Information, inspiration and interviews on writing, self-publishing, book marketing and making a living with your writing. If you need help with writing your book, or you want to learn how to navigate the new world of publishing and book marketing, then join Joanna Penn and her guests every Monday. Also covers the business of being a writer and how to make money with your books.
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Tips For Long-Term Publishing Success With Mark Leslie Lefebvre
You can sustain a writing and publishing career for decades if you retain your love for the craft – and the business – as well as developing the right mindset and creative practices.
In today's show, I talk to Mark Leslie Lefebvre about his career in bookselling, writing horror and non-fiction, as well as helping other authors – plus why professionalism and patience are critical for long-term success.
In the intro, Findaway Voices announces distribution to Apple Books audio with price control, and Draft2Digital introduces Account Sharing, giving limited access to virtual assistants or other publishing partners.
Mark Leslie Lefebvre is a horror author and also writes non-fiction about haunted places and books for authors, including Killing It On Kobo and The 7 P's of Publishing Success. He also has a podcast for authors, Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing.
You can listen above or on iTunes or your favorite podcast app or watch the video here, read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and full transcript below.
Show Notes
* Learning about the balance between writing and having a day job
* Building a professional author brand
* How book retailers do pay attention to how authors behave online
* The role that patience plays in being a successful author
* Branding and marketing when authors do in-person events
* Lessons learned about podcasting for authors
* Why mission-driven podcasts succeed
* On what authors can focus on for 2019
You can find Mark Leslie Lefebvre at MarkLeslie.ca and on Twitter @MarkLeslie. Check out the Stark Reflections Podcast here.
Transcript of Interview with Mark Leslie Lefebvre
Joanna: Hi, everyone. I'm Joanna Penn from TheCreativePenn.com. And today, I'm back with Mark Leslie Lefebvre. Hi, Mark.
Mark: Hi, Joanna. It's great to be back.
Joanna: It's so funny when you've been on the show a number of times. But in case people don't know who you are,
Mark is a horror author and also writes non-fiction about haunted places and books for authors, including Killing It On Kobo and The 7 P's of Publishing Success, which is what we're talking about today.
Before we get into it, Mark, people might be confused about who you actually are because you used to be Mark from Kobo and now you're not.
Give us a bit of an update about what's been going on with you the last 18 months and what you're doing now. And how and whether your life has changed.
Mark: My life has changed in a significant way. I was hired by Kobo to come up with a solution for self-publishing. In 2011, I started there as a director of author relations and self-publishing and I came up with Kobo Writing Life.