The Ronin Author
If we’re being honest, everyone and their brother have podcasts these days. I resisted the urge until recently when I started “Adventures in POD” to recount my experiences launching a Print on Demand store on Etsy. It’s been a fun experience so far, so I’ve decided to branch out and do a second podcast, “The Ronin Author,” to reflect on what I’ve learned so far as a self-published author.
The podcast’s name comes from the Ronin concept in Feudal Japan. Back then, Feudal Lords, or Shogun, ruled their territory. These Shoguns had their loyal Samurai serving them. But, a Ronin was a masterless Samurai. He roamed from territory to territory doing work for hire. He was a master of his craft, just like the Samurai who the lords employed, but he was loyal to no one but himself. A Ronin lived by the motto, “No Gods, No Masters.”
So, it’s in that spirit that I’ve started this podcast. Much like the Ronin of old, we self-published authors walk our path with no boss. We have no traditional publisher looming over us and no boss forcing a deadline on us. Our work is all our own, with no one to tell us what to do or how to do it. Because of that, we must stay focused because danger can lurk anywhere on that road of life or self-publishing.
However, I didn’t want this to be yet another guru podcast. You know what I’m talking about. Some talking head telling you that all you need to do to succeed is follow their advice. Not that it isn’t vital to study and learn. In fact, I’ve received a lot of good advice from many great authors. But I don’t want this to be one of those podcasts. It’s important to stress I am not an expert. I’m not an incredibly successful author. I have sold some books, but I’m not a bestseller. Instead, I wanted this podcast to be real talk about my experiences in the self-publishing world so far, both the good and the bad. I would also like to extend the conversation to you as well. Send me any questions or topics you’d like to hear about, and I’ll try my best to answer them. You see, I envision this podcast as a support group for self-published authors. I want to hear from you because we can all learn from each other’s experiences. Also, in the future, I may entertain the idea of having guests on the show to share their points of view, but I have to walk before I run. With that in mind, I derive my motto for this podcast from the Ronin:
No Gods, No Masters, No Gurus.
Instead, let’s get together and share stories and experiences and build a better author journey together.
– Ryan
