A car-cast edition of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick, episode 076 presents another possibly audacious proposal as a... means... to acquire the financial means to have the time and energy to engage in major creative projects in an all-out approach, rather than in bits and pieces as opportunity allows. Also: listener feedback! This episode was recorded on March 20th, 2023. Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode My day job? I'm a creative services provider helping authors, podcasters and other creators. How can I help you? Did you miss last episode's in-depth conversation with author Joyce Reynolds-Ward? Check it out! Obsidian.md is a knowledge management application that works almost any way you want it. I'm investigating it as a possible platform to serve as my perfect / ideal software for creative writing -- a subject I went deep on in this episode of Sonitotum. Creator and developer Chrispian H. Burks offered excellent feedback and perspective on the f

Episode 075 of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick features an interview with author Joyce Reynolds-Ward. Joyce Reynolds-Ward (also find her on Twitter!) creates science fiction and fantasy works featuring themes of high-stakes family and political conflict, digital sentience, personal agency and control, realistic strong women, and (whenever possible) horses, frequently in Pacific Northwest settings. Joyce is a Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off semifinalist, a Writers of the Future semifinalist, and an Anthology Builder finalist. She is the Secretary of the Northwest Independent Writers Association, a fellow member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, and a member of Soroptimists International. Joyce writes in a variety of storyworlds, including The Netwalk Sequence, Goddess's Honor, and The Martiniere books. She also has several stand-alone novels and other works out there in the world. Our conversation covers why and what she writes, her definitio

In episode 074 of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick,  I spell out the most important thing authors must consider when conceiving your social media marketing plan... or even if, indeed, you should have one. My advice might be a relief to you, or it might piss you off... because it's not necessarily what most folks are suggesting. This episode was recorded on March 6th, 2023. Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode My day job? I'm a creative services provider helping authors, podcasters and other creators. How can I help you? You can now name your own price (at least a buck; upper limit determined by your generosity and means) on all of my e-books when you purchase them directly from me. Check out what's available. Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick can now be found on YouTube, if that's your thing when it comes to audio podcasts.  You can find the playlist here, and if you'd like notified whenever there's a new episode cross-posted to YouTube, be sure to subscr

Episode 073 of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick features an interview with author P. A. Cornell -- the first interview since episode 10 in 2018! P.A. Cornell is a Chilean-Canadian writer who penned her first speculative-fiction story as a third-grade assignment (a science-fiction piece about shape-shifting aliens). While her early publications were in non-fiction, she has been steadily selling her short fiction since 2016. An active member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association and 2002 graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop, her stories have appeared in several professional anthologies and genre magazines, including Galaxy’s Edge, Cossmass Infinities, and Compelling Science Fiction, an  anthology from Flame Tree Press. Her debut science fiction novella Lost Cargo was published in 2022 by Mocha Memoirs Press. You can learn more at pacornell.com or find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Our conversation covers P. A.'s early and current infl

What make the perfect software for fiction writers? What features are missing from all the usual suspects? In this park cast episode 072 of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick, I wander around in the sunshine and suggest the specifications for what just might be the perfect software application of writers of all kinds. Listen to see if you agree, and by all means, add your wish list and suggestions in the comments! This episode was recorded on February 20th, 2023. Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode This episode recorded at Central Park in Huntington Beach, California. My day job? I'm a creative services provider helping authors, podcasters and other creators. How can I help you? You can now name your own price (at least a buck; upper limit determined by your generosity and means) on all of my e-books when you purchase them directly from me. Check out what's available. Why'd I move to a "name your own price" model? Listen to Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne S

The 71st episode of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick turns the focus to staying healthy and sane as we build our creative writing life. Listen as I describe my own struggles with comparison, validation, and executing on what I know works. You'll hear plenty you can apply to your own creative practice. This episode was recorded on February 14th, 2023. Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode My day job? I'm a creative services provider helping authors, podcasters and other creators. How can I help you? You can now name your own price (at least a buck, and an upper limit determined by your generosity and means) on all of my e-books when you purchase them directly from me. Check out what's available. Why'd I move to a "name your own price" model? Listen to Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick 070 for the details. No more need to visit that big online retailer to "Look Inside the Book" when it comes to my fiction and nonfiction! Visit any of the dedicated pages f

Episode 070 of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick includes a pretty big announcement: You can now name your own price (minimum $1.00 USD) for all of my e-books when you purchase directly from me. Listen to learn how I did it, what pieces remain to be put in place to make the change as effective as possible, and most importantly, why I've decided to adopt a pay-what-you-want pricing model for my commercially available creative endeavor. This episode was recorded on February 7th, 2023. Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode My day job? I'm a creative services provider helping authors, podcasters and other creators. How can I help you? As mentioned above, you can name your own price (at least a buck, and an upper limit determined by your generosity and means) on all of my e-books when you purchase them from me through this website. Check out what's available. I've been talking about my focus on building a community of readers and writers for some time, now. Did y

In episode 069 of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick: A big announcement about a new feature coming to the podcast, plus a detailed overview of how I go about creating realistic and meaningful fictional characters. Authors and writers will find something of value there (or at least get some validation!) and consumers of fiction will enjoy a behind-the-scenes peek at the creative writing process. This episode was recorded on January 30th, 2023. Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode My day job? I'm a creative services provider helping authors, podcasters and other creators. How can I help you? Since the last episode, Rhiannon Held, Anthony Eichenlaub, Krista Walsh, Jeffery E. Doherty, Celia Lake, and Debra Parmley have joined P. A. Cornell, Joyce Reynolds-Ward and Monica Cross in recording interviews for future episodes of Sonitotum. These were great conversations I can't wait to share with you... meanwhile, check out their works via the links on their names! Are

Episode 068 of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick is a big one, kids! Listen to hear about interviews with authors I've recorded for future episodes, my (unresolved when recorded; resolved by the time you read this) issues with my podcast media files host, and take in my advice (based on recent experiences) on how to maintain perspective when it comes to all the things that might trouble you in your creative writing life. Also! Tons of listener feedback! This episode was recorded on January 21st, 2023. Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode As my cold maintains less and less of a hold over me in the past week, I've had to prioritize my day job as a creative services provider helping authors, podcasters and other creators. While I didn't get anything new done on my free fiction serial Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: "How It All Got Started," you can still get in on what's already done and read over a year and a half's worth of fiction for free! Similarly, sick-bra

In episode 067 of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick, the focus is on finding success. Listen as I fight valiantly through a head cold (and around a slightly illness-addled brain) to share what I've learned about the value (or not) of paying close and constant attention to the sales figures, analytics, and other statistics associated with a creative writing life. How important is obsessing over numbers when it comes to finding success? Listen to find out! This episode was recorded on January 14th, 2023. Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode I'm going to chalk it up to cold medicine's undeniable effect: I neglected to thank my member community in the episode. I'm a doofus. With a runny nose. SO: Big thanks to my Multiversalists patron community, including Amelia Bowen, Ted Leonhardt, Chuck Anderson, and J. C. Hutchins! Join them for five dollars a month for lots of exclusive content and access! One of the reasons I got sick is because I was working waaaaay too ha

Welcome up, listeners! In this 66th episode of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick, I discuss the potential impact of artificial intelligence on creative endeavors. In particular, we look at ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion, especially as the former applies to and affects creative writers. Should writers fear artificial intelligence? Listen to find out! This episode was recorded on January 7th, 2023. Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode Words were added to my patron-exclusive wiki and to my work in progress novel, Shadow of the Outsider, the follow-up to Light of the Outsider and "The Perfumed Air at Kwaanantag Bay." In talking about the "big picture" article I wrote for the wiki, I mention early influences Michael Moorcock, Stephen King, Marvel Comics, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert Heinlein, H. P. Lovecraft, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Julian May. Big thanks to my Multiversalists patron community, including Amelia Bowen, Ted Leonhardt, Chuck Anderson, and J. C. Hutchin

Happy new year, Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick listener community! In this 65th episode, I have a few announcements regarding what you can expect in 2023 from this podcast about making stuff (mostly writing), finding success as we each define it for  ourselves, and staying healthy and sane in the process. This episode was recorded on December 30th, 2022. Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode The end of 2022 was (happily) crowded with wrapping up various projects for writer and podcasting clients of my creative services business. Perhaps I can help you in 2023! I offer a free ongoing fiction serial set in my Sovereign Era storyworld (Brave Men Run, Pilgrimage, The World Revolves Around You and other works). I added one more installment before 2022 came to a close. You can subscribe for free to Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: "How It All Got Started" and receive new installments every week, delivered directly to your inbox! Get in on a year and a half (and counting)

A quick episode to close out 2022 with some thoughts and thanks. The next episode of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick will be on January 3, 2023! Also: Announcing a sale on my e-book through the end of the year: All of my short stories are FREE and all my other novels, novelettes, collections, and non-fiction works are 50% off!  Only at Smashwords.com, and ONLY until the end of 2022. Go get some stuff to read! Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode Thanks to my podcast listeners in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, and Russia! You folks are awesome. I'll see you next year. The patron community receives the uncut, unedited version of every episode. For this episode, they're privy to almost twenty four minutes of more content! Want in on that? Become a patron for at least $5.00 per month (cancel any time) and get a bunch of other perks and special access, too. Around thirty people listen to each new episode of this show during the

It's time for episode 063 of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick, in which I explore the fact that great artistic expression is not necessary for commercial / financial success in self publishing. What does that mean for those of us who want our fiction to add meaningfully to the culture? Would it be better to write fast, simplistic, books to have a better chance at subsidizing high art? What the heck is high art, anyway, and who am I to decide..? Also, an update on my creative endeavors, including new manuscript words and a new market for all of my published works. Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode Scenes are being written and a schedule is shaping up for my work in progress Shadow of the Outsider, the follow-up to my novel Light of the Outsider and the novelette "The Perfumed Air at Kwaanantag Bay." Hey, would you like a whole episode on the subject of story architecture, with an emphasis on the structure, terms, strategies, and tactics I employ writing fictio

Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick episode 062 revisits my infrequent rant against genres and nested categories, especially on Amazon.com -- but this time, I present a way to fix it -- a way that improves discovery of authors and brings readers more of what they'll love. Also, an update on my creative endeavors, observing eleven years since I had a regular full-time job for someone else, and new patron-only additions to my website! Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: "How It All Got Started" is my fiction serial set in the 1980s and delivered weekly, for free, to subscribers. Get in on it and start at the beginning! Or, read every installment to date when you join the member community! My wiki is the storehouse of all my notes and "behind the curtain" information regarding my fiction, non-fiction, worldbuilding, songs, poetry... all of it, and I'm adding to it all the time. Access is another perk of community membership! Speaking o

In this episode of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick, I break down all the details of the newly revised, revamped, simplified, and improved member community supporting authors and other creators who are fans of the podcast and my creative endeavors. Listen to learn all about it, and how you can become a Multiversalist, too! Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode Nearly everything I talk about in this episode is spelled out on the Member Community page. Click to get the whole story! I also mention the day job, which is helping authors, podcasters, and other creators bring their creative endeavors to fruition, to market, and to an audience. Can I help you? Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: "How It All Got Started" is my fiction serial set in the 1980s and delivered weekly, for free, to subscribers. Get in on it and start at the beginning! Or, read every installment to date when you join the member community! Speaking of: the patron community receives the uncut, unedite

This episode of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick is chock full of recommendations straight from my writer's toolkit: the software and services I use day in / day out in my creative endeavors and in my work helping other creative writers. Also in the episode: more hints at what's to come for my patron member community, and a bit more on the situational depression that still lingers since the previous episode. Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode Dynalist is my offboard brain, as well as my to-do list keeper and an excellent outliner. Simplicity makes it as complex as you want it to be. First on the list because it's my most valued tool. Notepad++ is a plain text editor on steroids... it's really "double plus good." Scrivener is accepted as the standard writer's outliner, word processor, asset organizer, and formatter... but its "everything and the kitchen sink" nature is exactly why I use it -- and recommend it -- only grudgingly. A free, much lighter, and mor

Your host comes from a week with the case of the Blahs in episode 059 of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick. Sometimes, it goes down like that. Not every week is a good one; not every week is productive. We roll with it; we look ahead. Also in the episode: musing about ways to craft a patron member community that emphasizes value for everyone. Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon, provides his definition of depression. I mention the day job, which is helping authors, podcasters, and other creators bring their creative endeavors to fruition, to market, and to an audience. Can I help you? Work continues, piecemeal, on Shadow of the Outsider, the follow up to my previous novel Light of the Outsider and the novelette "The Perfumed Air at Kwaanantag Bay." Huzzah! My latest non-fiction book is Indie Author Marketing Infrastructure, a distillation of some of what I teach when I coach new writers considering self-publishin

Episode 058 of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick examines how and why you should design a creative franchise around your fiction. There's some discussion / opining online regarding the Disney+ show Andor... specifically, complaints that, while it's excellent TV, it's "not Star Wars." I'm here to tell you why that's a narrow-minded perspective to adopt, especially for creators... and how you can, and should, emulate the same approach as huge media properties with your own fiction, no matter where you are in your creative career. Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode There are new words written on Shadow of the Outsider, the follow up to my previous novel Light of the Outsider and the novelette "The Perfumed Air at Kwaanantag Bay." Huzzah! I mention the storyworlds I work in that are specifically designed from the ground up to be creative franchises: The Shaper's World, the Sovereign Era, Daikaiju Universe, and the Protector Cycle. Check out what I've released so

In this, episode 057 of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick, I revisit my so-called Big Plan from two years past, and discuss why it didn't work... and what does. This episode is expanded upon in a companion Scribtotum article. Read it to get the whole story! Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode There are new words written on Shadow of the Outsider, the follow up to my previous novel Light of the Outsider and the novelette "The Perfumed Air at Kwaanantag Bay." Huzzah! The companion article to this episode is linked above. History / full context buffs can also read the original article about the Big Plan, and listen to its companion podcast episode. I mention the storyworlds in which I have future stories to write: The Shaper's World, the Sovereign Era, Daikaiju Universe, and the Protector Cycle. Check out what I've released so far. My latest non-fiction book is Indie Author Marketing Infrastructure, a distillation of some of what I teach when I coach new writ