エピソード

  • William Bernhardt & The Superman Wars

    William Bernhardt & The Superman Wars
    2026/08/09
    I came into William Bernhardt’s orbit when he invited me to his Writer Con, upcoming this September in Oklahoma City.(Anyone here going? Let me know! We can meet up.)We had an out-of-this-world talk about his new book, The Superman Wars.Almost everyone knows about the man from Krypton who, disguised as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent working with the fearless Lois Lane, fights for the vulnerable and the oppressed. But few know the truth about this indelible character’s creation. From mobster tactics to decades-long courtroom drama, a beloved American myth was born, betrayed, and eventually reclaimed—almost eighty years after the character first appeared.New witnesses, unpublished manuscripts, personal letters, and more reveal the complex and dramatic history of Superman and his creator, Jerry Siegel. This is a David and Goliath clash with twists, turns, and devastating upheavals. An underdog tale of a creator who fought for his rights and finally found redemption in his battle for truth, justice, and the American Way. A story that has never been fully told…How did I not know about this? It’s fascinating to hear why William chose to tell this story. And we talk about way more than just this book. * We get into the true kryptonite that plagues writers, aka: take care of your IP.* The benefits of conferences* Indie versus Trad* Why I left my agent* Finding time to write* TV & Film optioning* And so much moreHere is his bio: William Bernhardt is the author of over sixty books, including the Daniel Pike legal thriller series (#1 best-selling novel The Last Chance Lawyer). His previous works include the bestselling Ben Kincaid series, the historical novels Challengers of the Dust and The Florentine Poet, three books of poetry, and the Red Sneaker books on fiction writing. In addition, Bernhardt founded WriterCon Programs to mentor aspiring writers. WriterCon hosts an annual writers conference, an annual cruise, small-group writing retreats, a magazine, plus free bi-weekly e-newsletters and podcasts. Hey, if you prefer talking heads and visuals, there is a YouTube version of our talk!CLICK HEREIf you want to learn more about William Bernhardt, more places to click:https://williambernhardt.comhttps://writercon.com/https://www.facebook.com/WriterConHQAngelique: Your newest book is The Superman Wars. What inspired you to write it?William: I thought this was an important story. Everyone knows Superman, but more importantly, this is the most pivotal creator-rights battle of modern times. Jerry Siegel’s struggle benefited countless creative people, not just those in comics. I wanted this story to reach a wide audience, so I decided it deserved a traditional publisher and a chance to be in bookstores.Angelique: I had no idea this drama existed in the background! William: You’re not alone. A lot of people remember the publicity campaign for Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1975 and think they know the story. They don’t. There were another fifty years of legal battles after that. Even many people in the comic book industry don’t know what really happened, and some of the versions that have been told simply aren’t accurate. I wanted to tell the real story.Angelique: I can’t believe this happened to the creator of the most iconic superhero of all time.William: It’s a cautionary tale. Don’t let what happened to Jerry Siegel happen to you. The threats may look different today, but there are still people and companies that would love to take your intellectual property. Every year at WriterCon, I meet writers who have lost thousands of dollars to vanity presses or other scams. Today we also have AI scraping and copyright issues. The lesson is simple: protect yourself. Don’t assume someone else will do it for you.Angelique: What’s the most shocking part of the story?William: Jerry Siegel knew from childhood that he wanted to be a writer. Like me, he started submitting work when he was very young. During the Depression, he desperately wanted to break into newspaper comic strips because that was where the money was.He and Joe Shuster spent years trying to sell Superman to newspaper syndicates, but no one understood the concept. Eventually they agreed to publish Superman through a comic book company. Unfortunately, just before Superman debuted, the company was taken over by Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz.(Authorial note for us Canadians: Joe Shuster was born in Toronto.)People often say Superman was sold for $130. That’s not exactly true. Jerry and Joe were paid $130 for the first thirteen-page story. Hidden in that agreement, though, was a clause transferring all rights to Superman to the company.Jerry signed it.I don’t think he fully understood what he was giving away. He was a young man without an agent, a lawyer, or anyone to advise him. Once Superman became an enormous success, he watched other people become millionaires while he received only a fraction of the profits.Meanwhile, ...
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    38 分
  • The Death of Sora & Surviving AI with Sylvie Soul

    The Death of Sora & Surviving AI with Sylvie Soul
    2026/08/02
    Addicted to Sora…and then forced to go cold turkey.Prefer the full video interview? Click here.What a conversation this was! I just love chatting with Sylvie, a new friend I met at the Toronto Indie Author Conference this spring.Do yourself a favour, and watch this VIDEO first, before you listen (or watch) the podcast. It’s a deep dive into Sophie’s Sora addiction.Not only is it hugely entertaining. (The motherfu@#*r day video is worth it alone) but it sets up some very serious concerns with social media addiction, the role of AI in our lives, and the usage of copyrighted property.Here is the link to all awesome things Sylvie Soul related.https://sylviesoul.comLove this stuff? It’s yours for free, but it takes a whack-a-doodle amount of time. Please help me keep sharing if you can!AF: You’ve been busy since our last chat in April. Spill?!SS: My first print sale! The Not Quite Write podcast ran a contest. I entered last fall, didn’t win -- but they reached out afterward and published my story anyway. A month later their first anthology was out, with me in it. It’s the first time I’ve had something you can actually hold. My husband took photos, and I posted them on LinkedIn and Instagram. I usually keep my writing separate from my day job, but coworkers saw it and wanted the link. And of everything I’ve written, this is the straight-up smut one. My pen name’s separate from my legal name, but there I am, downplaying it while everyone goes “share, share, share.” It’s hilarious.AF: It’s interesting that we can be embarrassed by our spicier or darker works. I’ve been battling with that myself.SS: I have even more respect for writers who are that candid. There’s a line from The Life of Chuck, the Tom Hiddleston film: “I contain multitudes.” You’re not just one thing. You can write flash fiction and speculative fiction and smut and historical and nonfiction. You don’t have to pigeonhole yourself for marketing. If you really want to follow your bliss, sometimes you have to explore and put yourself out there.(Authorial note: As a subscriber pointed out after reading this interview, “I contain multitudes” was originally written by Walt Whitman. But it is also used in the movie, Life of Chuck. And it’s the name of a song by Bob Dylan.)AF: I hid my horror writing for years, worried it would clash with my journalism -- turns out people are more intrigued than judgmental. Speaking of exploring: I watched your video on the Death of Sora. And loved it. How long did that take to make?SS: It’s my longest video, and it took forever to edit. Most of my old videos were just talking-head pieces on craft, but I was so moved by the canceling of Sora that I had to create something on my foray into AI video. If I strung every clip together I created with the app, it’d be half an hour -- and nobody wants to watch a half hour of AI slop.I had the foresight to save the clips as soon as I knew Sora was going down. Now the site’s just gone.AF: I didn’t get a chance to explore it. Just as I discovered it, it was gone.SS: It’s fascinating to watch the rise and fall. Sora came out in full form less than a year ago. I played with it, then went all in -- I thought, this is the future, you can conceptualize anything. But at some point you step back and go: why am I feeding all my beautiful ideas into a large language model for them to keep? You have to be protective of your creativity. I value AI as a tool, but it’s easy to lose yourself taking creative cues from it. Disclaimer: I never, ever ask AI for help with my actual writing. My writing is my writing -- 100% human. Pangram, come at me.AF: The best thing in your video just might be the Motherf$@!* Day rap. SS: That’s the kind of weird thing that lives in my head. There was a feature where you could remix other people’s videos, so I’d find something trending and go, “okay, but do it with “Motherf$#@! Day,” and sneak it online. I was trying to force a meme. I think I was the only one who found it funny.AF: No -- it was funny. So, you did the deep dive and still came out preferring human-driven creativity?SS: I don’t like the way AI writes -- the metaphors are off, the cadence is wrong. It just doesn’t connect. For me it’s the word “you.” There’s an overabundance of it, because the AI is trying to inhabit your emotions -- “you’ll feel this, you feel sadness, not joy, only chaos.” And -- tinfoil hat on -- it’s not just the AI videos flooding YouTube. Now people are doing talking-head videos from AI scripts. It’s really them on camera, no avatar, but everything they say is hollow: generic lines engineered for emotional resonance with none of their own experience behind them. It’s an AI using a human avatar to spout slop. Watch for it -- people talking at you instead of relating to you.AF: “AI using human avatars” -- whoa. That’s very Matrix.SS: We’ve reached the singularity. It’s come ...
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    32 分
  • Meryl Klemow on Comedy, Envy and Making Podcasting Pay

    Meryl Klemow on Comedy, Envy and Making Podcasting Pay
    2026/07/26
    Prefer to video to audio? The full YouTube interview is here.Meryl Klemow and I have worked together creating podcasts, and she might be the most fun human I have ever met. Seriously.And she is so sweet. I know nothing about the stand-up comedy world, and Meryl is one of those brave souls who actually has a career doing that insane thing. This chat takes us into some very real places. Like how envy can affect your mental health, the price of fame, and how to find balance in a chaotic industry.I keep all this gold content free. Because some writers (and comedians!) are struggling. But this single post took six hours to create. Maybe throw a coffee or two my way each month?Here is one of Meryl’s insights on LA:“Everyone is in kindergarten here -- not everyone, but a lot of people, you know, are like, she has this and I don’t have this. I’ve really had to do some healing and adjust myself. Otherwise I was either going to become part of it or let it eat me alive.”AF: You’ve built a podcast booking business alongside your comedy. How did that happen?MK: That’s where I’ve been the most excited in a few years. I come from the production side -- show notes, project management, launching the show, all the nitty-gritty. My strong suit is both booking people onto shows and working with podcasts to book them guests. I decided to flip it around, use more of my PR background, and start booking people on shows -- and to be really intentional about it. Why is someone coming on a show, and what are they really trying to get out of it? With the boom of the past couple of years, it’s easy to spray and be on a million shows, but what’s the actual point?So I take on only about five or six people every three months, so I can really focus on everyone. I’ll be watching a TV show and looking at it through the lens of a booking agent -- everywhere I go, I’m thinking, “This would be good for this.” I teamed up with some longtime PR people and I’m the podcast arm of it. I feel renewed and happy -- and it never would have happened if I hadn’t created the space for it.Check out the agency here!AF: How did it get off the ground?MK: I approached one of my favorite longtime PR friends, Jordan at Julep Publicity. I told her, “This might be a weird idea, feel free to say no, but I envision doing the podcast side of things for you.” She was open to it, and we were off and running last October. That’s the lesson: sometimes you can just create things. It didn’t fully make sense at first, but now it makes sense for everyone.AF: How do you balance the comedy grind, your podcast job, and having a social life?MK: That balance has been ingrained in me since I was young -- one part trying to do the normal-life things, pay my bills, go through school, be serious, and another, more artistic and comedic side. I did radio in San Diego and was part of a local variety TV show called Tonight in San Diego. There was always something a little devilish and expressive on one side while I tried to be a human who could pay her bills on the other. Now they’re converging, and it really is synergistic.I’m relentless about having a life where I can do both. I love comedy, but I don’t need to be out every night as a stand-up. I want to do this long-term, so I’ve chosen to go a little slower at my own pace -- hopefully so I don’t burn out and can be there longer. It’s important to me to actually go to dinner with my friends, or take a night off and watch The West Wing with my boyfriend. Even if it takes longer to hit my goals, I’m happy to have a calm life.AF: Has that pace always been your approach?MK: The writer side of me could be prone to a nervous breakdown -- I’ve had little mini ones over the years. Experiencing my goals, wins, and challenges in a calmer, slower state is so much better for me. I’ve had frantic periods where I met some goals and wasn’t even happy; in fact, I wasn’t feeling well. Moving to Los Angeles, surrounded by so many insanely talented, driven, cutthroat people, I had to choose my own adventure and create my own stuff.AF: You’ve talked about the jealousy in the comedy world. What’s that like?MK: I could never fully communicate the jealousy that goes on among comedians. I’ve had to talk friends down from just staring at other people’s flyers. AF: How do you keep it from getting to you?MK: I always think, “we don’t know what we don’t know.” The reason I seek balance now is that in my younger years I really struggled with anxiety and panic attacks. And when we see people succeeding so much, they’re driven, but a lot of the time it’s from some deep pain, or they’re trying to make their parents love them. We never know why people are accomplishing things. People tell me, “You’re so lucky,” and I think, “If you only knew.” We’re all dealing with so much more than what we see in the above-ground hot tub.(Authorial note: If you listen to the podcast ...
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    26 分
  • Master Your Marketing for Authors

    Master Your Marketing for Authors
    2026/07/19
    Watch 👀 this interview on Youtube.If you’ve been following along with my writing adventures, you know I’ve been trying to figure out how to market my upcoming novels. I’ve been playing in the short story game since 2018, but now I want to make a little more money, and the only way to do that seems to be going all-in on series. Get readers hooked on what you create, and give them a reason to keep coming back.How do I learn how to do this? Well, you take advice from experts.That’s exactly why I felt so lucky to attend the Spring Writing Retreat in Collingwood with Write Way Escapes last month with Kelley Armstrong, Christine d’Abo, and today’s guest, Lilith Darville.Lilith graciously agreed to join me for this episode, so let me tell you a bit about her. She’s a USA Today and internationally bestselling romance author with novels across dark, paranormal, and contemporary romance, publishing since 2015. Before that, she built a career as a magazine columnist, a textbook writer, and a communications and marketing consultant.She also spent years as a college instructor in English and Communications, and these days she mentors emerging and established authors in craft, branding, and career development. Sitting in Lilith’s classroom reminded me of school in the ‘80s. You behave, listen, and above all… learn.I picked her brain about marketing, about how she’s found success writing in series, and why you need a plan if you want this to actually work.Going back to school has never been more enjoyable than it has been with Lilith Darville.One of the things Lilith was helping me with?My Roxie Vega Kickstarter:Check it out here!If you enjoy this content, please consider joining the next tier! I keep most of my stuff free so every author can access it, but a few $$$ does help.AF: What’s the secret to your success as a spicy author?LD: Continuous hard work and passion for writing, learning my craft, and just write, write, write, and learn, learn, learn. I don’t think I have any big secrets. It’s a lot of hard work. Butt in chair, as we say. Head down, learning and practicing our craft.AF: I know we’re not supposed to say we write for money, but I’d like to earn some money!LD: I’ll disagree with the framing there. Genre authors definitely write for money. Literary folks are the ones who’ll say they don’t. We still have passion for the craft, and writing is in our blood, but so is the desire to make money as genre fiction authors.AF: When you read, is it strictly romance, or do you range wider?LD: If I’m learning craft, I’m not reading fiction--I’m reading things like K.M. Weiland’s books on story structure. All story has the same kind of structure: a beginning, a middle, an end, pinch points, turning points. For market information, I follow people like Jane Friedman, and I subscribe to K-lytics for data and analysis. For fiction, I read every day. If I don’t have my reading fix, I can’t survive. A lot of that’s romance, because I love it, that’s one of the reasons I write it. But I also read things like Lee Child’s Reacher series. For non-fiction, I read a lot of self-help, because I use things like IFS (Internal Family Systems) and Brené Brown’s work on shame in my writing.AF: I’m about to launch my space opera Roxie Vega on Kickstarter, then Amazon. Advertising feels overwhelming. Where do I even start?LD: There’s a checklist of things you want in place while you’re working toward putting five to ten books out. At least five are critical. One is a website, and the big one is your newsletter. We talk about things like BookFunnel and techniques to build your readership while you’re getting content out there, so you have something for readers to read through. Because if you only have one book, you have nothing to market. Once they’ve read that one book, if you don’t have something else for them to buy while they’re looking for the next thing, you’ve basically just lost that sale.Having a Plan (Which I need. Focus? What’s focus? SQUIRREL!)AF: Originally, I was planning to launch Roxy Vega as two novellas, one feeding into the next. But… after some research… I don’t think there’s much of a market for novellas. Am I wrong?LD: There is a market for novellas, but readers look for a fast re-release with them. A lot of the people I know who do novellas do one a month at around 20,000 words. I know an author--I think this is Alyse Anders--who did a sci-fi romance series with twelve women who end up stranded on a planet with aliens. (Authorial note. Aluse Anders writes erotic fiction)Twelve books, one a month for a year, each one a short story about one woman connecting with her alien. One of the things I’d recommend, above everything, is having a plan. How many novels do you plan for your series?(Another Authorial Note. I have no real plan for the series. Roxie keeps flying… ABACUS keeps helping her out. They both keep getting into ...
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    36 分
  • Writing Your Own Story with J.D. Barker

    Writing Your Own Story with J.D. Barker
    2026/06/07
    Sometimes strange, auspicious coincidences happen, and you wonder if it’s fate nudging you in the right direction.Like, for example, when I was sitting down reading Confessions of the Dead, co-written by James Patterson and J.D. Barker, getting really into the dark and twisted tale… and an email popped up in my inbox the next day asking if I’d like to interview J.D. Barker.I was like, hell yes. But of course, it also felt a little suspicious.Hadn’t I just been telling my husband how much I loved this book? Was my phone spying on me, feeding information to some scammer? They’re so advanced these days, who knows?I didn’t fully believe it. But I double-checked with my friend Mark Leslie Lefebvre , who confirmed J.D.’s publicist was real and that he was doing podcasts to help promote a prequel in his 4MK series.And that, folks, is why we all get to enjoy this amazing interview with horror writer J.D. Barker. His career is enviable, I enjoyed every second of our chat, and I hope you will too.You can watch the interview on YouTube here.Or listen to the podcast up above.Here is a recapped version of the interview below:Enjoy!AF: I have to say, when your publicist reached out to me, I thought it was a scam. And what was so surreal — I was reading Confessions of the Dead when the email came in.JDB: She is fantastic. I’ve worked with a ton of publicists over the years, and my model has completely changed. Early on I hired a firm in New York — Dean Koontz recommended them — and I paid a $20,000 retainer. That first month, they got me two blog reviews, one website mention, and a blurb in a magazine. Nothing for $20,000, and there was no accountability.Now I’ve got everyone on an à la carte basis. I give them a list of what they can go get and a price point for each — a podcast gets this much, a magazine gets this much. They can work as hard or as little as they want. I pay for actual results. My current publicist is out of the Philippines and she is phenomenal. Every time I’ve got a new release, everybody seems to know about it.AF: I’m a huge fan. Your connection with Stephen King, your collaborations with James Patterson — you’ve somehow found the zeitgeist.JDB: I tend to get in front of a lot of people and bug the hell out of them until they either agree to work with me or they issue a restraining order. I heard a long time ago: if you don’t ask the question, you’re never going to know the answer. I’d rather hear someone say no than not ask at all.I used to teach at ThrillerFest quite a bit. If you go, you’re eventually going to end up in an elevator with a famous author. You’ve got 15 seconds to either make an introduction or stand there staring at the numbers and watch that person walk away. I am not the kind of guy who ever watched somebody just walk away. AF: I loved hearing about what you do at cons. You don’t sit behind the table selling books — you give them away for free.JDB: I’m in a unique situation. I’ve got my own imprint at Simon & Schuster, so my production costs are very low. I can produce a hardcover for a fraction of what I was paying through IngramSpark. And I’ve got books sitting in a warehouse because we tend to overprint — 50, 60, 70,000 copies. Eventually the dust settles, and I’ve got to find something to do with them.I looked at what indie authors do — they’ve always been ahead of the curve — and for years they’ve given away the first book in a series as an ebook. You’re basically a glorified drug dealer. You’re hooking them with a taste, hoping they come back for more. I just took it to the next level and started giving away hardcovers.Think about it from the reader’s perspective. They come to these events and it’s awkward. They’re walking past tables with authors staring at them with that please buy my book look. They’re afraid to approach because they don’t want to commit. So instead I put a book in everybody’s bag for free. They all come to the table, it keeps me busy, they walk away with that taste, and most of them end up buying another book after that.At Author Nation, I gave away 2,000 or 2,200 books. A good chunk of those people went home and started buying my other titles. That’s how you move the needle. You’ve got to approach everything as a business — how are you going to get people to come back and buy your next widget?AF: At what point do the cons stop being useful?JDB: My first big one was the Writer’s Digest conference — the last one I went to before I got a publishing deal. I learned a lot. But everything tends to be geared toward the early author trying to get that first book out there. When I was on the board with ITW, I noticed everything was built for two groups: debut authors and the big names. Everybody else is stuck in the middle. You can only hear how to write a compelling first sentence so many times.What actually attracted me to Author Nation is that it fills that void. ...
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    27 分
  • How I Sold Over 100 Short Stories

    How I Sold Over 100 Short Stories
    2026/05/12

    How I Play Submission Jenga 🎲

    It all starts with my monthly list.

    Click here for the big list for May:

    I hunt down every call for submissions that catches my eye, sticking mostly to the speculative genres. I have two firm rules when I’m scouting markets:

    * They have to pay.

    * No submission fees. Ever.

    Then I look for the ones that genuinely intrigue me. The Apex Flash Fiction calls are a personal favorite — they’re always a little weird, a little off-kilter, exactly my flavor. When something hooks me, I sit down and bang out 1,000 words.

    Fun side story: that’s actually how Roxy Vega was born. She started life as a flash fiction response to a prompt from Apparition Lit (RIP). The image was a man smoking a cigarette in this dank, vaguely alien-looking bar. Cool vibe — but I didn’t want to write about a man. I wanted to write about a really rough woman. What if she was a space trucker on break? What if she had a terrible gambling addiction? And just like that, Roxy Vega walked into the world. She’s now a serial on Substack.

    https://angeliquemfawns.substack.com/s/the-chronicles-of-roxie-vega

    My Submission Process

    Here’s how a story moves through the system:

    * Draft at 1,000 words and send it to a flash market.

    * If it doesn’t find a home, expand it — maybe to 2,000 or 3,000 words.

    * Send it to the next market on my chart.

    * Keep meticulous notes on where each story has been so I don’t accidentally send Neil Clarke the same story 25 times. (He would notice.)

    * Track rejection times so I know which markets are fast (looking at you, The Dark) and which ones will leave me waiting six months to a year.

    * Eventually, string related stories together into a novella — that’s exactly how Roxy Vega came to life, and I’ve got a couple more brewing.

    I do this old school with Excel charts.

    I know everyone loves Submission Grinder, but I remember the day it went down and the mass panic that swept through my writing group. Charts are pablum for my brain — I genuinely love filling them in, ticking the little boxes, watching the data build.

    The Rules I Live By (Mostly Heinlein’s)

    * You must write.

    * You must finish what you write.

    * You must put it on the market.

    * You must keep it on the market until it sells.

    * You only revise to the needs of an editor. (Okay, this one I break. My craft keeps improving, and sometimes I reread an old piece and think “what was I thinking with that opening?” So I’ll go back in, tighten the try-fail cycles, and send it out again.)

    The Real Secret

    I don’t take rejections to heart. I really think that’s what’s set me apart in the writing world — I just keep subbing. And subbing. And subbing. It’s a numbers game:

    * More stories out = more chances to sell.

    * More stories out = more editorial feedback.

    * More editorial feedback = a better writer.

    Look at this list of rejections…

    But honestly? We have to remember to have fun. We’re doing this because we love it. I’ve looked for the money in fiction writing, and it’s hard. There’s far more money in nonfiction, which is why my day job is journalism — though it does feed nicely into the market research I do for all of us.

    Anyway, I appreciate every one of you. Good luck with your own submission Jenga, and I hope to meet you at a con one day. Conferences are my new love — they’re so energizing, and every single time I go to one, my career and my dreams take a step forward.

    Okay — toodles! 👋

    All this stuff takes me time, and I will be bringing in some pay walls, please join the next tier! Selling short stories is what we do.



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit angeliquemfawns.substack.com/subscribe
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    5 分
  • Rage Bait, Freak Flags & Finding Your Readers

    Rage Bait, Freak Flags & Finding Your Readers
    2026/04/26
    ** Stay tuned for your May list of open calls on Tuesday!Most of my information is free, but some of the most exclusive info is paid. Join the next tier!I met Sylvie Soul at the Toronto Indie Author Conference and knew immediately I’d found a kindred spirit — someone who loves short fiction, wrestles with the same questions about craft and career, and isn’t afraid to go to dark places on the page. We sat down to talk about perfectionism, productivity, the courage it takes to write what you actually love, and why embracing your inner “disrupter” might be the best career move you ever make.The notes below are just a tiny taste of all the fun stuff we chat about in the actual podcast! Listen above, or if you like to watch (and who of us doesn’t?) Click here for the YouTube link:AF: Tell us a bit about yourself and your writing.SS: I’m a writer of short fiction — I’ve published several short stories over the years. The main goal, though, is the novel. The full manuscript I could either traditionally publish or, if not, I’m very much looking forward to self-publishing. I’ve been exploring my love of fiction, learning more about myself, discovering that speculative fiction is really my home. And I’m trying to get back to having an online presence. I had a site, it’s been dormant since the pandemic, but after meeting everyone at the Toronto Indie Author Conference, I feel motivated to bring up my brand and really express myself again.AF: There’s so much pressure these days for authors to be their own marketing machines — social media, TikTok, BookTok, all of it. Do you think every author has to be an influencer?SS: No, and I think there has to be a balance. I’m actually an introvert — I prefer being behind the scenes, and that’s even true in my day job, where I’m more in a support role. But when it comes to my writing, I’ve felt a shift lately. I do want my face out there. I want my personality attached to what I write. But the balance is the thing — you can build a presence, do the TikTok dances, do the BookTok thing, but if you’re devoting all your time to promoting that image, there’s little left over to actually focus on the craft. Especially if you have a day job on top of it. I don’t write full-time. Right now it’s a hobby. The dream is that eventually what I create overtakes what I do in my day job. But I think I’m a long ways out from that. So it’s about finding balance — fill my cup and also get paid.AF: I’ve come to believe that the one thing all successful full-time authors have in common is sheer output — the number of books they have out there. Zoe York has over a hundred, Mallory Cooper over four or five hundred. What do you think?SS: Consistency is the word that comes to mind for me. Don’t focus on motivation — you know what you have to do, so just get it done. But you’re right that it comes down to productivity. You have to add productivity to that triangle of talent, opportunity, and luck. That’s what lets them build. And honestly, what holds me back most is perfectionism. I always tell myself done is better than perfect, but I’m always so fearful that I’m going to be embarrassed in the future when people read something that isn’t exactly right — and that fear ends up freezing me completely.AF: You have a completed novel. Tell us about it.SS: I lovingly call it draft 1.5, because I’ve gone through moments where I’ve completed it, then gone, no, I don’t like this, I need to scrap it and start over. I finally had a version I was happy enough with to get from point A to point B. I gave it to my editor last year, and she gave me phenomenal notes. Now I have to go back and, as I say, take a sledgehammer to it and beat it into submission so it’s better. No one who cares about their audience ever puts out a first draft. Maybe it’ll be draft five. Maybe draft nine. I don’t know where it is yet, but it’s somewhere on the horizon. And word count wise — I’ll be honest — it’s still in novella territory. I haven’t cracked 50,000 words yet. But I think the market’s changing. People used to want a big fat tome. Now I think readers are more receptive to smaller, bite-sized stories they can actually consume. So if I just can’t embellish further, maybe it stays at 35,000 to 40,000 words. And that’s fine.AF: What’s your take on editors?SS: They are absolutely essential, and I don’t think we give them nearly enough praise. I was lucky enough to get a Toronto Arts Grant to help fund my editing, and it was the best money ever spent. I think when we reach the stage where we truly want to write the best thing possible, we’ve evolved past peer workshops — those can be overwhelming because you get six or seven different schools of thought and you don’t know which one to follow. You might have someone who has a completely different story in their head, and if you cater to them, you’re damaging your own ...
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    33 分
  • The Real Truth About Author Nation — and What It Could Mean for Your Career

    The Real Truth About Author Nation — and What It Could Mean for Your Career
    2026/04/20
    Welcome to part two of my no-holds-barred chat with Joe Solari.If you’d rather watch a video, HERE IT IS. This podcast is dropping a day late—on a Monday instead of Sunday—because I spent the weekend at the Toronto Indie Author Conference at the Toronto Public Library, and I’ve got to tell you, I’m so glad I went.(I learned the difference between an em dash and an n dash during my free edit of the upcoming Roxie Vega novella. That was worth the price of admission alone, lol.)I met some remarkable people, learned a ton, came away with new strategies, and got that free edit. (Hi Sylvie! And of course, my conference bud, Mark Leslie Lefebvre)Paid subscribers can read all about what I learned and where I’m taking my career because of it in an exclusive post tomorrow.One thing writers absolutely need to do is keep learning. And that’s what this weekend was about for me. AND why I’m going to Author Nation.We need to hear how other authors are running their businesses, what’s working, what isn’t, and where the opportunities are.Because, as Joe said in our chat last week, there is no magic bean that grows a successful author career.The right person has to read the right story at the right time. But you can absolutely improve your odds of being discovered.If there’s one truth I keep coming back to in my years-long search for how to make real money with writing, it’s this: the more books you have out, the more chances you have to succeed.So whatever’s been holding you back—and I’m saying this to myself too—fear, imposter syndrome, perfectionism—it’s time to shove that aside in 2026.This is the year I give this thing a real go.Attending conferences like the Toronto Indie Author Conference and going to Author Nation this November are a big part of my strategy. It’s the networking. It’s the learning. It’s the headspace you put yourself in when you’re around people who are serious about this business.So I hope you enjoy part two of my chat with Joe, where he gives me a real blueprint for what to expect at Author Nation this November.Enjoy! (Ps. Most of the “stuff” is in the podcast and video. The bit below is just a summary.)— Here are the links mentioned in the chat;https://www.spoken.presshttps://www.curios.comhttps://www.kickstarter.com/https://www.authornation.livehttps://www.royalroad.com/homeAF: For authors who are wondering whether Author Nation is worth attending, what’s the biggest value?JS: Access. At a large event like Author Nation, authors can connect with major service providers, new technology companies, and other serious authors all in one place. It’s not just about inspiration. It’s about relationships, information, and opportunities that can save years of trial and error.AF: So it’s partly about networking, but also about learning what tools and strategies are actually working now?JS: Our job is to bring the industry to the community. That means established players, new platforms, and emerging technologies. We want authors to see what’s changing, think critically about it, and decide what fits their business.AF: You also talked about helping authors before they even get to the event.JS: One example is the free Kickstarter cohort. Authors can join, learn by listening, get feedback, simplify their campaigns, and improve their odds of funding. We’ve seen people use Kickstarter not just as a fundraising tool, but as a smart first launch for a book.AF: That was one of the most interesting things you said—that Kickstarter can help authors make money earlier instead of pouring money into a launch and hoping it works.JS: If authors can break even or better on a first launch, that solves a real business problem. It helps them fund production, build confidence, and grow without digging into savings.AF: And Author Nation is also creating projects that give authors opportunities beyond just attending panels.JS: Absolutely. We’ve run anthologies, launched them on Kickstarter, and created ways for authors to earn money and gain exposure. We’re also developing projects like comic adaptations, where writers from the community can see their work turned into something new. That kind of hands-on opportunity matters.AF: So this isn’t just a conference where people sit in rooms and take notes.JS: Everything we’re building has a purpose. We want authors to leave with clearer direction, better tools, stronger connections, and real ways to grow their business.AF: You also made an important point that authors need to think like business owners.JS: Nobody will care about your career as much as you do. Whether you pursue direct sales, Kickstarter, wide distribution, Kindle Unlimited, audio, serial fiction, or live events, you need to understand the model you’re choosing and build intentionally.AF: And that’s one of the real benefits of Author Nation—you’re giving authors a place to figure out which path makes sense for them.JS: There isn’t one ...
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    54 分