Robert Stahl breaks down indie publishing and short story craft

https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts211/v4/ee/70/ba/ee70ba0d-42e3-5f60-6720-b829665a19c4/mza_7879828621860930126.jpg/600x600bb.jpg

MAKE // BREAK

V13 Media Group

10 episodes

1 day ago

MAKE // BREAK is a conversation series about the realities of making art in a world that doesn’t make it easy. Hosted by Lance Marwood, it’s less about the music itself and more about the stories, struggles, and strategies behind it. Each episode dives into the DIY grind, the changing industry, and what it takes to build something lasting without selling out. Guests range from underground bands to established voices, all sharing unfiltered experiences that mix humour, honesty, and hard-earned lessons.

Music Interviews

Music

RSS

All content for MAKE // BREAK is the property of V13 Media Group and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Music Interviews

Music

https://hosting-media.rs-prod.riverside.fm/media/imports/podcasts/686d40cf-995d-4038-a7fe-1afdab9058bc/episodes/ed4e0305-e619-4357-b794-4c3cca3377fd/44045904-1760711171762-1ed9727b5dc35.jpg

Robert Stahl breaks down indie publishing and short story craft

MAKE // BREAK

1 second

3 weeks ago

Robert Stahl breaks down indie publishing and short story craft

Episode 007 – Robert Stahl | MAKE // BREAK

Robert E. Stahl is the Dallas-based horror author behind Show Me Where It Hurts (JournalStone, 2025), a debut collection of 30 short stories and poems exploring grief, transformation, and the monstrous within. A former bartender turned writer and filmmaker, Stahl built his voice at the intersection of prose and comics, drawing on influences like Swamp Thing while developing a pragmatic editing and submissions routine. In this episode of MAKE // BREAK with host Lance Marwood, he breaks down the “rejection math” behind landing pro-market placements, the origins of that unforgettable teeth cover, and the mindset that carried him from first readers to a book deal and Texas tour. It’s equal parts craft talk, resilience playbook, and indie-publishing reality check.

👀 What you’ll hear

Distil the title and teeth cover into a surprising origin story from a poem and a monster
Share the rejection-to-acceptance ratio and how persistence finally cracked pro markets
Explain how Swamp Thing and Monkey’s Paw tropes shaped a devastating reunion scene
Map the indie publishing path through grief, resilience, and landing with JournalStone
Detail a pragmatic editing system — cooling time, trusted first readers, revision boundaries
Offer brass-tacks routines for writing, submissions, and surviving the industry’s noes

🕰️ Chapters

00:00 Why Show Me Where It Hurts and the iconic teeth cover

01:52 Rejections, first pro-market sales, contest experiences

04:29 Political horror and placing in Story Unlikely

06:20 Swamp Thing influence and Monkey’s Paw mechanics

10:18 Publishing gauntlet, grief, and finding JournalStone

13:28 Resilience mindset — “the action is the juice”

16:39 Blood onstage story and Halloween gig

17:50 Books that reset creatives — King, Pressfield, Gilbert

18:44 Comics craft — Moore, Hickman, Gaiman shaping horror voice

25:37 Contemporary horror influences — Jones, Ketchum, Barker

39:45 Top films — Hereditary, The Descent, Talk To Me