Celebration time! In this week's very special episode, we're celebrating Phill's transition from corporate jerk to full-time author, and getting into the nitty gritty on how Phill and J.H. have slowly grinded this pipe dream into a reality. It's episode 42, and it's about life, the universe, and everything.

Literary agent Stacey Kondla joins the pod this week to talk about agenting, concerts, and parrots. On a related note, Phill might be part parrot. Stacey provides some great advice for anyone out there in the querying trenches. News: The Never-Ending Story will never endLibrary fines paid in cat picsReading the newspaper is cool again? The U.K. publishing sector Tools: The value of a robot voice reading your stories to you Creatives on F.I.R.E.: Do's and dont's of queryingWhat Phill has learned transitioning to a full time author

Author Paula Lafferty joins the podcast this week and shares her success with finding an audience on TikTok and running an exceptional Kickstarter for her debut novel, La Vie de Guinevere. And Phill has an exciting annoucement! Paula's TikTok La Vie de Guinevere Kickstarter News: Writer Beware warns about impersonation scamsBook clubsTikTok and the fedSpotify adding Countdown pages to audiobooks AI News: The Publishers Association pens a letter to the robot overlords Writing Tools: TikTok & Instagram - Building an audienceKickstarter - Running a big ole campaign Creatives on F.I.R.E.: Putting our money where are mouths are

The book writing, podcasting, movie making, beefy moo man Nic Lishko joins the pod this week! Nic is the author of the Young Adult Fantasy series - John Little. He also a co-created of the award winning web series Long Walks on the Beach. And he hosts a podcast called Cinema Gush. News: Brandon Sanderson VS AudibleDead Folk's Books The Zon vs Bookwire A.I. News: More lawsuits! Writing Tools: Dictation Creatives on F.I.R.E.: Querying AgentsDo your taxes

Musician, author, podcasters, and all around amazing artist Olivia Harding joins the show this week! You may know Olivia as Liv the Druid from the band, Music the Gathering, but she is also the host of the podcast Folk Files, where she dives into the history of famous folk songs. She is also a member of the band Gumshoe Noir, and recently took pen to paper to write a novel to their tunes. Music the Gathering Folk Files Gumshoe Noir News: Kindle Vella changesBooks-A-Million rolls out same day deliveryPenguins unite!According to Webster... Tools: Vellum & Atticus & the joys of formatting Creatives on F.I.R.E.: Cross brandingDebt

R.L. King joins the pod this week to tell us about her Alastair Stone Chronicles. She also shares a wealth of knowledge about her process and why her nickname is rat. News: World Con is going to L.A. Blocking pirate ships reduces pirates. Neat. McAnime NuggetsEC Comics Tools: PlottrBookBrush Creativies on F.I.R.E.: Going wide vs going ZonThe dangers of life-style inflation

"You can always sell a good book." - Craig Martelle. Craig Martelle joins the show this week to tell us what he's been working on and to drop some knowledge bombs. Whether you're pursuing the indie or trad path, you won't want to miss what Craig has to say.

Phill & J.H. recap their time at Superstars. Spoiler alert: It was awesome. News: World Con Awards Drama UpdateWorld Con Bids Cormac McCarthy Valentine's CandyOrbit Works A.I. News: King Charles A.I. booksThe suit against the robot overlords is not going well for team Authors Tools: Book Funnel Creatives on F.I.R.E.: Submitting to publishersReducing expenses & value-based spending

News: Don't Do Creepy StuffSimon & Schuster 100 yearsSpotify Audiobooks blowing up!Storyfair Partnering with Blackstone Tools: Health Creatives on F.I.R.E.: Savings RateRealistic Expectations

Author, poet, and actor, Chris M. Arnone joins the pod this week to celebrate the release of the latest book in Cyberpunk series, Necopolis Alpha. News: What up with all the World Con Hugo Drama? Penguin Random House to sell and distribute Wattpad WEBTOONLibro.fm & best selling authors donate profits to support independent booksellersPublishers fire metaphorical cannons at piratesNew scam! Yay! Writing Tools: Chris shares his love of whiteboards and laser printers Creatives on F.I.R.E.: The least you need to know about traditional publishingRecap of the Trinity Study and a personal example from Phill on how it might not be as daunting as it seems

Author, poet, and spooky stuff podcaster Becca Harris joined the pod this week to talk all things writing! And to help J.H. pick on Phill. News: SFWA has announced dates for the NebulasHoliday book sales soarThe Los Angeles Public Library becomes a publisherBlackstone Unlimited AI News: Fairly TrainedInsightBook Mimics Tools: Scrivener - but this time we air our dirty laundry Creatives on F.I.R.E.: The Trinity StudyThe indie path - the least you need to know

Award winning author and writing coach Sherry Peters joined us this week to fire off the first pod of the year! She tells us all about her Mabel the Lovelorn Dwarf series, winning a Writers Digest award, what it was like living in Northern Ireland, what being a writing coach is all about, and more! News: Tor.com is changing its name to ReactorBarnes & Noble to open more stores!Library Audiobook lends up 23% last year!January 1st was Public Domain dayWhat can authors learn from Wattpad's reader research? A.I. News: An A.I. novel won 2nd place in a competition in ChinaThe New York Times has raised a suit agains OpenAI & Microsoft Writer Tools: ReMarkable Creatives on Fire: A 2nd path to achieving my dreamsThe 2 paths - Trad or Indie

Pod favorite authors Julie Jones & Shayne Easson return this week for a deep conversation about setting goals, achieving goals, failing goals, and getting real with ourselves. And from the Future Best Seller crew to you, we wish everyone Happy Holidays and the best of luck in the new year! News: Review Bomb FailPenguin Random House Acquires Hay House

Nebula winning author William Ledbetter joins us this week to celebrate the release of his latest novel, Level Seven in his Killday series. But that's not all he's celebrating. Bill also joins us to celebrate retiring early to write full-time! A big congratulations to Bill from the Future Best Seller crew! News: How many people read books on their smart phones? Oddest book title of the year? Barnes & Nobles sunsets Nook Reading app for WindowsBookwire's audiobook service, WAY, or We Audiobook You, goes to English, Brazilian, & Spanish MarketsAmazon sunsets Comixology app AI News: The Authors Guild's survey on generative A.I. **LINK**How to identify A.I. books on Amazon Kindle UnlimitedThe Association of American Authors submitted a 2nd round of comments to the U.S. Copyright office regarding A.I. Tools: Portable Monitors >> Link to the portable monitor Phill has and mentioned on the episode Creatives on F.I.R.E.: We celebrate Bill's retirement from the day job!Bill gives us a bit of his villain origin story and some advice about not giving up

He's the nicest person we know! Shayne Easson joined the pod this week to share some wisdom and hard lessons learned with his first novel. News: Writer Beware has some new solicitors they want us to beware of. See what we did there? A Christmas tree made out of... Books?Another Witcher book! AI News: Sports Illustrated and our robot overlords Tools: Critique Groups. - Shayne shares the value he's found in his group and how they've all grown as authorsAtlantis - Shayne shares how he uses a different word processor for editing Creatives on F.I.R.E.: Shayne tells us about owning his own business and how the lessons learned there translate to his author business

Author Louisa Morgan joins us this week to talk about all things writing, as well as her career as an opera singer, telling ghost stories on TikTok, and of course, her latest novel - The Ghosts of Beatrice Bird. News: Kobo turned in the their Book Report. Spoiler alert - Canadians read a lot Airport Libraries?Amazon Author Pages get their groove backDraft2Digital celebrates releasing 1 Milly books AI News: Amazon using AI to spot fake reviewsSpotify to utlize Google's AI to make recommendations Tools: Keeping it simpleWriting Sprints

Updates on NaNoWriMo and our thoughts on series fatigue. News: Spotify launches 'free' audiobooks for Premium subscribersAmazon KDP puts out an update on the recent category changesThe book club that spent 28 years reading one titleLike Smokey the Bear said, only you can prevent review bombing! Tools: Dictation. Shuddup and listen, and then... Don't shuddup. Creatives on F.I.R.E.: Buckets for bucketing and some thoughts on checking & savings accounts

NaNoWriMo makes Phill a NaNoWhiNo. Never call real-life Axel in a crisis. News: Gen Z & Millenials & Libraries A friendly holiday reminder from the ZonThe Zon goes after scammersSimon & Schuster is single AI News: SFWA sends a letter to the U.S. Copyright OfficeA message for the Prime MinisterThe Zon does a beta for A.I. audiobook narration Tools: The majestical Con Box & Book Box Creatives on F.I.R.E. NaNoWriMo - What are you trying to achieve? Annual enrollment & insurance things Phill plays with a YoYo ***No YoYo's were harmed in the making of this episode

Phillip and J.H. recap their time at the World Fantasy Convention and interview a gaggle of incredible guests including: Author Usman T. MalikAuthor & Podcaster Rebecca HarrisAuthor & TikToker Paula LaffertyAuthor Susan ForestAuthor Shayne Eason

Phillip and J.H. recap their time at the World Fantasy Convention and interview a gaggle of incredible guests including: Author William ChamberlainAuthor Tracy S. MorrisAuthor & Writing Coach Sherry PetersAuthor Erin S. BalesAuthor & Publisher Joshua B. PalmatierAuthor Evan Braun