Podcast Summary: Managing Multiple Projects And The Art of the Long-Term Author Career

Podcast: The Creative Penn Podcast for Writers
Host: Joanna Penn
Guest: Kevin J. Anderson
Episode: #849
Date: February 9, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode features a lively and in-depth discussion between Joanna Penn and prolific author Kevin J. Anderson. Their conversation covers the complex challenges and realities of sustaining a long-term writing career. Key topics include managing multiple creative projects, ensuring financial and creative longevity, adapting to changes and disruptions, building multiple income streams, and the importance of flexibility and continuous reinvention in the ever-evolving publishing world. Both share candid reflections on workloads, burnout, setbacks, and the underlying passion that fuels resilience over decades.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introduction to Kevin J. Anderson

• Kevin is a multi-award-winning, internationally bestselling author of over 190 books across genres, with more than 24 million copies in print in 34 languages.
• Joanna Penn acknowledges Kevin’s diverse workload: author, publisher, university program director, business owner, editor, rock album lyricist, and co-author on Dune projects.
  [23:34] Joanna Penn: "You do so much... How do you manage your time, juggle priorities, your calendar and all that?"

Managing Multiple Projects Without Burning Out

Kevin’s Approach to Workflow

• Kevin thrives by keeping several projects moving at once, each at different stages, requiring varied skills and energy.
  [24:57] Kevin J. Anderson: "By having numerous different projects at different stages, all of which require different skill sets or different levels of, say, intensity, I can be constantly switching from one to another and basically be working at 100% capacity on everything all the time. And I love doing this."

• He balances major writing projects with teaching, editing, giving keynote speeches, and running events like the Superstars Writing Seminar.

• Domino Effect: He sequences projects so finishing one task makes the next possible. For example, a Kickstarter pre-launch page needs cover art first, so that drives his schedule.

Real-World Productivity

• Weekly, Kevin shares “Real World Updates” with his publishing students, listing everything he’s accomplished to ground academic learning in practical reality.
  [29:21] Kevin J. Anderson: "Sometimes it’s a little scary because I read it and I go, holy crap, I did a lot of stuff this week."

Systems, Calendars, and Capacity

Planning Styles

• Kevin keeps track of everything in his head, a skill honed when he worked as a waiter/bartender in college, juggling many demands at once.
  [29:41] Kevin J. Anderson: "I just sort of know what I have to do, and I just put it together and work on it...I learned how to do millions of things and keep them all organized, and that’s the way it worked. And I’ve kept that as a skill all the way through and it has done me good."

• He prefers not to use project management apps and tools, finding them time-consuming.

Joanna’s Perspective

• Joanna, by contrast, relies on structured planning to manage the anxiety of a chaotic creative process, pointing out that organization methods are personal, and there’s no single right way.

On Working at 100% (or More) Capacity

• Both discuss the realities of often working at full tilt, acknowledging the vulnerability to burnout and disruptions.

Handling Disruptions and Life Events

Buffers and Adaptation

• Life can upend plans suddenly—illness, accidents, family emergencies. Kevin shares how, during his wife’s severe migraine episode, he had to take over many household and business tasks on top of his own workload. [32:33] Kevin J. Anderson: "If I’m at 95% capacity and suddenly I have to pick up an extra 50%, that causes real problems. And so I drink lots of coffee and I get less sleep."

• When Kevin broke his ankle hiking (his favored method for dictating drafts), he adapted by dictating from a chair with his foot up. [33:28] Kevin J. Anderson: "It was not as effective, but it was plan B and that’s how I got it done."

Key Insight from a Student

• Successful juggling requires “a balance of planning, sprinting and being flexible, while also making incremental forward progress to keep everything moving together.”
  [33:58] Kevin J. Anderson (paraphrasing a student): "There’s like short term projects like fires and emergencies...but that short story is due in a week so I’ve got to spend some time doing that one...It is a balance of the long term projects and the short term projects."

Building a Long-Term, Resilient Author Career

Financial Buffers & Multiple Income Streams

• Kevin stresses never assuming the current good times will last. Save in good years, plan for volatility, and diversify. [36:50] Kevin J. Anderson: "If you’re having a great year, you might not always have a great year...When you do have a good year, plan for the long term, set money aside, build up plan B, and do other things."

• He advocates against relying on one genre or one publisher: “Make sure that you have multiple income streams...reading taste could change next year.”

Industry Changes and Reinvention

• From massive success with Star Wars and X-Files tie-ins in the 90s to the collapse of mass market paperbacks and the rise of indie publishing, Kevin adapts as the industry evolves.

On Hybrid Publishing and Maintaining Control

• Kevin navigates both traditional and indie publishing, using Kickstarters to revive series when trad publishers drop them, subsequently achieving more financial success and new opportunities (e.g., a Dan Shamble TV deal).
  [41:30] Kevin J. Anderson: "I ran a Kickstarter for my first Dan Shamble book, and it made three times what the trad publisher was paying me. I went, oh, I kind of like this model."

Realistic Expectations and the Slow Burn

• Careers build slowly. Kevin’s first novel advance was $4,000, which it never earned out, but he made more self-publishing it later.
  [44:31] Kevin J. Anderson: "It’s a slow burn. You build your career...prepare for the long haul...Not everybody can or should be a full-time writer."

• Never assume your current opportunities will return if you say no; the business moves on.

Avoiding Burnout & Sustainable Hustle

• Don’t work at or above full capacity perpetually—it’s a recipe for burnout. [49:37] Kevin J. Anderson: "If you want a long term career and if you’re working at 120% of your capacity, then you’re going to burn out...I can’t write that fast."

• The importance of loving the work itself: "If you don’t love this, please find a more stable career because this is not something you would recommend for the faint of heart." [52:02]

Adapting to Shifts in Technology & Marketplace

Industry Disruption and AI

• Recent changes (e.g., AI writing, one-click translation and audio, rapid indie production) mirror past disruptions (rise of ebooks, decline of mass market print, print-on-demand).
• The key strategy: Be open to reinvention and continue learning new models, platforms, and skills. [53:18] Kevin J. Anderson: "You can’t have a long-term career being the hot new thing...If you want to stay around, no matter how old of a dog you are, you got to learn new tricks and you got to keep learning and you got to keep trying new things."

Building Community and Paying It Forward

• Kevin finds reward and sustainability in mentoring upcoming writers.
• His role directing the Western Colorado University Master’s in Publishing focuses on practical skills for indie and new model publishing, not just traditional New York publishing theory.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Multiple Projects:
  “By having numerous different projects at different stages, all of which require different skill sets or different levels of...intensity, I can be constantly switching from one to another and basically be working at 100% capacity on everything all the time. And I love doing this.”
  — Kevin J. Anderson [24:57]

• On Life Disruptions:
  “If I’m at 95% capacity and suddenly I have to pick up an extra 50%, that causes real problems. And so I drink lots of coffee and I get less sleep.”
  — Kevin J. Anderson [32:33]

• On Adapting After Injury:
  “I would sit on the back porch... put my foot up on another chair and I’d...dictate my chapters that way. It was not as effective, but it was plan B and that’s how I got it done.”
  — Kevin J. Anderson [33:28]

• On Multiple Income Streams and Industry Changes:
  “Make sure that you have multiple income streams…that might be what makes your money now, but the reading taste could change next year...never ever assume you have it made because the world changes under you.”
  — Kevin J. Anderson [36:50]

• On Burnout:
  “If you want a long term career and if you’re working at 120% of your capacity, then you’re going to burn out.”
  — Kevin J. Anderson [49:37]

• On Reinvention:
  “If you want to stay around, no matter how old of a dog you are, you got to learn new tricks and you got to keep learning and you got to keep trying new things.”
  — Kevin J. Anderson [53:18]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [23:34] Kevin joins the show, discusses career overview and project count.
• [24:57] Kevin details how he manages multiple projects without burnout.
• [29:41] Kevin’s workflow system and philosophy on organization.
• [32:33] Handling disruptions: illness, injury, and life events.
• [36:50] Ensuring financial buffers, multiple income streams, surviving good and bad years.
• [41:30] The evolution of his Dan Shamble series: trad vs indie vs Kickstarter.
• [44:31] Advice for sustaining a long-term career, managing expectations.
• [48:57] The dilemma of saying yes/no to new projects and mid-career pivots.
• [49:37] Burnout, workaholism, and balancing what you love.
• [53:18] Reinvention, technology change, adaptability as core traits.
• [56:56] Current directions: premium editions, Patreon, teaching, paying it forward, and community.
• [58:55] Kevin’s graduate program focus and practical learning outcomes.

Closing Reflection

Joanna wraps up by emphasizing that there’s no single way to build a sustainable author career. Kevin’s journey illustrates the necessity of passion, adaptability, and diversified effort. She encourages listeners not to compare their brains or methods to anyone else, but to focus on what elements of his longevity and adaptability inspire them.

For more resources and further details, visit: thecreativepenn.com/podcast