# The Creative Penn

The Creative Penn is Joanna Penn's free blog and weekly podcast for authors who want to run writing as a business, including self-publishing and AI.

- Canonical page: https://kdp123.com/t/the-creative-penn/
- Official site: https://www.thecreativepenn.com
- Categories: Courses, Blogs & Channels
- Price: Free (Blog and podcast are free; books, webinars and a Patreon are paid extras.)
- Platforms: web
- Outputs KDP-ready files: Not stated
- Touches your KDP account: Not stated
- Official Amazon product: No
- Last checked: 2026-11-09

## Summary

The Creative Penn is run by Joanna Penn, a bestselling indie author of nonfiction for writers and of thrillers as J.F. Penn. It offers a long-running weekly podcast, articles, tool tutorials and her books for authors, with a Patreon for extra content. The site states that many links are affiliate links, and she sells her own books, webinars and bundles, so tool recommendations are not neutral. It is broad author-business advice rather than KDP-specific instructions.

## Pros

- Weekly podcast with a very large backlist of interviews
- Practical coverage of AI, audio and selling direct

## Cons

- Many tool links are affiliate links
- Little step-by-step KDP setup detail

## Alternatives

- [The Self Publishing Show](https://kdp123.com/t/the-self-publishing-show/)
- [Jane Friedman](https://kdp123.com/t/jane-friedman/)
- [Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi)](https://kdp123.com/t/alli/)

## Sources

- https://www.thecreativepenn.com/
- https://www.thecreativepenn.com/the-creative-penn-podcast-for-authors/