In this episode, Paul and JF make good on their promise to talk about other books in the current Nerdist Collection Contest and through their initial glance at the competition get really excited about all the promising novels on offer. The guys talk about Peter Ryan's Destiny Imperfect and the awesomely named Andrew Fantasia's novel; Side Scroller. Why don't you go pre-order a copy of each? They also offer themselves up as sacrifice to be the first to discuss their stories in the Too Many Controllers anthology.
Episode 22 - Try to stay positive /
Paul tells us about his con experience; the good, the bad and the weird. JF tries to touch on the sensitive subject of pulling a project off of Inkshares and the reasons that might spawn such a decision and finally, the boys break all the rules for the current Nerdist Collection contest. The next few weeks are going to be interesting so let's hope we can get our recording schedule squared off.
Episode 21 - Ageless is released /
Holy cow guys! Paul's book Ageless is officially out and if you don't have it; what's wrong with you? The guys are back and they're talking book releases again and preparing for future campaigns. They also discuss Inkshares being at the Book Expo America and what it might mean for readers and writers in the coming months.
Episode 20 - Of releases and funding /
In this comparatively short episode, Paul and JF talk about the impending release of Ageless and how it feels to see your book show up in people's hands while celebrating the funding of A God in the Shed. What do these two things have to do in common? Community and the role it plays in getting your book out there.
What about book reviews? We didn't have time! However, here are a couple of books nearing their funding deadline that you should absolutely check out before you miss your chance:
Episode 19 - Contests! /
This week, they guys are alone again and talk at length about ending campaigns, contests and ways to promote books both inside and out of a crowdfunding effort. Also, JF is losing his mind over the end of his campaign for A God in the Shed. Consider pre-ordering.
Oh! And Paul's book, Ageless is out in digital format. Get your goddamn copy today!
Episode 18 - Asteroid Made of Dragons /
In this episode, Paul and JF talk to their honoured guest; G. Derek Adams about his upcoming book, Asteroid Made of Dragons. The guys ask Derek the usual battery of interview questions with a few curveballs to keep thing interesting.
Asteroid Made of Dragons is officially released on April 5th and WriteBrain thinks you should get a copy. It's a great book. In fact, JF already gives it his seal of approval... for what that's worth.
Episode 17 - An Unattractive Vampire /
On this episode Paul and JF have a special guest: Jim McDoniel, author of the just released An Unattractive Vampire, second book released as part of the Sword & Laser Collection on Inkshares. The guys discuss Vampires, launching a book and to everyone's relief, JF's mic dies midway through the show. Everyone lived happily ever after. (Seriously, sorry for the bad audio. It is JF's fault)
Check out our book picks for this episode and pick up a copy of An Unattractive Vampire immediately! Read it as fast as possible and then go review it. Go! Go! Go!
Episode 16 - It's all about JF /
JF is back from his cruise and from his book launch. That's right; The Life Engineered is out in the wild and the guys talk about the lead-up to the launch along with the release itself. We apologize for the lack of episodes and the wonky schedule recently but as we learned, launching a book is a lot of work and will disrupt a normal human being's schedule. JF in particular has been busy being on a list of other podcasts, all of which are worth your ears.
Episode 15.1 - Dave's not here man /
No show this week guys. J-F is off on a family vacation and didn't prepare a show in advance. This gives Paul a chance to catch up on stuff. Y'know... stuff.
Episode 15 - Drunk /
In this episode, Paul gets an earful of the mistakes that JF has made on his trip to San Francisco. The boys discuss two books on Inkshares: Single Version by Scott T. Barsotti (JF apologizes for ranting about your video Scott. He just wants what's best for you) and Lies and Deception by André Brun. Both are great looking books and deserve your support right... now.
If they guys sound a bit drunk by the end it's because they're out of practice, not because either was inebriated. So they claim.
Episode 14 - The Mothership /
Where the magic happens...
On a very special episode of WriteBrain (one that Paul had a hell of a time editing), J-F visits the Mothership. A.K.A.: The Inkshares offices in San Francisco. Instead of the standard format, listen to the guys do their usual banter with occasional interruptions from the Inkshares people as we learn more about the awesome people who make this amazing company work.
J-F invested in a trip to San Francisco, just before the SuperBowl so he could have the privilege of signing copies of The Life Engineered for his backers. One thing he learned dear friends; signing takes a lot more time to do than you'd think (think 100 copies/hour) and he spent too many hours goofing off and eavesdropping on Jeremy, Avalon, Matt and the rest.
Behold: the whiteboard of awesome!
Learn with us how the proverbial sausage is made. It's a fascinating story for readers and writers alike.
J-F:
On a personal note, I really want to thank the Inkshares crew for being so hospitable and allowing me the leeway to finish signing and numbering all the books for backers. It's quite a thrill to see the boxes of books and feel the electricity in the air as these guys do their job.
I was fortunate enough to be there when Dracula vs. Hitler hit its funding goal and witness the liquid excitement that flooded the office. If there ever was a doubt that Inkshares loves books and loves the books they work on, it is completely dissipated now.
So cool to be surrounded by these boxes.
Such an amazing feeling...
Again, thank you so much Inkshares for everything you did to make The Life Engineered a reality. However, as I've learned during my visit: We're barely getting started.
JF
They made me part of the team for the day and let me sit at the adult table!
My signature and handwriting did not remain very consistent I'm afraid.
Episode 13 - Therapy for JF /
Paul quizzes JF about his non-writing hobbies and the guys work through one of the biggest issue JF is having with his upcoming release. Catharsis is reached... until the next crisis.
Episode 12 - John Robin /
In this one, Paul and JF interview John Robin, author of the upcoming Inkshares novel Blood Dawn, moderator of the Inkshares Writer's forum on Goodreads, hyper-active member of the Inkshares community and all around awesome guy. Come listen and discover the myriad ways John has helped build the writers community on Inkshares and help other writers towards their goal.
It's the first time there's a third chair on the podcast... and it shows.
Episode 11 - Launch Parties /
JF broke his promise of a new marketing initiative, but he has a good excuse; he needs to start thinking about the launch for The Life Engineered. The guys discuss launch parties. You can find the awesome article they refer to, by the amazing Marie Bilodeau, here. JF also reveals something of his mysterious past during his review of How to Get Run Over by a Truck while Paul goes deep about his love of tacos in his review of Tacocity: Los Angeles Through the Eyes of a Tacophile.
Episode 10 - Marketing is hard /
Paul and JF talk about how difficult it is to expand beyond people you know when campaigning for a book even though it's an important step in the process. They also discuss two science fiction books currently funding on Inkshares. Check them out below!
Episode 9 - Goodbye single digits! /
JF and Paul say goodbye to 2016! Kidding! We didn't even realize this was the last episode of the year. They talk about the psychological no-man's land that sits between final approvals and a book's release as well as some of the coolest things going on and review a couple of books that you should look at pre-ordering.
Since we don't mention it in the episode: Happy New Years everyone! Thanks for all your support.
Episode 8 - Review-a-thon! /
No episode this week. Instead, we have something special: the audio from the Google Hangout we did for the Inkshares Review-a-thon.
Join Paul and JF as they interview Inkshares authors, do an audio play based on Dax Harrison (recently funded book on Inkshares), chat with Gary Whitta and read some reviews left for books during the Review-a-thon.
Buckle in, it's a long one.
- Tony Valdez - Dax Harrison
- Cara Weston - She is the End
- Gary Whitta - Abomination
- Jim McDoniel - An Unattractive Vampire
- John Robin - Blood Dawn
- Richard Heinz - The Seventh Age: Dawn
- Amanda Ornek - Deus Hex Machina
Episode 7 - Your Design Brief /
Paul and J-F discuss filling out the Design Brief, the second document you'll receive if you publish with Inkshares. They also talk about Artie Sievers' book Captain and B. Riggs' book Terminal Magic. Both look like promising reads and are still funding. Why don't you do yourself a favour and pre-order a copy of each. Finally, the media noise for the Sword & Laser Collection contest: the Sequel along with J-F's book, The Life Engineered are ramping up. The former is mentioned in an article in Examiner.com and the later is mentioned (along with the Sword & Laser Collection) on io9.com!
Episode 6 - Inkshares Contests /
Paul and J-F talk about Inkshares marketing, Dax Harrison, by Tony Valdez, Rise, by Brian Guthrie and give a few tips on how to prepare, survive and hopefully win a crowdfunding contest on Inkshares.
Why that last subject? Because Inkshares is working with Sword & Laser on a second contest for their Collection. Only three books will get automatically published with this contest and one will make it into the Collection. J-F thinks that with the lower goal of 750 books to reach the goal, there's no reason the top three wouldn't get their funding regardless... if not more.
Episode 5 - Marketing Questionnaire /
Where Paul and J-F discuss Melissa Berg's - Prophecy of the Stars and G. Derek Adams' - Asteroid Made of Dragons. They also discuss in depth the Marketing Questionnaire that they received when their books got accepted on Inkshares and what to be prepared to answer if you want to get published.