Welcome back to Austen Promises and the Writer’s Journal!
Imagine my surprise when I realized that I did not leave Professional Development (PD) behind when I left the teaching field. First, I stared, as “WHAT!!!” clanged around in my brain for a while. Then, I deflated. Like a big, round balloon. Flat. Wilted. Heaving a great sigh, I picked myself back up, squared my shoulders, and cried, “Point me to it!” So began my journey to Writer’s PD.
The first PD I discovered was podcasts. This caused another groan, because I really don’t like videos and things. I get sucked into cat videos on Facebook and hate myself later. I just really love cats, and they get me every time. I finally, after decades, have a YouTube account. In my author name, not my real name. I discovered just last year that people actually go to that website, click a video, and just keep watching whatever comes next. I shake my head at these people, who apparently have no other form of entertainment. I don’t get it. But I digress. I don’t even watch many movies. The Nativity Story on Christmas Eve is often the only movie I watch all year. Except for a period of about twelve months in 2010/2011 in which I watched Pride & Prejudice ’05 every day and then a few months of daily Jane Eyre with Toby Stephens, I’ve never watched a lot of movies. It’s hard for something to hold my attention long enough to watch a movie. Now, a book I can spend hours reading. 😉
So, podcasts. The first one I discovered was The Creative Penn with Joanna Penn. I really like her and the information she shares. Not all of her podcasts apply to me, and even the ones that do are really long and frequently get cut off in the middle. *blush* However, I have learned a lot from her and her guests. I’d one day like to be as successful as she is.
The second podcast I discovered was the Self-Publishing Formula podcast with Mark Dawson and James Blatch. It seems like James is the one who does all the interviewing, but we get to see Mark at the beginning and the end. Again, the podcasts are very well done and very informative, and I have learned quite a bit.
Another podcast I have seen a few episodes of is Chris Fox’s. His show seems to be all on YouTube, and he covers everything from world building to outlining to things no one told you about being an author. His are blessedly short, which makes people like me very happy. 🙂
There are more podcasts out there, ones I have never tried. The Sell More Books Show comes highly recommended, and I think I should really try to listen to that one now and again. Another good one that I think I should try to catch more of is The Business of Writing. Craig Martelle is one of the guys on that show, and he always has good advice. Buffer, the social media scheduling site that I use, has a podcast. There are many, many more podcasts out there. It only takes a Google search to find them.
What are your favorite podcasts?
Come back next Wednesday for another peek into my journal! <3
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