Aristotle for Novelists, And A Strategy For Selling More Books With Douglas Vigliotti
The Creative Penn Podcast For Writers
Joanna Penn
4.8 • 745 Ratings
🗓️ 3 February 2025
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Why is ‘story' more important than ‘writing'? How can you write characters that engage the reader? And how can you sell more books by connecting authentically? Douglas Vigliotti shares his tips.
In the intro, Bookshop.org will start selling ebooks [TechCrunch]; LinkedIn for Book Promotion [ALLi]; The Money Making Expert, branding and marketing [DOAC]; 24 Assets – Daniel Priestley; My J.F. Penn books by location; Death Valley, A Thriller; Copyright and Artificial Intelligence [US Copyright Office]; Superagency: What could possibly go right with our AI Future – Reid Hoffman and Greg Beato
This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors.
This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn
Douglas Vigliotti is the author of four books, a poet, and podcaster. His latest book is Aristotle for Novelists: 14 Timeless Principles on the Art of Story.
You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.
Show Notes
* Why Aristotle?
* Creating characters that resonate with our readers — and the four important elements to keep in mind
* Why story is more important than writing
* Creating complications that make readers want to read on
* The intersection of commerce and art
* Tips for pitching podcast interviews
You can find Douglas at DouglasVigliotti.com and his latest book at AristotleForNovelists.com.
Transcript of Interview with Douglas Vigliotti
Joanna: Douglas Vigliotti is the author of four books, a poet,
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Creative Pen podcast. I'm Joanna Penn, thriller author and creative entrepreneur, |
| 0:08.0 | bringing you interviews, inspiration and information on writing craft and creative business. |
| 0:14.7 | You can find the episode show notes, your free author blueprint, and lots more at thecreativepen.com. |
| 0:22.5 | And that's Penn with a double N. And here's the show. |
| 0:27.0 | Hello, creatives. I'm Joanna Penn, and this is episode number 793 of the podcast, |
| 0:32.9 | and it is Sunday the 2nd of February 2025 as I record this. |
| 0:38.2 | In today's show, I'm talking to Douglas Vigliotti about Aristotle for novelists and a strategy for selling more books. |
| 0:46.6 | We discuss creating characters that resonate with readers and the four important elements to keep in mind, |
| 0:52.6 | why story is more important than writing, the intersection |
| 0:56.1 | of commerce and art, tips for pitching for podcast interviews relevant whether you write fiction |
| 1:01.3 | or nonfiction, and more. So that's coming up in the interview section. |
| 1:09.3 | In writing and publishing things, bookshop.org will start selling ebooks, where customers can |
| 1:16.0 | support local bookstores with a percentage of purchase, and if you publish through Ingram or |
| 1:20.6 | draft a digital, you may get access there. More details to come on that, but good to see a new, wide |
| 1:26.4 | option for e-books. |
| 1:28.7 | The Self-Publishing with Ally podcast has an episode on LinkedIn for book promotion, which I wanted to mention as it is so good for non-fiction authors and often gets ignored in favour of people talking about TikTok or Instagram. |
| 1:43.1 | So the episode has lots of tips for your LinkedIn profile |
| 1:47.5 | and how to shape it, as well as why building your network there is important. You can list your |
| 1:52.4 | publications, although I have tried doing that and the interface is not particularly suited to books, |
| 1:58.3 | but you can blog there, you can share articles on topics to help you rank for |
| 2:02.6 | keywords. And I'll just add from personal perspective that my husband, Jonathan, and I, we often |
| 2:08.1 | talk about things we find on social and I will share things I find on X, which is my primary |
... |
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