Inkwell Academy

Through my association with Newman Springs Publishing I have gained access, even if only temporarily, to some amazing resources. After publishing my first book back in 2020 through them I was given a 6-month trial with social media marketing firm Snow Tree Media. You can read about that experience here. But more recently NSP blessed me with access to Inkwell Academy, an online resource for authors.

Think of Inkwell Academy as a YouTube channel with a variety of videos aimed at helping authors in a variety of writing and publishing areas. Most videos are basically interview style classes where the host brings in an expert for a particular area and simply conducts an interview. Through the interview, the expert reveals tips, tricks, strategies, resources, and more that authors can then leverage to improve everything from their base writing to social media presence.

To date, I've only watched a few of the videos out of the plethora available on Inkwell Academy's website but I have found some of the videos to contain a lot of useful information that I hope to integrate into my writing and marketing this year. However, I will add that some of them did not pick the best experts to interview. Not because the experts in questions did not convey useful information but because they just lacked personality. Some of the videos were simply boring because the guest was monotone, or stumbled through sentences frequently, or just lacked a sense of presence. It was like watching a bad B movie full of sub-par actors that just could never deliver a line without sounding wooden or forced.

The information was there but the delivery was lacking.

But again, that was only some of the videos that I've watched. Others were engaging, fun, full of energy, and encouraged you to watch until the end to get every last scrap of information available.

The point to this blog though is not to bash Inkwell Academy for some of the lackluster personas of their experts. Not everyone is comfortable in front of a camera but that does not detract from their knowledge or level of expertise in any way. Granted, that lack of comfort might make it more challenging for them to express that knowledge in a way that might make others want to listen to them but for those serious about learning from industry leaders, the information is there for the taking.

Instead, this blog should be seen as an encouragement for other authors to check out this resource. With the variety of videos on tap and Inkwell Academy's commitment to continually add new content, there is likely something of value on their website for everyone. Some may benefit from the knowledge imparted more than others but I strongly feel that there is going to be something for everyone there. Even if you have been writing and publishing books for a long time there might be something of use to add to your repertoire that might make at least one area of your skill set that much better.

Though I will warn that some of the videos do teach concepts and not details. There will be occasions where the guest will mention an approach or method without going into much detail that may leave you wondering how to exactly apply that lesson to your book. Luckily, Inkwell has thought of this too. The video pages have a place where you can submit questions to Inkwell for a particular lesson. And yes, someone from Inkwell will, in many cases, send you a reply with an answer to your question. I have submitted some so I know this to be true. Some of the answers haven't been what I hoped for and may have prompted additional questions but it shows a willingness to engage and the potential for more knowledge to be gleaned from their lessons.