#8: Bodybuilders vs. Writer Geeks

On this field trip, Gerald and Cheyenne take you to a meeting of the Independent Writers of Southern California (IWOSC) in beautiful downtown Culver City, across from the Sony movie lot. On that same day, the community center where we held the event also had a convention of bodybuilders. No fracas ensued, but we were inspired – to pump you up!

Hosted by IWOSC President Gary Young, we respond to wide-ranging questions and comments from writers and self-publishers who want to get to the next level in their careers:

• What book topics are hot in the marketplace, and which should I undertake?
• Do agents advise against self-publishing?
• Besides selling books, what other ways are there to derive income as an author?
• What’s the current market for memoir, including military-service stories?
• How is an emotional subplot essential to an action story?
• What drives the popularity of historical fiction? Why is it so valuable to our culture?

What’s the appeal of dystopian fiction? What elements does it need?

And on this episode, we add further balance to our team by introducing our Resident Curmudgeon, Thomas Page, author of the sci-fi novel The Hephaestus Plague, which became the B-movie cult classic Bug. Tom narrates a featurette from his collection of "132 Tough Guys."

GetPublished! announcer Bill Navarro quips that host Gerald Everett Jones has the answers – because he’s already made the mistakes himself. And calling him out for his gaffes is the show’s new, we’ll-see-about-that Millennial co-host, Cheyenne Cockrell.

Gerald serves on IWOSC’s board as director of outreach. After a decades-long career as a freelance writer doing more than thirty business and technical books for mainstream publishers, he self-published three nonfiction books (including How to Lie with Charts) and six novels (including Bonfire of the Vanderbilts). He is a recent winner of a WGA Diversity award for his screenplay Christmas Karma.

Cheyenne Cockrell is a voiceover talent and an operations manager of the DirecTV Audience channel. She holds a degree in journalism from Humboldt State.

Discover a wealth of resources for authors and publishers at the GetPublished! Radio website www.getpublished.guru. There’s more information about IWOSC membership and its activities at www.iwosc.org.

Check out this episode!

#7: Q&A Crazy with Cheyenne

GetPublished! Radio host Gerald Everett Jones has the answers - because he's already made all the mistakes himself. To which guest co-host Cheyenne replies, "We'll see about that!" She challenges him with questions we've received from listeners, such as:
⦁ Why shouldn't I monetize my book blog?
⦁ How can I go viral on social media?
⦁ What can I do with an Author Page on Amazon?
⦁ How might a four-star review actually be better than five?
⦁ What do I need to know about getting photo permissions?
⦁ What's the smartest thing you ever did to promote yourself as an authior?
⦁ - and more...
Gerald and show producers Runkee Productions launched GetPublished! as a kind of self-help resource for wannabe authors. As producer Lori Marple describes it: “GetPublished! encompasses a demographic from older to younger. Gerald is telling Boomers to give up golf and give back, to give us their life stories and lessons learned from the real battlefield and the capitalist wars. He’s saying to Millennials, if they can’t find a job or hate the one they’re in, give us a plan for a new product, a new industry, or a few well-crafted Constitutional amendments.”
Gerald wants to goad the thought leaders of tomorrow. He asks them, “Tell us about the feelings that flow from your heart of hearts, thoughts that can motivate others, ideas that can make a difference.”
And, then, there’s entertainment value:

“We have questions from listeners. We can’t tell you how to get your cat to pee in the toilet, but we can tell you how to promote your next book on the World Wide Web.”

Check out this episode!

#6: Socks, Life, and Audiotape with Angel-Voice Rebecca Roberts

Host Gerald Everett Jones's charming guest is none other than Rebecca Roberts, the multi-voiced talent you hear reading Bonfire of the Vanderbilts on Audible.com. In a full and frank exchange of views, she offers lessons learned working with him on Bonfire.

She even confesses how her role can be much like an experienced nanny dealing with a new mother (the proud parent of the book).

We include a brief clip of her reading, as she becomes a proper Bostonian lady of the Gilded Age dishing dirt about the scandal behind a famous painting.

And in keeping with the theme of this episode, Gerald offers his book review of My Voice Will Go with You by psychiatrist Sidney Rosen – about how Dr. Milton Erickson’s therapy – based on storytelling –could change a patient’s lifetime behavior patterns.

Rebecca Roberts (www.rebeccarobertsvoice.com) has narrated over 120 audiobooks, as well as commercials and instructional media. According to her fans, her greatest attribute is how easy it is to hear what she has to say, and not how she’s saying it. In developing her trademark sound over the years (and often falling into the trap of trying to emulate her favorites), she found her niche – “being real.” She has a natural cadence, a smooth comfortable tone, and pace that is truly a delight to listen to. Anne McAneny, author of Raveled, said, “She’s so good, you don’t even hear her. All you hear are my words.”

And Remember – GetPublished! Website Memberships Are Now Free

GetPublished.guru has all kinds of support resources for authors, publishers, and book promoters. We have research links, vendor listings (editors, illustrators, publicists), and sample documents (templates for book proposals and press releases). And it’s all now free. And, of course, downloading or streaming the podcast has always been free.

That said, to get the GetPublished.guru resources, you still have to register at the site – all you need is an email address and a password.

If you’re amused by GetPublished! Radio or find it helpful – please subscribe through your podcast app (iTunes, Stitcher, Feedburner, TuneIn, or RSS) and tell your thousand closest friends!

And, by all means, GetPublished!

Check out this episode!

#5: Blank-Page Freak-Out! with Tim Gard

Learn to laugh in the face of writer’s block.

Gerald’s guest is Tim Gard, top motivational speaker and corporate entertainer, known for bringing tears of laughter to audiences worldwide. More than an insightful and funny guy, Tim teaches people to be more resilient and resourceful using their own comedic style. Gerald and Tim talk about turning frustration into comedy – and inspiration. Tim also gives tips on dealing with stress and getting started in public speaking.

Also in this Episode

Gerald gives his featurette book review of Bill Bryson’s Shakespeare – citing countless words the Bard coined that we use every day – including countless.

Next Show – Episode 6: She Says What You Write with Audiobook Narrator Rebecca Roberts

We’ll be getting the behind-the-scenes, green-room scoop on how authors and publishers can work best with audiobook narrators. Our charming guest will be none other than Rebecca Roberts, the multi-voiced talent you hear reading Bonfire of the Vanderbilts on Audible.com.

More Big News - GetPublished! Website Memberships Are Now Free

GetPublished.guru has all kinds of support resources for authors, publishers, and book promoters. When we launched the show, we set up the website on a subscription model. We charged a low monthly fee to access the resource pages – such as research links, vendor listings (editors, illustrators, publicists), and sample documents (templates for book proposals and press releases).

Well, it’s all now free. Call us crazy, but no more subscription fees – it’s all free. And, of course, downloading or streaming the podcast has always been free.
That said, to get the GetPublished.guru resources, you still have to register at the site – all you need is an email address and a password.

If you’re amused by GetPublished! Radio or find it helpful – please subscribe through your podcast app (iTunes, Stitcher, Feedburner, TuneIn, or RSS) and tell your thousand closest friends!

And, by all means, GetPublished!

Check out this episode!

#4: Biztalk with Tom Sant

Gerald's guest is Dr. Tom Sant, who went from being an overworked English professor to a global marketing consultant and bestselling author of business books. He talks about his NOSE technique for writing killer proposals, along with his wish-list for business titles that aren't on the shelves yet.

Besides his past professorship, Tom has been a standup comic and a founder of two successful business enterprises. He's been called the world's foremost authority on winning sales proposals and was named one of the top ten sales trainers in the world by Selling Power Magazine. He is the author of three popular business books - the bestselling Persuasive Business Proposals, which was named one of the seven most important sales books of all time by Inc magazine, as well as The Giants of Sales and The Language of Success, all of which were published by the American Management Association.

The episode also has a clip from Gerald's humorous business book, How to Lie with Charts.

 

Check out this episode!

GetPublished! Radio Episode 3

Consider the notion that historical fiction is really all about today. The example I’ll use is actually from an opera – Nabucco by Guiseppe Verdi. It’s one of the most beautiful choruses ever composed.

What’s ahead - Our guest for Episode 4 will be Tom Sant, who went from being an overworked English professor to a global marketing consultant. He’ll tell us what’s hot and what’s not in business and how-to books.

(This is the one to share with your thousand closest friends. You may need a tissue or two.)

So get comfortable, or set the pace on that treadmill, or make sure the waiter has your order – we’re going to the opera!

 

Check out this episode!

GetPublished! Radio Episode 2

In today’s special Episode 2 of GetPublished! I’ll take you on a field trip to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art – LACMA. It’s behind the scenes at an after-hours closed session of the American Art Council. I’m giving a talk on the scandal behind Julius Stewart’s painting The Baptism, which is the basis for my sixth novel, Bonfire of the Vanderbilts.

You’ll find pictures mentioned here on our blog Gerald’s Page at getpublished dot guru. They’re also in the book. I gave the presentation standing in front of the painting.

Now, why am I taking you here? One of our mantras on GetPublished! Radio is that no one is stopping you. I don’t have a degree in art history – I’m just an enthusiastic researcher. But if I had waited for scholars in this field to bless my results or for a mainstream publisher to vet the project – it probably would never have happened. But as it was, I self-published in paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

As you listen, realize that even now the museum doesn’t necessarily agree with all my findings. But they were impressed enough to invite me to speak behind closed doors to this influential group.

 

Check out this episode!

GetPublished! Radio - Episode 1

Our guests in-studio answer questions from Gerald and our listeners:

• William Anthony is a real-world research engineer and author of the Young Adult sci-fi debut I am Fire and Air.
• Gary Young is President of the Publishers Association of Los Angeles, Director of Professional Development for the Independent Writers of Southern California, and Vice-chair for the Alliance for Los Angeles Playwrights. His non-fiction book, co-written with his wife, Kathy, is Loss and Found: Surviving the Loss of a Young Partner. His novel,Glimmer the Bright Moonlight, will be released soon.
• Ruth Frechman is a registered dietitian nutritionist and certified personal trainer with a private practice in Burbank. She is the author of the multi-award winning, best-selling book, The Food Is My Friend Diet.

And you won’t want to miss an insider’s look at the future of the ebook publishing industry by our Featured Guest:

 

Mark Coker, Founder and CEO of Smashwords, Inc.

Check out this episode!

GetPublished! Radio Show Goes Live Today

No April Fool - just fools for love of books and spirited debate. 

Featured Guest - Mark Coker, Founder and CEO of Smashwords


The GetPublished! premiere hour-long episode features three in-studio interviews with authors: William Anthony (I Am Fire and Air, YA sci-fi), Gary Young (Loss and Found: How We Survived the Loss of a Young Spouse), and Ruth Frechman (The Food Is My Friend Diet). Gary is also Director of Professional Development of the Independent Writers of Southern California (IWOSC) and President of the Publishers Association of Los Angeles.

Also on the show - call-ins with questions from listeners and Gerald's monologue on how he published his father's memoir.