BOW 004: The Craft and Strategy of Self-Publishing w/ Derek Murphy

Jun 12, 2019

While this is one of our first episodes, we can already tell this is going to be one of the most popular guests on our show.

 

Derek Murphy is a writer, artist, and entrepreneur who is taking the self-publishing industry by storm. He's studied philosophy, fine art, and comparative literature at a high level in universities across the globe.

 

These unique experiences have shaped both his writing, and his approach to navigating the publishing industry.

 

Now Derek owns over a dozen companies which help indie writers publish and promote their writing – yet somehow finds time to put out 1-2 successful novels per year himself.

 

In addition, he co-writes books with other authors, coaches indie writers through their first books, and hosts writing retreats in castles across ancient Europe (yes... real castles).

If you're into the craft of writing books and the strategy behind making them successful – this is one episode you don't want to miss.

Episode Highlights

 

There were so many great moments in this episode, it's hard to know where to start! Some of the biggest takeaways include:

 

• How and where to learn the craft of writing
• Derek's clever trick for writing books on your iPhone
• How Derek writes, launches, and publishes 1-2 novels per year
• Derek's thoughts on the battle between ‘writing for money’ and ‘writing for art’
• How fiction writers organize, plan and create big series
• The controversy about self-publishing vs “real writing”
• The difference between writing with a pre-planned outline vs. "writing by the seat of your pants"
• The strategy behind a successful book launch
• How to get your book to stick to the top of the best-seller charts after your launch
• Where the REAL money is in self-publishing
• How new writers can get past the high price point when publishing their first books
• How to co-write with other authors to produce new and exciting content
• And our personal favorite – how to rent a castle in Europe and use it for your own personal writing hideaway