Shows / The Wordslinger Podcast
The Wordslinger Podcast
From award-winning and bestselling author J. Kevin Tumlinson, this weekly podcast explores the stories that shape us into who we are, and shape the world into what it can become. There are interviews with authors and non-authors, deep dives into useful ideas, and solo-slinger episodes that are authentic and real, aimed at giving you the best, most honest advice about life as a writer, creator, and creative entrereneur. Every episode is a story. It's all about the story here.
Episodes
The Wordslinger PodcastWriters - The hard truth no one tells you
A WORDSLINGER PODCAST WRITERS: THE HARD TRUTH NO ONE TELLS YOU Writing doesn't necessarily get easier the longer you do it. In fact, sometimes it gets harder…
The Wordslinger PodcastWriters: Get Out
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Writers: Get Out! Feeling stuck in your writing routine? Struggling with motivation, creativity, or writer's block? Sometimes the best…
The Wordslinger PodcastWrite what you don't know
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT WRITE WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW They say, "Write what you know." But what happens when your story takes you somewhere you've never been, into a…
The Wordslinger PodcastNever Respond to a Bad Book Review
A WORDSLINGER PODCAST In this episode of the Wordslinger Podcast, I'm sharing some of my own experiences with bad book reviews, internet trolls, review…
The Wordslinger PodcastWriters are Reading the Wrong Books
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT WRITERS ARE READING THE WRONG BOOKS Want to become a better writer? You might need to change what you're reading. Most writers know they…
The Wordslinger PodcastHow to Keep Writing When Anxiety Takes Over
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT How do you keep writing when anxiety takes over? What happens when you love writing, but stress, deadlines, competing priorities, and the…
The Wordslinger PodcastThe Best Time to Market Your Book
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT When is the best time to start marketing your book? Before you finish writing it? Before you publish? Or should you wait until you…
The Wordslinger PodcastShould You REALLY Become a Full-Time Writer?
A WORDSLINGER PODCAST Should you REALLY become a full-time writer? For many authors, quitting the day job to write books for a living is the ultimate dream…
The Wordslinger PodcastWriting with Fences
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Think you don't have enough time to write? What if the very thing holding you back is actually making you a better, more productive…
The Wordslinger PodcastThis One Habit made me a Successful Writer
A WORDSLINGER PODCAST This One Habit Made Me a Successful Writer What's the secret to writing more books, building an audience, and making a living as an…
The Wordslinger PodcastShould Authors Use Substack?
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Should authors use Substack? I’ve been using Substack for several years now, and I’ve come to see it as something more useful than just…
The Wordslinger PodcastYou Should Use AI to Write Your Book (sort of)
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Should writers use AI to write their books? My answer is yes—but probably not in the way you think. I don’t use AI to write the actual…
The Wordslinger PodcastMy Biggest Failures as a Writer
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Every successful writing career is built on mistakes. I’ve made plenty of them. In this Wordslinger 10-Shot, I share some of my biggest…
The Wordslinger PodcastHow to Write Characters Who Aren’t Like You
A WORDSLINGER PODCAST How do you write a character who is smarter than you, comes from a different background, sees the world differently, or believes things…
The Wordslinger PodcastShould Authors Use AI-Generated Book Covers?
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Should authors use AI-generated book covers? AI can produce some astonishingly good artwork, but that doesn’t mean the decision is…
The Wordslinger PodcastHow to Be an Anonymous Author and Still Sell Books
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Can you build an author career without putting your face, real name, and personal life all over the internet? Absolutely—but anonymity…
The Wordslinger PodcastWhen Should an Author Hire a Virtual Assistant?
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT What if the thing keeping you from writing more books isn’t the writing—it’s everything else that comes with being an author? In this…
The Wordslinger PodcastThe Weird Way I Start Writing a Novel
A WORDSLINGER PODCAST Most writers start with a character, a premise, a scene, or maybe an ending. I often start with the title. In this episode of the…
The Wordslinger PodcastWhy Do You Write? This Answer Changes Everything
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Why do you write? It sounds like a simple question, but your answer may be the thing that keeps you going when the words aren’t coming…
The Wordslinger PodcastThis SECRET makes writers successful
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT What do successful writers have in common? They surround themselves with writing. In this Wordslinger 10-Shot, I talk about one of the…
The Wordslinger PodcastHate Marketing? Here’s What I Do Instead.
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Hate marketing your books? You’re probably thinking about marketing the wrong way. A lot of writers hear “book marketing” and immediately…
The Wordslinger PodcastHow I Keep Multiple Writing Projects Moving at Once
A WORDSLINGER PODCAST How do you keep multiple writing projects moving without losing momentum—or your mind? In this episode, I’m breaking down the systems I…
The Wordslinger PodcastWay too busy for writing
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Way too busy for writing? Travel, work, family, deadlines, vacations, and plain old life can wreck even the best writing routine. But…
The Wordslinger PodcastBETA READERS - Here's how you find them
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT How do you actually find beta readers for your book? In this Wordslinger 10-Shot, I break down the practical ways I’ve built a beta…
The Wordslinger PodcastAI isn't going to replace you
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT AI isn’t going to replace you. At least, not if you’re doing the part of writing that actually matters. In this Wordslinger 10-Shot…
The Wordslinger PodcastTheo of Golden Proves You Don’t Need Action to Create Drama
A WORDSLINGER STORY CUT Can a novel keep you turning pages without explosions, car chases, monsters, or constant high-stakes action? Theo of Golden by Allen…
The Wordslinger PodcastWriters: You’re Running a Business Whether You Like It or Not
A WORDSLINGER PODCAST If you want people to read your books, buy your books, and help you build a sustainable writing career, then you’re already in…
The Wordslinger PodcastYou Don’t Need to Buy ISBNs
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Do indie authors really need to buy their own ISBNs? For most self-published authors, the answer is probably no. In this episode, J…
The Wordslinger PodcastAmazon, Kobo, D2D: Here’s How I Distribute My Books
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT What’s the best way for an indie author to distribute their books? In this Wordslinger 10-Shot, I break down the book distribution…
The Wordslinger PodcastAI Isn’t Why Your Books Aren’t Selling
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Is AI really the reason your books aren’t selling? Writers have plenty of legitimate reasons to be concerned about artificial…
The Wordslinger PodcastMarvel Ruined What Made Endgame Matter (Avengers Endgame: Encore)
A WORDSLINGER STORY CUT Marvel spent more than a decade building toward Avengers: Endgame—and when it finally arrived, the movie gave its characters real…
The Wordslinger PodcastThe JAWS Trick That Makes Characters More Powerful
A WORDSLINGER PODCAST What can JAWS teach you about writing better characters? More than you might think. In this episode of the Wordslinger Podcast, Kevin…
The Wordslinger PodcastMONEY
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT Writers spend a surprising amount of money trying to build a writing career—but how much of that spending is actually helping the…
The Wordslinger PodcastNobody Tells Writers How to Do This
Take a look at the transcript for this Wordslinger episode. I need a YouTube video description that will attract and engage with writers, creatives, and…
The Wordslinger Podcast100 Years of Research, ONE Novel
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT How do you take more than 100 years of history, documents, photographs, handwritten notes, newspaper clippings, and real-life events—and…
The Wordslinger PodcastStar Trek Forgot the #1 Rule of Writing Characters
A WORDSLINGER STORY CUT What obligations does a writer have when stepping into an established universe—or writing characters an audience already knows and…
The Wordslinger PodcastThe Business of Being a Bestselling Author — with J.D. Barker
A WORDSLINGER PODCAST What does it actually take to build a bestselling author career—and turn writing into a sustainable business? In this episode of the…
The Wordslinger PodcastThe SECRET to Original Writing
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT What if the secret to original writing is to stop trying so hard to be original? Writers and creators often feel pressure to make…
The Wordslinger PodcastYou Don’t Need Permission to Be a Writer
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT You don’t need an agent, a publisher, an editor, or anyone else to give you permission to be a writer. For years, I waited for someone…
The Wordslinger PodcastThe Edit Stack - SPEND NOTHING
A WORDSLINGER 10-SHOT What if you could build a powerful editing process for your novel without spending thousands of dollars on professional editing? In this…
The Wordslinger PodcastThis Is How You Reinvent Spider-Man
A WORDSLINGER STORY CUT Spider-Man has been rebooted, reimagined, recast, and retold more times than most superheroes could survive. So how do you make him…
The Wordslinger PodcastWhy Writers are Abandoning Traditional Publishing
A WORDSLINGER PODCAST Why are more writers reconsidering traditional publishing—and could we be entering a second indie publishing renaissance? In this episode…
The Wordslinger PodcastGot a Bad Review? Do NOT Do This
A Wordslinger 10-Shot! Bad reviews are inevitable. The real question is what you do after you get one. In this Wordslinger 10-Shot, I’m talking about the…
The Wordslinger PodcastI Tested “AI Slop.” The Results Surprised Me
People love throwing around the phrase “AI slop.” But does using AI actually hurt your content—or are creators reacting to something that audiences barely…
The Wordslinger PodcastI Can’t Afford to Self-Publish” — Wordslinger 10-Sh0t
“I can’t afford to self-publish.” I hear this from writers all the time—and I think it’s based on one of the biggest misconceptions about indie publishing. You…
The Wordslinger PodcastYour First Draft Is Supposed to Be Bad
Kevin on Kraft: EPISODE 1! **Kevin on Kraft** is an occasional conversation between writers Kevin Tumlinson and Donn King about the craft, process, and strange…
The Wordslinger PodcastI Sold 10 Million Books and All I Got was this AI Witch Hunt
I sold more than 10 million books over the course of my writing career—and somehow I’m still spending my time talking about AI witch hunts. In this episode of…
The Wordslinger PodcastAI Witch Hunts and the New Writing Economy
AI detectors are accusing real writers of using artificial intelligence—and people are losing grades, contracts, opportunities, and reputations because of…
The Wordslinger PodcastI Almost Quit Writing… Then I Built a System Around My Chaos
I came this close to walking away from writing forever. After a traditional publishing deal went sideways, I paid back the advance, lost the rights for a…
The Wordslinger PodcastMake Them Suffer (and other Writing Craft Tips)
What makes a story impossible to put down? It usually starts with one uncomfortable truth: You have to make your characters suffer. In this episode of the…
The Wordslinger Podcast5 Scams Targeting Writers Right Now
Writers are dreamers — and unfortunately, scammers know it. In this episode of the Wordslinger Podcast, I’m breaking down 5 scams targeting writers right now…
The Wordslinger Podcast3 Things Writers Should Stop Worrying About
Writers waste a lot of energy worrying about the wrong things. In this episode of the Wordslinger 10-Shot, Kevin talks about finishing a story that started…
The Wordslinger Podcast5 Publishing Trends Writers Should Watch
What publishing trends should writers be paying attention to right now? In this episode of the Wordslinger 10-Shot, Kevin looks at five trends shaping the…
The Wordslinger PodcastThe Pulp Fiction Strategy for Modern Authors
What if the old pulp fiction model is exactly what modern authors need right now? In this episode of the Wordslinger 10-Shot, Kevin talks about using short…
The Wordslinger PodcastWhy Bad AI Writing Might Make You a Better Writer
Can bad AI writing actually make you a better writer? In this episode of the Wordslinger Podcast, Kevin talks through what he’s working on right now as an…
The Wordslinger PodcastThe Future of Writing Is Human + AI
What happens when you let AI touch your novel? In today’s Wordslinger 10-Shot, I talk honestly about experimenting with AI during a major novel rewrite — what…
The Wordslinger PodcastHow I Use AI Without Letting It Write My Books
Writers are arguing about AI. But the better question is: how can we use the tools without giving up the work? In this episode of the Wordslinger Podcast…
The Wordslinger PodcastI Put This Book Aside for Two Years. Here’s What Happened
Sometimes the best thing you can do for a stuck book is stop forcing it. In this episode of the Wordslinger Podcast, I’m back from a two-day drive from Texas…
The Wordslinger PodcastMy Exact Publishing Process (After 70+ Books)
If you’ve ever felt like publishing a book is more confusing than it should be… you’re not alone. After writing and publishing 70+ books, I realized something…
The Wordslinger PodcastThe Problem with Draft2Digital’s New Policy
Draft2Digital just made a major change—and a lot of indie authors aren’t happy about it. In today’s Wordslinger 10-Shot, I break down the new Draft2Digital…