I spend the last quarter of every year going back to the well. Back to my source of creative inspiration in order to find ways to better live my mission as a writer and creator. Today I take you inside my process for how I create specific plans for the next year. 

Today I reflect on marketing practices that I feel are not only highly effective, but well suited to introverts. With so much of the work I do with writers, I find that people are apprehensive to "put themselves out there." Today I try to make the entire process more approachable, and dare I say, fulfilling.

Brian Sherrill was miserable in his day job, and one day, he sat down and listed out all of the things he enjoyed in life. On that list was his love of playing guitar and mandolin, and of social media and the internet. In this conversation, Brian and I talk about how he got from that moment to earning a full-time living by writing a musical composition each week and teaching people how to play it on guitar. If you ever consider if you can radically change your life to focus on your craft, listen in!

Two years ago, I first interviewed Elise Blaha Cripe about how she developed her career as a creative professional. Her new book is about to be published, Big Dreams, Daily Joys: A Step-by-Step Guide to Crushing Your Goals, so I reached out to her to discuss the process of writing and launching her book, and the advice she has for making creative goals a part of your every day life.

In this episode, psychologist and author Kelly McGonigal is going to share with you a radically different vision of what it means for an author to connect with readers and prepare for a book launch. Her new book, The Joy of Movement, comes out in December, and she shares specifics on what she is doing and why. She also shares what having a viral TED talk with twenty million views, did (and didn't) do for her career. Oh, she will also explain why she turned down an invitation from Richard Branson!

Bestselling author Jennifer Louden is about to upend your idea of what success as a writer looks like. She's been a bestseller, she's been on Oprah, and she's been a successful author for more than 25 years. But the wisdom she picked up along the way will surprise you. We dig into topics of book marketing, navigating your writing career, the creative process and so much more.

All I do all day is talk to writers and creators about what to create, how to get it done, and how to connect it with people who care. Today I want to discuss the essential first ingredient: creative clarity. I'll share some resources for how to instill your process with radical clarity. 

What happens when a celebrity with 11 million followers tells them all that she loves your book? Today, author Jessica Lahey and I discuss that exact situation, and dig deep into the tactics and strategies of book marketing.

Each year, Boston's GrubStreet offers more than 600 courses and programs for writers. They began in 1997 with 8 students, and today, they serve more than 6,000 writers per year. In this episode, I talk to GrubStreet Founder and Executive Director Eve Bridburg. We dig into how she and the GrubStreet team make decisions, take risks, and challenge themselves to expand how they can serve writers throughout the Boston Community. 

Earlier this year, author Audrey Monke and I talked about her plans for her upcoming book launch. I knew that she had been preparing for it for months -- even years -- ahead of time. But I waited to have her on the podcast, because I didn't just want to discuss what she was planning, but also the results! Today I'm excited to share with you that conversation. We dig into serious details on her book launch strategy and results! Audrey is the author of Happy Campers: 9 Summer Camp Secrets for Raising Kids Who Become Thriving Adults.

In this episode of The Creative Shift Podcast, I talk with literary agent Lori Kilkelly about two creative shifts that she made in her career. The first is when she left a successful career in advertising and sales pursue a career in publishing, starting as an intern. The next one is more recent, the launch of her own agency: LK Literary Agency. 

Today I want to share my process for getting out of a creative rut. So many writers and creators I speak with struggle to develop the habits they need to feel fulfilled in what they create, I wanted to share my way of staying on track. In this episode I also mention my next Creative Shift Mastermind which begins July 1: http://wegrowmedia.com/mm/

In this interview with bestselling author Chuck Wendig, he gets really honest about how he navigated his career as a writer from early jobs to hitting the bestseller list. We dig into details of the four novels he wrote which were never published; how he changed from taking 4 years to write a book, to 30 days for the one that followed; the real value of social media for writers; and the reality of what it is like to have your book optioned for a deal in Hollywood.

Today I want to share the specific steps I took to help a first-time author establish her platform and release her book. The topline results of our work together so far: her book hit #1 New Release in the Divorce category on Amazon; She now manages a thriving private community of 1,350+ people; She has 2,500+ people who like her Facebook Page, with lots of engagement. The author is Whitney Boole, and her new book is You Got This: Healing Through Divorce.

Leigh Stein did something that few writers do: she talked publicly about how many copies her books have sold. Her novel sold 8,000 copies. Her memoir that followed it sold 1,345 copies, which was hugely disappointing to her. In particular because it came out at a time when she was running an organization of 40,000 people. We dig into the highs and lows of the writing life, and what she learned in publishing fiction, memoir, and poetry. Plus we celebrate the sale of her new book to Penguin!

In this episode of The Creative Shift podcast, I interview author Brian Heiler about how he developed a thriving online community around his love for 1970s toys and pop culture. He runs PlaidStallions.com and is the author of the book: Rack Toys: Cheap Crazed Playthings. He blew me away when he told me that in order to do the layout and design for the book he wrote, he went to night school! I Oh, and we talk about the time his dad came home with 5,000 General Urko dolls from Planet of the Apes.

"The most interesting marketing opportunities are those that are unconventional." That is how author-illustrator Lori Richmond sums up the case study we are about to present here. In today's episode of The Creative Shift podcast, we take you step by step as to how Lori discovered a way to get her work seen by millions of people in the middle of New York City. You can find Lori at LoriDraws.com and on Instagram at @LoriRichmondDraws

In this episode, I share my system for how to develop a daily creative practice. For some of you, this may be to double-down on your primary craft, such as your writing or art. But for others, it may help you better stay connected with your ideal audience through your blog, newsletter, podcast or other means. 

In this episode of The Creative Shift podcast, artist, illustrator, and author Samantha Dion Baker takes us inside her career. She tells us how a simple daily practice of drawing radically reshaped her career, and helped her stay true to her creative vision. She is the author of the book Draw Your Day. 

I'm excited to share my interview with author, entrepreneur, and teacher Seth Godin. He just released a new book, This is Marketing, and has spent his career sharing advice in his 17 other books, 7,000 blog posts, and many other resources. In this podcast, we dig deep into Seth's career, and the many decisions he made in order to create a staggering body of work. 

In this remarkably honest interview for The Creative Shift Podcast, author and illustrator Rebecca Green gives us a behind-the-scenes look at how she continues to find her creative direction, and navigate growth in her career as a full-time author/illustrator. We also dig into her love/hate relationship with social media, and how she uses collaboration to help her strategically reach her creative and business goals.

On Instagram this morning I saw a series of videos from author Miranda Beverly-Whittemore where she talked about how she keeps writing, even when she has some bad days with it. I asked if she would hop on the phone to talk about this topic, and she was up for it! In this conversation, we dig into: life after becoming a New York Times bestselling author; the importance of creative collaboration; how she works through feelings of despair, exhaustion, and doubt; and  how becoming a parent made her MORE productive.

Today's show is a masterclass in human-centered publicity. I speak with Seale Ballenger, who is the Publicity Director at Disney Publishing Worldwide. He has worked with legendary writers, and shares his experience of what publicity looks like within the publishing industry. He has worked within Random House, Simon and Schuster, HarperCollins and many other publishers. What Seale shares isn't just useful, but truly inspiring. 

In this week's episode of The Creative Shift podcast, I talk to comedian, author, and speaker Nina G. She walks us through the moment when she made a profound creative shift in her life: "I was allowing people to talk instead of me. I cleaned house and started a new life." In this interview, we talk about the details of how she made that shift, how she pursued comedy, wrote her upcoming memoir, and we dig into her creative process.

In this episode of The Creative Shift with Dan Blank, I speak to Tim Calkins, Clinical Professor of Marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. We discuss the cornerstones of marketing and his experience in launching his latest book: "How to Wash a Chicken - Mastering the Business Presentation." We dig into his book launch strategy, what worked, what didn't, and what he will do differently next time.