I’ve been on a digital organising frenzy over the last month since I’ve had some time off. Mainly cleaning out my emails and tidying up the way I structure and save my WIPs, but I’ve also been taking a good hard look at the blogs and websites I follow, and the newsletters I’ve signed up for. (I’m a sucker for email lists!)
I’ve found that since I’ve upped my work-load over the last few months, I’ve got less and less time to spend on reading blog posts (and books, unfortunately), and so I’ve started unsubscribing to a lot of them in order to reduce the amount of emails I get every week.
What I DO love though, are podcasts. I’m not subscribed to nearly as many podcasts as I am blogs, and I don’t listen to them all regularly, but I do listen to some of them regularly. One of them is the Self Publishing Podcast.
The three hosts, Johnny B Truant, David Wright and Sean Platt, are all self-published authors in their own right, and they also have some books and serials published through Amazon’s imprints. They get out a phenomenal amount of product every year and they really know their stuff. They’re not afraid to share news and information on what works for them, and they regularly have guests on to talk about the things they don’t know.
They also answer questions from listeners, either directly through their live chat, or from voicemails.
The thing I love about them though is that they’re not afraid to admit they they’re still working out what works, just like the rest of us plying our trade in digital books. They’re not snake-oil salesmen trying to sell you formula and quick-fixes; they’re authors giving other authors an insight into their methods and thought-processes.
Best of all, they’re funny. Hilarious, even. The three of them have a fantastic rapport. They play off each other effortlessly and often have me laughing out loud at their banter, especially when they’re ribbing Dave, who is the resident Eeyore.
They also have a companion podcast called Better Off Undead, which is what I like to call SPP After Dark – it usually goes for half the time, but is double the laughs. It’s also where Dave comes into his own and gets to unleash his rants in a regular segment called “What’s Up Dave’s Butt?” (with its very own musical introduction no less).
For anyone who publishes, whether it be through the traditional means or otherwise, I highly recommend listening to these guys.
On a related side note, they have a book out called Write. Publish. Repeat. which is currently one of the best books on the market for self-publishers. I’ve read it and can highly recommend it.
