Zen and the Art of Self Publishing

by Janet Margot

Season 1

Permission to Quit the Project You Hate with Rusell Nohelty

Russell Nohelty spent years building The Author Stack into a 40,000-subscriber authority newsletter for indie authors — then rebranded the entire operation as Hapitalist, pivoting from author-specific advice into joy-based business consulting for creators. In this conversation, he talks through why he sunset something that was already working, the specific bottleneck that shows up when you're doing everything yourself, and his framework for deciding what to keep, what to finish, and what to let go of — even mid-series, mid-project, or mid-career. It's a candid look at pivoting on purpose instead of waiting to burn out first.

S1 · E12

Sep 7, 2026

1:21:57

In scroll culture, covers must stop the scroll. Jeremy Flagg on book design.

Jeremy Flagg shares his journey from designer to author and educator, exploring the nuances of book cover design, the impact of AI on creative work, and practical tips for authors to improve their visual branding and marketing strategies. Key Topics The evolution of Jeremy Flagg's career from design to writing The importance of genre signaling in cover design How to create a cover that stops a scroll The impact of AI on cover art and copyright issues Strategies for series branding and consistency The difference between art and design in book covers Using research and data to inform cover decisions The role of collaboration and feedback in design resources CoverVillain Author Design Academy Ryder O'Malley RemyFlag.com

S1 · E11

Aug 31, 2026

1:00:36

Same advice. Same person. Rachel Morton on one pen name getting dismissed, while the other gets taken seriously.

There's a guy who messages Rachel Morton's pen name for advice and takes it seriously — and dismisses her completely under her real name. Same information, same person, different reception. That anecdote is the spine of this conversation: what actually earns credibility in indie publishing versus what just gets loud. We get into the six-figure income claims that skip the spend it took to get there, the $7,000 courses selling guarantees no one can make good on, and why the loudest voices in this space skew male — plus how Rachel runs two pen names as separate businesses without losing either audience.

S1 · E10

Aug 24, 2026

41:30

Stephanie Chandler on trading the illusion of a traditional deal for real control — and why marketing is a garden, not a gimmick

Stephanie Chandler, founder of the Nonfiction Authors Association and Authority Publishing, joins the show to unpack why she walked away from traditional publishing after three book deals — and why "control" matters more than authors realize. We dig into why Amazon bestseller campaigns are mostly noise, what actually separates authors who build sustainable careers from those who don't, and why marketing works less like a launch and more like a garden you tend daily. Plus: the real reason nonfiction authors get overwhelmed, what hybrid publishing offers that DIY doesn't, and Stephanie's take on AI-generated book covers (spoiler: hard no). Nonfiction Authors Association

S1 · E9

Aug 17, 2026

52:28

The downloads were fine, the silence wasn't: Shaun Loftus on fixing a book before it fails.

Shaun Loftus runs The Book Whisperer from a Tuscan hillside in a house she shares with an ever-changing cast of dogs, cats, parrots, hens, and a couple of opinionated goats. She came to books the long way round — through the theatre, as a director and dramaturg with fifty-odd productions behind her, and through the early web, where she taught herself to code to pay the rent. She calls it having an artist head and a nerd head, and that turns out to be a rare and useful pairing when the job is helping writers reach readers. This conversation sits right in the middle of what this show cares about: keeping the human at the center as the work gets more automated. Shaun is candid about being allergic to hustle culture — the ROI-everything, produce-produce-produce reflex she left behind when she left the States. Her aim is to carry the business weight so her authors can stay focused on the writing. When Janet named the obvious thing — that on paper the two of them might look like competitors — Shaun's answer set the tone for the hour: colleague, not competitor. It was never a zero-sum game. From there it gets practical. Shaun talks through why a cover gets a single nanosecond to sell its genre, how aggressive ARC campaigns surface problems early enough to fix them — including the time a stalled book was rewritten overnight and went on to become a bestseller — and why she'll tell half her authors to slow down and the other half to speed up. There's a clear-eyed tour of selling in translation: why the German market reads historical fiction all year, why Italy still reaches for print, and where she thinks authors quietly leave money on the table. And there's an honest accounting of what doesn't work — the genres she stays out of, and the successes that simply can't be copied. They close on the Indie Unconference, the small, generous gathering Shaun runs in Italy — why an "unconference," why it's built for participants rather than an audience, and why it's on pause until 2027. A fitting end to a conversation about doing good work at a human pace. You can find Shaun through The Book Whisperer and on Reedsy — and, as she half-jokes near the end, if you get an email from "Shaun Loftus" offering you services, it isn't her.

S1 · E8

Jul 27, 2026

54:14

East, west, and the space between: Poornima Manco on thirty years of writing and belonging

What does it mean to write from a life that straddles two worlds? Poornima Manco grew up in Delhi, moved to London in her twenties, and has spent the thirty years since navigating the space between East and West — as a flight attendant, as a mother, as a wife, and as a writer. Her short stories have been published in the Guardian and the Telegraph, and her debut novel, A Quiet Dissonance, drew directly from her experience of arriving somewhere new and trying to figure out where she fit. In this conversation — recorded with my writing and publishing partner Victoria Dougherty — Poornima talks about the themes she keeps returning to in her fiction: identity, belonging, and the quiet question of who you are when the culture around you shifts. She also opens up about a health scare that came out of nowhere, what it's taught her about resilience, and why she does most of her best writing in hotel rooms on layovers. We also end up somewhere I didn't expect: deep in a conversation about love. Poornima's own story — an arranged marriage that took five years of mutual avoidance before it finally clicked — is one of the most quietly beautiful things I've heard in a long time. And it says something true about timing, about readiness, and about the kind of commitment that has nothing to do with romance novels. This is an episode for writers who are building something personal. Who aren't trying to write to market or kick out a twenty-book series — but who have something real to say and are figuring out how to say it. Poornima is proof that that path exists, and that it's worth taking.

S1 · E7

Jul 20, 2026

40:49

The Cost of Waiting: What 200K YouTube Followers Taught Bradley Charbonneau About Perfection

Bradley Charbonneau has written 40 books, given workshops in Dutch at European conferences, done improv at Boom Chicago in Amsterdam, and built a YouTube channel to over 200,000 followers — not by having a plan, but by having a practice. This episode is about what happens when you stop waiting for perfect conditions and just press record. Bradley and Janet dig into the real mechanics of YouTube growth: how importing a back catalog strategically triggered the algorithm, why consistency beats quality in the early days, and what the "related video" feature on Shorts can do for your watch hours. They also talk through use cases for fiction versus nonfiction authors, the question of monetization versus audience building, and why YouTube — owned by Google — is a search engine first and a social platform second. But underneath all the tactics is something more essential. Bradley spent eight years not writing before a 30-day challenge finally kicked him into motion. That experience — the pain of waiting, the relief of shipping — is the entire philosophy he now teaches. And it applies whether you're writing your first book, recording your first video, or just sitting on an idea that deserves to exist in the world. If you've had a YouTube idea for 18 months and still haven't pressed record, this one's for you.

S1 · E6

Jul 18, 2026

59:54

Cash Flow Is Queen: What Every Author Needs to Know About the Business of Writing with Nicola Cook

What if the thing standing between you and a sustainable author career isn't your writing, your marketing, or even your platform — but your relationship with money? Nicola Cook is a UK-based entrepreneur, sales growth consultant, and multi-genre author who has built and exited businesses, made multiple seven figures on the back of a single business book, and runs Aurora Independent Books — her own indie publishing imprint — under the fiction pen name Isabella Wiles. She also happens to be genuinely great at the stuff most authors find terrifying: the numbers. In this conversation, Nicola breaks down the financial fundamentals every author-entrepreneur needs — not as theory, but as hard-won practice from someone who has been ten days from bankruptcy and built her way back. We cover the difference between revenue, profit, and cash flow, the three personal budgets every author should know, what residual income really means for a publishing career, and the money mindset trap that keeps most people earning exactly what they've always earned. No course. No pitch. Just two decades of business expertise applied to the author life. nicolacook.com isabellawiles.com companyshortcuts.com aipbooks.com

S1 · E5

Jul 17, 2026

53:35

Mariëlle S. Smith: Discovering My Spiritual Path & Helping Creatives

Mariëlle S. Smith is a developmental editor, life coach, Akashic Records master practitioner, Reiki master, and author of Tarot for Entrepreneurs, 99 Writing Prompts, and the 52 Weeks of Writing series. She also coaches creatives through some of the most stubborn blocks they face — the kind that don't budge no matter how many journals you fill or therapy sessions you log. In this conversation, we talk about what the Akashic Records actually are, how she spent years in the spiritual closet while quietly helping writers anyway, and what it means to help someone connect with their book on a soul level. I'll also confess: Mariëlle did a reading for me a few years ago that cracked something open in my memoir. Full disclosure up front. Topics covered: What the Akashic Records are and how a session works How Mariëlle spent years in the "spiritual closet" as a Reiki master and tarot practitioner The 2019 Edinburgh conference that launched her tarot-for-creatives work (from a medieval sofa in a castle) Why 90%+ of creative blocks are deeper than craft — and what that means for how she coaches Tarot for Entrepreneurs, 99 Writing Prompts, and 52 Weeks of Writing The pen name question: algorithmic strategy vs. soul-level hiding Direct sales: Etsy, Payhip, and what she found she didn't expect (actual human connection) Kickstarter as community, not just funding — including an upcoming Oracle deck: The Root Awakening: Get Your Creative Shit Together Writing with the Divine: her new six-month program combining practical writing rhythm with Akashic Records sessions Website: https://mariellessmith.com Writing with the Divine: https://mariellessmith.com/writingwiththedivine Email: me@mariellessmith.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/mariellessmith YouTube: www.youtube.com/@thecoachforcreatives Insight Timer: https://insighttimer.com/mariellessmith Substack: https://mariellessmith.substack.com

S1 · E4

Jun 29, 2026

46:52

From Narrator to Director: 25 Years Behind the Mic with Kristin Watson Heintz

Kristin Heintz spent 25 years narrating audiobooks — from Audible in New York to becoming a character readers refused to let anyone else voice. Now she co-runs My Audio Rocks and directs authors through narrating their own work. We talk about the craft secret that separates reading from storytelling, why memoir belongs in the author's own voice, and why her studio uses zero voice AI — on purpose. Chapters 01:24 — Singer to narrator: the Audible job that landed in her lap 03:26 — Brilliance Audio vs. Audible, and her first real director 05:57 — The craft secret: reading it "for the first time" 08:22 — Becoming the character (and the fans who proved it) 12:16 — Why she stopped "just narrating" 16:23 — The case for narrating your own book — and why publishers resist it for memoir 18:48 — Peggy DeLong, crying in the booth, and letting emotion through 21:28 — The lizard brain and the ancient pull of spoken story 23:02 — Which genres suit author narration vs. a pro 25:36 — The AI question: why My Audio Rocks uses no voice AI 28:25 — Automation vs. AI-generated audio (the distinction that matters) 32:14 — What actually happens when you sign up 35:12 — The "Rockaburton" kit and your live-directed first session 39:36 — What authors get wrong: "not all engineers are audiobook engineers" 42:47 — One piece of advice for the fence-sitters 43:22 — Where to find Kristin + the partnership rate Show Notes: myAudio.rocks

Jun 25, 2026

46:14

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