The Write Podcast with Sarah Williams

Looking for a way to sell your books direct to readers? Spicy romance author Emilia Rose built a full-time income on Patreon before she’d even finished college. Then Patreon pulled her account down over her content, more than once. So she and her husband built their own platform for fiction authors. It’s called Ream. In this episode of The Write Podcast, Emilia shares how she went from writing wer...

Episode descriptionYou’ve finished your manuscript, but when someone asks what genre it is, you say “it’s a romance, but...” and then there’s another but. It’s a bit romance, a bit paranormal, a bit historical, and every category you look at feels a little bit like lying. And you’re worried the wrong reader will pick it up, feel let down, and leave a one-star review that has nothing to do with you...

You don’t need a bigger platform to test a new idea. You need five samples and the nerve to ask a question you’re embarrassed you don’t already know the answer to. Monster romance author Natalie Starkoss joins me to talk about building worlds out of gargoyles and genetically altered hybrids, and the business lesson that came out of nowhere. How sourcing her own candles, keyrings, and custom bookma...

You’ve finished your manuscript, and now there’s a pile of decisions waiting for you. The editor. The cover. The price. Kindle Unlimited or wide. The launch. Ask about any of them in a Facebook group and you’ll get three confident answers, and none of them were built for your book. In this episode, I talk about why that keeps happening, the Kindle Unlimited decision I got wrong with my first books...

You finished the manuscript, so why does "am I ready" still feel impossible to answer? This episode breaks down hobby thinking versus business thinking, three things you can check about your own manuscript today, the unspoken fear of picking the wrong editor or cover designer, and why watching someone else publish a rougher book than yours isn't a talent problem. In this episode: ● T...

Ever posted about a book event everywhere you could think of, only to have someone tell you afterward they had no idea it was even happening? Lauren and Alana from Book World know that feeling well, which is why they are building a directory made just for book events so nobody misses one again. In this episode, I sit down with the two friends behind Book World, the magazine that started as a newsl...

You can publish a book for next to nothing. Uploading to Amazon is free. A premade cover can cost $40. Canva will get you a passable template in an afternoon. None of that means you have an author business. In this episode of The Write Podcast, Sarah Williams breaks down what it actually costs to build a real, sustainable author business, not just publish a book. She covers what overhead actually...

You built the store. Maybe it's beautiful. Maybe it cost more than you want to admit. Now it's just sitting there, waiting for someone to find it. I sat down with Melissa Storm, a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who's spent over a decade running one of publishing's most trusted ads agencies. She's the person authors turn to when their Facebook ads stop working a...

This week I'm talking with Australian bestselling author Jade May. Jade writes the Eden Series, high heat, angst filled romance that's sold over 10,000 copies worldwide. And she's landed press most authors only dream about. SMH. Mamamia. News.com.au. Herald Sun. We get into the real story behind that coverage. Jade worked with a PR agency, and she walks us through what that actually lo...

You finished the manuscript. So why does it still feel unfinished? In this episode, Sarah unpacks the real reason "I'm still polishing it" keeps so many writers stuck after the last page, why so many manuscripts end up waiting on someone else's opinion instead of moving forward, and shares her own story of sending an early manuscript to an agent and what it actually taught her ab...

Romance author Willow Winters started as a stay-at-home mum writing at night for coffee money. Today she's a USA Today and Wall Street Journal number-one bestseller with more than sixty books and a team running the business behind her. In this episode of The Write Podcast, she shares how she built a real self-publishing career, not by luck, but by decision. We get into the business most author...

Fresh off presenting a workshop at the Romance Writers of New Zealand conference in Auckland, and still thinking about TL Swan's keynote on rebuilding her covers and blurbs nine times before Amazon finally took notice, this episode looks back at ten years of conferences, from Romance Writers of Australia to the biggest one yet in New York, and what showing up, year after year, has actually bui...

Do you really have to be on social media to sell books? Indie fantasy author K.S. Elliott is proof of what happens when you do it on your own terms. With over 50,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram, K.S. has turned short videos and character POV reels into direct sales through her own store, a thriving street team, pre-order campaigns, and brand collaborations — all while writing her upcomin...

Money isn't just about pricing strategy or Amazon keywords. It's about the story you've carried since childhood, and most authors have no idea how much that story is running their business. In this solo episode, I get personal about the money wounds I grew up with, a feast or famine household where cash came in and went straight back out, and how that shaped years of my adult life. I u...

Most authors end up running a business built on obligation and momentum rather than intention. In this episode, Sarah draws on Natalie Ellis's The Freedom Based Business and the Pareto Principle to help writers get honest about where their time is really going — and what it actually looks like to build an author career that fits their life. In this episode: Why so many authors are busy but not mak...

From fantasy kingdoms to zookeeper rom-coms, A.K. Mulford has built an extraordinary multiverse of stories. This episode first aired August 2025, and I'm bringing it back because it's one of the most practical conversations I've had about writing fast and building a real author business, and because Ali is joining me at the Sunshine Coast Fiction Festival this year. I sit down with A.K...

How does one book series make money in more than a dozen ways? In this solo episode, I break down how I turned my four-book cowboy romance series, Brigadier Station, into five separate author income streams: Ebooks and paperbacks — all four books, available wide Audio — three audiobooks narrated by Myles Pollard, plus a set that sells for a single Audible credit The ebook boxset — turning existing...

In this episode, I'm sharing the four investments I come back to again and again in my work with authors. These aren't things I learned from a course. They're the things I see actually move the needle for the women who are serious about building real, sustainable author careers. We cover: The money mindset shift that changes how you invest in your career Why I recommend getting a coach...

If you're serious about building an author career — not just finishing a book, but actually turning your writing into a sustainable business — this episode is going to change how you think about everything. I've written ten novels, built Serenade Publishing from the ground up, and spent years coaching women fiction authors through the publishing decisions that make or break a long-term car...

Are you a writer or creative entrepreneur with ADHD—or suspect you might be? In this powerful episode of The Write Podcast , host Sarah Williams chats with certified Gallup Strengths Coach and author Samara Thorn about how understanding your unique strengths can transform your writing process, boost your productivity, and help you thrive as a neurodivergent creator. You’ll learn: How ADHD affects...

In 2016, I was offered a traditional publishing contract. I said no — and that decision shaped everything that came after it. In this episode I share the real reasons why: the royalty maths that didn't add up, the value of freedom that I wasn't willing to compromise, my honest lack of patience for a four-year timeline, and the bigger picture of wanting to build a sustainable business for m...

She went viral overnight, landed a Penguin deal, and is somehow doing it all as a brand new mum. Lauren Jackson is a Gold Coast romance author and BookTok creator whose path to publishing is one of the most exciting stories in Australian romance right now. She started by self-publishing, built a devoted readership one book at a time, and when Tierney Page featured her work on TikTok — everything c...

If you're an author who watched the BookTok wave from the sidelines — this episode is for you. I'm talking about what I missed, why I missed it, and whether it's too late to build a readership on TikTok in 2026. Spoiler: it's not. But the strategy has changed. We cover: The real BookTok numbers — 59 million books sold in the U.S. in 2024 alone Why TikTok's fastest-growing demog...

What if your book cover isn’t just a marketing tool—but one of the most powerful storytelling elements you have? In this episode of The Write Podcast, I’m joined by cover designer Holly Dunn for a behind-the-scenes look at what really goes into creating a cover that sells your story. And here’s what makes Holly different: she actually reads the entire manuscript before she designs. (Yes—really.) W...

Some launches go exactly to plan. This one didn't — and I'm telling you everything. Heartbeat Song released on the 12th of April 2026, and in the lead-up to launch day, Amazon cancelled all of my preorders. Before I could even speak to a real person at KDP, I had to fight through a wall of AI bots — frustrating, time-consuming, and genuinely stressful when your launch window is closing in...