Mark interviews Melanie Gilbert and Heather Karn about their work writing and publishing together under the Scribbling Pen Publishing brand. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, comments from recent episodes, and a word from this episode's sponsor. Cruising Writers - 7 Day Western Caribbean Cruise - Feb 22 to Mar 1, 2025 Featured Guest Speakers: Erin Wright and Mark Leslie Lefebvre More details at: Cruising Writers In the interview, Mark, Melanie, and Heather talk about: How Heather got started in writing before Melanie, who started a year laterWriting independently for a while before they got into mutual support and collaborationThe two books they've published by doing round-robin style writing a couple of paragraphs at a timeThe plotting VS pantsing struggle that they would sometimes find themselves inThe thrill of writing a book without knowing who the bad guy was the entire time until the idea of who it was struck both of them at the same timeThe process they use when writing, editing, and re-writingHow the two of them think of the reader experience when the writer (as related to the Disney Customer Experience training)Leveraging the cats that they made to draw people in which is a great ice-breaker getting them to the booksThinking about the "writing companions" for the booksLeveraging crafted book bags in the same way to generate interest - ie "Where did you get that cool book bag?"Determing what scented candle or wax melt varieties would go well with the different booksSomething special they did to celebrate the "12 Days of Christmas" that they could provide to all of their fans - cover reveals, sample chapters, recipes, music, other books, etcThe benefit of personal touches in the newsletter including the fun that started with Griffin the furry managerHow their cats and dogs are the ones explaining what's going on in their writer newsletters and their website storeHow their main goal isn't to sell books but to ensure that the people who visit their table are having a good timeAnd more . . . After the interview, Mark reflects on the way the sisters leverage conversational items to draw people to their in person table, their focus on creating a genuinely memorable and entertaining experience (rather than focusing on selling books), and providing intriguing entertainment in their newsletter leveraging their pets' perspectives. Links of Interest: Scribbling Pen Publishing Scribbling Pen Publishing - Instagram Cruising Writers Feb/Mar 2025 Cruise - Focus on Self PublishingThe Uncollected Anthology Website Uncollected Anthology Live Author Chat (April 10, 2024 - YouTube)There Ain't No Cure For The Winter Wolf Blues 2024 The Write Stuff StoryBundle (Limited Time Offer)WMG Anthology Workshop August 2024Stark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins AgencyScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link)Mark's YouTube ChannelBuy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and LibrariesThe Relaxed Author Buy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover's MoonHex and the City The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard Melanie Gilbert and Heather Karn in their own words: We grew up in the lovely state of Michigan. We lived in a small town in the country, one of those towns where everyone knows everyone. When we graduated from high school, we went to the same college along with our triplet sister. Our younger sister joined us a couple years later. We’re all really close and that has influenced how we write characters who are siblings. Somehow, we both ended up in Wisconsin a few miles from each other (and even our triplet sister). We now live together and it’s a blast! Wisconsin isn’t too different from where we grew up, so it hasn’t been a big change to live here instead of in Michigan. The only down side to being here is the large lake between us and our family (and Melanie’s in-laws). Going around the lake makes traveling longer, but at least we’re not states away from family. Family is really important to us. Scribbling Pen Publishing was originally Melanie’s idea. Like Melanie’s other idea about writing a co-written book, it took Heather some time to warm up to the idea. Heather is more of a “think it over” personality while Melanie is a “sounds good, let’s do it” personality. Together, we balance each other out. Working together has been amazing. We each have strengths where the other has a weakness. Together we accomplish more than we did apart. Our brands are so similar, it only made sense to combine the work to share our love of books with ...
