Joanna Penn is an award-winning author, New York Times and USA Today bestseller, and host of The Creative Penn podcast. With experience spanning both fiction (under J.F. Penn) and non-fiction, Joanna has built a sustainable writing business over nearly two decades. After leaving her IT consultant career in 2011, she's created multiple income streams from her writing and writing-adjacent activities while publishing over 50 books. Her latest fiction release is "Death Valley," and she's currently working on the 4th edition of "Successful Self-Publishing."

In this episode:

• Joanna's journey from IT consultant to full-time author
• How her definition of success evolved over time
• Multiple income streams for both fiction and non-fiction authors
• Strategies for making a living with writing beyond just book sales
• The importance of building an email list from day one
• Her "50 books by 50" milestone and creating a body of work
• Discovery writing vs. plotting approaches
• Using AI tools to enhance creativity and productivity
• The "great splintering" of indie publishing business models
• Creating premium products like special editions for higher income

Resources mentioned:

• The Creative Penn Podcast
• Books and Travel Podcast
• Scrivener: https://scrivener.app/
• ProWritingAid: https://prowritingaid.com/
• Google Notebook LM: https://notebooklm.google/
• Midjourney: https://www.midjourney.com/
• ElevenLabs: https://elevenlabs.io/
• PickFu - https://www.pickfu.com/
• Patreon https://www.patreon.com/

Book Recommendations:

• "Successful Self-Publishing" (4th Edition coming soon): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F66QLTL9?&linkCode=ll1&tag=pubperf-20&linkId=400c65572fa1761b41f901ed6233057c&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
• "Death Valley" - Her latest thriller: https://jfpenn.com/deathvalley
• "How to Write a Novel" : https://www.amazon.com/dp/1915425093?&linkCode=ll1&tag=pubperf-20&linkId=400c65572fa1761b41f901ed6233057c&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

Connect with Joanna Penn:

• Fiction website: https://jfpenn.com/
• Non-fiction website: https://www.thecreativepenn.com/
• The Creative Penn Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-creative-penn-podcast-for-writers/id309426367
• Books and Travel Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/books-and-travel/id1454367912

Connect with Teddy Smith:

• @teddyagsmith
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