The Alignment Show Ep. 78 with Jo Penn

We had a great conversation this week with Joanna Penn, despite challenges facing your host. We originated the podcast from my daughter’s hospital room, and so the audio quality of the intro and outro isn’t up to our usual standards. Plus, although the promo went up on our video channels, our subscribers did not get the notice of the upcoming episode, for which I apologize! Plus again, stutters in the video feed led to a less-than-optimal experience on the video channels. I’m going to re-edit the video and post it on the video channels so that folks who prefer video will have a better experience, but I wanted to go ahead and post this to the list for those who prefer audio. When we have the new videos up, I will send you a brief message, and I will then point this post to those better videos. Why did I want to get this out rather than just skip this episode, especially since we’ve said the podcast has become irregular? Because it featured Jo Penn, and we had already announced it. Jo is a trailblazer in independent publishing, a pioneer in Kindle publishing, and a forward-thinking creator embracing the role of an AI-assisted artisan author. She writes craft books to support writers as Joanna Penn, and fiction, travel, and memoir as J.F. Penn. With nearly 40 books to her name under both “Penn names,” her impact on modern publishing is unmatched. Her craft books, like How to Market a Book and How to Write Non-Fiction, are must-reads for anyone serious about writing and publishing in today’s rapidly evolving landscape. Now, Joanna is back with a completely rewritten and updated second edition of How to Write Non-Fiction, tailored to meet the needs of modern writers in the digital age. We were privileged to host Jo in January 2024, just around a year ago… …and we’re thrilled to welcome her back for another insightful conversation. Get ready to learn from one of the most innovative voices in the writing world as we discuss her journey, her creative process, and her vision for the future of publishing. Resources we discussed include: * Episode 46 of The Alignment Show. * Joanna Penn’s website for writers and online bookstore for writers. * J.F. Penn’s website for her work and online bookstore for fiction, memoir, and other projects. * We referenced Midjourney as the tool Jo has used recently to aid in cover design. * We also talked about her use of Runway.ml to produce video. Get full access to The Confidence Cultivator at confidencecultivator.substack.com/subscribe This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kingschronicles.substack.com/subscribe