us would gravitate toward one or more of those terms. But I’ve never heard anyone in the writing and publishing world use the term “sales professional” or perhaps “salesperson” to describe what they do. Which is a b...

I’ve never done a poll on this, but I’d venture to say that most of my listeners have books, blog posts, social media, and newsletters as their main writing outlets. That includes me as well! But as I’m sure you know, there is a whole wide world of opportunities out there for writers. That’s why I’m excited to bring you this interview with Tim Carter. He is not only a novelist, but has also done e...