Trump was clearly in league with the Russians — there’s a laundry list of evidence to show it. Nancy Pelosi is an alcoholic who slurs and stumbles her way through speeches — there are videos to show it.

Fake news may not be anything new, but has it ever been this convincingly presented, this pervasive and this often repeated?

To head off being fooled, hoaxed or tricked by the fakery, here are ten tips I've learned from Scott Adams, best-selling author, entrepreneur, and creator of the Dilbert cartoon series, that will help you avoid being manipulated by news media outlets that no longer pretend to objectively report the facts.

1. Be wary of attention-grabbing provocative news

If you read something that has you saying, “Oh my God! Did that really happen?” There is a good chance it didn’t — or at least not as first presented. The two examples that start off this article are good illustrations. So the next time you are presented with a, “I don’t believe it” new flash, best trust your instincts and wait for the uproar to quieten down and for the context to broaden.

2. Question news reported from one side of the media divide only

Should Fox News and Breitbart headline breaking news that is all but ignored by CNN, MSNBC and the New York Times — or vice versa — then wait till the news has properly broken before accepting it.

Likewise, if both sides report the same breaking news, then chances are it’s true. But not always. Don’t forget the Covington Kids debacle that took in everyone.

3. Pundit predictions should give pause aplenty

Hillary was going to win the presidency in a landslide because Trump had ZERO chance, right? Too many such predictions are driven by wishful thinking, emotion or confirmation bias.

Future AI prognosticators aside, no human pundit brave or foolish enough to predict something of import is unaffected by these psychological frailties. That said, one of the least prone is Scott Adams, who predicted early in 2016 that Trump would win the presidency. And should you need reminding, Adams is the guy who came up with these ways of delineating fake news.

4. Dismiss mindreading consultants who state what someone is thinking

Not even magicians can read minds. When political commentators resort to mindreading and proffer it as fact, they are guessing what their subject is thinking. Like chimps depicted in the infinite monkey theorem, the commentators may strike lucky once in a blue moon, but best treat what they say today as loony talk.

5. Don’t get taken in by fake science

Earlier this year, I wrote an article on Japan’s efforts to launch flying cars in the next few years. After the story was published, I got an email from one of the government officials quoted praising me for “getting the facts right,” the implication being that it did not often happen.

A 2017 PLOS ONE (Public Library of Science journal) analysis of biomedical research covered by newspapers found almost half the studies could not be replicated and were often contradicted by later studies. Yet despite often dramatizing these initial studies, the writers rarely followed up and reported the later findings.

6. Beware the fine art of framing facts

The media today is not the media of pre-Internet days. News outlets are now driven by and depend on the number of clicks they can generate, for which they then charge advertisers accordingly.

Clickbait headlines and facts framed in a way to appeal to the cognitive biases of a particular TV network’s audience or a newspaper’s readership keep these consumers of news tuning in and reading. Hence, the news cycle has been transmogrified into a news circle that is mutually-sustaining.

7. Consider news based on anonymous sources to be manufactured by anonymous writers

Given the overwhelming economic imperative to appeal to our cognitive biases when it comes to delivering hard news, imagine what the media can do with anonymous sources when there is no comeback for the writer or the quoted.

So ask yourself the following. Is the journalist quoting the source correctly and without bias? Is the full quote given (see №8)? Could the source have an agenda? Does the source really remember what happened accurately? Is full context provided by the journalist? Has the journalist or source succumbed to manipulative framing? Is the source real?

8. Quotes in news can be distorted just like every other content component.

To illustrate, Adams shows how a Trump quote of two years ago was maliciously edited and then repeated so often it is still widely believed today. The edited Trump quote that follows came after opposing marchers clashed violently in Charlottesville, W. Virginia in May 2017. Note that non-extremist supporters both pro and against Confederate statues — the ostensible reason for the demonstrations — were also in attendance. Trump refers to these latter groups in his answers to a journalist’s question.

TRUMP: Excuse me, they didn’t put themselves down as neo-Nazis, and you had some very bad people in that group. But you also had people that were fine people on both sides.

This partial quote resulted in the Charlottesville Fine People Hoax that has Trump appearing to say the neo-Nazi marchers also included some “fine people,” as did those who opposed them.

It was masterful misdirection by mischief-makers. And it was immediately picked up by the TV talking heads and news commentators and repeated so often it’s become a “fact” for many people.

Yet after a reporter’s follow-up question on the statue issue, which Trump answers, the president then went on to clarify his earlier “fine people” point:

“…and I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white supremacists, because they should be condemned totally — but you had many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists, okay? And the press has treated them absolutely unfairly. Now in the other group also, you had some fine people, but you also had troublemakers and you see them come with black outfits and with the helmets and with the baseball bats — you had a lot of bad people in the other group too.”

Check all this for yourself. Adams provides the full quotes here.

9. A laundry list of possibilities does not a telling fact make

Adams used reporting during the Mueller investigation into Russian presidential election interference to illustrate the laundry list concept. During the two-year investigation, Trump was tried and convicted by many in the anti-Trump media based on an accumulation of apparently relevant reasons.

These included his numerous and complex business dealings in Russia, his relationships with those indicted by the Special Counsel, his firing of FBI Director James Comey, and the infamous Steele dossier.

The mass of so much “evidence” overwhelming showed Trump was guilty of conspiring with the Russian and would be forced out of office.

Yet the Special Counsel came to no such conclusion, despite an exhaustive investigation over two years.

For Adams, the longer the laundry list, the less it is convincing, for it shows the list compiler is striving to substitute possibilities for the missing telling fact.

10. As with quotes, videos can be edited to misdirect and deceive

We’ve known for a long time how photographs can be altered to tell a new story. It used to be harder to do this with video. That is no longer the case. As the doctored video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi shows: just by slowing down the video to 75% speed made her sound drunk.

Check it out for yourself. The Washington Post provides the verified and altered Nancy Pelosi videos here.

The edited Covington Kids video is another example. Consequently, video can no longer be trusted any more than other components (see Nos. 1–9) that make up today's news.

To find out more about Scott Adams, check out his daily live streaming on Periscope. Or watch it later on YouTube

www.JohnBoydJapanWriter.com

Over the weekend, I watched the movie 45 Years on satellite TV here in Japan. It stars two fine actors: Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay. It’s a British romance- (supposedly) drama that received much acclaim from many critics, including a 5-star review from Roger Ebert, no less. After wasting my time viewing the dull thing, such fetings confound me.

SPOILER COMING UP.

It turned out to be a dreary, disappointing movie almost from the beginning to its celebrated yet bleak ending. It reminded me of certain literary stories that were attractively written, but left me feeling dissatisfied and asking: What was the point?

The title refers to the couple’s upcoming 45-year wedding anniversary. However, the relationship turns sour when the husband receives a letter that apparently reignites his hots for a long-dead lover he met before he met his wife, and how witnessing this eats away at his wife’s feelings for him. That’s it. That’s the entire story. Ugh! If it weren’t for the two outstanding actors, I don’t see how the movie could have garnered any praise at all, so drearily negative is the story.

I kept waiting for one dramatic moment to occur that would give the film real drama, but it never happened. When the movie ended, I wished I spent the 1 hour and 45 minutes reading a non-pointless story.

And don’t misunderstand: I’m not a fan of most action movies, so I wasn’t looking for a dead body in the attic — though that would certainly have livened things up. On the contrary, I rather enjoy relationship dramas, at which the Brits usually excel in making. But this movie lacked drama almost to extinction — no matter how well the magnificently sensitive actors worked to subtlety produce it in nanogram quantities.

The storyline is so dismal, and the ending such a downer, I wondered how anyone would have risked investing cash and time to turn it into a movie. This only goes to show how varied are peoples’ tastes — and thank goodness for that — because 45 Years won several European film awards along with critics’ praise aplenty.

What’s your take on it and why?

www.JohnBoyJapanWriter.com

Note that I’ve omitted some podcasts that use more than two hosts because of the way they talk over each other or cackle at each other’s jokes. I’ve also omitted podcasts with poor audio, or when the hosts’ voices, mannerisms, lack of interviewing skills, or repeated cliché phrases every show (There you go! Awesome! Cool!) grate on me.

Fortunately, there are now more than enough good podcasts available that I can be picky. These include several new and outstanding podcasters that have recently arrived on the scene, and a couple I’ve been late in discovering. Consequently, my previous Top 5 is now a Top 10. You can easily search all of these shows on Apple’s iTunes under Podcasts.So here goes.​

#10 Bookworm starts with a splendid upbeat song called “Where Would We Be Without Books,” and ends with an equally splendid “I Am a Bookworm,” two original compositions by the Sparks. The catchy songs are somewhat at odds with the show’s rather serious tone set by host, Michael Silverblatt, who interviews literary authors.

While the subject matter is somewhat esoteric as far as I’m concerned, given my focus on genre reading, the show is not stuffy. And Silverblatt, who reminds me of Howard Cosell, does a good job analyzing his guest’s work and providing insights. It’s worth a listen to stretch your horizon of interest and to learn what’s going on in the literary world of novels.

Having said that, it would be nice if the host would occasionally condescend and talk with a more popular writer. There are many talented authors out there worth interviewing, Michael, even though they do sell a ton of books. I’d be happy to proffer some names.

​#9 Writer’s Bone. I’ve only listened to a few podcasts by Boston writers Daniel Ford and Sean Tuohy, and I may have been lucky in listening when only one or two of them were interviewing guest authors. Having read their podcast origin story, I see they like to invite their friends on, which to my fading hearing, usually means adding noise rather than enjoyment, so I’ll have to see how this goes.

What put this podcast in the top ten was the recent interview with guest Barry Eisler, author of the anti-hero John Rain thriller series. The show was outstanding though more because the author was so articulate and informative rather than prompting from the host.I read the first novel in Eisler’s series, Rain Fall, and didn’t care for it. But having heard him speak here, I will try one of his later novels. Fans of Eisler are welcome to recommend a title.

Of particular interest in the interview was Eisler’s explanation on why he turned down a $500,000 book contract and instead chose to go indie! He has also bought back the rights to publish his novels and has retitled his John Rain series. The first novel now has the name A Clean Kill in Tokyo. I’m happy he didn’t choose Killing Time in Tokyo.

#8 The Story Studio is the new name for what was The Self-Publishing Podcast — my number one podcast choice last year. But something happened to Johnny, Sean and Dave in 2017. Their podcast became less interesting, informative and entertaining. This is something they sensed themselves, which is why they’ve chosen a new podcast name that will enable them to widen their topic focus, so they say.

But three shows in under the rebranding and it is the same old, same old. So their #8 ranking is based more on potential and on what they have produced before. This is another podcast I will have to wait and see how it goes, given there are so many good shows to listen to now.

#7 The Creative Writer’s Toolbelt is produced by author and creative writer tutor Andrew J Chamberlain, who hails from Kent in the UK. He has an outstanding podcast voice and won me over on first listening. He does best when delivering monologues on the craft of writing, which are thoughtful and informative.

However, he peppers his interviews with unnecessary “Yeses” and other terms of agreement while the occasional (fortunately) guest he has on is speaking, which drives my fingers close to the Stop button.If you should ever read this, Andrew, listen to the podcasts of master interviewer Tim Ferriss, or his equally accomplished counterpart Terry Gross of Fresh Air fame on NPR. Both remain silent while the other person speaks, and they interrupt only to add or clarify something important. Please do the same. Interrupting long-winded speakers is fine and necessary; constant and unnecessary agreement with them is a distraction for listeners. You are producing the podcast for your audience, right? Not the guest.

#6 The Sell More Book Show from Jim Kukral and Bryan Cohen breaks the me-too podcast mold by rarely having a guest on to interview. Rather, they collect writing and publishing tips that have made the news in the week prior to the podcast, as well as present the top five recent happenings in the writing/publishing industry that’s made the news. And they throw in their own views on these topics for good measure.

Kukral is an Internet marketer and the creator of the Author Marketing Club that helps authors sell books. He has a good podcast voice that is pleasant on the ear, as you might expect from a consummate marketer. Alas, that is not the case with author Cohen. But hey, they produce an informative show every week that I listen to, despite the cheesy recorded intro and gratuitous countdowns noises they use mid-way through the show.

#5 The Creative Penn has fallen a little in my rankings, but only because the new kids on the block are just so good. For those who don’t know, the host Joanna Penn is an incredible authorpreneur: the writer of fiction, non-fiction, a public speaker, and creator of writing courses, as well as this long-running podcast.

She prepares well for the interviews — unlike some podcasters — because her questions are thought out and smart. She’s also cut back on her cooing when agreeing with the host (the equivalent of Chamberlain’s Yeses in #7). But her long intros include a segments where she reads tweets from her listeners about where they are when they listen to her, and a segment on her Patreon support. This makes the show overly long for my liking — I did say I was picky, and this criticism is probably something of a guy thing — but no doubt her legion of fans enjoy that side of it. I much prefer the approach of the podcaster that follows this.

Note that Penn’s www.thecreativepenn.com website is a goldmine of writing resources that all newbie indies should check out.

#4 The Book Marketing Show is from a newcomer to podcasts Dave Chesson. But Chesson is no newcomer to indie publishing. His Kindlepreneur website is outstanding and a great resources for writer-publishers at any stage of development. He has a pleasant podcast voice now that he no longer squeaks, as he did sometimes when he spoke fast in the fist few shows.

As the title of the podcast suggests, he addresses different aspects of marketing. His presentation style is not to waste listeners’ time with talking about off-topic subjects; he just gets right to the point. Consequently, his podcasts typically run about 20 minutes but are packed with useful information and advice.

#3 Self-publishing Journeys from Paul Teague is unique in that he has this writer- pal-you-chat-with-at-the-pub approach to speaking. His podcasts alternate between monologues on what he has been doing the previous week regards to writing and marketing his works (Paul’s Podcast Diary) and then an interview with an author. What I particular like about the latter, is that he goes out of the way NOT to invite all the successful authors who are interviewed regularly on other podcasts. Despite the chatty manner, he knows how to ask questions and his Diary stuff is loaded with practical information.

#2 The Self Publishing Formula. This retains its number two ranking because former BBC radio reporter James Blatch does such a good job interviewing guests, while authorpreneur Mark Dawson adds a pinch or two of his experience at the beginning and end of each show. Curiously, the two don’t seem to have that good a chemistry when speaking together, and their efforts to raise a laugh often falls flat. Still, the information from the show and Blatch’s presentation is something other podcasters would do well to study.

#1 Smart Author by Mark Coker is easily the best podcast I listen to and the one I look forward to the most. While Coker has only recorded a dozen of so podcasts at the time of writing this blog, he has been prominent in the indie writing and publishing business for over a decade. In 2008 he launched Smashwords, the world’s largest distributor of indie books, which boasts 120,000 authors.

From the first show, Coker spoke with the authority of experience. He uses the knowledge gained over the past ten years to produce some outstanding podcasts packed with good advice and solid information for publishing success. The high quality of his delivery (not content) dropped a little when he chose to read the 2018 edition of the Smashwords Book Marketing Guide over six shows. Not surprisingly, the reading never matched the smooth delivery of his normal monologues.

In a recent podcast, he said he wasn’t sure how much longer he would continue with the show. I hope he is still doing it the next time I do an update!

Originally published at www.johnboydjapanwriter.com.

Not too long ago we used to talk about Internet Time. The technology and how we used the Web changed so fast in the early years, it was a challenge to keep up. Now that the Internet is embedded into our daily living and routines, I don’t hear the term used anymore.

I’ve replaced that phrase with Indie Publishing Time, because the industry is speeding forward like a Mad Max car chase. That’s an over-the-top way of saying it’s more than time I updated my best podcast rankings for busy writers and authors who don’t want to spend hours online searching for and trying out podcasts to get to the good stuff to listen and learn from.

Note that I’ve omitted some podcasts that have more than two hosts because of the way they talk over each other or cackle at each other’s jokes. I’ve also omitted podcasts with poor audio, or when the hosts’ voices, mannerisms, lack of interviewing skills, or repeated cliché phrases every show (There you go! Awesome! Cool!) grate on me.

Fortunately, there are now more than enough good podcasts available that I can be picky. These include several new and outstanding podcasters that have recently arrived on the scene, and a couple I’ve been late in discovering. Consequently, my previous Top 5 is now a Top 10. You can easily search all of these shows on Apple’s iTunes under Podcasts.

So here goes.​

#10 Bookworm starts with a splendid upbeat song called “Where Would We Be Without Books,” and ends with an equally splendid “I Am a Bookworm,” two original compositions by the Sparks. The catchy songs are somewhat at odds with the show’s rather serious tone set by host, Michael Silverblatt, who interviews literary authors.

While the subject matter is somewhat esoteric as far as I’m concerned, given my focus on genre reading, the show is not stuffy. And Silverblatt, who reminds me of Howard Cosell, does a good job analyzing his guest’s work and providing insights. It’s worth a listen to stretch your horizon of interest and to learn what’s going on in the literary world of novels.

Having said that, it would be nice if the host would occasionally condescend and talk with a more popular writer. There are many talented authors out there worth interviewing, Michael, even though they do sell a ton of books. I’d be happy to proffer some names.

​#9 Writer’s Bone. I’ve only listened to a few podcasts by Boston writers Daniel Ford and Sean Tuohy, and I may have been lucky in listening when only one or two of them were interviewing guest authors. Having read their podcast origin story, I see they like to invite their friends on, which to my fading hearing, usually means adding noise rather than enjoyment, so I’ll have to see how this goes.

What put this podcast in the top ten was the recent interview with guest Barry Eisler, author of the anti-hero John Rain thriller series. The show was outstanding though more because the author was so articulate and informative rather than prompting from the host.I read the first novel in Eisler’s series, Rain Fall, and didn’t care for it. But having heard him speak here, I will try one of his later novels. Fans of Eisler are welcome to recommend a title.

Of particular interest in the interview was Eisler’s explanation on why he turned down a $500,000 book contract and instead chose to go indie! He has also bought back the rights to publish his novels and has retitled his John Rain series. The first novel now has the name A Clean Kill in Tokyo. I’m happy he didn’t choose Killing Time in Tokyo.

#8 The Story Studio is the new name for what was The Self-Publishing Podcast — my number one podcast choice last year. But something happened to Johnny, Sean and Dave in 2017. Their podcast became less interesting, informative and entertaining. This is something they sensed themselves, which is why they’ve chosen a new podcast name that will enable them to widen their topic focus, so they say.

But three shows in under the rebranding and it is the same old, same old. So their #8 ranking is based more on potential and on what they have produced before. This is another podcast I will have to wait and see how it goes, given there are so many good shows to listen to now.

#7 The Creative Writer’s Toolbelt is produced by author and creative writer tutor Andrew J Chamberlain, who hails from Kent in the UK. He has an outstanding podcast voice and won me over on first listening. He does best when delivering monologues on the craft of writing, which are thoughtful and informative.

However, he peppers his interviews with unnecessary “Yeses” and other terms of agreement while the occasional (fortunately) guest he has on is speaking, which drives my fingers close to the Stop button.

If you should ever read this, Andrew, listen to the podcasts of master interviewer Tim Ferriss, or his equally accomplished counterpart Terry Gross of Fresh Air fame on NPR. Both remain silent while the other person speaks, and they interrupt only to add or clarify something important. Please do the same. Interrupting long-winded speakers is fine and necessary; constant and unnecessary agreement with them is a distraction for listeners. You are producing the podcast for your audience, right? Not the guest.

#6 The Sell More Book Show from Jim Kukral and Bryan Cohen breaks the me-too podcast mold by rarely having a guest on to interview. Rather, they collect writing and publishing tips that have made the news in the week prior to the podcast, as well as present the top five recent happenings in the writing/publishing industry that’s made the news. And they throw in their own views on these topics for good measure.

Kukral is an Internet marketer and the creator of the Author Marketing Club that helps authors sell books. He has a good podcast voice that is pleasant on the ear, as you might expect from a consummate marketer. Alas, that is not the case with author Cohen. But hey, they produce an informative show every week that I listen to, despite the cheesy recorded intro and gratuitous countdowns noises they use mid-way through the show.

#5 The Creative Penn has fallen a little in my rankings, but only because the new kids on the block are just so good. For those who don’t know, the host Joanna Penn is an incredible authorpreneur: the writer of fiction, non-fiction, a public speaker, and creator of writing courses, as well as this long-running podcast.

She prepares well for the interviews — unlike some podcasters — because her questions are thought out and smart. She’s also cut back on her cooing when agreeing with the host (the equivalent of Chamberlain’s Yeses in #7).

But her long intros include a segments where she reads tweets from her listeners about where they are when they listen to her, and a segment on her Patreon support. This makes the show overly long for my liking — I did say I was picky, and this criticism is probably something of a guy thing — but no doubt her legion of fans enjoy that side of it. I much prefer the approach of the podcaster that follows this.

Note that Penn’s www.thecreativepenn.com website is a goldmine of writing resources that all newbie indies should check out.

#4 The Book Marketing Show is from a newcomer to podcasting Dave Chesson. But Chesson is no newcomer to indie publishing. His Kindlepreneur website is outstanding and a valuable resources for writer-publishers at any stage of development. He has a pleasant podcast voice now that he no longer squeaks, as he did sometimes when he spoke fast in the fist few shows.

As the title of the podcast suggests, he addresses different aspects of marketing. His presentation style is not to waste listeners’ time with talking about off-topic subjects; he just gets right to the point. Consequently, his podcasts typically run about 20 minutes but are packed with useful information and advice.

#3 Self-publishing Journeys from Paul Teague is unique in that he has this writer- pal-you-chat-with-at-the-pub approach to speaking. This does mean he can be repetitious but not overly so. His podcasts alternate between monologues on what he has been doing the previous week regards to writing and marketing his works (Paul’s Podcast Diary) and then an interview with an author.

What I particular like about the latter, is that he goes out of the way NOT to invite all the successful authors who are interviewed regularly on other podcasts. Despite the chatty manner, he knows how to ask insightful questions and his Diary content is loaded with practical information.

#2 The Self Publishing Formula. This retains its number two ranking because former BBC radio reporter James Blatch does such a good job interviewing guests, while authorpreneur Mark Dawson adds a pinch or two of his experience at the beginning and end of each show.

Curiously, the two don’t seem to have that good a chemistry when speaking together, and their efforts to raise a laugh often falls flat. Still, the information from the show and Blatch’s presentation is something other podcasters would do well to study.

#1 Smart Author by Mark Coker is easily the best podcast I listen to and the one I look forward to the most. While Coker has only recorded a dozen or so podcasts at the time of writing this blog, he has been prominent in the indie writing and publishing business for over a decade. In 2008 he launched Smashwords, the world’s largest distributor of indie books, which boasts 120,000 authors.

From the first show, Coker spoke with the authority of experience. He uses the knowledge gained over the past ten years to produce some outstanding podcasts packed with good advice and solid information for publishing success. The high quality of his delivery (not content) dropped a little when he chose to read the 2018 edition of the Smashwords Book Marketing Guide over six shows. Not surprisingly, the reading never matched the smooth delivery of his normal monologues.

In a recent podcast, he said he wasn’t sure how much longer he would continue with the show. I hope he is still doing it the next time I do an update!

And if you’d like to stay in touch, have a question to ask, or would care to hear about what I’m reading, writing and doing in Japan, subscribe to my monthly JohnBoydJapanWriter Newsletter. In return, I will send you a dark and mysterious short story titled The Ritual that can be read in 20 minutes but will take much longer to forget.

Originally published at www.johnboydjapanwriter.com.

Several recommendations from well-known indie book publishing gurus gave me pause recently.

Dave Chesson (Kindlepreneur) and Joanna Penn (The Creative Penn) recommended Joseph Michael’s Learning Scrivener Fast— Scrivener being the word processing software of choice for many indie authors and others.

The recommendations came despite the course being outdated (as of February 2018), as the video modules are for Scrivener 2 only, and despite the course being super expensive at $297 for the full version. While it might have been the bee’s knees in teaching Scrivener five or six years ago, it is no longer.

Instead, check out Karen Prince’s Scrivener 3 on Udemy, available for around $15.00, which is superior in EVERY WAY.

For instance:

• Prince’s video modules provide more detail and depth than Michael’s, especially in the hair-pulling Compiling segment of the software.
• Where Prince has published this entirely new course for Scrivener 3, and which follows on from her Scrivener 2 course, Michaels has only managed to give a webinar on what’s new in Scrivener 3 hosted by Penn.
• Prince generously answers questions on Scrivener in great detail and usually quickly, unlike Michaels, who suggests you go to the Scrivener Forum for answers first.
• From the Comments section on Prince’s course, I understand she has made Scrivener 3 a free update for her Scrivener 2 users. That is one immensely generous offer that is worthy of shouting about from the mountain tops, and was a motivation for me to write this blog.
• $15 vs $297!

Note that I emailed Chesson about Prince’s course, and to his credit, he has added it to his recommended Udemy courses, though it deserves better billing for all the reasons above.

Please don’t misunderstand. I’m a fan of both Chesson and Penn, and generally rate highly their advice and podcasts (ranked #4 and #5 respectively in my Top 10 Podcasts for Writers and Authors blog piece I will republish here in the next couple of days). But in this instance, I was disappointed they would recommend something inferior, outdated and far more expensive, given their words carry so much weight, especially with indie authors new to the scene.

I’m also a fan of author and internet marketer Paul Teague and his Self-publishing Journeys podcast (ranked #3 in my Top Ten Podcasts). His Paul’s Podcast Diary section is full of practical advice that shouldn’t be missed by newcomers to this Game of Books.

Yet even someone on the ball as this guy can drop it occasionally. In a newsletter from him recently, he recommended MailChimp over Mailerlite email marketing software, even though he uses the latter!

His advice omitted something so important, I emailed him back to suggest he needed to rethink things. Anyway, this recommendation, coming soon after the recommendations of the other two gurus above, persuaded me to write this blog piece!

Having used both MailChimp and Mailerlite, I found them to have the same learning curve. So all square there.

Okay, it’s a fact that MC is free for the first 2,000 subscribers, while ML’s pricing kicks in at 1,000. But that doesn’t mean much to a beginner with 10 subscribers given MC stops its support after just a few weeks.

By comparison, ML provides 24-hour Chat support for free without a time limit — and you will need it from time to time before you get up to speed. ML also provides more (free) features, including a pretty good automation system. Therefore, ML wins hands down for newbie email list builders, in my opinion.

So, for those of you counting every penny, best keep in mind that even shining names in the indie author firmament may not be quite as knowledgeable as you might think when they recommend products; or they may be blinded by their friendships; or they may simply not have checked to see what else is available at the time of writing.

Therefore, do Google and query on writers’ sites before taking purchasing advice from anyone — including me — in this business, which can be quite incestuous.

Note that the podcasts and their authors mentioned here can be searched for on Apple’s iTunes. And should you have a different opinion or see a blind spot in my own recommendations, then fire away in the Comments.

If you’d like to stay in touch, have a question to ask, or would care to hear about what I’m reading, writing and doing in Japan, subscribe to my monthly JohnBoydJapanWriter Newsletter. In return, I will send you a dark and mysterious short story titled The Ritual that can be read in 20 minutes but will take much longer to forget.

Originally published at www.johnboydjapanwriter.com.

I grew up listening to radio. My family didn’t get a television until I was eleven, and by then I was hooked on listening to stories, interviews and commentary on the radio, and have been ever since.

The experience made it natural to extend my listening to audiobooks and more recently to podcasts.

My top two favorite podcast interviewers are NPR’s Gerry Gross of Fresh Air fame, and Tim Ferris, successful author and host of his eponymously named weekly podcast show.

And here lies my problem when I listen to many other podcasts.

You see, Ferriss and Gross are the best at their job I’ve had the pleasure of listening to when it comes to interviewing and getting guests to respond with non-pat answers. That’s because they not only hear but listen to what their interviewees have to say.

Consequently, they ask intelligent follow-up questions audiences hope to hear, rather than moving to the next question on the list without comment, or bleating out sheep-like responses such as Awesome or Cool and leaving it at that.

But why, you may ask, is the professionalism of Gross and Ferris a problem?

Well, listening regularly to their quality presentations have spoilt me rotten to the point I’ve become a picky, picky listener. And with hundreds of podcasts available on more subjects I can check out, I lose patience with podcasters who never seem to improve when improvement is called for, or whose personal foibles spoil otherwise interesting podcasts.

So here is feedback from an avid though pernickety listener offered in the spirit of tough love to help podcasters do a better job of podcasting.

To start with, don’t neglect to think through how you will begin each interview. Please don’t ask your guest the reflexive, “How are you?” Your audience is smart and knows you’ve both been prepping together for the past fifteen minutes, so this question and the required follow-on exchanges sound false, awkward and lame.

Listen to how Gerry Gross introduces her guests. She starts with a bio (or a description of the topic then the bio. And she keeps this brief.

Some podcasters gush or give so much biographical information, it’s like listening to a resume recital ten pages long, a fault compounded when guests then regurgitate this information after being asked by the interviewer how they have reached their current status.

Gross, by contrast, moves straight on to outline the topic, welcome the guest by name, and immediately asks a pertinent question.

This approach makes her intros short, sweet and smooth, and all because she doesn’t pause between the snappy introduction and first question. The technique is simple, effective, professional.

Okay, you are not this thoughtless, unprepared, or given to gushing like an oil well. Great. But what about when your guest is replying to a question? Do you feel the need to keep reminding listeners of your vaunted powers of understanding by saying yes, or uttering other forms of agreement after every few sentences your guest delivers?

Such interaction probably works in a one-to-one meeting on the street. But your podcast audience is listening from afar in maybe less than stellar auditory surroundings. They won’t appreciate you adding bird-like cooing noises of encouragement, or gratuitous yeses when perhaps some are thinking No, I don’t agree with that.

Therefore, when your guest is speaking, you keep quiet so we can listen. Please!

There are exceptions to that last recommendation, of course. Gross and Ferriss step in if something is unclear, or factually wrong, or perhaps when they strongly agree with something and want to add to it. Such interruptions, however, are rare and done not to enhance their ego but to enhance the conversation.

Thankfully, Gross and Ferriss have eliminated any verbal ticks they once had. Such is not the case with many podcasters. How about you?

There is one show in particular I listen to regularly because of the valuable information it provides. Alas, the host laughs habitually at anything she herself says is remotely ironic, unusual or humorous. When repeated over and over, such laughter is the audio equivalent of a nervous tick, or a writer adding an exclamation mark after every other sentence, and it is just as distracting.

Another podcaster I sometimes listen to likes to throw in the phrase, “There you go,” so often that I often do go and switch to another podcast. Other brain-numbed and numbing cliches that need to be uttered a lot less include awesome and cool. Some suggestions: great, brilliant, smashing, fabulous, too good, astonishing, wicked, amazing, wonderful, impressive, magnificent, mean, something else.

The last of my gripes concerns volume. I really, really hate it when you pump up the volume for music breaks and for ads.

NPR, for one, is guilty of this. Whenever there’s a break, a guy comes on shouting about what other programs we ought to listen to, or which sponsors we ought to support. Well, no thanks. I have the podcast turned down low when insomnia strikes in the early hours of the morning, and I don’t want you waking up everyone above and below me.

Audio imbalance is also a problem when guests set their volumes higher than the host’s. This becomes torturous on my ear, and I turn such podcasts off in frustration.

So please, test for volume in your prep and ask the guest to turn the sound down (or up) as necessary.

Taking up these suggestions won’t guarantee discerning…sorry…picky listeners will tune in regularly, but they will decrease the odds of you driving them nuts and eventually driving them away altogether.

I listen to podcasts in Kawasaki, Japan. To see the kinds of writing I do to pay the rent here, check out my website: www.JohnBoydJapanWriter.com. And if you would like to stay in touch, sign up for my monthly newsletter about what I’m reading, writing and doing in Japan, and I’ll send you a short-short story that will take much longer to forget than to read.