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New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Joanna Penn is the guest today on The Author Biz.
Joanna Penn
On The Author Biz Podcast, we talk about the business of being an author. So when Joanna Penn, one of my favorite authors, bloggers and podcasters wrote a book called BUSINESS FOR AUTHORS, I was anxious to have her as a guest on the show.
Joanna has been an inspiration to me for the past several years, and speaking with her for this interview, was like attending a clinic on the author business.
If you’re an author, whether self or traditionally published, her book is filled with useful information, covering each of the different functions needed to operate your business.
Of course, Joanna doesn’t just write non-fiction books for authors. She also publishes what she calls Thrillers on the Edge under the name of J.F. Penn, and she’s a popular public speaker.
We spent the first part of the interview discussing the book, and why she wrote it, then we start getting into some of the details. Things like:
- What is the mindset needed for an author to see herself as an employee of her own business?
- How receptive does Joanna think authors are to learning about business?
- What’s the difference between working on your business, and working in your business. How does Joanna keep the roles separate?
- Taking the long view towards building your author platform, with several specific examples of how long it took Joanna to build hers, and what she did to build it.
- How important is long term thinking when setting the expectations for your author business?
- What are the different methods of distributing books overseas? From the easy, to the bleeding edge of difficult.
- How does the Internet help to amplify your voice as an author.
- How the dispute between Amazon and Hachette encouraged Joanna to begin offering books for sale on The Creative Penn website, in addition to the more traditional digital outlets she’s used for years.
- What does Joanna see coming that she thinks authors should consider for their business over the next few years?
- The two different worlds of publishing, and why Joanna has chosen to spend her time in the world that’s happy and thriving.
Interview Links:
Joanna’s primary website – www.thecreativepenn.com
J.F. Penn’s website for Thrillers on the Edge – www.jfpenn.com
The Creative Penn Podcast – via iTunes
Joanna Penn’s Amazon Author Page
J.F. Penn’s Amazon Author Page
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Before getting into the business of writing I spent twenty-five years in the technology business as a financial guy, and then as a serial entrepreneur. I know what it takes to start and run a successful business.
Hi Stephen. I’m a big fan of Joanna and what she is doing. I’m always amazed at how many practical tips for authors she gives away in every podcast. This latest book for authors to turn a passion into more of a business sounds fantastic. I’d recommend this podcast to anyone who is seriously thinking about self publishing their books. I find Joanna’s enthusiasm contagious and she definitely is a crash test dummy for authors. Her arguments for selling her ebooks and bundles direct from her site makes perfect sense as well as via Kobo and Amazon. Increasingly people do want to buy direct from the artist and know more about the author. It’s just like buying your fruit and veggies from the grower rather than at the big grocery store. Keep up the good work and thanks for mentioning Selz. We love making it simple for authors to sell their work. Geoff from Selz.
Hi Geoff – You’re so right about Joanna’s enthusiasm, it is contagious. I really think her new book is an amazing resource for those authors who are serious about their writing business. Joanna’s Selz implementation is seamless and easy to use, so Kudos to you and the Selz team for providing such an easy to use solution.
Listening to the podcast and Geoff’s post reminded me about Selz and I’ve just placed my first book on the site – great to have options to do that! Joanna continues to be a trailblazer and pioneer and helps us to learn what to do next using her example. Her book is great and highly recommended.
H Liz, thanks for taking the time to comment. You’re right, Joanna’s book is great and I really do like the Selz interface. I purchased my copy of Joanna’s book using the purchase option on her site and it was very smooth. I love her willingness to try new things, and selling books directly makes a great deal of sense for authors who are able to sell that way.