SPA Girls Podcast

If you’ve ever considered starting up a Facebook reader group, then you need to listen to this episode. Lucy Score’s group is an example of a well run group that is positive, supportive and fun – everything you want in a reader group. She talks to us about how she set it up, and what makes it so great, as well as why she loves her readers so much. Lucy also gives us insight into...

Success – Lucky or hard work? This episode we’re talking with Kaye Kennedy who had the successful experience we all hope for when we start out. Using her business acumen and spending years studying how to do it right, Kaye managed a million page reads in 6 months and she’s going to tell you how she did it. A CEO by day and a contemporary romance author by night, in her novels, you can always...

Making six figures a year while publishing one book a year, isn’t the usual career path for most indies, but for our guest today, it absolutely is! We are thrilled to welcome Aus-Kiwi, Helen Scheuerer, to the SPA today. Helen is a talented YA Fantasy author who’s taken her traditional publishing education and transferred that to a highly successful indie career over the past four years...

This episode we’re thrilled to welcome Nat Connors, founder of Kindletrends (and fellow New Zealander #gokiwis) to the SPA! Nat has been a self-published fiction author since 2016, and is also a research academic and data scientist.  Kindletrends is a weekly data newsletter that tells you all about what’s happening across 12 different genres in the Kindle Store.  Nat started...

Trying to figure out how to finish your book? Keep getting distracted or discombobulated? This is the episode for you! We break down the processes we use to plan and schedule a book, from start to finish, including everything from booking a cover designer to working with your editor. We show how easy it is to get your writing done, when you know exactly how much you have to write and by when. Join...

For many of us, the thought of overcoming the technology barriers to self-publishing can be overwhelming and cause us to delay (or not try) publishing. Many authors have likely heard the talk about the all-important “meta data” and “algorithms” like they’re the bogeymen. Something to be avoided – and best done by someone else! WE GET IT. WE’VE BEEN THERE!...

It’s super easy to be overwhelmed by all the steps required to self-publish. Whether you’re a traditionally published author looking to self-publish now, or a new author straight out of the blocks, we break down the seven simple steps to self-publishing. Step 1: Write the Book Step 2: Get It Edited Step 3: Get a Cover Step 4: Write A Blurb Step 5: Format It Step 6: Upload to retailers...

Today we’re responding to questions from listeners who are just starting their self-publishing journey. From earning expectations to how to learning “All The Things” and being overwhelmed, we’ve got you covered! Some of questions answered: What type of writing SHOULD I focus on? Is genre important for good earnings? Are my expectations realistic? How am I going to support myself during this proces...

Today we’re joined by fellow Kiwi romance author – and one of the SPA Girls’ star pupils from their self-publishing workshops – ALEXA RIVERS. Alexa has written and published nine small town romance to date and has really nailed her plotting process, starting with a character. If you’ve been struggling to find a way to plot and love the idea of starting with those char...

Are your readers staying for the next book? This week’s podcast is all about read-through – ie what percentage of readers read from the first book in your series to the next, and onwards. Learn all about what it means, why it matters and how to increase your read through in this information-packed episode! We cover: * how to calculate read-through and why its important that you do! * W...

Inspired by a post from The Greater Good Science Center* at the University of California, Berkeley, today we’re guiding you through five golden questions or guidelines to ask yourself when you’re setting your 2021 writing / author business goals. Be warned – this is a different approach to the usual SMART goal systems, but it really resonated with us, especially after 2020. We&#8...

Isn’t that what we’re all after? The ONE RIGHT answer to everything – the BEST newsletter strategy, the RIGHT way to sell books, the ONE secret to making ads work? Well, listen up folks because in this episode we’ve got the Magic Wand! Resources mentioned: Bella Andre with the SPA Girls http://selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep148-interview-with-indie-sup...

Ever wondered why on earth you’re spending all this time writing? Ever think to yourself that maybe your writing isn’t that great? Ever think this self publishing lark is just too hard? Yeah, so have we. But this episode is all about how to throw away those dumb old negative thoughts, and learn how to believe in yourself and your writing! We talk through some of the most common misbeli...

Celebrating the season with a quick recap of our Words For 2020. Hahahahahaha And then onto Important Burning Questions about our Christmas favorites.  Sometimes controversial, always tongue-in-cheek, our “unplugged” conversation will hopefully add some Christmas cheer to your day. click here to watch the live recording  Thank you for all your support this year and we do hope, des...

You’ve had a great idea for a story – now how do you turn it into a workable outline? This is a “live action” recording where the SPA Girls take a “great” idea – an Elf who hates Christmas – into a workable outline! Probably NSFW, you’ll hopefully find this episode informative and a lighthearted break from holiday stress! And don’t forget...

What do you do when you’re running out of steam and you’re only in the middle of the book? Or you’re just running out of steam in general? This episode we share our suggestions for getting yourself re-energized and moving again. Some topics we cover: writing sprints writing with others either in person or on zoom/skype sexy times add more conflict change up environment – ad...

Bonus content is an awesome marketing tool that can be used in a variety of ways – from encouraging people to sign up to newsletters, to convincing them to buy the next book in the series, or thanking superfans for their ongoing support. This week we talk about the ways we’ve used the bonus content we’ve created for our readers, from bonus scenes and epilogues, to short stories,...

Want to make sure you give your first book the best possible chance of success… and then have readers auto-buying the next in your series? Then this is the podcast for you! This week we give you a checklist of elements for a successful first book in a series, before you even start writing a single word! We talk about everything – including the tropes that sell, what back matter to use,...

Why does Amazon choose someone else’s book over yours in a search? How do we make sure we’re using the best keywords for sales? What exactly is a keyword, anyway? We have all these answers and more for you in this info-packed episode!  We’re joined again by the awesome and knowledgeable Dave Chesson, Founder and CEO of Publisher Rocket and Kindlepreneur. Dave breaks down all the...

Today’s podcast is all about reader groups. Are they worthwhile? How they work and why you would you want one? Wendy has recently started one, and we discuss how that is working for her, and also talk about some more established reader groups the SPA Girls belong to like, Lucy Score, C N Crawford, and Marie Force. Once again an episode chock full of information! You’ll find all the show notes and...

A good old fashioned craft episode from the SPA Girls this week. Shar, Wendy and Cheryl discuss insider writing secretes from James Scott Bell’s book Fiction Attack! They pull out five important secrets that have most impacted them, and discuss what they mean and how they’ve used them in their writing. From using conflict and suspense, to description, fuzzy POV, cliches and info dumps,...

In this episode we’re answering listener questions – a couple around the change of life many are experiencing right now. We have a few suggestions that helped us through switching to full time writing and the fickle motivation issue. Then we discuss how to tackle being visible in your local market. If you’ve had to deal with these things or are going through them now, please tell us about it...

Ever wondered why your best friend can organize her way out of anything, but you can’t follow the same processes she does? We might just have an answer: Gretchen Rubin has a system that involves what she calls the four tendencies. (Find the free online quiz here to identify your tendency here:  https://quiz.gretchenrubin.com/?fbclid=IwAR05fTL0NJEPsCUJ6OqGMJrm4EHY7tnHcXCmg56_HroP0qLkIhe0GOT5y...

BONUS – enter before Friday 16 October to win one of three FREE tickets to the Unstoppable Woman virtual summit in November 2020 Here’s how to enter: Post on facebook (make it public – you may need to change settings for the post) and tell us ONE reason why you’d like to attend the summit, then hashtag #unstoppablesummit #spagirlspodcas t SIMPLE! >> Earlybird tickets for th...

This week we have an intriguing chat with author Danielle Annet t aka Danielle Romero, who has recently switched genres from Urban Fantasy to Contemporary Romance, with some amazing results. She talks us through the decision to change genres, and what she did to make it a success, including some of the big decisions she had to make, such as whether to create a new pen name, how to market it, and w...