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The Self Publishing Spotlight shines a light on authors at all stages of their indie journey. We ask them the same five questions on writing and publishing - five questions that will help you level up your own author career. Short and sweet, these Spotlights are the perfect way to snap up self-publishing stories on the go.
Mark Dawson is a best selling self-published author on multiple platforms including Amazon and Kobo. He is the author of the John Milton thriller series and its spin-off Beatrix Rose. In addition, he’s written several ‘Soho Noir' novels. Mark’s breakthrough came when he developed a marketing strategy for promoting and selling his books. His swift success enabled him to quit his 9 to 5 job and he has generated gross revenues of more than a million dollars in less than five years. Mark has bec ...
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-307: Why You Should be Writing in Anthologies - with Carol Van Natta
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Short stories are usually harder to sell, yet many authors are writing together in anthologies. Why?By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-306: Fitness Advice for Authors with David Viergutz
44:37
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Writing books can be quite a static job. Here’s how (and why) you should keep physically active.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-305: How to Build a Believable World - with Angeline Trevena
48:56
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It’s important to craft a world readers can lose themselves in. Here’s how!By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-304: Introducing the Findaway Voices Marketplace - with Will Dages
57:36
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Tune in to discover how to sell audiobooks through every major distributor worldwide.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-303: How Stories Help Us Process Trauma - with David Chrisinger
1:06:47
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Stories are what the human mind uses to understand the world – both the good and the bad. David Chrissinger explains.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-302: How to Train Your Editor Brain - with Tiffany Yates Martin
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Every manuscript needs to go through editing. The question is, what kind does yours need?By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-301: Literary Fiction: What Is It? - with Roz Morris
48:21
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Literary Fiction often stands apart from genre fiction… but what actually defines it?By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-300: 6 Years of The Self Publishing Show
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For a special 300th episode of the Self Publishing Show, Mark and James take a look back at some of the highlights and industry changes of the past six years.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-299: Reedsy - From Freelancers to Foundations - with Ricardo Fayet
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Ricardo Fayet co-founded Reedsy, an online marketplace offering every service an indie author could ever need. But did you know they also support the SPF Foundation?By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-298: Atticus: the All-Purpose Tool for Indie Authors - with Dave Chesson
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Fed up of using half a dozen different tools to produce a book? Atticus might be the answer.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-297: Give Your Readers What They Want - with Melanie Harlow
1:07:30
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What authors want and what readers want aren’t always the same – the importance of balancing art with commerce.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-296: How to Write a Bestseller... for Children - with Suzy K. Quinn
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Suzy has written multiple bestselling novels and even presented an SPF course about maximising a book's chance of success. Now she’s turning her hand to children’s books.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-295: Discovery Writing: Telling a Story Back-to-Front - with Patricia McLinn
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How to write a successful novel using the discovery (or 'pantsing') method.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-294: How to Sell More Books Using TikTok - with Lila Dubois and Jayne Rylon
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It’s one of the most popular social media platforms on the planet. So how can authors use it to their advantage?By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-293: Don’t Give Up the Ghost(writing): Success Against All Odds - with Kathrin Hutson
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Addiction almost led to Kathrin Hutson giving up her dream of becoming an author; now she’s a ghostwriting powerhouse penning books for the biggest publishers.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-292: The SPF Foundation and the Dartmoor Detective - with Mikey Campling
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Mikey Campling loves writing whodunnits, but it’s no mystery as to which courses contributed to his success..By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-291: Brain.fm: Helping You Focus on Your Writing - with Dan Clark
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Plenty of us struggle to get in the flow as often as we'd like – Brain.fm might just be the answer.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-290: The Author Behind Mark Wahlberg’s 'Infinite' - with Eric Maikranz
1:11:40
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Eric Maikranz took an unusual approach to getting his book turned into a movie – little did he know Mark Wahlberg would take the starring role.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-289: Why a NYT Bestseller Switched From Trad to Indie - with Gail Carriger
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She was a New York Times bestseller with successful trad deals. So why did Gail Carriger make to switch to full-indie?By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-288: How to Write Engaging Dialogue - with Jeff Elkins
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Suffering from a case of dry and stodgy characters? It's time to meet the Dialogue Doctor.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-287: BookLab - with Machelle Hanleigh
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BookLab is back! Three industry experts give Machelle Hanleigh advice on how to improve sales of her Paranormal Romance novel.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-286: How to Create a Book Trailer with Book Brush - with Corey Alderin
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Book Brush is known for its easy-to-use artwork templates. Now authors can build their own book trailers, too.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-285: How Trad Pub Feels About the Indie Revolution - with Jane Friedman
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With the industry in flux, Jane Freidman discusses what trad publishing is doing to keep up with the changes.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-284: Writing Interactive Books for Children - with James Russell
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James Russell goes one step further than writing a children’s book series that flows into a middle-grade trilogy – he makes each book an interactive experience.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-283: BookBub: More Than Just Featured Deals - with Carlyn Robertson
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Carlyn from BookBub explains how authors can utilise their ads platform, plus tips on how to snag one of their powerful and elusive promotions.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-282: Happy Ever After: The Rise to Romance Stardom - with Lucy Score
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Lucy explains how taking Mark's courses has led to her becoming one of the biggest romance writers in the business.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-281: Indie Author Mastermind: One Short Story a Week - with J. Thorn
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He co-presents the Writers, Ink podcast and is the man behind the Mastermind author group. J. Thorn’s new challenge: writing one short story every week for a year.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-280: When Two Editors are Better Than One - with Andrew Lowe & Jennie Nash
1:33:18
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Two editors, one book. James interviews those responsible for helping his book finally cross the finish line.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-279: Authors on a Train: Collaborative Writing - with Zach Bohannon
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When two (or four, or eighteen) minds are better than one – how to collaborate as an author.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-278: Ingram Spark vs KDP Print: The Great Debate - with Sara Rosett
55:15
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How to maximise the effectiveness of both POD book services.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-277: Part-Time Writer, Full Time-Traveller - with Nathan Van Coops
1:05:53
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Qualified flying instructor Nathan Van Coops explains why he loves to write time-travel novels part-time.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-276: How to Unlock Your Emotional Vocabulary - with Becca Puglisi
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Flesh out your characters and shake up your writing with the Emotion Thesaurus.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-275: How Free Audiobooks Can Make You Money - with Lindsay Buroker
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Prolific sci-fi author Lindsay Buroker explains how uploading her books to YouTube brought in a four-figure monthly income.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-274: Audiobook Distribution for Authors - with Damon Courtney
1:05:29
1:05:29
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How BookFunnel's new features can help you deliver advance audiobook review copies.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-273: ScribeCount: Numbers for Your Words - with Philippa Werner
1:03:20
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1:03:20
Collect sales data from multiple stores and platforms without compromising your data.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-272: Splitting Up: Dividing Royalties with Draft2Digital
1:03:49
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Royalty splits with self-publishing services company, Draft2Digital, explained.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-271: How to Avoid Getting Lost in Translation.
1:01:29
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Getting your books translated doesn't have to be a costly and frustrating process.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-270: Meet the Kindle Unlimited All-Stars
1:03:16
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From rejection letters to making $300,000 a month – meet the indie publishing power-couple.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-269: Postcards From Space: Self Publishing Science
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Miles Hudson explains how he blends teaching physics with writing self-published dystopian sci-fi novels.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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SPS-268: From Supermax Prison to Self-Publishing - with SPF Foundation Winner Jeffery P. Frye
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SPF Foundation Winner, Jeffrey P. Frye recounts his unorthodox - and compelling - route into self-publishing.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-267: The Magic Formula to Going Indie - with John Gaspard
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Author John Gaspard on the trick to successfully switching from trad to indie with his magic-themed thrillers.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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SPS-266: From Fighting Fires to Writing Romance
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50:24
An ex-fire fighter turned novelist provides proof that there must be something to the adage, "Write what you know".By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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SPS-265: How to Make a Living Writing Book Club Fiction - with Boo Walker
1:02:10
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Bestselling author Boo Walker on writing upmarket fiction and being published by Amazon imprint, Lake Union Publishing.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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SPS-264: Discovery Writing & Digging for Niches - with Steff Green
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Bestselling indie paranormal and fantasy author, Steff Green, explains how she hopes to inspire new readers through her style of discovery writing and the importance of appealing to market niches for self-published writers.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-263: Plotting Your Book, Made Easy - with Ryan Zee & Cameron Sutter
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The founders of smart plotting app, Plottr, on the evolution of their service and how it can boost author productivity.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-262: 2020: The Year for Author Innovation
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PublishDrive's Kinga Jentetics discusses the impact of the 2020 pandemic on the worlds of writing and publishing and reveals her company's planned innovations for the new year.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-261: How to Turn Your Book into a Hallmark Movie - with Barbara Hinske
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Ex-attorney Barbara Hinske on how she came to writing for a living and the process of seeing her book transformed into a movie.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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SPS-260: Hindsight's 2020: the Self-Publishing Year in Recap - with Mark Dawson
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Mark and James take a look back at a year that presented the self-publishing community with some unique challenges.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-259: How to Print Your Book All Over the World - with Jason Miletsky
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After finding that stories he was reading to his disabled daughter weren't uplifting enough, Jason Miletsky opted to write and self-publish his own children's books, thus triggering a career that combines writing and providing book printing and distribution services.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
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The Self Publishing Show
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SPS-258: BookLab - with Peter F. Smith
1:59:31
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It's the turn of science fiction author, Peter F. Smith, to get the famed BookLab treatment with expert feedback on his writing, blurb and cover.By Mark Dawson: Best-Selling Indie Author and Self Publishing Guru
