The Smarter Artist Show
Sean Platt, Johnny B. Truant, and David W. Wright—the trio behind the legendary Self-Publishing Podcast—are back. But the world of storytelling has changed, and so have they.
It's the same three voices you know, talking about the craft and commerce of storytelling — from the work we're creating to the TV and movies we can't stop thinking about. Shop talk for artists playing the long game in a creative world that never slows down.
If you've been here since the early days, welcome back.
If you're new, pull up a chair.
You're listening to The Smarter Artist Show.
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 25 - Alternate Endings - Tenet (Bonus Podcast)
07/10/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 25 - Alternate Endings - Tenet (Bonus Podcast)
Remember when Brandon Sanderson revealed a bunch of books he’d written? Well, this is our version of that. We’re revealing a podcast we recorded in 2021 or 2022 called Alternate Endings. A show that we recorded a year’s worth of episodes! It’s a show where Sean, Johnny, and I (Dave) force each other to watch a different show or movie each week and then get together and talk, argue, and discuss. Up first, the super easy to understand Tenet. If you like this episode, let us know. We’ll release more bonus shows like this every so often when we’re in a pinch. Or maybe add them as a second podcast. Or even revive it! Who knows?
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 24 - The Books We'd Build Different Now
07/03/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 24 - The Books We'd Build Different Now
In this episode Sean, Johnny, and Dave go back through four of their own series (Available Darkness, Karma Police, Cursed, and Robot Proletariat) and ask what they’d do differently now. Not with the stories themselves, but the surrounding architecture, to ensure that each series had a better shot at success. SOMETHING COOL 9:00 — Johnny finally created an Instagram account (@johnnybtruant) 14:40 — Sean talks about when Quentin Tarantino appeared in a Muppets movie. 18:00 — Topic of the show — Dave talks about he and Sean’s first book together, Available Darkness, and what he’d do now with it. 25:00 — Sean talks about redoing their Karma Police/ Jumper series. 32:00 — Johnny’s favorite writer. 34:00 — Johnny talks about how he thinks differently now on packaging and positioning. 35:00 — Johnny and Sean talk about their Chupacabra Outlaw series (now known as Cursed). 38:00 — Talking about serialization of Cursed, coming up with a “forever series.” 46:40 — Dave asks Johnny a question about side stories. LINKS IN THIS EPISODE Johnny’s Instagram Get our weekly Dispatch and a free copy of The Smarter Artist book.
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The Smarter Artist Show 23: Hypotheticals 2: Electric Boogaloo
06/26/2026
The Smarter Artist Show 23: Hypotheticals 2: Electric Boogaloo
In this week’s episode of The Smarter Artist Show, Sean, Dave, and Johnny take turns answering Dave’s latest batch of hypothetical questions. Dave also talks about how one of the questions inspired a script idea. Join the guys for an assortment of amusing, weird, and intriguing hypothetical questions which you can play along at home! Note: In efforts to get to the nonsense sooner, we shortened the intro. The outro full song is still there for your listening enjoyment. 0:00 — Intro 14:00 — Question 1: You have a difficult neighbor. How do you deal with it? 24:25 — The nude question 26:00 — The zoo animal question 29:50 — If you could speak to one kind of animal which would you choose to speak with? 33:20 — If you had to pick another job other than writing and you’d be guaranteed success, which would you choose? 34:39 — A Beam question. Would you rather be Enterprise or Directorate? 39:20 — The dumbest question in this set! 40:50 — Could you take a job where you’re paid $2 million per year to do nothing? 46:00 — the suitcase question. 49:00 — Would you rather be reincarnated as yourself with some of your memories and reliving your life, or a fresh start as someone else? 54:00 — The Unicorn question. 55:00 — The Three Body Problem question. 57:00 — You can reboot or continue any series or movie you want, which would you choose, and what would you do with it? 100:04 — Which of your properties would you most like to see made into a TV show or movie? Never miss an update of our podcast and get a new essay and bonus content delivered every Friday with our free weekly newsletter, The Dispatch. Get it at
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 22 - 20,000 Covers, One Lesson.
06/19/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 22 - 20,000 Covers, One Lesson.
In this episode, Sean, Dave, Johnny, and guest Matt Stone of 100 Covers talk about the number one thing successful books have in common. Spoiler: it has to do with the cover! Stay tuned to the end, or just go to the show notes, for a limited time offer from 100 Covers. **Special Promotion:** Special 50% offer at using the coupon code ASS from Friday June 19, 2026 to 11:59 PM EST Monday June 22, 2026. Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction to the episode and guest Matt Stone 00:26 - The importance of showing your work and applying experience to your brand 02:30 - Something Cools: Johnny and Sean talk the Backrooms movie. Dave talks about the upcoming movie on Netflix “The Last House” and Matt’s is … a Milli Vanilli song. 14:55 - An amazing segue to the topic of the show and how Dave is trying to sabotage the show. 16:00 - The origins of 100 Covers. 18:40 - What Matt discovered while researching their 20,000 book covers. 24:58 - Targeting successful book covers and utilizing Bookbub ads. 31:05 - Balancing creativity and market trends, short game versus long game. 37:57 - working with clients on how to research for their book cover. 41:00 - non-fiction book cover designs 46:00 - Evergreen vs. ephemeral design trends 51:00 - Special 50% offer to get your own covers. ⠀**Special Promotion:** Special 50% offer at https://100covers.com using the coupon code ASS from Friday June 19, 2026 to 11:59 PM EST Monday June 22, 2026.
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 21 - The $800 Movie
06/12/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 21 - The $800 Movie
This week Sean, Dave, and Johnny dig into the indie horror moment happening right now in Hollywood, two breakout films, Obsession and Backrooms, both made by filmmakers who came up on YouTube with almost no budget. They trace the path from Curry Barker's $800 film to a theatrical release that's earned around $250 million (at press time), and talk about why horror rewards resourcefulness in a way most genres don't. Sean talks for the first time on air about the horror script he and Dave have been developing, and the conversation he had with a friend that talked him out of a $5 million budget and into a $1 million one. It's the first public mention of a project that's going to keep coming up. Timestamps: 7:00 — Something Cools 12:40 — The topic of the week. 15:30 — Talking about Backrooms 19:00 — Horror movies being held to a different standard 22:45 — Sean’s $1 million movie announcement 24:48 — Dave talks about low budget horror and the upcoming Ice cream Man movie trailer. 26:00 — Benson and Moorehead’s low budget Lovecraftian movies which led to them working on Marvel shows. 30:00 — constraints in movies versus having too big of a budget. Discussion about Christopher Nolan’s work, and Dave’s fave movie, The Fountain. 41:36 — More low budget movie success stories: Halloween, Night of the Living Dead, Blair Witch, and Saw. Resources mentioned: Obsession (dir. Curry Barker) that’s a bad idea channel — Backrooms (dir. Kane Parsons, A24) The Endless, Synchronic, Resolution (dir. Benson and Moorhead) The Ice Cream Man Redband trailer — Milk and Serial — Subscribe to the Dispatch: Next week: we're talking book covers
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 20 - The Thing We Haven't Written Yet
06/05/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 20 - The Thing We Haven't Written Yet
Dave opens by holding up five completely filled journals to the camera, all devoted to a fantasy novel he's been building in his head for at least five years. That kicks off an hour-long conversation about the creative project you haven't written yet: the idea that's too big, too personal, or too risky to touch until you're ready. Sean's version is the very first book he ever wrote in 2007, a 600-page narrative nightmare with, in the words of Cindy's professor friend, "long passages of staggering genius." Both projects are alive, neither is finished… yet. Timestamps 00:00 — Cold open: Dave shows the journals. 03:30 — Something Cool (Sean): *The Next RenAIssance* by Zack Cass, recommended by Joanna Penn. AI in education and medicine, the case for augmentation, and why Sean thinks school would have worked for him in a different era. 11:36 — Sean publicly praises Dave's screenplay draft as the best rough draft he's ever turned in. 14:30 — What the screenplay feedback was actually about: showing vs. telling, and why a narcissist villain should never be too honest too fast. 16:40 — Something Cool (Dave): *Office Space* (1999), rewatched with his son. Beavis and Butt-Head, the Beavis reboot, and how Winger got cancelled by a cartoon. 25:55 — The actual topic: what is the thing you haven't written yet? Dave's project: a fantasy novel five years in journals, mythology without a single borrowed framework, an ensemble cast, and a central story element he won't reveal on air. 40:15 — Sean's project: the first book he ever wrote, started in 2007 during rest time at the preschool. A 600-page novel that tried to be a fictional *A Short History of Nearly Everything*. Books and Resources Mentioned The Next RenAIssance by Zack Cass (Joanna Penn recommendation) A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman The Dark Tower series by Stephen King The Smarter Artist Method by Sean Platt (leave a review on Amazon) Sign-Off CTA If this conversation gave you something to think about, you won't want to live without the Dispatch. Head to . Sign up and you'll get a copy of *The Smarter Artist Method* and the workbook. We'll see you in your inbox.
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 19 - Your Characters Are Assets. Are You Treating Them That Way?
05/29/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 19 - Your Characters Are Assets. Are You Treating Them That Way?
Saul Goodman was supposed to appear in four episodes of Breaking Bad. He was comic relief. Vince Gilligan read the room, changed his mind, and eventually built a six-season prequel around him. Sean, Dave, and Johnny use that as the on-ramp for a longer conversation about what separates a character that can carry IP from one that can't, and whether a creator can engineer that kind of popularity or whether it only exists because an audience decided it does. The guys then talk about characters taking over shows not meant for them, why some asshole characters work and others don’t, and much more in this episode of The Smarter Artist Show. Timestamps 01:37 Episode intro: Your characters are assets. Are you treating them that way? 04:20 — Something Cool: Dave on Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed (new Apple TV show, Tatiana Maslany) 09:04 — Sean's Something Cool: building custom apps with Claude, and why off-the-shelf task management never quite works for him. 10:00 — Johnny’s Something Cool - he’s doing an appearance at Comicapalooza in Houston. 21:34 — Sean on the Sterling & Stone AI hallucination problem (Forbes quoted something wrong; now the AI believes it) 24:00 — The actual topic: characters that become bigger than the story they inhabit 25:40 — Better Call Saul as the case study. Dave's original take: it'll never work 29:20 — Sean talks about Boricio Wolfe. Why it was their best example, and why it couldn't have been engineered? 34:00 — Sean on characters that take over shows they weren't written for. 40:00 — Johnny: what happens when the audience loves a character you don't? “Assholes are fun to write.” 41:00 — The likability question. Succession, Meyer Dempsey, and why some audiences reject complicated characters. 47:50 — Dave on what makes an unlikable character work for him, when the reader can understand or identify why they’re the way they are. 51:55 — Ending, theme song If this conversation gave you something to think about, you won't want to live without the Dispatch. Head to Sign up and you'll get two things right away: a copy of The Smarter Artist Method, and the workbook to help you get smarter, faster. We'll see you in your inbox.
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 18 - Write to Impress Your Collaborator
05/22/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 18 - Write to Impress Your Collaborator
SUMMARY Sean, Dave, and Johnny open with Something Cool, including Sean's announcement that he's finished his first album and wants early listeners before it drops publicly next month. Then they get into the real subject: collaboration. How it starts, how it breaks, how it makes you better when it works, and what happens when you write with someone who can see your blind spots before you can. By the end of the episode, three collaborations are on the table. Sean and Dave on Yesterday's Gone. Sean and Johnny on The Beam, Unicorn Western, and Future of Sex. And the specific mechanics of how each partnership works differently, from character-by-character chapters to skeletal reference beats to the value of a calling out Sean’s old bobblehead ticks in the writing. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Cold open, Piss Daddy, the email, and why YouTube apparently wants them to lean into it 14:04 Something Cool: Johnny's early read of How Music Works by David Byrne 6:00 Dave's Something Cool: the TV show Something Bad Is Going to Happen, and the soulmate vs. soul match debate 14:31 Sean's Something Cool: Ethan's graduation, and the announcement that Sean's first album is done 20:01 How to get early access to Sean's album before it drops (reply to the Dispatch with one sentence) 25:21 The Piss Story, origins of Piss Daddy, and what it revealed about how well Sean actually reads Dave's work 28:14 How Dave and Sean's collaboration started, and what Dave's instincts gave Sean early on 29:57 The Ira Glass gap, pattern recognition, and the bobblehead note that cured Sean of a writing tick forever 33:06 How Sean and Johnny's collaboration process works, and how it's changed over 10+ years 35:18 Unicorn Western: the reference Western method and why they didn't hide the homage 36:05 The Beam's world-building and how Johnny invented Shift by interrogating the premise 43:06 Yesterday's Gone: how Dave and Sean each took characters independently, the serial killer collision, and the Boricio revelation. What a great collaboration actually demands: writing to impress your partner, not just your reader 48:45 The Future of Sex cliffhanger that cut off all possible escape routes, and why neither of them worried about it 50:54 Pattern Black, overbuilding, and when a collaboration spools out too much rope 52:11 Knowing your strengths and weaknesses as collaborators, and the new script Dave is nearly done with 56:35 Outro, Smarter Artist song LINKS MENTIONED How Music Works by David Byrne (book/audiobook): https://www.amazon.com/How-Music-Works-David-Byrne/dp/1938073533 Sean's album (early access): Reply to this week's Dispatch email with one sentence about why you want to hear it. Public release next month. Comic Palooza Houston (Johnny's appearance): https://comicpalooza.com FREE BOOK + DISPATCH If this conversation gave you something to think about, head to Sign up and you'll get a copy of The Smarter Artist Method and the workbook right away. Also: if you've read , a review on Amazon goes a long way.
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 17 — How to Write Fast (With or Without Robots)
05/15/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 17 — How to Write Fast (With or Without Robots)
Dave spent twelve years writing bits and pieces of stories at a gas station. He never finished one. Sean spent three years nagging him to publish his first book. Now they've written more than 60 novels together. In this episode, Dave and Sean dig into the real reasons writers stall, why AI won't save you if your process is broken, and the one habit Sean says matters more than any tool or technique. WHAT THEY GET INTO The vomit pass. Sean breaks down the system he's used since his blogging days: brain drain first, clarify second, polish third. Never try to write something you're proud of on the first pass. That's what slows you down. AI as brainstorming partner, not ghostwriter. Sean makes the case that using AI to brainstorm, pressure-test outlines, or generate naming options isn't cheating. Dave disagrees. Loudly. The argument is one of the better ones they've had, and Sean eventually lands on the real point: you're cheating yourself when you make obstacles out of things that aren't your superpower. Dave's fantasy novel. He's been world-building in journals for five or six years. He still hasn't named the continents. Sean has opinions about this, especially after Dave rejected the solution in front of him. The consistency principle. Sean writes every single day, not because he loves every session, but because stopping means starting over. Twenty minutes a day beats two hours once a week, every time. The million-word year that wasn't. Sean challenged Dave to write a million words in a year. They wrote 30k. The book: How to Write Fast (With or Without Robots)* is available now at The Dispatch: Weekly newsletter with a story, a pattern, a reframe, and a shift, every Friday. Free at . Subscribers get a copy of The Smarter Artist Method at signup. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Into SOMETHING COOL 2:00 — Sean talks “Beef” and Dave talks about his love for Grimace. 8:00 — Dave talks about Apple TV’s “Widow Bay” 12:40 — The topic of the show — writing fast, and updating the book “How to Write Fast” with advice on using AI in the planning process. 20:00 — Dave talks about his fantasy series he’s been planning for 5-6 years. Dave and Sean then argue over whether it’s okay to use AI to name towns and cities in his book. Dave would like to, but feels like it’s cheating. Sean has a different opinion. This argument goes on for some time! 37:00 — Sean talks about how he came up as a writer and how he got so fast. He talks about some of the methods that have helped him write millions of words.
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 16 - Your Back Matter Is Costing You Readers (And You Don't Even Know It)
05/08/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 16 - Your Back Matter Is Costing You Readers (And You Don't Even Know It)
Sean, Dave, and Johnny dig into one of the most neglected pieces of real estate in any author's catalog: back matter. The highest-leverage moment you have with a reader is the thirty seconds after they finish your book, and most creators waste it with a generic thank-you and a mailing list link that goes nowhere. This episode is a post-mortem on real mistakes from the Sterling & Stone catalog, including a back matter page that thanked readers for a book they didn't read! The practical takeaway is simple: every book you publish should know where to send the reader next. Not a list of everything you've written. One book, same emotional register, direct buy link. Sean, Dave, and Johnny walk through why standalones are the hardest to monetize, why Johnny thinks we systematically misread buyer psychology, and what Colleen Hoover's publisher is doing right that authors ought to emulate. Get your weekly Dispatch here: Timestamps 00:00 Something Cool: Sean's castle in Ireland where C.S. Lewis and Tolkien used to meet (and yes, 666 acres of Celtic forest) 10:21 Something Cool: Dave's son discovers Seth Rogen, Martin Scorsese, and then Goodfellas via a Zane Lowe interview 12:09 Chris Stuckman's micro-budget horror film Shelby Oaks and what it means to take your shot 17:35 The main topic: what is back matter, and why does it matter more than anything else in your book 19:15 The Sterling & Stone back matter fail: the Crash/Threshold story 21:09 Back matter as catalog architecture: how books should know each other 25:00 Brandon Sanderson's back matter and why you're not him yet 27:04 What makes a standalone profitable vs. a reader dead-end 29:31 The leaking bathtub debate (Johnny officially retires the metaphor) 31:32 Don't make readers click twice: direct buy links, specific CTAs, order matters 36:10 Aging series and the dead link problem: Dave's website domain story 40:24 How often to audit your back matter (at least once a year) 41:29 What Colleen Hoover's publisher is doing that you should steal 43:03 Johnny on convention buyers vs. online buyers: why you keep assuming wrong things about your readers 51:33 One thing you can do right now: open your last book and read your own back matter like a stranger 53:11 Sean's final take: look at the actual page shipping under your name, then fix it Resources Mentioned The Smarter Artist Method by Sean Platt, free with Dispatch sign-up Back Matter Checklist, exclusive to Dispatch subscribers Crash by David Wright Threshold by Sean Platt Pretty Killer by Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant Yesterday's Gone by Sean Platt and David Wright Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman Shelby Oaks (film, dir. Chris Stuckman, produced with Mike Flanagan) The Studio (Apple TV+) * Platonic (Apple TV+)
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 15 - The Smarter Artist Method
05/01/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 15 - The Smarter Artist Method
Sean Platt built a publishing company that shipped hundreds of titles over 14 years. And somewhere in the middle of all that output, he realized the model was broken. In this episode, Sean, Dave, and Johnny introduce The Smarter Artist Method: the idea that most working creators are stacking inventory when they should be building IP. One produces diminishing returns. The other compounds. They're not the same thing, even if they look identical from the outside. They cover what the shift actually means in practice, why the exhaustion most creators feel is a structural problem rather than a talent problem, and what Sean learned spending a year working with clients who made immediate and dramatic changes just by changing how they thought about what they'd already built. They also use John Wick as a masterclass. One screenplay, written in a month, named after the writer's grandfather. Now a billion-dollar franchise with five films, a TV series, a spinoff, a video game, a theme park attraction, and an anime prequel in development. Nobody planned that. But somebody built something that could become it. The Smarter Artist Method is the book Sean and Dave built all of this around. It's free. Always. Grab it and sign up for the Dispatch at
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 14 - Writing Tomorrow When Tomorrow Is Already Here
04/24/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 14 - Writing Tomorrow When Tomorrow Is Already Here
This week we talk about writing science fiction in an age where sci-fi feels more like science fact. How do you write sci-fi while the world feels like it’s falling apart? How do advances in AI and robots change our stories? We also talk about classic sci-fi, like Twilight Zone, and how it dealt with issues and questions of the day. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Introduction to the Sci-Fi Discussion 11:47 Exploring Modern Dystopia and Its Impact on Fiction 17:55 AI and robots as depicted in sci-fi 22:17 Evolving Sci-Fi Tropes 26:38 The Nature of Truth in Sci-Fi 32:35 Consequences of AI and Technology 38:04 Exploring New Sci-Fi Concepts 42:36 Smarter-Artist-Show-Outro.mp4 Next week — We’re finally going to do the show that we’ve been promising for a month!
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 13 - Claude Interviews Us
04/17/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 13 - Claude Interviews Us
In this episode Sean and I decided to experiment and let the AI Claude ask us questions. It was a surprisingly fun conversation, touching on writer’s block, and the story we hated most that the other presented or worked on, how we collaborate on writing books, and (fittingly) whether AI will ever be at a point where it writes better than us? So, join us for another fun, expletive-filled episode. TIMESTAMPS SOMETHING COOL Dave — Jim Wilbourne’s YouTube channel. Sean — The Jury Duty show on Amazon Prime Q&A SEGMENT 18:00 — How did you two actually start writing together? 19:00 — How many books have you written total — do you even know? SIDE TANGENT 21:00 — Dave talks about the fantasy book he’s been working on for several years and Sean asks why he hasn’t shared it with him yet. Q&A CONTINUED… 23:40 — Do you ever get writer's block, and if so what do you actually do about it? 25:00 — How do you split the work when you co-write? 27:00 — (Sean asks Dave) What is your favorite collaboration and your least favorite? 30:00 — Have you ever hated something the other one wrote and had to say so? 34:46 — What genres have you written and which ones surprised you? 40:25 — Do you write every day or is that advice overrated? 43:00 — Do you think AI will eventually write better books than you? And does that bother you? 47:40 — What do you read, and does it feel like work or escape? 52:30 — What's the one thing about being a writer nobody tells you before you start? 56:00 — Outro music Next week’s topic: Writing Sci-Fi in the age of Science Non-fiction. In two weeks: The useful episodes begin, starting with our newest book, The Smarter Artist. Thank you for watching/listening!
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 12 - Maturing as Storytellers
04/10/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 12 - Maturing as Storytellers
Note: This isn’t the show we’d planned. Our “useful” episodes will be here in two weeks as we take care of some behind-the-scenes website stuff, and put the finishing touches on something we’ll show you in 2 weeks. For this week, we talk about how growing older has changed our writing, and what we want to write. And the things we won’t write anymore. We also discuss content from our youth vs. today, and the effects of content on kids today. And lastly, we talk about the role of hope in stories in dark times. TIMESTAMPS INTRO 0:00 — The opening song and some nonsensical talk for a few minutes. SOMETHINGS COOL 4:00 — Dave tells the guys about “The End of Oak Street” trailer. 5:40 — Johnny talks about the Nic Cage movie “Mandy” 9:00 — Sean talks about a wasp problem. Or, as Dave calls it, a Wasp Opportunity! And some Cybertruck rants. 14:20 — Dave talks about a movie that recently disappointed him which launches a discussion of how Johnny can’t figure out whether Dave’s dislike of a movie (like “Hereditary”) is a good or bad thing, and how movies Dave hates Johnny winds up liking. And movies Dave endorse traumatize Johnny. THE MAIN COURSE 20:00 — The Impact of Gore in Film 24:05 — Visceral Reactions to Real-Life Trauma 25:11 — One more Something Cool — Johnny shouts out C. Dennis Moore. 26:35 — Evolution of Writing Styles 31:02 — Experimentation in Writing 32:03 — The effects of content on our kids, young people in general and how that affects our writing. 38:06 — Changing Perspectives on Humor and Writing 45:48 — The Role of Hope in Storytelling LINKS IN THIS EPISODE The End of Oak Street (Trailer) — [The End of Oak Street | Official Teaser Trailer]() C. Dennis Moore —
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 11 - Making Habits as a Writer
04/03/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 11 - Making Habits as a Writer
In this episode of The Smarter Artist Show, we talk about making and breaking habits. Specifically making and breaking Dave’s habits. Dave has never kept a habit up for more than 30 days. So Sean challenges him to pick a habit and stick to it for that long. What habit will he choose? Will he succeed a 30 day streak or will he fail miserably by Day 6? Join Sean Platt, Johnny B. Truant, and David Wright for a discussion on habits, along with lots of ball busting. **note: For the first 10 minutes of the show, Sean’s audio sucks. Sorry! 00:00 — Introduction and Episode Overview 04:03 — Something Cool (Dave) — Obsidian 05:00 — Something Cool (Sean) — WhisperFlow 09:15 — Something Cool (Johnny) — Sean’s bad audio, Johnny going to Comic-con in Kansas City 12:09 — Challenges in Maintaining Routines 17:28 — Workshop on Developing Writing Habits 21:30 — Building Creative Muscle Memory 25:13 — The Power of Streaks in Habit Formation 28:51 — The Role of Perfectionism in Creativity 33:47 — Understanding Personal Rhythms for Productivity 37:10 — Accountability and Writing Habits 42:27 — The Importance of Self-Knowledge in Habit Building 45:42 — Integrating Habits for Better Health 50:15 — Smarter-Artist-Show-Outro.mp4 Visit us at
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 10 - Editing a Movie Script
03/27/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 10 - Editing a Movie Script
In this episode Sean and Dave go over a few pages of Sean’s corrections on the rough draft of a movie script they’re working on. Dave was rusty having been away from scripts for a bit, as he’s been working on other things and the podcast. So tune in and hear some of the things he got wrong and how to fix them. Most of these lessons can be applied to any kind of writing.
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 9 - Reclaiming Your 1,000 True Fans
03/20/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 9 - Reclaiming Your 1,000 True Fans
In this episode of The Smarter Artist Show we’re talking about reclaiming your 1,000 true fans. Additionally, Sean talks about the best/worst story I’ve written with him! Four words: “____ _____ on Christmas.*” *longtime listeners can fill in the blanks at home! TIMESTAMPS 5:00 — Dave’s Christmas story. SOMETHING COOL 7:50 — Johnny’s writing revelation 13:24 — Dave’s movie watch — Caddo Lake 15:54 — 1,000 True fans 19:00 — How do you start rebuilding your mailing list? 23:29 — Understanding your audience’s needs 26:35 — Cultivating diehard fans 30:00 — The value of unique content 33:29 — creating a connected universe 38:34 — Engaging your audience consistently 43:29 — Learning from email marketing failures 48:30 — Connecting your assets for deeper engagement 51:07 — One more something cool for fantasy mapmakers! LINKS Inkarnate mention for mapmakers
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 8 - Hypothetically Speaking
03/13/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 8 - Hypothetically Speaking
In this week’s episode of The Smarter Artist Show we’re answering hypothetical questions. Would we write in just one genre if we were guaranteed success? If we had to swap bodies with one of our co-hosts for just one day, who would we choose and what we do? What book or series would you like to be remembered for? So join us for a fun episode with zero useful information but lots of laughs. 0:00 — Cold open, intro 6:00 — Somethings Cool 14:00 — Talking about reality shows 19:00 — “Value is coming” 20:00 — HYPOTHETICALS 21:00 — GUARANTEED SUCCESS You are guaranteed success, but you have to ONLY write in one genre. What would you choose? What genre would you NOT write in? 26:00 — THE OFFER! You are offered $5 million dollars to NEVER CREATE AGAIN. Would you take it? What if you could create but you couldn’t take credit for it? 28:00 — LIVING IN YOUR OWN WORLD Which fictional world that you’ve created would you want to live in? 32:00 — WHAT’S THAT SMELL? The three of us are offered one million dollars not to bathe. Which of us wins? 35:00 — SLIDING DOORS What if we never met and hadn’t become writers, what would we be doing today? 40:00 — REALLY FREAKY FRIDAY If you had to wake up tomorrow and live in the body of one of your co-hosts for 24 hours whose life would you choose? 44:00 — WORST REALITY SHOW EVER A streaming service offers us a reality show, what would you pitch? 48:00 — COMFORT SHOW If you could only watch one comfort show for the rest of your days, what would it be? 52:00 — LEGACY BOOK What book or series would you like to be remembered for? Visit us at For links to our audio podcasts (the same show, but without having to look at us!)
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 7 - The Creative Mid-Life Crisis
03/06/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 7 - The Creative Mid-Life Crisis
SMARTER ARTIST EPISODE 7: The Creative Mid-life Crisis This episode is about hitting your creative mid-life crisis. You’ve been at it, you’ve had success or are still working toward it, but something’s missing. You don’t feel the magic like you used to. What happened? In this episode we’re going to look back to when we started in 2011 and take a look at some of the highs and lows and how we pushed on. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 — Intro 2:00 — talking about sponsorships 3:40 — Lars Von Trier disastrous interview discussion 5:20 — “So there…” 6:00 — Dave’s Something Cool — “Bring Her Back” & Dave doesn’t know what Johnny will find objectionable 11:10 — Johnny’s Something Cool — “The Chair Company” 15:40 — Sean’s Something Cool — which makes Dave laugh 19:50 — Johnny talks about the Catch-22 of “Worst Show Ever” and how an enjoyable show requires Dave’s suffering. TOPIC OF THE SHOW 21:00 — Looking back at the Kindle Gold Rush and our starts. When did we realize we could make a living at writing? 27:00 — Johnny on the discouraging nature of indie publishing and how he’s moving away from e-books and toward print. 29:00 — Is there a time we were disillusioned with writing, and what caused it? 31:20 — Sean on finding joy after a disastrous setback 38:00 — Johnny on writing malaise and figuring out what you’re good at. 43:00 — How do you keep the magic alive? 46:00 — Hypotheticals — a return of a favorite segment, hypotheticals. This week’s question: If you had to start over right now with all of your knowledge, what would you work on? LINKS: BOOK — Becca Syme’s “Dear Writer, You Need to Quit” VIDEO — ( ) Website —
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 6 - Kill Your Darlings
02/27/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 6 - Kill Your Darlings
In this episode of The Smarter Artist Show, we talk about killing your darlings. When do you decide enough is enough on a project? When do you call it quits on a series you’re writing? The complexity of selling stories. Do creators owe their audience a proper ending? And Dave horrifies us all with the movie he wants to make someday. Two words: Rom-com. All this and more in this week’s Smarter Artist Show. Opening — Sean busts on Dave for not getting the podcast up yet 5:00 — Something Cool: Blue Moon, She Rides Shotgun, and Companion 15:00 — Dave v. Optimism — 15:00 min. 16:20 — Dave’s Dream Movie he wants to make 20:35 — The Topic of the Show Killing Your Darlings 35:00 — Do you have an obligation to finish a series that doesn’t perform well? 56:09 — Johnny talks about the Reginald the Vampire TV show based on his Fat Vampire book series
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 5 - Indies Growing Up
02/20/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 5 - Indies Growing Up
THE SMARTER ARTIST SHOW #5 — Indies Growing Up In this episode of The Smarter Artist Show, Sean, Johnny, and I (Dave) discuss the evolution of indie publishing and the importance of maturing as creators. Johnny is back from Kevin J. Anderson’s Superstars of Writing Seminars and joins us to discuss experiences at various conferences, highlighting the differences in community and approach between events. The conversation emphasizes the need for long-term thinking, creative collaboration, and the challenges of advertising in the indie landscape. SOMETHING COOL Sean surprises everybody with a VERY unexpected Something Cool this week. Johnny talks about watching the Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House with his son. And Dave shares the trailer for a movie he’s psyched to see — Undertone.
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 4 - Creation Evolved
02/13/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 4 - Creation Evolved
In this week’s episode of The Smarter Artist Show, Johnny is missing in action. Which leaves Sean and I to discuss the controversial topic of AI and how it is affecting creativity and creatives. We explore the good, the bad, and the ugly of AI. Listen or watch at our website: SOMETHINGS COOL In our Something Cool segment Sean talks about the TV show Landman and I talk about the movie Groundhog Day. Does it hold up for Dave or his Gen Z son? THE TOPIC — CREATIVITY EVOLVED Then we talk about how AI is affecting creation in the creative fields — from writing to art to film to music to video games. Technology is changing things, whether we like it or not. So if we can’t put the genie in the bottle, what CAN creators do to survive without getting lost? There are no easy solutions or answers. And shit is bad for a lot of people, especially in the area of video games where the past year has seen a bloodbath in layoffs, thanks to AI. So how can creatives evolve and survive, maybe even thrive? Is there a way to use AI to enhance creativity without replacing it? How do you keep your soul in today’s market? What opportunities does AI offer people who used to lack access to creative tools? We also discuss why we don’t use AI for our stories, but can see areas AI could be useful for writers (like making story Bibles of books already written and to track things.) Then we discuss an area where Sean does enjoy playing with AI — in creating music. It began as an adversarial curiosity, but then he started spending hundreds of hours actually writing lyrics for the songs and engineering the music in his head with AI to make something fun.
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 3 - Our Favorite Fictional Worlds
02/06/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 3 - Our Favorite Fictional Worlds
In this episode of the Smarter Artists Show, we talk about some of our favorite fictional worlds, the art of collaboration in writing, and we touch a bit on everyone's favorite controversial topic — AI. Some of the worlds we discuss are Dune, A Song of Ice and Fire, and The Matrix. The Smarter Artist Show is hosted by bestselling authors and screenwriters Sean Platt, Johnny B. Truant, and David Wright. Tune in every Friday at noon EST for a new episode! Visit [Smarter Artist](https://smarterartist.net/) for more info and past episodes. ⠀Chapters 00:00 Welcome Back and Listener Comments 02:44 Something Cool: Movies and Shows 05:22 Exploring Fictional Worlds 07:56 The Art of Collaboration in Writing 10:37 World Building and Favorite Universes 13:35 The Influence of AI on Writing 16:20 Diving into Dune and Other Favorites 18:22 The Matrix and Its Impact 20:21 Game of Thrones and Complex Narratives 22:05 Final Thoughts on Fictional Worlds
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 2 - Rise of the Robots
02/03/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 2 - Rise of the Robots
In this episode of The Smarter Artist Show, we (hosts David Wright, Sean Platt, and Johnny B. Truant) discuss the evolving landscape of storytelling in the age of AI. We also talk about how the loss of cheap paperbacks and the lack of e-book adoption among kids and teens affects the market and is a troubling sign for future readers. We explore how AI is impacting creativity, the future of reading and media consumption, and the role of the storyteller in a world where algorithms and digital media dominate. The conversation delves into personal experiences with storytelling, the importance of audience engagement, and the challenges and opportunities presented by new technologies.
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The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 1 - The Band is Back Together!
01/31/2026
The Smarter Artist Show: Episode 1 - The Band is Back Together!
The original hosts of The Self-Publishing Podcast, Sean, Johnny, and Dave, are back! Join us every Friday in their new podcast, The Smarter Artist Show, your invitation to a no-holds barred night out at the bar with your old writer friends. In the first episode we discuss where we’ve been for the past few years since the end of The Story Studio Podcast, why Dave (?!?!?!?!) is the new host, and how Johnny has become Dave in his curmudgeonry. We discuss the importance of connection, innovation in storytelling, and the changing dynamics of self-publishing and storytelling. We also touch on marketing strategies, media recommendations, and the future of content creation. TAKEAWAYS This is a reunion of the original The Self-Publishing Podcast team. Dave has been roped into being the new host, but he’s planning on performing so badly that Johnny will step back into that role. We reflect on our absence and the evolution of our podcasting journey. We get nostalgias discussing past shows. The self-publishing landscape has changed dramatically over the years. Connection and collaboration are key themes in our return to podcasting. We stress the importance of innovation in storytelling and content creation. We discuss social media’s role in marketing. A return of our Something Cool feature! We discuss the impact of our past work on current projects. The conversation wraps up with discussion of what’s next for the podcast.
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SSP095_Sterling_and_Stone_2019_Year-in-Review.mp3
12/24/2019
SSP095_Sterling_and_Stone_2019_Year-in-Review.mp3
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SSP094_Savannah_Bananas_pt._2_with_Jesse_Cole.mp3
12/18/2019
SSP094_Savannah_Bananas_pt._2_with_Jesse_Cole.mp3
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SSP093_Fiction_Formula_Launch_Party.mp3
12/11/2019
SSP093_Fiction_Formula_Launch_Party.mp3
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SSP092_Our_First_Stories.mp3
12/04/2019
SSP092_Our_First_Stories.mp3
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SSP091_Analyzing_You_Were_Never_Really_Here_SPOILERS.mp3
11/26/2019
SSP091_Analyzing_You_Were_Never_Really_Here_SPOILERS.mp3
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