The Am Writing Fantasy Podcast

Internationally bestselling author Angela Ford began publishing in 2015 and grew her platform quickly. Discover how she managed to rocket up the indie book list and the essential things you need to build your author platform. Plus, we may have a bit of fun on the way!

Check out Angela Ford's writing at https://angelajford.com/ and her amazing website design for authors at https://www.angelajfordmarketing.com.

New videos EVERY single Monday. Make sure to subscribe: http://bit.ly/1WIwIVC

PATREON!
Many bonus perks for those who become a patron of the channel. https://www.patreon.com/AmWritingFantasy

LET'S CONNECT!
Closed Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AmWritingFantasy/
Blog and Courses: https://www.amwritingfantasy.com/
Jesper on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SchmidtJesper
Autumn on Twitter: https://twitter.com/weifarer

Read the full transcript below. (Please note that it's automatically generated and while the AI is super cool, it isn't perfect. There may be misspellings or incorrect words on occasion).

Intro (9s):
Yeah.

Autumn (12s):
If you're a fantasy author then you've come to the right place. I'm autumn and together with Jesper we've run amwritingfantasy.com between the two of us, we have more than 20 books and our aim is to help you with your writing and marketing in deafness. We are today with Angela Ford who is an international bestselling author and has an amazing author platform and she's going to give us some tips today to help us out. Welcome, Angela, if you could give us a brief introduction and tell us a little bit about your writing and how you got started.

Angela (43s):
All right, well, thank you for having me on. I, wow. I started writing a long time ago and I guess I never really expected to be here, but one of the things that I've found so far with the writing journey is that it just takes the time that it takes. So I guess that would be my number one tip. Um, I think nowadays is really hard when we go online, especially on social media and people are talking in different writing groups about their income and how much they've made, um, from just this month.

Angela (1m 19s):
And it's something like five figures or six figures and it's hard to like look at that and go like, well, I've been writing for a long time and how come I'm not making that amount yet? But as I found out from just from my writer's journey that it just takes some people, it just takes them, they get there instantly and some people, it just takes a long time. So I'm all about the journey and just making sure that everything is set up the way they look that up in order to help you reach your, your writing goals.

Angela (1m 50s):
And so for that, um, I do a couple of different things and I'll share my story. I started writing when I was 12 years old and that was the first time I started writing fantasy yeah, it was really fun. Like I just loved writing and I was home until I had a lot of time on my hands because school didn't take up as much time as it did. Like if I went to public schools. So instead of being in school for like seven and a half hours a day, I did school work for four hours and I tried to be done by noon, so then I could have the rep for that afternoon until they do whatever I like to do, which ended up being writing other things, but mainly writing.

Angela (2m 31s):
And I really was inspired by, um, token of course CS Lewis. Uh, when growing up my dad used to read the Hobbit out loud to me and my sister. And so it was just a lot of fun, like with the whole Blake, the doom and gloom and just like the different fantasy tropes. Like they have the drawers that show up on the doorstep and Bilbo was just resistant to this adventure in the ring that makes him invisible. Like all of those fun things. I just loved how fantasy takes things that you know, don't happen in the natural world.

Angela (3m 6s):
And just all the, the mystery and the magic and makes it come alive. And that really inspired me to write. I was like, I want to write something that's, that's fun, that they take all the impossibilities and makes them into this ridiculous story that we're reading. And that's really where it started. And it was funny because I remember that I started writing the first draft of the four world series, which is more one of my more popular fantasy series is the first one that I publish.

Angela (3m 38s):
And I remember I wrote the first draft of that. And then, um, I kind of switched and I decided to become a musician and then I decided to go off to college and get a real job as they say. That's something that would pay the bills. And I remember like writing just stuck with me. It just stayed with me. And I remember writing, even during my sophomore year of college, I spent a summer and I just wrote a book because I...

Do you have dreams of watching your story played out on the big screen or as a series on TV? Want some tips to make that a possibility?

Join Autumn and special guest creative producer and children's fantasy author, Stephen Hodges, as they discuss what you need to pitch your story to producers, the differences between novels and screenplays, things to consider, and a quick wrap-up sidetrack into diversity and cultural appropriation in fiction!

Check out Stephen's wonderful story the Magic Poof at https://www.themagicpoof.com/.

Tune in for new episodes EVERY single Monday.

SUPPORT THE AM WRITING FANTASY PODCAST!

Please tell a fellow author about the show and visit us at Apple podcast and leave a rating and review.

Join us at www.patreon.com/AmWritingFantasy. For as little as a dollar a month, you’ll get awesome rewards and keep the Am Writing Fantasy podcast going.

Read the full transcript below. (Please note that it's automatically generated and while the AI is super cool, it isn't perfect. There may be misspellings or incorrect words on occasion).

Narrator (1s):
You're listening to the Am Writing Fantasy podcast in today's publishing landscape. You can reach fans all over the world. Query letters are a thing of the past. You don't even need a literary agent. There is nothing standing in the way of making a living from writing Join to best selling authors who have self published more than 20 books between them now onto the show with your hosts Autumn Birt and Jesper Schmidt Hello

Autumn (31s):
Hello, I'm Autumn. Today. Yesper is a way that we're giving him a bit of a vacation and instead I have with me Stephen Hodges so Steven is here and you wear several different hats, which is really exciting. I know there's so many things. I think we could talk about that. We're going to have a fun trying to keep this on topic, but I know one of those is that you were an award-winning children's Fantasy Author with your series of the Magic Poof, which I love, I will link to the website because I love the images and the diversity of character is it's a moms choice award is adorable and they love the diversity of it. It's so sweet. And you also work in Hollywood production.

Autumn (1m 13s):
And I, like I mentioned before, we started going to get this totally wrong. I ran into you because you're a LA film scout, helping out the Page Turner awards, hosted by a book lover. So I let you wrap up that side of your life up if you would say, Oh, okay. Well, I do, I don't know. I think the page Turner warrants, when they put the name LA films got on there, I find that I find that funny because it makes me seem like I'm in a forest, you know, LA people, you know, scamming out things in a really, really my job is, is that I a, you know, I am a producer and I have worked in the film industry for quite some time in film and television. And I also did one on one project.

Stephen (1m 54s):
So it's basically, it's more of a development and I have my own company. And so development is essentially finding stuff that not only I create, but then others create and hopefully turn it into a film. So then when they say, Oh, wait a film scout. I always think of, you know, like an old movie or something like that, but really not just someone who likes to read other people's stuff and likes to put people together. So that's mainly my job as well as production stuff and everything in between, because in this industry, you have to have a pretty diverse in order to figure out what the why's and wherefores of how it works. And then you, yes, of course, we're working on the, my book series and I am in the process of Pitching it right now for you as an animated series.

Stephen (2m 42s):
So yeah, so lots of different hats, although I don't where actual hat's, because I'm not that hipster, but you know, in a way we do have some shine. So we do, I do put on plenty of sunblock, so yeah, that's good. Oh, I like that image. It it's just, as I mentioned before we get, and I'm over here on East coast.

Autumn (3m 0s):
Yes. Person in Denmark. So this is a whole different sphere, as much as I've driven by Hollywood I don't think I have gone. I went through it once when I was maybe a young teenager. So this is a whole, it's like an author saying, Oh, I've only done this in this and this and to anyone listening. And they're like, really that's just a ton. So from an outside perspective, you will get out of the things that you have listed on your LinkedIn bio and even on your Magic Poof bio Irene, you've worked in the matrix, you've done all these things. So that's just so cool. I am so grateful that you took the time to talk with us today.

Stephen (3m 35s):
Sure. Of course. Absolutely. Yeah. Well, the matrix was a, I actually started out in the industry I'm I'm from Phoenix, Arizona originally and, and wanting to all of those steps o...

Welcome to the first episode of 2021. Autumn and Jesper each share 5 book ideas that they won't write.

Some of those ideas are lighthearted - and perhaps outright silly (read: hilarious) - whereas others can prove to be excellent inspiration for your own stories.

As promised here's the link to our new and free course on self-publishing: https://ultimatefantasywritersguide.com/self-publishing-success/

Tune in for new episodes EVERY single Monday.

SUPPORT THE AM WRITING FANTASY PODCAST!

Please tell a fellow author about the show and visit us at Apple podcast and leave a rating and review.

Join us at www.patreon.com/AmWritingFantasy. For as little as a dollar a month, you’ll get awesome rewards and keep the Am Writing Fantasy podcast going.

Read the full transcript below.

(Please note that it's automatically generated and while the AI is super cool, it isn't perfect. There may be misspellings or incorrect words on occasion).

Narrator (2s):
You're listening to the Am Writing Fantasy podcast. In today's publishing landscape, you can reach fans all over the world. Query letters are a thing of the past. You don't even need a literary agent. There is nothing standing in the way of making a living from writing. Join two best selling authors who have self published more than 20 books between them. Now onto the show with your hosts, Autumn Birt, and Jesper Schmidt.

Jesper (30s):
Hello, I am Jesper. And I'm Autumn. This is episode 106 of the am writing fantasy podcast. And welcome to 2021. I wish we're actually in 2021 when we're recording this, but that's okay. We're so we're getting close. We're getting very, very close. We, once again cheating with the time-traveling we can do with podcasting.

Autumn (53s):
We are so far future versions could come back, even if it's a dream. So just let me know how you know, the new year's and everything shaping up. That'd be really cool.

Jesper (1m 3s):
Yeah. And maybe, maybe a future selves could tell us a bit about if 2021 already looks better than 2020 or not.

Autumn (1m 12s):
I don't want to know. I just want to assume it's going to be better. And if it's not just don't tell me I can't handle another bad year.

Jesper (1m 21s):
Well, so today we are starting out this 2021 year with a bit of a light hearted and fun topic, because we're going to do an alternating list of five book ideas. I won't write. So this should be fun, Autumn.

Autumn (1m 37s):
I'm looking forward to it. I, like I said, I, I had, I have some comments on it later when we get there, but it was interesting. Cause I really did pull out my file by little folder. It dusted it off of ideas of things I'd picked that. And I have to say, I was like, Oh, I like that one. Ooh, I like that one. Oh, I forgot about that. So that's just home. I actually had a hard time finding five. I went to let go of, so this will be really interesting. And I went a bit of a different direction with my five list. So I just try to find some, some of the most gracious shit you can think of and say, this is definitely never going to be a story to hear what they are. They're going to inspire someone.

Autumn (2m 18s):
So where, which is going to be really awesome. And if they do, if it does, you have to let us know in the comments, if something we give you today, does it inspire something? Just, just let us know because that'd be so much fun.

Jesper (2m 31s):
Absolutely. Yeah. But how are things over at your place then?

Autumn (2m 34s):
Oh, it's pretty good. You know, right now it's December. It's a little snowy for long too, so pretty right now. And I'm still thrilled because I finished that massive website rebuild and I feel like, you know, life is maybe evening out though. I did realize because I kind of, I, you know, I'm writing this series that I'm hoping to release as soon as the first book as, as early or late February in 2021. We're just like, what two months away from when this is released very soon. And I realized like I had a missing piece I wanted to add, I woke up one morning going, Oh, I have, that's what I was missing. I have to add that and did this.

Autumn (3m 15s):
And another extra chapter kind of developed and I'm looking at it going, this is kind of big and this is the last book and I want to finish it by December 31st. So if my future self could come back and let me know if I managed to do that, please let, please do. So because I looked at it today and I'm like, I've got to write a chapter a day again, or I'm not going to finish this and maybe I should just go and edit book. What's actually book two and I don't know what to do, but I really want to finish writing this. And it's, it's definitely, I'm getting close to the climax, that final tension tha...

We've been asked more than one occasion how an author can get a traditional publishing contract?

While Autumn did sign a traditional contract years back, none of us are experts on the subject matter.

To bridge that gap, we brought in the award-winning author, Andrea Phillips, to share some insights and advice on this very topic.

If you want to learn more about Andrea, you can find here:

http://www.andreaphillips.com
http://www.deusexmachinatio.com
http://twitter.com/andrhia

Tune in for new episodes EVERY single Monday.

SUPPORT THE AM WRITING FANTASY PODCAST!

Please tell a fellow author about the show and visit us at Apple podcast and leave a rating and review.

Join us at www.patreon.com/AmWritingFantasy. For as little as a dollar a month, you’ll get awesome rewards and keep the Am Writing Fantasy podcast going.

Read the full transcript below.

(Please note that it's automatically generated and while the AI is super cool, it isn't perfect. There may be misspellings or incorrect words on occasion).

Narrator (1s):
You're listening to the Am Writing Fantasy podcast. In today's publishing landscape, you can reach fans all over the world. Query letters are a thing of the past. You don't even need a literary agent. There is nothing standing in the way of making a living from writing. Join two best selling authors who have self published more than 20 books between them now onto the show with your hosts, Autumn Birt, and Jesper Schmidt.

Jesper (30s):
Hello, I'm Jesper. And this is episode 113 of the Am Writing Fantasy podcast. And while Autumn is busy editing one of our stories, I have a great guest on for you today. It just happens on a let's call it, semi-regular, basis that Autumn and I are asked about traditionally publishing contracts. And some are also interested in becoming what is known as a hybrid author, meaning that you are both sell publishing and traditionally published. So I thought this would be quite a good topic to cover while Autumn is busy doing other stuff. And while Autumn did have a traditional contract years back, we don't really have that much experience with this topic.

Jesper (1m 17s):
So today I'm going to be joined by Andrea Phillips and Andrea is an award winning transmedia writer. She does game designs and her projects have won awards like the broadband digital award, the Canadian screen award, and much more. She is published by FireSIGHT fiction. And her short fiction has been published in escape pod and the juice versus aliens anthology. So welcome to the Am Writing Fantasy podcast, Andrea, and I hope you are keeping safe during these crazy times.

Andrea (1m 51s):
Hello. Thank you. It's so exciting to, to be here and yes, yes. I'm, I'm keeping safe. I'm a hermit in my home. We're even snowed in right now. So I don't know if I could, well, no, I'm, I'm exaggerating. We, we do a lot of snow very recently, but I could probably escape if my house caught on fire, you know, it's, it's, it's not so bad. Yes. Yes. I am in New York, got a foot into half of snow over the weekend as we, as we record.

Jesper (2m 28s):
Oh my God. Yeah. We don't really have that much, you know, I'm in Denmark and we have like one centimeter of snow or something like that. And it has been snowing the last couple of days, but then yeah, everyday it melts away again. So it's just gray. That's what it is.

Andrea (2m 48s):
That's usually what happens to us, but I would have thought, you know, Denmark would be one of the places where it snows and then it just stays all winter. And you have piles and mountains of snow by the end. Yeah.

Jesper (3m 0s):
Well here between the Scandinavian countries, you know, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland, the other three countries actually do usually get quite a lot of snow because they're also much further North Norway and Sweden and Finland are huge countries compared to Denmark. It's just like this little dot and we're just slightly more South than the others, so we can sometimes get snow, but, and it does get cold during this winter, but most years actually, it's not that, that much. So yeah. But talking about the weather, we can always do that. No, that's okay.

Jesper (3m 41s):
It is. I'm the one starting it. So, but yeah, I, I did a short introduction of you there, Andrea, and it looks, or it sounds like you do quite a lot of things, but maybe you could share a bit more about yourself.

Andrea (3m 57s):
Sure, sure. I always try to find a way to explain how all of the things I do are kind of related. And the transmedia work that I do is, is immersive storytelling. And I do a lot of it for, for brands out of marketing budgets. So I mi...

It isn't easy to sell books. That's especially true outside of the Amazon eco-system.

I sat down with the former Kobo Director Mark Leslie Lefebvre to pick his brain on how we authors can sell more books on Kobo.

There's some really strong book marketing tips and tricks being shared.

And, here's a link to Mark's podcast: https://starkreflections.ca/

New episodes EVERY single Monday.

To subscribe on YouTube, go here: http://bit.ly/1WIwIVC

PATREON!

Many bonus perks for those who become a patrons. https://www.patreon.com/AmWritingFantasy

LET'S CONNECT!

Closed Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AmWritingFantasy/

Blog and Courses: https://www.amwritingfantasy.com/

Jesper on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SchmidtJesper

Autumn on Twitter: https://twitter.com/weifarer

"Read the full transcript below. (Please note that it's automatically generated and while the AI is super cool, it isn't perfect. There may be misspellings or incorrect words on occasion).

Jesper (0s):
So if you are debating whether or not you should be selling books, exclusives it exclusively on Amazon, or if you should be wide, then I have a special guest on here today to help me to talk about selling books on proper. If you're a fantasy author, then you've come to the right place. My name is Jesper and together with autumn we have together published more than 20 books. And our aim is to help you with your writing and marketing and selling books based on our experience.

Jesper (34s):
So actually today as I was just saying before, I have a special guest on and I'm very, very piece too to have Mark on here to help me because Mark has a very, let's say good insight, especially insights in talking about selling books on Kobo even though he's doing something else today, which I'll let him himself explain in just a second. But uh, thank you very much for, for coming onto amwritingfantasy Mark it's a great pleasure.

Mark (1m 3s):
It's an honor to be here. Thank you so much for inviting me.

Jesper (1m 7s):
So maybe just to make people know a bit about you, maybe you can say a bit about both what you're doing today, but also specifically maybe your prior work in life because it's very relevant in the conversation we're having here.

Mark (1m 20s):
Yeah, of course. So I mean I've been in the book industry since 1992 I started as a bookseller, um, specific to our conversation here. I worked for Kobo am between 2011 2017 and when I was there, uh, I was the director of self-publishing and author relations and I created Kobo writing life, the self publishing platform. So for those who aren't familiar with it, it would be very akin to what, what KDP or Kindle direct publishing is to Kendall and Amazon Kobo writing is to Kobo.

Mark (1m 51s):
It's a published direct platform free. I think it's a lot sexier of course, and a lot more user. And because it was built by an author for other authors. Now I left Kobo at the end of 2017 because I wanted to write full time and do a consulting for publishers and writers. I couldn't keep my hands out of the business because at the end of 2018, I joined a part time role, uh, with draft two digital, which is an aggregator that distributes eBooks and converts them for free to Kobo, to Kindle, to Apple, to nook, to Google to to Lino, to a whole bunch of other platforms as well.

Mark (2m 29s):
So I couldn't not want to build cool things for writers, so I kinda needed to keep my fingers in the, uh, in the, in the muck, so to speak. Uh, and, and, and sort of that's where I am today, doing a combination of writing and basically helping authors. And I really want to help authors sell broadly and sell globally rather than just selling really, really well in the U K and in the U S on Amazon, which is usually what you're getting from that platform.

Jesper (2m 54s):
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And yeah, and I actually, I use both draft to digital and Kobo. So, um, but, but I do go directly Kobo also is to get into the promotional opportunities that Kobo has for, which I'm sure we're gonna get into quite some more. But, uh, but it's funny because the whole conversation about being by Y versus being exclusive, uh, autumn and I just had a chat about that the other day for our, for our mastermind group. But, um, but for me it's, it's sort of a no brainer. I mean, uh, I don't want to put all my eggs in the Amazon basket for sure.

Jesper (3m 27s):
Um, but the thing is also that then when you take the decision th...