027: There is No Easy Button: Johnny B. Truant & Sean Platt on Self-Publishing [Podcast]

Write what you love and money will follow. As writers, we can be tempted to believe that myth. It simply isn't true. Along with writing what we love comes a lot of hard work.

Do what you love and the money will follow. We are all tempted to believe this myth. But it simply isn't true. Along with pursuing what we love comes a lot of hard work. And this may be most evident in the field of writing.

Photo Credit: Bert Kaufmann via Compfight ccRecently, I had the privilege of interviewing Johnny B. Truant and Sean Platt, two of the guys behind Sterling and Stone, an independent publishing company.

I met both of these guys years ago when they were more focused on online marketing, and since then, they've taken the leap into becoming full-time authors. But they haven't completely left their business sense behind.

In an age when every writer seems to be trying to build an online platform and then publish, these guys did the opposite. They left their big blogs and online membership sites to just write books. And I wanted to know why.

In this episode of The Portfolio Life, we talk about all their transition from online marketing to writing fiction, what success looks like for them (and maybe most writers), and why doing what you love is always more complicated than you think.

We also discuss the process of publishing, from start to finish, and why it's a journey worth sharing.

My interview with Sean and Johnny

To listen to the show, click the player below (if viewing this in email, click here).

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You can also download it at iTunes or on Stitcher.

About the guests + some interview highlights

In this interview, Sean and Johnny talk about following their heart and the process behind it, as well as what it takes to succeed as a writer in the Information Age.

Even though they decided to focus primarily on writing, these two are living portfolio lives. Along with their friend David, they write and publish serialized fiction. They also host The Self-Publishing Podcast and recently wrote Write. Publish. Repeat., a walkthrough of the self-publishing process (and why it's way different than it used to be).

We also discussed:

• How following your heart is not easy -- it comes with a lot of hard work.

• How authors must think business too -- why it's important to be an author and entrepreneur.

• If Kickstarter is a good platform for writers (their advice just might surprise you!).

• The process of publishing a book from start to finish.

• The importance of being prolific as a modern writer.

• And a lot more!

And of course, I ask all kinds of hard questions. ;)

Special bonus: The self-publishing process from start to finish

Johnny, Sean, and Dave, decided to let you in on the entire process of writing and publishing a book.

They wrote a book from start to finish in just 30 days. They started without a single idea. They didn't even know the genre before they began. And by the end of the 30 days they had a published book.

In that short amount of time they brainstormed, generated ideas, and came up with a storyline. And they filmed it all. At the end of 30 days, they had a 100,000-word novel, and lots of video, audio, and written content, documenting the entire process.

And they share the whole process in Fiction Unboxed. Check it out here.

I hope you enjoy the interview. Feel free to download it and share with friends. And I'd love for you to take a moment and leave a review on iTunes.

Have you ever considered self-publishing? Share in the comments.