The Wordslinger Podcast

A WORDSLINGER PODCAST Should you REALLY become a full-time writer? For many authors, quitting the day job to write books for a living is the ultimate dream. But what if becoming a full-time author isn't actually the best thing for your writing career? I've written more than 90 books, spent years working full-time jobs while building my author career, and experienced the freedom—and unexpected chal...

A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Think you don't have enough time to write? What if the very thing holding you back is actually making you a better, more productive writer? Building a writing career while juggling a full-time job, family responsibilities, and everyday life can feel impossible. But here's something I discovered after years of squeezing writing into lunch breaks, early mornings, and spare mome...

A WORDSLINGER PODCAST This One Habit Made Me a Successful Writer What's the secret to writing more books, building an audience, and making a living as an author? It's not talent, luck, or the latest writing software. It's consistency. After publishing more than 90 books and selling millions of copies worldwide, I've learned that showing up and doing the work, day after day, is one of the most powe...

A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Should authors use Substack? I’ve been using Substack for several years now, and I’ve come to see it as something more useful than just another social media platform. For writers, it can be a blog, newsletter, community, podcast platform, and—most importantly—a way to build an audience you actually own. In this episode, I break down how I use Substack as an author, how recomm...

A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Should writers use AI to write their books? My answer is yes—but probably not in the way you think. I don’t use AI to write the actual prose of my novels. That’s the part I love. But while working on a research-heavy historical novel, I’ve found some incredibly useful ways to make AI part of my writing process without handing over the creative work. In this episode, I break d...

A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Every successful writing career is built on mistakes. I’ve made plenty of them. In this Wordslinger 10-Shot, I share some of my biggest failures as a writer—from falling for a literary agent scam and spending thousands on things that didn’t move my career forward, to signing a publishing contract without proper representation and eventually burning myself out trying to keep u...

A WORDSLINGER PODCAST How do you write a character who is smarter than you, comes from a different background, sees the world differently, or believes things you never would? In this episode of the Wordslinger Podcast, Don King joins me for another Kevin on Craft conversation about creating characters who feel like real human beings instead of extensions of the author. We talk about writing charac...

A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Should authors use AI-generated book covers? AI can produce some astonishingly good artwork, but that doesn’t mean the decision is simple. In this Wordslinger 10-Shot, I break down what authors should consider before using AI for a book cover—from Amazon’s disclosure requirements and copyright questions to reader backlash, professional design, and the alternatives available i...

A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Can you build an author career without putting your face, real name, and personal life all over the internet? Absolutely—but anonymity takes more than choosing a pen name. In this Wordslinger 10-Shot, I break down practical ways authors can market their books while protecting their identity. We’ll talk about building a brand around your pen name, keeping your author life sepa...

A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT What if the thing keeping you from writing more books isn’t the writing—it’s everything else that comes with being an author? In this Wordslinger 10-Shot, Kevin talks about working with a virtual assistant, or author assistant, to take some of the business of being a writer off your shoulders. Marketing, social media, video editing, graphic design, administrative work, Kickst...

A WORDSLINGER PODCAST Most writers start with a character, a premise, a scene, or maybe an ending. I often start with the title. In this episode of the Wordslinger Podcast, I talk about the weird way I begin many of my novels, why a good title can sometimes unlock an entire story, and what happens when the title changes halfway through the book. I also get into what I’m working on right now, inclu...

A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Why do you write? It sounds like a simple question, but your answer may be the thing that keeps you going when the words aren’t coming, the sales aren’t happening, and nobody seems to notice the work you’re putting in. In this Wordslinger 10-Shot, I talk about an unexpected encounter with a reader that reminded me of something every writer needs to remember: there’s a real hu...

A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT What do successful writers have in common? They surround themselves with writing. In this Wordslinger 10-Shot, I talk about one of the most useful habits I’ve developed over the years: reading books by writers about the writing life, learning from other authors, attending conferences, listening to interviews and podcasts, and immersing yourself in the experiences of people wh...

A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Hate marketing your books? You’re probably thinking about marketing the wrong way. A lot of writers hear “book marketing” and immediately think about running ads, posting constantly on social media, chasing TikTok trends, finding reviewers, testing campaigns, and spending money they may never earn back. No wonder authors get exhausted. But marketing doesn’t have to mean any o...

A WORDSLINGER PODCAST How do you keep multiple writing projects moving without losing momentum—or your mind? In this episode, I’m breaking down the systems I use to manage several creative projects at once, including nonfiction, historical fiction, novels, short stories, YouTube, research, and everything else competing for attention. The key isn’t working harder. It’s building systems that reduce...

A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Way too busy for writing? Travel, work, family, deadlines, vacations, and plain old life can wreck even the best writing routine. But staying productive doesn’t always mean forcing yourself to sit down for a full writing session every single day. In this Wordslinger 10-Shot, I share some of the ways I keep my writing moving even when I’m traveling or my normal routine gets di...

A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT How do you actually find beta readers for your book? In this Wordslinger 10-Shot, I break down the practical ways I’ve built a beta reader and street team over the years—from starting with friends and family, to recruiting readers who already send useful feedback, to finding potential beta readers in reader and writer communities. But finding them is only half the job. You al...

A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT AI isn’t going to replace you. At least, not if you’re doing the part of writing that actually matters. In this Wordslinger 10-Shot, Kevin Tumlinson talks about the fear that AI will replace writers, artists, and other creative professionals—and why he thinks that fear is aimed at the wrong target. Yes, AI may replace some types of high-volume, formula-driven content. But rea...

A WORDSLINGER STORY CUT Can a novel keep you turning pages without explosions, car chases, monsters, or constant high-stakes action? Theo of Golden by Allen Levi proves that it can. In this Wordslinger Story Cut, I take a storyteller’s look at one of my new favorite novels and examine why such a quiet, heartfelt story works so well. Theo arrives in the small town of Golden, Georgia, and begins pur...

A WORDSLINGER PODCAST If you want people to read your books, buy your books, and help you build a sustainable writing career, then you’re already in business—whether you like that idea or not. In this episode of the Wordslinger Podcast, I talk about why writers need to start thinking like entrepreneurs, what marketing really means, and why building your own platform matters more than chasing indiv...

A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Do indie authors really need to buy their own ISBNs? For most self-published authors, the answer is probably no. In this episode, J. Kevin Tumlinson breaks down the real differences between purchasing your own ISBN and using a free ISBN from services such as Draft2Digital or Amazon. We’ll look at what “publisher of record” actually means, whether an ISBN affects copyright or...

A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT What’s the best way for an indie author to distribute their books? In this Wordslinger 10-Shot, I break down the book distribution strategy I actually use—including why I go direct to Amazon and Kobo, use Draft2Digital to reach Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, libraries, and thousands of other outlets, and maintain my own direct storefront. We’ll also talk about KDP Select an...

A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Is AI really the reason your books aren’t selling? Writers have plenty of legitimate reasons to be concerned about artificial intelligence, AI-generated books, changing algorithms, publishing platforms, and an increasingly crowded marketplace. But blaming AI for a struggling writing career won’t help you build a better one. In this Wordslinger 10-Shot, J. Kevin Tumlinson talk...

A WORDSLINGER STORY CUT Marvel spent more than a decade building toward Avengers: Endgame—and when it finally arrived, the movie gave its characters real consequences, real sacrifice, and real endings. So why does it feel like Marvel has spent the years since then undoing the very things that made Endgame matter? With Avengers: Endgame Encore bringing the film back to theaters and Avengers: Doomsd...

A WORDSLINGER PODCAST What can JAWS teach you about writing better characters? More than you might think. In this episode of the Wordslinger Podcast, Kevin Tumlinson sits down with Donn King for another Kevin on Craft conversation, this time exploring what makes fictional characters feel real—and why writers may be describing far more than they need to. Just as Steven Spielberg discovered that the...