EP 353 - Tao Wong on the Toronto Indie Author Conference
Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing
Release Date: 03/29/2024
Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing
info_outline EP 381 - Showcasing Independent Bookstores, Publishers, And Authors with Andrew SnookStark Reflections on Writing and Publishing
Mark interviews Andrew Snook about his writing and editing work as well as Canadian Independent Publishers magazine, which is celebrating its first anniversary. Prior to the interview Mark welcomes new Patrons, shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor This episode is sponsored by FROM PAGE TO PLATFORM by Matty Dalrymple and Michael La Ronn. You can learn more about the book at . In their conversation, Mark and Andrew talk about: Celebrating the first year of publishing Canadian Independent Author Andrew's first ventures self-publishing...
info_outline EP 380 - Passion Project Publishing with Brianna WodabekStark Reflections on Writing and Publishing
Mark interviews Brianna Wodabek, Assistant Manager of Digital Marketing at HarperCollins about her lifelong love of reading, books, and writing, and her evolution in the book industry. Prior to the interview Mark welcomes new Patrons, shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor This episode is sponsored by FROM PAGE TO PLATFORM by Matty Dalrymple and Michael La Ronn. You can learn more about the book at . In their conversation, Mark and Brianna talk about: How Brianna always loved reading and writing, but also knew that she wasn't...
info_outline EP 379 - Simplifying Your Life & Work with Dre BaldwinStark Reflections on Writing and Publishing
Mark interviews Dre Baldwin the CEO and Founder of Work On Your Game Inc. about his books and his experience helping others in finding their own paths to success. Prior to the interview Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor This episode is sponsored by FROM PAGE TO PLATFORM by Matty Dalrymple and Michael La Ronn. You can learn more about the book at . During the interview, Mark and Dre talk about: The importance of the simplification process as a great place to begin The 80/20 rule and the less-than-smooth ways we have of not...
info_outline EP 378 - Multimedia Storytelling with Dominician GennariStark Reflections on Writing and Publishing
Mark interviews Dominician Gennari, a writer, storyteller, composer, and musician about his multimedia book and novella opus, The War for Ascension. Prior to the interview Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, a word from this episode's sponsor, as well as a word about a previous episode sponsor. NEWS: Please note that the Feb/March 2025 Writers Retreat at Sea from Cruising Writers has been cancelled. During their conversation Mark and Dominician talk about: How Dominician's creative and artistic voice started with music at about the age of 13/14 Discovering...
info_outline EP 377 - Pivoting Your Publishing Dreams with Denise MassarStark Reflections on Writing and Publishing
Mark interviews Denise Massar, a writer, an adoptee, and a mom via birth and adoption about her new memoir MATCHED and the ten-year journey she took getting it published. Prior to the main content, Mark shares comments from a recent episode, a personal update, and a word from this episode's sponsor. This episode is sponsored by . During their conversation Mark and Denise talk about: How Denise had been "big five or die" when it originally came to her publishing dream and how and why that changed over the years Some of the feedback that Denise's agent got back on submission of her memoir in...
info_outline EP 376 - Dianne Scott on Writing Historical MysteriesStark Reflections on Writing and Publishing
Mark interviews bestselling and award-winning author Dianne Scott about her Christine Lane Mystery series which is set on Toronto Island in the 1960s. Prior to the main content, Mark shares comments from a recent newsletter he sent out asking writers to share their thoughts on the collective noun for a group of editors, a personal update (including the launch of his new ), and a word from this episode's sponsor. This episode is sponsored by . During their conversation Mark and Dianne talk about: How, after writing a creative writing piece in University that was supposed to be a research...
info_outline EP 375 - One Hand KickstartingStark Reflections on Writing and Publishing
Mark shares some behind-the-scenes insights and helpful tips offered to him for his forthcoming Kickstarter. He also loses it briefly after discovering that 40 minutes of in depth and detailed recording was lost due to a tech issue with Audacity crashing. Prior to the main content, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, welcomes a new patron, and introduces a word from this episode's sponsor. This episode is sponsored by . Mark's Kickstarter, coming very soon, is for the 20th Anniversary edition of his book One Hand Screaming. Links of Interest: (Preview link as of Aug...
info_outline EP 374 - WMG Publishing Editor Round TableStark Reflections on Writing and Publishing
In this episode Mark has a round-table discussion with the seven other editors in the August 2024 WMG Publishing Anthology Workshop. Prior to the main content, Mark shares a word from this episode's sponsor. This episode is sponsored by . The WMG Publishing Anthology workshops help authors see behind-the-scenes on how editors compile and select stories for anthologies. This in-depth and in-person experience involves a panel of editors (for August 2024 it was a panel of 8 editors) debating the merits of stories written by the attending authors. In this round-table discussion, Mark chats with...
info_outline EP 373 - Musings on Getting a Masters and Getting MarriedStark Reflections on Writing and Publishing
In this solo episode, Mark reflects and muses on the past couple of weeks where we got his Masters in Creative Writing with a concentration on Publishing (July 26th in Gunnison, CO) and got married to his partner Liz (July 29th in New York City, NY). Prior to the interview, Mark thanks Patrons and Buy Me A Coffee buddies, welcomes new patron Jo-Ann Carson, shares comments from recent episode, and announces the winner of the mindset coaching session with Thorn Coyle. Links of Interest: Use coupon STARK20 to get 20% off The...
info_outlineMark interviews Tao Wong about his writing, LitRPG, entrepreneurship, and the Toronto Indie Author Conference that is coming in May 2024.
Prior to the interview, Mark forgoes the usual brief personal update, or comments, and skips right to this episode's sponsor.
This episode is sponsored by the Toronto Indie Author Conference.
The Toronto Indie Author Conference is a two-day event tailored exclusively for Canadian independent authors. Do you dream of transforming your passion for writing into a thriving author business? Don’t miss this opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of Canadian indie publishing’s first author business conference.
In their interview, Mark and Tao talk about:
- How Tao has always been writing and telling stories, and how luck played a bit part in it
- Starting off writing LitRPG when he was living in the Yukon when it was night/dark all the time
- Writing a few novels and stories for fun, but then discovering Kristine Kathryn Rusch's blog about the business of publishing and how authors were beginning to leverage digital publishing to do it themselves
- Learning about indie publishing industry, but not being in a place where he thought he would pursue traditional publishing
- Beginning to put his LitRPG titles up on Amazon in 2017 at a time when it was just starting to become hot (He caught the 2nd wave of Western LitRPG authors)
- Not having to do any marketing in those early days because he was still working a full-time job running a business, but still bringing in a hearty income from his self-published books
- Tao's experience doing marketing in selling board games online
- Flipping between the two hats he wears. 1) The writer hat of getting the book done and 2) the marketer hat of having to sell the things that are written
- Realizing he was a "scenic route" author, according to Becca Syme's author structure talks and courses
- Getting to a point where he started to hire staff to help him with some of the tasks
- Being burnt out from the constant churn in hiring and training staff and them leaving within about two years
- Joking that being an indy author is the "easy mode" of being an entrepreneur because the cost and minimum setup is a lot less than what he had to do for his business before
- Laughing at the cost of a $200 cover design bill because not that long ago, he had a single bill from Canada Post that was over $100,000
- Working with about 5 active co-authors but realizing that he didn't want to be a publisher
- Starting the Toronto Indie Author Conference initially out of spite and to bring something useful to Canadian authors who might not be able to afford to travel so far to several US based conferences
- The importance of not having only 6-figure authors doing the presentations at the Toronto Indie Author Conference
- Some of the speakers who will be at the Toronto Indie Author Confernce and the various topics they'll be covering
- The significant amount of time and energy Tao had to invest into this conference
- The Kobo sponsorship of an accessibility fund for the conference where they'll be giving out 10 to 15 pre-paid seats
- A discount code STARK10 that members can use to get $10 off their ticket registration for the conference
- And more . . .
After the interview Mark reflects on the importance of those people who see gaps and step up to make a difference. It's a common theme from the past several interview episodes. He also reflects on just how easy it can be for authors as entrepreneurs when you factor in just how little an author has to invest when it comes to money, to get started, particularly in a world that has so many great free resources.
Links of Interest:
- Tao Wong's Author Website
- Tao Wong's Publisher Website
- Toronto Indie Author Conference
- Stark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins Agency
- StoryGarden Summit (Virtual) - March 2024
- ScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link)
- Mark's YouTube Channel
- Buy Mark a Coffee
- Patreon for Stark Reflections
- An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries
- The Relaxed Author
- Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
- An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
- Wide for the Win
- Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
- The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
- Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard
Tao Wong is a full-time author in the scifi and fantasy genres, writing predominantly in the LitRPG and xianxia sub-genres. A multiple times international Amazon bestseller, he is best known for the System Apocalypse and A Thousand Li universes, with over 40 full-length novels and numerous shorter works published. Tao was a finalist for the Kindle Storyteller UK Award in 2021.
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