PODCAST · business
The Creating Pros Podcast
by James P. Nettles
Being a professional isn’t about the money you make, the position you hold, your level of expertise, or fame. It’s the motivation and attitude you bring to your work, a desire for always improving, and balancing your creative output with getting the business done.
Episodes
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Episode 82: The Mindkiller
The phrase "Fear is the mindkiller..." from Frank Herbert's Dune is as popular a quote in sci-fi as in personal development. Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of being on stage with Kevin J. Anderson talking about Dune, and thinking about some of the questions and feedback from other panels…
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Episode 81: Improv!
Improv is a great tool for inspiring creativity, improving cognitive function, developing social skills, and supporting mental health. Join me for a chat on the benefits of improv for your creativity, your business, and your life!
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Episode 80: Managing Adversity
Adversity is just a part of life - it comes to us through business, creativity, and our personal relationships. How do we handle it? How do we face it? How can we learn to manage it? I recently appeared on an upcoming episode of "Amputate to Amplify" with John Register, and got to meet him in...
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Episode 79: The Power of "I don't know"
Knowledge is power, but we can't know everything, even within our own specialties and expertise. What do we do when someone asks a dreaded question where we don't have an answer? Join me this week to talk about the power of, and next steps to, "I don't know!"
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Episode 78: Research Rabbit Holes
Creative output requires research. Being a writer often leads down the "research rabbit hole." How do you collect all that info? What do you do with it when you're done? When is it "enough?"
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Episode 77: Has AI Killed Social Media?
You can't avoid AI generated content anywhere at this point on social media. We see platforms starting to filter AI generated content, but do users care? What does this mean for creators? Has AI finally made social media useless for creators, or is there a correction coming?
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Episode 76: The Legacy of D&D
Dungeons and Dragons hits 50 years this year, and launched the modern era of RPGs. Building on thousands of years of gaming and storytelling, This week we celebrate D&D being eligible for AARP, and the influence it's had on society, technology, and creativity!
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Episode75: Embracing Imperfection
Perfection is a lie, but how do we know when we've gotten to good enough? And in the world where we compete with AI and and mass produced work, is imperfection the key to creative success?
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Episode 74: Jumping off the cliff
Change is always a little scary. Whether it's changing jobs, companies, or even starting a business, our mindsets and emotions will both be excited - and anxious. What can you expect to go through your mind, and then once you've made the decision, how can you take the leap off the cliff to your...
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Episode 73: Digital Security
Security basics aren't an option, especially in the digital space. Cybercrime is big business, and only growing. This creates bigger challenges for creators to balance personal safety and security against building brands, marketing, and getting to know your community. This week we touch on some…
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Episode 72: Recover and Prevent Burnout
When stress becomes burnout, our personal, professional, and creative lives pay the price. How can you tell if it's just stress, or are you burning out, how can you recover, and how can you prevent it in the future?
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Episode 71: Fear of success
Fear is primal. It's an instinct that is there to keep us alive, but it often won't let us thrive. Why do we often fear success? Why do we not take often even the "safe bet," much less the big gamble? How do we learn to manage, and even learn to harness fear and anxiety?
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Episode 70: Change of Space?
Believe it or not, coffee shops may offer more than just free WiFi. Is there benefit to creatives for getting out into public places? It turns out, for most of us, the answer is yes. At least sometimes.
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Episode 68: Gen AI Updates
I haven't touched on it here lately, but there are a few important movements in the Gen AI landscape this week. We're seeing leaps forward in Gen AI video quality, which raises more concerns about deep fakes. More importantly, we are starting to see the various lawsuits work through the court...
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Episode 67: Working With Agents with Lucienne Diver
Lucienne Diver (LucienneDiver.com) is an agent with the Knight Agency(KnightAgency.net), and a young adult and adult novelist. We do a deep dive into how you find and connect with an agent, the query process, what an agent does, and how to find a good one. We also discuss avoiding the scams in…
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Episode 66: The cost and value of awards
We all love to be recognized for our work, especially nominations, much less winning an award for our work. But when are the awards legitimate? There are a lot of scams out there. And what happens when even some of the biggest awards in the business come into question?
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Episode 65: Learning to Learn
Learning is a lifelong process, or at least should be. The act of learning helps mental health and mental acuity, creates personal and professional opportunities, and encourages creativity. This week we talk about the benefits and struggles of learning to learn, and some tips for how you can…
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Episode 64: Tax Time 2024
It's tax time 2024! Money works differently in a business than it does for your personal finances, and tax time is when you get to see a lot of the differences. Whether you are a freelancer, have a side business running, or it's your full time creative business, you have to deal with the second...
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Episode 63: Ada Lovelace - A case for STEAM
Ada Lovelace is a pioneer in computing, having worked with Charles Babbage and having innovated on his mathematical calculations engine to propose new and innovative uses, including creating music. We take a look at Ada Lovelace, and how her parents greatly influenced her, and ultimately set her…
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Creating Pros 62: Public Domain Day 2024 & the House of Mouse
January 1 is Public Domain Day in that ever year this is when thousands of works Copyrights expire and enter the public domain. This year, it was Mickey Mouse's turn. Being that Disney has been a significant influence on Copyright Law and extending out Copyright dates, it's worth taking a look at...
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Episode 61: I did a lot in 2023, but...
This one was supposed to drop last week, but technical issues! Every year as we head into the holidays, most of us begin reflecting on the past year, and come up with resolutions for the upcoming year, only to usually push them aside by the end of January. In this process this year, I've seen and...
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Episode 60: Comedy & Mental Health with John Ryan
John Ryan is a mental health expert and advocate and half the team of happytohealthyou.com where they blend humor and comedy with mental health. As a comedian, John performs in clubs and cruise ships, has written and performed for the BBC, Irish Times, Liberty Radio, and more. Join us as we talk...
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Episode 59: Fantasy Art with Ariel Burgess
In college, after being diagnosed with Dyslexia, Ariel Burgess (ArtistArielBurgess.com) painted the Wheel of Time playing cards and has since branched out towards film, story-boarding and concept art. She was an Official artist for The Wheel of Time from 2012 to 2019 and has been published...
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Episode 58: Business Strategy for Creatives
For most creatives and freelancers, "strategy" is throwing stuff at a wall to see what sticks. Are you trying to figure out why ads aren't working? Social media engagement sucks? One big factor is not treating your creative process and output like the commercial enterprise it is. Most people...
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Episode 57: Under the Spotlights with Randee Dawn
Randee Dawn reports on entertainment and lifestyle stories during the day for publications including Today.com, NBCNews.com, Variety, The Los Angeles Times and Emmy Magazine, and is a speculative fiction writer by night. We talk about her career, what the media side of life is like, covering...
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Episode 56: Gratitude
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating in the States. This week, I'm building on the last few. I want to touch on Gratitude. Real thankfulness. What is it, and how can it help us? How can we find it, and build it in ourselves? It's gratitude, not platitudes.
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Episode 55: The Power of Humility
Humility may not be a term often used about me, but this week we build on last week's exploration of Imposter Syndrome. What is humility? Where did the term come from, and what does it mean today in the world of social media? How can we be creative, run businesses, and yet have humility? Why is...
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Episode 54: Imposter Syndrome
Everyone faces imposter syndrome at some point, some more than others. This week we dive into what it is, how it manifests, and techniques to manage it.
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Episode 53: Life Cycles with Mel Todd
Melisa Todd joins me to talk this week about her move to becoming a full time author and publisher, what it's like to complete a series now that she is completing her second series, her popular "Twisted Luck" urban fantasy series and how it's different from wrapping up her Sci-Fi series "The…
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Episode 52: Lessons learned from Year One
This episode brings us up on a year since the relaunch of CP! This week, I touch on the three things I think are the biggest learnings for me, and some of the most meaningful conversations of the last year!
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Episode 51: Managing the Books with Rachel E. Carr
Creative businesses, like all businesses, runs by the numbers. Rachel E. Carr (RachelECarr.com) is an accountant and auditor by day, and an author by night. She joins me this week to talk about accounting, royalties, taxes, budgets, and the benefits of creativity in your professional life.
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Episode 50: Clarity & Intention
This week is a short, but important one. Have clarity and intention in what you say, and do.
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Episode 49: What’s your why?
I recently taught a workshop at DragonCon 2023 on side hustles. With a full room, we ran through the fundamentals of a business, starting your ideas, and ideas around marketing. A common factor to all of these is the question, 'What's your why?' The reason you look to go into business, especially...
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Episode 48: Superman’s Cleveland
Cleveland was home to Superman's creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. To celebrate Superman's 85th anniversary, locations all over Cleveland are hosting talks and events from September through November 2. Co-director Valentino Zullo joins me to talk about Superman’s Cleveland, and event for...
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Episode 47: Better Sleep, Better Creativity with Anne D. Bartolucci, Ph.D.
This week I chat with Anne D. Bartolucci, Ph.D. about the relationship between sleep, productivity, and creativity. We also talk about the relationship and connection between our creative selves, professional, and personal lives. You can find out more about Anne, and her alter ego Cecelia Dominic...
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Episode 46: The Spider Man Conference at Bowling Green State University
Sponsored by BGSU's Department of Popular Culture, the Browne Popular Culture Library, and School of Cultural and Critical Studies, the Spider-Man in Popular Cultured Conference is an academic and fan celebration of an iconic character from the comics, TV, film, gaming, and more. Join Dr. Charles...
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Episode 45: Meaningfulness
Last week I talked about self-censorship. This week I look at the meaning of creative work, and how is can affect not only the creator, but the fans and consumers as well.
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Episode 44: Self-censorship
Self-censorship comes in a lot of forms, and for a lot of reasons. Fear of how your ideas will be received, of ridicule, and rejection. Will you be 'cancelled.' Have you been told it's something you shouldn't write about? What are the costs of self-censorship, and how do you decide what's right…
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Episode 43: Are you being creative, or are you A Creative?
All of us are called on to be creative at work, at home, school, organizations, and every facet of our lives. But being A Creative is more a way of living and being. A way of looking at and approaching what we do. What does generative AI technology mean to being creative? How do we continue to be...
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Episode 42: It’s Your TIme
Time is the answer to the universe. We only get so much of it, and never really know how much that is. How do we use it? What's important to us? How do we set the boundaries to make sure we put aside time for what is important to us?
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Episode 41: Gatekeeping
Often, we think of gatekeeping being the process by which people are kept away from centers of power and influence to prevent the average person from reaching some goal. Agents and editors are the age old gatekeepers of publishing and entertainment. In my experience, it's more about making sure…
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Episode 40: Grants - Free Money?
Funding a project can be hard, we look at self funding, crowd funding, but what about one that has fueled the arts for centuries? What are grants, and are they really free money?
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Episode 39: Managing Risk in your Creative Business
What is risk? What does it mean to running a creative business? A creative life? How do you manage and mitigate it? This week is all about understanding what risk really is, and how to handle it!
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Episode 38: Power of professional organizations
Over the weekend, I moderated a panel with John Scalzi and John Hartness, discussing working with professional organizations for writers, such as SWFA, HWA, and the RWA. This week I recap the discussion, diving into the benefits, and sometimes challenges of being a member in these organizations.…
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Episode 37: The Problem with Reviews
As people, we rely on the opinions and experiences of others. In the digital age, it's no longer friends and family, but online monikers and avatars. How do we deal with fake and toxic reviews? Do they even have any real meaning any more?
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Episode 36: Science and Creative Discipline with David Ekrut
David Ekrut is a PHD scientist, researcher, mathematician, science reporter, and fantasy author. We dive into the winding path of his career, his process, disciplines, and how his scientific background influences his work, and how his creative outlets support his career! Plus some introvert...
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Episode 35: Why Context Matters
Hi all, This week's episode is a little late, I was overseas for the last few weeks touring the UK. It's been a number of years since I've been over, and I reflect on how writers and creatives are remembered, and even revered. I toured the neighborhoods where Brahm Stoker stalked and Oscar Wilde...
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Episode 34: Writing and Critique with Much Ado About Writing
Developing your skills is critical in any endeavor, and being a writer is no different. Join Valerie Heller and Katherine Penndorf, the duo behind Much Ado About Writing where we talk about writing groups, writing critique, and the programs they offer!
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Episode 33: Music, Art, Comics, and Games with David Taylor II
David Taylor II is an award winning author, songwriter, producer, and playwright, having written books, comics, and games, in music he's written rap, gospel, adult contemporary, and musical theater for for Justin Bieber,Usher, Cuba Gooding Sr., Dave Koz and the James Taylor singers. He has done...
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Episode 32:The Art of Tom Flemming
This is one we've been trying to get scheduled for almost a year (and been talking about it longer than that). Tom Flemming got his start designing for the World Wrestling Federation (Now the WWE). Tom has painted covers & trading cards for almost every major publisher in the comic book industry...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Being a professional isn’t about the money you make, the position you hold, your level of expertise, or fame. It’s the motivation and attitude you bring to your work, a desire for always improving, and balancing your creative output with getting the business done.
HOSTED BY
James P. Nettles
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Creating Pros Podcast have?
The Creating Pros Podcast currently has 81 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Creating Pros Podcast about?
Being a professional isn’t about the money you make, the position you hold, your level of expertise, or fame. It’s the motivation and attitude you bring to your work, a desire for always improving, and balancing your creative output with getting the business done.
How often does The Creating Pros Podcast release new episodes?
The Creating Pros Podcast has 81 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Creating Pros Podcast?
You can listen to The Creating Pros Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Creating Pros Podcast?
The Creating Pros Podcast is created and hosted by James P. Nettles.
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