SPA Girls Podcast

Get ready to be inspired! Our guest today, USA Bestseller, Janie Crouch , writes passionate romantic suspense (both traditionally published and self-published) and she's recently launched her indie Linear Tactical series to six-figure success. Janie is a winner and/or finalist of multiple romance literary awards including the Golden Quill Award for Best Romantic Suspense, the National Reader's Cho...

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 as an author. 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 her most recent launch...

Today we're talking with Kaye Kennedy who had the successful experience we all hope for when we start out. Using her business experience 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 expect a happily ever after that kisse...

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 is a...

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 using the information...

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 who've come from the traditional world have likely heard publishers talking 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...

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 Step 7: Mark...

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...

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 characters who are burning a hole...

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. We cover: * how to calculate read-through and why its important that you do! * What is the ideal percentage you should be aiming for * Red flags to look for if you DON'T get great read-through * How it affects advertising * How to deal with a "weak" book i...

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. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_new_years_resolutions_matter_more_in_a_pandemic?fbclid=IwAR2V2sBJwXJchQ8i6eU2Xbq9TioEoz-fGhtZCIp1tmHRBN-...

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://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep148-interview-with-indie-superstar-bella-andre/...

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 to believe in yourself and your writing! We talk through some of the most common misbeliefs that authors...

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. Thank you to all our listeners for your support. We are sending all our love and thoughts to you this festive season...

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 to visit us on facebook and let us know which story you thi...

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, especially in your author career? This episode we share our suggestions for getting yourself re-energized and moving again. Some topics we cover include: writing sprints writing with others either in person or on zoom/skype sexy times add more conflict change u...

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 that we've created for our readers - from extra scenes and epilogues, to short stories, prequel nov...

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 backmatter to use, what kind of...

Why does Amazon choose someone else's book over yours to show in a search? And how can we make sure to use the best keywords for sales? Well wonder no more! We've got the answers 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 best practices for getting the right...

Today's podcast is all about reader groups. Are they worthwhile? How they work and why you would 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 SPA...

A good old fashioned craft episode from the SPA Girls this week. Shar, Wendy and Cheryl discuss insider writing secrets 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, they go deep...

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 on ou...

SPA Girls Podcast

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 before end of day Friday 16 October (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! Today we're del...