In today's episode, I’m sitting down with Jennifer Lauer to talk through how she overcame her fear of the blank page and indie published her debut novel. Here’s a preview of what’s included: 

[03:00] An introduction to Jennifer Lauer and her story, The Girl in the Zoo

[09:30] What the beginning of the writing process looked like for Jennifer—and when she finally realized that her fear of the blank page was preventing her from writing

[14:45] What happened when Jennifer finished the first draft of her book (and changed her genre from love to action)

[26:00] Jennifer’s experience entering a Twitter pitch contest—and how it gave her the courage to submit her pages for a critique on TSNOTYAW podcast

[30:35] Why Jennifer ultimately decided to indie publish her novel (even after getting a positive response from a few industry professionals)

[43:35] The 3 biggest lessons Jennifer learned from this experience (and the advice she’d give to her past self when embarking on this writing journey)

[47:00] Final words of wisdom and advice from Jennifer

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Links mentioned in this episode:

• Visit Jennifer’s website or follow her on Instagram @jenniferleelauer
• Jennifer’s debut novel, The Girl in the Zoo on Amazon
• Jennifer’s fiction podcast The Strange Chronicles 
• The Spun Yarn Beta Reader Service
• The Shit No One Tells You About Writing Podcast
• Dyna Kau (cover designer) and Barbie at Monocle Editing
• Joanna Penn’s website
• Jane Friedman’s website
• Want to learn more about my Notes to Novel course? Click here to sign up for my FREE TRAINING: The 5 Little-Known Mistakes Most Writers Make (& What to Do Instead)

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