Episode 57: On Building The Plaid Horse, Co-Authoring a Book Series & Beating Burnout with Dr. Piper Klemm (Equestrian Author Spotlight Podcast)

Episode 57: Welcome to the Equestrian Author Spotlight podcast! In each episode, you’ll hear inspirational stories from horse book authors including writing advice and marketing tips to help you write your own horse book. If you are an author, aspire to be an author, or simply love horse books then you are in the right place!

​In this week's episode, you'll meet Dr. Piper Klemm. She is the Publisher of The Plaid Horse magazine, co-host of the weekly podcast, the Plaidcast, a frequent contributor to theplaidhorse.com, and co-author of the Show Strides book series. You'll learn ...

• About Stonewall Ponies, Piper's fleet of lease ponies with partner Emily Elek, and their business providing an immense selection of top quality pony hunters for sale or lease.
• How Piper began her tenure as the Publisher of The Plaid Horse, where she plans to take her Show Strides book series, and what it's like working with a co-author.
• Advice on stepping into the entrepreneurial arena. Piper shares her thoughts on avoiding burnout, why it is important to understand that failure is part of the process, and how she addresses shame in business and in the horse industry.
• And MUCH more!

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Watch Piper Klemm's Interview on YouTube!

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Or listen to the audio only version.

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About Piper Klemm

Piper Klemm, Ph.D. is the Publisher of The Plaid Horse magazine, a post she has held since 2014. In addition to her print pursuits, she is co-host of the weekly podcast, The Plaidcast, a frequent contributor to theplaidhorse.com, author of the Show Strides book series for pre-teens, and partner and host on The Plaid Horse Network. 

​Piper is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at St. Lawrence University when her schedules allow, where she has taught First Year Seminars such as "Scientific Discovery" and "Entrepreneurship in the Netflix Era." 

She is an active member of the hunter/jumper community, and shows in the Adult Hunter divisions with her horse of a lifetime, MTM Sandwich (aka Reuben). Her goal is that everyone would take the time to be as educated about horsemanship and hunter/jumper sport as possible.

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Piper Klemm Podcast Interview Excerpt

Carly: You are the Owner and Publisher of The Plaid Horse. Tell us about The Plaid Horse and the topics you cover..

Piper: I’ve owned The Plaid Horse since 2014. My background is in Chemistry and Biophysics. I have a PhD from Berkeley. I’ve always been an educator and looked at different systems. Horses have always been my passion and I think a lot of the same things apply.

The Plaid Horse is a print and digital publishing company, proudly printed in the United States. We provide coverage for the hunter/jumper/breeding disciplines at reasonable rates. We support equestrian competitors, horse fans, the general public, and suppliers to the industry through horse show and event coverage, equine articles of interest, and advertisements.

The Plaid Horse is focused on the entire horse show experience. It’s not just about top this or super expensive that, we really strive to educate young horsemen, celebrate our industry from the grassroots up, and create a positive and fun space for all competitors. Within The Plaid Horse, we have our blog where we put out daily material, our podcast, the magazine per year, and we publish books. 

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Carly: Tell us about your Show Strides book series.

Piper: Show Strides is a series of novels about riding, horse shows, and what it takes to succeed in the sport we all love for young readers and horse lovers of all ages. The books follow the journey of Tally Hart as she navigates the challenges of being a working student with big riding dreams.

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Piper: I co-authored the books with Rennie Dyball. Rennie is the author of several books, including the Show Strides series. She’s also a contributing writer for TPH and a ghostwriter for celebrity books. Rennie competes in hunters and equitation, too.

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Read Three Show Strides Excerpts. Thanks, Piper!

Show Strides Book 1 Excerpt:
https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2019/06/14/show-strides-book-sneak-peek-school-horses-and-show-ponies/

Show Strides Book 2 Excerpt: 
​https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2019/08/11/show-strides-book-2-exclusive-excerpt-confidence-comeback/

Show Strides Book 3 Excerpt: 
​https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2019/11/16/exclusive-excerpt-show-strides-book-3-moving-up-and-moving-on

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Carly: You are also the host of The Plaidcast, which is an equestrian podcast with over 200 episodes. Tell us about the show. Do you cover the same topics that you cover in the magazine? What are you doing with the podcast?

Piper:  I think podcasting is such a great forum to learn and to think while you're doing other things. It was really just an extension of the education. The Plaidcast is a weekly horse show inspired podcast. We started it four years ago with Horse Radio Network and now we're the largest hunter jumper podcast out there.

We try to have everyone on the show and cover different aspects of the industry. Our guests include Olympic equestrians, top hunter/jumper and equitation riders, trainers, horse show managers and industry insiders. We have in depth conversations on topics that matter: horsemanship, collegiate equestrian, the state of our sport and horse show how to’s for riders at every level.

We share insider stories about how The Plaid Horse magazine comes together every month. One episode each month is devoted to the mental side of your ride with nationally recognized Mental Skills Coach and author Tonya Johnston (Inside Your Ride). 

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Carly: You are a lifelong entrepreneur. You have a pony leasing business, you own the The Plaid Horse, you're a podcast host, you're writing a book series and so much more, what advice would you give someone who's interested in stepping into the entrepreneur arena for the very first time?

Piper: It's a numbers game. The people who are successful writers, you would not believe how much they write. The people who have successful businesses, you would not believe how many businesses they try and how many things fail. It really is a numbers game.

I get up every day and do as many things as I can do, but most of them fail Most of them are wrong. If you're not failing a lot, you're not pushing yourself close enough to the limit and someone else will beat you. It doesn't mean that you're bad. It doesn't mean that you're not smart. You can have everything right and the timing might be a year off. A lot of things come down to timing.

Know that you're going get rejected a lot, know that a lot of ideas won't come to terms, and know that doesn't make you bad. It doesn't make you wrong. If you keep doing the right things for the right reasons generally the right outcome will come at some point.

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Connect with Piper Klemm & The Plaid Horse

Website/Blog/Podcast: https://www.theplaidhorse.com/
Personal Website: https://www.piper-klemm.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theplaidhorsemag/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PlaidHorseMag
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/piperjklemm/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/piperklemm
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/theplaidhorse/

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The Show Strides Book Series

Other books mentioned during the interview:
The Saddle Club Series by Bonnie Bryant
Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson

Please note: This post contains affiliate links. If you choose to buy any books featured, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate purchases help with the upkeep of the podcast. Thanks for your help keeping this site running!

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New Equestrian Author Spotlights Each Week!

Make sure you never miss a show by subscribing on YouTube or Apple Podcasts. This podcast is made possible by listeners like you. I appreciate your support! 

​Thank you for joining us this week on the Equestrian Author Spotlight podcast I hope you enjoy these Q&A sessions with wonderful equine authors who love all things horses and writing just like me. 

​If you are an author who writes about horses and would like to be spotlighted please let me know. Visit my contact page to fill out a request. I'd be happy to have you on the show, too.

Want a free guide to secrets of horse book authors? Gallop over to https://www.carlykadecreative.com/wisdom.html and join the Equestrian Author Spotlight email list to have the author advice resource delivered instantly to your inbox.

View the Episode Directory

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About Your Host Carly Kade

Carly Kade is an award-winning independent author, horse owner, creativity coach, and the host of the Equestrian Author Spotlight Podcast. She helps fellow writers start, grow, and expand their author careers. Creative writing makes her spurs jingle!

Carly's award-winning In the Reins equestrian romance book series was written with horse lovers in mind, no matter which discipline they ride. The horses are as vital to moving the story forward as the human characters are.

These books are perfect for poolside reading, taking to the beach, or settling down with after a day of horseback riding.

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