Episode 25: The Book Publishing Journey with Vicki Atkinson

Posted on by Wynne Leon

The other night I was sitting at dinner with my dear blogging friend, Betsy Kerekes, and mentioned that she has written three books. After dinner she jokingly said to me something like, “it was a great dinner except for having to get out of talking about my books.” I thought to myself, “oh good, I’m not the only one who finds the marketing part of this business painful.”

So in this episode of the podcast, I’m with Vicki Atkinson and we’re discussing the book publishing process. We talk about the trepidation that publication can bring, the feeling that comes with opening what you’ve worked on privately for so long to a wider audience. Vicki helps to counter that by grounding us in knowing our purpose and inspiration for writing.

We talk about the difference between writing to spill secrets and writing to provide insight into how to be resilient through tough situations. Often, the difference lies in doing the work to center ourselves so that we are ready to write. Then one can operate from a foundation of curiosity and healing instead of just recounting the stories that wound.

Vicki walks us through some of the marketing activities she is currently wrangling with, regardless of how you publish a work, all the effort that goes in to promote it. We discuss what a different animal marketing is from writing, even though they both leave us feeling tenuous and exposed.

We discuss the differences between self-publishing and signing with a publisher, ranging from all the components like cover art, and editing that you need to fund if you self-publish and comparing it to the distribution and contracts that come with a publisher.

And then we circle back to having a clear purpose for writing the memoirs that are so personal and mean so much to us, and how that pushes us through all these uncomfortable aspects of not only writing, but the marketing and beyond. This is a great episode about taking books to market and all that comes with it and I know you’ll love it.

Episode 134: Perfect with P.J. Gudka – Sharing the Heart of the Matter

Looking for a compelling author interview and a great newpsychological thriller to add to your reading list? In this episode of Sharing the Heart of the Matter, P. J. Gudka joins us to discuss her debut novel, Perfect, a psychological domestic thriller centered on family secrets, generationaltrauma, perfectionism, and moral complexity. We talk about her transition from poetry to fiction, how she built layered and relatable characters, and why empathy matters so much in storytelling. P. J. also shares insights into the writing process, self-publishing, the power of the writing community, and what she’s working on next.If you enjoy book podcasts, author interviews, psychological thrillers, and conversations about creativity, this episode isone you won’t want to miss.Links for this episode:Transcript: Episode 134: Perfect with P.J. Gudka transcriptPurchase "Perfect": Amazon.com: Perfect eBook : Gudka, P. J. : Kindle StorePooja's Blog: Lifesfinewhine – The Life & Ramblings Of A ZillennialFrom the hosts:Vicki’s new book – a ghost story, Slivers. Her book about resilience and love: Surviving Sue; Blog: https://victoriaponders.com/Wynne's blog: Surprised by Joy and podcast: The Life of Try
  1. Episode 134: Perfect with P.J. Gudka
  2. Episode 133: Shadow of the Deceiver with Dr. Wayne Runde
  3. Episode 132: South Side Memories with Gloria Golec
  4. Episode 131: Attacking the Dragon with Marc Ross
  5. Episode 130: Take Me Back to Chicago with Doug E. Jones

Search (and subscribe!) for Sharing the Heart of the Matter on Apple, Amazon, Spotify or Pocket Casts OR Listen to Episode 25: The Book Publishing Journey with Vicki Atkinson on Anchor

Links for this Episode:

Episode 25: The Book Publishing Journey with Vicki Atkinson on Anchor

Surviving Sue | Eckhartz Press

Vicki’s blog: Victoria Ponders

35 thoughts on “Episode 25: The Book Publishing Journey with Vicki Atkinson”

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  6. re: “doing the work to center ourselves so that we are ready to write … “– thank you! this makes so much sense to me. i’m very much working on the “centering” part. thank you for the podcast and the lesson!

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    2. So glad you liked it Julia. That marketing stuff is HARD, isn’t it? But when you have something like Voices, well worth remembering that it’s helping other people!

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