Interview With Melody Owen - Storyteller, Teacher, Editor, Author Support and Founder of Author Nation

Please share a bit about yourself and all the different things you're involved with.

At the heart of it, I am a storyteller and story teacher, which informs everything I do. The question is, how does that play out? I have three businesses or sets of services I offer: content strategy, storytelling, and author support. I have always loved story, whether telling my own or helping others. 

Story lives everywhere, and as we have learned both historically and with recent events, the party that controls the narrative is POWERFUL. It doesn’t matter if they are kind and community oriented, or if they are self-serving and destructive. We should all be in control of our own narrative and part of the collective narrative, whether through our brands and our content as business owners or through our personal stories, our activism, our books or as artists and performers. I share that belief through my work, helping others find the power of story, within in their own lives and work.

I understand you've just launched a new YouTube Channel. Can you share about the journey to launching it? Why now?

Yes! And I am so excited about it. For years I have been working with authors as a coach, editor and community organizer. I have done a great deal of one-on-one work, as well as hosting events, interviewing authors and bringing in speakers. I am putting all of the lessons learned: my expertise, along with author interviews, expert interviews, and book reviews into one YouTube channel, called Author Nation.


WIN A FREE 20 MINUTE COACHING SESSION! Contest running Feb. 8 - Mar. 7th.  Just follow these 3 simple steps to enter. 
  1. Follow the new Author Nation Youtube Station HERE!
  2. Watch and comment on ONE author nation youtube video.
  3. Follow the new Author Nation Instagram Page HERE!
  4. Email Melody at melody@authornationtube.como let her know your entry is complete!
Readers would love to hear more about your channel - name, focus, format (interviews, how-to talks, etc.), who you are looking to interview, who is your target audience, etc.?

Author Nation is for nonfiction authors, including memoirist, whether they are starting out or looking for new ideas to promote already published works. I work with both entrepreneurs writing nonfiction and memoirists writing about personal tragedy and triumph so that is how I have focused the channel. The videos run the gamut from planning your book, right through to promoting after publication.

9 publishing roles you should know about: 
the indie authors who's who guide

I do some videos myself, usually about 5 minutes long, where I take a narrow subject and give my perspective, advice, lessons, etc. or I do a book review or a book summary. All the books I review are helpful to authors, but not necessarily about writing. Some are about creativity or project management, all topics that authors need. I also interview authors about their author journey and pick their brains for their best advice, and I interview subject area experts. I am not an expert in everything about writing, publishing and promoting so I bring in experts to give their best advice and lessons learned as well. The interview videos are longer, usually about 20 minutes.

If your readers are authors or experts, or know someone I should interview, please let me know! I love to meet new people, build community and interview both authors and experts for the channel.


What do you most hope to offer listeners - the gift, the take-away, the promise?

I love that you ask me this question, since this is a question I am always asking authors! My promise is that authors, whether published or dreaming of becoming an author, will find resources to help them plan, produce, publish and promote their books. Author Nation offers videos on the YouTube channel, and it has a website with resources to go along with those videos. 

Writing and publishing a book is an expensive endeavor and this channel is a continuation of my efforts to support authors by offering quality advice and information at more affordable prices, just like the events I hosted pre-COVID. On the website, for example, I have a planning checklist for authors who are stilling thinking about writing a book or are just starting to plan out their first or fifth book. Then, on the channel, they will find a playlist call Planning, where they will find videos on the topics mentioned in the checklist. It all goes together.

Anything else you'd like to share that is coming up over the course of the year?

As I mentioned, we already have a website with resources on it. We will be adding more resources as we go, so look out for that. Author Nation is more than just a YouTube channel with videos, it is a resource centre for authors. Plus, I am looking forward to building community online just as I have been building community offline for so many years. We have a fledgling Facebook, Instagram and Twitter account you can interact with. 

In the future, I will be running challenges, masterminds, courses and anything that authors tell me will help them. I have always stayed relevant by listening to the people I serve. So stayed tuned in and let me know you need!   

Can you share a favourite quote about being an author, editing, publishing or ???

“If there is a book you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” – Toni Morrison

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