Jo Penn is the perfect example of assessing what matters most and taking action to achieve that. As Joanna Penn, she has pioneered independent publishing practically from its inception and guided authors in the craft and business of writing. As J.F. Penn, she is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author. She’s also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. I have followed her for years, but I learned a lot more about her and her journey in this conversation. We explored how she has regularly pivoted to live her values and value her life. I told you to prepare for me to fanboy, and unashamedly I did! And we still had a conversation that will inspire you with memento mori—“Remember, you will die.” That’s a more effective way to say it than, “Life is short, get on with it.”
Jo is a true Go-Giver, providing lots of resources. Among other things, we talked about:
The Creative Penn, Jo’s flagship website focused on self-help for authors (this is a true resource treasure).
The Creative Penn Books for authors.
J.F. Penn is Jo’s outlet for writing beyond her creative output for writers. This includes her thrillers and other fiction, but also Pilgrimage, her deeply personal memoir, and where you will find her Gothic cathedrals book when it is ready.
Since Jo has over 40 titles published, if you mostly order books through Amazon it might be helpful to see a listing there of books published under both Joanna Penn and J.F. Penn.
Jo mentioned Dean Wesley Smith as a guide for discovery writers. One of his many books that addresses that very thing is Writing Into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline.
We talked about the S curve when it comes to change, and Jo referenced Seth Godin’s book, The Dip.
Jo also mentioned a book entitled Undisruptable by Aidan McCullen.
We’ve mentioned Scrivener on our show a few times. It is absolutely one of the best tools for writers. You might wonder why you need it if you already have Word. If you’re going to write anything longer than a magazine article or a blog post, you really need to check it out to see for yourself.
Do you like print books? Did you know that 75 percent of book sales still are for print books? Bookshop.org is a great resource for that. You can order print books, usually at a slight discount, and support either your local bookstore, independent bookstores in general, or my work as a writer. I have listed a few of Jo’s books as among my favorites.
You can catch the video replay at any of the following channels, with audio versions available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Substack.
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