Calling Out the Shadows

For nine episodes, an AI voice read my words. This one is me. Calling Out the Shadows: A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast, Episode 10, with Neal Winsomer. The words were always mine; the voice was not. Now it is, my real voice, the same one I used to narrate the audiobook. I can use it while staying protected, and I am not confirming, denying, or engaging speculation about who I am. Clarity over comfo...

Calling Out the Shadows: A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast, Episode 09, with Neal Winsomer. A recent hearing brought a wave of false claims from my ex and her lawyer, and I chose not to react. No interrupting, no scowling, no passive aggression, just a straight posture, careful notes, and the documented truth doing the work. For me the strategy is patience, perseverance, and professionalism over winn...

An opinion does not become a fact because it is printed in a book. Episode 08 of Calling Out the Shadows: A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast. Neal Winsomer on writing with humility and subjectivity over false authority, and a dual request: authors, share opinions as opinions; readers, dig deeper before you trust a claim. Full transcript and notes at nealwinsomerpublishing.com/podcast. Available on Spr...

A wave of fake "book club" emails is hitting indie author inboxes, and one reply is enough to make it worse. In this episode I share what is happening in my own inbox, what the scam template looks like, and the rules I am using to handle it. What some scammers are doing: - Generic praise that lifts from your Amazon back cover, never the actual book - A fee ask framed as a "contribution" so it does...

The pay for play book award system bothers Neal Winsomer, and he is not paying for an award to stick on this book. Episode 06 of Calling Out the Shadows: A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast. Neal Winsomer looks at the pay-for-play book award model where authors pay $20 to $200 to be nominated, and where many of the systems state on their own websites that every entrant at least lands runner-up. The lin...

Episode 05 of Calling Out the Shadows: A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast. Neal Winsomer marks the ten-month point in the journey from blank page to release. The first paperback proof landed in his hand and the case for tracking the process gets made. The other day Amazon showed up with the first paperback proof of the book. Neal started this journey on July 15th of last year. The proof landed in his...

Bestseller is one of the easiest claims to buy and one of the hardest to earn. Episode 04 of Calling Out the Shadows: A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast. Neal Winsomer breaks down the Amazon bestseller scam, what a real bestseller looks like, and how to catch a fake claim before it sells you on someone who has not earned the title. Amazon has over 16,000 book categories. Many of those categories sell...

You Don't Need to Read, Buy, or Review My Book. Episode 03 of Calling Out the Shadows: A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast. Author Neal Winsomer on choosing not to ask readers to read, buy, or review his upcoming book. Neal opens: "You don't need to read my book, you don't need to buy my book, and you don't need to review my book. I doubt my book will change your life." He questions why authors let sub...

Calling Out the Shadows: A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast, Episode 02. Listen to Neal Winsomer walk through what happens inside narcissistic personality disorder when pathological lying crosses the line from deliberate deception into the person's own belief. He shares his experience watching his ex-wife construct narratives over time that, at some point, became absolute and undeniable to her, regard...

Welcome to Calling Out the Shadows with Neal Winsomer, a Clarity Over Comfort Podcast. This first episode introduces the show: what it is, what it isn't, who it's for, and what's coming. The podcast draws from the narrative, themes, and frameworks of the book Calling Out the Shadows: A Father's Stand Against the Current, and continues them in conversation, episode by episode.  Topics this season w...