SPA Girls Podcast

This episode is for everyone who struggles with paid advertising!   Today we’re joined by romance author Vanessa Vale. When her facebook ad account was shut down, Vanessa had to learn how to sell books WITHOUT paid ads and she shares how she came up with her solid marketing strategies in the episode. She not only writes amazing books, but also runs the Thrifty Tips For Authors group on Facebook where she shares ways to brand, market, publish, write, promote and THINK about selling books… without spending a fortune. Vanessa is also launching her very first Thrifty Tips For Authors online course in April 2023. This is a must listen for writers of all genres! Learn more about Vanessa’s course Thrifty Tips For Authors here: https://thriftytipsforauthors.com/courses About Vanessa Vale Vanessa Vale is the USA Today bestselling author of sexy romance novels, including her popular Bridgewater historical series and hot contemporary romances. With over one million books sold, Vanessa writes about unapologetic bad boys who don’t just fall in love, they fall hard. Her books are available worldwide in multiple languages in e-book, print and audio. Within five years, Vanessa forged two pen names from scratch to seven figures—each using the strategies and techniques in the Thrifty Tips For Authors class. The beginnings of this program came when she was banned from Facebook ads, forcing her to develop strong branding and marketing steps that are enduring and withstand the changes and whims of the publishing industry. She is still the go-to author for steamy small town romances, however has retired from her second pen name. The enduring Interstellar Brides Program is left in the capable and amazing hands of her BFF co-author. Her Thrifty Tips for Authors group has over 2500 members (https://www.facebook.com/groups/thriftytipsforauthors ) Vanessa’s Author website: https://vanessavaleauthor.com/ 💗 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

In today’s podcast we talk all things small town romance with the wonderful Kait Nolan. Kait is a USA Today best selling, RITA® Award-winning Mississippi author of smart, sassy, small town Southern romance. She calls everyone sugar, honey, or darlin’, and can wield a ‘Bless your heart’ like a Snuggie or a saber, depending on requirements. She believes in love, laughter, and that tacos are the world’s most perfect food. When she’s not writing, reading, or wrangling family (both the two-legged and the four-), you can find her obsessively watching The Great British Bake Off. https://kaitnolan.com/ 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.

The number one thing you need to produce as an author is WRITTEN words, but sometimes that’s the hardest thing to do. So when words are hard to come by, when you’re avoiding the blank screen or finding yourself doing housework for hours instead of sitting your butt on the office chair (or couch) with your laptop, you need a cheerleader, an advocate, and champion… a human cattle prod, if you will. And that’s where we come in. This week we’re sharing our best tips and advice on how to get yourself motivated, beat resistance and get your $#@!! words down.

Do it the easy way! Award-winning USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Brighton Walsh spent a decade as a professional photographer before taking her storytelling in a different direction and reconnecting with her first love—writing.  After getting a publishing deal, Brighton went on to become a hybrid author and is now mainly indie. She started on TikTok in January 2022 and used mainly page flips back then which went viral immediately. She has since developed her own brand of TIKTOK-ing which continues to impress. Today she brings you plenty of tips and tricks to start you off on the right foot. Brighton’s Tips: Don’t let it take over your life. You don’t have to use your face! Use a phone app to record so you can reuse it. Post once a day unless it is launch week and then do 2-3 posts.  Reuse words and hooks often, but the video itself only occasionally. Uses bookish backgrounds with candles to make the post look attractive. A similar background saves a lot of time and becomes your brand. Her photography background helped. Encourage comments by making the post unique to you as well as be aesthetically pleasing. Viral = 100k or more. Be a consumer first and see what you are comfortable doing. Do not copy other videos exactly. Get ideas as you write the book and write them down. Plus, so much more!  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

Ten proven productivity hacks for self-publishers, brought to you by the letter “P” 1. Planning – Make a plan and stick to it 2. Preparation – know what you’re going to do, and when you’re going to do it, and then stick to it. 3. Procrastination – look at whether it’s actually positive or negative procrastination, if it’s negative, look at what stories you’re telling yourself. 4. Prioritize – figure out what is most important, learn to say no to things/people, stay focused on what you want to achieve. 5. Positive Talk – don’t fall into negative thinking. 6. Play or gamify it. Example – Write at the top of the hour, until you get to 1000, then you get to have a break, then go back and write at the top of the hour again. 7. Put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) 8. Pivot if it’s not working. 9. Be Picky – lots of be people equate being busy with achieving alot, but it’s not true. I can spend all day being busy, and achieve a sum total of ZERO. 10. Permission – don’t be afraid to make mistakes. plus two bonus Ps~! Podcast & Patreon

Alpha, Beta, Tortured or Bad Boy? How do you like your heroes? This week Cheryl, Wendy and Shar discuss how to write a great hero (in their opinion) complete with controversial examples! In particular, we cover: Character Connection Creating Conflict from Character Main Characters Should Be Equals Characters Should Have Complementary Strengths  Hero should Show Vulnerability Different hero types including Alpha, Beta, Bad Boy, Tortured and Playboy Don’t miss out on our take on writing a great hero! 

Wanting to speed up your plotting and writing time? Today we’re talking about a writers tool that promises to do just that. Plottr is visual book planning software for writers that helps us outline faster, organize smarter, and turbocharge our productivity. Today we’re joined by Cameron Sutter and Troy Lambert of Plottr. Cameron is an independently published author and software engineer and the inventor and lead developer of Plottr. Troy is a mystery author, editor and Education Lead at Plottr. Learn more here: https://plottr.com?ref=367 💗 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

Love your Writing Self this Valentine’s Day Who says Valentine’s Day has to be about couples? We think it should be about all kinds of love and this year we’re promoting a little self-love. Go on, you deserve it! Treat yourself to a craft course or something else you would enjoy – find a course and do it! Do something awesome for your body – manicure, pedicure, massage, facial. Regular exercise – walk, run, bike, swim, yoga, pilates, sport. Combat stress – read, listen to music, have a bath, meditate – try Paul Mckenna and Youtube videos. Breathing exercises – breathe in for seven, hold for seven, out for seven. Eat healthy and drink more water. Try something different – puzzles, a new hobby like knitting, crochet or miniatures.  Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

This week Trudi and Shar go rogue … and discuss courses along with our writing friend and writing tutor Tania Hutley / Talia Hunter. We discuss the courses we’ve done over the years on craft, marketing, self-publishing and mindset and what we’ve learned from them.Disclaimer – we only discuss our personal experiences, and we are not affiliates for any of them with the exception of SPF. How do you know your best learning style?What do you need to be prepared for before you start?How to do due diligence on the course providerWhat red flags should you look for before you plunk down your $$ Mentioned in podcast:Maggie StiefvaterMargie Lawson – Dialogue courseLisa Cron – SPA Girls podcast EP#249 Creative live.comInkers Con – Allesandra Torre – SPA Girls Podcast EP235RWA Recordings – Jennifer Lynn BarnesMark Dawson – SPF coursesBecca Syme – write better fasterUdemyHolly Darling – newsletter – we interviewed Holly (then Holly Mortimer) EP#258Tammi Labrecque – newsletterninja.netDavid Gaughran – free Starting From ZeroSteff Green – Rage Against the Manuscript

So many times we’ve heard authors say that they don’t like this or that when it comes to promoting themselves. Like email marketing. Social media. Advertising Book signings Sure there are many who feel as you do, but not everyone does!  So how can we work with our biases and not fight against them? 💗 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