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The feature interview in this episode is a chat with Jamie Ferguson about her writing, the thing that made the difference in terms of kick-starting her writing productivity, and the various collaborations and curation she has done by leveraging BundleRabbit as a collaborative tool.
Mark then shares a quick personal update, about the fact that there’s nothing like screwing up to get views on a video. During a recent beer tasting for his Spirits Untapped brand, a bottle of beer that he opened started foaming and just didn’t stop. It was like a funny horror movie and quickly had over 400 views and plenty of hilarious comments.
Here’s a link to the original Facebook Live video.
Below is the revised video (additional images/etc added), which appears on the blog post about the video.
Mark then reads this episode’s Tongue Twister, a straight up reading, which is:
I thought a thought.
But the thought I thought wasn’t the thought I thought I thought.
If the thought I thought I thought had been the thought I thought, I wouldn’t have thought so much.
The Terrible Tongue Twister segment (AKA “Twisting by the Fool”) is sponsored by Findaway Voices, who provide all the tools that an independent author or small publisher needs in order to get into the digital audiobook market.
In the interview, Mark and Jamie talk about:
- How Jamie had wanted to be a writer from when she was a child and had started and stopped various projects, but that it wasn’t until she joined a workshop started by Edward Bryant about fifteen years ago that prompted her to actually complete the projects
- How finishing something can actually be scary (“OMG, somebody could read it!”)
- The recent YA contemporary fantasy story by Jamie that appears in the new WISHES anthology from WMG Publishing
- The collaborative publishing project bundles & collections that Jamie has created using BundleRabbit that include:
- The basic differences between curating bundles and creating anthologies (called collaborations) using BundleRabbit and the process that a curator goes through
- How BundleRabbit assists the curator by allowing the tools that make the curation, collaboration and payment distribution easier (and the time that has saved Jamie, who likely wouldn’t have been able to budget the time for the aforementioned projects)
- How the Faerie Summer Bundle has been the most successful, which has led to Jamie adapting it into an ongoing series
- Factors in bundles/collaborations Jamie has created that contributed to their success
- How an author’s web and social media presence can make a positive difference in terms of curating their work into a bundle or collaboration
- The unexpected additional time required related to editing and formatting in the anthology collaboration projects
- Jamie’s plan for a forthcoming non-fiction book sharing what she has learned
- Some of Jamie’s favorite writing advice
- The forthcoming Amazing Monster Tales project Jamie is working on with DeAnna Knippling
After the interview, Mark shares a few thoughts about his own experience with BundleRabbit, being in bundles, and the surprising income he has earned through this additional source for authors. He is reminded of the importance of trying different things and income that can be earned from sources that aren’t expected.
He talks about a few forthcoming bundles that he is working on, including the Books Gone Bad Bundle (being built as this episode is being released) as well as a forthcoming anthology collaboration he intends on releasing through BundleRabbit.
Links of Interest
- Jamie’s Website
- Jamie’s Social Media
- BlackBird Publishing
- Jamie’s Article on the differences between bundles and collaborations
- BundleRabbit
- A few selected Bundles (with Mark’s stories)
- Findaway Voices
- Stark Reflections Patreon Page
Jamie Ferguson focuses on getting into the minds and hearts of her characters, whether she’s writing about a saloon girl in the Old West, a man who discovers the barista he’s in love with is a naiad, or a ghost who haunts the house she was killed in – even though that house no longer exists. She’s curated 8 short story bundles and anthologies to date, and is working on several more, including a monster-themed anthology series she’s co-editing with DeAnna Knippling. Jamie lives in Colorado, and spends her free time in a futile quest to wear out her two border collies, since she hasn’t given in and gotten them their own herd of sheep…yet…
The 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
RSS options for this podcast: Mark Leslie at Libsyn or Feedburner
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