Episode 212 – A Conversation with Joanna Penn on Co-Authoring The Relaxed Author

Mark and Joanna Penn talk about collaborating on the writing and release of their co-authored book THE RELAXED AUTHOR: Take the Pressure Off Your Art and Enjoy the Creative Journey.

Prior to the main content, Mark shares comments from a recent episode, thanks Patrons and offers a few words about this episode’s sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by Findaway Voices.

You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.

In their conversation, Mark and Joanna talk about:

How pretty and beautifully designed the book turned out to beWhere the idea for this book came from and why they decided to write itKnowing one another both personally and professionally for so long and the inherent trust and understanding they had getting into this projectHow to determine that a potential opportunity is with the right partnerThe contract that Joanna and Mark signed as part of this agreement/collaborative publishingThe logistics behind publishing the book under Curl Up Press, Joanna’s imprintHow they divided up the responsibilities for the overall book projectUse of Draft2Digital’s payment splitting for the eBook and the other ways the book is being published in different formats as well as available to purchase direct from JoannaTheir different approaches to outlining and writing a non-fiction bookHow each chapter of the book includes both of Joanna and Mark’s voice in answer to specific topic areasThe different tools that each of them enjoy using, such as Google spreadsheets, Dropbox, Scrivener, ScribeCountCreating the original draft of the book in audio first via a series of conversationsSome of the challenges and frustrations of the re-writing and editing of the work in a collaborative manner that they encounteredThe relaxed approach Joanna and Mark are both taking in the launch of the bookWhy they both admitted to not always being relaxed as an important thing to include in the bookHow the practices that Mark and Joanna talk about help prepare them for the long-term author journeyThe way that the things they shared in this book aren’t all that different than the things they’ve shared in their previous books for authors, but that the focus is “the relaxed author” so it’s more of a concise and narrowed down focus on that topicThe inclusive way that their suggestions for being a relaxed author include “do X, or don’t”How an author’s writing should be where they can turn to for solice and comfort, not for stressAnd more…

After the conversation Mark reflects on just how lucky he is that he got to work on a collaborative project like this with Joanna. He then asks listeners to reflect on their own experience around being, or trying to be a relaxed author.

Links of Interest:

Joanna Penn’s WebsiteThe Creative Penn PodcastThe Books and Travel PodcastJoanna’s BooksThe Relaxed AuthorBuy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook DirectRelated YouTube VideosThe Relaxed Author (Sample Excerpt)Video of the Conversation in this EpisodeEpisode 203 – A Rand on Unprofessional Author BehaviorEpisode 002 – Living the Healthy Writer’s Life with Joanna PennEpisode 148 – AI Voice Double Conversation with Joanna PennEpisode 164 – Reflections on The Creative Penn Podcast Episode 517Publishing Pitfalls for AuthorsPatreon for Stark ReflectionsAn Author’s Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark’s Canadian Werewolf BooksThis Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big City

Joanna Penn is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers under J.F.Penn and also writes non-fiction for authors. She’s an award-winning creative entrepreneur and podcaster. You can learn more about Joanna at http://www.thecreativepenn.com.

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