The Creative Penn Podcast For Writers

From Story Seeds To Stories, And Writing An Author’s Note, With Joanna Penn

How do you find and notice story ideas, and how do you turn those into short stories, novels, or as anecdotes for your non-fiction or memoir? Why is an author's note so i

Writing And Creativity In Midlife With Jordan Rosenfeld

How can you keep writing when midlife brings grief, exhaustion, rage, and a creativity that seems to have dried up? How can you accelerate if midlife brings you more ener

Time Freedom: Rethink Your Work And Money With Brian Herriot

How can you design your year around seasons of work and rest instead of waiting for financial freedom? And how do you build the money confidence to take extended time off

Reclaiming Your Mind: How To Teach Yourself Anything With J. Daniel Sawyer

How can you teach yourself anything, even when it challenges the way you see the world? And how can you organise what you learn so it turns into books your readers will f

What Machines Can’t Replace: Why AI Makes Us More Human With Anna McPhee

How can you use AI to research, edit and handle admin and marketing tasks while still writing every single word yourself? How can you double down on being human and reach

How To Redesign Your Author Business For The Environment That Actually Exists, With Tracy Cooper-Posey

How can you redesign your author business for the publishing environment that actually exists, rather than the one you wish you had? And how do you decide which marketing

From Page One To Done: Fast Drafting Your Novel With Jessica Brody

How can the Fast Drafting method help you finally finish your novel? And how do you make progress when you only have 30 minutes a day to write? Jessica Brody shares her t

Book Marketing, AI Book Discoverability, And Resilience, With Ricardo Fayet

How can you get your books surfaced when readers ask an AI what to read next? What are the hallmarks of authors and businesses that last more than a decade in the indie a

Going Indie, Publishing Innovation, And The Challenges Of Book Marketing With John Bond

How can you tell where the real innovation in publishing is happening right now, and why is it emerging from the indie side first? How do you market your own book when yo

From Blog To Community To Book: A Non-Fiction Author’s Journey With Suzanne Smith

How can content marketing in a tight niche build the audience that launches your book? And how do you decide whether to hand your self-published bestseller to a tradition

How To Prove The Demand For Your Stories And Get The Attention Of Hollywood With Brooks Elms

How can building an audience in advance help your stories reach the people who make movies? And how can you prove there's demand for your book or screenplay before you've

Organic Writing And The Power Of The Pivot In Fiction With Steven James

How can organic writing and leaning into the pivot help your stories stand out? And how can you pitch a story as a discovery writer if you genuinely don’t know what’s goi

Why The Podcast Is Moving To Wednesdays, And 7 Tips for Sustainable Creativity

After more than a decade of releasing this show on Mondays, I’m moving it to Wednesdays, and this is the first episode of the new time slot.  On the one hand, this might

Bundles, Box Sets and Anthologies With Jamie Ferguson

What's the difference between a bundle, a box set, an anthology, and a collection? How can being part of an anthology be creatively interesting and useful for marketing?

Author Voice Mastery, And Rebooting an Author Business With J. Daniel Sawyer

What happens to your creativity when you’re in pain or sick, and can you ever get it back? How can you find and sharpen your author voice? J. Daniel Sawyer talks about vo

Writing The Hard Stuff: Turning Difficult Subjects Into Meaningful Prose With Nicole Walker

How do you write about the most painful experiences of your life without being overwhelmed by them? How can timed writing and a braided story help you untangle your harde

Creative Satisfaction, In Person Print Book Sales, And Author Mindset With Mark Leslie Lefebvre

What if the real secret to a lasting writing career isn't talent or luck, but learning to thrive in the mess? Why are in-person events worthwhile even if the maths doesn'

Writing Cross-Genre, Selling Direct, And Serialising On SubStack With P.D. Alleva

How can horror writing help readers — and writers — work through psychological trauma? Why does cross-genre fiction take longer to find an audience, but pay off in the lo

Don’t Call It Art: Rediscovering Creative Joy With Austin Kleon

Have you ever lost the joy in your creative work — that sense of fun you had when you were starting out, before the admin and the algorithms drained it away? How do mid-c

Writing Through Grief And Rebooting an Indie Author Business With Jami Albright

How do you write when your heart is broken? How do you go back into the publishing business after years away, knowing it's a very different industry to the one you left?