The Author Life Podcast

This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain make a big announcement about the podcast.

This week author Crys Cain is joined by special guest VE Griffith. They discuss what line editors do and how authors can utilize them effectively.

Question of the week: have you used a line editor before and what was your experience?

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This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain discuss how they decide to not continue with a project and the factors influence their decisions. 

Question of the week: Have you had projects that you have decided to set aside that were no longer a fit for where you wanted to go?

This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain discuss different ways you can utilize beta readers to help with expert knowledge and the different processes involved in doing so.

Question of the week: how do you solicit expert advice?

This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain discuss different ways you can cut the costs of creating a book without sacrificing the quality.

Question of the week: what ways have you used to cut costs without qualities that we haven't mentioned?

This week author Crys Cain is joined by special guest Valerie Ihsan. They discuss the top myths of writing memoir and some tips and tricks to help you write yours.

Question of the week: have you thought about writing memoir?

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This week, authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain discuss what drives them, and how that has changed throughout their publishing career.

Question of the week: Are you focused more on income or influence right now?

This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain discuss what why they've chosen to go wide or opt in to KU (Amazon exclusive) for different projects or different phases of their career.

Question of the week: Are you leaning Wide or KU for your next project?

This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain discuss the different subscription platforms available, how and when they can be valuable to authors, and what an author will be expected to provide to their subscribers.

Question of the week: does the subscription model intrigue you?

This week author Crys Cain is joined by special guest Christine Daigle. They discuss what goes into writing serials and how it differs from writing novels.

Question of the week: have ever considered writing a serial?

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This week author Crys Cain is joined by special guest JP Rindfleisch. They discuss what a story hypothesis is and how you can use this tool to improve your writing process.

Question of the week: have you ever used a story hypothesis or similar method to guide your writing?

References:

This week author Crys Cain is joined by special guest Kathrese McKee. They discuss the process that goes into creating your story's hook and why it is so important in attracting your readers.

Question of the week: what is the hook for your current book that you're writing?

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This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain discuss when it is beneficial for authors to start translating their work and the process that it involves.

Question of the week: what are your thoughts on translation?

This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain discuss when it is beneficial for authors to host a podcast and the differences between a fiction and non-fiction audience.

Question of the week: if you started a podcast, what would it be?

This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain discuss J's experience at ThrillerFest and the pros and cons of attending trad focused events as an indie author.

Question of the week: can indie authors still benefit from going to more traditional publishing events?

This week Crys Cain is joined by special guest, Miss Catherine, to discuss how to create a series bible and the benefits of doing so.

Question of the week: do you use a series bible when world-building?

This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain discuss J's experience at The Creator Economy Expo and what this emerging tech means for authors.

Question of the week: do you find yourself more comfortable with audience building or community building as you're building your author career?

This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain discuss the process of being involved in an anthology and why it can be useful for your author career.

Question of the week: Have you participated in an anthology and what was your experience?

This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain discuss why they made The Author Life Community free and what they'd like to see from the change.

Question of the week: What thoughts or questions do you have about the new direction that we're going?

This week author Crys Cain is joined by special guest Jeff Elkins, The Dialogue Doctor. They discuss how digging deeper into dialogue has changed how they enjoy books and movies.

Question of the week: How has getting deeper into writing changed your relationship with consuming stories?

This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain discuss when to adopt new technology for yourself or for your business based on where you fall on the Rogers Curve of Innovation.

Question of the week: Where do you think you fall along the Rogers Curve of Innovation?

This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain discuss if word count matters when you're indie publishing based on readers' expectations and genre conventions.

Question of the week: Are you an underwriter or an overwriter?

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This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain discuss how they deal with the guilt of not doing, both in their work and in their personal lives.

Question of the week: Do you feel the guilt of not doing? About what? 

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This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain discuss the benefits of participating in five-day challenges as an author.

Question of the week: Is there a how-to idea or non-fiction idea that you've been tossing around, and what is it?

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This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain discuss the ins and outs of working with a brand agency and their personal experience with the process.

Question of the week: What's the most difficult part of branding for you?

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This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain discuss their new name change to "The Author Life" and all the work that went into it.

Question of the week: What do you think of the name change? 

This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain discuss their experience with all things audio-related. From self-narrating to sourcing narrators, detailing the steps of publishing to deciding whether to publish, they cover it all.

Question of the week: What are your fears about audio publishing?

This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain discuss the question "what is genre" and why it matters when writing, publishing, and marketing your books.

Question of the week: How do you define genre?

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This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain talk about Web3 technology and NFTs, and how authors can set themselves up for success to use this tech in the book world.

Question of the week: How are you keeping up to date with tech?

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This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain answer questions from their listeners to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the podcast.

Question of the week: How has the TASM community impacted you? 

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This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain talk about the different channels they use to stay up to date on publishing news.

Question of the week: How are you getting your publishing news?

This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain talk all about the different types of editing. They discuss developmental editing, line editing, copy editing and proofreading, and dive into the differences and benefits of each.

Question of the week: What is your best or worst experience with an editor?

References:

This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain talk all about the lies that authors tell themselves around publishing fears. They discuss different ways to handle tough questions like, what if no one reads my book?

Question of the week: Have you ever asked yourself the question, what if no one reads my book?

This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain talk all about NFTs and the possibilities they are bringing to the publishing world. 

Question of the week: How do you feel about NFTs and blockchain?

This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain talk about the ins and outs of pre-orders and how they can be utilized effectively. 

Question of the week: do you want to use pre-orders and in what way?

This week, authors J Thorn and Crys Cain discuss why you might want a pen name and how to manage it.

Question of the week: Do you intend to write under a pen name? What has been your thinking around it?

This week, authors J Thorn and Crys Cain discuss what a scene is, what a scene isn't, and how to decide where a scene should start and end.

Question of the week: Have you struggled with understanding where scenes end?

This week, authors J Thorn and Crys Cain reflect on their writing and business accomplishments of 2021 and look forward to what they have planned for 2022.

Question of the week: What are you looking forward to in 2022?

This week, authors J Thorn and Crys Cain discuss why indie authors may be interested in starting a publishing imprint, what challenges they may face, and tips on how to get an idea of what it would be like.

Question of the week: For anyone who has played around with publishing other people, what has your experience has been?

This week, authors J Thorn and Crys Cain discuss how to write villains, what comes naturally to them when writing villains, and various examples of villains throughout different genres.

Question of the week: how do you write your villains?

This week, authors J Thorn and Crys Cain discuss what an essential author bio needs, whether you're publishing your first book or twenty books in.

Question of the week: what does your author bio look like?

This week, authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain turn the question of "how do I find my audience?" to a slightly different angle, and question, "How do I get to know my audience (existing or potential)?"

Question of the week: Where are you currently learning about your audience?

This week authors J. Thorn and Crys Cain talk about the pros and cons of nicheing--what is it and when do you want to do it?

Question of the week: do you niche or not?

This week, authors J Thorn and Crys Cain talk about the biggest, strongest, most harmful stories they had to struggle through as parents who wanted to write books. (The lie their characters believed, if you will.) 

Question of the week: What expectations have you had to fight against, or disregard, as a writer?

This week, J Thorn and Crys Cain talk about the new trend of "cohort learning" (spoiler... it's a new phrase for an old technique) and how it's useful, how they've participated in it, and how it might be helpful to you.

This week, authors J Thorn and Crys Cain answer the question: How do you know if your cover is good enough? What does good enough mean, and how can you gauge it?

This week, authors J Thorn and Crys Cain discuss the question everyone asks after they start making a little money from their books... how do I make more money? Rather than a list of short term, easy grabs for cash, they dig deep into the shifts they've gone through to build mindsets that build and accept the flow of money with an awareness of the opportunities they don't always know they're looking for.