Livia Blackburne studied biochemical sciences at Harvard, and then went on to earn her PhD in cognitive neuroscience from MIT. What did she do next? She gave up that career to become a New York Times Bestselling author pursue writing full-time. In our interview, share shares her journey to becoming a writer, and the unusual marketing tactic she used just before the launch of her first novel.
Writers and creators tend to feel pressure to get followers, subscribers, reviews, make bestseller lists, and win awards. In the process, this can reduce the concept of engaging with readers to a simple number. It’s not uncommon for me to hear someone say: “I only have 100 followers.” But I want to emphasize this: Every reader counts. If you want your career as a writer to grow, spend more time focused on the people who are engaging with you and what you create.
Moments like this are why this podcast exists: "When the book came out, I left my job, and went freelance. That was my last job-job." Today, author Nicole Blades shares her initial inspiration to become a writer, how she navigated other careers until she found her path into writing, and how she got a book deal. She also takes us behind the scenes of her amazing social media videos.
In studying how to effectively share what we create to develop an audience for our work, something I think a lot about is frequency. The act of creating and sharing often. This can be especially effective for a writer or artist who hopes to develop their platform, grow their audience, and ensure their work truly connects with people. Today I want to share the stories of a few writers and creators who are finding success by doubling-down on their craft.
Today I'm excited to welcome back onto the podcast author Miranda Beverly-Whittemore. She gets really honest about how she navigated multiple book launches, changing editors and publishers, and what she considers when making a book deal. She also talks about her creative process and the road that lead to her latest novel: Fierce Little Thing. You can find Miranda at MirandaBW.com.
So much of the work I do with writers and creators is to help understand how they can effectively share their creative work and their mission with the world. To those who will be moved by it. Helped by it. Feel less alone because of it. Today, I simply want to reflect on the journey between those things. How what we create and how we share helps us become who we are. I’ll share this through the stories of writers and performers I have been thinking about this week.
The title of this podcast is The Creative Shift, and today I am excited to share the story of one author whose life has been filled with creative shifts! Yang Huang grew up in China, came to America and moved to four corners of the country as she trained to become a computer engineer at University of California, Berkeley. But then, she pursued her lifelong passion to become a writer. She has published two novels, a short story collection, as well as essays. Her journey is an inspiring story.
Today I want to talk about the value of having collaborators and mentors as a part of how you create and share. This week I have been considering something I think is critical to how we find success as writers and artists: that we tend to thrive when we collaborate with others, and failure is more likely when we try to go it alone. What this means is that having colleagues and mentors is something I encourage in terms of how you create and share your writing and art.