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Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

By: Mark Leslie Lefebvre
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  • Summary

  • Perspectives and reflections on the writing and publishing life. Mark Leslie Lefebvre, a writer, bookseller, digital publishing advocate, professional speaker, and publishing consultant explores inclusive and collaborative opportunities for writers and book publishing professionals via interviews, discussions, and reflections about the industry. (Mark's personal website is www.markleslie.ca)
    Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Public License
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Episodes
  • EP 358 - The Way of the Parable Writer with Donn King

    EP 358 - The Way of the Parable Writer with Donn King
    May 2 2024
    Mark interviews professor, pastor, speaker, and author Donn King about writing, his podcast, and his books THE WAY OF THE THREE-YEAR-OLD WHY and MEDIUM WELL. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, comments from recent episodes, and a word from this episode's sponsor. Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise. In their interview Mark and Donn talk about: Donn's gradual evolution into becoming a writer with starting work at a newspaper when he was 14 years oldAn experience in sixth grade discovering science fiction novels in the library and realizing reading could be fun when you weren't being forced to do itThe first sci-fi novel Donn remembers reading: Robert A. Heinlein's HAVE SPACESUIT WILL TRAVELDonn's first foray into writing short fiction in a 3-ring binder with a pencilLearning about his non-fiction writing from Bob Burg, co-author of THE GO-GIVER a bestselling business parable bookHow elements from writing good fiction apply when writing a parableDrawing upon autobiographical elements even when fictionalizing a parableThe difference between Writer's Block and The Well Going DryDonn's podcast, The Alignment ShowThe Great Realignment and pausing to step back and consider what really brings value to youDonn's book MEDIUM WELL: The Journey From Believing to Believing InThe beautifully inquisitive nature of 3-Year-Olds in Donn's THE WAY OF THE THREE-YEAR-OLD WHYPrincipal Five - Without emotion, there is no motionThe challenges of booking live speaking events when caring for family members who require that additional compassion and careThe reality that none of us have any certainty - we merely live with the illusion of certaintyThe concept of connection before contentAnd more . . . After the interview Mark reflects on a few of the topics that came up in their conversation. Links of Interest: Donn King's WebsiteDonn King's BooksThe Confidence Cultivators Podcast Mark's Guest Spot on Episode 54YouTube Video of Episode 54 EP 357 - 50 Years of Short Stories with Kevin J. Anderson Kevin's Short Story Kickstarter EP 356 - The Midlist Indie Author Mindset with T. Thorn Coyle Thorn's Patreon Site Writers of the Future - Blog Post Announcing Mark as a JudgeStark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins AgencyScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link)Mark's YouTube ChannelBuy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and LibrariesThe Relaxed Author Buy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover's MoonHex and the CityOnly Monsters in the Building The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard Donn King is "The Confidence Cultivator," a professor, pastor, speaker, and author who lives in the mountains of East Tennessee. He also hosts "The Alignment Show," a podcast to support listeners in living their values so they can value their life. His book, "The Way of the Three-Year-Old Why," the first in the Sparklight Chronicles, came out in 2023, with "Medium Well," the second in the series, came out in early 2024 The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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    55 mins
  • EP 357 - 50 Years of Short Stories with Kevin J. Anderson

    EP 357 - 50 Years of Short Stories with Kevin J. Anderson
    Apr 26 2024
    In this episode, Mark interviews Kevin J. Anderson about his writing and the new approach he is taking to incorporate Kickstarter into the launch strategies for some of his indie-published titles. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, comments from recent episodes, and a word from this episode's sponsor. Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise. In their interview Mark and Kevin talk about: How Kickstarter has completely upended (in a good way), Kevin's book release strategiesKevin's first novel coming out in 1988 and all the various publishers he has worked with over the yearsThe "Perfect Storm" that was brewing in the book industry when indie publishing became a realistic and viable optionStarting to publish his own books (mostly backlist titles he got the rights back to) in 2009 after founding WordFire Press with his wife Rebecca MoestaKevin's belief that this is the best time to be a writerHow Kevin does a little bit of everything. He has a New York literary agent, he works with several major publishers, he indie publishes, and he continues to explore new opportunities that digital publishing offerThe way that Kickstarter didn't just open a new door, it completely blew it down, along with a few walls tooDean Wesley Smith's perspective that helped to change Kevin's mind about what Kickstarter was all aboutKevin's "Adams Family meets The Naked Gun" series of Dan Shamble Zombie PI novels, and the history of how it started off as a series with a major publisher, flopped, then Kevin got the rights back and did something truly stunning with it once he applied KickstarterKevin's first Dan Shamble Kickstarter which brought in 23 times the intial amount he was asking for, and that it paid him more than 6 times the advance he'd rec'd from a major publisher for the last Dan Shamble book he'd done with themThe Dragon Business (The Princess Bride meets Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) Kickstarter that brought in 20 times what he'd been asking forThe Persephone Kickstarter that Kevin did with Writer/Director Jeffrey MorrisKevin's latest Kickstarter which is a 7 Volume Set of over 130 of his published short stories published over 50 yearsWriting his first short story when he was 8 years oldPublishing his very first short story when he was 14The personal introductions that he wrote for every one of the stories in this 7 book collectionThe various levels and Kickstarter rewards he is planning for this KickstarterThe remarkable fact that, despite having published 180 novels with 58 of them being international bestsellers, no publisher would ever even consider publishing a 7 volume hardcover set of Kevin's complete short stories. That he can do this via Kickstarter is a significant paradigm shiftHow Kickstarter can replace the old "advance" model from traditional publishingThe special thing Kevin is doing for all the backers of this latest KickstarterThe Kickstarter will be going live on April 30th for 3 weeks and 2 daysAnd more . . . After the interview Mark reflects on Kevin's use of short, effective and very clear log lines to describe two of his series. Links of Interest: Kevin J. Anderson's Website Kevin's Short Story Kickstarter EP 130 - Grace Under Pressure with Kevin J. Anderson Mentions of Kevin in other podcast episodes EP 356 - The Midlist Indie Author Mindset with T. Thorn Coyle Thorn's Patreon Site EP 355 - Scribbling Pen Publishing with Melanie Gilbert and Heather KarnWriters of the Future - Blog Post Announcing Mark as a JudgeStark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins AgencyScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link)Mark's YouTube ChannelBuy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and LibrariesThe Relaxed Author Buy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover's MoonHex and the CityOnly Monsters in the Building The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard Kevin J. Anderson has published more than 180 books, 58 of which have been national or international bestsellers. He has written numerous novels in the Star Wars, X-Files, and Dune universes, as well as the unique Clockwork Angels steampunk trilogy with legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart. His original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series, the Wake the Dragon and Terra Incognita fantasy trilogies, and humorous Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series and The Dragon Business series. He has edited numerous anthologies, written comics and games, and the lyrics to two rock CDs. Anderson is the director of the graduate program in Publishing at Western Colorado University, and he and his wife ...
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    50 mins
  • EP 356 - The Midlist Indie Author Mindset with T. Thorn Coyle

    EP 356 - The Midlist Indie Author Mindset with T. Thorn Coyle
    Apr 18 2024
    Mark interviews T Thorn Coyle about writing, community, and their new book The Midlist Indie Author Mindset. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update and a word from this episode's sponsor. Cruising Writers - 7 Day Western Caribbean Cruise - Feb 22 to Mar 1, 2025 Featured Guest Speakers: Erin Wright and Mark Leslie Lefebvre More details at: Cruising Writers In the interview, Mark and Thorn talk about: Getting into writing when they were 5 years old - and the variety of types of writing they didThorn jokingly torturing fiction and deciding to write non-fiction until a few characters showed up and knocked on their doorWriting mostly fantasy-tinged fictionHow most of Thorn's non-fiction guides have been about spiritual practice, but that this latest one is their first non-fiction business of writing bookThorn's author tagline: "Magic is real. And justice is worth fighting for."The way that Portland is such a fascinating city and how Thorn can find magic anywhereAn appreciation of Charles de LintThorn's forthcoming book: The Midlist Author MindsetThe massive mindset shift that comes from being curious about business the way one is curious about writingValue that came with learning what worked for Thorn, as opposed to things that work for other writersThe numerous streams of income that Thorn has been developing over the yearsLooking at long-term sustainability by thinking of it like cultivating a garden instead of seeking out short-term dramatic spikesSome of the roadblocks that Thorn encountered on the way to establishing the Midlist Author MindsetUnderstanding that for Thorn marketing was about connection with readersHow asking "Does social media sell books?" is the wrong question to askThe Kickstarter for the book and related materials and exclusive content that runs April 16, 2024 to May 7, 2024A little bit about Thorn's fiction series booksThoughts and current approach to audiobooksThorn's final words of advice that they would want to leave with writersAnd more . . . After the interview, Mark reflects on the concepts of sustainable, long-term, and burn-out as well as the important question of what is practical for you and your life and goals. Links of Interest: T. Thorn Coyle's Website Kickstarter for The Midlist Indie Author MindsetFiction TitlesNon-Fiction Titles Thorn's Patreon SiteWriters of the Future - Blog Post Announcing Mark as a JudgeStark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins AgencyScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link)Mark's YouTube ChannelBuy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and LibrariesThe Relaxed Author Buy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover's MoonHex and the CityOnly Monsters in the Building The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard T. Thorn Coyle worked in many strange and diverse occupations before settling in to write full time. Buy them a cup of tea and perhaps they’ll tell you about it. Author of The Witches of Portland, the Seashell Cove Paranormal Cozy Mysteries, the Pride Street Paranormal Cozy Mysteries, The Steel Clan Saga, and The Panther Chronicles, Thorn’s multiple non-fiction books include Sigil Magic for Writers, Artists & Other Creatives, Crafting a Daily Practice, Kissing the Limitless, and Evolutionary Witchcraft. Thorn's work also appears in many anthologies, magazines, and collections. An interloper to the Pacific Northwest U.S., they pay proper tribute to all the neighborhood cats, and talk to crows, squirrels, and trees. You can find them at thorncoyle.com. The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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    50 mins
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