Flexible Learning

As a writer and editor, I’m constantly learning and trying new programs or new tools or new ways to explore opportunities and grow. I’ve written about a number of different opportunities in these entries in The Writing Life such as:

• Live events or conferences
• Reading Books
• Teleseminars
• Membership courses like my Write A Book Proposal course

Today I want to highlight one more opportunity which has great flexibility: podcasts.  Many people are using this tool to get their message and information out to new people. As an author or entrepreneur, you can learn how to create a podcasting course. Just follow the link to learn more about how you can create a course. Podcasting is another tool that you can use as an author to build your audience and establish yourself as an expert.

There are thousands of podcasts with great information for you to learn about almost any subject. Many of us are carrying a smartphone with us. Make sure you have the podcast app on your phone. Then through iTunes you can search for podcasts which appeal to you and subscribe to the podcast.  As that podcast adds more programs, you can download the program on your phone and listen to it whenever you want.

Many people listen to podcasts as they exercise or walk. If I don't have something like a podcast to engage my mind, I find exercise is boring. If I exercise while listening to a podcast, I can gain some new insights during the process. My local church puts past sermons on podcasts. There is an endless variety of topics and subjects for podcasts.

Four Possible Podcasts

I'd like to highlight three different podcasts for writers and authors. I selected these podcasts because they are long enough to have some substance to them and with valuable insight for every author or would-be author. I recommend you listen to several of these podcasts and see if the content helps you. If not, try something else which will help you with your writing life.

Recently I was on a live radio show It’s all About the Questions with Laura Steward. Our interview was a live AM radio broadcast throughout Florida. To Laura's credit, she also recorded  and edited this this broadcast as a podcast. Follow this link to hear our interview.  I love the flexibility of this interview. You can download it to your desktop or your phone or catch it as a podcast.

Writers and Authors on Fire is another recommended podcast. I've known the host John Vonhof for many years. The quality of the interviews and the information for writers is excellent. I've heard a number of these interviews and appreciated the contents. John interviewed me and here is my recent podcast at Writers and Authors on Fire.

Another podcast that I've been listening to is Authorpreneur with Jim Kukral. I've heard several of these interviews and appreciated the information and education for authors in this podcast.

Finally I recommend Author U, Your Guide to Book Publishing by Dr. Judith Briles. I've known Judith for many years and she has a large volume of podcasts and many different topics in this podcast. I would encourage you to download several of them and gain from this information.

You may like a different set of podcasts. My main point in this article is to celebrate these flexible learning tools but also to encourage you to listen to these resources—or even start your own podcasting course.

Which podcasts do you listen to? Let's get your ideas in the comments.

Look for Publishing Insights

Throughout my day, I am reading articles and information about publishing. I gain a great deal of personal insights from each of these sources of information.

Many of them I will point out on my twitter feed and include the link to it. I hope as a resource to your own publishing life, you are reading these tweets and articles on a regular basis.

In this article, I want to point out a couple of these resources for publishing insights. One of them is book shepherd Judith Briles. I've known Judith for a number of years and know her work with authors is excellent. In fact, I saw her personally during Author 101 University in Los Angeles last March.

Recently Judith spoke about creating the platform for your book on her blog. I enjoyed this short video and know it will help you understand this concept of platform. You can watch it here or click the image below to go to the You Tube site. 



For my insights about how an author can build a platform, I've created my Free Ebook, Platform building ideas for every author. Just use the link to get your own copy of this 43–page Ebook and begin using the information right away.

While there are many different people, I want to include Jane Friedman in this post. The former editor at Writer's Digest has a regular blog which I follow. I enjoyed this recent entry called: How Long Should You Keep Trying to Get Published?

I encourage you to use the subscription tool in the right-hand column of the Writing Life and subscribe to these entries—and other people so you receive their insights on a regular basis.

Where do you find your publishing insights? Let me know in the comment section. The main focus that I wanted to give you is to continue looking and absorbing publishing insights—from many different sources.