SPA Girls Podcast

One size doesn’t fit all – we’ve all heard that saying, but how do you know what DOES work for you? In this episode, we discuss how to identify what best works for you in three areas: Your Writing ProcessYour Publishing StrategyYour Marketing Strategy …and share tips and resources that we’ve learned along the way. Resources mentioned: Book Decoding Greatness by Rod Friedmanhttps://www.amazon.com/Decoding-Greatness-Reverse-Engineer-Success/dp/1982135794 Becca Syme episode with the SPA Girls #146http://selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep146-interview-with-becca-syme-on-writing-better-faster/ Elana Johnson episode with the SPA Girls #228http://selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep228-interview-with-elana-johnson-part-two/ 💗 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 ✍️ Don’t forget, all our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info are at: at www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com

It was our great pleasure to interview Michele Scott, a NYT, Wall Street Journal and Amazon bestselling thriller and cozy mystery author of over forty novels and the CEO/owner of equestrian sports medicine company Professional’s Choice, Inc.  Michele has written in various genres including thrillers, mysteries, young adult mysteries, fantasy, and women’s fiction. Her thriller Daddy’s Home from her Holly Jennings’ Thriller series written under her pen name of AK Alexander has sold over one million copies and was the #1 bestselling book in the UK Amazon. Her thriller Mommy, May I? was number 2 on the Amazon list. Her Wine Lover’s Mysteries are currently optioned, and a movie version is projected to begin filming this year.  Like most of our guests, Michele’s success didn’t happen overnight and there were huge ups and downs. We think you’ll agree that it wasn’t perseverance alone that took Michele down the path to finding the right agent and having books optioned. Firstly, it was all about loving what she did, but she also did her research, made contacts and made sure she was on brand. She also consistently produced products good enough for someone to take notice when she got it in front of the right eyes. Michele also talks about having a good marketing plan, so she knows where to use her budget and that she wears a professional hat when making important decisions. She also believes it’s important to block off time to learn, refresh your well with reading or writing in a different genre, and take time out, but writing time is sacred. Michele’s website: michelescott.comFacebook: @akalexanderauthor Instagram: @michelescottauthor Resources mentioned: How To Write a Damn Good Mystery by James N. Frey https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003E4CY8U/ 💗 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 ✍️ Don’t forget, all our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info are at: at www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com

Emilia Rose is an international bestselling author of steamy paranormal romance. With over 18 million story views online, Emilia loves creating the newest and sexiest paranormal romances for her fans. Emilia shares how she started by releasing her work for free on Wattpad and other serial platforms, and building a ravenous audience there. At that time she didn’t have the resources to invest and ads, covers or professional editing and thus her subscription-publishing concept was born: her fans on Wattpad could access one chapter extra per week through her Patreon and read it before anyone else. That snowballed quickly and Emilia was able to grow over six figures/year very quickly through this model. Then she was able to be able to afford professional covers, editing and advertising for  the books she would later publish wide. We were inspired by Emilia’s success and entrepreneurial approach to self-publishing in a slightly different way to the “usual”, and we’re sure you’ll enjoy this episode! Find Emilia at: https://www.emiliarosewriting.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 ✍️ Don’t forget, all our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info are at: at www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com

USA Today Bestselling author of more than 50 books, Morgana Best writes cozy mysteries featuring witches, psychics, ghosts, mermaids, and anything else that tickles her imagination. Her books have landed on the Top 10 spot on Amazon and are beloved by readers in over 70 countries. Today she is talking to us about selling direct from your own author store, something Morgana has been doing for many years successfully. It’s an info-packed packed episode you will not want to miss! Morgana’s book Stop Making Others Rich: How Authors Can Make Bank Selling Direct is available now from Morgana’s store directly at morganabest.com and all online retailers including Amazon and Kobo And she has a course beginning in September: https://best-business-for-authors.teachable.com/p/authors-selling-books-on-shopify 💗 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 ✍️ Don’t forget, all our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info are at: at www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com

This week we talk about how to find new ideas, and how to use those ideas in new ways. How to find them in the everyday hustle and bustle of our lives, and how to turn them on their heads to create something intriguing and interesting to our readers.  We go through a series of story starters, of intriguing kernels that you can use to create an awesome story that your readers will love to read…  SHOW NOTES: Places to find ideas: 🌺 Invent something from irritation – create a list of everything that annoys you, and try to find a way to use it in your writing. 🌺 Change the weather – put in a storm, make it rain, put them in a heatwave. All things that will change how the characters will act. 🌺 Use writing prompts – for example Reedsy writing prompts – https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/ 🌺 Create something from a mash up – for example two tropes that don’t usually go together. An example could be Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. 🌺 It can be something small – one of the characters in Wendy’s book has a pet duck and her readers love it. 🌺 Find something funny about a particular situation. 🌺 Adjust the focus – write it from a different character’s viewpoint, or put the scene in a different setting, or take them out of their comfort zone, like a fish out of water scene. 🌺 Do the opposite – flip, reverse, and rotate. Make the familiar strange. 🌺 Turn up the heat – make things worse for your characters, add to their troubles. 💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us Patreon.  Buy us a coffee from $3/month! If you join us on the $10 tier, you’ll have access to us (warts and all!) in our private Facebook group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing and answer your questions.  www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast  All SPA Girls Podcast Episodes, Resource Links and free Self-Publishing Info at www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com 

Samantha Price is a USA Today bestselling author of Amish romance books and cozy mysteries. Raised Brethren, she has a deep affinity for the Amish way of life, which she has explored extensively with over a decade of research.  She is mother to two pampered rescue cats, and a very spoiled staffy with separation issues.  Focused and organized, Samantha’s results speak for themselves, but it will amaze you to hear how prolific she is and how she built her career in a smaller niche than usual. Listen in to the episode for all the details of how understanding that niche inside and out made her such a popular and successful author.  You can find her in all the places: samantha@samanthapriceauthor.com www.facebook.com/SamanthaPriceAuthor www.instagram.com/SamanthaPriceAuthor Twitter @AmishRomance www.pinterest.com/AmishRomance www.SamanthaPriceAuthor.com  www.spagirlspodcast.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  Don’t forget, all our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info are at: at www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com

This week we discuss burnout, protecting our creativity, being productive and not buying in to the hustle culture. You could say we’re “anti hustle” but pro making careers out of our writing! Recommended listening : SPA Girls Podcast with megastar BELLA ANDRE SPA Girls Podcast with Helen Scheurer – Six Figures with One Book A Year 💗 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 ✍️ Don’t forget, all our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info are at: at www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com

SPA Girl Wendy Vella has been self-publishing successfully since 2013 in Historical Romance and Contemporary Romance. Her romances are loved by a huge global audience who appreciate her trademark wit, strong family depiction, unique settings, and swoon-worthy heroes. Today, Wendy is a USA Today Bestseller and consistent Amazon bestseller, with 50 books published, and close to 3 million copies sold worldwide. Wendy has seen it all, and tried it all, self-publishing wise! We grill her on how she launched her most recent book, Defending Danger, and what strategies and tactics she uses to build buzz around her launch, reach existing and new readers and stay sane in the process! Topics covered include running pre-orders, why publishing print books before ebooks makes sense, wrangling an ARC team, paid and free advertising and promotion and harnessing Bookbub and Goodreads exposure. Whether you’re launching your first or your thirty-first book, this episode has something for you! About Wendy Vella: Wendy Vella is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary and historical romances that have sold more than two million copies worldwide. Known for compelling and uplifting stories laced with witty humor, sensuality and intrigue, Wendy has hit the bestseller ranks many times with reader favorites, the Langley Sister series, Sinclair & Raven series and The Deville Brothers series.​An incurable romantic, Wendy found writing romance a natural fit. When her children were small, she would find writing time in the early hours of the morning, sitting quietly with her grandfather’s old typewriter while the family slept. These works, however, she says, will never see the light of day! Wendy joined Romance Writers of New Zealand and started honing her craft, and after years of contests and conferences, she was finally ready to publish her first book in 2013. Born and raised in a rural area in the North Island of New Zealand, she shares her life with one adorable husband, two delightful adult children and their partners, four delicious grandchildren, and too many cantankerous farm animals. Wendy also writes small town contemporary romances under the name Lani Blake. Find her at: wendyvella.com and laniblake.com

Dave Chesson joins us in the SPA to chat about some of the awesome apps that he’s designed for authors on the Kindleprenuer website.  Dave is a smart guy, and he knows his stuff when it comes to self publishing, so the apps are all super useful and on-point. This includes the free apps, such as the Book Description Generator and the Hashtag Generator (if you’ve ever struggled with finding good hashtags on any of the socials, that’s the app for you!) and his two powerful paid apps, Publisher Rocket and newbie Atticus. Join us for Dave’s insider tips and tricks on how to get the best use out of the apps, and hear some of his best insights into marketing for indies. Publisher Rocket has been around for years, and we all use it regularly in the SPA. Atticus is the new kid on the block – a program that Dave describes by saying – “If Scrivener, Google Docs, and Vellum got together and had a baby, its name would be Atticus.”  Another information packed episode from the SPA!  SHOW NOTES: About Dave Chesson He started out as a commissioned officer in the US Navy, became a nuclear engineer, served on submarines, and was even a military diplomat. But these days, when he’s not sipping tea with princesses or light saber dueling with little Jedi, Dave Chesson is a book marketing nut. He’s worked with New York Times bestselling authors on their marketing, and has been a paid consultant to major publishing companies, helping with digital sales, advertisement methods and sales page optimizations. His work in both publishing and book marketing has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, ALLi, Huffington Post, and even Market Watch. Even Amazon has recognized his book marketing strategies by officially saying that authors “…should gain insight from Kindlepreneur on how you can optimize marketing your books…” Find Dave on Kindlepreneur here. All about Kindlepreneur’s appsFree AppsBook sales generatorWhere you input a books best seller rank (BSR) and discover how much that book is making. With this BSR to sales calculator, you can have a pretty good idea of what your competitors are bringing in each day. Book Description GeneratorHTML text generator for Amazon QR Code generatorGenerates custom QR Codes.Bar code generatorCustom bar codes for your ISBN. Hashtag generatorHelps you create a list of hashtags for Instagram, TikTok, Twitter etc. Formatting template generatorFormatting template for MS Word. Paid AppsPublisher RocketHelps you research the Amazon book market. Can check out your competitors, generate keywords, etc etc. https://publisherrocket.com/?affiliate=kpreneur AtticusAll-in-one writing and formatting tool for ebooks and print books. https://www.atticus.io/ Previous episodes that Dave has been on the show: EP266 – Nail your keywords Ep107 – Dave Chesson – King of keywords 💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us Patreon. If you join us as a $10 Patreon patron, you’ll have access to us in our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things marketing, mindset and publishing and answer your questions. www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast All SPA Girls Podcast Episodes, Resource Links and free Self-Publishing Info at www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com

When you feel the frantic need to achieve and you don’t, it’s easy to get stuck or suffer burnout. If that’s happened to you, then Corinne has some ideas to get you through. The Calm Entrepreneur was born out of a series of aha moments over the past several years. After a long time writing-to-market and chasing the algorithms with rapid release, she found herself in deep burnout. Deciding to write a book about recovery from burnout, Corinne soon realized that it wasn’t just about recovery – it was also about the practical things needed to move through the slow process and claw her way out.  This was about getting back to basics on the admin side of her business and writing, and re-assessing and re-securing the foundational practices of her work. Focusing on the fundamental organizing and system principles of day-to-day life, and getting back in touch with all the things that were on auto-pilot (or had been ignored) was the thing that shifted everything. As she started sharing this with friends, other authors, and entrepreneurs, it became clear that almost everyone who ran their own business was feeling stressed and overwhelmed and craved some of what she was experiencing. “Before this burnout experience, I was not someone who operated from a place of stress. I loved my work and somehow got lost in the mire. Getting back to the place where I work in ease has been transformative for me, and it’s something I think I need to share with the world. I believe it’s possible to thrive in your business and live your full life without losing your mind in the process. Fundamental organizing principals are the key, and when you have those in place, you can build anything on top of them.” Organizing is not a personality trait; it’s a skill that anyone can learn. www.thecalmentrepreneur.com www.authorproductivity.com