#Why editing matters on Substack

[mehmetyildizmelbourne-blog]

Section 5: Why Editorial Excellence and Self-Editing Matter on Substack

Summary of my Udemy Course “From Zero to Substack Hero.” Dear freelance writers, this is a new series upon request from my readers. I recently developed a course titled “From Zero to Substack Hero” and published it on Udemy and shared it on Content Marketing Strategy Insights owned by Dr Mehmet Yildiz who kindly allowed me to use his Substack Mastery book to design the curriculum. Some writers…

[r-o-s-e-f-i-r-e]

ok between evan buckley’s cultural black hole of an upbringing and his noted love of documentaries trivia research deep dives etc what i’ve been turning over in my mind palace the last few days is like

tommy logs into instagram once a week to like all of sal and gina’s pictures of baby lila and whatever memes chimney has sent him. he hits a button weird with his gigantic beautiful fingers and gets taken to an instagram reel about uhhh the irish potato famine it doesn’t actually matter what it is he just watches the first few seconds and goes !!! evan was talking about this!!!!! evan thing! thing for evan!!!! tommy immediately shows it to evan later like hey babe weren’t you just talking about this i found more Information for you 👁️👄👁️ and buck watches it and is just like what???? that’s not true. excuse me, he’s - he’s literally making shit up, potatoes are native to the americas, this is misinformation, there was food the english were just exporting it under armed guards it was starvation under colonial rule!!!! he doesn’t even bother to list any citations? that’s not what a primary source is!!!!! and then buck takes tommy’s phone and starts eviscerating some like podcast bro adjacent “real history” account (it’s a funnel into tradwife conspiracy theories and also the podcast bros MLM which evan will never realize because he doesn’t make it to the end of the video he keeps swiping and is like ALL OF THESE ARE WRONG!!! HOW CAN HE JUST LIE ON THE INTERNET LIKE THAT????)

anyway after tommy is like uh??? it eventually comes out that evan’s bubble boy childhood was the natural extension of both of his parents like. being tenured history professors at penn. the only music released after 1980 that he listened to growing up was paul simon’s graceland. they didnt own a television but he spent a lot of time sullenly swinging his feet back and forth in a corner of the special collections library while his dad gave public evening and weekend lectures about Petrarch and bookmaking and how to properly handle manuscripts and his mom edited what would become The defining collection of churchill’s personal correspondence and he Did Not Retain Much Of It out of spite but they drilled how to Accurately Research Anything into his 8 year old brain and it became a fundamental building block of his identity (and maddie’s duh) without them realizing how fucking weird they are. for examp he’s sooo annoyed he doesn’t have a date for the billy boils rodeo stampede in the hospital. the substack he found was run by a uc berkeley folklore MA who emailed buck scans of microfilms of contemporary newspaper articles abt boils & the gang after buck is like nice wiki template 🙄 tommy hears all of this and is like okay. cool. umm where do curses fit into this worldview. and buck is like you’d be a believer too if you’d had PhD students over for dinner every other week comparing traumatic field research stories while your parents nodded along sagely and said stuff like yeah that’s why you don’t fuck around in the catacombs after dark you idiots. ANYWAY that’s all thanks for stopping by

[olderthannetfic]

do you - or anyone following you - have recs for communities (DW, substack, medium, patreon, discord, etc.) for fic writers who are trying to make a jump from 'lol sure edits whatever' to treating fic more seriously (like concrit, talking about techniques, having serious talks about fixing plot holes, etc)? preferably not focused on one fandom? there are lots of spaces for beginning fic writers but the minute people want to become more critical of their work suddenly 'why are you taking the fun out of your hobby', 'rules are for breaking', 'it's just fanfic it doesn't matter'.

there are resources/places out there for people working on writing original novels, but they don't really support fanfic. there also seems to be an assumption that wanting to improve your writing must mean you want to move to writing original work and that's not true. you can want to get better at your hobby without wanting to go professional.

--

Anyone?

[misfitwashere]

Joe Biden’s gifts to America

August 2, 2024

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

AUG 2

Over his half-century of public service, Joe Biden bestowed many gifts on America. True, like every politician with a fifty-year record, he has made his share of mistakes. But when it mattered most, Joe Biden stepped into the breach to defend democracy and provide hope to America when it flagged.

He stepped up to challenge Trump in 2020 because he believed he could save America from the horrors of a second Trump term. He was right. That was a gift.

Over the next four years, he restored decency, compassion, and fairness to the governance of great nation. That was a gift.

He proposed and passed sweeping legislation that made historic investments in fighting climate change, protecting the environment, ending child poverty, rebuilding our infrastructure, and bringing chip manufacturing back to America’s shores. That was a gift.

He restored the broken relationships between America and its allies. He was able to do so because our allies recognized that he was a good and decent man whose word could be trusted. That was a gift.

Today, Joe Biden’s gift of renewed international alliances resulted in the freedom of three American citizens wrongfully detained by Russia. The exchange would not have happened except for the relationship of trust and goodwill between President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The German Chancellor agreed to release a Russian assassin held in a German prison. In agreeing to the deal, Chancellor Scholz told Biden, “For you, I will do this.” See WaPo, Inside the deal that led to a blockbuster prisoner swap between U.S., Russia. (This article is accessible to all.)

The complex deal involved 24 detainees and 7 countries—the most complicated prisoner swap between the US and Russia in history. President Biden continued to work his relationships with foreign leaders to close the deal until the very moment he announced his withdrawal from the presidential race. Joe Biden’s selfless efforts were a gift.

The complex deal could not have happened without Joe Biden and Kamala Harris or the cooperation of six US allies. Vice President Kamala Harris played an active role in the negotiations, including private meetings with the Slovenian Prime Minister and German Chancellor at the annual Munich security conference.

The complexity of the deal is beyond the comprehension or attention span of Donald Trump—who boasted that he could secure the release of US detainees from Russia without giving any concessions to Putin. After Joe Biden finished his press conference announcing the deal, a reporter shouted a question about Trump's boast that “that he could have gotten the hostages out without giving anything in exchange.”

Biden stopped, returned to the lectern, and asked, “Why didn’t he do it when he was president?” See embedded video, here.

Within an hour of completing negotiations for the swap, Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race. Thirty-minutes later, he endorsed Kamala Harris for president. At a time when party leaders and podcast pundits were calling for “mini-primaries” and an “open convention,” Joe Biden had the wisdom and foresight to realize that Democrats needed unity and certainty.

Kamala Harris had earned Joe Biden’s endorsement, and he gave it promptly and enthusiastically. Forty-eight hours later, Kamala Harris was the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party. That was Joe Biden’s final gift—a seamless transition that has allowed Democrats to overtake Trump in less than two weeks. Kamala Harris deserves great credit for that result, but so, too, does Joe Biden for his selfless actions, wisdom, and political foresight.

[mariacallous]

Ana Levy-Lyons was in her 20s when she found out she was Jewish. During her childhood in Tenafly, New Jersey, her family never spoke about what her mother would later call her “Jewish heritage.” Classic “nones” (what Pew calls the “religiously unaffiliated”), the family observed no religious rituals other than an Americanized Christmas and Easter.

Nevertheless, or maybe inevitably, Levy-Lyons was drawn to matters of the spirit. After a brief career in tech and the music business, she enrolled at the University of Chicago Divinity School, eventually eschewing its dryly academic approach to religion in order to train as a Unitarian Universalist minister. She served for 18 years in “UU” pulpits, including the First Unitarian Universalist Congregational Society in Brooklyn. Now 52 and no longer working as a minister, she is enrolled in the Jewish Renewal movement’s ALEPH Ordination Program to become a rabbi.

Levy-Lyons might have told a “coming home” story, but her new book takes a different direction. “The Secret Despair of the Secular Left” is less a celebration of Judaism (although there is that) than a searing critique of modern secularism. 

As a church without a creed —UU’s pulpits and pews are open to believers and nonbelievers of any stripe — Unitarian Universalism came to represent to Levy-Lyons a “self-assured nothingness” that she sees among “nones” of all backgrounds. Without religious and traditional structures, she asserts, community bonds erode, people become detached from the natural world, and their souls become alienated from their bodies.

“I have come to believe that this is not just my story but the defining story of our time,” she writes. “It’s the story of disembodiment, disconnection, and dislocations. It cuts across class and race.”

She offers religious tradition, especially Jewish traditions, as an antidote to a pervasive sense of grief and longing for deeper connection and meaning. She writes from the left but also against the left, frequently challenging liberal orthodoxies when it comes to feminism, abortion and gender identity. 

In an FAQ feature on her Substack, she writes that the book is neither progressive nor conservative — or rather, both progressive and conservative. “I’m hoping that this book can help elevate our discourse beyond today’s political polarization and engage our deeper cultural and spiritual struggles,” she writes. “From my perspective, despite how much the two ‘sides’ hate each other right now, in terms of these struggles we are more similar than different.”

Levy-Lyons, whose previous book was “No Other Gods: The Politics of the Ten Commandments,” recently taught a course on Jewish environmental ethics for My Jewish Learning, JTA’s partner site. She lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with her husband and their 14-year-old twins. We spoke Tuesday about what she thinks is ailing the secular left, the alternative that Jewish tradition offers and why at least one reader had trouble squaring her liberal bona fides and some of her heterodox views. 

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.  

[financefuelpress]

🌀 THE $10K/MONTH BLUEPRINT 🌀

🌀 THE $10K/MONTH BLUEPRINT 🌀 aka how to escape the rat race and live life on your own terms.

☁️ this post is for the dreamers, the builders, the ones done waiting for permission. let’s break it down:

💡 STEP 1: Pick Your Path You need a monetizable skill or offer. Choose one: → Freelancing (writing, design, coding, video editing) → Product-based (digital downloads, Etsy, print-on-demand) → Coaching/consulting (fitness, mindset, biz strategy) → Content creation (YouTube, TikTok, Substack, Patreon) → SMMA or UGC (brands will pay you to create)

Pick ONE. Focus is the new rich.

Click HERE to get access

🧰 STEP 2: Build Your Offer Create something people want—not just what you like. Ask: → What problem do I solve? → Why would someone pay me for this? → Can I prove results or build a case study?

Packaging = Power. Make your offer irresistible.

📣 STEP 3: Get Loud Start posting. Start emailing. Start DMing. No one pays you if no one knows you. → Show your face → Share your process → Give free value → Position yourself as an authority

Lurk less, build more.

Click HERE to get access https://payhip.com/b/ZBdSH 

💸 STEP 4: Scale to $10K Here’s a sample math: → $1K offer × 10 clients = $10K → $500 offer × 20 clients = $10K → $100 digital product × 100 sales = $10K → $2,500/month retainer × 4 clients = $10K

Keep your offer → dial in your outreach → systemize your delivery.

🧠 MINDSET MATTERS → You don’t need to be an expert. Just be a few steps ahead. → Charge for the value, not the hours. → People buy confidence. Believe in your offer first. → You will fail at first. That’s the point. Don’t quit.

🌱 Start small. Think big. Stay consistent. Your $10K month won’t happen overnight. But it will happen if you keep showing up.

Click HERE to get access https://payhip.com/b/ZBdSH 

Tag someone who needs to see this 🤍

#10kblueprint #hustleculture #entrepreneurlife #digitalnomad #onlinebusiness #moneytips #manifestmoney

[virtualmemoriespodcast]

Episode 567 - Jarrett Earnest

For the last guest-episode of 2023, art critic Jarrett Earnest joins me to celebrate his beautiful new book, VALID UNTIL SUNSET (Matte Editions), which brings together his Polaroids and a second-person narrative to create a bewitching trip through memory, art, grief, friendship, and more. We talk about how the sudden death of his father paralyzed and then catalyzed him, the importance of making art before fully recovering from a bad experience, how the artist's job is to be a question mark, and how a Nan Goldin exhibition started him on taking pictures of the people and places that mattered to him. We get into his friendships with Genesis P-Orridge and Peter Schjeldahl, and Genesis' imprecation to do/make/be the Most Fabulous Imaginable Version, the importance of road trips and pilgrimages, what he learned from interviewing a series of art critics, the freedom & addictiveness of writing in the second person, why we need to make an argument about why any art matters at all today, and why he loves writing about artists he knows. Plus, we discuss the value of public-facing life in NYC, how it felt to perform selections from Valid Until Sunset, how he thinks of writing in terms of shape, the importance of having a really good analyst and really dumb personal trainer, why you don't need to be part of Barbenheimer, and a lot more. Follow Jarrett on Instagram and subscribe to his Substack • More info at our site • Support The Virtual Memories Show via Patreon or Paypal and via our Substack

Check out the new episode of The Virtual Memories Show

[earlymorningcigar]

Pairings

A quality steak and a proper cigar create an experience that stands on its own. The pairing is fundamental, a matter of complementing flavors, not masking them. It's a ritual grounded in respect for quality materials, whether they be aged tobacco or prime beef.

When it comes to the steak, the cut dictates the value, not the price tag. It’s about mastering the fire, achieving a perfect, dark sear that locks in every ounce of flavor. There is no substitute for a thick-cut ribeye, seasoned with nothing more than coarse salt and black pepper, and finished with a touch of butter. A prime cut of beef is an honest ingredient; burying it in complex sauces is a fool's errand. It speaks for itself, provided you know how to listen.

Travel to any cigar lounge, and the talk eventually turns to pairings. The suggestions are a study in contrasts. I have heard everything from black coffee to Sprite, even a glass of milk—a choice I will never comprehend. It proves that a man's palate is his own territory. This is precisely why cigar ratings are a concave exercise, a marketing gimmick for the indecisive. Trusting another man's tasting notes is like letting him choose your battles.

So, if a man finds his truth in a pairing I find questionable, that is his affair. Any man who appreciates the tradition of a fine cigar is already on solid ground. My own tested preferences are straightforward tools: a black coffee that bites back, a Wild Cherry Pepsi for a sharp counterpoint, or simple room-temperature water. The objective is to taste the damn cigar.

“Written originally by Christopher Mullen, edited for grammar by Google Gemini”

(A repost from Early Morning Cigar Substack)

[techit-rp]

Generative AI for Creators: How Bengaluru is Becoming India’s Learning Hub

In today’s fast-evolving digital landscape, independent creators and freelancers are experiencing a major shift in how they work, create, and deliver value. The driving force behind this change? Generative AI.

From AI-powered writing assistants to tools that generate artwork, music, and videos, Generative AI is opening up endless opportunities for solo professionals to scale their output, sharpen their creativity, and compete on a global level. And for those looking to stay ahead, enrolling in Generative AI training in Bengaluru can be a game-changer.

Let’s explore how this revolutionary technology is empowering freelancers and creators—and why learning it matters now more than ever.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

The creator economy has exploded in recent years, fueled by platforms like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Substack, and Patreon. Millions of freelancers now build careers in writing, designing, video editing, composing music, podcasting, and more. But with growing competition and increasing demands for content, creators face a constant challenge: How do you do more, better, faster?

Enter Generative AI.

What is Generative AI?

Generative AI refers to a category of artificial intelligence that can generate new content—text, images, videos, music, and even code—by learning from existing data. Some popular examples include:

ChatGPT for writing and ideation

DALL·E and Midjourney for AI-generated visuals

Runway ML for video editing and special effects

Jasper for marketing content creation

Soundraw and Amper for music composition

These tools don’t just save time—they spark new ideas and help creators explore creative territories that were once hard to reach solo.

How Generative AI is Empowering Freelancers and Independent Creators

1. Boosting Productivity and Efficiency

Freelancers often juggle multiple projects and deadlines. Generative AI tools can automate repetitive tasks like drafting outlines, writing first drafts, creating design variations, or generating music samples. This frees up time for creators to focus on refinement and originality.

2. Expanding Creative Capabilities

A graphic designer can now experiment with AI-generated art styles, a writer can brainstorm storylines with a chatbot, and a music producer can build background scores with AI in minutes. The creative boundaries have significantly expanded.

3. Delivering More Value to Clients

With AI in your toolkit, you can offer faster turnaround times and more diverse deliverables. For instance, a content creator can now offer blog posts, SEO meta descriptions, video scripts, and social captions—generated and refined with AI assistance.

4. Lowering Entry Barriers

For budding creators without access to expensive gear or large teams, Generative AI offers a level playing field. You can now produce studio-quality music or cinematic visuals from your laptop—often with free or affordable tools.

5. Enabling Solo Entrepreneurs

Creators are turning their passions into scalable businesses with AI-generated products—like digital art prints, eBooks, online courses, and even merchandise designs—powered by generative tools.

Why Bengaluru is Emerging as a Generative AI Learning Hub

Bengaluru, India’s tech capital, is already known for its vibrant startup scene and innovation ecosystem. Now, it’s rapidly becoming a hotspot for AI learning and experimentation. With access to industry experts, AI-focused workshops, tech meetups, and a strong community of creators, the city is ideal for anyone looking to dive deep into the world of AI.

For freelancers and creatives in the city, enrolling in Generative AI training in Bengaluru offers several advantages:

Hands-on sessions with real-world tools and case studies

Opportunities to network with tech entrepreneurs, artists, and fellow learners

Exposure to cutting-edge AI platforms and collaboration projects

Personalized mentorship from industry professionals

Whether you're a writer, designer, YouTuber, musician, or social media strategist, learning how to work with AI rather than compete with it can supercharge your freelance career.

What You’ll Learn in Generative AI Training in Bengaluru

A well-structured Generative AI training program will typically include:

Introduction to Generative AI & its applications

Using tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, DALL·E, Runway ML, and more

Text-to-image, image-to-video, and AI voice generation

Prompt engineering to get the best results from AI models

Ethical use of AI in content creation

Portfolio-building projects using real-world use cases

With a strong foundation, freelancers can confidently integrate AI into their workflows and offer services that reflect the future of creative work.

The Ethical Angle: Create with Responsibility

While Generative AI opens up exciting possibilities, it also raises concerns around originality, copyright, and misinformation. That’s why any professional training—especially reputable Generative AI training in Bengaluru—should emphasize ethical AI use. Understanding the importance of attribution, data sourcing, and intellectual property rights is crucial for responsible creation.

Final Thoughts

Generative AI is not replacing human creativity—it’s amplifying it. For independent creators and freelancers, it represents a powerful ally in navigating the competitive digital economy. Those who embrace this technology early will not only stay relevant but also stand out in a crowded market.

[liquidbird-official]

Transistors: The Tiny Switches Powering Your Phone

Alright, imagine a transistor as a tiny switch—just like a light switch, but way smaller and much faster. It controls the flow of electricity in a circuit. When it’s ON, electricity flows; when it’s OFF, no electricity flows. Simple, right?

Now, why does this matter? Because everything in your phone—apps, videos, games, internet—runs on signals made of 1s and 0s. These 1s and 0s are controlled by transistors. A single transistor acts like a small decision-maker, turning on or off to process data.

Billions of Transistors? Seriously?

Yep! Modern smartphones, like iPhones, have billions of these tiny switches packed into a single chip called a processor (or CPU). This is possible because of nanotechnology, which makes transistors insanely small—so small that you could fit millions of them on a pinhead!

The more transistors, the faster and more powerful the chip. That’s why newer phones feel snappier, load apps quicker, and handle AI-powered features like facial recognition and voice assistants.

How Do They Help?

Speed – More transistors mean faster calculations, making your phone run smoothly. Power Efficiency – Modern transistors are tiny and optimized to use less battery. AI and Graphics – From crisp gaming graphics to smart photo editing, transistors process everything.

In short, transistors are the reason your phone isn’t just a call-and-text machine but a pocket supercomputer!

Check, our substack for more in-depth articles on such topics.

[booksbydlwhite]

Leave the Thrillers, Take the Romance: A Mid-January Update

Hey friends! Welcome to episode 107 of The Bookcast. I'm recording today with a bit of a cold, so I sound funny, but I'm here and that's all that matters.  I  had to come in and share a mid-month update on my latest reads, writing efforts and author wins with you. Also, it snowed in Atlanta, a thing that only happens every few years, so there's that.   

Book Report

I have read 14 of 100 books. I'm well ahead of my challenge and as per usual, I'll re-evaluate mid year. SO FAR it looks like I am going to be bumping up the goal much earlier. I just love reading. Here's what I've read so far this month- note I was on vacation for the first six days of the month.  I'm trying something new by tracking on both Goodreads and StoryGraph. I don't personally enjoy storygraph but I want to stick it out to see if I get good reporting at the end of the year. Goodreads is very social but not good at reporting. 

Track Her Down by Melinda Leigh (Bree Taggart #10)

A Winter Crest Christmas Reloaded: Mia and Zen by Cordae

One More to Die by Joy Ellis (Audible Original)

Tell Her Story by Margo Hunt (Audible Original)

The Family Lies by Angela Henry

The Setup by Falguni Kothari

Lacey James series by Chris Patchell

Shooting the Moon by Brenda Novak

Westmoreland Legacy series bundle by Brenda Jackson: 

The Rancher Returns

His Secret Son

An Honorable Seduction

The Secret Witness by Victor Methos

More Than Friends by Reese Ryan (Love and Music Suite #3)

Writing Updates:

Currently working on a Valentine's Day story titled Rules in Romance

Calculated Risk is with my editor and due end of February

Missing Persons is complete but needs editing

Still plugging away at my Berkeley Sisters trilogy

Writing fan fiction on my Substack (short fiction by dlwhite.substack.com)

I ended the episode asking how you all are planning to get through these interesting times ahead. Drop me a line - I'd love to hear from you!

Support the show

Support this show with a recurring gift at bookcast.buzzsprout.com. Follow my substack at authordlwhite.substack.com Buy books by DL White at https://payhip.com/booksbydlwhite Buy Merch by DLWhite at my spreadshop. Find the Bookcast on booksbydlwhite.com/bookcast or your fave podcast app: Apple Podcasts | Spotify |Overcast | Podlink| Youtube

TRANSCRIPT

DL White [00:00:14]:

Hello. Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. Happy Sunday or whatever day or time of day you might be listening to this podcast. Welcome back to the book cast. I am so glad you are here, boos and bros, book pals, fans of the written word. I'm a little bit loopy.

DL White [00:00:34]:

I know you can hear it in my voice. I got a lot of nasally things going on. I do have a cold. I think I am on the end of it, but I am very coffee, sneezy, sniffly, and I have not taken any cold meds because I'm weird. So I think after I record, I may actually take cold meds. So, anyhow, welcome back to the book cast. I am DL White, your host. I am an Atlanta based author of 15 published novels, 16 written ones that you'll hear about calculated risk later this year.

DL White [00:01:14]:

Actually, I think it's more than 16 because I have also finished missing persons. I don't know. I've lost count now is where I'm at. I know I'm not at 20 yet. Anyway, novels, short stories, fan fiction, I write them. I also read. I'm a reader first. So we begin with the book report as always, and then we talk about writing and topics of the day.

DL White [00:01:40]:

I no longer plan out this podcast, so that's why I'm rambling. And perhaps I should go back to planning out the podcast, but, honestly, I feel like it goes so much better when I'm just I get up. I look at the my my, book report information, my Goodreads challenge mainly, figure out where I'm at for the month so I can report, look at my sales to see, like, do I have anything to talk about? Yes? No? Maybe? Is it exciting, or is it meh? Look at my writing stats. How's that going? And, and then I I press record. And I was using Riverside, and I still have my my I still have, like, a login there, but it's just like an extra step. Like, all I need is Audacity. I just open Audacity, and I start recording. So I feel like it's going a little bit better, actually.

DL White [00:02:36]:

I don't have to script out every word I need to say. So, you know, we're gonna do what works until it doesn't work anymore. Anyway, I don't think this episode is going to be long, but who knows? Because I didn't script it out. So it could be 40 minutes of me yammering about books. Who knows? Anyhow, so let's get rolling. We're gonna have a little coffee break. And And then after the jump, we're gonna talk about books and writing. Today is Sunday, January 12th.

DL White [00:03:07]:

It is 8:11 AM. There is snow on the ground here in Atlanta, which I'm very surprised about. I actually figured it would be gone, like, by tomorrow, but it is cold outside. I took some garbage out this morning, and, it's it's it's chilly. Hopefully, we get above 40 degrees today and this stuff starts melting because Monday Friday are work from home days for us. But if this stuff is still on the ground on Tuesday, I ain't going nowhere. Nowhere. Anyhow, let's have some coffee and then come back to talk about books.

DL White [00:04:22]:

Okay. And we are back. Let us begin with the book report. Let me get to my tab because I didn't write any of this down because I'm smart. We are 12 days into the year, and I haven't done an update since January 1. So we are just gonna call this, like, for the year at, 14 books completed. I am 11 books ahead of schedule. My goal is, of course, set at 100 books as always.

DL White [00:04:55]:

I always set it at a 100 on January 1, and we see where we are by, you know, midyear, like the end of June, I'll evaluate. Maybe I will raise it to 150, 175. Last year, I ended up with 225 books. I had a lot that I needed to hide from, and, that worked out really well for me, actually. This year, I'm doing a little something different. I'm trying trying to duplicate my books on the StoryGraph because I wanna see, like, all the pretty graphs and whatever. There's a lot that goes into, tracking a book on StoryGraph, and I literally I just wanna track the book and the dates that I read them. I don't I don't wanna fill out all this extra information, so I'm really not doing all that.

DL White [00:05:51]:

So I don't know how pretty my charts are gonna look, but Goodreads doesn't do very good reporting to me. And I like numbers, and I like reports and graphs and pie charts and bar charts. So I am not actually a big fan of the story graph. It's too plain for me. Like, it it simultaneously does too much and not enough and, that I don't like the interface. I can't see what all my friends are reading. It's not very social. Goodreads is, like, very social.

DL White [00:06:24]:

I can see what everybody else is reading, what everybody else is reviewing, what everybody else is, you know, adding what, you know, what, what do they call them? What, shelves everybody's adding their books to? Like, Goodreads is very social to me, and I've been saying this for a long time. I'm not giving up anything that makes my life easier and enjoyable. I do not care what Jeff Bezos is doing. I don't. He owns 8% of Amazon. 8. If I'm not participating in Amazon stuff, like me not sending him 14 99 a month for Prime isn't going to make him less of a billionaire. So I'm not making my life harder to stand arm and arm with people who can't even get in the booth with me.

DL White [00:07:10]:

I don't I don't care. So that's my stance on it. I'm at Goodreads. I enjoy Goodreads. I'm duplicating at the story graph so I can participate in a couple of challenges that are hosted there and also just so I can see, you know, what my reading year is gonna look like graph wise. So I'm at 14 books for the year. A lot of that is audio, I'm pretty sure, and let's just take a look at, what I have been reading this year. Melinda Lee, track her down.

DL White [00:07:47]:

This is number 10 in the Bree Taggart series. Bree Taggart is a, like, of course, a female sheriff out in the northwest. I believe it's the, Oregon area. I love this series, and I've been gobbling them down. I need Melinda Lee and Kendra Elliott to write many, many books much faster. And then I, caught up a little bit on some holiday reading, A Winter Crest Christmas Reloaded, Mia and Zen by an author named Cordae. This was, I think this was like a, like, a urban urban romance is what they call it. It's one of those, like, you can tell by the cover, by the font, and how they're it's all, like, shiny and whatever.

DL White [00:08:34]:

One of those, there was a lot of sex in it, so there's that, if that's something that interests you. It's a thing that doesn't really interest me much anymore. Like, I like reading sex in a novel as much as the next guy, but after, like, the first two scenes, I get it. They like each other. I'm I'm good. Like, I I like that it's there. Like, if I wanna go back and read a sex scene, I know where to find it. But, I don't read books for the sex, so I wanna know how like, does the plot sizzle as much as those bedroom scenes sizzle? And sometimes, the plot don't be sizzling the plot don't be sizzling.

DL White [00:09:17]:

So, like, a lot of times when I I write, I write the story to make sure the story has legs, and I already know, like, this scene is gonna lead to sex. That scene's gonna be, like, suggestive, but I can close the door that one. But I already know which scenes are gonna have sex in them, but I leave that out. And then in draft 2 is when I go through front to back. I'm writing, I'm rewriting, I'm fluffing, I'm adding, and every time I go through that book, I am adding more to each scene so that it's full and it's fleshed out. That's how I do it and, like, you know, I know I am not one of them popular girls out here, but I feel like my books like, they work out it works out good for me. I wanna make sure that the the story is about the story and the sex is an added benefit. That's an obvious part of a modern adult relationship.

DL White [00:10:23]:

Anyway, I picked up 2 Audible originals, 1 More TO Die by Joy Ellis and Tell Her Story by Margo Hunt. I honestly don't remember what these books were about. They were short, like, 2 hours and whatever. I read those on the second or listened to those on the second. And then The Family Lies by Angela Henry, I believe publishes January 14th. So this coming up, so I had this as an arc. Like, this was really good until it was not. Angela Henry is a new to me author.

DL White [00:10:59]:

I think I started following her on TikTok around, like, 2023, and she had, it's not her first book, but the first book I know by her called The Perfect Ties or something like that. And that book was pretty good, but she gets to a point in her book where it kinda jumps off a cliff, and then it just becomes entirely too complicated, and I can't follow the story. This story, it was it was actually it was actually pretty good about a woman that gets a job managing, the, personal library of this very wealthy family. And there's just, like, a bunch of, like, not creepy, but, like, weird stuff that's happening in the house. Like, she has to live in the house. The dude that, owns the house and is, like, the patriarch of the family, I guess, that hires her. He's got, like, some weird stuff going on. It was, like, it was really good, and then, like, the last 4th of the book was just a lot of what? Wait.

DL White [00:12:07]:

What? What? So I think I gave it 3 stars. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't, like, the most amazing book I've I've ever read. The Family Lies by Angela Henry. And then I listened to The Setup by Falguni Kothari. This was pretty good. This was like it was an audible original about I believe they are a Daisy family and grandpa, I believe, or an uncle, I couldn't I I can't remember, is trying to set a young woman up with, a man so she can get married. And at first, they don't like each other, and then they start to grow on each other. It was really cute, and it was, you know, it's an audible original, so it was pretty short.

DL White [00:12:58]:

Then I stumbled upon this series, and I ate it all the way up. The Lacey James series by Chris Patchell. Lacey James is a I believe she's a young, investigator, detective. And, I found the first one, which I think is, find her, and it's been, I don't know, 10 days since I read this book, so I don't remember the exact, the, you know, the synopsis of the book. It's a police procedural, which is my absolute catnip. I ran through all 4 of the books in this series, in 2 days, which I'm want to do. Hello, Robert Dugoni, Kendra Elliott, Melinda Lee. I'm all over it.

DL White [00:13:52]:

So this series is really good. I really, really enjoyed it. All of these books, I believe, are available on Everand. If you are a member, I think they're also at Chirp if you wanna just buy them outright. I think I borrowed them not borrowed, but think I got them at Libro. I don't remember. Or maybe it was Everand. I don't know.

DL White [00:14:13]:

Can't remember. But Chris Patchell, really good series, and I think there is another coming out in that series in a few weeks, so I'm excited about that. And then I grabbed Brenda Novak shooting the moon from NetGalley. This is an audible, audio arc, and I take all the audio arcs I can get because I wanna keep getting more. This is a audio release of an old Brenda Novak book, and it showed it did not age well. It was rather uninteresting, but, it was a story about a guy who comes back to his hometown to claim the son that he, quote, unquote, left behind. The mother of his child died in a car accident, I believe, and his, mother's the the mother's the child's aunt has been raising him, and grandparents have, like, been taking over since the child's mother died. Like, way way back when they were dating, he was quote, unquote bad news from the other side of the tracks, and dad paid him to go away.

DL White [00:15:34]:

And he comes back like, hey. I need access to my son. And yeah. It's I mean oh, gosh. Yeah. White author's romance doesn't hit me at all anymore. It just doesn't it just doesn't do anything for me. But I listened to it.

DL White [00:15:56]:

I got all the way through it. Gotta send my review off to NetGalley, and we're done with that. And that's that's just gonna be the last that we're gonna do of that. And then I got Brenda Jackson released the first three books in the Westmoreland legacy series, The Rancher Returns, His Secret Son, and An Honorable Seduction in 1 bundle. So this was like a long listen. This took me, like, a couple days to get through. I put this on Blue Sky. Whenever I think that I have put too much sex in a book, I am just going to refer to Brenda Jackson romance because I promise you once her characters start having sex, it's sex in every chapter.

DL White [00:16:48]:

But the thing that miss Jackson does is that story is tight. There is a beginning and there is a climax and there is an end. That story is tight. The sex isn't like, the book the this the story isn't the sex. The story is the story and the sex enhances. There just is a lot of it. So I just sometimes, like, I I'm reading and I'm like, again? Oh my goodness. Whoo.

DL White [00:17:17]:

Lord. So I'm to the point where I kinda skip through a lot of that, and I just I just wanna know what happens in the story. Thankfully, there's so much pleasure in reading the story itself. So those 3 I got through. I can't say I will ever listen to 3 audiobooks in one bundle at a time ever again, but Brenda Jackson is not a bad way to spend a couple of days. And then had a couple days off from reading because that was a lot that was a lot of reading in 9 days. And then yesterday, I, picked up on well, actually, Friday, I picked up, The Secret Witness by Victor Methos because I was want I wanted to read book 2 then realized I hadn't read book 1, which was the secret witness, so I picked that up. It wasn't the best book I ever read.

DL White [00:18:11]:

I like Victor Methos, and I see why I started this and then stopped reading it because it was a little bit boring. But I did wanna read book 1 before I read book 2, so now I'm gonna pick up book 2. I don't even remember what the name of book 2 is, but I got that out of the way. So I can pick up book 2 now. So I got that, and then I read yesterday. I I have been so deep in thriller, suspense, mystery since January 1. I needed some romance. I woke up yesterday like I need a romance immediately.

DL White [00:18:44]:

And Rhys Ryan just released book 3 in the Love and Music Suite series. I believe this is her 1st self published series, and she's doing such an amazing job with it. I'm like I am so pleased and proud of this work that Ries Ryan has been doing. More than Friends is this, friends to lovers romance. And it's a second chance because they dated in high school and decided that they would rather be friends, except one of them did not really want to stay friends. And hence, like, that's how friends to lovers always is, which kinda ticks me off. Like, one of them is always, like like, hanging out in the cut, hoping the situation will change. Meanwhile, I will just take your friendship as a consolation prize.

DL White [00:19:32]:

It's never that they're, like, actual, like, friends. And then one day, they look at each other and they're like, hey. So, why haven't we ever like, that's the Friends to Lovers I wanna read. That's a Friends to Lovers I would write. So I got that read yesterday. It was excellent. Excellent. Like, when I am reading and talking back to the book and highlighting things, it's a good, good read.

DL White [00:20:01]:

I really, really enjoyed it. It's fun. It's set in Atlanta, which I like, a lot, and, I just really enjoyed it. It's very good. More Than Friends, A Second Chance, Friends To Love is Romance by Rhys Ryan. Like, I love a Rhys Ryan book. She is like a Sunday afternoon snuggle down with a book kind of author for me. I have several of those, like, Synthia Williams, Delaney Diamond, Sharon c Cooper, Nia Forester.

DL White [00:20:27]:

Like, if I have a Sunday afternoon and I need to fill it with a book, I will dig through their catalog for something I haven't read. Turn on, like, the fire channel on YouTube, or lately, I've been listening to, like, this lo fi channel and grab me a snack, a beverage, and I'm out. I am out, and that is the best day for me. So that was the 14 books I've read so far in January. I am, of course, not done reading because come on. But it's been a good look so far. I've been I've been happy with my reading. So moving on super quickly to books.

DL White [00:21:07]:

Sales have dropped considerably since the holidays. Of course, things really slow down when the kids go back to school and the earth catches on fire and or freezes. There's been a lot going on, so sales have been a little slow. I'm not promoting as much. There's not there's not a whole lot going on, but it'll pick up hopefully toward, like, the second half of the month. My books are in a book funnel promo. It's an indie sales promo, which is gonna move a lot slower, I think, than a, like, a giveaway, but this is definitely, geared toward supporting indie author sales. So that's at BookFunnel.

DL White [00:21:49]:

I'll be talking about that in my newsletter this week. Also, in my newsletter, I will be talking about, I think I told you guys I wrote a newsletter magnet, like a little a short little story that you can only get in my newsletter. You can now also get it if you are a paid subscriber to my short fiction substack at short fiction dot substack short fiction by dlwhite.substack.com. That's also loaded up there. If you are a paid subscriber, you have automatic access to that as well as my weekly serial. Same time next week, which is actually almost done. I have maybe 4 chapters, which is, like, 2 days worth of posting. That's almost almost done.

DL White [00:22:33]:

So if you were waiting to subscribe until same time next week was already all loaded up, you might as well go and subscribe now. It's $5 a month. Short fiction by dlwhite.substack.com. Get into it, same time next week is a serial. It's a interracial I should actually say it's, yeah, it's a interracial rock star romance that I wrote. It was fan fiction, and then it was original fiction, and I unpublished it because it's interracial. And I'd be writing black on black Negro nosed romance. So, I brought it back as a serial because, it's already written, and I have been publishing it twice a week in theory on my short fiction substack.

DL White [00:23:17]:

It is, paid access only. I do have some free stuff on there. I also have a fan fiction story that I started writing. I actually started writing it in August and kinda lost the plot and stopped updating. And then I got a email from a reader that said they had started it and wondered if I was going to finish it. And I was like, what? So I went back to the archive. I was like, oh, yeah. I did start this, and then I started getting ideas.

DL White [00:23:46]:

And so I have been updating that, and so that's really fun. And that one is that is a fun one about a woman named Zoe Chapman. She is an aspiring songwriter, and, she gets a chance to attend a songwriter's retreat with, JC Chasez. And this is a thing that he does, except I think he usually does it in Nashville. The story is called Music on My Heart because it was the only song title I could think of, which is weird. I'm trying to bring it up so I can, so I can read the synopsis. When aspiring songwriter Zoe Chapman joins JC Chasez's exclusive mountain retreat, she's looking for a musical mentorship, not to fall for the man behind the legend. But as the late night studio sessions blur the lines between professional and personal, they discover their hearts might be writing a very different song.

DL White [00:24:44]:

So, I started writing this in August, and I picked it up in December. It's just like some fun fan fiction stuff if you have any interest in in single whatsoever. I, almost exclusively write JC. He's just a very interesting character to me, especially JC in his forties as opposed to JC in his teens and twenties. It's been very fun to watch him grow as an artist, as a writer, as a person. And so writing this older, more mature mentor type person who still is susceptible to meeting someone amazing that they should probably avoid but can't. I like it a lot. So that's going on my short fiction substack.

DL White [00:25:36]:

Fan fiction is always free, and I have a couple I do have some fan fiction stories that are written there. And, I also I have the serial that's there. I believe I have one serial that's free there on the short fiction substack. That is the story of Kate, which I really, really, really loved writing. And, like, writing that really helped me write missing persons because I needed to kinda turn I just needed to turn my brain toward something that isn't so, like, lovey dovey soft place to landy. So there's the story of Kate that's up there. I really enjoyed writing. The photograph is, up there.

DL White [00:26:17]:

That's a 4 part series that I wrote for the podcast last year. Really enjoyed writing that, and all of those really helped push me toward writing missing persons, which is done, but I do need to go through, like, edits and rewrites and fluffing and adding and verify things I just made up because it sounded good. So very exciting things going on on the substack, but I was talking about book sales. So I'm at 5446 for the year. Sales are spread across basically Amazon and Draft2Digital, then I have 21/21 sales through book funnel, which is direct sales. So 21 sales through my, channels. But a lot of those were free, copies of The Guy Next Door. I was giving that away in audio.

DL White [00:27:08]:

For some reason, I can't remember. So most of those are giveaways. The sales through Amazon and Draft2Digital are, sales that have actual royalties attached to them. Biggest sellers this month are Leslie's Curl and Die in audio, The Guy Next Door, an ebook Home for the Holidays, like, 11 I sold 11 copies of Home for the Holidays in January, which is darn good. A thin line dinner at Sam's, and then I have a couple of sales of pearl at Black Diamond Bay and Elysium Black Diamond Vacation Romance. Those are both part of the Black Diamond series. And then a couple of straggler orders for a second time around, the guy next door and the WANSA brunch. That's kind of how my sales are.

DL White [00:28:00]:

And then, like, a couple sales, I guess, for hay lovers. So that's kinda how my sales are breaking down for the month. Not too bad. I mean, not great, but, like, not too bad so far. I am it's before 15th. So, like, if I hit if I hit $50 before 15th, it bodes well for the rest of the month. So I'm at 54.46. I'm just honestly, I just try to make a $100 a month.

DL White [00:28:29]:

That covers a lot of the subscriptions that I'm paying for, although I subsidize a lot of that with my own money. And then I have a I have, like, my Substack subscriptions and my BuzzFeed subscriptions that helps also pay some costs. But a lot of the costs of being an author and running a podcast, I am paying for out of pocket. And so what what I'm getting in royalties and subscriptions is actually reimbursing me for stuff I've already paid for. That's neither here nor there. You know what I'm saying? Get out of my pocket. So that's what's going on with book sales. Writing wise, it's been kinda slow.

DL White [00:29:15]:

I have been trying to write this Valentine's Day piece for a minute, and it's kinda not coming together. And I'm a little upset about it. Like, I I keep keep keeping changing the title because I can't even decide what the title should be, but I I don't know. We'll see we'll see how it goes. It just is not it's not really coming together. It's kind of a jumbled mess. I'm on, like, chapter 3, and I just keep going back to chapters 1 and 2 and fixing things because if it doesn't start right, then I I set off again on the wrong foot. It's currently called Rules in Romance.

DL White [00:29:53]:

It is kind of an opposites attract grumpy sunshine kind of thing. It's set in Atlanta in the tech space, which I really enjoy writing because I just like writing smart people. And, my characters happen to meet in the cafe at the co working space where they both work at. Sterling has just relocated to Atlanta from New York, and Simone lives in Atlanta. And she works for a tech company, and it's her job to, put together this hiring platform that her company is, putting together, and they're gonna premiere it at this big gala. And, Simone is very much an introvert. Probably not as bad as Esme in the Neverlist, but as an introvert, I do find myself writing introverts because I know them very well. So it's like like, I I want to write it.

DL White [00:30:45]:

I want it to come together, but I also want it to be short. And it just in my mind, it just keeps I feel like when I write short, I leave so much out, but I also don't want to write a 75,000 word novel. You know? I just want this to be like a cute short that's gonna be out for Valentine's Day. I'm gonna take a look at it later. We'll see how it shakes out. I might just need to give it some time and, you know, hit it really hard, toward the end of January. I don't really have time. I don't have time.

DL White [00:31:19]:

I don't I don't have time really to get it to my editor. I needed to be reading writing this in November in order for her to have it in January, but here's where we are. So I don't know what I'm gonna do about that. I know she listens to the podcast. This is not any pressure. This is not, an editor Kai problem. This is a d l white problem. So I may not get it written in time.

DL White [00:31:46]:

It may be something I write and shoot out, and, y'all just have fun with all the typos in it. I'll I would never do that, maybe. I don't know. I I just wanna be I I wanna write more. I wanna publish more, and I just wanna be less rigid about how it has to come out. You know? Like, it doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be edited to the nth degree. And editing is editing is not terribly expensive because I have a very good editor who is cognizant of how much indie authors have to put their own money into their writing.

DL White [00:32:25]:

This is not absolutely not sucking up to my editor. We have had this conversation. But, also, I wanna reserve those funds for my full length projects that desperately need an extra eye. So these things where it's gonna be 5 or 8 chapters, you know, and I'm gonna sell it for 99¢. I'm not gonna spend on editing it. I'm just I'm I'm just not. And, you know, sue me, but I'm just not. So that's kinda where that is.

DL White [00:32:58]:

It's currently called rules and romance. Maybe I'll switch the maybe I'll switch the order and it could be romance and rules, but I don't like that. The idea is that it's kind of an opposite to attract kinda thing, and so I wanna I wanna play on the two sides of this equation. Like, you know, it's a it's a very grumpy sunshine kind of thing. So I may change the name again. I I don't know. So there's there's there's that. The other thing I'm writing is the fan fiction story, and I just published chapter 7 on Friday.

DL White [00:33:35]:

I don't know that I have another chapter in me this weekend. I wanna think about what the next chapter entails. It's a little bit of a field trip, and I just need to I need to think about it and put it together. So I'm probably gonna think about that this week and probably write it Thursday and post it Friday. That's used to be my old, fan fiction publishing schedule. I usually write on the weekends, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, then I edit, think about what I'm gonna write post. So that way, readers always have a week to, like, read it, react to it, you know, offer comments and feedback, etcetera. Meanwhile, I'm thinking about and writing the next chapter.

DL White [00:34:21]:

And I kind of have adapted that also to writing my books and my commercial fiction. So there's that. What else do I have going on? Let me open up Dabble here and see what's popping. I do have, the Berkeley sisters, which is the sisters trilogy I've been yammering about for, like, 2 years now. Missing persons, which I still need to get into. Calculated risk is in here. That's with the editor. I have to turn that in at the end of February.

DL White [00:34:49]:

Again, that's part of a group project. Still I arise, I haven't touched. I did add, like I don't know. I tried to do some editing on it, and I, like, I feel like I added, like, half a chapter to that in the last year, but it's still on the docket. And, I also was trying to do an epilogue to the never list, and I can't even tell you the title because that would be a spoiler. But, I wanna dig back into that and see if I could just do a fun little 5 chapter update to that story because I just love Esme and Trey, and I have the perfect little update to that couple. I just gotta I just have to get it out of my brain. You know? So that's what's happening over here.

DL White [00:35:36]:

Ain't nothing going on with the rent is what my mama would say. Yeah. That's what's happening here at Books by DL White. I am reading a lot. I am writing a lot. I am you know, I'm just trying to make it. I'm just trying to make it over here. I feel like I'm doing better than I was in November December, but I am kind of dreading the back half of January.

DL White [00:36:02]:

I just know I'm gonna be digging hard into reading, into writing, working, getting the work done. I'm somewhat unmotivated. It could have a lot to do with this cold, but also, like, that vacation was long, and it was really, really needed, and I hated to come back. Even though I really like my job, I hated to come back and, like, dig back into work and meetings and scheduling things, and the emails were flying. I definitely just eased eased real slow, nice and slow back into the year. So it is Sunday. I have coffee. I went through my, my planner and all of my streaming channels, and I wrote down all of the things that I have saved in my watch later cues and wrote them all down.

DL White [00:36:56]:

So I have lists on lists on lists of things I can be watching besides the news, things I can be looking at besides doomscrolling on all the social media sites, things I can be reading, writing, or watching for this next however long. That's how I'm gonna be making it through. I am so very interested in your plan for the next few years, how you are going to be pulling yourself through what I feel are gonna be some very interesting, and by interesting, I mean terrible times. So feel free to shout me out a holler. This episode will be on my website at books by d l white dot bookcast.com/107. You can also hit this episode on my substack, or you can shoot me an email. It's author d l white at books by d l white dot com. I'm sorry.

DL White [00:37:54]:

It's author d l at books by d l white dot com. I welcome your comments, questions, feedback, what have you. That brings us to the end of today's show. So I will bid you adieu, but not before thanking you so much for joining me for today's chat. I really enjoy having you here. Again, I welcome any comments or feedback at books by dlwhite.com/bookcast/107. You'll find full show notes, links to all the things I talked about if they're relevant, and a transcript for today's show. Please share the podcast if you really enjoyed the sound of my voice as I appear to.

DL White [00:38:37]:

And if you listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Substack, give a girl a rating, a comment, a hand clap, a re a repost, restack. I really appreciate it. Do not forget, you can support this podcast with your book purchases at payhipdot com slash books by dlwhite by spreading the good word, like repost all my social media, what have you, by joining the newsletter or the substack. The links will be on my website at books by dlwhite.com/linkinbio. You can also buy you can also throw some coins in the hat at book cast.buzzprout.com. Thank you so much to my monthly supporters. Your gift covers my Buzzsprout subscription. I really appreciate the support and as a thank you, I have added you to comped users at short fiction by dlwhite.substack.com.

DL White [00:39:31]:

So people who support the pod people who support the podcast with their funds are automatically added to subscribers on the short fiction substack, so they get access to everything that is available to paid subscribers over there. I figured that would be a nice little perk. The broadcast is written, produced, and edited by me, d r White. Our theme music and any sound effects are provided by. I will be back next week. Until then, please enjoy your weekend. Have a superlative week, and we'll chat again soon. Bye bye.

[mariacallous]

Canada, the world’s ninth-largest economy with a GDP of $2.117 trillion, is expected to elect Mark Carney as prime minister on Monday. But Carney’s success is impossible to understand absent the trade war initiated by U.S. President Donald Trump. Canada’s economy is tightly connected to the United States, and tensions between the two countries have rarely been higher. Carney has promised to push back on Trump and reconsider the relationship.

Has Trump’s trade war against Canada been effective? Why does Canada have trade barriers between its provinces? And how does Canada reconcile its fossil fuel economy with its commitment to climate policy?

Those are just a few of the questions that came up in my recent conversation with FP economics columnist Adam Tooze on the podcast we co-host, Ones and Tooze. What follows is an excerpt, edited for length and clarity. For the full conversation, look for Ones and Tooze wherever you get your podcasts. And check out Adam’s Substack newsletter.

Cameron Abadi: As a matter of U.S. policy, is Trump’s trade war with Canada working, by pushing Canada toward recession? Or are the politics actually working against the U.S., with Carney vowing to lead a fight against the United States?

Adam Tooze: The big issues in the election until Trump came on the scene were slow growth, cost of living, and cost of housing in particular. And now Trump emerges on the scene, and the risk really is of recession. Why? It’s simply because Canada’s economy is so heavily exposed to the U.S. So the U.S. share of Canadian GDP as measured by the share of exports to the U.S. is over 20 percent. That’s similar to Mexico’s exposure, and it’s seven times greater than China’s exposure to the U.S. So that’s the risk. And so if there was a severe blow to those exports, it would really, really hurt the Canadian economy. There are some economists predicting full-on recession by the second half of the year. And all it takes is for that kind of low-ebb lack of confidence to ripple through the Canadian economy and that by itself will damage Canada’s prospects. We could be in a full-blown recession by the end of the year or next year. That’s measured by economists in terms of GDP falling over a period of several quarters, so for more than six months.

Over the long run, which is perhaps even more ominous, a decoupling of the Canadian and the U.S. economies would probably reduce the Canadian growth rate from a modest, say, 1.9 percent—according to the Oxford Analytica outfit, which is one of the leading private-sector commentators on these kind of things—from 1.9 to like 1.1 percent per annum growth. So this would be really bad news. The thing is, though, that Canada actually has leverage. One of the weird scatter-shock aspects of Trump’s trade policy is that though Canada has a trade surplus with the U.S., and so therefore it’s on Trump’s shit list, once you strip energy out and oil is exported from Canada to the U.S. along the border, it’s actually the U.S. which has a trade surplus with Canada. So Canada actually has two different types of leverage over the U.S. One is that America clearly wants the oil, and Trump immediately started negotiating or just declaring exemptions for that. And on the other hand, on net America’s manufacturers and agriculture actually have a trade surplus with Canada.

And that’s really, as you were saying, what has pivoted Canadian politics, which is how are they going to use that leverage to strike back? And indeed, what this has produced is, on both sides of the political spectrum, a major pushback against the U.S. And this has flipped the prospects for the Canadian election from one in which the Liberal Party of former Prime Minister [Justin] Trudeau really was reckoned to have zero chance of prevailing to one in which Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada and of the Bank of England, a leading global economic technocrat, has emerged as, in fact, the front-runner for the Liberal Party that were in the doldrums under Trudeau.

CA: So we shouldn’t think of Canada’s Liberal Party as having any kind of aversion to traditional nationalistic politics?

AT: On the contrary. I mean, in some senses, it is the party that made Canada, if you like. That’s too strong a statement; Canadian history is really complicated, as I’ve been learning fast. But for most of Canada’s history, the Liberal Party has been seen as the dominant party. And so it’s very closely associated with the Canadian national cause, if you like. Also with the deep problems of the relationship between the formerly English majority, British majority, and the French-Canadian minority, it has been the party that sculpted many of the absolutely key compromises out of which modern Canada has emerged since the 1860s. And so, yes, one should see it as very much a party that can wave the flag.

CA: Mark Carney declared upon taking office as prime minister that he would strengthen the Canadian economy by lowering trade barriers between Canadian provinces. And I thought that was interesting because I didn’t know that there were trade barriers between the provinces of Canada to begin with. How significant are these trade barriers within Canada—and what do those barriers reveal about the kind of state that Canada is?

AT: Yes, so Canada is a federation, a very loose federation. None of Canada’s constitutional documents actually specifies free trade as a requirement. The country is also, of course, characterized by its settler colonial demography and geography. Canada has one of the lowest population densities of the world, 4.2 people per square kilometer. That compares to 25 in Brazil, 98 in the U.S., 241 in Germany, right? So hugely different. I mean, there’s a lot of kind of [data] online which I’m a little cautious about quoting, but it said that 90 percent of Canada’s population lives essentially within 100 to 150 miles of the border with the United States, in six big urban clusters, right? So from Vancouver at the one end to Halifax on the other with Windsor, Quebec, as the key central node up against, you know, Michigan and so on. And so the result of this and the huge expanse of Canada is that, in fact, there is less interprovincial trade in Canada than there is trade between Canada and the United States. Which, again, it’s a fact so startling. The two-way trade with the U.S. is rated at a trillion dollars in 2023. The two-way trade of goods and services between these six clusters of Canadian population strung along the demarcation with the United States is only rated at $532 billion. So there is more north-south traffic than there is east-west traffic across the breadth of Canada. Really fascinating economic geography to get one’s head around.

So those interprovincial obstacles to trade are, in part, legislative. It’s largely to do with regulation. It is about licensing and things like this. It isn’t actual tariffs when we talk about this. It’s to do with regulations, whether you have the permit to do something in one province that you have in another province. And it’s also just simply the geographical obstacles of moving things and goods and services across this huge continental expanse, essentially along the thin line of settlement in the southern portion of this giant country. So it’s about state safety certification, regulatory and administrative difficulties.

But there is huge potential here. Estimates vary from 3 or 4 or 5 percent of GDP to something much larger, 20 percent of the GDP, I’ve seen, through the intensification of trade across Canada. That’s why it’s a topic. And it reflects this long history of state-making and the geopolitics, one has to say, right? The internal geopolitics of a settler colonial project, which is now, of course, also a globalized hub of global migration. Forty million people with a very large foreign-born share, 20 percent-plus now, across this territory that is still in the process, really, of consolidating into a nation-state.

CA: It sounds like you’re suggesting that the provinces of Canada are less economically integrated than the various countries of the European Union as a whole.

AT: Oh, significantly so—much, much less so. And however closely, as is the case with the countries of the European Union, quite closely integrated in some cases at the level of the supply chain with their neighboring manufacturing hubs in the United States. Often this goes back to World War II, when, in the World War II alliance, the supply chain was built very explicitly within the Anglo-American industrial complex or the Canadian-American industrial complex across those boundaries. I mean, what this is telling us is that proximity and economic intensity are the key drivers of trade. And when those two things come together, as in Europe, you get these astronomical levels of integration, extraordinary, you know, more than 100 percent of GDP going back and forth in terms of trade. Whereas when you have vast differences separating and relatively similar zones of economic activity, you don’t necessarily get those kind of densities of exchange. You know, again, Latin America comes to mind, or specifically South America comes to mind where, over the vast distances of the South American continent, there’s very remarkably little integration between Brazil and Argentina compared to, say, Brazil’s trading relationship with China. Or the same is true for the African continent, as well, where it’s incredibly difficult to move goods and people between countries on the African continent, but several of the African economies are quite densely connected with the global economy through exports. So yeah, trade and economic geography operate in fascinating ways.

CA: From an American perspective, we tend to think of Canada as a liberal country, broadly speaking, including a commitment to climate policy as reflected in international agreements. But how does that relate to its fossil fuel economy?

AT: I mean, looking in from the outside, Canada seems to be a sort of weird hybrid of a North American-style politics of climate and a European-style politics of climate, sort of sandwiched and combined in the same country.

Mark Carney himself exemplifies this because, you know, he’s perhaps the world’s leading green finance guru. I mean, it was Carney that in 2015 between the Sustainable Development Goals Summit in the U.N. and the Paris Accords and, you know, that dramatic fall of 2015 as governor of the Bank of England, at Lloyd’s, the big insurance market, he gave this famous speech called the tragedy of the horizon—I actually wrote a piece about it for Foreign Policy years ago—which was about the dilemmas posed for finance by climate change. And he really opened that entire debate about the role of the financial regulators, banks, insurers, central banks in dealing with the climate crisis.

So that is one side of Canada and the Liberal Party of Canada, and Carney really personifies that. And on the other hand, there are large parts of Canada which are North American. They’re part of the tar sands, some of the dirtiest oil in the world. I mean, it’s overblown as part of the Canadian economy. It’s only 5 percent altogether, natural resource rents as a share of the Canadian economy. The oil and gas components closer to like 3 percent. So this is not a dominant sector, but we know the way in which, in the political imagination, a sector like this, as we’re experiencing in manufacturing and steel in the U.S., can become emblematic of what Canada is.

And if you look at Canadian politics and polling, you’re really seeing a division along lines which are so familiar from the other side of the border, right? So among the liberal voters, there is absolutely solid, hegemonic support for climate as a key concern. Looking at Quebec, 84 percent of people polled there think climate is a big issue. You go to Alberta, and you’re down at 55 percent. If you ask in the current moment who supports carbon taxes, it’s 70 percent-plus of liberals and 13 percent of conservatives in Canada right now. Is climate a big issue? For 20 percent of Canadian voters, it is. These are kind of European-style numbers, right? Whereas 60 percent of Canadian voters consider the cost of living crisis the absolute priority.

[jon-mcbrine-author]

It’s the first Jonfiction Blog of the year and to kick things off, I’m saying goodbye. A farewell to Amazon’s Kindle Vella serialized fiction/non-fiction platform comes easy for me because I simply did not dedicate enough time for it. Though I have plans to revitalize the episodes I did publish, looking back is still a bit fuzzy. A lot of potential was left dying on the Vella vine, but if I committed to it more, would it have mattered?

In February, Amazon will sunset the incremental story service, mainly due to it simply not catching on like they’d hoped. Many authors saw success with the outlet, enjoying regular views/reads/followers, but overall, the bite-size fiction style didn’t catch fire. Not enough to be sustainable. Other platforms are available - heck, Substack can and is being used for uploading stories/reviews/articles. So, if writers are still producing content that was fine enough for Vella, then why is Amazon pulling the plug?

I believe it has something to do with the full name - Kindle Vella. With “Kindle” in the title, one could assume that you can read these short-form writings on a Kindle reader device. But you could not. Correct me if I am wrong, but Vella was only available under a section within the Kindle app on a smartphone or tablet (or browser-based app on a computer). I originally tried my hand at producing “episodes” for Kindle by breaking up a short story. This might have been okay if it was a longer series, but I was sticking my toes in the water and published six parts. Even a truncated limited series like that might have worked if I had multiple shorts ready to go, but I merely had one. Evidentially I released an even shorter series, which I didn’t expect much from and I certainly received little as a result. This was fine since I was still just getting to know the mechanics of Vella. I was preparing to release my first full-length novel as a Vella series, split into individual parts. I got about a quarter of the way through before I decided to publish the book as a single, complete ebook (and later as a paperback print edition). A contributing factor as to why I pulled out was that Vella was difficult for people to understand.

Kindle Vella had a large readership, so I figured it would be no problem convincing people to take a chance on my stuff. When I tried to explain how to access the episodes, however, it was like an English major trying to teach algebra to a dog. It was doomed from the start. Apparently there enough people who share this sentiment because Vella is going away.

I reflect on my abrupt efforts on Vella and regret not giving it a proper go. I won’t spend too long mourning it, though, because what I published can be rereleased - and I can continue them and even start new series on other outlets. Substack is the primary choice to feature these “episodes,” so be on the lookout for these to be special editions of Jonfiction Blog.

From Captain Hook to Hannibal Lecter, devious villains capture our imaginations - and invade our nightmares. Explore the origins of the fictional scoundrels you only think you know in this episodic history series. Discover the truth about the notorious crimes, the dark legacies, and the real life inspirations based on these fiendish foes - and find out who is the baddest of them all. Just keep telling yourself it's all make believe... Isn't it?

Fictional heroes, villains, and everyone in between have formed unlikely alliances to answer a common calling: which group of kindred characters is the mightiest of them all? United by a shared theme, troops of four fabulous fictional characters will figuratively compete in a tournament of television, movie, and literature's finest where only one foursome can be crowned kings and queens of popular entertainment. Join in on the roll call to learn more about these similar characters and delve into their individual histories. It's time to assemble the analogous all-stars and find out who is the best, one team at a time.

Stay in the loop for more details by following Jonfiction Blog on Substack and be sure to check out jonmcbrine.com for more info about this and all my books.

Unsecret Identity: Eric Icarus - Book One is available now from the Amazon as a paperback and as an ebook.

https://a.co/2XAtxvH

New blog every Monday. Jonfiction Newsletter first Monday of each month.

Visit jonmcbrine.com/newsletter to get access to the new Jonfiction Newsletter and receive a free ebook.

Follow the link and select "GET MY BOOK" to sign up for the Jonfiction Newsletter and get your free digital download copy of Avenge Her. As a newsletter subscriber, you will receive updates on books, releases, news, art, and much more. Also be sure to follow Jonfiction Blog on Substack (also available on Medium and Tumblr).

Avenge Her takes place four years before the events of Unsecret Identity: Eric Icarus - Book One.

AVENGE HER: ERIC ICARUS MYTHOS

From the ashes of ambition rises the battle for a dream—can a shattered inventor turn his greatest failure into his ultimate redemption?

Eric Icarus Mythos - Explore the stories of the heroes and villains of New St. Cloud City.

[fbglife]

Ep 149: "Scrolling & Self-Esteem: Body Image in a Digital Age" with Dr. Charlotte Markey

Body image plays a critical role in shaping how we perceive ourselves, engage with others, and make lifestyle choices. But reaching a place of acceptance—or even joy—with our bodies is no small feat in today's world of social media, constantly-changing beauty standards, and rapidly evolving trends.

On this week's episode of the podcast, I sat down with Dr. Charlotte Markey, a psychologist, research scientist, and expert on body image at Rutgers University who brings nearly three decades of academic and practical experience to the table.

This episode goes beyond the usual shallow platitudes of “just love yourself” to provide evidence-based, actionable advice for improving how you see—and feel about—your body. Dr. Markey’s insights are empowering, practical, and grounded in research.

In this thought-provoking episode, Dr. Markey dives into the nuances of body image, the difference between body positivity and body neutrality, and actionable strategies for improving how we feel in our own skin.

Together, we discuss modern influences on body image, debunk the myths surrounding body positivity, and explore the cultural messages that have shaped our perceptions of self-worth.

Whether you’re someone striving to feel more comfortable in your own body, a coach seeking evidence-based insights for clients, or simply curious about the psychology of body image, this episode has something for you.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

What “body image” really means and why it matters

The difference between body neutrality and body positivity

Why “just love yourself” can feel unhelpful — and what to aim for instead

How focusing on your body’s functionality fosters a healthier mindset

The powerful role family, culture, and societal pressures play in shaping body image

Practical tips for reducing body surveillance and improving self-acceptance

How the rise of weight loss drugs is impacting body image

About Dr. Charlotte Markey:

Charlotte Markey, Ph.D., is a body image scientist, who has studied body image and eating behaviors for nearly three decades.  She is passionate about understanding how to help people have a healthy relationship with their bodies and food.  Charlotte is a psychology professor at Rutgers University and a research scientist who has published over 100 scholarly articles and chapters about health issues.  

Dr. Markey is also a book author, having most recently published The Body Image Book series (The Body Image Book for Girls in 2020; The Body Image Book for Boys in 2022, and Adultish: The Body Image Book for Life in 2024).  She also recently co-edited the 3-volume Encyclopedia of Mental Health (2023).  She writes regularly for news outlets such as Psychology Today and is often interviewed for TV, news articles, and podcasts including the NY Times, Washington Post, and NBC.

To learn more about Dr. Markey or her books, visit www.CharlotteMarkey.com or www.TheBodyImageBook.com.

Follow Dr. Markey on social media:

Instagram: @char_markey

Facebook: Dr. Charlotte Markey

TikTok: @charmarkey

Threads: @char_markey

Substack: BODY TALK

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Dr. Markey’s Body Image series (For Girls, For Boys, For Life): www.TheBodyImageBook.com

Substack article about the difference between body positivity and body neutrality

Liked This Episode? Don’t Forget to Subscribe!

Enjoying the podcast? Make sure to hit that Subscribe button so you never miss an insightful conversation. Don’t forget to leave us a review—it makes a big difference!

___

Sponsor Shoutout

This episode was sponsored by our parent company, Miles To Go Athletics. Take our app-based training community for a two-week no obligation test drive here.

Check out this episode!

[ear-worthy]

Check Out These Substack Podcast Newsletters For Podcasters & Listeners

As the podcasting industry has grown in popularity, so have the resources dedicated to keeping listeners and superfans informed.

Substack has been a key resource for podcast information, news, industry updates, reviews, and trends. Indeed, there are several "go-to" resources for those interested in podcasting or podcast listening.

 If you are interested in becoming a podcaster, or a better podcaster, Substack has a host of resources for you. And, if you are a passionate listener of podcasts and are always on the hunt for a new show, Substack has you covered with some excellent newsletters on podcast reviews and recommendations.  

Check out these Substack podcast resources.

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Samantha Hodder's Substack newsletter Bingeworthy is the mother ship for narrative podcast opinion, review, trends, and analysis. Hodder began the newsletter in September 2022 and has already amassed an impressive following.  You can subscribe to Bingeworthyhere.Bingeworthy is a listener-supported newsletter.

Samantha is an award-winning audio producer and writer. She has been making media across multiple formats for over two decades. She publishes regularly on Mediumand on Substack. Her narrative storytelling podcast This is Our Time launched in 2017.

Here's how Hodder explained Bingeworthy: "Everyone knows that pickleball is not tennis, and it’s not badminton. Even if you’ve never played pickleball, you know not to bring a badminton racquet to that game. That’s because you know pickleball is its own sport, with its own rules…ones that are both similar and different to its neighboring sports.

"I want the same thing for podcasts. But I want Bingeworthy to help us see narrative podcasts as their own thing. Not chatcasts. Not celeb gossip. Not short news segments. Narrative podcasts, or narrative audio, or narrative storytelling…whatever you want to call it…is its own thing."

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 Joe Casabona is a podcast systems coach who helps busy solopreneurs take back their time. Some even say he perfectly blends content creation and technology like it’s the best cup of coffee you’ve ever had (he says that). Joe is also the host of the Podcast Workflows podcast. Podcasting has many masters, but few true gurus. Joe is one of them. 

His podcast, Podcast Workflows, is recommended listening for any aspirational podcaster. 

Joe says: "I started this Substack to provide insights into how to improve your podcast systems and workflows — allowing you to create and grow a high quality podcast by showing you how to best spend your limited time.

Joe shares: "Recently, I was asked how I can run my business, produce 3+ podcasts, and raise 3 kids (we welcomed our 3rd in December 2021). It’s all thanks to my workflows. I save 12 hours per week because of how much I took off my plate. Of-course, I know that what I did then may not work now. That's why I started Podcast Workflows. So I can see what works now."

 You'll get deep dives into how popular podcasters create their shows, industry news, experiments, and tutorials about automations, tools, and productivity.

Recently, Joe has renamed his Substack and created an exciting new logo. Stay tuned. 

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If you're looking to be a better podcaster, but you don't have time to go through hours and hours of advice, Be a Better Podcaster is for you. As a complementary publication to the popular One Minute Podcast Tips podcast, this newsletter brings you tips you can use on your podcast, with advice on improving your recording, editing, publishing, sharing, growing, networking, and more.

This includes what hardware and software you should use, and how they'll help you and your show, no matter where you are in your podcasting journey. And if you want more specific tips just for you and your podcast, check out the Magic Mic Membership on the Substack site.

One Minute Podcast Tips is designed for people who want to be better podcasters. Considering that millions are either podcasting now or have tried their hand at podcasting, that's a potentially large and motivated audience. 

Host Danny Brown makes good on his promise to help people "be a better podcaster in just a minute a week."

 Brown is the Head of Podcaster Support and Experience at Captivate.fm, "the world's only growth-oriented podcast hosting, distribution, analytics, and monetization platform for the serious indie podcaster."

Check out One Minute Podcast Tips for expert help with your podcast.

 Danny Brown is one of the most knowledgeable people in the field. Plus, he's from Canada, where podcasting is booming. 

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 If you're interested in podcasting in Canada, be sure to check out the Pod The North Substack newsletter by Kattie Laur.  

Pod the North is a free, biweekly newsletter aimed at uplifting the Canadian podcast ecosystem and fostering community. In each issue, you’ll find ecosystem commentary (to keep you in the loop), podcast recommendations, opportunities for your podcast ($$$ and notoriety!), and digestible interviews with Canadian podcasters who you need to know about. 

Kattie Laur is an Award-Winning Freelance Podcast Producer, Consultant, and Writer based in the Greater Toronto Area. Last October, Kattie hosted a live anniversary celebration of Pod the North in Toronto. I'm sure there'll be more live events to come.

You can reach Kattie: @Podkatt (Twitter, Spotify, and Goodpods) | @ PodtheNorth (Bluesky)

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Podcast Marketing Magic is your podcast marketing concierge. The folks at Tink Media "make podcast marketing relatable, digestible, and accessible for podcasters at any stage of creation. Oh, and for making it super fun, too!"

This newsletter was started by Tink Media founder Lauren Passell and has grown to include the voices of Shreya Sharma, writer of

Audio Currents and Shreya’s Audio Affairs, and Devin Andrade, writer of Podstack. Shreya and Devin are podcast marketers at Tink Media and support the editorial production of Podcast Marketing Magic. 

One of the most esteemed podcast journalists is also part of the team, and that's Wil Williams.

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Into The Podverse by Tony Doe is "your gateway to the dynamic world of podcasts with a uniquely African perspective." Formerly known as "Podcast Related: This Week In The Podverse," they have rebranded to create a unified brand that encapsulates the essence of who we are and what we bring to your podcasting experience.

Into The Podverse delves into the latest releases, industry news, and emerging trends, offering a comprehensive view that reflects the richness of the podcasting world from a Nigerian and African standpoint. Its mission is to be your go-to destination for podcasting insights. Whether you're a podcaster looking to stay ahead of trends, an industry professional seeking valuable perspective, or someone simply curious about the diverse and exciting African podcast landscape, Into The Podverse with Tony Doe has you covered.

Tony Doe is a Radio and Podcast Consultant with international experience and extensive media knowledge.

You can subscribe here.

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 BlkPodNews is the official newsletter of the Black Podcasters Association. Its mission is to provide informative news and resources to Black podcast creatives and professionals, connecting them to industry-related news, events, educational resources, and more - all from a Black perspective.

Their goal is to become the go-to source for the latest information and insights from the Black creatives and professionals within the podcast industry.

The Black Podcasters Association ensures that its members are prepared to capitalize on the early growth and momentum of the podcasting industry as it continues to evolve. 

They are looking for contributors and content submissions to our newsletter. Contact them at newsletter@blackpodcastersassociation.com to apply. 

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The Podcast Critic Newsletter -- Great Pods by Captain Ron is billed, quite accurately, as "the Rotten Tomatoes for podcasts." With Captain Ron at the helm, you'll get weekly podcast recommendations from professional critic reviews.

Captain Ron says: "Finding podcast recommendations can be difficult. Great Pods is making it easier with one Critic review at a time"

Great Pods features weekly podcast recommendations from:

Critic Reviews and Ratings

Occasional Top Lists from various publications

Our journey as a podcast resource startup

Podcasts w/ reviews that were just added to the site

Coming Soon trailers

They are a team with over 10 years of experience in the audio/podcast industry. Their ecosystem includes this newsletter and greatpods.co (if you don’t want to wait for the newsletter recs!)! Captain Ron encourages you to take a look and send them feedback and suggestions.

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  The Johnny Podcasts Newsletter offers insights about podcasting, content, production from a podcast producer who "has actually done shit."

Johnny's proposition to his subscribers is simple: "Every Monday Morning. One Email. Only about podcasting." Johnny says: "I write something interesting about the world of podcasting. These could be tips on improving your audio, how to improve as a host, or something relevant going on in the culture, and its impact on podcasting." Johnny also shares some short thoughts on one news story that happened recently that affects the podcast industry and share a link so you can read it, too. They're usually short, and Johnny is proud to proclaim that "I am very picky with what I deem as valuable to your time." Johnny also posts content to his YouTube channel, to help subscribers be a better podcaster.

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There are many more Substack newsletters about podcasting worthy of your time, such as the superb Podcasts Recapped, and there are many more in their startup phase. You can access them here.

Substack has just announced a package of upgrades to empower the next generation of podcast and video shows on Substack.

Substack podcasters can now sync and distribute all their free and paid episodes to Spotify. This highly requested feature makes a podcast instantly available and discoverable via the Spotify network, making it easier than ever to reach and monetize your audience.

I would make Ear Worthy into a podcast, but I've been told that I have the voice of Lina Lamont, the silent-film actress in Singing In The Rain, whose voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard. Even the webcam on my laptop won't turn on because it doesn't care for the image in front of its lens.