EP 406 - How Authors Can Engage With Their Library

03/14/25 • 55 min

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

In this solo episode Mark shares an excerpt from his forthcoming book A BOOK IN HAND: Strategies for Optimizing Print Book Sales via Signings and Other In Person Events.

Prior to the main content, Mark shares a brief personal update and a word about this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about Toronto Indie Author Conference 2025 here.

The content for this episode is an excerpt from the work in progress: A BOOK IN HAND.

Links of Interest:

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

In this solo episode Mark shares an excerpt from his forthcoming book A BOOK IN HAND: Strategies for Optimizing Print Book Sales via Signings and Other In Person Events.

Prior to the main content, Mark shares a brief personal update and a word about this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about Toronto Indie Author Conference 2025 here.

The content for this episode is an excerpt from the work in progress: A BOOK IN HAND.

Links of Interest:

Previous Episode

EP 405 - Ask Not What Your Bookstore Can Do For You

In this solo episode Mark shares an excerpt from his forthcoming book A BOOK IN HAND: Strategies for Optimizing Print Book Sales via Signings and Other In Person Events.

This episode is sponsored by Superstars Writing Seminars: Teaching you the business of being a writer which takes place in early Feb 2026 in Colorado Springs, CO.

Use code: STARK100 to get $100 off your registration.

Links of Interest:

Next Episode

EP 407 - An Evening With A Drink And A Friend With Kevin J. Anderson

Mark has a virtual beer with Kevin J. Anderson while they talk through various aspects about writing and publishing. This episode is from a live chat that was hosted on the evening of Sunday March 16, 2025.

This episode is sponsored by Superstars Writing Seminars: Teaching you the business of being a writer which takes place in early Feb 2026 in Colorado Springs, CO and where Mark will be a guest speaker.

Use code: STARK100 to get $100 off your registration.

In their chat Mark and Kevin talk about:

The loss of author and poet Danny Peart, Neil Peart's brother and how the first story Kevin and Neil wrote together named the main character after Neil's brother
Mark and Kevin's Rush and beer connection
Kevin's "music starter kit" to his grand-kids
The significance of the Rush album Grace Under Pressure to both Kevin and Mark
How the Columbia Music Record Club is what led to Kevin discovering Rush (because he was looking for sci-fi style album covers and Rush's 2112 jumped out at him)
The back-story to Kevin's Terra Incognita novels
Writing a novel that was a tie-in to a Rush album
How Kevin has been able to leverage Kickstarter to produce products that no New York publisher would likely ever get behind
The way a tribute song "No Words" about Neil Peart led to a new friendship and collaboration with Kevin
The music behind the Terra Incognita trilogy
Kevin's Kickstarter for Terra Incognita funding in 14 minutes, but the ultimate goal of earning back the high investment he has already put into it
The number of novels that Kevin has written
Benefits of being able to order books directly from the author versus going through the multiple layers of traditional publishing
Superstars Writing Seminars, the conference that Kevin, his wife Rebecca, Dave Farland, Eric Flint, and Brandon Sanderson started more than 15 years ago
The Masters of Creative Writing with a focus on Publishing that Kevin teaches at Western Colorado University
The annual anthology that this program publishes thanks to sponsorship from Draft2Digital
The latest musical collaboration Kevin recently announced
Kevin coming to Toronto's Massey Hall for RushFest on August 1, 2025
What books Kevin and Mark are currently working on
Favorite advice for running a Kickstarter and the real costs of shipping and handling
Kevin's love of hiking and dictating when he writes
And more . . .