Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing: EP 391 - Networking for Authors with Dale L. Roberts

EP 391 - Networking for Authors with Dale L. Roberts

Dec 6, 2024

Mark interviews Dale L. Roberts about his new book NETWORKING FOR AUTHORS.

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

This episode is sponsored by Mark's book AN AUTHOR'S GUIDE TO WORKING WITH LIBRARIES AND BOOKSTORES.

You can get the book for 50% direct from Mark from now until Jan 2024 using coupon code STARK2024 at checkout. Patrons will get access to a 75% off coupon for that book and a wider range of titles from Mark's direct sale store.

In their interview Mark and Dale talk about:

How long it has been since Dale has been on the Stark Reflections podcast. (Episode 96 - Sept 2019)
Dale's first big breakthrough in the indie author space and how that led to him pivoting to becoming a YouTube content creator
Dale's passion for helping showing other authors things related to the business of writing and publishing
Their mutual passion for Rush
How the word networking can be thought of as a "dirty" word
Dale's unique approach to networking as an introverted person, by looking at it like a good movie or some other product that he enjoys and wanting to share that "thing" with someone else. IE, "This is super cool. You should know about this" translated into "This person is super cool. You should know them."
Having a pool of like-minded business professionals
An example of a solid and long-lasting bond Dale helped two people forge and the satisfaction that comes from that
How this type of work connecting people is a "let me feed my soul" type of thing
The way that some in person events can be extremely overwhelming for Dale and how he deals with it
Dale's YouTube platform being up to 1700 videos
How it's not about the number of times you fall down, it's the number of times you get back up
The advice Dale received from Nick Thacker whenever he's being too hard on himself and picking apart something he has done
The importance of at least showing up as a good starting step
How S.D. Huston is so good at what she does at connecting with people and making opportunities and the way she shows up in so many different places
Some of the things that authors can get wrong when they are networking
The importance of asking questions when you're networking not just because it makes you seem more interesting, but it also helps you to uncover more things, some of which you might have in common
How you should not try to rush relationships
Remember that authors are a rare breed (particularly when you're in non-writer circles)
And more...

After the interview Mark reflects on a couple of things that Dale talked about.

Links of Interest:

Dale L. Roberts is a self-publishing advocate, award-winning author, and renowned video creator. With over 50 publications, he has become an authority in self-publishing, leading him to create his own YouTube channel, Self-Publishing with Dale, regarded as one of the premier information resources in the indie publishing community. Dale lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his wife Kelli and two rescue cats, Auggie and Allie.

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