๐ Greg Dixon talks with Thomas Goodlet, Sr., owner of Two Penney Publishing, about his journey from music to running a book publishing company. And what your publishing journey would look like with Two Penney Publishing. ๐
As a writer, you have a lot of different options for publishing your book, from learning how to publish for free or nearly free with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and IngramSpark to Traditional Book Publishing.
The road to traditional publishing is long and nearly impossible for most authors. Most major publishers have self-publishing divisions. For example, Hay House Publishing has Balboa Press.
Two Penney Publishing provides an affordable middle option.
No matter which path you choose, the publishing journey includes a number of steps, including:
โ Writing
โ Editing
โ Formating
โ Illustrations
โ Cover Design
โ Marketing
โ Submitting
โ Audiobook Production
The team at Two Penny Publishing has specialists in each area to help you every step of the way, starting with writing and book development coaching.
Learn more at https://twopennypublishing.com/
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Greg Dixon Shared Visions Unlimited Publishing | Marketing | Story Productions | Fun With Music
I have a lifetime of diverse experiences, training, and adventures that have led people to ask me for help with their projects. Some of my best long-term projects came from people asking me to do things I had not done before.
My superpower is learning to do new things, combined with a wealth of knowledge and experience.
Perhaps my job title could be Greg Dixon, Chief Enabler of Getting StuffDone!
This is my Life Resume.
Education
In elementary school, I loved art and music.
I took a lot of science courses, such as Math, Physics, and Chemistry in High School. I was considering Chemical Engineering. History was one of my favourite classes.
At Capilano College, I deliberately took courses I did not take in high school, including English Literature, Biology, Philosophy, and Psychology. I also hung out in the Jazz Music program.
At the University of British Columbia, I considered majoring in Literature, Psychology, and Philosophy. I came to the conclusion that the best Psychology and the best Philosophy were in great literature, so I did an Honours Degree in English Literature, with an emphasis on Russian novelists such as Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I considered pursuing a doctorate in Comparative Literature.
After our twins were born, Ann suggested I follow my interest in computers and software development with the Computer Systems program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. I chose the Expert Systems specialty, including some of the early technologies leading to the dominance of search pattern matching and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
My natural interest in writing (and a recommendation by Dan Kennedy, the Gofather of Direct Marketing) led me to the American Writers and Artists Institute (AWAI). I have attended two copywriting bookcamps in Florida and one online. I have access to every course they ever offered and am working through them. That is a lot.
I also purchased many video and marketing programs from people like Andy Jenkins, Dan Kennedy, Dave Dee, Russell Brunson, Kim Walsh Philips, Eric Lofholm, and Marie Forleo.
Currently, I am loading much of the material into an AI system and using it for consulting and copyediting.
Between my training, experience, search mastery, and AI, I can figure things out very quickly.
Writing, Marketing, and Publishing
Setting aside audio and visual elements for now, virtually all publishing and marketing comes down to words โ writing.
People find stuff primarily through the words used in titles, descriptions, and captions.
Despite never learning to type properly, I have written many millions of words over the decades, including:
Hundreds of essays.
Hundreds of websites.
Thousands of blog posts.
Many print magazine articles.
A corporate newsletter.
Thousands of social media posts, usually with a graphic.
Desktop publishing assets, including posters, business cards, and brochures.
Two books, with more in progress.
Roadmaps and planning documents.
Technical writing projects.
Poems and songs.
Story productions.
Video scripts.
Helped publish many books through Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, eBooks, Flipbooks, and multimedia Experience Editions. Also, video and audio projects.
Online courses and other training materials.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO). If you found this post through a search, it worked!
I am a natural fit for most copywriting, marketing, and publishing roles.
An interest in capturing family stories and music events led me to buy a video camera. I have my 10,000 hours in with a wide range of video projects, including:
Family reunions and events such as weddings.
Music concerts.
Keynote presentations.
Church services.
Personal stories.
Training sessions.
Business introductions.
Landing page videos.
Livestream interviews and discussions.
Webinars and Funshops.
Food security and rescue projects.
Except for client videos, there are many clips on YouTube.
My first job after learning Computer Systems was working for a large Systems Integration company called SHL Systemhouse, which was eventually absorbed into EDS.
I started as a programmer and grew into roles such as System Architect and Project Manager. I also managed the branch newsletter, writing most of the content. The company had an excellent internal training system that covered most aspects of systems development and support.
An introduction through a singer in The Strange Bedfellows led to decades of helping develop and market online psychometric systems for hiring and developing personnel at all levels.
The top system took many hundreds of data points from four hours of testing to create a multipage Management Assessment report. Our clients were mostly large communications clients.
If the owners had not aged out without a succession plan, we could still be running the company today.
Writing comes naturally to me, and my copy is usually strong. Grammarly even stopped tracking my word count after I hit around 3 million words!
But here’s the truth: My writing could always be better. I still miss errors that slip throughโand the same goes for my marketing and publishing clients’ work.
That’s why I dove into AWAI’s Copyediting course, led by the fantastic Mindy McHorse. At the very least, it sharpens my own process.
Better yet?
It lets me offer professional copyediting as an add-on service to my copywriting and marketing clients.
The Copyediting Path: From Idea to Polished Publication
AWAI’s infographic lays out the full publication path:
Idea Organization
Copy Creation
Editing
Copyediting
Proofreading
I’m a pro at Idea Creation and OrganizationโI can turn a spark into a detailed outline or mind map in minutes. From there, drafting copy flows fast.
Then? I used to skip straight to “Publish!”
What Mindy taught me changed everything: the distinct purpose and methods for each editing pass. Plus, smart ways to collaborate with clients using Track Changes and comments in Microsoft Word or Google Docs. (Word reigns supreme for precision, but Google Docs excels at real-time teamwork.)
My Revamped Writing and Editing Process
Now, for my projects, I draft in Google Docs instead of jumping straight into WordPress and hitting Publish.
I invite clients or collaborators to review and comment right in Google Drive.
My routine includes:
A Grammarly pass to catch errors and refine phrasing
Double-checking links and references
My Secret Weapon: An AI-Powered Copyeditor
I’ve uploaded all the course transcripts and PDFs into a dedicated AWAI folder in Grok (the AI tool from xAI).
I’m adding materials from other AWAI copywriting courses and bootcamps too.
Result? Grok becomes an exceptional copyeditor on demand.
I feed it my copy, ask for reviews and suggestionsโand get polished rewrites with detailed, graceful explanations.
The best part? The feedback is kind and constructiveโnever harsh. Mindy emphasizes delivering suggestions without triggering resistance, and Grok nails that perfectly.
Final Thoughts: Level Up Your Writing (and Your Income)
This course has equipped me with tools and processes to elevate my own writingโand my clients’.
With Grok’s help, I can now confidently take on copyediting projects I might have passed off before.
What about you? Need a sharp eye on your copy, marketing materials, or publishing projects?
Copywriting is a big word. Copywriting is simply the effective use of words for persuasion and communication. That covers most things that humans do โ including marketing.
Here are some of the fun projects and niches I like.
I like to combine blogging, video, social media posts, and email to create a search-engine-friendly online presence that attracts people to special events and offers.
Concert and theatre tickets can be a fun project and easy sales. It is much easier to let people know where to find what they are looking for than to generate new interest.
In addition to music, I have a lot of interest in food security, green energy projects, real estate, healthy living, travel, and trading.
I also enjoy learning new things and creating content about them.
My background includes the study of English Literature AND computer systems, making me equally comfortable with a range of writing from story productions to technical documents and case studies. I have worked in many industries.
I also have an odd infinity for desktop publishing โ things like posters and brochures.
I also do a lot of video work for marketing and education.
Do you have projects that could use help with copywriting, copyediting, or marketing?
My YouTube channel has hundreds of videos on a wide range of topics, including training, marketing, projects, events, and music. It is an archive of what I have done since 2007!
My encouragement to everyone is to preserve family members’ personal stories while you still can.
I offer planning and resources to capture stories and related media, assembling them into montages, websites, Life Vaults, and books to preserve and share legacy.
My personal project for 2026 is Playing Music For Fun, where I help people explore music and get past personal beliefs like โI have no musical talentโ.
You were born musical, and a lifetime of joy awaits you at all levels.
I am looking for musical guests to share their journey on my video podcast.
Do you know of any Legions, Senior Care Centres, Service Clubs, or other organizations that would be interested in a project to feature the personal stories of the people in their community?
Will they genuinely know what was important to you?
Or will they make it up?
The time to write and preserve your own personal story is now, while you have your health.
I can help you collect the fragments of your life in words, images, and video.
Then we can assemble into story productions in various formats, such as a personal website, video montage to show at family gatherings, a secure multimedia portal, and/or a printed book.
Most of the Story Productions I have created so far have been personal stories, initiated by the person or by a family member.
Collaborate with me to capture and preserve the stories, photos, video, and audio in Google Drive folders.
I can conduct interviews and facilitate family storytelling sessions. You never know what will come out of the woodwork!
Then we organize our content into various story productions in different formats. Simple photo and video montages are good for presenting at memorials, weddings, anniversaries, and other special occasions.
A personal or family website is perfect for sharing stories publicly.
It is also possible to have the family update and expand the content over time, making the website a living legacy.
A Life Vault is a multimedia portal that supports multiple levels of access, allowing you to share only certain stories with family and friends.
The stories can also go into books that can be printed or viewed as eBooks and Flipbooks.
Let’s start with identifying and capturing the most important stories.
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