Author Diary Entries

Learn a handy—and very simple—trick for boosting your word count in this episode of Indie Author Weekly...   I’m curious to know if this is something you struggle with! I find it really interesting, as a writer of novellas, because my stories are all quite short. Less than 30,000 words. And I feel very strongly that in some ways, word count doesn’t really matter: it doesn’t really matter how long...

Learn 3 practical tips for dealing with the situation if you are struggling to get any writing done when you tune into this episode of Indie Author Weekly...    For today’s episode, I want to talk about that ever-present issue that we all face: struggling to get any writing done.   I’ve addressed this topic here on the podcast before and I’m sure I’ll address it again from other angles many more t...

Learn how to use mind mapping to write a book in this episode, featuring a real-life example to make it easier for you to visualize and tips for creating your own mind map. Use these mind mapping tips for authors and make it easy and fun to write your book! When your host Sagan Morrow isn't writing romance novels and hosting this podcast, my day job involves teaching productivity tips and act...

Do you know what you want to get from writing a book? Understanding WHAT you want to get from the experience is so important, because it will help you identify the best approach you should take for your unique book project: in other words, you need to know what you want to get out of writing a book in order to figure out HOW to go about writing it.   There are so many different reasons for why we...

Learn why vulnerability matters so much, 9 examples for how you can embrace vulnerability in your own author career, and why every writer needs to get comfortable with the discomfort of being "bad" at their work in the beginning... Any time that we create content, we are uncovering a piece of ourselves. We are sharing something of ourselves through that creative process. And so, when we...

In this episode of Indie Author Weekly, learn how to plan out your book projects for the next year in a simple, straightforward 5-step process.   You might be struggling to figure out how your book projects fit into your plans over the upcoming year, because you don’t see how they can bring in much of an income. But just because your books don’t bring in a huge income now, it doesn’t mean that it’...

In this episode of Indie Author Weekly, learn how to embody your "word of the year" in your writing life as an author!    Your host, Sagan, shares how themes from her previous "words of the year" (2017 - 2019) were reflected in various aspects of her life and business. Find out Sagan's 2020 word of the year, what it means to her, and how she'll be applying it to her a...

This episode of Indie Author Weekly shares practical tips and ideas for how to get your book out of your head and onto paper. If you’ve ever said “I have a book in my head… I just need to write it,” or if you’ve ever found that you can write the first chapter but then find it difficult to get past that and keep writing the story to actually finish your book, then this podcast episode is for you!  ...

This episode of Indie Author Weekly shares tips and ideas for how to apply your personal learning style to writing your next book. Whether you are a visual learner, auditory learner, verbal learner, kinesthetic (physical) learner, logical (mathematical) learner, social learner, or solitary learner, you'll get a few ideas for best practices in using that learning style to more effectively writ...

This episode of Indie Author Weekly shares an easy (and fun!) step-by-step guide for how to write a back-of-book blurb…  Book blurbs MATTER. They are the foundation of your book marketing and sales pitches, after all: one of the biggest things that can make all the difference for potential readers to actually purchase and read your book is to have a great book blurb.  The problem is that we, as au...

This episode of Indie Author Weekly shares a step-by-step guide for what to do AFTER writing a first draft of your manuscript...    So, you wrote a book. Congratulations! That's a huge accomplishment and something to feel really proud about.    ...But, this is also just the beginning of your author journey. If you want to become a published author, then there are a few more steps you need to...

This episode of Indie Author Weekly features a reading from Sagan's upcoming release, "Out of Control" (Book 6 in the Polyamorous Passions series).  Polyamorous Passions will include 9 books in total. Basically, there are three “trilogies” within the entire series, and each trilogy follows a different main character, all of whom are best friends: Emma is the main character in Books...

In this episode, I want to answer a question that I’ve seen come up a few times over the past month from aspiring authors: how do you practice self-discipline as a writer, and how do you force yourself to write when you’re not in the mood for it?  The timing of this question is rather interesting since I have recently been working on a brand-new e-course for the side of my business where I teach s...

Learn 7 reasons why you might want to write a novella instead of a full-length novel for your next book...  If you’ve been following along on this book writing adventure for a while, then you’ll know that in the past year and a bit, I’ve written and published 5 novellas—with my next one in the Polyamorous Passions series coming out in a month!  So, today I want to talk about why I bother writing n...

Stuck with what to write for National Novel Writing Month this year? Struggling to get your creative juices flowing? Need to meet your daily word count goal, but not sure how to get there? Never fear—these writing prompts are here to help!    With 20 different writing prompt ideas to use during NaNoWriMo, you'll have no problem reaching your word count goals! Put pen to paper, explore your cr...

Learn how to get through the messy middle with these 5 tips! These actionable strategies will empower you to keep ploughing through, even when you’re feeling bogged down. (Plus, you’ll get an additional 5 questions you need to ask yourself when you’re analyzing the issue of your personal experience of going through the messy middle.)   The “messy middle” is a common occurrence for probably just ab...

Learn why setting is so important for your book, and 4 important questions to ask yourself when you are making the decision around the setting and backdrop for your book, in this episode of Indie Author Weekly.    Today’s episode topic is another listener-submitted question from Alana, who wants to know, “How do you do setting? Do you see setting as an additional character, or does it not matter?...

Learn how to support your author friends—besides buying and reading their books—with these 5 tips! Plus, a special announcement... today is book release day for Being Good (Book 5 in the Polyamorous Passions series!).    Being an author takes a huge amount of time and energy. But let’s take it a step further, to break it down and consider the numbers...    For indie authors, when you take into acc...

Learn the top 10 tips for how to prepare for National Novel Writing Month in this episode of the Indie Author Weekly podcast! These NaNoWriMo prep tips are a great resource for preparing in advance for writing your next book, regardless of whether you plan to participate in National Novel Writing Month this November, or if you are writing a book at any time of the year.    National Novel Writing M...

Learn the top 10 tips for how to build a story for your book, whether you write fiction or non-fiction content, in this episode of Indie Author Weekly!  In this episode, you'll find out practical strategies for crafting a story from the beginning of your initial idea to the end of your work. This episode includes examples of both fiction and non-fiction, so regardless of the type of content y...

Learn what do when you decide to change your original book writing and publishing plans in this episode of Indie Author Weekly. You'll find out the top 5 questions you MUST ask yourself if you're changing your plans (and yes, your writing plans will inevitably change at some point!), plus get some insight into your host Sagan Morrow's experience with changing her writing and publish...

Learn 4 tips for how to get back into book writing after taking a break. This step-by-step guide will help you out if you've taken a break from writing and are ready to return to a book project!   After all, who hasn't taken a break from writing their book? Whether you took a week, a month, or a year—or longer!—away from your book project, the tips shared in this author podcast will give...

Get a sneak peek of the next installment in the Polyamorous Passions series, "Being Good" (Book 5), in this episode of the Indie Author Weekly podcast! This teaser is from Chapter 3: Helen and her fiance Ben, together with Emma and one of her boyfriends Carlos, just arrived at a bar. They are all here tonight because Scarlett is performing a burlesque show at this bar, so right now they...

Learn a step-by-step method for how to create a playlist for the next book you write in this episode of the indie author podcast. Although creating playlists can be time-consuming, it’s also a straightforward process that everyone (author and readers alike) can benefit from!  Plus, find out a few of the songs your host Sagan Morrow chose to feature as the “soundtrack” for her books, and why you mi...

Learn what it’s like to navigate real or perceived pressures as an author, and how your host Sagan Morrow has handled that. Polyamory is a niche topic to write as a romance author—and that means there can be a lot of pressures around it!  How do you as an author ensure you are best representing the community? And what can you do to deal with situations when readers want you to write one thing or a...