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The Indy Author Podcast

by Matty Dalrymple, The Indy Author

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The Indy Author Podcast is for writers who are serious about both the craft of writing and the business of publishing — whether you're working toward your first book or building on an established career.Every week, host Matty Dalrymple talks with authors, editors, marketers, and publishing professionals about what's actually working right now. Topics span the full range of the writing life: developing compelling characters and tighter plots, navigating indie and traditional publishing paths, running effective book marketing campaigns, building an author platform, working with AI tools, writing short fiction and memoir, managing the business side of an author career, and much more.With hundreds of episodes in the catalog featuring guests from across the publishing world — from debut authors to bestsellers, indie publishers to Big Five veterans — there's something here for writers at every stage of their journey.Named one of the 10 Best Podcasts for Authors by Dale L. Roberts, and rec

From the show's RSS feed, refreshed Oct 20, 2026. Source feed.

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Episodes

  1. Turning Life's Plot Twists into a Powerful Memoir with John DeDakis - #359

    Matty Dalrymple talks with John DeDakis about TURNING LIFE'S PLOT TWISTS INTO A POWERFUL MEMOIR, including how a universal theme turns personal memories into a story readers can enter, how a life narrative and timeline reveal pivotal moments, and how beta readers help identify what does not serve...

  2. Building Connection Through Long-Form Content with Dan Blank - #358

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Dan Blank about BUILDING CONNECTION THROUGH LONG-FORM CONTENT, including why audiences are seeking greater depth, how authors can use long-form and less-polished content to create genuine connection, and why practice matters more than natural ease on camera. We also...

  3. Online Community Etiquette for Authors with Dale L. Roberts - #357

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Dale L. Roberts about ONLINE COMMUNITY ETIQUETTE FOR AUTHORS, including how to ask focused questions, respond with empathy, and choose communities that match the kind of help you need. We also discuss moderation, respecting other people's time, and sharing expertise...

  4. Flexibility Is the Key to Creative Power: Planning a Series with Pamela Fagan Hutchins - #356

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Pamela Fagan Hutchins about FLEXIBILITY IS THE KEY TO CREATIVE POWER: PLANNING A SERIES, including how three-book arcs can grow into six-book roadmaps; why character wounds, recurring antagonists, and a unifying crime narrative keep readers moving through a series; how...

  5. Writing Iconic Characters with Enneagram with Claire Taylor - #355

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Claire Taylor about WRITING ICONIC CHARACTERS WITH ENNEAGRAM, including how core fears and desires shape memorable characters, how to deepen an existing series, and how to build protagonist-and-villain chemistry. We also discuss character growth, choosing meaningful...

  6. Social Media Strategy for Authors with Dan Blank - #354

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Dan Blank about SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY FOR AUTHORS, including why fragmented platforms need not mean the end of social media, how human stories stand out amid AI-generated content, why simple narratives and imperfect presentation can build trust, how writers can define...

  7. Writing the Stories Only Life Can Teach You with Bruce Robert Coffin - #353

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Bruce Robert Coffin about WRITING THE STORIES ONLY LIFE CAN TEACH YOU, including how Bruce's police career supplied the lived experience behind his fiction, what writers can learn by reading analytically, how mystery authors guide and misdirect readers, the common...

  8. Building AI Trust to Improve Book Discoverability with Meg Casebolt - #352

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Meg Casebolt about BUILDING AI TRUST TO IMPROVE BOOK DISCOVERABILITY, including how AI tools are changing book discovery, why keywords need support from consistent online signals, the value of relevant links and reader recommendations, and why sustained marketing builds...

  9. How Tech Is Changing Crime Fiction with Patrick O'Donnell - #351

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Patrick O'Donnell about HOW TECH IS CHANGING CRIME FICTION, including the camera footage that cracked his first homicide case; why smaller police departments sometimes have better equipment than big cities; the real legal limits on drone surveillance and monitoring...

  10. Beyond the Launch: Reviving Your Backlist with Jeff Elkins - #350

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Jeff Elkins about BEYOND THE LAUNCH: REVIVING YOUR BACKLIST, including how to give a never- or lightly-marketed backlist titles a second life; why a book's launch no longer has to determine its fate; finding readers one at a time, in the places they actually are;...

  11. What Draft2Digital's New Fees Mean for Indie Authors with Kris Austin - #349

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Kris Austin about WHAT DRAFT2DIGITAL'S NEW FEES MEAN FOR INDIE AUTHORS, including how the new $20 activation fee and $12 annual maintenance fee are designed to break the business model of scammers and bad actors; why AI-generated spam pushed Draft2Digital and retailers…

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  12. Laying the Groundwork for Book Rights Deals with Jane Friedman - #348

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Jane Friedman about LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR BOOK RIGHTS DEALS, including why publishers are increasingly licensing selected rights from successful indie authors, the sales and reader-engagement signals that attract their attention, how to build a business that creates...

  13. Using Magpie Mode to Gather and Connect Ideas with Jessie Kwak - #347

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Jessie Kwak about USING MAGPIE MODE TO GATHER AND CONNECT IDEAS, including collecting creative sparks before you know exactly where they belong, finding patterns among seemingly unrelated notes, building a practical system for capturing and reviewing ideas, applying the...

  14. Building an Authentic Author Brand with Mark Leslie Lefebvre - #346

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Mark Leslie Lefebvre about BUILDING AN AUTHENTIC AUTHOR BRAND, including how your brand already exists whether or not you have consciously shaped it, using reader feedback and comparable authors to identify your strongest brand signals, balancing consistency with...

  15. Book Marketing on a Budget with Kevin Hall - #345

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Kevin Hall about BOOK MARKETING ON A BUDGET, including how to pitch print publications, radio stations, and libraries with a brief, targeted email; why alumni associations are an overlooked goldmine for book exposure; how to navigate paid media opportunities; and the...

  16. Finding Your Author Archetype to Avoid Burnout with Frankie Blooding - #344

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Frankie Blooding about FINDING YOUR AUTHOR ARCHETYPE TO AVOID BURNOUT, including the four archetypes and the distinct burnout patterns and red flags tied to each one, why matching your personality type to your business model reduces wasted energy, how to uncover the...

  17. Writing Better Characters with the Big Five Personality Traits with Kat Caldwell - #343

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Kat Caldwell about WRITING BETTER CHARACTERS WITH THE BIG FIVE PERSONALITY, including what the five traits are and how they function as a spectrum rather than fixed categories; why a character's "need" is really about the unconscious ways their personality causes hurt…

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  18. Hybrid Publishing: Green Flags, Red Flags, and What to Expect with Gordon McClellan - #342

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Gordon McClellan about HYBRID PUBLISHING: GREEN FLAGS, RED FLAGS, AND WHAT TO EXPECT, including the key difference between a genuine hybrid publisher and a publishing mill, why a publisher saying "not yet" is actually the green flag authors should be looking for, how to...

  19. Conflict, Character, and Motivation with Austin S. Camacho - #341

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Austin S. Camacho about CONFLICT, CHARACTER, AND MOTIVATION, including why conflict is about opposing goals rather than violence, how to find conflict in every scene including ones between characters who agree, how internal conflict distinguishes heroes from villains…

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  20. Interiority: The Secret Sauce of Good Fiction with Kristen Tate - #340

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Kristen Tate about INTERIORITY: THE SECRET SAUCE OF GOOD FICTION, including how to calibrate the depth of interiority across multiple point-of-view characters; the difference between overt and subtle interiority, and why the "she thought" tag is usually unnecessary; how...

  21. Smart Marketing Over Hot Genres with Dale L. Roberts - #339

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Dale L. Roberts about SMART MARKETING OVER HOT GENRES, including why consistent promotion matters more than genre selection, how going wide on platforms like Kobo and direct sales tools like Curios and Payhip can boost profitability, what your Amazon product page must…

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  22. The Choreography of a Scene with Rene Gutteridge - #338

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Rene Gutteridge about THE CHOREOGRAPHY OF A SCENE, including how to identify the purpose of every scene before you write it, where to enter a scene for maximum impact, how to balance propulsive moments with the quieter character-development scenes your story also needs,...

  23. Story First, Marketing Second with Carlo J. Emanuele - #337

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Carlo J. Emanuele about STORY FIRST, MARKETING SECOND, including why authors make the same mistake corporate executives do when they lead with features instead of value, how to move beyond genre labels to find the emotional core of your pitch, why comps should describe…

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  24. The Economics of Con Life with Todd Fahnestock - #336

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Todd Fahnestock about THE ECONOMICS OF CON LIFE, including the real costs and revenue thresholds of selling books at cons, why five books is the minimum for a viable booth, how selling sets instead of singles and leaning into cover art and merch changed his income, the...

  25. Substack for Fiction and Nonfiction Writers with Elle Griffin - #335

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Elle Griffin about SUBSTACK FOR FICTION AND NONFICTION WRITERS, including why she chose Substack over social media, and how she built her audience through direct email outreach instead; how she serialized a gothic novel and earned $120,000 from roughly 150 paid...

  26. Your Humanity Is Your Brand with Jeniffer Thompson - #334

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Jeniffer Thompson about YOUR HUMANITY IS YOUR BRAND, including how AI search actually rewards the content you've already created, the SEO fundamentals that still matter including the KDP keyword trick most authors miss, why your brand is your promise and not your logo,...

  27. From Data to Discovery: ALLi's Indie Author Bookstore with Melissa Addey - #333

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Melissa Addey about FROM DATA TO DISCOVERY: ALLi's INDIE AUTHOR BOOKSTORE, including what three years of income surveys reveal about indie versus traditional publishing earnings, how ALLi's new Indie Author Bookstore works as a curated shop window for thousands of indie...

  28. Writing Rules You Can Break with Kristen Tate - #332

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Kristen Tate about WRITING RULES YOU CAN BREAK, including why the longer you edit the fewer hard rules there seem to be, when adverbs earn their place and when they're redundant, why telling is a tool novelists have that screenwriters envy, how passive voice can…

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  29. Tropes as Tools in Mysteries & Thrillers with Sara Rosett - #331

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Sara Rosett about TROPES AS TOOLS IN MYSTERIES & THRILLERS, including the differences among tropes, genre conventions, and clichés, how scars and secrets function as plotting engines, how to scale the same trope for different genres, using tropes to inject new energy…

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  30. Writing the Moments that Matter with Rene Gutteridge - #330

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Rene Gutteridge about WRITING THE MOMENTS THAT MATTER, including how real-life dramatic events translate differently to film and to fiction, why interiority is the novelist's greatest advantage over screenwriters, how to slow down a high-intensity scene so readers feel...

  31. A Poet's Guide to Craft, Publishing, and Community with Robert Lee Brewer - #329

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Robert Lee Brewer about A POET'S GUIDE TO CRAFT, PUBLISHING, AND COMMUNITY, including how to recognize when an idea wants to be a poem, two very different approaches to revision, the publishing landscape for poets from journal submissions to full collections, how to...

  32. Learn to Write It, Learn to Publish It: Western Colorado University Master's Programs in Publishing and Genre Fiction with Kevin J. Anderson & Johanna Parkhurst - #328

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Kevin J. Anderson and Johanna Parkhurst about LEARN TO WRITE IT, LEARN TO PUBLISH IT, about Western Colorado University's master's programs in publishing and genre fiction, which treat commercial fiction as worthy of serious study and teach students every step from...

  33. Media Tie-ins for Fun and Profit with Jonathan Maberry - #327

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Jonathan Maberry about MEDIA TIE-INS FOR FUN AND PROFIT, including what media tie-in writing is, how the licensing works, the creative constraints of writing in someone else's world, how to find open calls and pitch editors, the career strategy of when to pursue tie-in...

  34. Story First, Genre Second: Lessons from Romantasy for Every Writer with Brenna Bailey-Davies - #326

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Brenna Bailey-Davies about STORY FIRST, GENRE SECOND: LESSONS FROM ROMANTASY FOR EVERY WRITER, including why genre works best as a marketing tool rather than a creative constraint, how to signal genre in your first chapter without over-promising on tropes, the danger of...

  35. Reveals as the Striptease of Fiction with Tiffany Yates Martin - #325

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Tiffany Yates Martin about why reveals are one of the most powerful yet mishandled tools in fiction, techniques for concealing and timing information using POV, structure, and reader assumptions, the dangers of being too cryptic or too obvious, how beta readers can...

  36. Writing Ensemble Casts That Keep Readers Hooked with Jennifer Probst - #324

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Jennifer Probst about WRITING ENSEMBLE CASTS THAT KEEP READERS HOOKED, including strategies for developing believable character relationships and chemistry, balancing primary and secondary characters in series fiction, keeping relationship arcs consistent across books,...

  37. Navigating the Short Fiction Market with Authority with Angelique Fawns - #323

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Angelique Fawns about NAVIGATING THE SHORT FICTION MARKET WITH AUTHORITY, including how a broken ankle and a thousand dollars in failed contest entries led to a thriving short fiction career; why the intersection of your day-job skills and your creative passion is where...

  38. Becoming a Better Writer by Being a Better Reader with Kristen Tate - #322

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Kristen Tate about BECOMING A BETTER WRITER BY BEING A BETTER READER, including how novel study helps authors analyze story structure, scene design, pacing, and sentences; practical strategies for rereading fiction with purpose; learning craft lessons from the books you...

  39. Optimizing the ROI of an Author Assistant with Kevin Tumlinson - #321

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Kevin Tumlinson about OPTIMIZING THE ROI OF AN AUTHOR ASSISTANT, including how authors can use an author assistant to improve marketing ROI, which publishing and marketing tasks make sense to outsource, how to evaluate return on investment, how AI can support an author...

  40. The Writer's Guide to Finding Community with Jessie Kwak - #320

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Jessie Kwak about THE WRITER'S GUIDE TO FINDING COMMUNITY, including practical strategies for building a strong writing community, how to connect with other writers at author events, approaches for overcoming isolation and joining the right groups for your goals, tips…

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  41. How and Why to Market Nonfiction Before You Write with Karen Williams - #319

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Karen Williams about HOW AND WHY TO MARKET NONFICTION BEFORE YOU WRITE, including how nonfiction book marketing can start before a single word is written, why early audience research and conversation-based marketing strengthen book positioning, and how authors can use...

  42. Reimagining Success Through Self-Advocacy and Collaboration with Laura Goode - #318

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Laura Goode about REIMAGINING SUCCESS THROUGH SELF-ADVOCACY AND COLLABORATION, including how authors can build supportive writing communities, strategies for finding the right mentors and artistic partners, overcoming comparison and competition in the writing world, and...

  43. Insights From My Podcast Sabbatical with Matty Dalrymple - #317

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Matty Dalrymple about INSIGHTS FROM MY PODCAST SABBATICAL, including how a podcast sabbatical sparked a strategic reset for her indie author business, reshaped her approach to direct sales and discoverability, informed new platform decisions, refined her consulting…

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  44. Taking a Break for a Creative Refresh with Matty Dalrymple - #316

    Matty Dalrymple talks about TAKING A BREAK FOR A CREATIVE REFRESH, including how intentional downtime can boost author productivity, help you refocus on your priorities, and give you space to plan your writing and publishing goals; why a December reset can support long-term creative…

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  45. Reigniting Your Creativity with Writing Contests with Polly Campbell - #315

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Polly Campbell about REIGNITING YOUR CREATIVITY WITH WRITING CONTESTS, including how contests can boost your creativity, help you generate new story ideas, and strengthen your writing craft; how prompts and deadlines can push you out of your comfort zone in a positive...

  46. Harnessing AI for Affordable Audio with Phil Marshall - #314

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Phil Marshall about HARNESSING AI FOR AFFORDABLE AUDIO, including how AI narration is transforming audiobook creation for indie authors, how tools like Spoken make professional-quality audio faster and more affordable, and how authors can customize voices, experiment…

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  47. Unearthing Story Treasures with Beth Daley of Europeana - #313

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Beth Daley about UNEARTHING STORY TREASURES WITH EUROPEANA, including how writers and storytellers can use the Europeana digital archive to spark creativity, deepen research, and find free resources for their projects—whether you're looking for historical details,...

  48. Storytelling through Epistolary Fiction with David Viergutz - #312

    Matty Dalrymple talks with David Viergutz about STORYTELLING THROUGH EPISTOLARY FICTION, including how immersive fiction can pull readers off the screen and into the story through physical letters and artifacts; the storytelling and business principles behind David Viergutz's Scare Mail and...

  49. What to Quit and How to Know with Becca Syme - #311

    Matty Dalrymple talks with Becca Syme about WHAT TO QUIT AND HOW TO KNOW, including how to recognize when a writing or publishing strategy no longer serves you, how to overcome fear-based decisions that lead to burnout, and how to build a sustainable, hope-filled author career. Becca shares...

  50. Writing to Heal with John DeDakis - #310

    Matty Dalrymple talks with John DeDakis about WRITING TO HEAL, including how writing can help us process grief and loss, why moving toward pain rather than away from it can lead to emotional growth, and how journaling, memoir, and fiction each offer unique ways to heal through storytelling. John...

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About this show

The Indy Author Podcast is for writers who are serious about both the craft of writing and the business of publishing — whether you're working toward your first book or building on an established career.Every week, host Matty Dalrymple talks with authors, editors, marketers, and publishing professionals about what's actually working right now. Topics span the full range of the writing life: developing compelling characters and tighter plots, navigating indie and traditional publishing paths, running effective book marketing campaigns, building an author platform, working with AI tools, writing short fiction and memoir, managing the business side of an author career, and much more.With hundreds of episodes in the catalog featuring guests from across the publishing world — from debut authors to bestsellers, indie publishers to Big Five veterans — there's something here for writers at every stage of their journey.Named one of the 10 Best Podcasts for Authors by Dale L. Roberts, and rec

Hosted by

Matty Dalrymple, The Indy Author

Frequently asked questions

How many episodes does The Indy Author Podcast have?

The Indy Author Podcast has 358 episodes on PodParley. The most recent episode was published on October 27, 2026.

What is The Indy Author Podcast about?

The Indy Author Podcast is for writers who are serious about both the craft of writing and the business of publishing — whether you're working toward your first book or building on an established career.Every week, host Matty Dalrymple talks with authors, editors, marketers, and publishing...

How often does The Indy Author Podcast release new episodes?

The Indy Author Podcast publishes every two weeks, based on its 358 episodes since May 2016.

Who hosts The Indy Author Podcast?

The Indy Author Podcast is created and hosted by Matty Dalrymple, The Indy Author.
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