Episode 11: Fallen Angels, Runaway Truck Ramps, and Kickstarter Campaigns
More Stories, Creative Writing Podcast
English - October 29, 2014 23:07 - 41 minutes - 37.6 MB - ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsBooks Arts Education Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episode 11: Fallen Angels, Runaway Truck Ramps, and Kickstarter Campaigns
Author Shawn Smucker joins me on the podcast to talk about the creative process, the differences between writing fiction and writing non-fiction, being rejected by agents and editors, and utilizing crowd-funding options to finance our creative work. It was a great conversation with a number of insightful moments, and I am grateful to Shawn for spending some time with me.
00:35 Intro to the episode
02:08 Start of the Interview, intro to Shawn Smucker
04:10 A little about two memoir, non-fiction books Shawn wrote about his life: Building a Life Out of Words, and Using a Runaway Truck Ramp.
05:52 How does tension and transition in life inform Shawn’s creativity and writing life?
08:30 Finding time (and energy) for personal creative work when you spend so much time writing for others.
11:20 Writing in chunks vs. writing slow and steady.
13:40 Differences between the writing of fiction vs. writing non-fiction.
14:45 Revision and editing of fiction, and learning to enjoy the process.
18:00 With fiction…heavy outliner or “let the story go where it takes you”?
19:27 Revision of this book, knowing it would be published via a Kickstarter campaign.
20:30 Writing for self, rather than others, and dealing with the rejection of people who won’t like the book.
22:53 Shawn turns the interview on me, and makes me answer deep, philosophical questions about my writing process. (ha!)
24:14 About the new, fiction book, The Day the Angels Fell
26:05 More about the creating of the book, final editing, etc.
27:15 The decision to submit to agents (based on feedback from well-published authors, etc) and then the silence of rejection leads to decision to self-publish and 100 pre-orders, to-date.
30:25 Platform, loyal readers, and blogging/writing in a way to provide value to readers.
32:24 Kickstarter “stretch goals” can help get some illustrations, an audio book, and (maybe even) a book tour.
35:30 (Aside, the real reason why authors don’t read their own work on audio books…)
37:30 Ways to find Shawn online. (see below)
39:20 Thank you for listening, please share the podcast, leave a review or subscribe (it really helps!)
Shawn Smucker Links:
Kickstarter Page: The Day the Angels Fell (Active until November 18, 2014)
Shawn Smucker, Writer: blog and other info.
Facebook: Shawn Smucker
Twitter: @ShawnSmucker
More Stories Podcast Links:
Subscribe or listen via iTunes
Subscribe or listen via Stitcher
RSS feed, for those who use RSS to subscribe
Other Eric Sheridan Wyatt links:
My blog, Stories I Read, Stories I Tell
My homepage, Words Matter Creative Writing