The Future of Publishing: A Conversation with Renowned Author Michael Larsen

I recently had the privilege of meeting one of my writing heroes: Michael Larsen, author of what I consider to be an indispensable book How to Write a Book Proposal. We bumped into each other at the San Francisco Writers Conference, an event that he started with his late wife in 2003.
If you haven’t heard of Michael, you should! In addition to writing the book and starting the conference, he’s dedicated his career to helping writers achieve their publishing dreams. He was a literary agent for many years and has written two other books, including How to Get a Literary Agent (third edition), and Guerrilla Marketing for Writers: 100 Weapons for Selling Your Work (second edition) which he co authored.
When we met at the conference, Michael said something fascinating, especially coming from someone who has spent much of his life helping writers land traditional publishing deals: Michael thinks that the future of publishing lies in self-publishing. So I asked if I could interview him and dive deeper into this subject.
Here are a few topics we discuss:
00:00 Intro
04:09 Why Michael believes self-publishing is the future of writing
06:55 How to build your own community of readers
08:49 How to define your goals
16:08 How to hone your craft whether for traditional or self-publishing
14:51 Why you have to love what you do
19:57 Michael’s newest book project
To learn more about Michael, visit his website larsenauthorcoaching.com/
You can also email Michael questions at: [e-mail].