Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

In this episode Mark chats with Dave Sweet and Sarah Graham about their new book SKELETONS IN MY CLOSET: Life Lessons from a Homicide Detective , an unorthodox police memoir taking readers on a ride-along like no other, revealing poignant truths about life and death, and how we can all work and live together. Danger and grit pair with humour and compassion in this gripping, fresh read. Dave Sweet,...

In this week's episode, Mark speaks with Tina Dietz who is an award-winning and internationally acclaimed speaker, audiobook publisher, podcast producer, and content marketing expert. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a few personal updates that include the launch of his new traditionally published book Macabre Montreal, and how that book launch interfered with attending the NIGHT OF THE WRITING...

In this solo episode, Mark reflects upon some of the things that happened at NINC and why he enjoys attending it every year. One of the things, of course, was that he recently became Director of Business Development for Draft2Digital. This episode is sponsored by Findaway Voices . . . . . . and also by the Patrons of the show at www.patreon.com/starkreflections . Links of Interest: Findaway Voices...

This episode centers upon four quick chats with industry folks from NINC (Novelists Inc) 2018 in St Pete, Florida. Mark shares chats (originally posted as Facebook Live videos on Sept 27, 2018) with: Carlyn Robertson from BookBub Damon Courtney from BookFunnel Christine Munroe from Kobo Writing Life Ricardo Fayet from Reedsy Prior to the interview, Mark shares some personal updates, including some...

In this episode, Mark shares an early audio draft of the chapter on Professionalism for his forthcoming book THE 7 P'S OF PUBLISHING SUCCESS which will be released under his "Stark Publishing Solutions" imprint by the end of Sept 2018. Prior to the audiobook excerpt, Mark shares a few personal updates which include: Attending NINC (Novelist's, Inc.) writer conference in St Pete, Florida, where he...

In this episode, Mark interviews Nathan Van Coops who claims that he lives on a diet comprised mainly of tacos. He enjoys old planes, motorcycles, and Volkswagens, contends that there is such a thing as "dressy" flip-flops and is the time travel adventure series, In Times Like These, and The Skylighter Adventures. Nathan, of course, isn't just an author, but he is also an aviator and the man behin...

Mark chats with Dana Pharant, a business owner, a speaker, an author and the host of the Inner Dominatrix Podcast, about her new book T he Inner Dominatrix Guide: Become a Badass in Business. Before the interview, Mark shares a few personal updates: Misadventures of the cat and the headset cord Experience using PublishDrive Getting Sean into indie audiobooks (and a mention that this podcast is spo...

In this solo episode, Mark talks about two specific examples from his own publishing experience, where having a crappy cover didn't help sales. He walks through the back-story for the eBooks in question, his reasoning behind the initial crappy cover as well as the positive results that came after he recognized his mistake and created a better cover. He explains that he is using personal examples f...

This episode includes a conversation with three guests: Ara Grigorian, Janis Thomas and Julie Strauss. Ara and Janis are the brains and brawn behind the Novel Intensive Seminar and Workshop and Julie was a writer who has attended and benefited from these sessions. The Novel Intensive Workshop is a hands-on full day collaborative workshop in which writers are able to apply the Novel Intensive Tools...

Mark interviews Alberta writer Samantha Davidson a writer he met at the recent When Words Collide conference in Calgary about the author branding of hers that immediately caught his attention immediately and about her next plans while being just at the point of finishing the first novel she plans on publishing. They also talk about the way that she helps to inspire creative people, not just writer...

This week's episode is a solo one, where Mark reflects on reflect the Two Wrongs That Make a Writer Spite. He takes a look at two negative things that writers often focus on which can be demotivating and make them hateful or spiteful - all things that detract from what writers should be focusing on to move onward and upward in their writer journey. Before the main content, Mark shares a few person...

The feature interview in this episode is with C.C. Humphreys, an actor, playwright, fight choreographer and novelist. Chris has ten novels that were all traditionally published, several of which have been Globe and Mail Bestsellers and his historic novel "Plague won the Crime Writers of Canada's Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel in 2015. Prior to the interview Mark shares a few personal upda...

Mark interviews Kerrie Flanagan, author of the author of Guide to Magazine Article Writing by Writer's Digest. Kerrie is a freelance writer with over 20 years of experience. As a writing consultant, she works with writers, giving them the encouragement, support, resources and tools to find success on their writing journey. She is the author of 8 other books published under her label/publishing com...

Mark chats with Dana Pharant and Barb Stuhlemmer about elements of running their own businesses that also apply to writers. Mark, Dana and Barb are 3 of 5 members of a recent business mastermind that took place where 5 business owners from different industries and areas of expertise all work together to hold one another accountable for business plans, visions, goals and next steps for growth. Mark...

This episode features an interview with Canadian author Terry Fallis. who is a two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, the winner of CBC Canada Reads for "the essential novel of the decade" the winner of the CBA Libris Author of the Year Award for 2013, and someone who has had a 6-part mini-series based on his first novel appear on CBC Television.   Prior to his personal update, M...

Solo Episode After providing a personal update on a few of the "Free" experiments he has been running, Mark reflects on inspiration drawn from reading the book THE POWER OF MOMENTS by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. The Tongue Twister segment of the show is sponsored by Findaway Voices. Mark also talks about (and yes, it was certainly inspired from reading the aforementioned book), a survey that he has...

The feature interview in this episode is a chat with Jamie Ferguson about her writing, the thing that made the difference in terms of kick-starting her writing productivity, and the various collaborations and curation she has done by leveraging BundleRabbit as a collaborative tool. Mark then shares a quick personal update, about the fact that there's nothing like screwing up to get views on a vide...

In episode 26, Mark chats with author Armand Rosamilia who is originally from New Jersey and currently lives in sunny Florida with his wife. Armand is not only a hybrid author with more than 150 stories, and numerous books published both via traditional publishers and via indie-publishing methods, but he is also a podcaster and the co-owner of the Project Entertainment Network . This episode's ton...

In this solo episode, Mark shares 10 Ways of Thinking Outside the Ad: Book Marketing ideas that appeal to your target audience. Prior to the main content, Mark gives a bit of an update on how his Kobo Writing Life FREE first book in series is going two weeks out. Then he does the Tongue Twister, suggested by his friend Pete, and sponsored by Findaway Voices. In brief summary, here are the 10 Ways...

Mark interviews Laura and Daniel Martone , former residents of New Orleans who now travel the country in their mobile writing studio, a cozy RV dubbed Serenity. Together they write urban fantasy, post-apocalyptic, time travel, epic fantasy, and space opera novels. Prior to the interview, Mark shares an update on the recent FREE promotion that he paid for via the Kobo Writing Life PROMOTIONS tab. W...

In this episode, Mark interviews Danièle Cybulskie about how she translated her passion for The Middle Ages into featured articles at Medievalists.net that have reached more than half a million readers, has had her work as a subject matter specialist adopted for nine Ontario colleges, had created fun and informative books such as The Five-Minute Medievalist, Six Steps to Better Historical Fiction...

This episode includes clips of interviews that Mark conducted on a tour through the Findaway offices in Cleveland, Ohio that took place on Tuesday May 22nd. Mark chats with folks from the Findaway Voices team (Will, Wes and Eric) as well as Findaway CEO Mitch Kroll. In the introduction, Mark shares a few updates, including an update of the latest video for Patreon supporters and then explains the...

This episode features an interview with J Thorn and Zach Bohannon. They talk not only about the collaboration that the two of them do, but also a few of their more adventurous collaborations with other authors including the original train journey with Joanna Penn and Lindsay Buroker and how that unique writing experience evolved into an ongoing AUTHORS ON A TRAIN voyage from Chicago to New Orleans...

Episode 20 is a solo episode where, in response to a few listeners who reached out and asked if he'd be willing to share more about his background and experience as an author, he takes the opportunity to reveal his own writer journey and the lessons learned along the way. Prior to the lessons, Mark shares a bit of a personal update that includes the following: Work on the forthcoming traditionally...

In Episode 19, Mark interviews Bruce Outridge, an artist, speaker, podcaster, television host, columnist, consultant and coach. I'm sure I missed a few things Bruce does there, because the man certainly fits a lot into a day. The podcast features a fifteen minute interview with Bruce as well as a couple of short clips from his Cashing in on Creativity podcast which has a format that is as fun and...