On Thursday, January 8th, 2008 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with Janet Muirhead Hill, a children’s author and writing coach about True Fiction. Janet is the author of eight published True Fiction novels for young readers. Additionally she is a publisher, speaker, and writing workshop leader. She educated us on what True Fiction is and how it differs from popular escapist fiction. The keys lie in the emotional lives of the characters and choosing a character-driven approach (rather than plot-driven). We learned how writers can draw on their own past experiences as part of the driving creative process emotionally.

When Janet, grew up on a cattle ranch in the Yampa River Valley in the Colorado Rockies, her greatest love was for horses and children. Her childhood dreams were not to become a writer or publisher, but to own a horse ranch and to have lots of kids. Janet began her writing career when her children were small by submitting short stories to magazines and had several published. Her 3rd novel Miranda and Starlight, began a series of six books, all published within a three year period by her own company, Raven Publishing, which publishes other authors as well. She has published another novel she wrote called, Danny’s Dragon. It is about the stages of grief and healing, seen through the eyes of a 10-year-old boy who lost his father in the war. A newly released book, Kyleah’s Tree, is the beginning of a trilogy about twins that were separated at 4 years of age by divorce.Janet’s education has included several years at Montana State Univer sity in various disciplines, including English writing. She also completed two writing courses, (two years each) from the Children’s Institute of Literature. She presently divides her time between publishing, family, and writing, from rural Montana where she lives with her husband. She also presents interactive workshops on “Writing True Fiction and other genres”

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On November 20th, 2008 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with Suzanne Lieurance about how to convert your passion for writing into a viable career as a freelance writer. In addition to being the author of more than 20 published books, Lieurance offers a variety of coaching programs via private phone calls, teleclasses, listserv, and private email for writers who want to turn their love of writing (for children and/or adults) into a part-time or full-time career. We talked about all types of freelance writing and what it takes to get started as a freelance writer, common pitfalls and mistakes to avoid, how much you can really expect to make, how to build your writing resume, and ghost writing. We also touched on some secrets for success in writing for children’s books.

Suzanne Lieurance is a fulltime children’s author, freelance writer, and The Working Writer’s Coach. She teaches children’s writing for the Institute of Children’s Literature based in West Redding, Connecticut, and is the founder and director of the National Writing for Children Center. Lieurance has written articles for a variety of magazines, newsletters, and e-zines like Family-Fun, Kansas City Weddings, Instructor Magazine, New Moon for Girls, Children’s Writer, and many others. She hosts a talk show about children’s books, called Book Bites for Kids, every weekday afternoon on blogtalkradio.com.

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On October 16th, 2008 Tyler Tichelaar and Victor R. Volkman spoke with award-winning children’s book illustrator and author Kevin Colllier. He educated us on key areas of unique factors in designing and illustrating children’s books, including: how do authors and illustrators find eachother, avoiding a creative tug-of-war with your artist, the importance of chemistry between author and illustrator, project management pitfalls, and how to choose the right number of illustrations for your book.

Kevin Collier is the author and/or illustrator of about 100 books to date (some pending publication). A book he illustrated won the New York Book Festival. Another was reviewed favorably by the New York Times, which only reviews a handful of the tens of thousands of books they receive. As a favor for a minister’s wife, Kevin did some quick illustrations for a poem called Topsy Turvy Land. He never imagined that that she would send those sketchy drawings, done in three days, to a publisher. That book was voted one of the top 50 children’s books of all time by World Magazine in 2006. He is also a critically acclaimed author. His first chapter book, barthpenn at heaven.org, was called “a masterpiece of communication,” and received the Craig’s Choice Award for children’s fiction. His second chapter book, Esther’s Channel, received 5 stars on Amazon.com. Literary professionals have said that Kevin is the “next C.S. Lewis,” and that his “writing will set the standard for children’s literature for generations to come.” Kevin also stars in an upcoming show called “Drawing for KICKS,” which will be broadcast nationally, and possibly internationally, on Christian television stations. An offshoot of internationally broadcast show “KICKS Club,” “Drawing for KICKS” features Kevin, his son, Jarod, and some of Jarod’s classmates. Part reality show, part art class, and all fun, “Drawing for KICKS” is shot primarily in Grand Haven, MI.

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On Thursday, July 17th 2008 Victor R. Volkman and Tyler Tichelaar spoke with Jim and Linda Salisbury of Tabby House press about smart self-publishing ideas: tips and techniques for becoming successful without spending a ton of money. We covered essential knowledge for self-publishers and a lot of specifics about Children’s Books, a particular area of expertise for Tabby House.  Specifically, how to make your book conform to industry standards (and hence be sell-able), how to understand your market, effective no-cost and low-cost marketing and promotion techniques, and making money outside of the bookstore arena.

Jim and Linda are authors of “Smart Self-Publishing: An author’s guide to producing a marketable book” now in its third edition. The book has been mentioned in both Newsweek and BottomLine Personal.  Listen up to this podcast and find out how to get a FREE copy of this $16.95 book for just the nominal charge of $6.00.Jim is the publisher at Tabby House now based in Central Virginia, and was president of the Florida Publishers Association for many years. He and Linda offer self-publishing seminars in libraries, bookstores and for writers’ groups. They are members of FPA, Publishers Association of the South, and Independent Book Publishers Association (formerly Publishers Marketing Association).Linda is the author of the juvenile fiction Bailey Fish Adventure series, which has won four national honors. The sixth book in the series will be out this fall, and she has another environmentally orien ted children’s book to be released soon. She is a former journalist and a free-lance writer.

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On Feb. 7th, 2008 Victor R. Volkman and Irene Watson spoke with Brad Grochowski of AuthorsBookshop about what it takes to sell books online. Brad has been running his own online bookstore for several years and it provides many of the same features that Amazon does: blogs, reviews, forums, PDF previews, and complete control of the product detail pages.  We talked about marketing strategies and tactics, how to use your time online effectively, quality and the market perception of independently published books, how we can emulate the success of indie music and films, and why you would choose to self-publish or work with a small press.

Brad Grochowski is a web entrepreneur and programmer, author and actor.  He is the founder of AuthorsBookshop.com, an online bookstore that specializes in selling independently published books, as well as the website RandomBookMachine.com and the soon to be launched OurLittleBaltimore.com.  His is also the author of the book The Secret Weakness of Dragons and Other Tales a Fairy Whispered In My Ear

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On August 23rd, 2007 Victor R. Volkman and Irene Watson spoke with children’s book author and illustrator Lee Edward Födi. He is the creative force behind The Chronicles of Kendra Kandlestar and has also illustrated numerous picture books for other authors, including the Canadian national bestseller, The Chocolatier’s Apprentice. His latest book, Kendra Kandlestar and the Door to Unger, will be released in October 2007. Lee shared details with us on how illustrators work with authors, how to find an illustrator to match your story, and how a picture can motivate a story and vice-versa.

Födi is an engaging public speaker, specializing in presentations and workshops for elementary-aged children. In addition, he is a co-founder of Dream Workshop, a program in which children’s authors, artists, and performers help kids publish their very own books. Födi is very fond of his students, who have invented several nicknames for him such as “The Wizard of Words,” “Mr. Wiz,” and “Mr. Evil Wiz.” It goes without saying that the last one is his favorite.

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On Thursday, January 25th, 2007 at 8PM EDT we spoke with award-winning children’s book author Lila Guzman of lilaguzman.com.  She shared with us valuable tips and techniques on how to break into this popular market including: the ideal length of a book, managing the vocabulary, plot tips and twists, marketing ideas, appropriate subject matter and genres,  and historical books (a particular area of her own success).

Lila Guzman is a former language instructor who earned her PhD in Spanish literature from the University of Kentucky.  She has gone on to teach at the US Navy’s Defense Language Institute to train other teachers there.  She has collaborated with her husband, Rick Guzman, to create a groundbreaking series of historical novels for children.  It all stems from Rick’s discovery that the Spanish were involved in the American Revolution as early as 1776 but their contribution is often overlooked in history books.  And so the award-winning Lorenzo Series of books was born!

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Join us on Internet Voices Radio on Thursday, Dec. 21st, 2006 at 8PM EDT as we speak with author, editory, and book coach Joan Neubauer of WordWright.biz  Joan will share with us the secrets of good storytelling that all fiction authors must know.  Specifically, she’ll touch on story construction–from beginning to end, narrative, characterization, dialog, and conflict.  Joan is author or co-author of more than a dozen books and brings considerable editorial experience to this week’s discussion.

Joan and her husband Steve Neubauer own and operate WordWright.biz, Inc., a publishing house in Alpine, Texas. “We’re an author incubator,” Joan says. “We want to nurture authors and help them develop into the fine writers and promoters they can become.” Joan takes her own advice and is making a name for herself, her publishing house, and her authors. WordWright has acquired a reputation as one of the finest publishing houses to showcase new authors. Since 2000, WordWright has published over one hundred fifty titles for new authors. WOW! 

Joan continues to write books, articles, and columns. She also travels extensively to promote her books and her publishing house. She is available to speak on a variety of subjects for writers groups, corporate functions, civic and service organizations, and schools.

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