Authors Access

On December 14th, 2011 Irene Watson and Tyler R. Tichelaar spoke with romance author, publisher, and entrepreneur Donna Winters about writing regional historical romances.  Donna Winters and her husband Fred Winters are the owners of Bigwater Publishing. Since 1989 they have released 15 of Donnas historical romances for ages 12 and up under the Great Lakes Romances imprint.  We covered a wide-range of topics from writing to marketing, including:Historical romances vs. contemporary romancesResearch methodsHistorical charactersImagesNamesCharacter developmentHistorical dialogHistorical costumesHistorical transportation

On January 4th, 2012 Tyler R. Tichelaar andVictor R. Volkman spoke with regional mystery maven Nancy Barr.  Nancy served as news editor at the Daily Mining Gazette in Houghton for three years and now works at Michigan Technological University, where she recently earned a masters degree in Rhetoric and Technical Communication.  Her novels include Page One: Hit and Run(July 2006), Page One: Vanished (May 2007), and Page One: Whiteout (November 2009), all from Arbutus Press. She spoke with us on all the particulars of regional mystery writing including: Challenges of writing about real locations in rural areas Character development deciding who deserves a repeat appearance and who is a one-book wonder Plotting versus characterization.  Each book has been different for me. Other mysteries worth reading that feature the rural upper Midwest. The pros and cons of small, regional publishing houses. Marketing

On January 19th, 2012 Susan Violante and Victor R. Volkman spoke with award-winning children's author, marketing expert, and entrepreneur Ellen Feld about how to target-market your children''s books. Her first book, Blackjack: Dreaming of a Morgan Horse, went on to win a coveted Childrens Choices award, co-sponsored by The International Reading Association and The Childrens Book Council.  The book was then picked up by an international toy company and packaged with a toy horse made to resemble Blackjack, the star of the series.  Blackjack continues to sell well and to date has sold over 30,000 copies.  

On February 2nd, 2012 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with educational publisher and marketing guru Arianne McHugh. She is the President and Co-Owner of Saddleback Educational Publishing. She has revamped Saddleback into the countrys largest publisher of high-interest, low readability material. Saddleback kicks off its 30th anniversary with thirteen Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (2012) for its series, Urban Underground.

On February 16th, 2012 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with author and marketing guru Cathy Stuckeron the basics of effective blogging AND promoting your blog. Best known as the Idea Lady, Cathy Stucker helps authors, entrepreneurs and professionals attract customers and make themselves famous with techniques that make marketing easy, inexpensive and even fun. We covered a myriad of topics, including:Does blogging really sell books?What is the best way to set up a blog?What should authors blog about?What about fiction authors?How do you find the time to write for a blog without neglecting your real writing?How personal should a blog be?How do you handle blogging if you write in multiple genres or under more than one name?How can authors attract readers to their blogs?

On March 1st, 2012 Tyler R. Tichelaar and Victor R. Volkman spoke with author, motivational speaker, and publisher Sabrina K. Carpenter. In 2006, Sabrina founded her professional writing firm, Perfected Pen, Inc., which specializes in business writing services ranging from editing, website content, business plans, motivational speaking, press releases, social media management and beyond. She founded her childrens literacy program, Eager Readers, Brighter Writers in 2011. Traveling across the country, Carpenter encourages the natural quest for knowledge within children, through fun and interactive reading groups and writing workshops. We had wide-ranging discussion including these points:Determining Which Event is Right for YouHow much to pay?How important is the venue?The Face of MarketingWhy Time is Always MoneyAvoid Toxic PeopleBranding You or the Boo

On March 14th, 2012 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with singer, songwriter, restaurateur, and entrepreneur Ruby Dee Philippa. She is the lead singer of the Grammy-nominated high-octane roots and rockabilly act Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers. Previously, Ruby owned three successful restaurants in Seattle, Washington, until she finally settled down as a musician in Austin, Texas, where she lives today. Her book,Rubys Juke Joint Americana Cookbook, is a veritable feast of down-home recipes meant to be enjoyed with family and friends.  She shared delicious tidbits of hard-earned wisdom on self-publishing cookbooks from conception to sales and marketing:

On April 6th 2012, Tyler R. Tichelaar and Victor R. Volkmanspoke with Yvonne Rose, Associate Publisher and Senior Editor at Amber Communications Group, Inc.  Ms. Rose began her stint at Amber Books in 1998 as the co-author of the Companys flagship title, the national bestseller, Is Modeling for You? The Handbook and Guide for the Young Aspiring Black Model. Yvonne Rose was appointed to head Quality Press and has turned a few thousands of Self-Published authors manuscripts into completed books.  She spoke with us a wide-range of issues relating to African-American authors specifically and publishing in general Writing for African American culture Publishing hurdles of African American books Target marketing to African American community Writing cross-culture book mixed race books African American any different than other cultures? Getting the characters right for the culture Importance of covers depicting African American content

On April 19th, 2012 Victor R. Volkman and Irene Watson spoke with professional editor and marketing guru Beth Werner about the Association of Independent Authors and what it can do for you.   In 2010 Beth left the corporate world to launch Author Connections, LLC, a company created to educate, encourage and empower authors. She currently provides editing and marketing services to an exclusive roster of select clients. Her professional mission is to support high quality, multi-media content for hungry readers.  As an AiA board member she was able to educate us on aspects of the associatio

On May 3rd, 2012 Victor R. Volkman and Tyler R. Tichelaar spoke with veteran radio host and media maven Cyrus Webb, President of Conversations Media Group. Cyrus been active in the arts for over a decade and has used his passion for engaging discussions to build his media brand. Through his radio show he has interviewed Pulitzer-Prize winners, celebrity musicians and actors as well as individuals with a powerful story to tell. Tonight, Cyrus Webb shared his inside information on how you can make yourself into a guest that radio interviewers cant refuse!

On May 17th, 2012 Tyler R. Tichelaar and Susan Violante spoke with editor, publisher, and entrepreneur Victor R. Volkman about how to get maximum revenue from your eBook platforms.  Victor has made getting total market coverage in ebooks, the fastest growing media market, the centerpiece of his strategy for the past 18 months.  In that time period, he has added sales channels on Amazon Kindle, B&N Nook, and Kobo platforms as well as entered agreements with ProQuest eBrary, Content Reserves Overdrive, and other library wholesalers to maximize market share. Our talk covered all points of the eBook compass including: How can a self-publisher compete against big name companies like Random House in the ebook market? How have ebooks impacted publishers sales mix over the last year? What are the major eReader platforms and how are their market shares? Are there platform-independent stores? Whats the deal with Amazon KDP Select? What are library wholesalers (Content Reserve, Proquest eBrary, EBSCO) and what kind of pricing do they require? Why would I want my eBook in a library? Should I use SmashWords? How can you manage price changes with multiple vendors? What is book metadata and how important is it in the big picture?

On July 21st, 2012 Tyler R. Tichelaar and Victor R. Volkmanspoke with journalist and bestselling author Robert J. Hughes about creating your platform and energizing it with social media.Robert J. Hughes is a writer living between New York and Paris. He was a longtime arts reporter for The Wall Street Journal, where he wrote about theater, classical and popular music, books and television, as well as philanthropy and fine arts, including the auction markets.  Robert took us on a back-to-basic tours of the who, what, and why of platforms for authors:

On July 12th, 2012 Susan Violante and Victor R. Volkman spoke with publisher Sheila Ruth about how to navigate the Book Expo America (BEA) successfully. Sheila Ruth founded Imaginator Press in 2003 and has been addicted to publishing ever since. Imaginator Press publishes middle-grade and YA fantasy and science fiction. She first attended BEA in 2004, and since then has only missed attending one year. Sheila spilled all her secrets with us including:What is BEA?what are some ways that an author can have a presence at BEA?What things can an author attending BEA plan to do?Are there any things that an author shouldnt do at BEA?How should an author prepare for attending the conference?What are some ways to minimize the cost associated with attending BEA?

 Tyler R. Tichelaar and Victor R. Volkman spoke with media guru and blogger Jason Boog about current trends in the rapidly changing publishing industry. Jason Boog is the editor of Mediabistros publishing blog, GalleyCat. His first book, Will Write for Change: How New York City Writers Survived the Great Depression, is forthcoming from OR Books. His work has been published in Los Angeles Review of Books, The Believer, Poetry Foundation and Salon.  In a wide-ranging conversation we covered many technological and media trend

On July 9th, 2012 Susan Violante and Victor R. Volkman spoke with bestselling author and media guru Maryann Reidabout how to go from author to media sensation.Maryann Reed is an Award-winning author and entrepreneur who has been featured by countless media outlets including USA Today, Essence, Glamour, The CBS Early Show, and The Wendy Williams Experience.

On August 25th, 2012 Susan Violante and Victor R. Volkman spoke with publisher and family archiver Ronnie Boggess. After doing extensive research on her own family genealogy, Ronnie had both the vision and the goal to help others research and find facts and stories about their families. Whether writing about one member or several, she has a passion for getting members to record and publish, one of a kind books that can be passed down from generation to generation.

On September 13th, 2012 Tyler R. Tichelaar and Victor R. Volkman spoke with self-published  author and entrepreneur Gretchen Preston about the challenges and opportunities of living every day as a legally blind, visually-impaired person. Gretchen Preston is a childrens book author who lives near Marquette, Michigan. Legally blind since the fifth grade she writes her books on a laptop computer equipped with talking software. 

On October 4th, 2012 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with digital publishing entrepreneur and applications guru Manish Seghal about key factors for success in the digital publishing marketplace. Manish is the Founder and CEO of Nov8rix, a New York City-based mobile technology company. Nov8rixhas created several products which are iPad Publisher, One Publisher, and Smartphone Publisher and two platforms that power more than 300 mobile content publishing apps released on Apple iOS and Android devices. He has expertise in digital publishing, strategy, marketing and monetizing content.

On October 18th, 2012, Susan Violante and Victor R. Volkman spoke with childrens author, book coach, and reviewer Virginia S. Grenier. She is the founder & owner of Stories for Children Publishing, LLC, award-winning editor-in-chief of Stories for Children Magazine. In a wide-ranging discussion, we covered many key areas includingWhat is required for a character to be believable?What is key in making a book part of a series?What tips can childrens authors use to relate to their readers?Are there topics not suitable for childrens or young adult books?Is there a set guideline in childrens writing to be successful?

[Ep #166] Deltina Hay - Book Marketing on the Mobile Web