Writers of the Future Podcast

I met up with Jim Butcher at the Superstars Writing Conference in Colorado Springs. He is the creator of The Dresden Files, the Codex Alera, and a new series, the Cinder Spires. We talk about his journey to becoming a bestselling author and any backstories of the characters in his Dresden series. Much more insight into why he is the incredible author that he is.

Deon McAdoo, Key Accounts Sales Manager for Ingram Spark. IngramSpark is an online self-publishing company that allows you to print, globally distribute, and manage your print and ebooks. I knew very little about Ingram Spark before this interview but rapidly learned what an amazing tool this is for authors wanting to get their books published and distributed--EVEN IN BOOKSTORES!

Joni Labaqui has been the Contest Director since 1995. In this episode, we discuss both Contests, starting with what it was like in 1995 and how it has grown. We also discussed each of the Coordinating judges for both Contests.

I met Rebecca Hardy, pen name for Rebecca Hardy, after she wrote a blog post on the cameras of Battlefield Earth. She was subsequently a guest just over a year ago with her debut novel, “House of Lost Wives.” She is a writer, photographer, and artist working in London while residing in West Sussex, England. She has just come out with her second novel, “The Merchant’s Daughter,” again written in first person. As I am routinely cautioned about writing in the first person, I wanted to revisit the subject with someone who successfully uses first-person narrative. www.rebeccadanese.com/rebecca_hardy_author.php

Jo Henry is the managing director of Bookbrunch, a daily news service and information site for the book industry. She has worked in the book industry for over 40 years, starting at the literary agency A.M Heath; she has worn probably every possible hat in the publishing industry. She joined BookBrunch in 2018. Jo was co-founder of the Book Marketing Society and a former chair of both the Book Society and the Book Trade Charity.

Judith Anderle, who, along with her husband, Michael, has built an indie publishing empire and created the 20BooksTo50K annual conference. In this interview, we discuss publishing, AI, and copyright law as it currently stands in January 2024.

Alex Shvartsman is from Ukraine and came to the US as the USSR was collapsing and now lives in New York. With English as his third language, he read voraciously and began writing in his thirties. He sold 100 short stories before venturing into novels. He loves to write. He also holds the distinction of having been #3 in the world in Magic the Gathering. He was originally published in Galaxy's Edge magazine as published by Mike Resnick (WOTF judge). We discuss how he writes snarky (satire, humor) fantasy and sci fi. Visit Alex at alexshvartsman.com and receive the free ebook "Explaining Cthulu to Grandma."

The first half of this interview is with José Sánchez & Chris Arias at the Writers of the Future Awards week. The second half is with Chris, who has had a whirlwind of excitement and recognition after he returned to Costa Rica.

Barbara Lund was the Writers of the Future Golden Pen Award-winning author for Volume 37 and writes sci-fi and fantasy. But I really enjoyed her sci-fi detective procedural "Platform 8." She has a full-time job, is a mom, and gives her formula for being able to write and publish as well—working out priorities. Learn more at barbaralund.com/new-page

Michael Johnson has many years of experience in publishing, technology, and educational distribution. He is currently Vice President of Content at Benetech, a global company that creates software for social good in the areas of education, employment, and social inclusion. In other words, Michael assists in making your stories and art accessible to anyone, regardless of their circumstances. Michael has been involved with many publishing evolutions that were feared to be the end of publishing, such as eBooks, only to find publishing emerging all the stronger. As long as there are humans reading stories, there will be publishing. We cover accessibility in publishing and define the term and its importance in the coming years. We also discuss AI in book publishing - plagiarism.