SPA Girls Podcast

In this episode we talk about power words. Those take action words that entice your readers to click that BUY NOW button!  Research and numerous studies from psychologists and social scientists have come to a consensus on the five most powerful words in the English language.YouFreeInstantlyBecauseNew But first, remember it’s really important to know:– Who you’re writing your advertising copy for– How that person thinks– What that person needsSo before you craft your beautiful book description or facebook ad, keep top of mind your understanding of your readers – what tropes they like, what type of hero, what you actually want them to DO (eg buy now, read more, visit website, enter giveaway etc). David Ogilvy (“The Father of Advertising)*’s top twenty power words were:StartlingMiracleRevolutionaryBargainAnnouncingSensationalCompareImprovementNowSuddenlyMagicQuickEasyHurryWantedOfferRemarkableAmazing Greed words – we want more! Bargain, bonus, cheap, discount, 99c, ultimate, expires, limited, new, now, before, ultimate, value, running out. (don’t miss out!) Curiosity words – what’s going on? hush-hush, banned, be the first, behind the scenes, class full, little known, login required, sneak peek, strange, top secret, unauthorized, insider. (not everyone knows about this…) Sloth words – how can I make this easier? All-inclusive, cheat sheet, downloadable, easy, effortless, kickstart, how-to, in less than, piece of cake, roadmap, freebie, gift, guide, no problem. (I want to do it but only if it’s easy) Lust words – I really, really want this! Captivating, compelling, crave, dirty, mind-blowing, steamy, sex, urge, forbidden, exposed, mouthwatering, naughty. (How can I not want this?) Vanity words – I don’t want to look bad… At the top, amazing, awe-inspiring, boost, booming, fearless, sassy, saucy, spectacular, jaw-dropping, kick-ass, legendary, conquer, courage, hero, dazzling. (How can I be like this?) Trust words – They know what they’re talking about. Approved, accredited, authority, official, results, secure, refund, proven, well respected, world wide, USA Today bestseller, NYT bestseller. (I can trust this to be good) Anger words – This makes me angry! Abuse, agitate, arrogant, backstabbing, foul, greedy, hostile, lies, loser, ruthless, smug, sneaky, brutal, morally bankrupt, diminish, evil, victim, violent, payback. (I hate those nasty peeps, I love it when they get theirs) Fear words – I don’t want to miss out! (most powerful motivator of all) Hack, danger, dangerous, fail, looming, mistake, pitfall, catastrophe, agony, annihilate, backlash, beware, bloodbath, corpse, destroy, poor, prison. (I don’t want to make this mistake, so I’ll do what you ask)  As a writer there are many areas we can amp up with power words: Your manuscript – think about word choice: Eat vs devour or nibble, walk vs stride or stalk, smile vs smirk or grin.  Your blurb – this is sales copy. You need to use a strong hook, and even stronger words to evoke emotion.  Your tag line – Short, sharp, evoking emotion. Your FB Ads – use power words to trigger emotional or psychological responses in readers. Your AMS Ads – limited words, make sure you use powerful ones. Your FB Posts/ Your Instagram Posts / Your Twitter Posts – appeal to your readers by knowing the emotion you’re trying to elicit, and the action you’d like them to take. Your Newsletter – again, know the emotion you want to elicit. Know how you want them to feel about your book. Further Reading: * Highly recommend reading his book if you’re interested in this https://www.amazon.com/Ogilvy-Advertising-David/dp/039472903X) Blog post: Magic Power Words for Conversionhttps://www.crazyegg.com/blog/magic-power-words-for-conversion/ You’ll find all the show notes and SPA Girls podcast episodes at: www.spagirlspodcast.com Make sure you’re signed up to our weekly self-publishing tips newsletter: http://eepurl.com/bGkz8L Come say hi on Facebook and Twitter @spagirlspodcast  

Have you been told you need more reviews, but you don’t know how to get them? Are you wanting to find some BETA readers, but can’t figure out where they lurk? Ever wondered who you send an ARC to, and what you get in return?  This is the episode for you! We go through each topic, explaining the terms, telling you how to find more of them, and why they’re all so important to us as writers.  SHOW NOTES Beta ReadersA BETA reader is a (non-professional) reader who receives a pre-edited (NOT first draft- give them your best writing!) copy of your work. Ideally, this person will be someone who is in your target audience and who reads plenty of books in your genre.Once the BETA reader has read your work, they can provide helpful insight on how to improve your important elements of your story: characters, setting, and plot (point out plot holes and continuity issues). They can also provide suggestions for spelling, grammar, and fact-checking.You should begin gathering a list of BETA readers as early as possible so that you can send your work to them during the revision stage. Do this as soon as you can, giving them enough time to read the book and make notes.A good place to find BETA readers is to reach out on your own social media platforms (if you’re planning on releasing a book, you should already be developing a strong social media presence) or from your mailing list. Make a post for your sites or ask your mailing list if anyone would be interested in providing feedback for your work-in-progress. Make a list of who agrees to do this so you can keep track. ARC Readers – Advanced Reader CopyAn ARC (Advanced Review Copy) reader is a person who receives a pre-published copy of your book (usually after final editing, but before proofreading). ARC readers are given a free copy of your book in exchange for leaving an honest book review (typically on Amazon and/or Goodreads) once the book is available for distribution.You should also make a list of ARC readers early on and send the copy of your book at least eight weeks prior to your book launch date. Where do I find ARC readers?There is no rule on who you can ask to review your book- although avoiding family and friends do so is better. Amazon will remove any review they might assume come from these sources, including other authors!Book club, fans, book bloggers or anyone who you think might be interested in reading and reviewing your book are best. Use the same tactics for Beta readers.Just be sure to keep track of who signs up so you can update and follow up as the launch date gets closer.Be aware that you could ask 100 people to review your book and only get a fraction of those people to say “yes.” Of those maybe 75 people who agree to review your book, there might be 25 who actually do, if you’re lucky! It’s a tedious process, but if you’re starting your book launch with 25 positive reviews right off the bat, it’s totally worth it! Be sure to send out a friendly reminder a week before your book launches to your list of ARC readers to have their reviews ready to post.

Sometimes the muse has left the building. Or you’re tired. Or something happens that you weren’t expecting. Yeah, like a pandemic. That’ll do it! There are probably very few people who haven’t felt the panic or sense of doom and gloom in some small way, and others far worse than the SPAGirls. It’s fair to say that we all took a moment (read a week or three) to get our heads back in the game, and even if you didn’t, that’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up about anything you didn’t do or won’t do if that is the case because it won’t change anything or make you feel better. However, if you’re like us, you’ll be ready to get back in the game. Writing is our livelihood, and we’re doing okay, so we thought we’d give you a few things that helped us. Show Notes: Firstly, let’s talk about how you feel. You don’t need a professional to listen, but if that’s how it plays at for you, then go for it. We have each other, but sometimes you need somebody else, right? Someone not to pass judgment but also someone who might offer advice. Someone who understands. Who could that be for you? We’ve talked about plans and how they may have changed. Perhaps it’s now an excellent time to look them over. Can you tweak them to make a new plan? One that suits your life better at this moment and makes more sense. Eg. If a book usually takes you four months from start to finish, working Monday to Friday, you would know precisely how many words that is a day, week, or month. (This is not an exact science, yet it could be the tool to get at least some work done.) Let’s look at the same book again, but with the understanding that the word count simply isn’t going to happen. Now the book could conceivably take six months or even a year. (Maybe way longer if you’re a slow writer or this isn’t your day job.) It’s a ball-park figure only. Or you could reverse engineer it and say I know I can do 500 words a day x 5 days=2500 words per week. Now that’s not too shabby, is it? Then 2500 words per week x 1 month is approx 10k.  Maybe this book could be shorter? So, hey, what do you know? In 5 months you have a 50k book. Hurrah! Here are some more tips: – try something new  – set a timer – when it’s done, you move on to something else. – go back to when you first started writing and look for your why, or how your schedule used to look – tiny chunks can take the pressure off  – we all move around our houses to create a different environment – Different environment, different sounds, different tools – Recommended reading: Deep Work by Cal Newport, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert – Gamify – keep it fun! – https://4thewords.com/home – podcasts!  https://unmistakablecreative.com/ – research – still work but more fun! – get outside – go for a walk, garden, or simply smell the roses. You’ll find all the show notes and SPA Girls podcast at: www.spagirls.com Keen to join the SPA Girls in a live workshop? Join our mailing list, and we’ll let you know the minute we have workshop bookings open. Info here: https://selfpublishingworkshop.co.nz/index.html Come say hi on Facebook and Twitter @spagirlspodcast

This week the SPA Girls cover free and cheap (and simple!) marketing activities you can do right now! Many of those we talk about require nothing but a short time block and some brain-juice. We hope this inspires you – but please don’t feel like you have to do them All At Once. Chip away, one activity at a time, as you have the time and energy and you’ll be on the road to better marketing. Here are some starters … (1) Tweak book description – add a single BOLD (use html) line at the top of your book descriptions on Amazon – that’s the only line most folk on mobiles see!(2) Add HTML to you book descriptions – use Dave Chesson’s free tool at https://kindlepreneur.com/amazon-book-description-generator/ (3) Check your categories on Amazon. Go to https://www.bklnk.com/categories5.php and put in your ASIN. Be is as many as you can (legitimately) and be OUT of any that don’t suit your book. Contact Amazon via Help and give them ALL the categories you wish to be listed in (full address) You can be listed in up to 10* (4) Do Kindlepreneur’s free AMS Ad course https://courses.kindlepreneur.com/courses/AMS?affiliate=kpreneur (Controversial opinion from Shar – Don’t overwhelm yourself with spreadsheets. Start with $5/day ads to 50-100 of the authors like you (use Goodreads / also-boughts and focus on indie’s only. If you’re game, run ads to book titles only). Spend 15 mins/day and watch your daily spend, daily income, and ranking on books advertised. FOCUS ON THE HOT books – your bestselling (and run to entire series). (5) Write a prequel short story or novella for your best selling book/series – give that away on bookfunnel, social media, anywhere you can give it away. (6) Write an epilogue for your best selling series – give away on social media, use as newsletter freebie, add link to back of relevant book for n/l signups. … and there are plenty more in the podcast! Enjoy! C’mon over to our facebook page and let us know how you’ve applied them. Want to watch this recording in video? It’s posted on our youtube channel – don’t forget to subscribe and you’ll get a reminder each time we have a new episode up!

In this episode, we talk with the wonderfully talented author Louisa George. She takes us through the editing process for those starting out in their publishing journey, or those of us who need a refresher on what should be done before we publish our books. The episode is packed full of wonderful tips and advice, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did! Award-winning author Louisa George has been a book addict her whole life. In between chapters she gained a degree in Communication Studies, trained as a nurse, married her doctor hero and had two sons. Now, she spends her days writing chapters of her own in the medical romance, contemporary romance and women’s fiction genres. Louisa’s books have variously been nominated for the RITA®Award and the NZ Koru Award (which she won in 2014 and 2016). Her romcom Something Borrowed won the HOLT Medallion in 2017. She currently lives in Auckland, New Zealand and, when not writing or reading, likes to travel, drink mojitos and do Zumba®- preferably all at the same time. www.louisageorge.com Books mentioned during the episode:-Goal, Motivation, Conflict by Deb Dixon: https://amzn.to/2xedNO9-Elements of Fiction Writing – Conflict and Suspense by James -Scott Bell: https://amzn.to/2RmWcKK-Story Genius by Lisa Cron https://amzn.to/2JPDzLd -Margie Lawson https://www.margielawson.com/ You’ll find all the show notes and SPA Girls podcast episodes at www.spagirlspodcast.com

If you’re anything like us, you’re sitting around even more than usual at the moment… But never fear, the SPA Girls have you covered! This week we talk with osteopath and pilates instructor Freya Scollay about how to keep active in difficult times, especially if you’re having to stay home more than usual, as well as what we can do as writers to keep ourselves in the best health possible.  If you want to find out how to keep yourself healthy and fit in strange and unusual times (or even every day times) this is the episode for you!  Find Freya at: https://www.facebook.com/symmetryinmotionpilates/

Goodreads for Authors We’re joined in this episode by NYT Bestseller, the fabulous Alessandra Torre, to talk All Things Goodreads. Some authors are wary of Goodreads due to harsh reviews, but there are good reasons to use this platform and in this episode, Allessandra explains why. About Goodreads Founded by Otis Chandler and launched in January 2007, Goodreads is the largest collection of readers and reviewers – with over 55 million members. It’s important that you establish a presence on this social media site – and use all of the free promotional tools it offers! Goodreads is the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations. It is a great social media option for someone who doesn’t want to be on social media. You can pop in, make a post and leave. Everything is 100% book related and there is a layer of separation between the readers and authors that gives you a nice amount of privacy. A few things you can do on Goodreads See what books your friends are reading. Track the books you’re reading, have read, and want to read. Check out your personalized book recommendations. Our recommendation engine analyzes 20 billion data points to give suggestions tailored to your literary tastes. Find out if a book is a good fit for you from community’s reviews. Remember to be a good community member. Be polite and courteous. Don’t post anything that might lead to negative feedback! About Alessandra Torre: A New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author, Alessandra Torre has written twenty-two novels, including three New York Times bestsellers. Alessandra is the creator of Alessandra Torre Ink – an authors community and online school with over 10,000 members. She is also the founder of INKERS CON, an annual authors conference. A self-publishing advocate, Alessandra speaks frequently to universities, conventions and author groups. From her home in Key West, Florida, she devotes several hours each day to various writing projects and interacting with her fans on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. When not battling her husband at Scrabble, she chases her pet chickens, three dogs, and shoos away iguanas. To stay informed, consider subscribing to Alessandra Torre’s popular monthly newsletter. Alessandra’s YOU TUBE CHANNEL that includes her How I Write series

Disruption – the entire world is feeling it at the moment, so how can we, as writers, keep our creativity bubbling and stay focussed? It’s hard – we’re not going to deny that – but looking at your schedule and productivity in a different way can help you stay a bit calmer, get some work done and prepare for when you’re on a more even keel. For the Spa Girls, we’ve pivoted a wee bit to bring you Lockdown Sessions – a daily video of around 10 minutes where we just hang out, sometimes discuss self-publishing, but mostly just lift each other up with our usual cheek and bad jokes. Please join us – either on our facebook page or our new You Tube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCckftViKM301hH_MYlFUxXA This was a scary move for us all. We’re used to talking on our podcast now, but didn’t have the some confidence about “putting ourselves out there” on camera. Every day we do it though, we’re a little bit more relaxed, so it’s been a good thing that’s come from this disrupted New Normal, I believe (Shar). The best thing for us has been hearing from our community members and we so appreciate your comments (and Subscribes to our channel!). As an experiment, we also recorded the video of this podcast episode, so if you’d like to check that out too, please head over to our channel. Ways to help deal with a disrupted schedule: -Ease pressure on yourself by pushing your own deadlines (communicate them early to service providers if you can’t meet them). -Acknowledging and accepting something has changed, and that it’s ok to be off-balance. -Create a new schedule by looking at your circumstances and adjusting. -Don’t beat yourself up because you are not doing the amount of work you were before things changed. -Find a space to work among the chaos and away from other members of your household -Life gets disrupted regularly and the tools / skills you figure out now will help in the future when the “usual” disruptions happen – eg holidays, school breaks, illness, travelling etc. -Don’t overthink things. Change is happening, and roll with it, make the best of it. People will be reading more than ever, so remember that positive! -If your allotted work/writing time is small, then hit the ground running and be productive while you can. Ten minutes a day can still be productive. -If the words don’t come, then accept that for now and pivot to doing something else for your author career – e.g. watching a craft tutorial, learning a new skill or tool like canva, reading business / writing books -As much as possible, focus on positive news and people. Set boundaries on news intake / social media scrolling. Try hard to stay in touch with people that lift you up and in turn be of service to others. -Romance writers (and other writers) are fulfilling a very real need as a way for people to escape via books – be proud of what you’re doing! Visit our website for all our podcast episodes and show notes at: www.spagirlspodcast.com You tube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCckftViKM301hH_MYlFUxXA Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/SPAGirlsPodcast

This episode we are delighted to welcome Ricci Wolman to the SPA! Ricci is founder and CEO of Written Word Media, the company that created author promo providers Freebooksy, BargainBooksy, Red Feather Romance, NewInBooks, and Reading Stacks. Ricci holds an MBA from Harvard and has over 10 years of experience building online audiences using data-driven customer acquisition techniques. (Which means she’s really good at building newsletters and connecting with customers!) She says that the philosophy of Written Word Media has remained unchanged from the day they launched their first site – to provide authors and publishers an affordable, effective marketing product with which to reach readers, and to help readers of varying preferences and budgets find their next great read. We discuss how Written Word Media began, how it’s developed and serves authors today and how authors can best use promotions companies/mailing lists to boost their brand and their sales. So many additional marketing tips in this podcast – it’s a must listen! Links: Written Word Media Checkout the Spa Girls’ new daily videos The Lockdown Sessions on youtube (please subscribe so Shar will stop begging!) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCckftViKM301hH_MYlFUxXA

If you’ve been wondering about how to make the most of being in KU…this is the episode for you!  Lucy Score is the bestselling author of romantic comedy and contemporary romance novels and she’s been doing super well in KU. We asked her to be on the show to tell you how to make the most of being exclusive to Amazon as well!   Lucy is smart and savvy, and gave us some fantastic tips, so be sure you have a pen and notepad with you as you listen to this one! She also has one of the best author taglines we’ve seen to date: “Writing romance so steamy, her family can’t look her in the eye!” Find Lucy’s website here.