What do you do when you’re running out of steam and you’re only in the middle of the book? Or you’re just running out of steam in general? This episode we share our suggestions for getting yourself re-energized and moving again. Some topics we cover: writing sprints writing with others either in person or on zoom/skype sexy times add more conflict change up environment – add music, go to a cafe or outside (depending on local quarantine measures) try dictation Trudi found shifting from 3 act stru...
Dec 08, 2020•34 min
Bonus content is an awesome marketing tool that can be used in a variety of ways – from encouraging people to sign up to newsletters, to convincing them to buy the next book in the series, or thanking superfans for their ongoing support. This week we talk about the ways we’ve used the bonus content we’ve created for our readers, from bonus scenes and epilogues, to short stories, prequel novellas and everything in between! We talk about what’s worked, what hasn’t, and what we think is the best op...
Dec 01, 2020•31 min
Want to make sure you give your first book the best possible chance of success… and then have readers auto-buying the next in your series? Then this is the podcast for you! This week we give you a checklist of elements for a successful first book in a series, before you even start writing a single word! We talk about everything – including the tropes that sell, what back matter to use, what kind of characters readers love and much more in this overview of how to make sure the first book in your ...
Nov 25, 2020•42 min
Why does Amazon choose someone else’s book over yours in a search? How do we make sure we’re using the best keywords for sales? What exactly is a keyword, anyway? We have all these answers and more for you in this info-packed episode! We’re joined again by the awesome and knowledgeable Dave Chesson, Founder and CEO of Publisher Rocket and Kindlepreneur. Dave breaks down all the best practices for getting the right keywords to deliver your book to the right readers, every time. About Dave Chesson...
Nov 18, 2020•1 hr 8 min
Today’s podcast is all about reader groups. Are they worthwhile? How they work and why you would you want one? Wendy has recently started one, and we discuss how that is working for her, and also talk about some more established reader groups the SPA Girls belong to like, Lucy Score, C N Crawford, and Marie Force. Once again an episode chock full of information! You’ll find all the show notes and SPA Girls podcast episodes at: www.spagirlspodcast.com Make sure you’re signed up to our weekly self...
Nov 10, 2020•52 min
A good old fashioned craft episode from the SPA Girls this week. Shar, Wendy and Cheryl discuss insider writing secretes from James Scott Bell’s book Fiction Attack! They pull out five important secrets that have most impacted them, and discuss what they mean and how they’ve used them in their writing. From using conflict and suspense, to description, fuzzy POV, cliches and info dumps, they go deep on some of those writing secrets that will take you from average to amazing! SHOW NOTES: 1 . The t...
Nov 04, 2020•38 min
In this episode we’re answering listener questions – a couple around the change of life many are experiencing right now. We have a few suggestions that helped us through switching to full time writing and the fickle motivation issue. Then we discuss how to tackle being visible in your local market. If you’ve had to deal with these things or are going through them now, please tell us about it on our Facebook page or comment on this post. Keen to learn from the SPA Girls in a virtual course? Join ...
Oct 27, 2020•33 min
Ever wondered why your best friend can organize her way out of anything, but you can’t follow the same processes she does? We might just have an answer: Gretchen Rubin has a system that involves what she calls the four tendencies. (Find the free online quiz here to identify your tendency here: https://quiz.gretchenrubin.com/?fbclid=IwAR05fTL0NJEPsCUJ6OqGMJrm4EHY7tnHcXCmg56_HroP0qLkIhe0GOT5yL4 ) Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential and thought-provoking observers of happiness and hum...
Oct 21, 2020•47 min
BONUS – enter before Friday 16 October to win one of three FREE tickets to the Unstoppable Woman virtual summit in November 2020 Here’s how to enter: Post on facebook (make it public – you may need to change settings for the post) and tell us ONE reason why you’d like to attend the summit, then hashtag #unstoppablesummit #spagirlspodcas t SIMPLE! >> Earlybird tickets for the summit close Friday 16 October (if you purchase a ticket, then win our lucky listener draw, you’ll be reimbursed) Go...
Oct 13, 2020•1 hr 3 min
This week we have an intriguing chat with author Danielle Annet t aka Danielle Romero, who has recently switched genres from Urban Fantasy to Contemporary Romance, with some amazing results. She talks us through the decision to change genres, and what she did to make it a success, including some of the big decisions she had to make, such as whether to create a new pen name, how to market it, and what kind of social media/website and newsletter presence she wanted to have with the new genre/name....
Oct 07, 2020•53 min
What’s working for us. Plus, How to prepare your holiday season Advertising. Christmas is coming whether we like it or not and starting now, as far as advertising is concerned, you need to get your ducks in a row. Spaces will already be dwindling as authors lock in their ads and if you want to have any decent ones, take our advice and get to it today. This week we look at the major sites we use, as well as some of the smaller, and talk about our success, or lack of it, with each. The most import...
Sep 29, 2020
This episode is a DOOZY! We’re thrilled to interview author and marketing expert, Holly Mortimer. Holly is the owner of the consulting firm, The Socialvert, and runs a successful membership base and mastermind for romance writers, The Socialvert Society. Her mission is to teach romance writers how to use digital marketing and email list building to increase their sales and cultivate a loyal fan base. We talk all things email marketing with Holly, and get you some ‘next level’ tips that’ll have y...
Sep 22, 2020•1 hr 4 min
Today we’re interviewing author Connie B. Dowell about juggling family responsibilities, pandemic postponements, and upheaval, with the responsibilities of being a working writer. Connie B. Dowell is an author of historical and cozy mysteries and nonfiction for writers. She is the host of the Book Echoes podcast for authors. After having two kids in less than two years, Connie developed a passion for time management and loves to chat author productivity and work-life balance. A former university...
Sep 16, 2020•43 min
In response to a listener question, this week we attempt to answer the question: Knowing what you know now, if you were starting out in publishing today, would you go straight to self publishing, or would you try out traditional publishing first? It’s a hard question, because we’re not starting out now, we do know an awful lot more than we did when we first started and when we started (7-8 years ago) everything was different. And also, we all clearly believe in self publishing over traditional…!...
Sep 09, 2020•43 min
This episode we discuss our (very!) different newsletter strategies: what provider we use and why, how we build our lists, our content, how frequently we email subscribers and what tips have worked for us. We also cover where to start for newbies – ie, keep it simple and doable! Resources mentioned: Our interview with Larissa Reynolds (two parts): http://selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep177-successful-newsletter-strategies-with-larissa-reynolds/ Our interview with Maria Luis ...
Sep 02, 2020•59 min
Today we’re joined by fabulous Alaskan author, Tamsin Ley , who is seeing great success writing SciFi Romance! We talk about Tamsin’s writing journey, marketing strategies, paranormal romance quirks and her advice for self-publishers. You can find Tamsin at: TamsinLey.com About Tamsin Tamsin Ley builds worlds full of sexy heroes who don’t know they need a mate – that is, until they meet the woman they can’t resist. The romance is sizzling hot, a surprise twist waits around every corner, and the ...
Aug 25, 2020•47 min
Amira Alvarez is the founder and CEO of The Unstoppable Woman, a global coaching company helping entrepreneurs, empire builders, athletes, creatives, and rising stars in all fields achieve their dreams and goals in record time. As someone who has made a quantum leap (going from barely making 6-figures to making $700k in one year, then onto 7-figures) and has lived to tell about it, she knows exactly what tactical strategies and mindset shifts are required to get out of your own way, live life on...
Aug 18, 2020•59 min
One thing we really believe in here at the SPA is that simple is better. There’s so much noise on the internet, and so many different things that we’re told that we “have” to do to be successful as self publishers, it can get confusing and overwhelming. So we decided to talk about ways to keep things simple in your publishing career, to prove that it doesn’t have to be complicated to be amazing. With that in mind, this week we talk about our own experiences of keeping things simple, and how it w...
Aug 12, 2020•33 min
Alana Terry is a 6-figure, USA Today bestseller with more than forty published Christian suspense novels. She hosts the Successful Writer Podcast which is a fabulous marketing-focused podcast for indie authors of any genre. Alana has also created several highly regarded courses to help authors reach their dreams of achieving creative and commercial success. Today we’re going to talk with Alana about how she uses advertising to grow her readership and how authors can navigate the sometimes confus...
Aug 04, 2020•55 min
No, we can’t quite believe we’ve been around this long either! Five years of publishing a new SPA Girls Podcast episode every week, countless amazing guests, industry experts and inspiring authors, lots of banter and (hopefully!) actionable self-publishing advice for our listeners. We go right back to our first episode (don’t worry, we won’t replay it), discuss the ONE piece of advice we’d give to new self-publishers, and talk about what we’ve learned / what’s changed, over the years. Thank you ...
Jul 29, 2020•41 min
Having trouble getting to ‘the end’ of your work in progress? then this podcast is for you. It’s packed with so much information you’ll have to replay it several times! Lisa Cron is a story coach and the author of Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers From the Very First Sentence and Story Genius: How To Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages that Go Nowhere) both published by Ten Sp...
Jul 21, 2020•1 hr 6 min
We’re on the couch again this week! We’re talking about our limiting beliefs and how we’re tackling them. If you’re not sure if you’ve got a limiting belief… we’re pretty sure you do. Probably more than one. It’s a belief that’s holding you back, and it’s the kind of thought pattern that you definitely want to bring out into the open, so you know it’s there, and can work on ways to change or amend it. Limiting beliefs are something you probably think is just a fact, or just true, about yourself ...
Jul 15, 2020•31 min
This week we discuss what advertising is actually working for our romance, urban fantasy and cozy mystery books. From facebook to series promotions, we’ve picked up some helpfully tips and strategies for getting the most bang of your advertising buck! Trudi’s notes on Facebook Ads: – need more than one book to make it work. (at least to make a profit, if your goals are to get eyes on your book, or get a rank, that might be different.) My new series ads aren’t making me money, because there’s onl...
Jul 08, 2020•41 min
The delightful Carlyn Robertson from Bookbub returns to the SPA today to talk all things Chirp and audiobook promotion! What is Chirp? Chirp is an audiobook retailer powered by BookBub that highlights unbeatable discounts on audiobooks. Chirp offers listeners access to a full catalog of audiobooks that they can purchase á la carte with no subscription fees, but focuses especially on surfacing amazing, limited-time audiobook deals in members’ favorite genres. Their team works with publishers and ...
Jul 01, 2020•27 min
In this podcast, we speak to the wonderfully talented and successful Urban Fantasy author Keri Arthur. She talks to us about transitioning from traditional publishing to self-publishing and shares tips and processes from her writing journey. Keri Arthur is the New York Times bestselling author of fantasy, horror, and romance novels. She began writing at the age of twelve and has more than 70 novels to date. Her books have received many nominations and prizes, including nods from the Romantic Tim...
Jun 23, 2020•47 min
Knowing as much as you can about your category, genre or sub-genre is vitally important if you’re going to succeed as a self publisher, and Alex Newton is keen to help you with that. He’s the creator of K-lytics ( www.k-lytics.com ) a website where you can get in-depth reports on various genres and sub-genres on Amazon that will help you find your niche, boost sales in your chosen genre, and basically give you the information you need to stand out in this crowded publishing space. Alex explains ...
Jun 17, 2020•1 hr 13 min
Ines is back to give us great advice for incorporating screenwriting techniques to make our writing stronger and improve read through! Aside from being a writer and professional reader, Ines Johnson is a seasoned educator. She’s taught screenwriting, story development, and media history for an art college in Washington, DC. A lifelong learner (read: academic addict), she holds a Master’s in Instructional Design, and a Doctorate in Educational Technology. Here are those 7 Tips: 1. Seasons: try th...
Jun 09, 2020•45 min
This is a special two-part series with the awesome Ines Johnson , a highly successful indie author who has an extensive background in television writing, media production and college education. In this episode, we cover Pen Names and Productivity. Ines has three pen names (that cover different genres) and she is the epitome of an organised, savvy and productive author that has so much to share with us! Topics we discuss include: Her fast-draft process and why Ines doesn’t write by wordcount How ...
Jun 03, 2020•39 min
In this episode we talk about power words. Those take action words that entice your readers to click that BUY NOW button! Research and numerous studies from psychologists and social scientists have come to a consensus on the five most powerful words in the English language. You Free Instantly Because New But first, remember it’s really important to know: – Who you’re writing your advertising copy for – How that person thinks – What that person needs So before you craft your beautiful book descri...
May 27, 2020•41 min
Have you been told you need more reviews, but you don’t know how to get them? Are you wanting to find some BETA readers, but can’t figure out where they lurk? Ever wondered who you send an ARC to, and what you get in return? This is the episode for you! We go through each topic, explaining the terms, telling you how to find more of them, and why they’re all so important to us as writers. SHOW NOTES Beta Readers A BETA reader is a (non-professional) reader who receives a pre-edited (NOT first dra...
May 20, 2020•42 min
