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Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

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  2. EP 349 - Edward Willett of Shadow Paw Press

EP 349 - Edward Willett of Shadow Paw Press

Mar 1, 2024

Mark interviews author, podcaster, and publisher Edward Willett about his writing, his podcast, Kickstarter campaigns, and some bold new ventures he is pursuing with his publishing company Shadow Paw Press.

Prior to the interview, Mark reads comments from recent episodes, shares a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by ScribeCount (affiliate link). Spend less time logging in to multiple platforms and crunching numbers, and more time writing and marketing your books thanks to ScribeCount's handy all-in-one interface.

In the interview, Mark and Edward talk about:

  • The very first short story Edward wrote at the age of 11, "Caster Glaz, Hyper Ship Test Pilot"
  • Working as a newspaper reporter for about eight years while he continued to write
    - Selling his first short story
  • Making reference to Canadian historical figures like John Diefenbaker and The Arrogant Worms, which non-Canadians might not understand. (Thank goodness for Google)
  • Publishing a science fiction short story "Strange Harvest" in an agricultural magazine based on his reporting of oddly shaped plants. And how that story was adapted into a nationally broadcast CBC Radio drama and might just beward's most popular short story
  • Becoming a full-time freelance writer more than thirty years ago
  • The twelve novels that Edward has released with Daw Books
  • The radio broadcast work that he did for seventeen years as a freelancer
  • Why Edward started the Worldshapers Podcast
  • The anthologies Edward released that tie in with the novel as well as the Kickstarters Edward has run for them
  • The evolution and growth of Edward's Shadow Paw Press
  • How in 2024 Edward is taking on a huge number of new and innovative products, including books by notable Canadian authors like Dave Duncan and Robert J. Sawyer
  • Working with an actual sales force and distribution network like LitDistCo
  • The ins and outs of grant writing and investments involved in trying to get real distribution
  • Helping other authors with their self-publishing needs
  • Advice Edward has for authors thinking about being a publisher as well as for writers in general
  • And more....

Mark then reflects on the value of a publisher with actual distribution and the difference between that and what any indie author can do in digital publishing.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Edward Willett is an award-winning author of more than sixty books science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction for both children and adults. He's also host of the Aurora Award-winning podcast The Worldshapers: "Conversations with science fiction and fantasy authors about the creative process." (http://www.theworldshapers.com). He successfully Kickstarted and edited a new anthology, Shapers of Worlds, featuring authors who were guests during the first year of the podcast. 

Among his novels are twelve published by DAW Books, one of the premier publishers of science fiction and fantasy publishers: Lost in Translation, Marseguro (which won the 2009 Aurora Award for best English-language science fiction or fantasy book by a Canadian author), and its sequel Terra Insegura (a finalist for the 2010 Aurora Award); Magebane (written as Lee Arthur Chane); the Masks of Aygrima fantasy trilogy for DAW Books, written as E.C. Blake; the stand-alone science fiction novel The Cityborn. His Worldshapers series began with Worldshaper ("a rollicking contemporary fantasy," Publishers' Weekly said in a starred review), and continued with Master of the World and The Moonlit World. His latest is The Tangled Stars, a humorous far-future space-opera adventure. Willett is also the author of The Shards of Excalibur modern-day YA fantasy series for Coteau Books, I Tumble Through the Diamond Dust, a collection of science fiction and fantasy poetry published by Your Nickel's Worth Publishing, and Paths to the Stars, a collection of his short fiction; Blue Fire a YA fantasy written as E.C. Blake, and Star Song, a YA science fiction novel that was a finalist for the Aurora Award for Best Canadian YA Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel, all published by Shadowpaw Press

 

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0