The Pulp Writer Show

By: Jonathan Moeller
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  • Summary

  • Hosted by Jonathan Moeller (author of the FROSTBORN and SEVENFOLD SWORD fantasy series and the SILENT ORDER scifi series), the Pulp Writer Show discusses how to write, format, publish, and sell your novel. Sometimes there are jokes.
    Copyright Jonathan Moeller
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Episodes
  • Episode 233: Anatomy of a 10,000 Word Writing Day

    Episode 233: Anatomy of a 10,000 Word Writing Day
    Jan 6 2025
    In this week's episode, I take a look at what goes into writing 10,000 words of a rough draft in a single day. Coupon of the Week returns! This week's coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Ghost in the Serpent, Book #1 in the Ghost Armor series, (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy) at my Payhip store: SERPENT50 The coupon code is valid through January 24, 2025. So if you need a new audiobook for the new year, we’ve got you covered! 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates Hello, everyone. Welcome to episode 233 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is January 3, 2025, making this the first episode of 2025, and we are a quarter of the way through the 21st Century. Today we are looking into what goes into a 10,000 word writing day and how I managed to do ten 10,000 writing word days in 2024. We’ll also do Coupon of the Week, an update on my current writing projects, and Question of the Week. So let's start off with Coupon of the Week. As you might remember from last year, I did do Coupon of the Week for the blog last year, but I sort of fell off doing it in June and never got back around to it. But the new year is time for new endeavors, so we're doing Coupon of the Week again (hopefully in a more organized and sustainable way this time). So this week's coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Ghost in the Serpent, Book One in the Ghost Armor series, as excellent narrated by Hollis McCarthy at my Payhip store. The coupon code is SERPENT50, and that is SERPENT50 (all in caps). Again, that is SERPENT50. The coupon code is valid through January 24th, 2025. So if you need a new audiobook for the new year, we've got you covered. The coupon code and the store link will be in the show notes below. So that is this week's Coupon of the Week. Now let's move on to my current writing projects. Every year for the past couple of years, I've published a short collection with all the short stories I published in the previous year, and I'm pleased to report that 2024: The complete Short Stories is available now and you can get it for $0.99 USD at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play Apple Books, Payhip, and Smashwords. It's only going to be 99 cents for the month of January, so now would be a good time to get that. I'm surprised how many people buy the anthology because I give away the short stories for free with all my newsletters throughout the year, but people have told me it's more convenient to have one bundle of the short stories that they just get for $0.99. So that's what we're going to do. You can get that for $0.99 through January 31st. In writing progress, I am now currently 50,000 words into Shield of Deception, which puts me on chapter 12 of 31. So I think I'm between 35 and 40% of the way through the rough draft. It depends on how long the book's going to end up being, but I think it's going to be around 110 to 120,000 words. I'm also about 7,000 words into Ghost in the Assembly, and if all goes well, I'm hoping Shield of Deception will come out this month and Ghost in the Assembly will come out in February, but that may slip by a month because as I said, Shield of Deception is going to be a very long book. In audiobook news, proofing is underway for Cloak of Masks, so I'm confident that will be out in January and that is excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy. Leanne Woodward is currently recording Orc-Hoard, the fourth book in the Rivah Half-Elven series. So that is where I'm at with my current writing projects. 00:03:06 Question of the Week Now let's do Question of the Week, which is intended to inspire enjoyable discussions of interesting topics. This week's question: do you make New Year's Resolutions? No wrong answers, obviously. The inspiration for the question was the fact that I posted this on New Year's Day. I had a few responses to this. Mary says: No, I did do a few things getting cleaned up on the day and switched the calendars at midnight. Bob says: Never have. I feel it's best to resolve problems as they occur. Cheryl says: Not anymore. I never kept them, so I gave up making them. Gary says: Not resolutions per se. It is a good time though, to take stock and evaluate whether I'm doing the things I should be doing to get where I would like to be. Tracy says: Nope, roll the dice and go! LOL. Jean says: I'm just good with making it through the year. Still intact, LOL. I can't argue with that. Venus says: The last resolution I made, many years ago, was to never make another New Year's Resolution. For myself, no, I don't really do New Year's Resolutions. I suppose my writing goals for 2025 might qualify, but I have enough books that I essentially own a small publisher now, so it's just sensible to make good business goals for the year. In my personal life, if I need to make some kind of change, I try to do it at once. The most successful personal changes I've made throughout my life ...
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    12 mins
  • Episode 232: Writing Goals For 2025

    Episode 232: Writing Goals For 2025
    Dec 23 2024
    In this week's episode, I take a look back at my writing goals for 2024 and see how many I met, and look ahead to my writing goals for 2025. 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 232 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is December the 20th, 2024 and today we're looking back to see if I met my writing goals for 2024 and looking ahead to see what my writing goals will be in 2025. This will also be the last episode of 2024 so I can take a few days off for Christmas and New Year's, so tune back in 2025 for some more exciting episodes. In the meantime, we'll start with an update on my current writing projects and then do Question of the Week. My main project right now is Shield of Deception, the fourth book in the Shield War series. I am at 33,000 words into it as of this recording, which if my math is right means I'm about 24% of the way through the rough draft. I’m hoping that will come out in January, but there's good chance it will slip to February because I'm think it's going to be pretty long. My secondary project right now is Ghost in the Assembly and I am 2,000 words into that and I'm hoping to have that out in February, but if Shield of Deception slips to February, then it'll probably be out in March. In audio news, recording for Cloak of Masks, the eighth Cloak Mage book, is nearly done and I expect to have some files to proof for that before much longer. That will be narrated by Hollis McCarthy. Leanne Woodward has started working on the audiobook version of Orc Hoard, so both of those should be coming along shortly in 2025. So that's where I'm at with my current writing and audiobook projects. 00:01:34 Question of the Week And now let's move on to Question of the Week. Question of the Week is designed to inspire enjoyable discussions of interesting topics. This week's question: what is your favorite movie or TV version of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens? No wrong answers, obviously. The inspiration for this question was I was scrolling through movies on various streaming services and of course this time of year you can watch a billion different versions of A Christmas Carol. Todd says: my personal favorite of A Christmas Carol is from 1971. This animated classic had the original Scrooge and Marley actors voice the respective characters. Another Christmas television program would also have to be Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas. It's got Frank Oz! I have to admit, I have never heard of Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas before this comment. Justin says: I would have to say the 1951 version with Alastair Sim, although the Muppets are a close second. Bonnie says: This is one of my hubby's favorite Christmas traditions. Unsure of how many different versions we have. His two are American Christmas Carol with Henry Winkler and the George C. Scott one. I like the Albert Finney musical version and the Alastair Sim one. Paul says: Yes, sentimental favorite is the George C. Scott version from 1984. I like the version with Patrick Stewart as Scrooge as well. We'll watch many versions through the season if I see them on. The Muppet version is great as well. Not a fan of the Jim Carey cartoon version. It is okay, but prefer the first three mentioned. Andrew says: The Muppet version is the best. Randy says: Another vote for Kermit here! “Light the lamp, not the rat!” Jenny says: OMG Yes, the Muppet's version! Jeremiah says: Alastair Sim version for classic and modern, the Patrick Stewart version. Catriona says: The Muppets- just iconic! Gary says: The Muppets. Tom says: Yes, A Muppet’s Christmas Carol, nothing else comes close. Becca says: Muppets Tracy says: I like the one with Patrick Stewart. For myself, I pretty much closely agree with the commenters here. I think my sentimental favorite is the George C. Scott version from 1984, since that's the one I used to watch when I was younger. Rewatching it as an adult, it's impressive how Scott doesn't even attempt a British accent. It's actually rather surprising that his version of Scrooge is actually pretty funny, with a dry wit. That said, as many of the commentators here already said, I think the best overall best version of A Christmas Carol is Muppet Christmas Carol from 1992. It works because Michael Caine plays it stone dead serious even when he is sharing the screen with a bunch of Muppets. Caine famously said that he played against the Muppets like he was playing against the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the contrast with Caine’s serious performance against the silliness of the Muppets creates a sort of alchemy that works really well. Also, The Man Who Invented Christmas from 2017, a highly fictionalized version of Charles Dickens writing a Christmas Carol, is definitely worth watching even though it takes a few, well, more than a few creative liberties with the facts. So that is it for Question of the Week ...
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    15 mins
  • Episode 231: Six Tips For Writing While Traveling

    Episode 231: Six Tips For Writing While Traveling
    Dec 16 2024
    In this week's episode, we share six tips and tricks for writing while traveling. 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 231 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is December the 13th, 2024, and today we're discussing tips for writing while traveling, which seems a timely topic as the Christmas holiday is coming up. First, we'll have an update on my current writing projects and do Question of the Week. For my current writing projects, I'm very pleased to report that Orc-Hoard, the fourth book in the Rivah Half-Elven series is now out. You can get it at Amazon US, UK, Australia, Canada, and in Kindle Unlimited. I am also very pleased to report that I have now published a million new words of fiction for 2024, which is the first time I've been able to do that in a year since 2020. I will probably talk more about that in an upcoming episode. Now that Orc-Hoard is done, my main project is Shield of Deception, the fourth book in the Shield War series. I'm 11,000 words into that and I'm hoping to have that out in January 2025, if all goes well. My secondary project will be Ghost in the Assembly. I haven't actually started that. I'm still in the outline writing phase, but I'm hoping that will be out in February or potentially March, depending on how long it takes to write Shield of Deception. In audiobook news, Ghost in the Tombs is now out in audiobook (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy) and you can get it at Audible, Chirp, and most of the usual other audiobook stores. She's also recording Cloak of Masks for us right now, and that should be out in January, if all goes well. 00:01:29 Question of the Week Now it's time for Question of the Week, which is designed to inspire enjoyable discussions of interesting topics. This week's question: where do you obtain free media like free ebooks, free audiobooks, free movies, and so forth? There are no wrong answers though for obvious reasons please keep answers limited to legal media sources. No piracy, please. The inspiration for this question was our 12 Days of Short Story Christmas, during which I’ll give away a new free short story every business day until December 23rd. If you want some of those free short stories, head to my website now. They will remain free at my Payhip store until December 31st. Now on to answers from Question of the Week. Our first response is from Grimlar who says: Well, it's not exactly free, but I do find myself buying books from LMBPN publishing every Saturday for $1 each (their new releases from earlier in the week, usually Thursday or earlier). They drop the price of new books for Saturday as a loyalty bonus for their readers. Also, when a series has been completed, they tend to release a box set (or several for a long series), also priced at a dollar per box. They tend to release several books a week, which is handy, provided you like their stuff, which is mostly urban fantasy with some fantasy and some sci-fi. As I said, not free, but does make reading a much more budget friendly pastime. I should note that LMBPN publishing also puts nearly all their stuff in Kindle Unlimited so if you're paying for a Kindle Unlimited subscription already, that is an easy way to check out their books. David says: Some places I buy ebooks and audiobooks from offer some free material from time to time. So when I’m looking for something new I stumble across the odd book that is free that I am interested in, when I do stumble across these free offerings, I sometimes look to see if these authors have other free books. I don't bother with free movies. Jeanne says: I get emails from BookBub, which sometimes has free ebooks, but most of the ebooks are between $0.99 and $2.99. That's probably actually how I came across you (you being Jonathan Moeller in this case). Otherwise, Kobo has a selection of free ebooks, if small. Jenny says: I love Libby, and back when it was available, Axis 360 and Hoopla. I'm not sure if they've just gone from my library or gone forever. (Side note from transcriptionist: Axis 360 changed names to Boundless in 2023. Hoopla is still in business.) Adeline says: The only time I ever received free items is when they're directly given away by the owner. Downloading virtual freebies from somewhere just seems wrong since they would still belong to someone. Although I don't have any movie subscription services myself, I still don't download free movies. Bonnie says: I use Amazon for ebooks. I usually pay quite often though. I get a free town newspaper every two weeks. I don't watch TV anymore, so that isn't an issue. Rob says: Amazon (you can search and order by cost) and authors do free downloads with their newsletter, not just Jonathan Moeller, but PA Mason, Kelly Armstrong, etc. Chris says: Kindle Library, following you online gets me updates. For myself, I get free ebooks through Libby (the local library system’...
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    23 mins

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