SPA Girls Podcast

Feeling a bit blah about your writing? Struggling with getting good words down and your word count UP? Today we’re taking inspiration from Marie Kondo, and we’re sparking back the joy in our writing lives! Our SPA Girls tried-and-true steps are: 1. Re-commit to your Why 2. Re-evaluate your ideal writing life / writing day 3. Let gooooooooo 4. Start with Simple 5. Be Like Marie and ask Does It Spark Joy? As always, a brutally honest and real-time discussion how we’re all struggling a bit for different reasons. Wendy’s tired, but she can still invent words – see “unbogging” as an example! All Episodes and Resource Links at www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com Sign up for our free weekly self-publishers newsletter full of SPA Girls tips, resources and author info Learn self-publishing free with the SPA Girls on YouTube

How do you get a cover that finds readers and converts to sales? Today we’re unpacking exactly how you can do that. What your cover needs to do What SHOULDN’T be on your cover What cover images risk getting your cover banned from advertising The Anatomy Of A Cover Why are fonts so important? How to find a good designer What to expect to pay for a good cover SPA Girls Podcasts mentioned: Nat Connors and Kindletrends  – EP281 Rebecca Haskell – Cover Design – EP224 Chris Fox – Symbolism on Covers – EP206

Today we’re delighted to welcome Ella Barnard to the SPA. Ella is an author, a podcast host on Author Like A Boss podcast, and an author coach. She’s here today to talk about how she found success publishing short romances as Liz Fox, going from zero to $3k per month in just three months. You can find her at: http://authorlikeaboss.com/ Going from zero to $3k per month in just a few months is a dream for many of us and today’s guest achieved just that. Ella Barnard is here to talk how she did it, how she meets reader expectations, and most importantly, how we can still enjoy the process! All Episodes and Resource Links at www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com Sign up for our free weekly self-publishers newsletter full of SPA Girls tips, resources and author info Learn self-publishing free with the SPA Girls on YouTube

Confused about preorders? Wondering if you should start using them? Wondering if you should stop using them? This is the episode for you! We talk about what preorders are and how they work, how we use them successfully, and when we think you shouldn’t use preorders. Show notes: Why Dave Chesson doesn’t recommend preorders. Jane Friedman Blog post by Penny Sansevieri on preorders   SpaGirlsPodcast.com Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter with tips and resources for self-publishing authors http://selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/join/ You’ll find all the show notes and SPA Girls podcast episodes at: http://selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/ Subscribe and Watch episode recordings on YouTube @ How To Self-Publish with the SPA Girls Join us on Facebook and Twitter @SPAGirlsPodcast

Today we share our SPA Girls patented 😉 foolproof steps to create an awesome fictional setting for your book or series. Working through these steps will help solidify that setting in your mind, give your characters a realistic and compelling “stage” and help you build a complete world (whether contemporary, historical or futuristic) that resonates with readers. Location – where on the map is your setting located? What’s the geography, flora and fauna of the setting? Time – what time is it in your setting (present day, Regency etc), what are the seasons like, what is the climate? Connection to the outside world – what main centres are nearby your fictional setting? How do your characters travel (is there a local airport? / roads / highways) outside of your setting. Do outsiders travel to or through your setting, how and why? Population – what is the demographic and psychographic makeup of your setting, what languages are spoken? Characters – what side characters (that may well reappear in a series of books) occur in your setting, how do they interact with your main characters? Are they human or animal? Governance and Law Enforcement – how is your fictional town/city/country/world “run” ? Who enforces the rules? History – what events shaped your setting? Natural disasters? Feuds? When was it founded and by whom? 8.Customs and Culture – what unique customs and events occur in your setting? what’s the culture / vibe / mood of the setting? Further resources: How to Build Atmosphere: https://www.ignitedinkwriting.com/ignite-your-ink-blog-for-writers/how-to-build-atmosphere-in-creative-writing/2019 Create a Fictional Culture: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/creating-a-fictional-culture#how-to-create-a-fictional-culture

What’s the real reason you’re a writer? We’ve talked about finding your why before on the podcast, and today we’re delving deeper. Inspired by Simon Sinek’s book Start With Why, and Find Your Why, Trudi has us “on the couch” again, which Wendy, in particular, absolutely loves (not)! Sinek’s book is based on the idea that we’re a sum total of the experiences we’ve had growing up, the lessons we’ve learned and the teachers we’ve had and the things we’ve done. The process is all about looking for stories from your childhood that resonate with you, or seem important (good or bad) and then looking for themes in your stories, and then using those themes to come up with a why that resonates with you and helps you understand exactly why you’re a writer (or whatever you are). This process is great for us as writers for two reasons – 1.            It’s about mining our past for stories, and I kind of think that’s something we do automatically when we’re writing anyway. 2.            And 2. Once you’ve figured out your why, you can then use it to filter through all your decisions about your business. It takes away some of the indecision, because once you know and understand what’s driving you, you can use it to make decisions faster, and to keep you on track when you waver. Knowing why you’re in business, or why you chose writing as a career is a powerful way to keep you motivated and stay on track. Why statement is written like this: To ___________ so that ___________. First part is your contribution, and the second part is the impact your contribution has. Simon Sinek’s why: To inspire people to do the things that inspire them, so that, together, we can change our world. We uncover our Whys – have you analysed yours? Further resources: We interview LISA CRON Start with Why by Simon Sinekhttps://www.amazon.com/Start-Why-Leaders-Inspire-Everyone/dp/1591846447 Find Your Why by Simon Sinek https://www.amazon.com/Find-Your-Why-Practical-Discovering/dp/0143111728/ Simon Sinek Ted Talk:  TEDxMaastricht – Simon Sinek – “First why and then trust” 💗 Learn to Self-publish with the SPA Girls! * Visit SpaGirlsPodcast.com for full show notes and all previous episodes * Subscribe on your fav podcast app – search “SPA Girls Podcast” * Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter with tips and resources for self-publishing authors on our website * Subscribe and Watch episode recordings on YouTube @SPAGirlsPodcast * Join us on Facebook and Twitter @SPAGirlsPodcast

We’re delighted to welcome back the lovely Tara Cremin, Director of Kobo Writing Life. In this episode Tara brings us up to speed on Kobo’s new audiobook platform, other updates from Kobo including Kobo Plus, and top tips for marketing your books and audio. Enjoy! About Tara Cremin: Tara has an MA in American Literature and Film from University College Cork, Ireland and has worked for KWL since inception. Responsible for the overall author experience on Kobo Writing Life, from optimizing current features to looking for new avenues of growth, Tara’s aim is to make KWL the greatest and most user-friendly self-publishing platform available. Find out more at: https://kobowritinglife.com/ Kobo Writing Life podcast: https://kobowritinglife.com/category/kwl-podcast/

Happy New Year people! It’s a crazy time of year, and this episode is all about why you need to take time out, recharge your batteries and come back in the new year ten times more productive and energised!!! 

Despite 2021’s best efforts we’ve managed to do some great work this year and had some good times. From launching as planned when health or life got in the way, to self-improvement on many levels, we’ve hit the markers. Maybe not on time or in an effortless ballet-like movement, but we’re taking the wins and so should you! Listen in for: Our favourite moments of the year. Apologies as Wendy tells us dad jokes! Christmas recipes we love! Show Notes: Cheryl’s proudest moment: Launched 3 books after health issues put a spanner in the works several times. Favourite moments: Being able to see and hold grandchildren and children. Wendy’s proudest moment: Topped her pre-orders with a 1600 total on 1 book as well as a number 1 in her category and 3 best seller tags! Favourite moment: Retiring her husband and employing her daughter and daughter-in-law as well as moving to the beach. Trudi’s proudest moment: Doing some in depth analysis of her work with an expert and implementing changes to make it better. Favourite moment: Learning to declutter. Shar’s proudest moment: Changed from a Laptop to a large screen – no working in front of TV. Life-changer! Favourite moment: Conference. Being together at last! SPAGirls’ favourite moment: We spent 8 hours together on a train trip to conference where we ran a workshop, plus Wendy and Cheryl hosted a panel. Being with friends and other fellow writers was a tonic that needs to be bottled! Listen in for: ❤️ Learn to Self-publish with the SPA Girls! ➡️ Visit SpaGirlsPodcast.com for full show notes and all previous episodes 🔍 Subscribe on your fav podcast app – search “SPA Girls Podcast” 📧 Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter with tips and resources for self-publishing authors Get your FREE Cheat Sheet! You’ll find all the show notes and SPA Girls podcast episodes at: Podcast Episodes ✔️ Subscribe and Watch episode recordings on YouTube @ How To Self-Publish with the SPA Girls ✔️ Join us on Facebook and Twitter @SPAGirlsPodcast SPA Girls Podcast – www.spagirlspodcast.com

Uncommon Advice for Authors We’ve all heard the conventional wisdom for fiction writers – but is it actually appropriate for self-publishing today?  We break down five pieces of uncommon advice that have stood us in good stead and why we think they’ll work for you too: Don’t Write What You Know In Austin Kleon’s book Steal Like An Artist, he notes the advice to “write what you know” leads to terrible stories in which nothing happens. And we agree! The best advice is to write the kind of story you like best – write the story you want to read Don’t Throw Any Of Yourself Away If you have more than one passion, don’t feel like you have to pick and choose between them. Don’t worry about a grand scheme or unified vision for your work, Kleon says. What unifies your work is the fact that you made it and one day you’ll appreciate that it all makes sense. Social Media doesn’t have to rule your life You don’t have to write every day Creativity Is Subtraction “ In this age of information abundance and overload, those who get ahead will be the folks who figure out what to leave out, so they can concentrate on what’s really important to them. Nothing is more paralyzing than the idea of limitless possibilities …”  Austin Kleon, Steal Like An Artist The decisions you have to make as a selfpublisher can be overwhelming at times, we get it! To round out this episode we discuss how we filter them out and come out at the most important place – where we have fun, write great books and have a satisfying writing career.