The Writing Podcast

Leadership Coach Jon Lokhorst on Planning for His Book Promotion

A plan is essential to a promoting your book, no matter the size of your budget. In this episode, Melissa and Dave interview Jon Lokhorst, a leadership coach, trainer, and keynote speaker. In a few weeks, Jon will be launching his new book, “Mission-Critical Leadership: How Smart Managers Lead Well in All Directions," into the world. Aspiring authors will benefit from his approach to book promotion, including his "one to one" and "one to many" strategy.

How to Make Writing Progress When You Feel Discouraged

Every worthy endeavor requires time, discipline, failure, and persistence. And any grand undertaking will also include stretches of discouragement. In this episode, Melissa and Dave discuss the different kinds of discouragement and offer up some ideas for how to move past the days of doubt while making progress. One idea is to step away from your project for a time, while another is to double-down on your commitment to write. There's no right answer, but the goal is the same: Get back on the writing road.

Memoir Writer Christina Quist on Baboons, Storytelling, and Morning Pages

The American suburbs have little in common with the post-apartheid communities of Capetown, South Africa. Christina Quist knows this firsthand. She, her husband, and their five kids sold most of their belongings and moved from Ohio to the southern Hemisphere. Christina never imagined that she'd be dodging stray bullets and shooing baboons from her house. In this episode, Melissa and Dave interview Christina on her memoir, “Kaleidoscope: absurdly short stories of traveling and unraveling." In a wide-ranging interview, she recounts a hilarious story about a baboon who sauntered into her house, the importance of "morning pages," and the travails of self publishing.

Bestselling Author Lorilee Craker on Book Agents, Writing Habits, and Meeting Oprah

The call came out of the blue. Lorilee Craker's book agent knew the business manager of Lynne Spears, mother of pop star Brittney Spears. A few hours together in Nashville sealed the deal, and Lorilee became the co-author of a New York Times bestseller. Writing success, like any kind of success, doesn't happen without the grind, the years of discipline. Lorilee has devoted her life to writing. Since her book with Lynne Spears in 2008, she has published three other books and is now working on another. In this episode, Melissa and Dave interview Lorilee about some of the most misunderstand aspects of publishing, such as finding book agents and BISAC codes.

Meteorologist Amy Sweezey on Writing Children's Books

It takes grit to cover the morning weather, like award-winning broadcast meteorologist Amy Sweezey did for 25 years. For starters, she set her alarm for 2 AM every morning in order to clock in for the 4:30 AM news. It also takes grit to work on a book project for almost twenty years. Named "Broadcaster of the Year" by the National Weather Association in 2018, Amy had a vision to educate children on the weather. In this episode, Melissa and Dave interview Amy on her book writing and self-publishing journey. You'll come away motivated to stick with your vision and to stay the course.

The 3 Benefits of Self Publishing

There are many reasons to self-publish your book or project. It's not just because you couldn't land a contract with a traditional publisher. One of the big reasons is control over intellectual rights, pricing, and, among other things, book packaging. In this episode, Melissa and Dave offer up three benefits of self publishing and how authors can benefit from this trend.

The Enneagram for Writers - What's Your Writing Style?

The Enneagram is everywhere. Based on 105 questions, the personality test casts personality types into nine buckets. Coaches, consultants, HR departments, leadership gurus - many use the Enneagram to help with team building and bonding, and self-understanding. In this episode, Melissa and Dave interview Alysa Clark, who is conversant in the Enneagram and working on her first book. Alysa assists us in applying the Enneagram to writers: How does your Enneagram number shape what you write and how you write?

Writing's Two Essential Elements: Passion and Persistence

There's no joy like that of diving into a writing project with an author. If you need inspiration, hope, and practical help, this episode is for you. Melissa and Dave tell the writing, promotion, and publishing stories of five authors with whom they've work over the past several years. The five book projects couldn't be more different. Yet the threads of passion, persistence, and promise run through each story. You'll be inspired to persist while taking away fresh ideas for your writing and book promotion journey.

Lessons from a Professional Writer

There's a chasm between writing for yourself and writing for a client. Writing for yourself is, well, so personal. One foundational question is, "What do I want to evoke in the reader?" In this episode with Jennifer Olvera, Melissa and Dave explore the life of a professional writer. Jennifer has been a professional writer for more than twenty years, and she has written eight books. Her latest is "The Easy Meat Cookbook: 75 Simple Recipes for Beef, Pork, Lamb, Veal, and Poultry."

The Perils of Polite Writing

After the worry of never getting published comes the fear of not selling any books. On its heels comes the thought, "What if people hate what I wrote?" or "What if the reviews are exceptionally negative?" Sometimes, those anxieties can tempt us to write bland prose in an attempt to stay a member of, as writer Stephen King calls it, "polite society." In this episode, Melissa and Dave wrestle with the importance of voice - and writing what you really think.