SPA Girls Podcast

This week we talk about the forward planning we all do for our author careers. Because we’re all so different here in the SPA, we all plan differently, and have different goals. But that means there will be nuggets of gold for everyone in this episode! We go through what it means to forward plan in your author business, why it’s important, what we think about when we do our planning, and how to actually get it down in a format that works for you. No two people do it the same, and it has to be something that works for you and your goals. It’s all very well doing the planning, but it has to be done in such a way that you’ll take action on it as well! What we are all in agreement on is that if you don’t do any forward planning at all, it will be that much more difficult to achieve your dreams! PS – This is also the episode where Wendy finally reveals her Cliffton Strengths. For anyone who has heard Wendy moan about the Clifton Strengths and how much she dislikes them, you’ll understand how big a moment this is! (And believe me, her top five totally fits who she is!) This episode is worth a listen, just for that moment alone! SHOW NOTES: Forward planning / noun. 1. the process of making plans to take into account what is likely to happen or be needed in the future. “with a bit of forward planning, this party can be fun for all ages” taking into account future circumstances or requirements when you make a plan. Links mentioned: Skye Warren working 4 hours/day Parts 1 & 2 Sarra Cannon on the SPA Girls 💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon. Thank you so much, we love our listeners and our patrons! ⭐ Join us at the $10 tier, and you’ll be invited to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing, marketing and writing PLUS answer all your burning questions. ⭐ Get personal online coaching with the SPA Girls each month through our $100 tier. Spots for this are strictly limited and on a first-come-first-served basis. All the info is at http://www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast ✍️ Visit http://www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com for our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info 😊Watch our weekly show on http://www.youtube.com/c/SPAGirlsPodcast @spagirlspodcast

Self-publishing since 2010, Amazon top 100 best-selling Amazon author with 1 million books sold, Sarra writes magical contemporary fantasy novels with both teen and college aged characters (and lots of twists you’ll never see coming). Do you feel like a hamster on a wheel? Sarra talks to us about her solution to planning without all the heartache and leading us to be more joyful. “When we sit down to plan we see the perfect scenario. Then Life gets in the way.” About Sarra Cannon: Sarra Cannon writes magical contemporary fantasy novels with both teen and college aged characters (and lots of twists you’ll never see coming). Her novels often stem from her own experiences growing up in the small town of Hawkinsville, Georgia, where she learned that being popular always comes at a price and relationships are rarely as simple as they seem. With over a million books sold, Sarra loves writing witchy books and connecting with fans. You can connect with her on her author website here at SarraCannon.com Click to visit Sarra’s Heartbreathings YouTube channel for authors, and Heartbreathings website with her courses for writers here

We’re thrilled to welcome UF/PNR author Sarah Piper to the show today. Sarah has seen great success publishing across a number of genres, and we discuss her strategy moving from Amazon-exclusive to publishing wide, selling her audiobooks direct and working with your spouse! This episode is packed with incredible information and actionable advice from Sarah, so you’ll want to listen more than once – with a pad and pen nearby! About Sarah Piper Sarah Piper is a witchy, Tarot-card-slinging paranormal romance and urban fantasy author. Through her signature brew of dark magic, heart-pounding suspense, and steamy romance, Sarah promises a sexy, supernatural escape into a world where the magic is real, the monsters are sinfully hot, and the witches always get their magically-ever-afters. Readers have dubbed her work “super sexy,” “imaginative and original,” “off-the-walls good,” and “delightfully wicked in the best ways,” a quote Sarah hopes will appear on her tombstone. Originally from New York, Sarah now makes her home in northern Colorado with her husband (though that changes frequently) (the location, not the husband), where she spends her days sleeping like a vampire and her nights writing books, casting spells, gazing at the moon, playing with her ever-expanding collection of Tarot cards, binge-watching Supernatural (Team Dean!), and obsessing over the best way to brew a cup of tea. You can find her online at SarahPiperBooks.com and in her Facebook readers group, Sarah Piper’s Sassy Witches. ‌ 💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon. Thank you so much, we love our listeners and our patrons! ⭐ Join us at the $10 tier, and you’ll be invited to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing, marketing and writing PLUS answer all your burning questions. ⭐ New! Get personal online coaching with the SPA Girls each month through our $100 tier. Spots for this are strictly limited and on a first-come-first-served basis. All the info is at  SPA Girls Podcast | Patreon ✍️ Visit http://www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com for our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info 😊Watch our weekly show on YouTube Channel @spagirlspodcast Make sure to subscribe to The SPA Girls Podcast on your fav podcast app or our YouTube Channel, so you don’t miss an episode!

Amazon has moved the furniture again! This episode, Alex Newton, founder of K-Lytics, explains Amazon’s category changes, what they mean for authors, and how best to categorize your books now. We also discuss other recent Amazon changes dating back to September ’22, the impact on authors’ rankings and specific romance category changes and general trends. Alex Newton is 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 give you information to help you stand out in this crowded publishing Links mentioned: K-Lytics Reedsy’s article on Category Changes 💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon. Thank you so much, we love our listeners and our patrons! ⭐ Join us at the $10 tier, and you’ll be invited to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing, marketing and writing PLUS answer all your questions. Come on in and join us, we’d love to see you there! www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast ✍️ Visit www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com for our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info 😊Watch the recording on our YouTube Channel @spagirlspodcast

This week we chatted with Angela Ackerman, one of the authors of the classic writing book, The Emotion Thesaurus.  If you’ve never picked up one of the amazing thesauruses by Angela Ackerman and her co-writer, Becca Puglisi, you’re missing out! Created especially for writers, the ten different thesauruses will help you add emotion, be more creative, and make your book sing!  In this particular episode (aside from Trudi and the other SPA Girls singing the praises of Angela’s books) we talk to Angela about emotional wounds – what that means, why it’s important for our characters and how we can add emotional wounds into our writing and give our characters more depth.  Check out Angela’s website, Writers helping Writers, by clicking here for more information. 💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon. Thank you so much, we love our listeners and our patrons! ⭐ Join us at the $10 tier, and you’ll be invited to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing, marketing and writing PLUS answer all your questions. Come on in and join us, we’d love to see you there! www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast ✍️ Visit www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com for our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info 😊Watch the recording on our YouTube Channel @spagirlspodcast

There are many ways we get stuck as authors. Some ways you can get stuck is in the writing, editing, time management and making decisions areas. Getting unstuck is much harder and yet easier than we think. Letting go of perceptions of our writing or our characters helped Trudi a great deal when she put off writing the last book in a series – for years! Cheryl had to get past the fear of getting edits back and find a way to embrace the process to get them done. For Shar, it’s being done with the book and accepting it. No one wants to put up sub-standard work and we all do our very best to make sure that happens, but agonizing over a book doesn’t move you forward. We discuss how to do these things while facing fears and preconceptions, as well as the overwhelm of too many ideas and choices. Some tools to help: Plottr Watching a program or reading a book that deals with plot holes or backstory that doesn’t feel forced, an info dump, or out of character. The Last of US – recommended by Cheryl is a series that weaves in the backstory as part of each episode.

We’re thrilled to welcome back Kathryn Le Veque to the SPA! Kathryn is a Publishing Powerhouse, with years of experience as a bestselling author, and CEO of Dragonblade Publishing. After first interviewing her back in 2018, we wanted to discuss what industry changes she’s seen in those five plus years, and what she predicts for the future in the wider publishing landscape. Kathryn shares her unique publishing insights and forecast, historical romance trends, why she doesn’t have an author newsletter, and behind the scenes insight of running Dragonblade. KATHRYN LE VEQUE is a critically acclaimed, USA TODAY Bestselling author (having hit the list over 30 times), an Indie Reader bestseller, a charter Amazon All-Star author, and a #1 bestselling, award-winning, multi-published author in Medieval Historical Romance with over 150 published novels. In addition to her own published works, Kathryn is the President/CEO of Dragonblade Publishing, Amazon’s #1 ebook publisher of Historical Romance (K-Lytics reporting July 2020). Dragonblade Publishing has become known for its commitment to quality historical romance fiction and has gained a reputation as a trusted source for engaging and well-researched novels. Through her ownership of the publishing house, Kathryn has continued to contribute to the romance genre by nurturing and supporting other authors who share her passion for historical storytelling. Find Kathryn at: https://kathrynbouseleveque.com/ Dragonblade Publishing: https://www.dragonbladepublishing.com/ Kathryn’s previous appearance on the SPA Girls : http://selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep159-interview-with-kathryn-le-veque/ 💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon. Thank you so much, we love our listeners and our patrons! ⭐ Join us at the $10 tier, and you’ll be invited to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing, marketing and writing PLUS answer all your questions. Come on in and join us, we’d love to see you there! www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast ✍️ Visit www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com for our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info 😊Watch the recording on our YouTube Channel @spagirlspodcast

Today’s topic was prompted by a commenter on youtube who asked us about reverse engineering bestsellers. What makes a book, be it your second one published or your tenth, sell more than others.  We believe there are many variables to that. Timing, tropes, the first 10% of how a book starts. The cover, blurb, and other popular tv or books that may have similar aspects.  There are many things to consider, and today we take a dive into why a book can launch a career! SPA Girls’ bestsellers at time of recording: Wendy Vella, Sensing Danger Trudi Jaye, Hidden Danger Cheryl Phipps w/a CA Phipps, Apple Pie & Arsenic  The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon. Thank you so much, we love our listeners and our patrons!  Join us at the $10 tier, and you’ll be invited to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing, marketing and writing PLUS answer all your questions. Come on in and join us, we’d love to see you there! www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast  Visit www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com for our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info

This week we talk to fiction and non-fiction author Katlyn Duncan, who wrote the non-fiction books The Successful Hybrid Author (all about being a hybrid author) and Take Back Your Book (all about how to get your rights back after being traditionally published). She shares her path to becoming a hybrid author, but also what you need to know about being hybrid, how it works, the pros and cons of traditional publishing versus indie publishing versus hybrid publishing, and how to get your rights back if you want to take up indie publishing. Katlyn has also ghostwritten over 40 novels for children and adults, and she talked about how she became a ghostwriter, how it all works, and the benefits to writers who want to get into this area of publishing. Another fabulously informative episode! Katlyn’s website Katlyn’s YouTube 💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon. Thank you so much, we love our listeners and our patrons! ⭐ Join us at the $10 tier, and you’ll be invited to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing, marketing and writing PLUS answer all your questions. Come on in and join us, we’d love to see you there! www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast ✍️ Visit www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com for our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info 😊Watch the recording on our YouTube Channel @spagirlspodcast

Author Jenna Moreci is a YouTube sensation! With almost 300k subscribers on her YouTube channel “Writing with Jenna Moreci“, ten years of making videos, and over 28 MILLION views, she’s produced an incredible body of work and large community. So how has this impacted her writing and publishing, especially as her audience is both writers AND readers? We cover Jenna’s YouTube and writing journey, her best practices and tips for authors starting out (and whether it’s right for them) and how her YouTube channel has impacted her as a creative. About Jenna Moreci: International #1 Amazon Bestseller YouTube’s Cyborg Queen Aquarius, tall person, & southpaw ​Jenna Moreci is a bestselling dark fantasy romance and writing craft author, as well as a YouTube sensation with hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Her first installment in The Savior’s Series, The Savior’s Champion, was voted one of the Best Books of All Time by Book Depository. ​Born and raised in Silicon Valley, Jenna spends her free time snuggling up with her charming partner and their tiny dog, Buttercup. You can find Jenna at jennamoreci.com and on Writing With Jenna on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/jennamoreci 💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon. Thank you so much, we love our listeners and our patrons! ⭐ Join us at the $10 tier, and you’ll be invited to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing, marketing and writing PLUS answer all your questions. Come on in and join us, we’d love to see you there! www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast ✍️ Visit www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com for our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info 😊Watch the recording on our YouTube Channel @spagirlspodcast