LL 022: Self-Publishing and Living in Castles with Derek Murphy

In the 22nd episode of the Live Limitless podcast, I chat with Derek Murphy of creativeindie.com.  I met Derek in a Facebook group for Kindle authors after he volunteered to create a cool marketing image of my book Limitless Travel. Derek is a philosophy major turned book designer and writer with a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature. He launched CreativeIndie.com to help authors and artists turn their passions into full-time businesses. Derek is also a digital nomad who often lives and writes in the locations of his fictional stories. As we recorded this podcast, he was staying in a castle. Although Derek teaches writers how to build profitable businesses from their work, he also writes and publishes young adult novels at UrbanEpics.com. Derek also has a goal of buying a castle in the future to host writing workshops of his own. If you’re writing a book, thinking of writing a book, debating whether to self-publish or not, or looking for ways to market your book or online project, this is a GREAT podcast for you! You can learn more about Derek at CreativeIndie.com. In this episode, we talk about: How to become a writer, How to self-publish a book, How to blend writing with entrepreneurship, How to launch a book or online business, The average cost of launching a self-published book, How to build a platform, Recommendations for writing your first book, How to live in castles, And MUCH more… Listen below or download from iTunes by clicking here. (Please note: If you’re reading this from email, you may need to visit the site to listen) If you’re running short on time; 05:00: We talk about Derek’s work as a writer and designer, 06:30: Derek’s audience for book cover design, 07:40: We talk about children’s books and writing in the self-publishing world, 11:20: We talk about Derek’s path to author / entrepreneur, 15:00: Has Derek always been a writer?, 19:00: Why Derek almost always recommends self-publishing, 20:40: We talk about Harry Potter, 23:00: We talk about The Martian, 26:45: We talk about boundaries in creativity, 27:15: We discuss methods and ideas for building a platform, 30:20: We talk about tips for book marketing, 33:55: We discuss ebook / Kindle pricing strategies, 34:20: Derek’s process for writing a book, 40:05: More book marketing tips, 43:20: What you’ll spend on average for launching a book, 49:00: Why incentivized reviews are risky and why reviews are so important, 53:20: After the exclusivity with KDP, is it recommended to branch out to other platforms, 55:35: Recommendations for writing your first book, 59:10: Recommendations on formatting, 1:03:10: We talk about Derek living in the locations of his fictional stories as well as his goals of buying a castle, 1:08:10: Favourite books, etc… Links from the show Calibre Bookbub Write for market by Chris Fox Amazon KDP Limitless travel Scrivener *** Did you enjoy this interview with Derek Murphy? Please leave a review on iTunes and share with your friends. This would mean the world to me. If you have a question for either of us, leave a message in the comments and we’ll get back to you. -MattThe post LL 022: Self-Publishing and Living in Castles with Derek Murphy first appeared on Live Limitless.