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In this episode, Mark interviews Kevin J. Anderson about his writing and the new approach he is taking to incorporate Kickstarter into the launch strategies for some of his indie-published titles.
Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, comments from recent episodes, and a word from this episode’s sponsor.
Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.
In their interview Mark and Kevin talk about:
- How Kickstarter has completely upended (in a good way), Kevin’s book release strategies
- Kevin’s first novel coming out in 1988 and all the various publishers he has worked with over the years
- The “Perfect Storm” that was brewing in the book industry when indie publishing became a realistic and viable option
- Starting to publish his own books (mostly backlist titles he got the rights back to) in 2009 after founding WordFire Press with his wife Rebecca Moesta
- Kevin’s belief that this is the best time to be a writer
- How Kevin does a little bit of everything. He has a New York literary agent, he works with several major publishers, he indie publishes, and he continues to explore new opportunities that digital publishing offer
- The way that Kickstarter didn’t just open a new door, it completely blew it down, along with a few walls too
- Dean Wesley Smith’s perspective that helped to change Kevin’s mind about what Kickstarter was all about
- Kevin’s “Adams Family meets The Naked Gun” series of Dan Shamble Zombie PI novels, and the history of how it started off as a series with a major publisher, flopped, then Kevin got the rights back and did something truly stunning with it once he applied Kickstarter
- Kevin’s first Dan Shamble Kickstarter which brought in 23 times the intial amount he was asking for, and that it paid him more than 6 times the advance he’d rec’d from a major publisher for the last Dan Shamble book he’d done with them
- The Dragon Business (The Princess Bride meets Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) Kickstarter that brought in 20 times what he’d been asking for
- The Persephone Kickstarter that Kevin did with Writer/Director Jeffrey Morris
- Kevin’s latest Kickstarter which is a 7 Volume Set of over 130 of his published short stories published over 50 years
- Writing his first short story when he was 8 years old
- Publishing his very first short story when he was 14
- The personal introductions that he wrote for every one of the stories in this 7 book collection
- The various levels and Kickstarter rewards he is planning for this Kickstarter
- The remarkable fact that, despite having published 180 novels with 58 of them being international bestsellers, no publisher would ever even consider publishing a 7 volume hardcover set of Kevin’s complete short stories. That he can do this via Kickstarter is a significant paradigm shift
- How Kickstarter can replace the old “advance” model from traditional publishing
- The special thing Kevin is doing for all the backers of this latest Kickstarter
- The Kickstarter will be going live on April 30th for 3 weeks and 2 days
- And more . . .
After the interview Mark reflects on Kevin’s use of short, effective and very clear log lines to describe two of his series.
Links of Interest:
- Kevin J. Anderson’s Website
- EP 130 – Grace Under Pressure with Kevin J. Anderson
- EP 356 – The Midlist Indie Author Mindset with T. Thorn Coyle
- EP 355 – Scribbling Pen Publishing with Melanie Gilbert and Heather Karn
- Writers of the Future – Blog Post Announcing Mark as a Judge
- Stark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins Agency
- ScribeCount (Mark’s Affiliate Link)
- Mark’s YouTube Channel
- Buy Mark a Coffee
- Patreon for Stark Reflections
- An Author’s Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries
- The Relaxed Author
- Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
- An Author’s Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
- Wide for the Win
- Mark’s Canadian Werewolf Books
- The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
- Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard
Kevin J. Anderson has published more than 180 books, 58 of which have been national or international bestsellers. He has written numerous novels in the Star Wars, X-Files, and Dune universes, as well as the unique Clockwork Angels steampunk trilogy with legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart. His original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series, the Wake the Dragon and Terra Incognita fantasy trilogies, and humorous Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series and The Dragon Business series.
He has edited numerous anthologies, written comics and games, and the lyrics to two rock CDs. Anderson is the director of the graduate program in Publishing at Western Colorado University, and he and his wife Rebecca Moesta are the publishers or WordFire Press.
He worked on the recent films Dune Part One and Part Two from Legendary Entertainment, as well as the forthcoming Dune TV series from MAX, and other films in development, including Persephone and Karousel.
He has 24 million copies in print in 34 languages. His most recent novels are Bats in the Belfry, Skeleton in the Closet, Persephone, and Princess of Dune (with Brian Herbert).
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
So sorry to hear you’re under the weather again, but glad you are at least feeling better. I was interested to hear the material you shared from both Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison. I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Angelou speak at the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Sep 19, 2005 (and I only know the date because I looked up her appearance). During that talk, among other things, she talked about as a young girl being the recipient of abuse horrific enough that she didn’t talk for a number of years. She said she later forgave the perpetrator (a relative, if I remember correctly). She said she didn’t do it for his sake, but for her own. She said she could only do so because of a realization strikingly similar to the quote you mentioned: “If he’d have known better, he’d have done better.” Amazing person.