The Publishing Performance Show

Michael La Ronn - How to Write 100+ Books While Working Full-Time (The Ultimate Productivity System)

• Teddy Smith • Episode 107

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Michael La Ronn is a bestselling author who has published over 100 books while maintaining a full-time corporate job and family life. After a near-death experience in 2012, he transformed from aspiring writer to prolific author, developing systematic approaches to productivity that he shares in his non-fiction books and YouTube channel. Michael writes primarily science fiction and fantasy featuring bold underdogs, and has built a substantial following through his Author Level Up YouTube channel with nearly 50,000 subscribers. His expertise lies in time management, dictation techniques, and maintaining consistent writing output through innovative productivity methods including mobile writing, visualization techniques, and strategic project switching.

In this episode:

  • How a near-death experience in 2012 sparked his writing calling
  • Managing 100+ books while working full-time and raising a family
  • The three ways to manage time: add, edit, and delete
  • Writing on mobile devices using Scrivener and Microsoft Word
  • The power of switching between projects to avoid writer's block
  • Visualization techniques for solving story problems
  • Documentation-based outlining for pantsers who write by discovery
  • Dictation workflows using voice recorders and AI transcription
  • Using "Pikachu" as a dictation safe word for error correction
  • Capturing story ideas religiously for 15 years in digital notebooks
  • Building sustainable writing habits without burnout
  • The Author Level Up YouTube channel and writing app tutorials


Resources mentioned:

  • Scrivener app
  • Microsoft Word
  • Microsoft OneNote
  • Apple Notes
  • Evernote
  • ChatGPT and Claude
  • Grammarly
  • ProWritingAid
  • ProsWrite (AI transcription software)
  • Google Notebook
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Plotter


Book Recommendations:

  • Be A Writing Machine by Michael La Ronn: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1985174480?&linkCode=ll1&tag=pubperf-20&linkId=400c65572fa1761b41f901ed6233057c&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
  • Be A Writing Machine 2.0 by Michael La Ronn: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMYYJ182?&linkCode=ll1&tag=pubperf-20&linkId=400c65572fa1761b41f901ed6233057c&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
  • How to Dictate a Book by Michael La Ronn: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HG55P5Q?&linkCode=ll1&tag=pubperf-20&linkId=400c65572fa1761b41f901ed6233057c&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl


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[00:00:00] Teddy Smith: Welcome to a very special milestone episode of the Publishing Performance Show. Now, last week, I actually recorded over the hundredth episode, and it kind of went by without me noticing, and so I thought, well, I'd do something special for the hundred and fifth episode, which is happening this week because we've already passed the hundredth and it's too late for me to do anything about it.

[00:00:23] But if you haven't met me before, I'm Teddy Smith and it's been such a great journey. Started just over a year ago publishing these podcast episode all about self-publishing. Now, from our very first episode to today, we've explored every single corner of the self-publishing world. I've had some amazing episodes with Kevin J. Anderson, Craig Martel, Joanna Penn, you know, who's our unbelievable guest. So it's been a really good journey and thank you so much for coming along with me along the way. Now. After this such incredible milestone, I thought I would try and organize the episodes a little bit better. So I thought I would create something called the publishing form starter packs.

[00:00:56] Now, if you want to go to my websites, teddy ag smith.com, where you can see more information about these starter packs, these are essentially curated lists of podcast episodes. So if you're ever stuck on a particular thing, like if you're a bit stuck on writing, you can go to one of the writing episodes.

[00:01:10] Or if you're a bit stuck on advertising, you can go to one of the advertising episodes and it can help you out along the way. Make it much easier to find the exact content you need when you need it. So whether you are looking to go a bit more deep into some of the marketing strategies or hear a bit more of a deep dive into your favorite author, or even learn about one of the new tools, the startup acts will help you get to exactly where you want to at exactly the right time.

[00:01:31] So there's a bit more about it on the end of the show. And I hope you enjoy this episode.

[00:01:36] Hi everyone, and welcome to the Publishing Performance Show. Today I'm delighted to be joined by Michael LaRonn, who is a bestselling author. So thank you very for joining us, Michael. 

[00:01:43] Michael LaRonn: Hey, Teddy. Great to be here. 

[00:01:45] Teddy Smith: Yeah.

[00:01:45] Thank you very much. Now, one of the main things that I've learned about you in all of the things I've read and from our conversations is you've written 70 books or over 70 books whilst balancing a full-time job. You've got a family, you've got a quite a senior position in a, in a corporate job. How, what inspired you to pursue such a prolific writing path?

[00:02:06] Michael LaRonn: Yeah, this is a calling for me. let's put it that way. So, well, it's great to be here. Thank you for having me. And I jumped into writing 'cause I had a near death experience in 2012. I was working a corporate job and it was a terrible corporate job at the time. went on a nice dinner with my wife and.

[00:02:24] Fell ill with what I thought was food poisoning and didn't leave the hospital for a month and Oh wow. Was pretty close to leaving this earth. And so at that time I had wanted to be a writer, but I wasn't really doing it. I mean, I was trying to shop some manuscripts out. I was writing some poetry and some short stories and things like that, and, but it wasn't happening and the job wasn't working very well, and student loans were half my paycheck.

[00:02:48] And I kind of realized on that hospital bed, like. What am I doing with my life? Like I need to figure this out. And so I had some visions and hallucinations and whatever you wanna call 'em, and I saw myself being a successful writer and I swore on that hospital bed that I would jump into writing and become a writer no matter what.

[00:03:10] Nothing would stop me. And yeah, here I am. I need to update my bio though, 'cause I, I've actually just published over a hundred books. Oh wow. Christ. Yeah. Yeah. Shame on me for that. But, so that's, that's my cliff notes, uh, executive summary of, of why I do this. And I, for me, it's a calling, like I enjoy the money.

[00:03:28] I enjoy the, going around and talking to people on podcasts and stuff like that. But really, for me, writing is just something that I've been called to do. And I want to help other people. I want to entertain other people. And so I've found a way to do that while managing a job. You know, having a writing career, having a family, and it just comes naturally to me and I don't really think too much about, about the interplay of all those things.

[00:03:54] Teddy Smith: Yeah. That's amazing. I was speaking to Joanna Pen yesterday for this podcast, and we were talking about what success meant, and one thing you just mentioned was you saw yourself being a successful writer. So what, in your head, what did being a successful writer look like? 

[00:04:09] Michael LaRonn: I didn't really know at that time.

[00:04:11] the time, I saw myself with a book, like I saw myself holding a book and like. Having like a birthday cake under me. 'cause I, that's such a huge accomplishment. But other than that, I didn't really know. I guess I should say, when I published my first book, I thought it was gonna make me a millionaire.

[00:04:27] I literally, I got married the weekend before and I published the book, walked out the door to my honeymoon, and I literally thought I was gonna come back a millionaire. 'cause it was during the Kindle Gold Rush. Yeah. So this was when, people would just, they would just. Throw up public domain books or, or write books that were poorly edited and they'd just make thousands and thousands of dollars,

[00:04:46] and I thought, okay, well, clearly that's gonna happen to me. Clearly that did not happen to me, did not become a millionaire. So, I guess as, as the last 15 years have transpired, what success really looks like to me is being able to use the gifts that I've been given to touch people across the world.

[00:05:09] Whatever that looks like. And often as a writer, you don't know how your books are going to touch other people. You know, we're fortunate sometimes when people reach out and send fan mail and, and say the, really nice things, but you don't really know. And so I've just tried to use my gifts to help other writers become better versions of themselves.

[00:05:28] And I think that's my legacy. You know, I sure I want the money, that's great. And, you know, I wanna be able to quit my job and do all that fun stuff and, but really. I, I think that as a writer, I'm building something that's bigger than myself. Yeah. And being able to touch people is, is really important. 

[00:05:45] Teddy Smith: Yeah, for sure.

[00:05:47] Now, obviously you've written across lots of different genres and you mentioned just now you want to insane people and to reach out to 'em in many different ways. Did you have a particular genre that you wanted to focus on at first, or we just, I wanna be a successful writer. Let's see where this path goes.

[00:06:02] Michael LaRonn: I've always been a science fiction and fantasy guy, so that's what I read growing up, and so that's what I gravitated toward. Although in science fiction and fantasy, I like to joke that I kind of took the scenic route. I did a little bit of sci-fi, did a little bit of fantasy, then a, then I did a little bit more fantasy, but I did a lot of different sub genres.

[00:06:20] But I would say right now, fantasy is my core genre, and I will be branching out into romantic, romantic fantasy as well. 

[00:06:27] Teddy Smith: Okay. Wow. How's that? How's that looking? 

[00:06:31] Michael LaRonn: I have no idea yet. I've had this idea in my head for a long time and I wasn't quite sure, how to market it. Yeah. And you know, with the, with the rise of romantic, I actually found out this is actually a romantic idea, so I'm doing a lot of market research right now.

[00:06:46] I'm talking to a lot of my romance author friends and just trying to figure out where it's gonna fit. But yeah, that's, that's kind of my long-term plans, but mainly fantasy and, and probably elements of romance as well. 

[00:06:58] Teddy Smith: Lovely. Now, as you mentioned, you've got over a hundred books and one of the main things, I think you've got a book called Be a Proli about being, basically about being a prolific writer called Be a Writing Machine.

[00:07:07] And you've even got the second parts to that which came out relative recently as well. So what, how, let, let's go through that to Elizabeth. 'cause you've got a hundred books and you've managed all these things. How do you manage to manage all your time, to make sure you're getting those books written?

[00:07:21] Michael LaRonn: Yeah, time management is critical and I like to say that there are three. Ways you can manage your time. There are only three ways you can add time, you can edit time and you can delete time. Adding time. What that looks like is I wake up at five 30 in the morning every day. So I add normally instead of seven 30, I wake up at five 30, so I add two hours to my day and that's when my family is asleep and I can get a lot done because the house is quiet.

[00:07:50] Right. So that's, that's what adding time looks like to your calendar. You can also edit your time. So instead of doom scrolling on Facebook or Instagram for 15 minutes, write some words. Right? And so I've learned how to write on my phone. That's another thing that I talk about and be a writing machine. I.

[00:08:07] So I, instead of, instead of being on Facebook or social media or doing something that isn't productive, I turn that non-productive time into something productive. And even if it's only a hundred words or 150 words, those little sessions add up over time. The third thing you can do with time is delete time.

[00:08:25] So when I became a writer, I used to be a musician as well. And I, it was a competing hobby. So I would write music and then I would write stories. Well, I sold all my instruments in order to fund my first book, so I gave up that hobby. And so those hours I was spending playing music and also playing video games, I stopped doing those things and devoted that time toward writing to clarify my focus.

[00:08:48] So if you, if you practice those three things with time management, that will help you get some radical clarity on what you want to focus on. 

[00:08:58] Teddy Smith: So using those small pockets of time during the day especially, so the editing time part, and you just write on your phone, what, what tools do you use to try and make sure that that writing is good and not just like text message, auto corrects, that sort of thing.

[00:09:11] Michael LaRonn: Oh, sure, sure. So I, for a long time I used the Scrivener app on iOS. Okay. It's like 20 bucks. And yeah, you have to retrain your brain to be able to pick up where you left off on your desktop version. And a hundred words here, a hundred words there. It's all great, but at the end of the day, you just gotta remember it's all gonna be edited.

[00:09:28] It just the same. So it's not like you're, you're typing in words that are just gonna instantly go to publication and readers are gonna read it and say, oh my God, this reads like a text message. You know, you're gonna go back and you're gonna edit everything. Yeah. And then you're gonna use an editor. And, you know, I have a pretty sophisticated editing, editing chain that I use, that uses.

[00:09:48] A little bit of artificial intelligence to help me catch typos at a better level. Grammarly Pro writing aid, you know, all that good stuff. And then, you know, just good quality editing and readers don't know the difference at the end of the day. 

[00:10:00] Teddy Smith: Yeah, of course. I'm just imagining you putting lots of like, lulls in and, putting the, the word you just felt as the letter U and things like that.

[00:10:07] Oh, yeah. Lots of emojis 

[00:10:08] Michael LaRonn: too. 

[00:10:08] Teddy Smith: Yeah, lots of emojis. So when you're using Scrivener, is it easy to sort of sync it between what's going on on the phone and what's going on on your computer? Is that very straightforward? 

[00:10:18] Michael LaRonn: Yeah, when Scribner wants to behave, I use Scribner for a long time. I switched over to Microsoft Word just mainly because I, there's just a lot of, there's a lot of reasons for doing so that are probably too technical for this podcast, but Microsoft Word is the same thing.

[00:10:32] they sync between your device so that you can write essentially on any device. Sadly, Scribner's not available for Android right now, but that's, that's another reason I switched over to Word just to enjoy a little bit more universality. 

[00:10:44] Teddy Smith: Yeah. Nice. Now, when you are working on all these different projects, it sounds like you've got maybe multiple things going on at one time, and in what, in your book, one of the strategies you talked about is called the Power of Switching.

[00:10:55] So could you tell me a bit about the power of switching and how you can switch between different projects, especially to avoid getting completely burned out at the same time? 

[00:11:04] Michael LaRonn: Yeah, there, there are some people who are very good at just focusing on one thing, and I happen to be one of those people, but I do have multiple projects that I like to work on at the same time sometimes.

[00:11:16] And so the way it works, there's a couple of different ways you can do it. And, and the beautiful thing about it is that you can improv, right? So let's say you're working on a novel and then you're working on. A short story, right? Take your novel as far as you can take it until you start to get a little bit of writer's block.

[00:11:34] Then switch over to the short story. Take that as far as you can take it before you get a little bit of writer's block and switch between the two. And what ends up happening is when you reach that point in the novel where you're not quite sure what's gonna happen, the short story could inform what should happen in the novel.

[00:11:51] And you also come to that short story with a little bit more energy because it's something different. And there is, there is something to be said about starting energy. So act that activation energy. When you start something, you have a lot more energy when you pick something up after not having worked on it for a while, you get a little bit of an energy boost as well.

[00:12:11] And so that's, that's one way that you can do it. But you can, this could also look like writing writing a novel and then switching over to a short story. Finishing the short story, writing a novel, right? So there's lots of different ways you can do it. I just encourage people to find the thing that works best for them.

[00:12:27] But the key, the key is to make sure that you don't end up with a lot of different projects floating around you. You do have to at some point, focus. And a lot of people ask me, well, what project do I pick because I'm passionate about both of them. Which one do I pick? And I always tell people to, to pick the project that makes you jump out of bed in the morning.

[00:12:47] And if both projects make you jump out of bed, then pick the project that makes you jump out of bed the fastest. 

[00:12:53] Teddy Smith: It's a bit like that. If you, have you heard the book Eat the Frog and it's like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. The first thing you gotta do is eat a frog. And if you've got two frogs that need eating, eat the ugliest one first.

[00:13:02] Exactly. It sounds like exactly that, that topic. How do you manage your focus when you are having all of these different projects in one go? Do you have any ways or techniques you use to try and. Keep yourself focused. If you have got these two or three projects running at the same time, 

[00:13:17] Michael LaRonn: I think the most important thing to do is to focus on what you shouldn't.

[00:13:22] Be doing. So there's 10, 10 cajillion. Different things we could be doing right this very moment, Teddy, right? So like I could be writing a novel. I could also be fixing that problem on my website. I could be figuring out how to get my books into a new distribution platform and I could be doing some marketing.

[00:13:39] I mean, you name it, we wear all the hats and we have to wear all the hats at the same time. And what I have learned is there are just some hats that I don't have to wear. Right now. And so figure out what you don't wanna do that will help you figure out what you should be doing. 

[00:13:57] Teddy Smith: Okay. That's interesting.

[00:13:58] So could you gimme an example? It's one of the things that you sort of, you out or either outsource or you don't do so because you don't want to focus on it. 

[00:14:06] Michael LaRonn: Yeah. So one of the things that I focus on, so like with newsletters, for example, I do a monthly newsletter, right? But I just do it monthly. So I, I, I don't, a lot of people do weekly newsletters and all that.

[00:14:21] No, I, I'm just choosing to do it monthly because that's all I manage. So by not doing it weekly, that gives me more time to focus on the writing. There are also like social media tasks and things that I've outsourced in the past, that, that are helpful because my time is my time is valuable and it's sometimes difficult.

[00:14:41] For me to do a lot of different things, and so I haven't been afraid to hire assistants in the past when I need it. 

[00:14:48] Teddy Smith: Yeah. 

[00:14:48] Michael LaRonn: And so, yeah. 

[00:14:51] Teddy Smith: Do you still hire assistants now for things like social media? 

[00:14:54] Michael LaRonn: Yeah. Seasonally when I need it. 

[00:14:57] Teddy Smith: Yeah. Yeah. If I've got a 

[00:14:58] Michael LaRonn: book launch or something coming up. 

[00:15:00] Teddy Smith: I'm, I've basically constantly got a virtual system running to help me get those tasks out because I really don't like doing social media part, so it really does help me to push through that idea of like, I.

[00:15:10] Even getting started with that sort of project. 'cause it's like, it's just so much work sometimes e 

[00:15:15] Michael LaRonn: Exactly. And now that we have, you know, tools like chat, GPT and Claude, things like copywriting are a lot easier than they used to be. So, I mean, I used to spend hours focused on copywriting and. Writing, you know, details for like Kickstarters or, you know, just little marketing campaigns that I would do.

[00:15:33] And now I can send a first draft through chat GPT and I can get something that's probably better than I would've done myself. Right? And so that's another way, okay, well yes, you have to do it, but you can spend a lot less time doing it as well. 

[00:15:47] Teddy Smith: Yeah, definitely. Now one of the concepts also you talk about in your book is visualizing yourself untangling the problem.

[00:15:53] And I love this 'cause even just talking about visualizing yourself untangling a problem, it brought like quite a visual it made, it was quite a visual way of describing that problem that you're having in the first place. So tell me about how you used that visualization to get you through things like writing blocks or problems you're having with your productivity.

[00:16:11] Michael LaRonn: I've always believed that if you can visualize a problem, you can solve it. So writing is, is very, sometimes it can be ethereal and mystical. Yeah. And we keep all these ideas in our head, but if you can visualize yourself untangling the problem, like whatever the, whatever issue the character is dealing with.

[00:16:31] Visualize that. Visualize yourself, like, the world of your book is like a little snow globe, and you're manipulating it. You know, you're rearranging things as the confetti is flying all over the place. It just, I find it helps, and I like to do it when I'm in the shower, like to do it when I'm falling asleep.

[00:16:48] Because that tend, those tend to be times when your brain is a little bit more flexible and, and ideas come to you a little bit faster. And yeah, I just, I find that thinking about things can really just help you. And so when I'm stuck on something, I'll just go take a walk. I. I'll take a walk around the block or I'll take my dog a couple of blocks further than I normally would take her and just think about the problem.

[00:17:11] And one of the things I like to do to try to prevent myself from overthinking, because that is an occupational hazard for us rider, is I will say, okay, I'm gonna go walk my dog. I'm gonna visualize this problem, I'm gonna untangle it, and by the time I get home it will be solved. And when I get home, I'm gonna.

[00:17:32] Put my dog away and or let her do what she wants to do, and then I'm gonna sit down and I'm gonna ride at the computer. That sounded a little weird. I'm gonna put my dog away. No, I'm just gonna let her run around, do what she wants to do. But, I'll sit down and I'll be back to the races.

[00:17:46] Okay. And that works really well. Another thing I like to do when visualizing a problem is sometimes I will. I'll listen to a podcast or listen to a random YouTube video while I'm walking and I will say to myself, the answer to what I'm looking for will be in the next piece of audio that I listen to.

[00:18:06] So whether it be an audio book or podcast, and what often happens is I'll hear something like somebody will say just one little quote or one little word sometimes, and it's like, oh, that's what I need to do in my book. Or, oh, what if, oh, that's an interesting story about that carpenter. What if the next character that my hero encounters as a carpenter, right?

[00:18:27] And so then you allow life to. Inform your book because that's really what we're doing as writers. we're just taking life and we're putting it on the page. And so those things combined with visualizing your story and untangling it can really help you get over writer's block and give you some good inspiration.

[00:18:44] Teddy Smith: Yeah, definitely. Now when, when you've got all these different characters, uh, and you are trying to visualize their problems and you're trying to get 'em unstuck, do you have a way of keeping all that stuff organized that makes you more productive in writing that the following bit of writing you're going to do?

[00:18:59] Michael LaRonn: I'll make a confession. I am a pants, and I recognize that that term doesn't quite mean the same thing across the pond. So I write, by the seat of my trousers. Yeah, I'm a trouser, let's put it that way. I'm a trouser. I gotta know my audience here. So, I don't know what's gonna happen when I write a story, but as I write the story, I actually outline.

[00:19:22] So it, it kind of sounds counterintuitive, but wait a minute, Michael. Yeah. You said you just write without an outline and then you said you outline what is the sorcery. So when you write, essentially you document what you do as you write. So I have no idea how this book is gonna start. I write chapter one, then I go back and I write down what happened in chapter one.

[00:19:42] And I like to keep everything in a Microsoft Excel sheet. Some people like plotter, there's lots of different tools out there to help you with this. But then that becomes my Bible. So when I get into chapter 30, I. And I need to remember, okay, this character hasn't appeared for 10 chapters. what was the last thing they were doing?

[00:20:00] What were they wearing? Then I just go back to the Bible and the Bible tells me everything I need to know. Now, the great thing too is, that I've been experimenting with is you can use tools like Google Notebook and you can ask it questions. So using the power of ai, you can say, when was the last time this chapter, this character appeared?

[00:20:18] And that starts becoming really helpful when you have a long series. Or when you maybe take a break in the middle of a book and then don't come back for a few months. So those are just a couple of tools that you can use to, to help you. But I, how I keep everything straight is I document everything as I go and that helps me tremendously.

[00:20:37] Teddy Smith: I love this idea of outlining as you go along. That's, that's incredible. Do what, so when you sit down to write a book, do you generally have no idea where it's gonna go? Or have you always got some kind of inkling. 

[00:20:47] Michael LaRonn: Most of the time I have zero idea. I usually know the main character, like in the setting and what the first issue is.

[00:20:54] So hero in a setting with a problem. I know that 'cause gotta know that to start the book. And then I might see a few highlights. Like, I like to joke, okay, there's gonna be a bridge that blows up at the climax of the book or something like that. But even that, you never know because sometimes the book just takes you down different directions and the characters say different things that.

[00:21:14] You wouldn't expect. So yeah, I really don't know. it, when I sit down, every time I sit down, I surprise myself. 

[00:21:22] Teddy Smith: Yeah, I love that. Now obviously when you're writing so many books. You must have a huge backlog of ideas where you, you can like start to pick them out so you can start to, you know, bring those books to life.

[00:21:35] What does that idea process look like for you? What, when you're taking down your ideas? 

[00:21:40] Michael LaRonn: Yeah. So this is something I've been doing for the last 15 years. So I capture ideas on my phone religiously. So I, I used Evernote for a long time. Now I use Microsoft OneNote and Apple Notes. But whenever I have an idea, I am religious about pulling out my phone and writing it down.

[00:21:57] If there's something I need to say, I'll use a voice memo. And if I, if I'm inspired by something, I'll take a picture or I'll take a video and it helps me capture it in the moment. And I throw everything into a notebook and I don't organize it. I just keep it as messy as possible. And then whenever I need a new idea for something, I've got literally thousands of notes over the last 15 years.

[00:22:20] And what I like to do is mix them together. So a note that I took yesterday might match or might mix with something that I took seven years ago. And then all of a sudden you've got a fresh idea. And that is a great way, I believe, to one, make sure you're, you're capturing things as you see them. And then two, having a well of things that you can go back to whenever you need a new idea for a book, but primarily whenever you have writer's block.

[00:22:50] Teddy Smith: Yep. I. I, one of the things you just mentioned as well was about taking voice notes and I, I know that one of the strategies you use is to use dictation to try and, uh, get to your writing as quickly as possible. What does that process of using dictation look like? 

[00:23:04] Michael LaRonn: Yes, so dictation I. Right now my primary method of writing in addition to phone.

[00:23:09] Oh, okay. Writing for phone on my phone. So when I'm walking my dog, I've got a voice recorder. Lately I've been using my AirPods Pro 'cause I, 'cause I'm able to do that. But, got a voice recorder and I usually use a lapel mic that goes on the collar of my shirt. I wear collared shirts almost every day, so I, I can get a lapel mic pretty high up close to my mouth.

[00:23:31] And then I just speak. I just speak the story. I pick up where I left off either on my phone or on my desktop. And then when I get home I use a tool called Pros, right? And that is a, it's an AI software that basically takes, it transcribes your text or transcribes your audio into text. And then it also edits any typos, which for dictation, that's half the battle is the cleanup.

[00:23:54] And so this does it relatively quickly, and then that gives me texts that I can just bring back to my desktop. Or to my phone and then start editing or just start writing. Where I picked up off, off. I wrote a book called How to Dictate a book that outlines my process on this if anyone's interested.

[00:24:11] Teddy Smith: Right. Okay. To me, it sounds like such an alien concept to just start walking around, like speaking to yourself. do you ever get people questioning what you're doing? 

[00:24:19] Michael LaRonn: Oh, you would not believe how many people stop me, especially when I'm walking my dog. At first. If I have my AirPods in, I'm not as, I.

[00:24:27] It's not as strange because people just think I'm on the phone. Okay. But then when they listen, they're like, wait a minute, what is he, what kind of conversation is he having? he's using quotation marks in commas. This guy is weird in the spaceman. Exactly. But when I have my voice recorder, I have a little bit more hardware, so people are more likely to stop me, like I've had neighbors say, Hey, just kinda curiosity, what are you doing?

[00:24:49] And, you know, and I'll stop the recorder and I'll say, oh, hi. You know, I'm an author. I'm dictating my book. And then they, then they start asking me a bunch of questions and yeah. Yeah. It's, it's a good conversation starter if you want to get to know your neighbors. Yeah. or if you want your neighbors to, or if you don't want to talk to your neighbors.

[00:25:05] Some of your neighbors probably might think you're kind of weird. Yeah. That could be beneficial too, in some cases. 

[00:25:11] Teddy Smith: Yeah, definitely. you can almost wear a t-shirt that says, I'm dictating, leave me alone, or something like that. 

[00:25:16] Michael LaRonn: I could do that. Yeah, I could do that. Although I don't mind people stopping me.

[00:25:19] I think it's kind of amusing, but I have, I have a kind of a strange way of dictating, so one of the things that I say the word peek at you a lot because that's my, I like to call it my dictation safe word. So that's, that's when I make a mistake. So if I'm dictating and I say, and I'm saying, Hey Teddy, it's great to.

[00:25:38] Talk to you. And when I wanted to say, it's great to meet you, I would say at the end of that sentence, peek at you. Right. And then ironically, that's how I know that I made a mistake in that sentence. And then the AI software will automatically edit it out. 

[00:25:52] Teddy Smith: Oh, right. Okay. Wow. 

[00:25:53] Michael LaRonn: that's kind of neat little trick that people can use if you're ever interested in doing that.

[00:25:56] But, or you could just do a find all and just delete every sentence that has Pikachu. it's a little trick you learn over the years, but, yeah, I say that word a lot and people are like, what? Why does this guy like Pokemon so much? But it's an easy word to say, and there's no other word that I would ever say in my writing that would sound like it.

[00:26:13] And so it's easy to, easy to pick out. 

[00:26:15] Teddy Smith: Yeah, definitely. So, I mean, a lot of people who listen to this, they'll be thinking, oh, you've written so many books. You've obviously got this technique down, but I'm, I'm guessing you just started from somewhere where you just thought, I need to just start being more prolific with my writing.

[00:26:27] So is there any like, main advice you'd give to people who are thinking, I'm not being as productive as I want, I really want to get as many books out there as possible? 

[00:26:35] Michael LaRonn: Yeah. It starts by making a choice. You, you can choose today. That I want to be more productive and I want to write more books and be more prolific.

[00:26:47] Whatever that looks like for you. it doesn't have to mean a hundred books. It could mean writing more one more book than you normally would per year. Okay. I think sometimes we start drinking the punch of productivity and it makes people go crazy and and it can burn 'em out. I'm not telling people that you have to do what I do or that you have to do twice.

[00:27:06] Is what I do. I think productivity is whatever it looks like for you and what it looks like for you. I think it should be healthy. I think you should be proud of it, and I think it should be fun. So if you can do all those things, whatever it looks like is all good, but you have to make a choice. It starts with the choice that I'm gonna learn how to do this, I'm gonna stick with it.

[00:27:25] And if it involves learning a new skill, like dictation or writing on your phone, that you have to accept that you're not gonna be perfect at it in the beginning. And that you can learn how to do it, and that there may be a better tool out there that you just haven't found yet. And it also means consistency.

[00:27:43] So showing up every day more often than you don't. And over time you will find that the math adds up in your favor. And you'll wake up one day like I have, and you've got over a hundred books, or you've got whatever that number looks like that that would make you proud. 

[00:27:59] Teddy Smith: Yeah, but you gotta make a choice.

[00:28:01] It starts the day. Yeah. You, you, it is all, it's in your own hands, isn't it? Now the other thing you do apart from writing is you've got your YouTube channel. So this talking about being productive, like I've got my YouTube channel, I know how much work goes into making those videos look good. Can you tell us a bit about what your YouTube channel's about and why people should be listen to it?

[00:28:19] Michael LaRonn: Yeah, I have channel, it's called Author Level Up, and I do regular videos on writing advice. I also do writing app tutorials and writing app reviews. And you know, I like writing apps. I like to call myself a writing app junkie. And I do these videos 'cause I think that every writer has an inner Stephen King Dean Kunz Nora Roberts, insert the name of your favorite mega bestseller inside them.

[00:28:43] And we all just need help unlocking it. So I do a lot of videos on motivation, inspiration, writing, craft tips, and I just pass along what I'm learning and I'm fortunate enough that people have found it useful. I'm almost at 50,000 subscribers at this point and, I'm counting. So yeah, a lot of fun.

[00:29:02] Teddy Smith: Yeah. That's amazing. Well, thank you so much for coming on, Michael. It's been great to hear about your, your techniques for being as prolific as possible. The two books that we were talking about mostly today were the Be A Writing Machine and also you, we touched on the how to Write Dictation. So if people wanna find those books, where's the best place to go and get them?

[00:29:20] Michael LaRonn: Best place to find me is@authorlevelup.com. That's where you can find links to all the books we talked about on this interview, as well as my YouTube channel and all the other things I got going on in the interwebs. And if you're. To check out my fiction, you can check out my science fiction and fantasy@michaellauren.com.

[00:29:38] Teddy Smith: Why don't you give us a bit of a preview about those fiction? what could people expect from those fiction books? 

[00:29:42] Michael LaRonn: Yeah. I write science fiction and fantasy with bold, underdogs. So characters that you would not normally think would be heroes. So I've written stories about narcissistic dragons as the main characters, anthropomorphic vegetable terrorists, rat shifters, underdogs that, you wanna root for.

[00:30:01] And, lot of, lot of fun world building as well. 

[00:30:04] Teddy Smith: And when can we expect your romances book to come out? 

[00:30:07] Michael LaRonn: Hopefully later this year, but we'll see how the market research goes, but I want to get this idea, get it locked in and get it right. 

[00:30:14] Teddy Smith: Nice. Well looking forward to reading that. It's been great chatting to you.

[00:30:17] Uh, thank you so much for coming on. Really all those tips are amazing. So thank you so much for sharing those with us and we'll speak in soon. 

[00:30:23] Michael LaRonn: Thanks, Teddy. It's been my pleasure. 

[00:30:25] Teddy Smith: Thank you so much for tuning into this publishing informant show. I really hope you found today's episode inspiring. I absolutely love chatting to authors, writers, and people in the publishing world.

[00:30:34] Now, just before we wrap up, I want to tell you about our publishing performance starter packs. These are curated episodes and collections organized by topic that makes it super easy to find the exact content you're looking for. So whether you're wanting to deep dive into marketing strategies, explore productivity techniques, or focus on any specific area of.

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