Holistic Author Show

You’re thinking about publishing a book, or perhaps starting a subscription story, or maybe a newsletter, or some new social media. But when do you use existing publishers, software platforms and packages, and when do you decide to do it yourself (self-publishing, open source software, etc.)? This is a pretty broad question, but one that’s vital to the publishing world today. You have so many options? Which do you choose? Well, I can’t answer those questions for you, but what I can do is talk you through why you want to think about this and give you some things to consider. And if you still have questions? Reach out! As an author technologist, this is what I love to do. If you would like author mentoring and coaching, please visit AuthorYogi.com. To see all the shows on the MuseCharmer Network, please Visit our Website Follow us on: Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Twitch Support us: Ko-Fi | LiberaPay | Patreon

You’ve heard me talk about the creative nervous system, but what is it exactly? And how can you figure out your creative nervous system type? In this episode I discuss the three parts to the creative nervous system, where they come from, how they work together, and why it’s vital for an author to know, and be able to identify, each of them and how they’re impacting their writing life. If you would like author mentoring and coaching, please visit AuthorYogi.com. To see all the shows on the MuseCharmer Network, please Visit our Website Follow us on: Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Twitch Support us: Ko-Fi | LiberaPay | Patreon

Genre seems ubiquitous. You walk into a bookstore and once you get past the tables at the front of the store, the rest of it is shelved neatly by genre. But have you ever thought about why stores do this or why you talk about the genre in which you write? Does genre matter? And is it okay to mix and mingle genres like making your own watercolor paints? Can genre actually be a limiting factor in your writing? I ponder these questions on today’s show. If you would like author mentoring and coaching, please visit AuthorYogi.com. To see all the shows on the MuseCharmer Network, please Visit our Website Follow us on: Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Twitch Support us: Ko-Fi | LiberaPay | Patreon

Just think positive. That’s what’s supposed to fix all our ills, and I won’t deny that being able to see all the sides of a situation, not just the negative can help. But there’s a lot that goes into our mindset, the way we think, and ‘just thinking positive’ doesn’t work for everyone for a very simple reason–our brains aren’t all working the same. In this episode I will talk about mindset, why it can be lying to yourself, and how to understand working with it without resorting to toxic positivity or blocking emotions. If you would like author mentoring and coaching, please visit AuthorYogi.com. To see all the shows on the MuseCharmer Network, please Visit our Website Follow us on: Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Twitch Support us: Ko-Fi | LiberaPay | Patreon

Mindset is one of those things that people talk a lot about, but they don’t give a lot of specifics on. You have a lot to handle when you’re an independent author. When do you actually work on your mindset and is it something you need to focus on all the time? More importantly, what is your mindset in general terms, not those couched in pop psychology and internet memes. In this episode, I talk about mindset and how it applies to your author business. This is the first of several podcast episodes talking about this topic, so stay tuned. If you would like author mentoring and coaching, please visit AuthorYogi.com. To see all the shows on the MuseCharmer Network, please Visit our Website Follow us on: Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Twitch Support us: Ko-Fi | LiberaPay | Patreon

Authors have a lot of choices out there for the software they use for their author business. Newsletter providers, website frameworks, even word processing and operating systems. What are the downsides to open source software and how can a non-technical author take advantage of the benefits? Learn that and more in this episode. If you would like author mentoring and coaching, please visit AuthorYogi.com. To see all the shows on the MuseCharmer Network, please Visit our Website Follow us on: Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Twitch Support us: Ko-Fi | LiberaPay | Patreon

In this episode I detail the issues that have affected Patreon since roughly Sept 2022 and how these can cause authors to lose income or depending on what they write, affect their ability to be on the platform at all. Additionally, I mention a few alternatives. Links mentioned in the show: Epona Author Solutions’ Patreon Kit’s Membership Group If you would like author mentoring and coaching, please visit AuthorYogi.com. To see all the shows on the MuseCharmer Network, please Visit our Website Follow us on: Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Twitch Support us: Ko-Fi | LiberaPay | Patreon

ick up and put the pieces back together after serious burnout. How do you decide which projects to pick up and which to discard? I also talk about the most important consideration for deciding how to move forward. Join me for both parts of this series, and if you like what I’m talking about here, please visit Chicken Yogi where I talk specifically to neurodivergent individuals. If you would like author mentoring and coaching, please visit AuthorYogi.com. To see all the shows on the MuseCharmer Network, please Visit our Website Follow us on: Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Twitch Support us: Ko-Fi | LiberaPay | Patreon

In the first of this two part series, I talk about burnout as it is commonly discussed and why for neurodivergent authors our burnout can be something more. We often don’t realize we’re in burnout or understand what burnout is or how it works. I push back against the “cure narrative”, especially for neurodivergent individuals, and talk about how I, as an author, use my annual word count to really tell me when I’m in burnout. Join me for both parts of this series, and if you like what I’m talking about here, please visit Chicken Yogi where I talk specifically to neurodivergent individuals. If you would like author mentoring and coaching, please visit AuthorYogi.com. To see all the shows on the MuseCharmer Network, please Visit our Website Follow us on: Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Twitch Support us: Ko-Fi | LiberaPay | Patreon

In this episode I finally give in and tell you what I really think about marketing. As a neurodivergent person, marketing can be incredibly difficult, and I’m not alone on this. It’s something I hear from other neurodivergent people too. But marketing isn’t just tough for neurodivergent folk, it’s tough for all of us, and it’s getting more difficult too. I wouldn’t exactly call this a rant, but I also don’t hold back when I talk about marketing. Are you ready? Go listen. If you would like author mentoring and coaching, please visit AuthorYogi.com. To see all the shows on the MuseCharmer Network, please Visit our Website Follow us on: Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Twitch Support us: Ko-Fi | LiberaPay | Patreon

or fantasy and science fiction, especially, the setting can be a major component of the story. But do you world build just enough for the story you’re writing or do you build a bigger world? I talk about my Musimagium world, which for me stretches back into history and forward into the future (and I’ve written some of those stories), but also stretches beyond the confines of the story. While building my world is a bit of a special interest of mine, and I find the more I write the larger this universe becomes. But also, as an author, I think when you create a vast world, it gives you more to work with and the readers can tell, too. Enjoy this episode where I talk about one of my favorite topics–world building. If you would like author mentoring and coaching, please visit AuthorYogi.com. To see all the shows on the MuseCharmer Network, please Visit our Website Follow us on: Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Twitch Support us: Ko-Fi | LiberaPay | Patreon

I’ve been completely self-published, all indie all the time, since probably about 2006-2007. I mean sure, I published through my own publication company (And we published as many as 75 authors over the company’s lifespan.), but I still consider that self-publishing since I did all the work. Recently, I’ve thought about submitting stories again and have had several very interesting calls for submission coming across my feed. While (spoiler alert), the story I talked about writing for a class and submitting did eventually get a rejection notice, I’m finding this writing for submission calls an interesting and fascinating exercise that’s helping to spark my muse. If you would like author mentoring and coaching, please visit AuthorYogi.com. To see all the shows on the MuseCharmer Network, please Visit our Website Follow us on: Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Twitch Support us: Ko-Fi | LiberaPay | Patreon

As writers we spent a lot of time at our desks and ergonomics matter. Visit the show notes to see the link to your workstation assessment, as well as see how I finished out my desk. Now, if I could just stop leaning forward to read long articles. If you would like author mentoring and coaching, please visit AuthorYogi.com. To see all the shows on the MuseCharmer Network, please Visit our Website Follow us on: Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Twitch Support us: Ko-Fi | LiberaPay | Patreon

In this episode I’m going to get a little esoteric, and maybe a little spiritual, and talk about “numinous writing”. Otto coined the term numinous to refer to something sacred with otherworldly qualities, and I’m a firm believer that an author’s act of creating stories out of their minds, hearts, and if so you choose to believe, souls, counts as an experience with a numinous quality. So don’t worry, I’m not going to get organized religious on you, but instead, I want to talk about how this sacred quality to our writing, and treating it as something more than a “job” or a way to make money, but instead like a vocation or a calling, can help us to remain balanced and yes, holistic, in our approach to being authors. I hope you enjoy this sidequest to our podcast. If you would like author mentoring and coaching, please visit AuthorYogi.com. To see all the shows on the MuseCharmer Network, please Visit our Website Follow us on: Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Twitch Support us: Ko-Fi | LiberaPay | Patreon

With the spectacular and foreseen implosion of Twitter over the past year or more, and corporate-owned social media making it more difficult for smaller creators to gain traction, not to mention followers, and engagement, where is an author to go in search of readers? I, and many other authors, have found a new home in the Fediverse – on Mastodon. Join me as I discuss what Mastodon (and the Fediverse) is, how it differs from social media, and invite you to find a server to begin, such as Epona Author’s own EponaAuthor.Social. (See a full list of links in the show notes on our MuseCharmer page.) If you would like author mentoring and coaching, please visit AuthorYogi.com. To see all the shows on the MuseCharmer Network, please Visit our Website Follow us on: Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Twitch Support us: Ko-Fi | LiberaPay | Patreon

In this episode, which marks my pivot from the earlier episodes marked, I discuss why I’m moving away from the Wellness Wheel and the Wellness term/industry in general when it comes to doing my coaching and creativity work. If you would like author mentoring and coaching, please visit AuthorYogi.com. To see all the shows on the MuseCharmer Network, please Visit our Website Follow us on: Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Twitch Support us: Ko-Fi | LiberaPay | Patreon

When it comes to writing, or doing activities around them like marketing, are you experiencing a fight, flight, or freeze response? These are normal ways in which our bodies handle stress. But they can impact your writing life. Learn more in this episode. If you would like author mentoring and coaching, please visit AuthorYogi.com. To see all the shows on the MuseCharmer Network, please Visit our Website Follow us on: Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Twitch Support us: Ko-Fi | LiberaPay | Patreon

Note: These early episodes (through episode 8) were recorded quite some time ago. The podcast has changed focus since then, as has Author Yogi. Episode 10 discusses the change in focus. The information is still good, so that is why these episodes are being published. In this episode we’ll talk about how to cultivate a daily writing habit and the best way to do so. If you would like author mentoring and coaching, please visit AuthorYogi.com. To see all the shows on the MuseCharmer Network, please Visit our Website Follow us on: Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Twitch Support us: Ko-Fi | LiberaPay | Patreon

Note: These early episodes (through episode 8) were recorded quite some time ago. The podcast has changed focus since then, as has Author Yogi. Episode 10 discusses the change in focus. The information is still good, so that is why these episodes are being published. This episode dives deeper into the many layers of the wellness wheel that falls under “emotional” If you would like author mentoring and coaching, please visit AuthorYogi.com. To see all the shows on the MuseCharmer Network, please Visit our Website Follow us on: Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Twitch Support us: Ko-Fi | LiberaPay | Patreon

Note: These early episodes (through episode 8) were recorded quite some time ago. The podcast has changed focus since then, as has Author Yogi. Episode 10 discusses the change in focus. The information is still good, so that is why these episodes are being published. This episode gets more into the “nuts and bolts” of writing and talks about how to organize a book. Whether you’re writing linearly or in flashbacks or putting together a memoir or essay collection, organizing the book is one of the most important decisions you can make. If you would like author mentoring and coaching, please visit AuthorYogi.com. To see all the shows on the MuseCharmer Network, please Visit our Website Follow us on: Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Twitch Support us: Ko-Fi | LiberaPay | Patreon