Recently, Forbes ran an article about Mark Dawson with the headline: Amazon pays $450,000 a year to this self-published writer (http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaymcgregor/2015/04/17/mark-dawson-made-750000-from-self-published-amazon-books/). Today, I interview Mark about how he writes fast, the empowerment of being indie, Facebook advertising and email list marketing.

In the intro I talk about my cycling trip to Croatia which was a much needed rest away from the computer :) You can see some of the photos on Flickr here (https://www.flickr.com/photos/38314728@N08/sets/72157651834505434).

This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life (http://kobowritinglife.com/), which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets (http://www.thecreativepenn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/WritingLife_Kobo.jpg)through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast (http://kobowritinglife.com/category/kwl-podcast/) for interviews with successful indie authors.

Kobo’s financial support pays for the hosting and transcription, and if you enjoy the show, you can now support my time on Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/thecreativepenn). Thank you for your support!

(http://www.thecreativepenn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/markdawson-250x300.jpg)Mark Dawson (http://www.markjdawson.com/) is an internationally bestselling thriller author with the John Milton and Beatrix Rose series. He also shares his knowledge with authors at SelfPublishingFormula.com (http://www.selfpublishingformula.com/) and has a new course about Facebook marketing here. (http://www.selfpublishingformula.com/joanna)

You can listen above or on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-creative-penn/id309426367) or Stitcher (http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-creative-penn-podcast), watch the video (http://youtu.be/WxRztiFOoF8) or read the notes and links below.

* How Mark got started in writing back in the late 90s. Traditional publishing didn't quite go how he expected, despite a great advance. Dispirited, Mark stopped writing for a number of years. When he heard about the Kindle and self-publishing, he began to write again, starting slow but then writing nearly a million words in 2014. The number of quality books he produced catapulted him into sales success and then he began to grow his email list at the same time. In Nov 2011, Mark left his job to write full time.

* A comparison of traditional publishing vs self-publishing. The change in mindset Mark has had to go through. The empowerment of going indie. The author can't just write – you have to take control of your marketing and your business as well. The indie way is not for everyone though – it takes a certain personality type.

* (http://www.thecreativepenn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Screen-Shot-2015-05-25-at-5.42.45-pm-232x300.jpg)How to speed up your writing. Mark's first self-published novel, The Black Mile, took 14 months to write but he began to speed up. His early books were heavy on research in physical locations, but in order to speed up, he started writing the John Milton series which could be researched purely on the internet. Mark was fueled by a huge jolt of enthusiasm based on feedback – both through monthly income and emails from readers that encouraged him to write more, faster. Use Scrivener to roughly outline with key story beats and then just write between them. Don't write to the market – write what you love to read. You can't tell what the zeitgeist will be in 6 months – or even years ahead. We're in this for the long term. Discipline and productivity through repeated routine.

* Growing your audience with email lists and Facebook advertising. We refer back to the interview with Nick Stephenson around Reader Magnets (http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2015/03/21/nick-stephenson-marketing/)and also Nick's (http://www.thecreativepenn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Screen-Shot-2015-06-07-at-11.05.16-am-300x272.jpg)course,