Recent Posts

• May 14, 2025Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP500 – Behind The Mics!

  We’re celebrating 500 episodes of the SPA Girls - from our baby podcaster days back in 2015 to today, we share some BEHIND THE MICS stories. How we met, why we started and why we’ve last this long (almost ten years so far, publishing an episode weekly). Plus our vision for the future and selfpublishing :)

• May 8, 2025Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP499 – Interview with Ana Huang, Multi-Million Copy Bestselling Author (Classic Replay)

  Ana Huang is the #1 New York Times, #1 USA Today, and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of fourteen contemporary romances, which have collectively sold over 21 million copies worldwide. Her subgenres range from sports to billionaire and suspense, but all of her books feature her signature blend of steam and swoon.

• May 7, 2025Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP498 – When To Pivot

  What happens when your books don’t sell? When is it time to end a series? Or Pivot to a new penname? Wendy, Cheryl and Shar are here to give their advice and (strong!) opinions on when it’s the right time to pivot and the steps writers should take to make that decision.

• April 23, 2025Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP497 – Writing The Black Moment with Rachel Bailey (Classic Replay)

  In romance fiction, the black moment (also called the dark night of the soul) is the emotional low point—when it seems like all hope is lost, the relationship is broken beyond repair, and the characters may not find their way back to each other.

• November 20, 2024Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP475 – 5 Quick Tips For Career Growth

  A short but impactful (hopefully!) run down of great tips for growing your author career and staying (relatively) sane and focussed.

• November 13, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP474 – Interview with Kel Carpenter

  Kel Carpenter is a publishing powerhouse who has been a successful fulltime author since she was just 22 years old. With the goal of publishing 30 books by 30 years, she's achieved that and more! Kel has incredible business-savvy and a "learning" mindset that has helped her achieve multi-six figure pa success, manage burnout, and diversify her income streams.

• November 6, 2024Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP473 – Interview with Cathy Yardley

  This is a fantastic episode for writers at all stages of their careers. Cathy covers writing in your unique voice, writing your truth and how to ROCK YOUR PLOT.

• October 30, 2024Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP472 – Comparisonitis

  We live in a world where we can see what everyone else is doing online. Successes and failures. We are the ‘instant gratification’ generation, and have a need for success, so we compare ours with others! So sit back with your favorite beverage and let’s dive in, and see if we can work through a few things that may help.

• October 23, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP471 – Interview with Juliette N. Banks

  Get ready to be inspired this week by our guest interviewee, romance author Juliette N. Banks. Juliette is a bestselling romance author who has taken the genre by storm with her popular series The Moretti Blood Brothers, The Dark Kings of NYC, and The Dufort Dynasty. She has written more than 50 contemporary and paranormal romances (on the same pen name). Juliette has a vast background in consumer marketing and brings her business savvy to her business planning, release strategies, reader relationships and mindset.

• October 16, 2024Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Selling Direct To Readers

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP470 – Book Signings & Book Fairs

  This episode we discuss Book Signings and Book Fairs - in person events where authors get out of the writing cave and actually (gasp!) interact with readers and fellow authors. These can be great fun - and a little intimidating.

• October 9, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP469 – Marketing, Selling Wide & Direct Sales – with Rebecca Hefner

  Rebecca Hefner is a USA Today bestselling author who is a passionate advocate for authors to reach more readers through publishing their books across a wide number of retailers, as well as on their own store. This episode she shares how she juggles her writing over three pen names, creating a monthly schedule for easy marketing and social media wrangling, and lots more marketing advice for connecting with readers.

• October 1, 2024Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP468 – Short Romance Success with Lana Love

  Lana talks to us about how she has achieved success in short romance in less than two years using a mix of mindset, research and plain old stubbornness (her words, not ours...). We talk about what she did to level up, including the research she did and the tough decisions she made. It's a fascinating interview we know you'll love! 

• September 25, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Selling Direct To Readers

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP467 – Anne-Marie Meyer: Building a Multi-Million Author Career

  Sweet Romance Author, Anne-Marie Meyer is an Amazon and Apple Top 100 best seller and a 3x USA Today Bestselling author. With absolute intention Anee-Marie challenges herself to improve on how she sells. From Tik Tok to Direct sales she has hit heady heights, paticularly in the last 12 months. After her Amazon account was shut down for 48 hrs in 2022 for false reasons, she's decided that it would be best to bring her stories directly to her readers hands and it has worked! Listen up for all her tips. You won't be disappointed.

• September 17, 2024Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP466 – Covers That Convert

  Your book cover is the "shop window" of your hard work, and it has to do the heavy lifting to attract potential readers to go on and read your blurb. So how do you figure out which cover is the best for you?

• September 11, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP465 – Theodora Taylor: Writing Buttery Blurbs

  Theodora Taylor is back! And she’s here to tell us how to craft our blurbs that hook readers and skyrocket sales through adding LOTS of Butter!

• September 4, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP464 – Switching Genres and TikTok Success with Alexa Rivers

  When she decided to write a palate cleanser novel in a completely different genre - with a brand new pen name - Alexa Rivers had no idea she would have a hit on her hands. In this interview she talks about why she wrote the book, how she picked the new pen name, the marketing she did, and how a book she wasn't expecting to do much at all... kinda did awesome. :) She also talks about the ups and downs of her journey with TikTok, and gives some great pieces of advice for everyone to use!

• August 28, 2024Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP463 – Get The Most Out Of Writer Conferences

  Attending conferences helps us network with professionals in the author world and gain insights and ideas to make our jobs easier or to upskill. What can you hope to get out of conference?

• August 21, 2024Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP462 – Are You Making Boring Mistakes?

  Welcome back to another SPA Girls minisode. This one is a bit of a controversial take on mistakes writers make that make their work B O R I N G.  How do we know these? Because we've all made them! 

• August 14, 2024Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP461 – The Best Places To Publish Your Books

  Should you “be Amazon exclusive, “go direct”, “publish wide” and/or use an aggregator? And what do those terms even mean?

• August 7, 2024Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP460 – How to Get Reviews and Find ARC Readers

  If you've been scratching your head over how to get some more reviews on your newly published book, this is the episode for you! We break down how we have each built up and managed our ARC teams, and how we've gone from no reviews to hundreds of reviews. Loads of practical tips in this episode!

• July 31, 2024Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP459 – Why Your Book Isn’t Selling

  Why is it some books sell well right out of the gate, and others wither on the retailer vine? Do you know why YOUR book isn’t selling? It can be for a number of reasons and this episode we run through the most common (and fixable!) options that’ll put you back on the right track.

• July 24, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP458 – Interview with Historical Women’s Fiction Author Soraya Lane

  The decision to self publish her first historical women's fiction novel - after a career writing romance - turned out to be a lucrative one for today's guest, Kindle #1 bestselling historical women's fiction author, Soraya Lane. The same year she self-published the novel - one that her agent told Soraya she couldn't sell - she picked up a publishing deal (for the same book) with Amazon. The rest, as they say, is history. This week we talk about her journey into writing, what she's learned about writing historical fiction and how translations have transformed her career.

• July 17, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP457 – How To Understand Your Market on the Amazon Store – with Nat Connors, Kindletrends

  Nat Connors of Kindletrends returns to the SPA with a new analysis tool for indie authors - an interactive infographic to help us make sense of the book categories on the Kindle Store. Knowing where your book (or story idea before you’ve written it) fits into the market, and how it stacks up against the packaging (cover, pricing, categories etc), for the current top sellers in your specific genre is really important. It allows you to directly target the right readers and sell more books.

• July 11, 2024Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP456 – How Long To Make $1K?

  Listen to this SPA Girls Minisode all about how long it will take you to make your first $1,000 dollars in self publishing! Full of great tips, sage advice and some vulnerable moments from our own self publishing careers.

• July 11, 2024Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP455 – Interview with Clare Connelly

  First published in 2014, romance author Clare Connelly hit success from her very first self-published book. Now with over 120 books published, she talks to us this episode about the pros and cons of hybrid publishing, balancing writing life with a young family, how to be focussed and productive plus the mindset new writers and self publishers MUST have!

• June 26, 2024Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP454 – Craft Tips To Help You Sell More Books

  Writing great books with emotional impact is key to building your readership. Today we discuss craft tips that will help you attract new readers, build your fanbase and sell more books!

• June 19, 2024Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP453 – Are You Ready To Be A Full-Time Writer?

  Want to make the leap to full time author? How do you know when it’s the right time to make that leap?

• June 12, 2024Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP452 – Book Formatting Made Easy

  Got your final manuscript all ready to go, and wondering how to format it for publication? This is the SPA Girls episode for you! Welcome back to another 20 min SPA Girls mini-tips session, where we break down the basics of self publishing, just for you!

• June 5, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP451 – Contracts for Authors with Maggie Marr

  If you’ve ever wondered how to deal with contracts and other business issues, this is the podcast for you! Maggie Marr the founder of Maggie Marr Legal PC and a USA Today Best Selling author of over 20 books. A former ICM motion picture literary and subsidiary rights (books to film/tv) agent, Maggie is the co-founder and legal advisor to the not-for-profit Women’s Fiction Writers Association and a member of Women In Film. The firm has negotiated deals with Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime, Universal, Warner Bros, Disney. The firm provides services such as entertainment and publishing representation, trademark & copyright, packaging and sales, business legal affairs and corporate, production and distribution legal.

• May 29, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP450 – Interview with Melanie Harlow

  USA Today and #1 Amazon bestselling author Melanie Harlow talks branding, publishing strategy and building a strong readership!

• May 22, 2024Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP449 – 7 Ways To Boost Your Positivity

  Feeling a bit blah about your writing and / or author career? Welcome back to another 15 min SPA Girls mini-tips session. Today’s topic is 7 easy ways to boost your positivity that you can put into action TODAY!

• May 15, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP448 – Changing From Frontlist to Backlist Focus with Maggie Dallen

  This week we talk to regency romance and young adult author Maggie Dallen, who tells us how she changed her mindset and her author business model, with huge success! Maggie is a prolific author who was writing up to twenty books a year, but she was reaching a point where she wanted to slow down and diversify her writing skills by learning script writing. She realised she needed to find a system that would take advantage of her extensive backlist, and allow her more time for her other writing interests. In this fascinating interview, Maggie talks us through how she did it, what the major challenges were, and how you can do the same thing!  Maggie was a delight to interview, and gave us so much useful advice - you're going to love this one! 

• May 8, 2024Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP447 – Overcome Doubts & Back Yourself!

  Doubts are the biggest creativity and success blocker. But it takes a strong person not to have them. No one said this was going to be easy, or everyone would be doing it. If you ask those that succeed in this business they will all tell you they’ve had knock backs. It’s about perseverance. It’s about holding on to your self belief and forging ahead.

• May 1, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Selling Direct To Readers

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP446 – Patreon, Kickstarter & Serials – with Tao Wong

  How do you build superfans and a sustainable income through patreon*, kickstarter, subscriptions and serial works? Bestselling author Tao Wong joins us this episode to reveal all the secrets of keeping readers begging for more (cliff-hangers anyone ?!), building a thriving community of superfans and, most importantly, diversifying your income streams.

• April 24, 2024Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP445 – 7 Easy Tips For Building Your Newsletter List

  How the heck do you build a reader newsletter list when you're first starting out? We're back with another SPA Girls minisode, to get your author career rocking. Listen up for how we built our own reader newsletters and what tools and services we recommend.

• April 17, 2024Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP444 – Five Steps to Being a Resilient Author with Patricia McLinn

  Being a resilient author means being able to bounce back after experiencing a knock - and we all know that being a self-published author can knock you around sometimes! This week we talk with Patricia McLinn, an author who's been writing for more than 35 years, and who knows a thing or two about how to keep going when the going gets tough. Pat gives us her top five pieces of advice so you can stay focused and keep the positivity flowing when it seems like everything is falling apart around you.

• April 10, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP443 – Book Marketing and TikTok with Kate Hall 

  Kate Hall is a paranormal romance and non-fiction author who has taken her marketing expertise and used it to kick butt on TikTok. She started Alyne Digital Solutions in an effort to help authors make a sustainable income from their books, and since starting has scaled two of her businesses and several others’ to six figure incomes. As well as discussing facts and figures for TikTok, we’re also delving into marketing for authors, and why you’re probably using the wrong hooks in your social media. A wonderful open and informative discussion that could unlock answers to questions we’re all asking right now!

• April 3, 2024Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP442 – Newbie Mistakes / Chapter Endings

  This week we're covering two burning topics: what are the worst mistakes newbies are making, and how to write chapter endings that keep readers reading!

• March 26, 2024Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls – EP441 – Discovery Writing With Kimboo York

  In this podcast we talk to KimBoo York about her latest book Secrets of Discovery Writing. We dive into how you can successfully use discovery writing when crafting your novel. It's an awesome podcast and one the pantsers among us will really enjoy.

• March 20, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP440 – Launching a Successful New Pen Name with Melissa Pearl

  Our guest today, Kiwi author Melissa Pearl, has five pen names across multiple genres and has been learning about self publishing since she published her first book in 2011. Since then she's published more than 80 books, and shares with us some real and raw insights into the career of an indie author, including all the highs and the lows. When she launched her latest pen name last year, she made sure she used everything she'd learned over that time to ensure her new pen name was successful right from the start. Melissa generously tells us exactly what she did to create her latest pen name, and every step she took along the way to make it successful. Don't miss this information packed episode! 

• March 13, 2024Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life, Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP439 – Using The Enneagram For Authors with Claire Taylor

  The Enneagram is a personality typing system, where each person falls into one of nine types. Today we're talking with author, educator and fiction strategist, Claire Taylor, about how understanding our enneagram type liberates writers from the "shoulds" and self-judgement, and helps us become more successful as authors.

• March 6, 2024Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP438 – Overcoming Procrastination – with Kathryn Burnett

  Procrastination takes many forms for writers, and it holds us back from writing, publishing and promoting our work. We discuss how to get out of your own way with our guest today, Kathryn Burnett.

• February 28, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP437 – Facebook Ads For Beginners

  Creating and running Facebook ads has gotten a lot easier! Wondering how to delve into facebook advertising or had poor experiences in the past and wondering where you went wrong? This episode is for you!

• February 21, 2024Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP436 – Fast Decisions, Big Results

  Ever hesitate over making an important decision because you were trying to figure out what the 'right' thing to do was... and then miss out on an awesome opportunity because you didn't take a leap of faith? Yeah, us too. That's why this episode is all about making good decisions in your author career.  In fact, we're not only advocating making decisions and moving forward, we're also suggesting that a FAST decision is even better than an average speed decision. Research has shown that fast decisions are often higher quality, perhaps proving that our subconscious brain can move faster than our conscious brain... or maybe it's just our intuition is more capable than our overthinking brain? Whatever the reason, it's a powerful reminder that we know more than we think we know...  In this episode you'll learn some ideas and techniques on how to assess decisions, learn when to make fast decisions and hear about some of the decisions we did and didn't make in our careers and what we learned from them.

• February 14, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – Episode 435 – Interview with Dan Wood from Draft2Digital

  Today we’re interviewing Dan Wood, Chief Operating Officer at Draft2Digital, one of the best known distributors for eBooks, print and audio books. We last spoke to Dan in 2019 and a lot has happened since then! D2D has not only merged with Smashwords to make their reach stronger, they build tools and services that let you focus on writing while they take care of layout, publishing, distribution, print-on-demand paperbacks, and more. If you’re a new author or simply want to level up and expand, Dan has lots of tips to help you, including promotional opportunities and Books2Read, an author promotions powerhouse that includes New Release Notifications, Universal Book Links (UBLs), B2R Author Pages, B2R Book Tabs, and so much more!

• February 7, 2024Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP434 – Top 3 Mindset Tips For Authors with Heather Hildenbrand

  Your brain is a liar! Heather Hildenbrand is a bestselling author and business coach for creatives. This episode she demystifies how our results are determined by our beliefs first, and our efforts, second. Listen up for amazing (and do-able!) mindset tips for authors and how to overcome our blocks with less woo and more “do”!

• January 30, 2024Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life, Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Selling Direct To Readers

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP433 – Selling Direct With Katie Cross

  In this episode we chat to YA Fantasy author Katie Cross. She has so much passion and enthusiasm for what she does, and loves her readers!  We talk about direct sales and how to relate to your readers, and these are just two of the topics we covered. It's action packed and full of information!

• January 24, 2024Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP432 – What To Do When You’ve Finished The Book

  You are your own publishing house when you self-publish. There’s lots to do, and lots to think about, especially the first few times you publish a book. That’s why we’ve created this helpful, back-to-basics SPA Girls Podcast episode – to help you go from rough manuscript to published book, with our notes on what you need to plan for and schedule, and how to figure out what you’re going to need to actually do to get your book published on all the platforms. We haven’t given a specific order for these tasks to be done in – we know too many successful authors who get different aspects of the checklist done at different times. There are also tasks that can be finished quickly and others that will take time. The important thing is to know what you need to do, to work out a schedule that suits you and your life, and then to actually do the tasks! To help out, we’ve also created a handy checklist for you to download; just click the links in the show notes to find it, or head to the show notes for the episode on our website!

• January 17, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP431 – Graphic Design For Authors – with Book Brush

  This episode, we’re joined again by the effervescent Kathleen Sweeney from Bookbrush. She's is going to update us on best practices, new additions to Book Brush software and added service options that can save authors time and stress producing graphics.

• January 10, 2024Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP430 – Just One Thing: How To Simplify Your Writing Life

  Inspired by Dr Michael Moseley’s JUST ONE THING we use his framework to give practical tips for uncomplicating your writing and author business life.

• January 3, 2024Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Mindset, Health & Writing Life, Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls EP – 429 – How To Create Your Author Business Plan

  Today we discuss business plans. Need help creating yours? It doesn't need to be complicated, just download our simple SPA Girls template in the show notes.

• December 27, 2023Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls – EP428 – 8 Awesome Tips to Kickstart your New Year

  Want to set yourself up for an awesome 2024? Then this is the SPA Girls podcast episode for you. We go through our top eight tips to help amp up your career and kickstart your year!

• December 20, 2023Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP427 – Our 12 Christmas Wishes for you!

  We’re celebrating you, our wonderful listeners, in the SPA today by sharing our 12 Christmas Wishes for you and your self-publishing journey. We want you to know how special to us. We’re so proud of this journey we’ve all embarked on and with what everyone has achieved. No matter where you are in the publishing process, it really is time to celebrate! May your holiday be filled with love, joy, good food, fun, books and time to relax and recharge yourself.

• December 12, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP426 – How To Launch A Successful Series with Helen B. Scheuerer

  Are you dreaming of an easy approach to create successful book releases? Listen up, because we’re joined again by the bestselling fantasy author, Helen Scheuerer, who shares all the secrets of a Successful Series Launch, including:

• December 5, 2023Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP425 – Book Launch Strategies

  Congratulations! You’ve finished your first book (or series) and are ready to hit the publish button! So what can you do to get your book noticed in sea of other new books, and how can you find the right readers for you? The SPA Girls are here to help!

• November 28, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP424 – BookFunnel Tips for Authors

  Most authors know what BookFunnel is these days (just in case: it's a platform that helps you deliver reader magnets, ARC copies, audio files, and so much more to your readers) but do we all know how to use it the best we can? I'm pretty sure the answer is no! That's why we spent this episode with Damon Courtney, creator and CEO of BookFunnel, going over all the functions, from the innovative ways that successful authors are using this platform to deliver ebook files, to using features like the one-on-one author swap tool, the group promo tool, certified mail, and the direct email integrations, to name a few. Because Damon is the creator of the platform, he knows every single thing about it, which means this episode is packed full of all the information you'll ever need to make BookFunnel work for you!

• November 22, 2023Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP423 – Turn Setbacks Into Success

  Bumps on the publishing path are unwelcome yet inevitable. So how can we reset ourselves when the wobbles and disappointment set in? Today we’ve got a SPA Girls 6-Step Guide to turning those setbacks into success!

• November 15, 2023Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP422 – Writing Side Characters – with Sacha Black

  Side characters - how do you make them memorable, but not over-take the spotlight? And what purpose do they serve in the story? This episode, the awesome author and educator, Sacha Black, gives us the scoop on developing incredible side characters that will take your story from blah to bleepin' amazing. She takes us through three different types of side character and how to create juxtapositions that SELL BOOKS.

• November 8, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP421 – Book Marketing With Carrie Elks

  This week we talk to contemporary romance author, Carrie Elks about amping up your book marketing. It's a fantastic and informative interview packed with great tips and advice that you won't want to miss!

• November 1, 2023Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP420 – Why Forward Planning is Vital for Authors

  This week we talk about the forward planning we all do for our author careers. Because we're all so different here in the SPA, we all plan differently, and have different goals. But that means there will be nuggets of gold for everyone in this episode! We go through what it means to forward plan in your author business, why it's important, what we think about when we do our planning, and how to actually get it down in a format that works for you.

• October 24, 2023Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP419 – The Best Mindset for Organisation and Productivity with Sarra Cannon

  Self-publishing since 2010, Amazon top 100 best-selling Amazon author with 1 million books sold, Sarra writes magical contemporary fantasy novels with both teen and college aged characters (and lots of twists you'll never see coming). Do you feel like a hamster on a wheel? Sarra talks to us about her solution to planning without all the heartache and leading us to be more joyful. “When we sit down to plan we see the perfect scenario. Then Life gets in the way.”

• October 18, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP418 – Publishing Wide, Selling Audiobooks Direct, Working With Your Spouse – Interview with author Sarah Piper

  We’re thrilled to welcome UF/PNR author Sarah Piper to the show today. Sarah has seen great success publishing across a number of genres, and we discuss her strategy moving from Amazon-exclusive to publishing wide, selling her audiobooks direct and working with your spouse!

• October 10, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP417 – How To Correctly Select Your Amazon Categories – with Alex Newton

  Amazon has moved the furniture again! This episode, Alex will help explain Amazon’s category changes, what they mean for authors, and how best to categorize your books now.

• October 5, 2023Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP416 – Emotional Wounds with Angela Ackerman

  This week we chatted with Angela Ackerman, one of the authors of the classic writing book, The Emotion Thesaurus.  If you've never picked up one of the amazing thesauruses by Angela Ackerman and her co-writer, Becca Puglisi, you're missing out! Created especially for writers, the ten different thesauruses will help you add emotion, be more creative, and make your book sing!  In this particular episode (aside from Trudi and the other SPA Girls singing the praises of Angela's books) we talk to Angela about emotional wounds - what that means, why it's important for our characters and how we can add emotional wounds into our writing and give our characters more depth.

• September 27, 2023Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP415 – How To Get Unstuck

  There are many ways we get stuck as authors. Some ways you can get stuck is in the writing, editing, time management and making decisions areas. Getting unstuck is much harder and yet easier than we think. Letting go of perceptions of our writing or our characters helped Trudi a great deal when she put off writing the last book in a series - for years! Cheryl had to get past the fear of getting edits back and find a way to embrace the process to get them done. For Shar, it’s being done with the book and accepting it. No one wants to put up sub-standard work and we all do our very best to make sure that happens, but agonizing over a book doesn’t move you forward. We discuss how to do these things while facing fears and preconceptions, as well as the overwhelm of too many ideas and choices.

• September 20, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP414 – Publishing Powerhouse, Kathryn Le Veque

  Kathryn shares her unique publishing insights and forecast, historical romance trends, why she doesn’t have an author newsletter, and behind the scenes insight of running Dragonblade.

• September 13, 2023Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life, Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP 413- Back Engineering a Bestseller

  Today’s topic was prompted by a commenter on youtube who asked us about reverse engineering bestsellers. What makes a book, be it your second one published or your tenth, sell more than others.  We believe there are many variables to that. Timing, tropes, the first 10% of how a book starts. The cover, blurb, and other popular tv or books that may have similar aspects.  There are many things to consider, and today we take a dive into why a book can launch a career!

• September 7, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP412 – Being Successful as a Hybrid Author with Katlyn Duncan

  This week we talk to fiction and non-fiction author Katlyn Duncan, who wrote the non-fiction books The Successful Hybrid Author (all about being a hybrid author) and Take Back Your Book (all about how to get your rights back after being traditionally published). She shares her path to becoming a hybrid author, but also what you need to know about being hybrid, how it works, the pros and cons of traditional publishing versus indie publishing versus hybrid publishing, and how to get your rights back if you want to take up indie publishing.

• August 29, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP411 – YouTube for Authors with Jenna Moreci

  Author Jenna Moreci is a YouTube sensation! With almost 300k subscribers on her YouTube channel "Writing with Jenna Moreci", ten years of making videos, and over 28 MILLION views, she's produced an incredible body of work and large community. So how has this impacted her writing and publishing, especially as her audience is both writers AND readers?

• August 23, 2023Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP410 – What To Do When Your Marketing Isn’t Working

  Marketing but not achieving results? Maybe you need to do a bit of a deep dive into why. We've got some tips on where to start ...

• August 16, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP409 – Six Figures with Short Romance – with Sadie King

  USA Today Bestseller, Sadie King has grown her publishing business from zero to six figures in less than four years, writing short instalove romances. Learn how she's done it ...

• August 9, 2023Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP408 – Branding for Authors

  This week we take an in-depth look at author brands - starting with what branding actually means, what your branding should look like as an author, and then how you can make sure your author brand is the best it can be. We talk about how newbie authors can set up a brand for the first time, and how more experienced authors can reassess your current brand and make any necessary changes. 

• August 1, 2023Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP407 – Making Your Books Addictive with Alessandra Torre

  What is it EXACTLY that makes a book addictive? How do twists and turns come into play? And how do you create these elements with any genre of books?

• July 26, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP406 – Subscriptions For Authors & Ream

  Today we’re joined by two dynamic guests - author Emilia Rose and Michael Evans, co-founds of the REAM subscription service for authors. We cover a LOT in this episode - from “what is the Creator Economy” to making subscriptions work for authors, so settle in for a great listen/watch!

• July 19, 2023Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls – EP405 – Hotwire Your Publishing Plan For The Holidays

  We know there are still 5.5 months to go until the end of the year! But!! We think it’s important to start getting organized for the final push. Ads, blurbs, covers. In the SPA today we talk about the things you need to focus on!

• July 12, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP404 – Interview with Ana Huang

  This week we go in-depth with USA Today, international and #1 Amazon bestselling author of new adult and contemporary romance, Ana Huang. Aside from being very successful (check out her Twisted series!) Ana is a super smart and hardworking author with a tonne of great advice that she generously shared with us in this information-packed episode. Check it out now!

• July 5, 2023Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – Ep403 – How Not To Fail at Self-publishing

  We’re looking at failure and putting a different slant on it. By changing the way you think of failing at a certain thing and thinking of it as simply a part of learning. You are future proofing the way you react to any result. Fail = First Attempt In Learning. Don’t measure yourself by how others are doing. They had their own journey and would have failed at something along the way. Successful people use those moments to push through, pivot, or try a new iteration. Learning is a part of the process. Letting go of a perception is hard, we get that. However, you shouldn’t let that outcome define you. Don’t dwell on it. Instead, find a way to deal with it and to stop the negative talk. A way that moves you forward.

• June 28, 2023Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP402 – GMC for genres

  Back in 1996, author Debra Dixon published Goal, Motivation and Conflict and ever since the letters GMC have been tattooed on our brains

• June 21, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP401 – Lynn Raye Harris, Let’s Talk Series!

  Today we talk to the amazingly talented author Lynn Raye Harris about series. Everything from multiple connected to branding. This is a must listen podcast!

• June 14, 2023Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP400 – Why On Earth Are We Still Here?

  It's celebration time! We've reached another milestone here in the SPA - FOUR HUNDRED EPISODES!  And that's 400 weekly episodes with no repeats, no "best of"s, and no stopping during the eight years we've been doing this. Phew! *wipes brow*  This episode we're looking back on that time, trying to figure out why we're still here, and what we've learned along the way. Go behind the scenes with us as we discuss some of what we've learned, advice we wish we'd been given, and try to give you inspiration that will get you writing and publishing! 

• June 7, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP399 – Diversification with Rachael Herron

  How can a writer diversify their income? In this episode Rachael Herron shares her advice for maximizing your income as a writer!

• May 31, 2023Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP398 – Marketing Books That Straddle Genres

  We talk on the SPA all the time about the importance of knowing what genre/sub genre you’re writing and what reader expectations for that genre are. But what happens if you’ve written a spectacular mashup of genres? Or you wanted to write a romance cross memoir? There’s no doubt it can be harder to market an off-genre book, so where do you start?

• May 23, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP397 – Marketing Audiobooks with Rebecca Hefner

  USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Hefner is passionate about marketing audio books wide. After several years of struggling early on, her audiobook sales now surpass her ebook sales most months. As Rebecca says, “I had an excruciating learning curve with wide audio and want to save other authors from this torture!” She shares her best practices and tips for wide audiobook success in this must-listen episode.

• May 17, 2023Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP396 – The Secrets of Story with Matt Bird

  If you've been working on amping up your characters and writing a more compelling novel, this is the episode for you. We talk to Matt Bird - the Amazon bestselling author of The Secrets of Story: Innovative Tools for Perfecting Your Fiction and Captivating Readers and The Secrets of Character: Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love - about characters and other secrets involved in writing an awesome story your readers will love. Matt talks to us about what readers expect from characters and how to ensure they connect and fall in love with your characters early in your novel. He also gives practical examples of techniques that will engage your readers by helping you create flawed, vulnerable and compelling characters. We loved having Matt in the SPA and we know you'll enjoy this episode too!

• May 10, 2023Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP395 – Conquer your Author Career with Erin Marcus

  Get ready to be encouraged! Erin Marcus is a business coach who helps authors take charge of their career and get results. 

• May 3, 2023Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP394 – Career Sustainability with Brenna Aubrey

  From mindset and productivity, to branding, social media and your writing community – we cover the gamut of how to sustain your author career long term.

• April 25, 2023Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast  – EP393 – Genre Expectations

  Today we’re covering reader expectations for romance and it’s subgenres and mystery. Let us help you define where your book should sit on the virtual book shelves!

• April 19, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP392 – Translations with Skye MacKinnon

  Skye MacKinnon is a USA Today and International Bestselling Author whose books are filled with strong heroines who don't have to choose. She embraces her Scottishness with fantastical Scottish settings and a dash of mythology, no matter if she's writing about aliens in kilts, Celtic gods, cat shifters, or the streets of Edinburgh. She's also doing great with German translations and this week in the SPA she breaks down everything she's been doing, including how to get started with a translator, what to watch out for, how and where to load your translated book, and how to market them once they're up!

• April 12, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP391 – How to Successfully Publish Wide with Erin Wright

  USA today bestselling author of Western Romance, Erin Wright, has worked every job under the sun, including library director, barista, teacher, website designer, and ranch hand, helping brand cattle, before settling into the career she’s always dreamed about: Author.  Despite starting out in KU in 2016, she went wide on all platforms in 2017 when she discovered she couldn’t get her books in libraries if she was exclusive to Amazon. She started the Wide for the Win Facebook group in 2019, to help other authors find information about being wide, and now the group has grown to a community of 14,390.  Erin breaks it down and lists the reasons why she made this decision. She uses serial apps, website direct sales, multi-author promotions, as well as many platforms that we had never heard of. If you are keen to diversify and find more ways to reach readers, this is the episode for you.

• April 4, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP390 – Thrifty Tips For Authors with Vanessa Vale

  When her facebook ad account was shut down, Vanessa had to learn how to sell books WITHOUT paid ads and she shares how she came up with her solid marketing strategies in the episode.

• March 29, 2023Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP389 – Small Town Romance with Kait Nolan

  Kait is a USA Today best selling, RITA® Award-winning Mississippi author of smart, sassy, small town Southern romance. She calls everyone sugar, honey, or darlin', and can wield a 'Bless your heart' like a Snuggie or a saber, depending on requirements.

• March 22, 2023Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP388 – Getting the Words Down

  The number one thing you need to produce as an author is WRITTEN words, but sometimes that's the hardest thing to do. So when words are hard to come by, when you’re avoiding the blank screen or finding yourself doing housework for hours instead of sitting your butt on the office chair (or couch) with your laptop, you need a cheerleader, an advocate, and champion... a human cattle prod, if you will. And that's where we come in. This week we’re sharing our best tips and advice on how to get yourself motivated, beat resistance and get your $#@!! words down.

• March 14, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP387 – TikTok For Authors With Brighton Walsh

  Award-winning USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Brighton Walsh spent a decade as a professional photographer before taking her storytelling in a different direction and reconnecting with her first love—writing. After getting a publishing deal Brighton went on to become a hybrid author and is now mainly indie. She started on TikTok in January 2022 and used mainly page flips back then and went viral immediately. She has since developed her own brand of TIKTOKing which continues to impress. Today she brings you plenty of tips and tricks to start you off on the right foot.

• March 8, 2023Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP386 – Productivity Hacks For Writers

  Ten proven productivity hacks for self-publishing authors!

• March 1, 2023Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP385 – How to Write a Compelling Hero

  Alpha, Beta, Tortured or Bad Boy? How do you like your heroes? This week Cheryl, Wendy and Shar discuss how to write a great hero (in their opinion) complete with controversial examples! In particular we cover: Character Connection Creating Conflict from Character Main Characters Should Be Equals Characters Should Have Complementary Strengths  Hero should Show Vulnerability Different hero types including Alpha, Beta, Bad Boy, Tortured and Playboy Don't miss out on our take on writing a great hero! 

• February 22, 2023Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP384 – Write And Plot Faster with Plottr

  Wanting to speed up your plotting and writing time? Or have an easy way to keep a series bible? We've got just the answer today ...

• February 15, 2023Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP383 – Our Valentine To Writers

  Who says Valentine’s Day has to be about couples? We think it should be about all kinds of love and this year we’re promoting a little self-love. Go on, you deserve it! Treat yourself to a craft course or something else you would enjoy – find a course and do it! Do something awesome for your body – manicure, pedicure, massage, facial. Regular exercise – walk, run, bike, swim, yoga, pilates, sport. Combat stress – read, listen to music, have a bath, meditate - try Paul Mckenna and Youtube videos. Breathing exercises – breathe in for seven, hold for seven, out for seven. Eat healthy and drink more water. Try something different – puzzles, a new hobby like knitting, crochet or miniatures.  Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

• February 8, 2023Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP382 – Which Course Is Right For You?

  This week Trudi and Shar go rogue ... and discuss courses along with our writing friend and writing tutor Tania Hutley / Talia Hunter.

• February 1, 2023Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP381 – Marketing Biases

  So many times we’ve heard authors say that they don’t like this or that when it comes to promoting themselves. So how can we work with our biases and not fight against them?

• January 25, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP380 – Facebook Ads with Mark Dawson

  If there’s one person in the self publishing world who’s considered a bit of an expert at advertising… it’s Mark Dawson. This week Mark joins us in the SPA to talk about Facebook ads – how to set them up, what to do if they’re not working, and some of his best tips and advice to get them running well for you. He’s a genuine guy, and he still does all his own ads – which means he knows exactly what works and what doesn’t! Join us for another awesome podcast in the SPA.

• January 17, 2023Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP379 – How To Make a Trailer with Bookbrush

  Kathleen Sweeney is Bookbrush’s Customer Service Manager & Marketing Lead. She brings over 17 years of client service experience, business assurance, strategy and problem solving to Book Brush. Kathleen loves creating images and is happy to share her knowledge. We’re talking trailers for TiK Tok Instagram and other social media, as well as QR codes and where to use them. And so much more!

• January 11, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP378 – Be A Newsletter Ninja with Tammi Labrecque

  Ready to up your newsletter game in 2023? Listen up, because Tammi's got the very latest best practices for author newsletters ...

• January 4, 2023Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP377 – New Year New You

  Happy New Year from the SPA Girls !! In this episode we talk about what goals and plans we have for 2023, Rom Com style using Billy Mernit's book, Writing The Romantic Comedy. We work through his story beats. Set Up. Catalyst. Turning Point. Midpoint. Second Turning Point. Crisis Climax. Resolution. The SPA Girls open a vein and talk about what we want to impliment and change in 2023. (there will be no fries with this, ignore Trudi) The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon!

• December 29, 2022Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP376 – Top Tips from 2022

  This is an awesome episode just for you! We went through all of our episodes from 2022, and picked out the best pieces of advice, the most actionable tips, and the things we definitely think you should be doing for your writing career in 2023 and gave them to you here in one easy episode. You're welcome. :)

• December 21, 2022Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP375 – Celebrations And Things We’re Grateful For

  The Spa Girls wish you a wonderful Christmas and today we’re sharing our celebrations and things we’re grateful for. From Shar’s first taste of travel in three years and reaching 1000 subscribers on Youtube, all Wendy’s historical books hitting the top in that category and doing German translations, Cheryl achieving her goal of four books for 2022 and opening a store, Trudi finally finished a series and found a course that resonated more than she could have hoped for, there is plenty celebrate. The grateful list was long and included our guests who keep things real, listeners old and new who make us want to continue, doing what we love, family and author friends who support and get us, and on to entrepreneurs who build products and supply services which make our lives easier – we thank you all. Listen in to for a more comprehensive list and maybe there are some things that resonate with you too. Take care and make sure to recharge over the season.

• December 14, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP374 – 6 Tweaks To Improve Your Books Sales

  If your book is not selling, what can you do? USA Today Bestseller, romance writer Leanna Morgan is here to day to help us sell more books PLUS offer wise ideas on advertising.

• December 7, 2022Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP373 – Lightbulb Moments of Writing Advice

  Lightbulb moments about writing and publishing that have turned you from gloomy to galloping along - have you had them? We have and today we're sharing the nitty gritty self publishing and writing tips that positively impacted our craft and careers - plus, of course, the mentors who've given us great advice.

• November 30, 2022Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP372 – SciFi Romance with Honey Phillips

  Join us for another deep dive into an intriguing genre that's doing well for indie authors. USA Today bestselling author Honey Phillips joins us in the SPA to talk about Science Fiction Romance - what it is, what readers are looking for, and how to make sure they get it! Honey was a delight to interview and there are definitely a few gems in here for everyone, whether you write in this genre or not!

• November 22, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP371 – Interview with Dionne Lister

  Today we’re talking to Dionne Lister about how she made the leap from part-time to full-time in one year, writing in two genres.

• November 16, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP370 – Running A Successful Kickstarter – with Steffanie Holmes

  Steff ran an incredibly successful kickstarter in 2022 to fund limited-edition hardcovers of her books - in fact, it was fully funded in just FIVE HOURS! Join us in this episode to find out how she did it!

• November 9, 2022Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP369 – Make Luck Through Belief

  Today in the SPA we talk about not relying on luck to build your career. We believe you can make your own luck, but don’t wait for it to happen! Ron Weasley (or not, we’re not really sure) says believing in yourself is 100% more powerful than luck! Overnight success may happen for some, but if you dig deeper often, what appears to be a lucky break is actually from years of hard work to get to that point.

• November 2, 2022Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girl Podcast – EP 368 – Monster Romance With Lillian Lark

  In this fun episode with Lillian Lark, we learn about monster romance - what it is, how it's defined, who's writing it well, and how to write one for yourself! Not only is Lillian doing well in the genre of monster romance, she's also doing amazing things on TikTok, so we were able to quiz her on her tricks and techniques for the social media platform as well.

• October 26, 2022Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP367 – How To Self Edit Your Second Draft

  There are many types of editing and today we're discussing how the SPA Girls approach a second draft. Plus, don't miss out on the Second Draft Checklist, an amalgamation of all our processes in one handy spot.

• October 18, 2022Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP366 – How To Recover When You Screw Up

  This episode sees the SPA Girls sharing their own Big Oops and how they recovered / learned from them. Inspiration plus for indies at all stages of their careers :)

• October 12, 2022Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast  – EP365 – Write To Riches with Renee Rose

  In this episode we talk to the amazing Renee Rose about her new release Write To Riches!  15-time USA Today bestselling romance author Renee talks to us about the power of abundance mindset, manifesting your desires, and attracting wealth. She's an amazingly inspirational speaker and this is one episode you don't want to miss!

• October 5, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP364 – Superfans with Steffanie Holmes

  Ever wondered how authors create a reader base full of raving superfans... and how you could do it too?? Well, wonder no more! This week we have bestselling paranormal and contemporary romance author Steffanie Holmes on the show to talk about how to create superfans for your books. Steff talks about the methods she's used to create stronger connections with her readers, including having a strong author brand, newsletters, interconnected stories, and so much more! We love having Steff in the SPA, and she's super smart with her marketing, so this is an episode you don't want to miss!

• September 27, 2022Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP363 – World-building with Nalini Singh

  A long-time friend of the SPA Girls, multi NYT Bestseller, Nalini Singh, is here to talk about world-building, and if anyone knows how to do this–it’s Nalini!

• September 20, 2022Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP362 – Book Marketing Organization Made Easy

  Looking for tips to make your marketing tasks more organized and less stressful? This is the episode for you! From marketing bibles to free online tools, your book marketing should become a whole lot less overwhelming.

• September 14, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP361 – Mia Brody and Instalove Short Romance

  This week we talk to the amazing Mia Brody all about how she makes a fulltime living writing instalove short romances. It's an amazingly informative episode with plenty of wow moments, that you won't want to miss!

• September 7, 2022Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP360 – How To Find What Works For You

  One size doesn't fit all - we've all heard that saying, but how do you know what DOES work for you? In this episode, we discuss how to identify what best works for you in three areas: - Your Writing Process - Your Publishing Strategy - Your Marketing Strategy and share tips and resources that we've learned along the way.

• August 31, 2022Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP 359 – Film & TV Options for Authors with Michele Scott

  It was our great pleasure to interview Michele Scott, a NYT, Wall Street Journal and Amazon bestselling author of over forty novels and the CEO/owner of equestrian sports medicine company Professional’s Choice, Inc. Michele has written in various genres including thrillers, mysteries, young adult mysteries, fantasy, and women’s fiction. Her thriller Daddy’s Home from her Holly Jennings’ Thriller series written under her pen name of AK Alexander has sold over one million copies and was the #1 bestselling book in the UK Amazon. Her thriller Mommy, May I? was number 2 on the Amazon list. Her Wine Lover's Mysteries are currently optioned, and a movie version is projected to begin filming this year.

• August 24, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP358 – Six Figures through Subscriptions with Emilia Rose

  Learn how Emilia Rose started her publishing career through posting chapters on Wattpad, and monetized through Patreon subscriptions!

• August 17, 2022Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Selling Direct To Readers

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP357 – Direct Selling with Morgana Best

  Do you want to have an author store and don't know where to start? USA Today bestselling author Morgana Best takes us through the process of setting up your store and best practices. This is an episode you won't want to miss!

• August 10, 2022Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP356 – Running With Your Ideas

  This week we talk about how to find new ideas, and how to use those ideas in new ways. How to find them in the everyday hustle and bustle of our lives, and how to turn them on their heads to create something intriguing and interesting to our readers.  We go through a series of story starters, of intriguing kernels that you can use to create an awesome story that your readers will love to read... 

• August 2, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP355 – Six Figure Amish Romance and Cozy Mystery Author Samantha Price

  Samantha Price is a USA Today bestselling author of Amish romance books and cozy mysteries. She was raised Brethren and has a deep affinity for the Amish way of life, which she has explored extensively with over a decade of research.  Focused and organized, Samantha's the results speak for themselves, but it will amaze you how prolific she is and how she built her career in a relatively small niche. Listen in to the episode for all the details of how understanding that niche inside and out made her such a popular and successful author.

• July 27, 2022Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP354 – It’s Time To Question The “Hustle”

  This week we discuss burnout, protecting our creativity, being productive and not buying in to the hustle culture.

• July 20, 2022Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP353 – Book Launch Strategy

  All about book launch strategy - from pre-orders, why publishing print books before ebooks makes sense, wrangling an ARC team, paid and free advertising and lots more!

• July 13, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP352 – Interview with Dave Chesson from Kindlepreneur

  Dave Chesson joins us in the SPA to chat about some of the awesome apps that he's designed for authors on the Kindleprenuer website.  Dave is a smart guy, and he knows his stuff when it comes to self publishing, so the apps are all super useful and on-point. This includes the free apps, such as the Book Description Generator and the Hashtag Generator (if you've ever struggled with finding good hashtags on any of the socials, that's the app for you!) and his two powerful paid apps, Publisher Rocket and newbie Atticus.  Join us for Dave's insider tips and tricks on how to get the best use out of the apps, and hear some of his best insights into marketing for indies.

• July 5, 2022Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP351 – The Calm Entrepreneur, Corinne O’Flynn

  When you feel the frantic need to achieve and you don’t, it’s easy to get stuck or suffer burnout. If that’s happened to you, then Corinne O'Flynn has some ideas to get you through. The Calm Entrepreneur was born out of a series of aha moments over the past several years. It's about getting back to basics and re-assessing and re-securing the foundational practices. We know you'll love this awesome episode with Corinne!

• June 29, 2022Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP350 – Let’s Celebrate!

  This week we broadcast our 350th episode and in complete contrast to how laid-back Kiwis generally approach milestones, we’re celebrating the heck out of it!

• June 22, 2022Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP349 – How To Build Reader Connection With Your Characters

  Building a deep connection between your characters and your readers is what creates raving fans, books that stick like glue to the sales charts and fuels word-of-mouth recommendations. So how do we do this?

• June 16, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP348 – Millionaire Author Mindset with Lee Savino

  USA Today best-selling author Lee Savino is a bubble of energy, and this week's podcast with her left us all feeling motivated and inspired. We know you'll love this episode too! Lee talked to us about how the mindset of an indie author is vitally important, more important than any other aspect of writing and publishing, including all the tactics and systems we hear about all the time. If you can get your mindset right, you can achieve anything. We talk with Lee about all the mindset changes she had to make, and as well as her tips and tricks around mindset, all of which helped her to become a successful, million-dollars-a-year indie author.

• June 7, 2022Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP347 – The Power Of Writing Sprints

  Are you struggling to get your words down each day? Why not give writing sprints a try? You can do them alone, however, you might find they work better with others like we did. Listen to the podcast for more tips regarding: • training yourself • how to set up a sprint group • the power of structure • what length of sprint? • top of the hour sprints • tracking

• June 1, 2022Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP346 – Interview with Julia Roberts, Creativity Coach

  Today we're joined by Julia Roberts, MSc, writer, creativity coach, and soon-to-be Ted Talker. Julia is going to talk us through procrastination and the tools we can use to manage it. Goodness knows we all need this help!

• May 25, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP345 – How To Write A Successful Series

  Do you want to learn how to design a series that will hook and keep readers, AND set you up for long term success? Helen Scheuerer joins us today to tell all!

• May 18, 2022Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP344 – Managing Book Projects

  This week, in answer to a listener question, we talk about how we manage the process of writing a book. How many do we write at one time? Do we work on multiple projects at different stages, or just write and edit one book at a time? What do we do to ensure we stay on track and don't procrastinate? 

• May 10, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP343 – Interview with Asa Maria Bradley

  Bestselling Author Asa Maria Bradley suggests collaboration as a way to get creative again. Growing up in Sweden surrounded by archaeology and history steeped in Norse Mythology, inspired her sexy and paranormal romance series. She also writes urban fantasy about empowered heroines who kick ass while saving the world. Her work has received a double nomination for the Romance Writers of America’s RITA contest, a Reviewers Choice Award nomination, a Holt Medallion win, and Bookseller’s Best Award win. The last couple of years were rough on Asa’s creativity, and almost by chance she joined a bunch of collaboration projects. With different strategies and aims, working with other writers gave her the creative spark needed to enjoy writing again. Besides providing accountability, the projects validated and inspired her work. Today she shares the challenges and rewards that she experienced from writing for and promoting several collaborations.

• May 4, 2022Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP342 – Interview with Mary-Theresa Hussey

  One of the most experienced editors in the industry joins us in the SPA! Prior to becoming a freelance editorial consultant, Mary-Theresa (known as Matrice) worked at Harlequin for more than 25 years, editing nearly a thousand titles. As editor, senior and executive editor, she read, acquired, revised, rejected and critiqued triple that. Many of the books she has edited went on to find places on both the NYT and USA Today bestseller lists.

• April 27, 2022Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP341 – Graphics For Authors

  Today's episode answers a listener question - namely, how do you deal with all the graphics an author needs? DIY or outsource? And what works best?

• April 20, 2022Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP340 – Successful First Drafts

  Hit the ground running with this episode all about how to successfully finish the first draft of your novel! We talk about how we stay motivated, what you need to know before you can start, how we keep going when we get to the saggy middle, what we plan beforehand, and what we leave to figure out as we go. If you've been struggling to get started on your first draft, or you're wallowing somewhere in the middle, this is the episode for you!

• April 12, 2022Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP339 – Becoming a Full Time Writer

  Do you want to be a full-time author? Today we discuss how we transitioned to writing full-time, including: • how we approached the financial and business planning side • balancing the creative and business sides of the job • mindset tips and corrections along the way • our expectations versus reality • courage and resourcefulness Make a plan, understand your process, know how much you need to earn and adopt the right mindset to ensure you’ll be ahead of the game.

• April 5, 2022Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP338 – Psychology Tools For Authors

  This episode we cover plot development AND character development and you’ll come away (hopefully!) with some awesome tips to improve your story telling and create compelling characters that your readers will love – or love to hate!

• March 30, 2022Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP 337 – Creating Audio Books

  In the Spa this week we talked to the talented Naomi Barton. With more people listening to audio books now, there has never been a better time to learn about this side of our industry. Naomi has produced audio books for our very own Cheryl, under CA Phipps, her cozy mystery pen name. We talk about processes, cost, and the industry. You won’t want to miss this one! 

• March 23, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP336 – PR for Authors with Lilian Sue

  This week we talk to long-time PR coach and publicist Lilian Sue about how authors can successfully use PR to help with their author business. Her aim is to help authors fulfill their potential and become global industry leaders by focusing on how to build a healthy PR mindset above any strategy. We talk about authors can develop strong and healthy PR mindsets (by busting down fear and imposter syndrome) and how to use the right tools, knowledge, and resources to fulfill their goals. It's another awesome episode!

• March 15, 2022Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP 335 – Romance Your Goals with Zoe York

  Today we welcome back for a record 3rd time, Zoe York, to talk about Romancing Your Goals. Like so many authors it was hard to read and write during 2020 which was the last time Zoe was with us. Yet, her latest book Romancing Your Goals was written during the pandemic and highlights how to treat your business and is full of wonderful tips to build a marketable genre fiction series. Join us to find out more about Romancing your Goals!

• March 9, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP334 – Amazon Ads with Deb Potter

  Many of us have tried different methods to get AMS Ads to work: from creating hundred of ad variations to wrangling spreadsheets with thousands of keywords to try. And then there’s the whole bid price – how do we know what to bid? Can we trust auto ads? 

• March 2, 2022Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP333 – MM Romance With Jay Hogan

  Jay Hogan writes character driven mm romances with lots of humour, a good dose of reality and a splash of angst.

• February 23, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP332 – TikTok Tips with AK Mulford

  This week we talk to fantasy author AK Mulford about how she got started on TikTok! We cover TikTok for authors in depth: how to start, who to follow, how to get your follower count up, best length of videos, what to post, how to create the videos, hashtags, sounds, dealing with comments, batching, duets, stitching, etiquette plus differences from other social media platforms. And most importantly: does it sell books? If you've ever considered jumping on TikTok, this is the episode for you! 

• February 15, 2022Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP331 – Reignite Your Writing Joy

  Feeling a bit blah about your writing? Struggling with getting good words down and your word count UP? Today we're taking inspiration from Marie Kondo, and we're sparking back the joy in our writing lives! Our SPA Girls tried-and-true steps are: 1. Re-commit to your Why 2. Re-evaluate your ideal writing life / writing day 3. Let gooooooooo 4. Start with Simple 5. Be Like Marie and ask Does It Spark Joy? As always, a brutally honest and real-time discussion how we're all struggling a bit for different reasons. Wendy's tired, but she can still invent words - see "unbogging" as an example!

• February 9, 2022Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP330 – Covers That Sell

  How do you get a cover that finds readers and converts to sales? How much should you expect to pay?

• February 2, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP329 – Success With Short Romance

  Going from zero to $3k per month in just a few months is a dream for many of us and today's guest achieved just that. Ella Barnard is here to talk how she did it, how she meets reader expectations, and most importantly, how we can still enjoy the process!

• January 27, 2022Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP328 – All About Preorders

  Confused about preorders? Wondering if you should start using them? Wondering if you should stop using them? This is the episode for you! We talk about what preorders are and how they work, how we use them successfully, and when we think you shouldn't use preorders.

• January 19, 2022Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP327 – 8 Steps To Build Your Fictional Setting

  Today we share our SPA Girls patented 😉 foolproof steps to create a fictional setting that'll keep your readers coming back for more!

• January 12, 2022Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP326 – How To Find Your Why

  What’s the real reason you’re a writer? We’ve talked about finding your why before on the podcast, and today we're delving deeper. Inspired by Simon Sinek's book Start With Why, and Find Your Why, Trudi has us "on the couch" again, which Wendy, in particular, absolutely loves (not)!

• January 4, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP325 – All About Kobo with Tara Cremin

  In this episode Tara brings us up to speed on Kobo’s new audiobook platform, other updates from Kobo including Kobo Plus, and top tips for marketing your books and audio.

• December 30, 2021Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP324 – Recharging For Authors

  Happy New Year people! It's a crazy time of year, and this episode is all about why you need to take time out, recharge your batteries and come back in the new year ten times more productive and energised!!!

• December 22, 2021Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP323 – Christmas Special 2021

  Despite 2021’s best efforts we’ve managed to do some great work this year and had some good times. From launching as planned when health or life got in the way, to self-improvement on many levels, we’ve hit the markers. Maybe not on time or in an effortless ballet-like movement, but we’re taking the wins and so should you! SPAGirls’ favourite moment: We spent 8 hours together on a train trip to conference where we ran a workshop, plus Wendy and Cheryl hosted a panel. Being with friends and other fellow writers was a tonic that needs to be bottled! Listen in for: Our favourite moments of the year. Apologies as Wendy tells us dad jokes! Christmas recipes we love! SPA Girls Podcast - www.spagirlspodcast.com

• December 15, 2021Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP322 – Uncommon Writing Advice

  We’ve all heard the conventional wisdom for fiction writers – but is it actually appropriate for self-publishing today?  We break down five pieces of uncommon advice that have stood us in good stead and why we think they’ll work for you too ...

• December 8, 2021Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP321 – The Writing Process

  In the SPA today, we talk about the evolution of our writing process. We delve into the changes that have taken place in our writing journeys over the last few years. The point is, there is no right or wrong way to do things! This is your journey.

• December 1, 2021Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP320 – What Do I Write Next?

  If you're considering changing genres, starting a new series, trying new tropes, or are even just so confused about this writing malarky that you're not even sure you'll write anything next... this is the episode for you. It's a difficult decision to move to a new genre, or to move on from a series that's not doing as well as you'd like, or even from a series that you love, but just can't write any more, but it's a decision we've all made here in the SPA. We talk about what we do when trying to decide what to write next, how we've made the decisions to switch something up or change course, and how you can successfully do the same thing.

• November 24, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP319 – Reader Reach with Written Word Media

  It’s no secret that we use Written Word Media for ads and while we don’t have affiliate links, we can’t think of a reason not to try Freebooksy and Bargainbooksy. But what would you say to them running Facebook ads for you? Today we talk to Clayton Noblit, Senior Marketing Manager, along with Grant Shepherd, Ad Fulfilment Manager at Written Word Media about their new advertising offering, Reader Reach. Reader Reach is a data-driven all-in-one ad solution that allows authors to reach thousands of readers on Facebook as efficiently as possible. Learning how to build ad images, audience research, or writing ad copy, the setting up and running ads can be time-consuming, costly, and stressful. Reader Reach does all the heavy lifting for you. The Reader Reach team handles everything, from ad creative and copy to audience targeting and bidding. Their goal is to help you find the right audience for your book, and let you focus on what matters most: writing your next book!

• November 17, 2021Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP318 – Lessons For Writers from Brene Brown

  How can we, as authors and self-publishers, deal with the internal (and external!) voices of criticism, meet our expectations and forge ahead with our publishing plans when we don’t feel at all confident we’re on the right path? How do you know when it’s time to move on from your book or books you loved writing, but no one else seems interested in buying?

• November 11, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP317 – StoryOrigin

  Evan Gow is the indie developer of StoryOrigin, a marketing tool and community of authors that work together to find reviewers, build mailing lists, increase sales, and stay on top of deadlines.

• November 3, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP316 – Interview with Nicholas Erik

  Wondering how to get started with Facebook ads, but not sure where to start? Join us for today's podcast with Facebook ads guru, Nicholas Erik! Nicholas is a science fiction author with more than 20 books to his name. He's also written books for authors including The Ultimate Guide to Book Marketing and The Ultimate Guide to Productivity, as well as running courses about Facebook Ads, Amazon Ads and BookBub Ads for authors. He was awesome to talk to and gave a huge amount of useful information for authors - this is one of those episodes you really don't want to miss!

• October 27, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP315 – Interview with Theodora Taylor

  After logging time as a music journalist, playwright, and radio writer, Theodora Taylor fell in love with penning hot books with heart. Since deciding to become an author, she’s published 54 books in a range of genres—but with one thing in common—universal fantasies.  She's here to tell us what they are, and how you can use them to get your books on the bestseller lists!

• October 20, 2021Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast- EP314 – Interview with Linda Pucci

  Today Linda is here to talk about how we as creatives can overcome our limiting beliefs, fears of success, failure, being an imposter et al and how we can STOP being our own worst enemy!

• October 13, 2021Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life, Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP313 – The Best Writing Advice You Shouldn’t Take

  Feeling a bit bombarded by conflicting advice re writing and self-publishing? Got FOMO about courses and conferences others are experiencing, but you can't afford or attend? And how do you figure out what advice works best for YOU? Friends, you're not alone - we've been there too.

• October 6, 2021Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP312 – What To Do When You’re Stuck In A Creative Rut

  We love our Irish guests and are super stoked to welcome author and writing coach, Bryan Collins, to the SPA today! If you've been feeling BLAH about your writing lately, this is the episode for you ...

• September 29, 2021Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP311 – Top Ten Takeaways for 2021

  This episode we're sharing the key things that have moved our writing careers, and creativity, forward so far in 2021. It's a typical "SPA Girls on the couch" episode with some raw honesty and bad humor thrown into the mix. We cover a lot of ground, so grab a cuppa and get comfortable.

• September 22, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP310 – The Power Of Clever Copywriting with Jacob McMillen

  We often struggle with what to write in our newsletters and social media posts in a way that's authentic and reaches the right readers. And then there's the copywriting skill needed for our book blurbs and advertising. So we're thrilled to have an expert in the SPA today!

• September 15, 2021Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls – EP309 – Writing trilogies in successful settings with Jayne Castel

  Today we talk about writing successful trilogies, and successful settings with award-winning epic Historical Fantasy and Fantasy Romance author Jayne Castel.

• September 8, 2021Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP308 – Interview with Virginia Milner from Kindle Vella

  If you've been considering taking the plunge into Amazon's new serials platform, Kindle Vella (and yes, Wendy asked if they'd named it after her), then this is the episode for you! We talked to Virginia Milner, the principal product manager for Kindle Direct Publishing, and leader of the Kindle Vella project, all about the new platform. She explained how Kindle Vella - which launched in July 2021 to readers - works, how authors are already using it to their advantage, and the possible ways that Kindle Vella could be used by authors in the future to broaden their readership, and sell more books.  It was an awesome episode, and we really enjoyed having Virginia on the show to explain it all first hand!

• September 1, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP307 – Step Up Your Marketing Strategy with Roseanne Cheng (Pt 2)

  From Pinterest to Amazon Ads, Roseanne is back in the second part of our extended interview to help you step up your marketing!

• August 25, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP306 – Finding Joy In Book Marketing with Roseanne Cheng

  How do you decide what to do when people tell you to "Do All The Things"?! When the hustle is just too much, Roseanne has guidance for what works and what doesn't.

• August 18, 2021Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP305 – Talking Police Equipment For Fiction Authors

  We talk to Veteran Police Detective Adam Richardson about Police equipment for fiction authors today. Adam spent seventeen years of his almost 25-year law enforcement career as a detective.

• August 12, 2021Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP304 – Interview with Rachael Herron

  International bestselling author Rachael Herron joins us in the SPA today to talk to us about her writing journey, how she has created a career with multiple genres, how she deals with procrastination and blocks in her writing, and the main differences she sees between having books traditionally published and being an indie. It's an awesome interview, and we loved having Rachael in the SPA! 

• August 3, 2021Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP303 Cleansing Your Writing Palate

  Are you bored, or disheartened, with your writing? Many of us hit the wall of blahhsss or burnout. When persevering and grinding through it just doesn’t work, sometimes you really need to shake things up. From writing in a completely different genre, to rekindling your creative spark, we discuss how to cleanse your writing palate. Soon you'll be moving from the wahs to the wahoos!

• July 27, 2021Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP302 – Writing Cozy Mysteries with Nancy J. Cohen

  If you’ve wondered whether writing a cozy is for you, then this episode will answer that question! Alongside her fiction, Nancy has also written the acclaimed “how to” for cozies “Writing The Cozy Mystery”, so we’re thrilled she agreed to give us the scoop on all things cozy.

• July 21, 2021Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP301 – 50 Shades Of Writing: Does Size Matter?

  Conventional wisdom says 'bigger is better' for books, but is that really true? In this episode, we discuss what different word counts and book sizes mean for successful publishers today, how you can use different sizes to your advantage, and how to find your sweet spot. The Right Size isn't a black and white thing - in fact, there are 50 shades of writing (size) to embrace!

• July 14, 2021Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP300 – Pride and Perseverance

  Join Shar, Wendy, Cher and Trudi for the 300th EPISODE of the SPA Girls Podcast! EEEEEEKKKKK!!!!! Can you believe it? It's been a crazy ride, but we've loved every minute of it. :) In this episode we talk about having pride in your work and being proud of everything you've achieved, and then how to persevere in the face of all the odds! This is a fun episode where we open up about some of the things we've been through over the last six years, and give our best advice for anyone looking to self publish! 

• July 7, 2021Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP299 – Book Marketing On A Shoestring

  Marketing doesn't have to be Big Bucks spent on advertising. In fact, some of the best marketing you can do is free or low cost. If you're just starting out there probably isn't much left in the budget for paid marketing. We've been there! In this episode, we've dug deep to find all the tools we used instead of heavy investments—and some we still do.

• June 30, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast- EP298 – Interview with Lucy Lennox: Success with MM Romance

  Lucy saw extraordinary success straight out the gate, from when she first published her MM romance, Borrowing Blue, in November 2016. In fact, by her second month of publishing, Lucy was earning five figures per month! This episode she shares all her incredible writing and business advice for writers of all genres.

• June 23, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP297 – Fallyn Briggs, Writing To Trend V Writing To Market

  Dive into this amazing episode with six-figure author Fallyn Briggs, where she discusses the hot top of writing to trend v writing to market. Fallyn says, "writing to market may have hungry readers, but writing to trend is hitting on a hot button trope, idea, theme, niche, or genre that has VERY voracious readers gobbling up that particular kind of book on a likely more limited time frame. Like Veruca Salt, they want it and they want it NOW."

• June 16, 2021Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP296 – Developing Character Wounds

  In this episode of the SPA Girls Podcast we talk about emotional wounds, and why they're so important in developing your characters, and creating an awesome story! From possible wounds that you could give your characters, to how those wounds will develop the story, and how you can use them to amp up the tension, and create a story that your readers will love - we talk about it all!

• June 8, 2021Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP295 – How To Build Your Author Village – with Celeste Barclay

  Celeste Barclay joins us to discuss finding your village and what doing so did for her. Celeste has published an incredible 27 books since 2017 primarily in historical romance. Celeste says her author village "made her career" and today she talks to us about what that means to her, how to find and build your own village, and why it's so important.

• June 2, 2021Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast- EP294 – How To Embrace Change

  This episode we're back "on the couch" with the SPA Girls to discuss tools and resources we've used to cope with the ever changing climate of self-publishing, AND those big life events that we all face at times.

• May 26, 2021Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls – EP293 – Abundance Mindset for Authors with Renee Rose

  You're worth it and your work is worth it. This episode will blow your mind! USA Today Bestselling author Renee Rose is passionate about helping authors and creatives get their mindset dialed to SUCCESS. So many nuggets of creativity and business wisdom in this episode, you'll want to listen more than once.

• May 19, 2021Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP292 – Wide vs Exclusive

  It's a heated debate that occurs regularly in the bars and cafes of self-publishing-land - should you go exclusive to Amazon and get the benefits of Kindle Unlimited, or should you go wide, and get the benefits of being able to upload your books on retailers like Kobo, Apple Books and Nook, as well as Amazon?  There are arguments both ways, and in this episode of the SPA Girls Podcast, we take you through all the pros and cons of both, and try to give you some information that will help you make the decision when the time comes... 

• May 10, 2021Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP291 – 9 Writing Tools We Love!

  We absolutely have more than 9 tools we could recommend because we don’t all use the same ones. Listen to find out which ones we can’t do without and who uses the others and why. Cheryl has a few homemade spreadsheets and tables – no surprises there – which she may be inclined to share. 😉

• May 5, 2021Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP290 – Dealing with Edits and Critiques

  Getting edits and critiques is part of every author's career, but sometimes it can feel worse than getting stung by a wasp on your eyeball. Like directly in the middle of your eyeball. By a really big wasp. Where it would really, really hurt.  So that's what we're talking about this week in the SPA - how our thoughts on critiques have changed over the years, how we deal with the pangs when someone says something mean about our book babies, and why we think you can't afford to go without critiques and edits. 

• April 28, 2021Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP289 – Writing Romantic Comedy with Annika Martin

  Writing bestselling romance with incredible character chemistry is something that NYT Bestseller Annika Martin excels in, and today she joins us in the SPA to give ALL THE TIPS! Annika, who also publishes romantic suspense as Carolyn Crane, has seen incredible success writing two books a year (on average) and publishing wide. This episode, she reveals her plotting and writing process, getting the most "comedy" in her writing, editing tips for deepening characterization, what point of view to choose for best results, cover trends and how she approaches her newsletter and advertising. This is a wonderful discussion, deserving of a long episode, where Annika reveals some absolute nuggets of GOLD that we hadn't heard before. You'll love this one, even if you're not a "funny" writer - trust us!

• April 21, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP288 – TikTok and Instagram with Anne Malcom

  We have a terrible confession to make. We have no idea what we're doing when it comes to Instagram (well, Shar does, but the rest of us have no idea) and TikTok.  So we got in an expert. Someone who could tell us everything we ever wanted to know about how to post on social media to engage with readers and develop a deeper connection. (Because that's what it's about!)  Anne Malcom is an awesome Kiwi author, kicking butt and taking names in the Dark Romance genre. She's also genuine, savvy, and smart and knows all about connecting with readers in an authentic way. Which is why you need to listen to this episode! 

• April 14, 2021Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP287 – Plotting for Pantsers

  Are you one or the other, or something in between? While Trudi is an outright plotter, Cheryl considers herself a hybrid and Wendy is a confirmed pantser. Shar isn’t with us today but we know she’s tried it all! But is this a hard and fast thing? In this episode, you’ll find out when and how we plot and the struggles involved with pantsing. Whatever type of writer you are, remember that no one writes like you and how you write affects your voice and your process. Before you decide what that is is, try all the ways we’ve suggested – you may be surprised!

• April 7, 2021Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP286 – Writers’ Fears

  Resistance. Fear. Procrastination. Avoidance. Most of us writers struggle with these challenges at some point in their career (or day!). This episode we cover everything from the struggle to finish a manuscript through to fear of publishing, and everything in between.

• April 1, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP285 – Interview with Janie Crouch : Launching a romance series

  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.

• March 24, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP284 – Lucy Score talks Reader Groups, Releases and Relationships

  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 her most recent book launch, how she connects to readers and why relationships are such an important part of her very successful Indie career. The best thing about Lucy? She's awesome, genuine, and super smart. We love having her on the show, and we know you'll get a whole bucket load of useful information for your author career in this podcast. Enjoy!

• March 16, 2021Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP283 – Interview with Kaye Kennedy

  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! You don't want to miss this episode!

• March 11, 2021Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast- EP282- Interview with Helen Scheuerer

  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!

• March 3, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP281 – Kindletrends with Nat Connors

  Today we're delighted to welcome fellow Kiwi, Nat Connors. Nat has recently launched KINDLETRENDS (www.kindletrends.com) - the research newsletter for authors so you can find out what's trending immediately in the kindle store in major categories, covering what's trending with new releases, covers, blurbs, keywords and a whole lot more. The SPA Girls have got the scoop on Kindletrends, so listen up! ...

• February 24, 2021Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP280 – Scheduling Like A Superstar

  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 us for another information packed episode... 

• February 17, 2021Mindset, Health & Writing Life, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP279 – Overcoming Technology Barriers

  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 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 THERE! But if we can do this, trust us, YOU can too!

• February 10, 2021Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP278 – 7 Simple Steps To Self-Publishing

  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.

• February 3, 2021Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP277 – Answering Newbie Questions

  How much can you expect to earn when you start self-publishing? What should you publish for guaranteed success? We answer these questions and more in this episode ...

• January 27, 2021Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP276 – Character-centric Plotting with Alexa Rivers

  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 inside your head, this is the episode for you!

• January 20, 2021Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP275 – Read Through on a Series

  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!

• January 13, 2021Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP274 – 5 Golden Guidelines For 2021 Goal Setting

  Have you already listed your goals or resolutions for the upcoming year? Before you start whipping yourself into action, consider your ANSWERS TO THE GOLDEN QUESTIONS FIRST...

• January 6, 2021Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP273 – The One Right Way to Sell Books

  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!

• December 30, 2020Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP272 – How To Believe In Yourself

  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 have, and give you some awesome ways to change your thinking, and learn to believe in yourself and most of all, keep going! 

• December 22, 2020Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP271 – Christmas Roundup 2020

  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 ...

• December 16, 2020Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP270 – From Great Idea to Sellable Story

  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! Don't forget to visit us on facebook and let us know which story you think we should write!

• December 9, 2020Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP269 – What To Do When You Run Out Of Steam

  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?

• December 2, 2020Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP268 – How to Use Bonus Content to Sell Books

  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, prequel novellas and everything in between! We talk about what's worked, what hasn't, and what we think is the best option, no matter where you are in your writing career...

• November 25, 2020Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP267 – Get Your First Book Right

  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, what kind of characters readers love and much more in this overview of how to make sure the first book in your series is awesome and automatically sells the next book in your series to your readers! 

• November 18, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP266 – Nail Your Keywords With Dave Chesson

  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 ...

• November 11, 2020Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP265 – Reader Groups

  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.

• November 4, 2020Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP264 – Insider Writing Secrets

  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, they go deep on some of those writing secrets that will take you from average to amazing!

• October 28, 2020Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP263 – Listener Questions: Motivation, Time Management, Local Market

  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 our Facebook page or comment on this post.  Keen to join the SPA Girls in a live workshop? Join our mailing list here and we’ll let you know the minute we have workshop bookings open. https://selfpublishingworkshop.co.nz/index.html Come say hi on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SPAGirlsPodcast/ and Twitter @spagirlspodcast.

• October 21, 2020Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP262 – The Four Tendencies For Writers

  This week's podcast had us (good-naturedly) arguing a wee bit. Shar and Trudi typically were ALL OVER doing Gretchen Rubin's online test to identify which of the four tendencies they identified most closely as. Cheryl, super organized as always, also came to the podcast fully prepped and self-tested.  Then there was our favorite Rebel, Wendy - whose self motivation and discipline continuously inspires us, but who also has no time for our self-help discussions 🤣 Can we crack her? Or will she succumb to peer pressure to do the test? (Or, let's face it, shut us up). 

• October 14, 2020Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP261 – Imposter Syndrome with Amira Alvarez

  Today we're delighted to welcome back mindset coach, Amira Alvarez after such an amazing response to our earlier episode with her. Today, we're taking a deeper dive into Imposter Syndrome - something that a lot of us experience! BONUS - here's how to win a FREE ticket to the Unstoppable (Virtual) Summit in November!

• October 7, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP260 – Interview with Danielle Romero

  This week we have an intriguing chat with author Danielle Romero (Danielle Annett), 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 what kind of social media/website and newsletter presence she wanted to have with the new genre/name. 

• September 30, 2020Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP259 – Email Advertising Lists

  This week we look at the major email advertising sites we use, as well as some of the smaller, and talk about our success, or lack of it, with each. We also talk about how to prepare for advertising during the upcoming holiday season.

• September 23, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP258 – Nail Your Newsletter with Holly Mortimer

  This episode is a DOOZY! We're thrilled to interview author and marketing expert, Holly Mortimer. We talk all things email marketing with Holly, and get you some 'next level' tips that'll have your author newsletter nailed!

• September 16, 2020Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP257 – Juggling Writing & Family Life with Connie B. Dowell

  Today we're going to talk with author Connie Dowell about juggling family responsibilities, pandemic postponements, and upheaval, with the responsibilities of being a working writer.

• September 9, 2020Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP256 – Self Publishing Versus Traditional Publishing

  In response to a listener question, this week we attempt to answer the question: Knowing what you know now, if you were starting out in publishing today, would you go straight to self publishing, or would you try out traditional publishing first? It's a hard question, because we're not starting out now, we do know an awful lot more than we did when we first started and when we started (7-8 years ago) everything was different. And also, we all clearly believe in self publishing over traditional...! But... in the interests of helping our listeners make these kinds of decisions, we decided to give you the pros and cons of traditional vs self publishing. It's a little skewed, we admit that. But we did our best... :) So join us for another great episode!!

• September 2, 2020Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP255 – Newsletter Strategies

  This episode we discuss our (very!) different newsletter strategies: what provider we use and why, how we build our lists, our content, how frequently we email subscribers and what tips have worked for us.

• August 26, 2020Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP254 – Interview with Tamsin Ley

  Today we're joined by fabulous Alaskan author, Tamsin Ley, who is seeing great success writing SciFi Romance! We talk about Tamsin's writing journey, marketing strategies, paranormal romance quirks and her advice for self-publishers.

• August 18, 2020Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP253 – Maximize Your Mindset with Amira Alvarez

  Amira Alvarez is the founder and CEO of The Unstoppable Woman, a global coaching company helping entrepreneurs, empire builders, athletes, creatives, and rising stars in all fields achieve their dreams and goals in record time. Today we're going to talk to Amira specifically on how we can find focus in this chaotic time, and be productive without burning ourselves out.

• August 12, 2020Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP252 – Uncomplicate Your Publishing

  One thing we really believe in here at the SPA is that simple is better. There's so much noise on the internet, and so many different things that we're told that we "have" to do to be successful as self publishers, it can get confusing and overwhelming. So we decided to talk about ways to keep things simple in your publishing career, to prove that it doesn't have to be complicated to be amazing. With that in mind, this week we talk about our own experiences of keeping things simple, and how it worked out for us. We also give our tips on ways that you can simplify what you're doing, whilst also amplifying your career...

• August 5, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – Ep251 – Alana Terry, Facebook Ads for Authors

  Alana Terry is a 6-figure, USA Today bestseller with more than forty published Christian suspense novels. She hosts the Successful Writer Podcast which is a  fabulous marketing-focused podcast for indie authors of any genre. Alana has also created several highly regarded courses to help authors reach their dreams of achieving creative and commercial success. Today we're going to talk with Alana about how she uses advertising to grow her readership and how authors can navigate the sometimes confusing waters of Amazon ads and Facebook ads!

• July 29, 2020Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP250 – Celebrating 250 shows!

  Celebrating our 250th Episode! We go right back to our first episode (don't worry, we won't replay it), discuss the ONE piece of advice we'd give to new self-publishers, and talk about what we've learned / what's changed, over the years.

• July 22, 2020Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP 249 – Interview with Story Coach Lisa Cron

  Having trouble getting to 'the end' of your work in progress then this is the podcast for you! Lisa Cron is a story coach and the author of Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers From the Very First Sentence and Story Genius: How To Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages that Go Nowhere) both published by Ten Speed Press.

• July 15, 2020Mindset, Health & Writing Life, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP248 – Dealing With Limiting Beliefs

  We're on the couch again this week! We're talking about our limiting beliefs and how we're tackling them.  If you're not sure if you've got a limiting belief... we're pretty sure you do. Probably more than one. It's a belief that's holding you back, and it's the kind of thought pattern that you definitely want to bring out into the open, so you know it's there, and can work on ways to change or amend it. That's why we decided to talk about how we've recognised our own limiting beliefs and what we're doing to change them, so that you can look at your own beliefs and decide if any of them are holding you back from your dream publishing career! 

• July 8, 2020Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP247 – What Advertising Is Working For Us

  This week we discuss what advertising is actually working for our romance, urban fantasy and cozy mystery books. From facebook to series promotions, we've picked up some helpfully tips and strategies for getting the most bang of your advertising buck! Click READ MORE to see our full notes and examples of Wendy's entire series rebranding!

• July 1, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP246 – Chirp Audiobooks Promotion

  The delightful Carlyn Robertson from Bookbub returns to the SPA today to talk all things Chirp and audiobook promotion!

• June 24, 2020Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP 245 – Interview with Urban Fantasy author Keri Arthur

  In this podcast, we speak to the wonderfully talented and successful Urban Fantasy author Keri Arthur. She talks to us about transitioning from traditional publishing to self-publishing and shares tips and processes from her writing journey.

• June 18, 2020Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP244 – Alex Newton From K-lytics

  Knowing as much as you can about your category, genre or sub-genre is vitally important if you're going to succeed as a self publisher, and Alex Newton is keen to help you with that. He's the creator of K-lytics (www.k-lytics.com) a website where you can get in-depth reports on various genres and sub-genres on Amazon that will help you find your niche, boost sales in your chosen genre, and basically give you the information you need to stand out in this crowded publishing space. In this episode Alex explains the reports and how to use them, talks about the Amazon environment and how it works, and also dishes the dirt on the romance genre, giving us some helpful tips along the way! This is a must listen episode!

• June 10, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP243 – Interview with Ines Johnson (Part Two) : Seven Screenwriting Secrets for Authors

  Ines is back to give us great advice for incorporating screenwriting techniques to make our writing stronger and improve read through!

• June 3, 2020Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP242 – Interview with Ines Johnson (Part One) : Pen Names & Productivity

  This is a special two-part series with the awesome Ines Johnson, a highly successful indie author who has an extensive background in television writing, media production and college education. In this episode (Part one), we cover Pen Names and Productivity...

• May 27, 2020Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP241 – Power Words

  In this episode we talk about power words: those TAKE ACTION words you use in your ads, your blurbs and your writing to get readers to take action - ie BUY your book /READ MORE.

• May 20, 2020Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP240 – BETA Readers, ARCs and Reviews

  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. 

• May 13, 2020Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP239 – How to Be Creative When You Don’t Feel Like It

  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.

• May 6, 2020Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP238 – Simple Marketing You Can Do Right Now

  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.

• April 29, 2020Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP237 – Deep Editing For Beginners

  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.

• April 22, 2020Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP236 – Wellness for Writers at Home

  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! We talk with osteopath Freya Scollay about how to keep active in difficult times, 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!

• April 15, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP235 – Interview with Alessandra Torre

  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, Alessandra explains why.

• April 8, 2020Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP234 – How To Write When Your Schedule Is Disrupted

  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.

• April 1, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP233 – Ricci Wolman, Written Word Media

  We're joined by the awesome Ricci Wolman, founder of Written Word Media today. A marketing-tip-filled episode that covers how authors can best use promotions companies/mailing lists to boost their brand and their sales.

• March 25, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP232 – Interview with Lucy Score

  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!"

• March 18, 2020Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – Ep 231 – What And Where To Post On Social Media

  IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND WHY YOU'RE POSTING ON SM:  Have a specific goal, and know why you want to achieve it. Just doing it because everyone else is doing it is a terrible reason. You won't be motivated to continue and you won't know what kind of content to put up, and you won't achieve anything.  Listen to this podcast, www.spagirlspodcast.com, where we give you some ideas and explain what platforms are available and what their focus is.

• March 11, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP230 – Interview with Cora Seton: The Organised Author

  This week, we are absolutely delighted to talk with romance author and superstar, Cora Seton, about writing organisation, branding, mindset and having a stellar strategy. We had the privilege of hearing Cora speak at last year’s Romance Author Mastermind, and we knew immediately she was someone we desperately wanted on our podcast and to share her wisdom with you, our listeners.

• March 4, 2020Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP229 – How To Write Great Description

  How can we write great description without it sounding cliched, over-written or just plain boring? Listen up and we’ll share all our best description writing tips from ourselves and from some great writing teachers. We’ve compiled extensive notes to give you ideas on how to use description effectively in your writing, without overwhelming or underwhelming your readers (or yourself!) …

• February 26, 2020Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP228 – Interview with Elana Johnson – PART TWO

  In this second episode with bestselling author Elana Johnson, she gives us all the juicy details of how she has created her bestselling career...  From the new release strategies that she uses, to the kind of advertising she does, and even the right mindset for being successful - Elana talks about it all.  She talks openly about her career, tells us about the mistakes as well as the successes, and gives us all the details on how she managed to have her first 100K month in January 2020.  This is another amazing episode with a talented and hardworking indie author! 

• February 19, 2020Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – Ep 227 – Elana Johnson Part One – Productivity

  Ever wondered how you could get more writing time in your day? Today in the SPA, we talk to uber-productive USA Today bestselling author Elana Johnson, about what she does to get her writing goals completed. She writes adult contemporary beach romance and christian cowboy romance under two different pen names and is currently publishing at least one book a month. And just so you know that her work ethic is paying off... in January 2020 Elana hit a 6 figure month for the first time. Join us for another excellent interview with a top indie author!

• February 12, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP226 – Romance Your Brand with Zoe York

  We are delighted to welcome back NYT and USA Today bestselling romance author, Zoe York. Zoe is not only a fabulous writer, but she's a marketing whizz who talks to us today about building a marketable genre fiction series.

• February 4, 2020Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP225 – Amazon Decoded with David Gaughran

  Is Amazon just one big mystery that you're struggling to unravel? Then this is the podcast for you! David Gaughran gives us some tips and advice from his soon to be released non-fiction book, AMAZON DECODED.

• January 29, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP224 – Amazing Covers with Rebekah Haskell

  Are you about to get your cover organised? Or is there something wrong with the cover you currently have?  This is a must listen episode for all authors, but especially for anyone who's struggling with their covers.  Rebekah Haskell is an illustrator and cover designer who has been doing graphic design since she was a kid. She was on the covers panel at 20Books Vegas 2019, and definitely knows what she's talking about. She's got some amazing insights into covers, and how to make sure your covers are the best they can possibly be. Learn how to figure out the best cover for your genre, how to work with designers and what your cover needs to be doing for you.  I took copious notes, and we all learned something new about covers! 

• January 21, 2020Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP223 – What’s Your Word?

  We love the idea of visualising a word to describe how you’ll be in 2020. What difference could a word make? The answer is, it won’t unless you put it into play every day. If it’s a word that speaks to you, then make the most of it. Use it. Journal about it. Post it somewhere you can see it. Put it in your phone and calendar. You can find out our words and what we intend to do with them in this week’s episode of the SPA Girls Podcast.

• January 15, 2020Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP222 – Write It Down, Make It Happen

  Are you ready to make 2020 YOUR year?! This week we talk about the importance of physically writing down your goals to make them happen. Wendy is a perfect example of the power of writing them down: inspired by a workshop from Debbie Macomber, she's managed to check off every single goal she wrote down for 2007! Listen how she did it...

• January 8, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP221 – Reviving Your Backlist With Laurelin Paige

  This week we talk with NYT Bestseller and marketing superstar, Laurelin Paige, about how we can revive and reinvigorate our backlists. Even if you're still building your publishing empire, this is a must-listen for Laurelin's marketing genius! Click read more for our show notes with Top Tips!

• January 1, 2020Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP220 – Our Goals for 2020

  Happy New Year! This episode is a round-up of the goals and visions that we, the SPA Girls, have for 2020. It's gonna be a big year! It's the year of opening ourselves up to all the opportunities out there, being efficient, and focusing on the daily wins. We talk about having the right mindset for achieving your goals, how we're going to make everything happen for us, and how you can make it happen for you too!

• December 25, 2019Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – Episode 219 – Christmas and Our Favourite Guests of 2019

  Let’s clear the air! All our lovely guests are special and they resonate in different ways with each of us. But, if we had to choose . . . Here they are, the ones who made us really think about what we do. The ones who push us to do better. And the ones who inspire us. We thank them all. And thank you for being here and giving us an added encouragement to do this thing we love. Merry Christmas!

• December 18, 2019Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity

  Spa Girls Podcast – EP218 – Our 2019 Hits & Misses

  This week's episode is a Spa Girls retrospective of how our 2019 went - what our two big Hits were, and what we found challenging. As usual, we get deep and personal. And cheeky!

• December 11, 2019Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP217 – All About BookBrush

  Today we interview Kathleen Sweeney, Customer Services Manager and Marketing Lead at BrookBrush, an online platform designed to help authors with all their image creation needs. Kathleen helps us delve into what we as writers can get out of BookBrush, and all the features that we can use to create amazing social media and advertising images. She explains the platform, how it works, what options are available and some of her favourite tips to create the right images for your needs. Kathleen also tells us they're always evolving and working on new and exciting things to help us create those wonderful graphics. "As someone who can be at times technologically challenged, I find BookBrush easy to navigate and am always pleasantly surprised at the quality of the graphics I'm able to produce in a short space of time." - Wendy xx

• December 4, 2019Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP216 – Sharpen Up Your Author Career

  It's that time of year when we start looking back on the year, wondering how it all flew by so fast, and thinking about what we can do for the coming year.  This week we're talking about another lesson we learned at the Romance Author Mastermind (RAM) - making sure that you've crossed the t's and dotted the i's on all areas in your author career, from your backlist to your website and everywhere in between. It's about making sure everything is as tight and sharp as you can make it, and it turns out that it's a vital part of your business. If you want to learn how to sharpen up your author career, this is a must listen episode! 

• November 27, 2019Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP215 – Taking Risks and Being Brave

  If you're anything like the rest of us in the SPA, you're quite happy in your writing cave. You don't really want to leave the comfort of your keyboard. But this episode is all about why you really should take risks, be brave, and learn how to say yes to some of the really scary things in the self publishing industry. We're just recently back from the wonderful Romance Author Mastermind conference put on by Skye Warren, so we use examples from information we learned at this amazing event to help us illustrate our points for this podcast. Another episode full of tips and tidbits that will help your self publishing career!

• November 21, 2019Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP214 – Interview with Lindsay Buroker

  I (Trudi Jaye) was VERY EXCITED to get to interview super-successful fantasy author and fellow podcaster Lindsay Buroker at 20BooksVegas, and (OMG!!) she didn't disappoint. Lindsay's doing really well in the genres of Fantasy, Sci-Fi Romance, Fantasy Romance, and is about to publish a new Urban Fantasy series next year - so she talks about how she makes writing in multiple genres work so well for her career, how and why she switches between fantasy to sci-fi and, of course, how she's so productive.  Even if you're not like me and a total fangirl, this is a must-listen episode from a super-smart self-publishing author.

• November 13, 2019Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP213 – Small Changes, Big Results With Bryan Cohen

  This episode we talk with author, podcaster and coach Bryan Cohen about making small changes that can add up to big results for authors.  We talk about why authors often overlook making small changes and how they can be just as important as big ones. We also discuss some of the most common tweaks that Bryan sees authors making that have made a difference to their success.

• November 6, 2019Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP212 – Writing Great Characters

  We all love it when we're reading and we fall in love with a character. Not just in the book boyfriend way - although that's cool too - but in a isn't-she-so-great-I-wish-I-could-be-just-like-her-or-maybe-just-her-best-friend way.  As an author, how do you make that happen for your readers?  That's what we're talking about this week in the SPA. What makes a great character? How do we make them so memorable that our readers keep coming back for more? What do you need to know about them before you start? And how do you bring them to life on the page?   Join us as we dissect everything you might ever need to know about writing great characters! 

• October 31, 2019Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP211 – Self Care Isn’t Selfish

  If you don’t take care of yourself, odds are no one else will. So what does it take to make sure you’re firing on all cylinders? We’ve all got our own take on self-care and yet there are plenty of similarities. This episode we talk about the ways that we take care of ourselves, and what you can do to make sure you're doing the same!

• October 23, 2019Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP210 – Slow & Steady to Six Figures with Serenity Woods

  Serenity Woods is a New Zealand self-publishing superstar with more than 70 books published (both traditionally and indie). She's a USA Today bestselling author of sexy contemporary romances, most of which are set in the sub-tropical Northland of New Zealand, where she lives. Serenity joins the SPA Girls again this week to discuss her publishing strategy and the road to six figures - hint, it's a marathon, not a sprint!

• October 15, 2019Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP209 – Editing with Anne Victory

  Confused about the editing process? Today we talk with talented editor Anne Victory, founder of Victory Editing. Anne has always been a stickler for grammar, and at every job she was “volunteered” (or volun-told) to either write or proofread everything from menus to game manuals to advertising copy. That business writing and editing experience came in handy when she started to work in fiction. She enjoys reading, and polishing the written word. Common wisdom says do what you love and you’ll live a long and happy life. With her background in English literature, grammar, and library science, it was a fairly easy decision to work with authors. We discuss what it takes to work with an editor. What you need to think about when you are editing your manuscript and much more.

• October 8, 2019Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP208 – Writing to Market Versus Writing To Trend

  What does 'writing to trend' mean? Isn't it just the same as 'writing to market'?  In the SPA, we say NO, they're not the same...and here's why: basically, Shar told us so.  :)  In this episode we explore the two terms, look at the differences between them, what they both mean for you as an author, and how you can use writing to market and writing to trend to help your writing career.  If you've ever wondered if writing to market was for you, or thought you'd spotted a trend early, this is the episode for you! 

• October 2, 2019Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP207 – Meeting Reader Expectations

  Ah, readers... They're elusive. Magical. Confusing.  But we all want them.  This episode, we break down the topic of reader expectations, discussing what they are, what it means for you the author, and how to make sure you are fulfilling your readers' expectations.   Why do readers love certain books? What makes them pick one book over another? And more importantly, how do you make sure your book is the one that readers gravitate towards...?  It's all covered in this week's episode of the SPA Girls Podcast! 

• September 25, 2019Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP206 – Interview with Chris Fox: Ads For Authors Who Hate Maths

  This week we have the pleasure of talking with Chris Fox, author of 20+ SFF novels and very popular non-fiction books for writers including his latest, Ads For Authors Who Hate Math. In this episode we talk about how to run your ads in 30 minutes a day; how to run profitable advertising campaigns using a simple aggregate sales model; and how not to stress out over figuring out your read-through and cost per click numbers.

• September 18, 2019Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP205 – Why Is My Series Not Selling?

  Are your sales getting you down?  Do you wish your series was selling better?  Can you resuscitate it or is it DOA? This episode we talk through some of the possible reasons that your book or series might not be selling.  From cover, editing and blurb writing, to content, tropes, meeting reader expectations, and much, much more.  We attempt to help you troubleshoot what might be wrong, and what you can do to amp it up, make it work, and sell more books! 

• September 11, 2019Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP204 – Snappy Beginnings With Amy Andrews

  Ever been in a bookstore and opened a book to read the first couple of pages? (Or clicked the look inside on Amazon?) Ever put the book back, deciding it wasn't that interesting?  Yep, we have too.  And that's exactly what we talk to Australian romantic comedy author Amy Andrews about this week. She takes us through the concept of first pages, and how to make sure readers not only pick up your book, but find they can't put it down again (until they've reached the end!).  Should you start with dialogue? What words should you cull? Exactly what are readers looking for? Find out the answers to these questions and many more in this episode of the SPA Girls Podcast! 

• September 4, 2019Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls – EP203 – How to Fail to Succeed

  Do you feel like your writing career is filled with mistakes? Failures? Problems?  Good! That means you're putting yourself out there, trying new things, and moving in a positive direction in your writing career. If you're not doing any of the above...start right now!  Why, you ask, in horror?  Because having a pile of failures next to your name means that you're getting out there and doing things in your author business. If you talk to the most successful entrepreneurs in the world, they'll all tell you stories of the times they failed, the businesses that didn't quite go as expected, and the problems they had to overcome. And that's okay, because learning how to fail is integral to succeeding. It teaches us resilience, determination, and persistence. It shows us that we're human, and that it's okay to make mistakes, as long as we keep going.  On the flip side, if you aren't doing anything, you won't fail. Guaranteed.  Which would you prefer? 

• August 28, 2019Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP202 – Bookbub Ads With Melissa Storm

  If you've been thinking about trying out Bookbub ads, then this is the episode for you!  Melissa Storm was at the RWNZ conference in Christchurch with us, and we stole her away and made her tell us all about Bookbub ads just for you, our lovely listeners...  From what Bookbub ads actually are, to what you'll need to set one up, and all the tips and tricks in between, Melissa gives us everything you'll need to be successful.  Don't miss this episode, it's a doozy! 

• August 21, 2019Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP201 – How To Avoid Saggy Middles

  We've all had experience with saggy middles... (And no, we're not talking about our stomachs...) Have you ever gotten to the middle of your manuscript and wondered what on earth you're doing? Do you end up cleaning the whole house instead of getting back to your daily word count? Does it feel like you're typing through concrete, and you couldn't concentrate on getting more words down for the life of you? This is the episode for you!  We talk about the middle of our books, what they should have in them, and how you can get over that terrible saggy story that sometimes emerges. We also discuss getting over your blocks, fixing what might be wrong, and how to set yourself up for success. This episode is all about how to survive when you've moved past the exciting beginning, and are still miles from that thrilling ending... 

• August 14, 2019Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP200 – What We’ve Learned From Our Amazing Guests

  Here it is. Our 200th Episode! Yay! Who'd have thought that we'd ever make it this far?? First of all, we'd like to say thank you to everyone who listens to the show, we appreciate you all! It's been an amazing few years, and we've loved every minute of it. This week is a celebration episode, where we look back over those 200 episodes, and talk about the common traits of all the successful self publishers we've spoken to. From the humbleness of Bella Andre and the flexible nature of Serena Woods, to the smart work ethic of Skye Warren and the focus of Kathryn Le Veque, we cover it all. We will give you the ultimate list of self publishing traits that will help you rise to the top of the Indie pile! Don't miss it!

• August 7, 2019Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP199 – Interview with Adam Croft

  Want to hear how a world-wide bestselling author got to where he is today?  Join us as we talk to UK crime novelist Adam Croft about his writing career, including how he generates his ideas, how he writes, and how he creates those amazing hooks that he's so well known for. (No, really, would you murder your wife to save your daughter? And what would happen if you were married to a serial killer?)  He also discusses the mindset shift he had to have before he could become a bestselling author and why he believes the best way to be successful as an Indie is by having a long term, organic, business-minded view of publishing.  We loved talking to him for his sensible, rational view of publishing, and also for his smooth British accent...and you will too! 

• July 31, 2019Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP198 – Find Your Sparkle With Julie Schooler

  Has your sparkle gone soggy?  Are you wondering why you're not happier?  Have you lost your creativity?  Then this is the episode for you! We talk to fellow Kiwi author, Julie Schooler, about how to find your sparkle, and wake up happier!  Many of us have lost the ability to dream big. We're dealing with problems at every turn. It's actually harder to be happy than it is to be sad. So in this episode, Julie gives us a whole bunch of really cool ways to actively be happy and turn our lives around.  In fact, she gave us so many great ideas on how to tap into our creativity and imagination by becoming happier, that our minds were blown. In the kindest way possible, we hope yours are too!  

• July 25, 2019Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP197 – Hack Your Muse With Kelly McClymer

  This week we talk to Kelly McClymer about "Hacking Your Muse", or how to convince yourself to sit down and write when you don't seem to be able to do it…  We all give ourselves excuses for why we can't write, and Kelly breaks down the thoughts we have around writing, and how to change them so we can more easily get into the chair and write. She talks through why she used to sabotage herself, and how she learned to change that around, and get more words. If you're someone who struggles to write, despite loving it when you do, this is the episode for you!

• July 16, 2019Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP196 – Public Speaking for Authors

  Terrified of public speaking?  Don't know what to say on Facebook Live?  Wondering how to keep your cool in that podcast interview? This is the episode for you!  Public speaking for authors is about more than just talking in front of fans at your local bookstore. These days we're also expected to do online speaking such as Facebook Live events, videos for our newsletter, podcast interviews, and YouTube discussions.  Our guest today has ALL THE TIPS for any kind of public speaking you may have to do as an author! Alena Van Arendonk is an actor, speaker, writer, costumer, and expert cosplayer who was a guest at Geysercon this year. She's been public speaking since she was a teenager doing debates, and has a whole range of advice for authors who are thinking of public speaking, but are terrified of it! Turns out it's more than just learning not to be scared. It's about posture, preparation, and practice! Listen to the episode to find out more about how you can dial up your next speaking engagement to rockstar level...

• July 9, 2019Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP195 – The Magic Pill For Authors

  We all want a magic wand to be waved over us, or to swallow a pill and instantly be amazing authors. But that's just not possible. Learning to write takes time and hard work. There's no way around it. This week's guest, fantasy author Laura Van Arendonk-Baugh, talks about our expectations as authors, and why we think we're going to be amazing right from the moment we first pick up a pen (or put fingers to the keyboard). And she should know. She's a behavioural scientist who works with problem animals and she loves to break down and assess the how and why of our behaviour. She talks about why we expect so much of ourselves, how society views talent versus skill, and gives some mind-blowing tips on how to trick your brain into doing exactly what you want, i.e. get the writing done! She also talks about how to deal with things like fear of failure, our writing not being as good as we want it to be, and how to keep going despite the barriers we put up.

• July 3, 2019Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP194 – A Day In The Life Of A Writer

  Ever wondered how the SPA Girls spend their days?  Imagining champagne and caviar at fancy hotels?  This is the episode where you find out for sure...  We talk through how we spend our days; from when we get up, how many hours we work, how many words we write, and how much marketing we do. We talk about our distractions, how we structure our days and the challenges of working from home.  Before you ask, this was a reader question, so we're not just doing it because we like to talk about ourselves... :) 

• June 26, 2019Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP193 – Keeping It Simple

  There's so much advice out there in Self-Publishing-Land. We're told you have to do this, and you have to do that, and you have to do the next thing to be a success in self publishing.  There's so much conflicting advice that it can actually do your head in...  This week, we go through some of the things that you can do to keep your self publishing career on track. How to keep it simple and not get caught up in ALL THE THINGS...  Keeping it simple is about not sweating the little things, keeping yourself focused on the writing, and getting the book finished! 

• June 18, 2019Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP192 – Seven-Figure Success With Skye Warren – Part 2

  This is the second episode in the interview series with bestselling author and Facebook guru, Skye Warren. Skye has had a fascinating author journey, and in this second episode she talks to us about the changes she had to make with regards to her mindset before she could become successful as an author. If you've ever said that you can't do something that you know you need to do for your career, then you have to listen to this episode (and you probably need to have a look at your mindset, and what you're subconsciously telling yourself). And finally, she talks about Facebook Ads, and gives us some tips on how to make our own ads successful.

• June 12, 2019Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP191 – Seven-Figure Success With Skye Warren

  Ever thought that if only you had more time in your day, you'd be successful? Rich? How you'd get all your writing done?  Well, this is the podcast for you!  When romance author Skye Warren went from being able to work all hours of the day to only being able to manage two hours every day, she had to figure out how to keep money from her writing coming in. And fast. She had a mortgage and other bills to pay.  What she learned was that by focusing her efforts, she was able to concentrate on the small percentage of actions that made her the most money - writing and facebook ads.  This is the story of how Skye went from struggling to earn five figures while working all day, to earning over a million dollars a year working only four hours a day.  This is part one of two parts you don't want to miss! 

• June 4, 2019Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP190 – Dictation With Scott Baker

  Are your wrists giving you problems? Thinking you need to get out and walk more?  But still have to write all those books??  Then this episode is for you... We talk to dictation expert Scott Baker about all aspects of dictation, from the right software to get, the products and technical knowledge you need to get started, and how to train that dragon to within an inch of its life!!  Scott talks to us about everything from how to set up the dictation equipment correctly, the different ways you can dictate and how to make it as accurate as possible.  He's hugely knowledgeable, and is very generous with his information, so if you've ever wondered about dictation, or are considering getting it set up (or even tried and couldn't get it to work properly!) then make sure you listen to this episode!  

• May 29, 2019Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP189 – Pantsing with Patricia McLinn

  If you're a writer who hates to outline, you'll love this week's podcast! We talk to Patricia McLinn, a mystery and romance author who is also a pantser who writes out of sequence. She's here to tell you that it doesn't matter how you write it, as long as it comes together in the end! Patricia worked at the Washington Post for more than 20 years, is a past president of NINC, and has published more than 50 novels (at least that's how many we could count on her website...) so she's an experienced writer and editor who knows what she's talking about. She talks about how she writes first and subsequent drafts, her techniques for ensuring she has the right structure, and how her characters talk to her until she writes their stories... Are you worried that you can't outline, and that you're not following the latest advice on how to write faster, better or smarter? Join us to hear Patricia's take on how to succeed as someone who writes by the seat of their pants and still keeps producing many, many books.

• May 22, 2019Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP188 – Cozy Mysteries With Morgana Best

  Morgana Best is the best-selling author of over 40 Cozy Mysteries, and she joins us in the SPA to tell us everything she knows about writing Cozies. From word counts to reader expectations, and even her writing process - which involves using Dragon Dictate, and is totally fascinating - Morgana gives us insider information on how to put together a bestselling Cozy Mystery. She also talks about her daily schedule, her marketing techniques and how she chooses her victims... If you love Cozy Mysteries, or you've ever thought you'd like to write a Cozy Mystery, this is the episode for you!

• May 15, 2019Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP187 – Interview With Forensics Expert Geoff Symon

  Want to figure out how to create the perfect crime for your cozy mystery character to solve?  Or find out how your investigator protagonist would investigate a murder?  Perhaps you just want to find out what investigators look for at a crime scene so you can figure out what to plant at your fictitious scene?  Well, your questions will all be answered during this in-depth chat with Federal Law Enforcement Special Agent, Geoff Symon.  A forensics expert with 20 years of experience, Geoff gave us his expert guidance on crime scenes for authors, giving us the correct language (it's spatter not splatter, people) as well as explaining jargon like 'crime scene integrity' and 'crime scene cross-contamination', and even what an investigator might get wrong when you need them to make mistakes for your story.  He also debunked popular stereotypes, and gave us a behind the scenes glimpse into forensics investigations in the US, all in his charming, personable style...  Another fantastic guest for Mystery May, giving you valuable insight into crimes and the people who solve them.  

• May 8, 2019Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP186 – What Authors Get Wrong About Weapons of Mass Destruction

  Have you ever wondered whether your character would survive holding highly enriched uranium metal in their hand? What about if they'd handled that green goo from the barrel marked with a radiation symbol?  That's the kind of knowledge that you'll get from listening to this hilarious episode of the SPA Girls Podcast. We talk to Natasha Bajema, an expert in national security issues, especially weapons of mass destruction (WMD), nuclear proliferation and emerging technologies. She's worked at cool places like the Pentagon and the National Defence University during her career (and yes, you can find out what she says to security every time they insist on searching her at the Pentagon).  Using examples from television shows like Madam Secretary, House of Cards and Jack Ryan, Natasha talks about how WMD like radiation, biological weapons, and chemical bombs really work, and how authors can avoid making terrible WMD faux pas... 

• May 1, 2019Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP185 – Interview with the Writer’s Detective, Adam Richardson

  It's the start of Mystery May, and we have a doozy to start you off with! The SPA Girls spent time with Adam Richardson, an American cop who helps authors and screenwriters with their crime-fiction questions through his website and podcast called the Writer's Detective Bureau. He knows his stuff - Adam spent seventeen years of his 20+ year law enforcement career as a detective - and he was able to answer all our silly/strange/just-plain-dumb questions about being a cop in the US. We talk about everything from what writers need to know about law enforcement in the US, how the police and sheriff departments' work, how detectives approach a crime scene and deal with witnesses and suspects, and a myriad of other interesting details. Whether you write romance with a mystery subplot, or are a fully fledged suspense or mystery writer, this episode is for you.

• April 24, 2019Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP184 – Keeping The Faith

  Do you have family and friends telling you not to write? Do they tell you that you've got your head in the clouds, and you need to get a real job? Perhaps people ask you how your little hobby is going, like it's not a real career?  Don't let them get you down!  Based on a listener question, this week the SPA Girls talk about how to deal with negativity from the people around you (especially in the beginning when you're starting out) and how to turn it around and stay motivated.  In the beginning, we end up spending large amounts of time essentially working for free, on the hope and dream of making our writing into a career. It takes grit, perseverance, and determination. The last thing you need is someone telling you to give up!  We've all had those conversations; the ones where people who are important to us question our choices when it comes to writing. This episode is all about how we've dealt with those conversations, and how we've managed to turn it around and stay positive, and how you can too. 

• April 17, 2019Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP183 -Facebook Ads with Maria Luis (Part Two)

  Are your Facebook ads as successful as you want them to be? Do you wish you could make the kind of ads you've heard other authors boasting about? This is the episode for you! This week we delve back into Facebook Ads with Amazon Bestselling Author and all around lovely lady Maria Luis... She takes what she talked about last week, and adds to it, giving us the lowdown on how to make an ad convert into sales. Maria is super knowledgeable and informative, and gives us some amazing tips and insider advice on how to create and run successful Facebook Ads. If you've been wondering about Facebook ads, or trying to figure out how to make ads that convert, this is the episode for you!

• April 10, 2019Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP182 – Facebook Ads with Maria Luis (Part One)

  Not sure about how Facebook Ads work? Need to learn the basics? Join the SPA Girls as bestselling author Maria Luis breaks down Facebook Ads for us, from the beginning steps, to how to choose the best images; plus what to do, and what not to do, and everything in between!  This is the first part of a two part series on Facebook Ads from an author who has been successfully running her own ads for the last two years. It features loads of tips and advice for running ads, how to tell if it's a good ad, and how to scale up once you've got an ad that's working for you.  If you've been thinking about trying out Facebook ads, or have previously tried them only to be disappointed, then this is the episode for you! 

• April 3, 2019Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP181 – Learn Dictation With Kilby Blades

  If you've ever thought you'd like to try dictation, this is the episode for you. We talk to award winning indie author Kilby Blades about how she amped up her writing rates by learning dictation.  It's the ultimate skill - being able to use that time in the car, on walks, or even as you're doing the dishes to keep writing.  The SPA Girls were all enthralled as we pumped Kilby for information, and she didn't disappoint! Learn about her methods, her tips and tricks and just what you need to do to become a dictation expert. 

• March 27, 2019Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP180 – Book Descriptions with Brian Meeks

  Ever wondered if your book description could be better? Ever thought it should sell more books? Then this is the episode for you. Brian Meeks, description-writer extraordinaire, talks with us about how to write a kick-ass description that will sell more books, and help amp up your advertising sales. Turns out, it's all about copywriting. And writing the best hooks you possibly can. Lucky for us, Brian takes us through every aspect of writing hooks to help you write your next description. In fact, we get him to do it on the fly, by giving him a description to fix, on air, as we listen.  This is raw, honest, and exciting copywriting at its best, and you can listen in as the master creates a new blurb in less than 30 minutes!

• March 20, 2019Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP179 – Interview with Tara Cremin from Kobo

  This week we talk to Tara Cremin, Author Experience Manager from Kobo Writing Life. It's always great to chat to someone from each of the platforms for the real insider information, and Tara doesn't disappoint! For those of you who've never loaded a book to Kobo, Tara talks us through the process and why you should load direct instead of through one of the other aggregators. She also gives us the down-low on boxed sets, pricing, and promotions through Kobo, and how to make sure you get the best results. Then she talks about some of the exciting new opportunities, including their brand new audiobook service, which is super exciting! "We're just a bunch of book-nerds," was our favourite quote from the interview, and sums up Kobo quite nicely, we think. :)

• March 12, 2019Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP178 – Newsletter Strategies with Larissa Reynolds, Part 2

  What's the one objection you have to overcome to get readers to buy your book? That question is the cliffhanger that Larissa Reynolds left us on in part 1. And now, here it is! The episode where you get to find out the answer... In this second episode about newsletters, Larissa Reynolds talks to us about how to sell your books consistently via your list. She's been writing newsletters for more than 20 years, and says it's about more than just sending regular emails. It's about knowing your readers, and making sure you're approaching them in the right way. She talks to us about how to get the right mindset with regards to your newsletter, how to focus the newsletter in the right direction, and how to ensure you're connecting with your readers so they want to go out and buy your books.

• March 6, 2019Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP177 – Successful Newsletter Strategies with Larissa Reynolds

  Have you been worrying about whether your author newsletter is working as it should? Or perhaps you're wondering if you should even start one? This is the SPA Girls episode for you! Today we're talking to Larissa Reynolds - a marketing guru with years of experience working with authors on their newsletters - about what you need to have in your author newsletter. It can be overwhelming when you first start out, and a newsletter can sometimes seem like a step too far. And while some people swear by them, others say they're a waste of time. So who do you believe? Personally, I believe Larissa. In her calm and measured way, Larissa breaks it down into five simple steps that will ensure your newsletter is going out to the right people, with the right content, at the right time. Perfecto! This is the first episode in a two part series on newsletters, so be sure to listen again next week as well!

• February 27, 2019Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP176 – How to Speak Self Publishing

  Ever listened to someone talking about self publishing and been mystified about what they're actually saying? Maybe understood about one in every three words? It's a common problem, and one we sometimes come across ourselves, as things change in the industry and new jargon hits the streets. Added to that, even if you decide to look it up online, it's sometimes not easy to understand. That's where the SPA Girls come in. This episode we go through all the self publishing jargon we could think of, and explain what it is, and talk a little about why you might need to know each term and how it's useful for you in your Indie career. This episode is packed with great tips around each word, and will hopefully give you an idea of what on earth is going on!

• February 20, 2019Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP175 – How To Make Facebook Work For You

  We often get asked what authors should post on Facebook, and whether it's worthwhile even being on the platform at all. The answer from the SPA is a firm yes, we believe Facebook is a really useful tool for authors, especially in romance. There are many positives to having a presence on the social platform, not least of which is the ability to find and connect with readers and other authors.  So this week we break down the platform and talk about the different areas that are useful to know about as an author, plus give you ideas to use for ongoing content, some etiquette to bear in mind for using Facebook as an author, and ways you can use Facebook to amp up your book sales.

• February 13, 2019Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP174 – How To Write A Regency Romance

  This episode we talk to our very own Wendy Vella about writing Regency romance. Since 2013, Wendy has forged a very successful indie career writing historical and contemporary romance. Her Regencies have been on the Amazon's top seller lists many times and collectively she's sold over one million books to date. Wendy covers how she goes about researching her novels, the advantages of writing in a series and the elements that every aspiring historical romance writer needs to be aware of.

• February 6, 2019Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP173 – How To Identify Your Writing Weaknesses

  Today's episode was inspired by a comment on our podcast website www.SpaGirlsPodcast.com by listener Carron, who asked "...when you're starting out (writing) how do you know what weaknesses to focus on? You don't know what you don’t know. Love to hear an episode on things to work on, or things you ladies have struggled with and how you’ve gone about correcting them."

• January 30, 2019Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP172 – Interview with Dan Wood from Draft2Digital

  The delightful Dan Wood joined us in the SPA today to talk about the Indie distribution channel Draft2Digital. It's an informative hour-long interview with Dan, who attends 20 plus author conferences a year, and has his finger on the pulse of Indie publishing. He not only explains everything that Draft2Digital offers indie authors - from free formatting for your ebooks and Universal book links to audiobooks and print books - he also talks knowledgeably about the industry, gives advice on how to be successful, and offers his thoughts on the future of self publishing.

• January 23, 2019Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP171 – Interview With Serenity Woods

  We are delighted to welcome romance author, Serenity Woods, to the SPA today. Serenity shares her self-publishing journey with us - the highs and the lows - from her modest start with a publishing a novella, to her success selling wide. She also very honestly talks about her decision behind moving to Amazon exclusively and the strategies for maximizing KU sales

• January 15, 2019Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP170 – Get Your Head In The Game

  Are you motivated or disillusioned by all the "end of year earnings" screenshots some authors post? For some of us, it's incredibly inspiring; others find it a distraction or even a bit depressing! There is no "right" answer - the trick is understanding yourself and this week we talk about the things you CAN control and why you should feel super positive about that!

• January 9, 2019Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP169 – 5 Goals You Need To Make In 2019

  Goals! We're all so excited about them at the beginning of January, and then we feel them like chains around our necks by the end of the month. (Well, here in the SPA we do. Maybe you're able to make it into February without feeling like you're never going to make them work...hehe) What we've decided is that instead of overwhelming yourself with ALL THE GOALS, if you set one goal in these five areas, for a shorter period of time (we're suggesting 12 weeks) then you're more likely to make them happen. We go through each of the five areas, and talk about the goals that each of us are setting in each, and give suggestions of goals that you could set as well. This is another information packed episode that will help you set some relevant goals that are going to help you move forward in 2019.

• January 2, 2019Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP168 – 31 Marketing Ideas To Jumpstart Your Year

  This year we decided to begin with something a little different... Instead of the usual "motivational and uplifting" or "beginning of the year goal setting" type show, we thought we'd give you 31 quick and easy marketing ideas that you can do each day to give you a solid start to 2019. It's a great way to show you how little jobs done daily can add up quickly to make something pretty great. You'll be amazed at the results you can achieve from what seems like a tiny daily effort!  You can do each and every one of the 31 ideas that we give you and do one daily in January, or you could pick one of them and do it each day instead.  The important thing is to be doing something each day that will advance your author career. Little steps can help you achieve so much more than you expect!  If you're looking for some ideas for ways to amp up your marketing in 2019, then this is the episode for you. You'll be pleased you made the effort at the end of January, we promise. :) 

• December 25, 2018Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP167 – Scheduling To Save Time

  If you're trying to find a few more minutes in your day for writing, then this episode is for you. We talk about how you can use scheduling to be more productive, free up time and get stuff done.  Each of the SPA Girls uses different kinds of scheduling to make certain repetitive tasks easier and faster, and we share them all for you in this informative episode! 

• December 19, 2018Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP166 – Retrospective Of The Best Of 2018

  Merry Christmas from the SPA Girls! We hope you all have the best of everything this festive season, and that you get to spend the big day with the people you love. (And failing that, some chocolate and a good book.)  In the spirit of giving, we've created an episode full of tips and tricks, advice, with the best of 2018 crammed into one small (ish) episode. (Okay, not so small). Join us for a retrospective of 2018 to find out what we did right, what we did wrong, and how you can learn from us to help you make 2019 the best year yet! 

• December 12, 2018Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP165 – He Said, She Said – Creating Dazzling Dialogue

  Love or hate it, dialogue is an essential element to fiction writing. Done well, dialogue can be very powerful. We know and understand the subtext of dialogue without having to be told, and writers can use this to create amazing scenes and tense moments. Done badly, however, dialogue can kick your readers out of the scene, make them frustrated and ultimately stop reading. So how do you make sure your dialogue sings instead of stinks? Easy peasy! Just listen to this episode... :) Today in the SPA we go through what dialogue is, how to use it to your best advantage, we give you some dialogue techniques, talk about ways you can use dialogue to amp up your scene, and work through some of the do's and don't's for creating dialogue that dances on the rooftops!

• December 5, 2018Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP164 – Talking Reverse Harem with Steffanie Holmes

  We've talked about reverse harem a little bit on the show, but this week we decided to get someone on who knows all about it, so we could pick their brains... Mwahahaha... So we convinced USA Today Bestselling paranormal romance author Steffanie Holmes to come on the show and chat about exactly what reverse harem is, how she came to write reverse harem novels, what you need to know about it, and how she so successfully launched her recent series.  Steff is a very smart author, and she's steeped in the reverse harem world, so not only was she was able to give us heaps of useful information for how to write and launch a reverse harem series, but  also insights into her writing style, her processes and ideas for marketing your books. 

• November 29, 2018Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP163 – Interview With Kelly St Clare

  The delightful USA Today bestselling author Kelly St Clare talks to the SPA Girls this week about how she moved from being a physiotherapist in a busy clinic to her current career as an Amazon bestselling author of young adult fantasy novels.  Kelly was fascinating because as well as all her fantastic tips on writing, time management and marketing, she was also able to give us some great advice on how to stay healthy as an author.  We all had some epiphany moments in this episode, from Kelly's tips on how she improves her craft with every book, how she makes sure that she is proactive and motivated with her writing, and how she monitors the fine line between passion and health to ensure she stays at her best at all times.  Another great interview with a talented, hardworking and super-smart author doing very well on the international stage! 

• November 21, 2018Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP162 – How To Launch Like A Pro

  In response to a few recent questions we've been asked on this topic, we decided to talk through the basics of launch strategies for first-time or early career authors, or for authors starting off a new series or pen name.  It's sometimes difficult to know what you should do when you're launching a new book. We all want to make sure our book babies do as well as they possibly can when we launch, but there's also a whole lot of often contradictory advice out there on the best way to do it.  This episode is about distilling the best of the best launch advice out there for authors, so that you can make the right decisions about your launch strategy. Go forth and conquer! 

• November 15, 2018Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP161 – Cracking Christmas Promo Ideas

  With the holiday season fast approaching, the SPA Girls gathered to talk about their list of 12 Ideas For Christmas Promotion. Between the shopping, the relative wrangling, the wallet-aches and the end-of-year energy slump, it can be hard to manage your author promotion on top of that!  Listen up and we'll (hopefully) ease your stress and you can go into the New Year refreshed and ready to rock your goals! 

• November 7, 2018Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP160 – Wide Versus Exclusive – Which Is Better?

  It's one of the big questions in the Indie author space, and hotly debated by many on either side. This week we talk about the pros and cons of going wide on all publishing platforms versus going exclusive to Amazon. No one seems to have a definitive answer to whether it's better to do one or the other, and it can seem confusing and overwhelming. So the SPA Girls sat down and worked through what it means to go wide on all the publishing platforms, what you'll get from it that you won't get if you're exclusive, and what you'll be missing out on if you're wide - and then we do the same for the decision to go exclusive with Amazon. If you've been worrying over whether you should go wide on all platforms, or go exclusive to Amazon when you publish your next book, this episode will give you the answers you've been looking for.

• October 31, 2018Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP159 – Interview With Kathryn Le Veque

  This is a powerhouse episode! Be warned - it'll inspire you SO much to knuckle down and get to work, you may not come up for air for days! Kathryn is a force of nature whose incredible work ethic has seen her publish her 93rd book this week ( Bay of Fear (Battle Lords of de Velt Book 3) ). She has been self-publishing since 2012 and talks about how she initially launched her career with an incredible number of already-written manuscripts after being rejected by traditional publishers.

• October 24, 2018Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP158 – Some Like It Hot ….Or Not

  This week we put on our flame retardant suits and discuss how to define the heat level of your story – and why it’s important to know. There is no standard or uniform code to heat levels, so writers and readers can face a few challenges: what one reader may consider “hot,” another might consider “mild” or vice versa. With books there’s no certified ratings system a la the movies.  And to further complicate things, if you’re looking at the hybrid route, publishers and agents also have different ideas about what constitutes a certain level of heat. 

• October 17, 2018Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP157 – Interview with Louisa George

  Our fabulous guest this week is award-winning romance author Louisa George. We talk with Louisa about how she balances the demands of being a “hybrid” author, publishing traditionally (Medical Romance and Women’s Fiction with Harlequin Mills & Boon) and self-publishing her romantic comedies.

• October 9, 2018Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP 156 – The Kindness Factor

  This week Wendy, Cheryl and Shar talk about “the Kindness Factor” – how we can achieve more but put less pressure on ourselves. Impossible you say?  As we push ourselves to write more, to learn more and to get up to grips with this self-publishing world, there's often an unwanted side effect: a lot of us are really hard on ourselves and we're not enjoying our writer's life. Research shows that the happier you are, the more productive you are, so with that in mind we have our SPA Girls Top Five Kindness Factor Tips. Read on ...

• October 2, 2018Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP155 – Self Editing for Authors

  This week we talk about self editing, and how to get your manuscript to the highest possible standard before sending it to your professional editor.  Everyone will have a different style, focus and ideas on the best way to do self editing, and it's the kind of thing that's different for different people. No one does it the same, and that's okay.  But as always, we give a load of tips and advice on how we do it, what works and what doesn't, and why we do things the way we do it. 

• September 25, 2018Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP154 – The Power Of Four

  This week we talk about the power of four, or how working and interacting with other authors can amp up your author career.  Using our experiences in the SPA, we talk about how having other writers to talk to, offer support, give advice and ideas, and walk the same path gives you a huge boost.  We've all said that none of us would be as far along in our careers if we didn't have the other SPA Girls. And we don't think we're unique. There are thousands of other groups of writers who are helping and supporting each other.  How can you do this too? Our best advice is to find events and conferences for writers near where you are, and meet other authors in person. With this in mind, we also did an impromptu Top Ten Networking Tips for Introverted Writers, with heaps of suggestions for how you can meet and talk to other authors. 

• September 19, 2018Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP153 – From Cookie Cutter To Kapow: Bringing Your Characters To Life

  Name your favourite character from any book you've ever read. What did you like best about that character? Was it how they acted? Was it their personality, or because they stood up for something they believed in? Those are the kinds of questions you should be asking when you're designing the characters for your next book. This week our topic is how to create characters that your readers will love, and with that in mind we dissect what makes a good character and how you can create characters for your stories that will take your novel to the next level. We delve into what characteristics are important, how to create tension between the hero and heroine using their personalities and flaws, and how you can use your character's traits to move the story forward and follow the arc of the plot. We also talk about how to help your readers to get to know your characters, how to pull them into the story by making them feel like they know your characters really well, and how to make readers cry. (Mawaahahaha....)

• September 12, 2018Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP152 – Interview with Tina Dietz About Audiobooks

  This week we have the fabulous Tina Dietz, an expert in the area of audio, podcasting and audiobooks, who talks to us about the ways we can be using audio in our writing careers.  She gives us the low down on audiobooks, how to get them recorded, how they fit into the marketing of your other book formats, and how to promote/market them to your audience.  She also talks about the expanding audiobook industry and why we should all be considering adding audiobooks to our inventory of books.  Tina gave us some amazing ideas for how to promote audiobooks, or even just using audio to promote your print or ebook versions of your book. She's a very smart marketer, with a strong grasp of the audio market, and this is a must-listen episode for anyone who's thinking of getting into audiobooks, or who already has audiobooks on sale. Or in fact anyone who thinks they could use audio in any way to help with the marketing of their books. :) 

• September 5, 2018Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP151 – Interview With Grace Burrowes

  This week we have the delightful Grace Burrowes on the show, chatting to Cheryl and Wendy about her career, why she started writing, how she stays authentic, and why she uses blogging to connect to readers. A New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author, Grace says she's a recovering child welfare attorney, who for years turned to the reliable HEA of romance novels to balance out the stress in her life as a litigator.  This is a delightful interview with a smart, savvy author who is very open about her writing, her world view, and her career. 

• August 29, 2018Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP150 – Should I Prune My Mailing List?

  The recent kerfuffles with MailerLite raised an interesting point for those of us in the SPA - should we be pruning our mailing lists, and if so, how do we go about doing that?  This week we talk about mailing list health, what it actually means, and how to make sure your mailing list is the best it can be. This includes everything from when to cull people from your list, how to try to re-engage with people who don't seem to be engaging, how to ensure you have the best quality list you can have, and how to increase your email deliverability.  If you're worried about your list, or thinking you might need to cut some people, hopefully this episode will give you something to help you make the changes you need to make. :) 

• August 22, 2018Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP149 – Killer Interview with Damon Suede and Geoff Symon

  This week Wendy and Cher sit down in a fairly noisy cafe with Indie author Damon Suede and his partner, Geoff Symon. The f-bomb went off fairly early in the piece, so if you're offended by swear words... you should still listen, because all the rest of the words out of their mouths are gold... :) Damon published his first novel, Hot Head, in 2011, which has since been named one of 'Top 100 Romance Novels of All Time' on Goodreads. He's currently on the board of directors for Romance Writers of America, and is well known for the way he unbundles characters when writing his books. His partner Geoff Symon is a US federal agent, and has now written three non-fiction books all about how to write forensics for fiction authors. He's full of fantastic information about crime scenes, and because he's lived with a writer all these years, he can translate it in a way that makes sense for authors. Between the two of them, they kept Wendy and Cher on their toes, talking at double speed, and giving off gems of information like they were sand at the beach. From characterisation, to stepping up in the author community, to the best way to write crime scenes - this interview has it all.

• August 15, 2018Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP148 – Interview with Indie Superstar Bella Andre

  Today's interview is a must-listen interview with... Indie Superstar Bella Andre! We were super excited to be able to chat to Bella, who it turns out is the most lovely, down-to-earth person we've interviewed so far, plus being super inspirational. She was in New Zealand for the Romance Writers of New Zealand conference, and we were able to kidnap and interview her about self-publishing, how she made it as an Indie, and her advice for people aiming to follow in her footsteps...  We had such a great time chatting to her, that we tried to adopt her and convince her to move to New Zealand, but she was a little resistant to the idea... :) 

• August 8, 2018Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP147 – Top Ten Traits for Self-Publishing Success

  This week we talk about the top ten traits we believe you need to have to be a successful self-published author.  These include, among other things, having a thick skin, being willing to take risks and staying focused. They're not always easy, and some involve practice and mindfulness, but if you manage to get everything on this list right, we believe you'll be on the road to success.   It might seen weird to talk about stuff like this being super important over things like knowing how to put a book up on Amazon or how to market your book, but in fact a lot of what's involved with being successful in self publishing - in fact in any business - is to do with getting your head straight and your priorities focused.  With this in mind, we give you some tips on how to develop and attain some of these skills and traits, what to do when you fall off the wagon, and how to get around it if you really just can't manage to develop that thick skin... 

• August 1, 2018Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP146 – Interview with Becca Syme on Writing Better Faster

  We had a fantastic guest this week in the form of Becca Syme, Cosy Mystery author, writing coach, teacher of the Write Better-Faster course, and podcaster at the Smarty Pants Marketing podcast.  Becca talks to us about how we can all write better-faster in our writing careers, using our own unique skills to improve your chances of success. It's not about tips and techniques for getting more words per hour - it's about understanding who you are as a writer, your strengths within that, and using those talents in the best way to ensure you are successful.  Aside from the fact the she was great fun, the most important takeaway we had from our conversation with Becca is that you don't have to do everything exactly the same way as other people are doing it to be successful. In fact if it's the wrong methodology for you, then you're more likely to fail and feel bad about it, and that creates the opposite outcome from what you were trying to achieve. If you understand who you are, how you think things through and understand the world, then you can use that to create a system that will work for you and totally kick butt!  She was a fabulous guest and very thought provoking in terms of our own systems and thought processes, and we know you'll feel the same way. 

• July 25, 2018Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP145 – Newsletter Ninja Tammi Labrecque

  This week we're joined by the Newsletter Ninja, Tammi Labrecque (of IndiePubIntensive.com), who talks to us about creating an amazing author newsletter that will help amp up your writing career.  She talks about why every author needs a newsletter, and how to turn the people who sign up for your list into super-fans who will buy every book you write. Tammi also gives us a whole heap of tips on what kind of content to put into your newsletter, how to find the perfect subscribers for your books, and when to cut subscribers from your list.  It's another tip-packed episode that you'll want to listen to carefully. I know Shar took heaps of notes (She even broke out the shorthand...) and you will too! 

• July 18, 2018Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP144 – Looking After Your Creative Health

  This week we talk about our own creative health, where we are at, and how we are attempting to ensure our creativity wells don't try up. We use examples from our own writing lives, and give a whole bunch of suggestions for how you, too, can plan and execute your own creative health plans to ensure that you can keep writing, despite the other stresses in your lives.  As Shar says, it's about keeping your muse massaged and your creative health tank topped up, and of course, the writing flowing... 

• July 11, 2018Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP143 – Interview with Carlyn Robertson from BookBub

  This week we were lucky enough to talk to the delightful Carlyn Robertson from BookBub, all about how the email advertising platform works, and how it can help you as an author. For some authors, BookBub has literally been a game changer, and it's well known in the Indie community as a way you can get a massive boost in sales. The downside is that every man and his dog wants to get a BookBub ad, and they get hundreds of applications every day, making it really freaking difficult to get a BookBub ad. Happily for all of us in the SPA, Carlyn takes us through exactly how it works, how to apply, what to expect when you apply, and some of the ways to make sure your application is more likely to succeed. She was also able to give us insights into the way they write their amazing blurbs, and how they decide what content to provide to their millions of readers. (Hint: it's all about data and testing). It's an information packed episode, so make sure you have your notebooks out!

• July 4, 2018Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP142 – Personal Branding for Authors with Lauren Clemett

  This week we were privileged to have personal branding expert Lauren Clemett with us to discuss how to create your personal author brand, and why it's so important. Based in Australia, Lauren has a wealth of experience with advertising, marketing and branding from a distinguished career in England, New Zealand and Australia. She now helps entrepreneurs understand their personal brand, and how they can use that to amp up their business, and find the right clients. For us, she talks about how to create a personal brand for you the author, and how to figure out who your readers are, and why they should love you! (Hint: it's all about them)  If the thought of branding gives you hives, then you need to sit down and have a listen to this episode! Lauren takes us through the basics, explains how to create a brand that represents you and your books, and talks about the ways that you can use this information to amp up your books and your author business.  This is another tip-packed episode, so make sure you have your note book handy! 

• June 28, 2018Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP141 – Ten FREE Online Tools for Authors

  Looking for some new online tools to help you in your publishing journey? Curious about what online time-savers other authors have, and how they use them to make their careers work better, faster, smarter? Is your budget creaking at the seams? Don't worry, we're here to help!  This week we give you Ten FREE Online Tools and Websites that you can use to upskill, inform and educate yourself in your self publishing journey. Every single tool we give you is something that we've used ourselves, and that we can personally recommend to you.  We were also slightly nutty this week, so be prepared for some craziness!! 

• June 20, 2018Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP140 – Tempting Tag Lines and Heart-stopping Hooks

  Ever tried to distill your book down into the ultimate one-sentence tagline that will sell it to everyone you know? Yeah, so have we. It's a nightmare, right? In this episode of the SPA Girls Podcast we break down hooks - what they are, why they're important, and how to actually find one in your story. To make it just that little bit easier for you, we use examples from actual books, and then use those examples to understand hooks just that little bit better. Then we talk about how to craft a hook that will be so intriguing and memorable for your readers, they'll immediately one-click your book on Amazon (or Kobo, or Nook).  Then we use a sneaky five-step process to create a tagline from your hook that you can use in the elevator, by the pool or on the street - basically every time someone asks you about your latest book! As an added bonus you can also use that tagline in all your blurbs, advertising and promotion - whenever you need readers to get an instant grasp on your book and why they'd want to read it. Sorted. :) 

• June 14, 2018Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP139 – Kelly Lytle from Findaway Voices

  This week we have Kelly Lytle from Findaway Voices with us in the SPA to talk about creating audio books for Indie authors. If you've ever considered creating an audio book, but were concerned about the price, the technology or the difficulty involved, then this episode is a must listen. Kelly takes us through the whole process of creating and distributing an audio book with Findaway Voices, from the very moment an author contacts them, to finding the perfect narrator, to pricing, and then to the recording and approval process. He demystified the whole process for us, and showed us how doable it actually is!  He also gave us some fantastic ideas for how we might market and promote a newly published audio books to our readers, both new and old. It's a fascinating subject, and Kelly was a great sport about answering all our silly questions, and giving us the kind of in-depth information on audio books that we've all wanted to know, but have been too afraid to ask. (Or maybe just too lazy? It's a close call. It's nice and cozy in the SPA.)  It's a great episode - especially if you're thinking of diversifying your income by doing audio books at any time in the future (which you should be!).

• June 5, 2018Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP138 – Getting Your Motivation Back

  This week we talk about how to get yourself motivated again after life gets in the way. It could be illness, personal issues, a holiday, an injury or even just your own negative self talk. Whatever it is that has stopped you from doing the amount of writing you want to do, we're here to bust those barriers down and find ways to get you back on track. We've all experienced it at some point in our lives; that feeling that you're wading through the quicksand, your body and mind not working as quickly as you want them to. It can feel almost impossible some days to get out of that quicksand, but we're here to help. This episode is all about the ways we've managed to get back into healthy, happy writing routines after problems in our lives, and what you can do to do the same. We've got options for different types of writers, because we're all different and what works for one person won't necessarily work for another.  The beginning of this conversation was a series of tweets by author Courtney Milan, who talked about how she got herself back into the writing groove after her writing mojo took a dive, by being more aware of how she was 'training' herself to write, and making writing fun again. Let's all make writing FUN!

• May 31, 2018Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP137 – Talking about Facebook LIVE with Toni Kenyon

  This week we chat to Toni Kenyon, a New Zealand indie author of Pacific rockstar and billionaire romances. She gives us the inside scoop on some of the new techniques she's using to attract and engage with her readers. About two months ago, she decided to try two new ideas: firstly to do a regular weekly Facebook LIVE session, and secondly to write a weekly serial, where she gets reader input to decide what happens next.  She talks about what she's doing, why she decided to do it, and how it's all working out for her after more than two months of putting this type of content out to her readers. (HINT: It's going well!) 

• May 23, 2018Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP136 – Dealing with Misinformation and Change in Self Publishing

  This week in the SPA we talk about how to handle changes in the Indie Publishing environment without freaking out, including where to find the information you might need about any new changes, and how to figure out if the information you're reading on Twitter is the real deal.  Whenever a new change is made at Amazon, or a new law is passed somewhere or someone figures out a new way to do something, a certain percentage of people will freak out about it. Sometimes they even have a point. But what we in the SPA are saying is that it's important to actually calmly research the changes, via blogs, FB groups, or your author network, before you start to make changes to your business, or before you start posting online, or taking certain actions. We also give a whole bunch of places that you can go to find more information about the latest news in Indie Publishing, so that you can have the information at your fingertips when you need it.  This is an episode about critical thinking for authors, and how to keep your head when nobody else seems to be... :) 

• May 16, 2018Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP135 – Interview with Maria Luis

  We were lucky enough to have contemporary romance author Maria Luis talking to us this week. She's super marketing-savvy, and talked on a range of topics, from how her launches have changed as she's learned more about the industry, to what kind of advertising she's been doing and her pricing strategy.  She's done some great reader engagement activities, including a serial on her website where she allows her readers to vote on what's going to happen next, and she talks about that, as well as diving deep into her techniques for Amazon Ads and Facebook Ads.  You'll want to break out the notebooks this week, I know we sure did!!

• May 9, 2018Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP134 – Interview with Kevin Tumlinson of Draft2Digital

  We’re delighted to welcome Kevin Tumlinson, bestselling thriller author, and Director of Marketing for Draft2Digital into the SPA today! Kevin talks us through using Draft2Digital to format and publish your books on line, the best practices for keywords and a host of other tips for indie authors.  For many of us living outside the US, Draft2Digital is the way to access online retailers who don’t allow us to upload directly, and all the SPA Girls are D2D fans.  As a company D2D are continually innovating and bringing out new tools for authors (listen out for Cher’s suggestion mid-podcast!).  

• May 2, 2018Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP133 – Interview With Sara Rosett: Writing Cozy Mysteries

  This episode we are thrilled to talk with USA Today bestseller, Sara Rosett, about the wonderful, (sometimes) wacky and hugely popular sub-genre of Cozy Mysteries. Cozies have a rabid audience, but writers need to be sure that they’re meeting reader expectations and delivering a great puzzle, compelling characters and intriguing setting. Sara has not only been writing a number of successful cozy-mystery series since 2006, but she also teaches an online How To Outline A Cozy Mystery course -  so she’s the perfect person to talk through crafting cozies.

• April 24, 2018Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP132 – Organization For Writers

  How do you wrangle your research as a writer? Is keeping track of all your characters, setting details and story events driving you to reach for the chocolate (or vino)?  In this episode we share our processes and tips for getting organized, and tools for staying on top of those myriad of details you need to remember. Side note: this is your free pass to hit the stationery store people, so bring on the colored flags, groovy folders and sparkly stickers.

• April 18, 2018Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP131 – Interview with Ricardo Fayet from Reedsy

  This week we talk to Ricardo Fayet, one of the founders of Reedsy, a curated site for matching authors and publishers to industry professionals like editors, designers, marketing professionals, or website designers. He explains to us how the site works, what kind of services indie authors can find on Reedsy, and how to find the best person to work with you. Reedsy is highly curated - they only accept around 3% of the industry professionals who apply to be listed - so they're confident in the quality of the service providers on their site. And that's nice to know when you're planning to spend your hard-earned money on getting your baby (ie your book) published. :) It's a fascinating interview - as well as demystifying Reedsy for us, Ricardo also gives some tips for authors that he's picked up from the many indie conferences he's attended, and talks about some of the changes he's seen since Reedsy first started in 2014.

• April 11, 2018Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP130 – Critical Care: Leverage Feedback For Success

  The sting of even well-meant criticism can leave us reeling and it's very hard not to take it personally. This week we discuss how to cope with criticism - from all sides: friends, other writers, readers and editors - and then figure out what to discard, and how to use the Good Stuff to improve our writing success. “Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.” ~ Neil Gaiman Just like learning to write well, learning to take criticism well is a journey. Join us for some brutally honest insights into how the SPA Girls cope!

• April 4, 2018Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP129 – Five Branding Tips You Can Use Right Now

  This week we're talking about Author Branding, using the example of four different indie authors who we think are doing a fabulous job of branding themselves and their series. From Penny Reid's romantic comedy tag line (Smart Romance) and aptly named Facebook group (Sharks of Awesome) to Michael Anderle's extensive author's notes and Melissa Storm's personal connections in her newsletters, we give a range of ideas and tips that are being used by these authors that you can use to improve your branding and find the right readers for your books. We even managed to give you a list of five simple action points that you can do right now to amp up your Author Branding and sell more books. (Phew. We worked hard on that. So you should totally listen and use those tips, because they're gold.)

• March 28, 2018Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP128 – Interview with Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant

  This week Trudi Jaye talks to Indie publishing personalities Johnny B. Truant and Sean Platt from the Story Studio Podcast (previously the Self Publishing Podcast) about their experiences in self publishing in the last few years, from the early days when they didn't know as much about writing or marketing their books to their experiences with non fiction and creating the Smarter Artist community of authors.   They also talk about why we should call ourselves simply publishers instead of self publishers (ie our aim should be to be indistinguishable from traditionally published books), how to find people to help you achieve your publishing dreams (instead of trying to do it all yourself), and why readers are the most important part of an author's career (of course!). It's a fun episode with loads of takeaways that you'll be able to use in your own writing journey. 

• March 21, 2018Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP127 – Industry Insiders Episode – Damon Courtney and Chrissy Munroe

  This week Damon Courtney, founder of BookFunnel, and Chrissy Munroe, Senior Manager Author Performance at Kobo, sit down with Trudi Jaye to discuss the Indie publishing market: what's hot, what's coming soon, and what they both see in their crystal balls for the future. It's a great opportunity to hear some really useful tips and insider knowledge from two people who know the market and what's working for other indies. It was a huge privilege to have them both on the show! NOTE: We've discovered that the recording cuts off just before the end. It's still a great interview, and there's not much missing. So please still listen. :) 

• March 15, 2018Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP126 – Smarter Artist Summit 2018 Debrief

  This week we have extra-special guest Jami Albright on to talk about the 2018 Smarter Artist Summit, which she attended along with SPA Girl host Trudi Jaye.  Trudi and Jami talk about their highlights of the summit including listening to presentations from Michael Anderle, Michelle Spiva, Honoree Corder, as well as getting to meet the huge array of smart and savvy self publishing people who all gather every year to network, connect and learn.  They also talk about the presentation by BookBub representatives Carlyn and Julianne, getting to interview Michael Anderle, chatting to other self publishers, and basically just getting to immerse themselves in self publishing for a couple of days.  Join us as Jami Albright and Trudi Jaye break down their experiences at the 2018 Smarter Artist Summit and find out the big epiphany moments they had from the many presentations over the two days of the summit. 

• March 12, 2018Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP125 – SAS Special Interview with Michelle Spiva

  This week we have another special episode from the 2018 Smarter Artist Summit, where Trudi Jaye sat down with the first male Deputy SPA Girl, Michael Anderle, and marketing guru and storyteller Michelle Spiva.  Michelle tells us how to amp up your connection with your readers via your characters, so that you're writing stories they can't put down - not even to go to the  bathroom... She covers everything from using narrative arc, pacing, and other storytelling techniques, to understanding how to choose the right emotional tone for your characters and the story, in order to capture and keep your readers.  Michelle is a very smart author who manages to balance both the analytical and creative sides to her personality, and she's able to use it in her writing career to great effect. She looks at storytelling in a different way to many people, and it's fascinating to hear her talk about the techniques she uses, and understand how we could be using them for ourselves.  Another don't-miss episode of the SPA Girls Podcast!

• March 7, 2018Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP124 – SAS Special Interview with Michael Anderle

  This week we have an amazing interview with self publishing guru Michael Anderle, direct from the Smarter Artist Summit in Austin, Texas. Trudi Jaye was lucky enough to attend the summit and meet Michael in person, where he took the time to chat to her about his journey in self publishing, from writing his very first Kurtherian Gambit book, to creating an exciting new self-publishing model where he collaborates with multiple authors writing in his well-loved universe. Author and former SPA Girls Podcast guest Jami Albright helps Trudi out with the interview - in which Michael also talks about about writing books that people will love, how he connects with his readers, and breaking the rules to get emotional impact. He's accessible, sincere and passionate about his topic, and you'll love listening to him explaining what he thinks are the most important ingredients for self publishing success. This is an interview you won't want to miss!!

• February 28, 2018Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – Episode 123 – Interview With Nate Vella

  This week we talk with elite sportsman, Nathan Vella, about using tools from sports psychology to help writers. Nate has been a professional rugby player for the last seven years. In that time he has played in both New Zealand and Europe, and has amassed over 100 first class games, winning several championships. His strength besides his physical ability is his mental toughness. Nate talks with Wendy, Cheryl and Shar about applying what he has learned in the competitive high-performance environment he thrives and works in.

• February 22, 2018Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP122 – How To Use Subplots to Amp Up Your Story

  This week we talk about a craft topic that's been bugging Trudi - subplots. Ever since reading Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews, who does it really well, she's been pursued by the idea that maybe she's not doing them properly... So this week, we discuss what they are, why you should be using them in your novels, and the different kinds of subplots that you could consider using in your novel. Done well, a sub plot can add a huge amount of depth to your novel, as well as tension, characterisation and conflict.  We think that adding a subplot to your current novel could be the difference between having a boring one-dimensional novel, and creating a layered book that everyone is gagging to read!! 

• February 14, 2018Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP121 – Interview with Scott King

  This week we had the pleasure of chatting to Scott King, author of non-fiction writing books The 5 Day Novel, Finish the Script! and his latest, Outline Your Novel.  Scott has a background in teaching writing, film and scriptwriting at a college level, and has published multiple books in a variety of genres, so he's perfectly placed to write and talk about writing to other authors. He's also brilliant at breaking down information and making it understandable, and there were several 'a-ha!' moments during this interview where Scott explained something we might have intuitively known, but couldn't have put into words. We talked to him about outlining, sub-plots, writing a book in five days, and where to start if you're a newbie. He's a smart, articulate guest who we know will inspire you to get out there and write! 

• February 7, 2018Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP120 – Should You Use a Pen Name?

  This week our topic is whether or not to use a pen name. Choosing the name to represent your writing career might seem like a simple decision, but there's actually a whole host of things to think about when you consider what name to use - from marketing, to reader expectations and even cover dimensions - and it's not just which name sounds the nicest.  Authors have always had pen names and in the Indie environment, it's not uncommon for an author to be managing several. We discuss our own decisions regarding pen names, why we chose the names we did, and the things we had to think about before we made the final decision. From websites to domain names, choosing the right gender for your genre, and even a couple of rants from Shar thrown in for free, this is another thought-provoking episode. 

• January 31, 2018Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP119 – Interview with NYT Bestselling Author Nalini Singh

  This week we were lucky enough to convince the lovely Nalini Singh to come on the show. A fellow Kiwi, Nalini is also a very smart, savvy author who's been on the NYT Bestseller list an incredible 27 times, and has hordes of ravenous fans the world over. Nalini is also the kind of pioneering author who knew that she would need to do more than simply write great books (you know, cause that's easy, right?)  if she was going to make this writing malarky her career. She knew she would need to connect with her readers and give them something more. With this in mind, she started a popular blog when she first set out to conquer the writing world, and then created a massive organically grown newsletter when the time was right, and finally conquered Facebook, where her current page has over 70,000 readers regularly interacting with her. She gives us the low down on how she's created such a strong reader connection, the kind of content she thinks is vital for authors to give their readers and her secret sauce for interacting with all kinds of people. This one is a little long, but it's well worth the listen for the various wise gems of knowledge that Nalini drops on us throughout the show. (I did say she's a smart cookie, didn't I?)

• January 23, 2018Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP118 – How to Write a Successful Small Town Setting

  Small town settings are a common backdrop in romance. Writers love them because they give us a landscape that we can go back to again and again, with familiar secondary characters that our readers will recognise and become attached to. Readers love them because once they've found a town with a cool cafe, a watering hole where all the locals hang out, and characters they can fall in love with - well, why would they want to leave?  Wendy and Cheryl both have successful series featuring a small town setting, so this week they both talk about how to create fictional small towns that your readers will love, with tips and tricks that will take your town from ordinary to exceptional. They tell us how they put together the small towns in their contemporary series', why they did it a certain way, including best practices on how to create a memorable small town. It's a fascinating insight into the creative process, and well worth a listen... :) 

• January 19, 2018Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP117 – Dealing with Negativity and Naysayers

  Do you have one of those people in your life? Someone who thinks the glass is always half empty and wants to bring you down the whole time? Negative Nellys and Doubtful Dougs are around us all the time, and this week we talk a little about ways to deal with the negativity in our lives. If you're going to achieve everything you want to this year, you need to have some strategies to deal with the negativity and turn it around into something more positive. 

• January 10, 2018Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP116 – Tough Mindset Questions for 2018

  Are you all set to achieve everything you really want to achieve in 2018? If you're still not sure, this episode will help! We ask three really great questions around our mindset as self publishing authors for 2018, and try to answer them as honestly as we can. There are some home truths, some deep and meaningfuls, and some nearly-tears (we don't do real tears, we're too tough...!!) as we try to unravel what's going to make 2018 great for the SPA Girls.  It might seem simple, but the questions actually made us think quite a bit about what we really want to achieve this year, and what we need to let go of to succeed. Come prepared to put your thinking caps on, to delve deep and to be honest about what you really want as an author this year... 

• January 3, 2018Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP115 – Interview with Nicola Davidson

  This week Wendy and Cheryl talk dirty with Kiwi historical romance/erotica author Nicola Davidson, who gives them the real story of the sex lives of the aristocracy in Recency London. Nicola has delved deep into the research, and she tells a captivated Wendy and Cher (who, I imagine, blushed their way through the entire interview...) exactly what it was like in the sex clubs and private parties of the regency: from orgies and threesomes to dildos and birching, they cover it all.... :) It's a fascinating interview, full of details that you didn't know you needed to know, and provides another great resource that you can can use, especially if you're considering writing about the Regency era. (Or even if you're just curious about sex in those times...) A quick warning - don't listen to this one in the car with the kids! The topic is a little more graphic than usual... 

• December 28, 2017Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP114 – Tropealicious – Or Tropes for Beginners

  This week we dive into the world of tropes for self publishing authors, to explain exactly what they are, why they're important and how you should be using them in your writing career.  Knowing and understanding the tropes in romance is important for everything from choosing your plot line, to writing the blurb and finding your readers. They're also vital in helping us as authors understand our books and our readers. It's an important cog in the publishing wheel, and this episode is another must-listen show!

• December 20, 2017Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP113 – Twelve Top Tips for 2018 – Christmas Episode

  This week we decided to do a trendy new concept (cause that's what we are, totally trendy): a reverse advent calendar. Basically instead of getting gifts at Christmas, we wanted to give YOU a gift for each of the 12 days of Christmas. So.... With this in mind, our Christmas episode is our Twelve Top Tips for 2018. Essentially we've compiled our best advice for resources to use, marketing advice to amp up your sales, and our favourite people to get advice from who will give you what you need to succeed in 2018. It's one of those episodes that's packed full of advice, as well as that SPA Girls brand of certified crazy that keeps us going in this mixed up world... (Yes, I'm a little tipsy as I write this. Just had the neighbours over for a few Christmas drinks). If you're keen for a laugh, and to learn a few things about rocking it in self publishing, join us for our Christmas Special Episode of the SPA Girls Podcast.

• December 12, 2017Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP112 – Interview with Honoree Corder and Ben Hale

  This week we were lucky enough to interview Honoree Corder and Ben Hale who've recently released a new book: Write Like a Boss, all about how to have the right mindset for being a successful author.  They talk about creating winning writing habits, how to train yourself to think and be successful, and how to write when you have six kids who are constantly demanding attention (ie Ben). They're both very inspiring individuals, and gave us some fascinating insights into their lives and the way they have ensured their success in the Indie environment. It's a fun interview, and we learned a lot from these two highly successful and motivated individuals. We know you will too! 

• December 7, 2017Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – Episode 111 – 10 Health Hacks For Writers

  Staying healthy (and sane) during the holiday season can be a challenge for us all. This week Cheryl, Wendy and Shar talk about the health hacks they've found have helped to calm the chaos, stay sane (sort of) and keep our bodies and minds working well. It can be hard to put our self-care on the To Do List but it's vital. From mindfulness to stretching, gratitude to social media-strangling, we hope you'll find our healthy hacks helpful. As a wise commercial says, you're worth it.

• November 30, 2017Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP110 – Interview With Screenwriter Kathryn Burnett

  This week we were lucky enough to have a fantastic repeat guest - Kathryn Burnett, the well-known New Zealand playwright and screenwriter. With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Kathryn is chocka full of useful knowledge on the craft of writing as well as the mental game of staying focused and being productive. Today she talked us through doing an end-of-year Writing Audit, as a prequel to setting our goals in the new year. We found it hugely helpful to answer the questions she posed, and to look back on our year in order to critically assess what went right, and what went wrong, and why. If you're wondering why on earth you'd want to look back in this way, just listen in... Kathryn also tells us how to use this kind of analysis to set us up for an awesome 2018! 

• November 22, 2017Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP109 – Interview with Melissa Storm – What Your Readers Really Want

  This week our guest is the lovely Melissa Storm, who runs several author businesses, and is also a very successful indie author in her own right. Along with her training courses through the Author Engine, and editing, marketing and formatting services through Novel Publicity, Melissa also runs LitRing, an author promotions company that helps authors connect with readers. This year, through LitRing, she created a survey that asked readers what kind of books they were reading, what they wanted to see from authors, and whether they read mostly free or paid books, among other questions. With an extensive background in research, and in particular survey creation, Melissa was able to design, implement and analyse the data from over 10,000 readers, making it quite possibly the largest survey conducted by an independent author. She talks to us, among other things, about the insights we can take away from this amazing survey, and how we can use it in our own author careers.

• November 15, 2017Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP108 – Interview with Author Zoe Dawson

  For prolific author, Zoe Dawson, it's all about the happily ever afters. Zoe writes across several genres including romantic suspense, small town romance, new adult, urban fantasy and romantic comedy. We talk with Zoe about the challenges and rewards of writing across so many genres, how to juggle writing projects, reader expectations and the key that unlocked her being able to dramatically write faster (a book in three weeks!).

• November 8, 2017Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP107 – Interview with Dave Chesson, King of Keywords

  This week we talk to bestselling self-published author Dave Chesson, otherwise known (mainly by the SPA Girls) as the King of Keywords.  He's the genius behind the Kindlepreneur.com blog, which provides loads of step-by-step information for self published authors, and he's also the creator of the fabulous app KDP Rocket, a tool you can use to do research into your next book topic, find keywords and categories for your current book, and to create a massive list of keywords for Amazon Ads. Among his many talents (which include being a nuclear engineer!!) Dave is a total self-confessed data geek, which means he loves diving into the analytics surrounding Amazon and selling books. Which was great for the SPA Girls, because he was happy to chat to us about keywords, categories and selling more books on Amazon. Yay!

• November 3, 2017Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP106 – Pros and Cons of Kindle Unlimited

  This week we talk about Kindle Unlimited, or KU, as it's commonly known. KU is the exclusive readers' programme for Kindle customers on Amazon, which authors can join as long as they give exclusivity to Amazon. We discuss the pros and cons of going into the KU programme versus going wide on all the different platforms available to self published authors, plus we cover some of the different marketing tactics you might employ, and ways to effectively use the KU platform as an author. It's an information-packed episode, and if you've been wondering whether to join KU, or if you're trying to find ways to use it better, this is an episode you won't want to miss!

• October 24, 2017Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP105 – Why YOU Should Do NaNoWriMo!

  This week we talk about NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. Every year in November, writers around the world challenge themselves to write 50,000 words in 30 days. For newer writers, it can seem like an insurmountable challenge, but even just joining in and being part of the NaNoWriMo environment can be inspiring and energising. It's been getting bigger and bigger every year, and for the writers who manage to 'win' (ie finish 50K) it's an amazing achievement. There are stories everywhere of people who've started their writing career with NaNoWriMo, going on to publish many books and have successful careers. So what's so great about NaNoWriMo? That's what we discuss in this episode of the SPA Girls Podcast - why it's been so successful, the aspects of it that we love, and why we think you should be doing it this year. (And don't miss our surprise challenge at the end of the episode!)

• October 19, 2017Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – Episode 104 – Ten Truths For New Self-Publishers

  This week we’re dealing out the “truthslaps” – in a loving way, of course. Wendy, Cher and Shar discuss ten truths for self-publishers that will help you navigate the choppy waters of a new indie author career. We want to be positive, but also realistic, so we are holding nothing back here. This is a rewarding (but tough) business and it requires patience and persistence. When you’re starting out you’re more than just a writer, you’re launching a small business with a pretty steep learning curve. Fortunately there’s a ton of help out there and here in the SPA is the best place to start!

• October 11, 2017Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP103 – How To Find An Extra 30 Mins Writing Time Every Day

  This week we delved deep into our writing habits from the last ten years, and brainstormed all the ways that we've managed to squeeze an extra 30 minutes of writing out of our days. We're all busy - work, family, other commitments take our time. But even adding just an extra half hour of writing every day can make a big difference to our monthly totals. It's a trap writers often fall into - the belief that you need several hours of uninterrupted writing time to be able to produce anything worthwhile. It's just not true - even just a half hour can move you significantly forward in your manuscript. Here in the SPA we know that it's about regular, sustained writing over time.  This show is about being mindful, thinking about where you're spending your time every day, and looking for the loopholes where you're losing precious time you could be using for writing. :) 

• October 4, 2017Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP102 – Maximising Book Sales At Christmas

  This week we tackle Christmas. Not literally. I mean we're not going after Santa or anything. No knocking him to the ground, and sitting on him til he gives us presents. That would be weird, right?  No, this week we're talking about what self-published authors should be doing over the Christmas period to promote their books to the hoards of eager Yuletide book buyers. It's a prime book buying time of year, and no one wants to miss out, right? In order to do the best research for our eager listeners, we talked to several other authors (in forums and people we know) for their advice on this topic, as well as using our own experiences. We even discovered a few tips that we didn't know about and are planning to use this year for ourselves!  If you've been wondering what you should do to promote your books this Christmas, you need to listen to this episode! 

• September 27, 2017Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP101 – Interview with Katie Cross

  This week we talk to fantasy and young adult author Katie Cross about being a military wife, learning to be a nap-time authorpreneur, and making every moment count. She also gives us some amazing productivity tips for authors who are trying to squeeze their writing career into already busy lives. Katie impressed us right from the start of the interview when she talked about having done some writing before we got on the call. My paraphrasing summary of her words: "It was a choice between going on Facebook for ten minutes, or doing some writing. I decided to do some writing, and managed to get almost a thousand words done in that time." It's always good to be reminded of the things that we can achieve if we pay a little more attention to what we're doing, and how we choose to spend our time!  It's a great interview, Katie is hilarious, and we loved chatting to her. (And we're totally impressed by everything she's able to achieve in her day!)

• September 20, 2017Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP100 – OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE WE MADE IT TO 100!

  This is a very special episode of the SPA Girls Podcast - our 100th episode! Who'd have thought when we nervously started our first episode that we'd make it this far?? We talk through everything we've learned about self publishing and writing over the last couple of years, give some of the top self publishing tips that we've gleaned, the advice we've been given by our guests, and what's in store for the future of the SPA Girls... Listen in for some laugh-out-loud moments as we celebrate the last 100 episodes of the SPA Girls Podcast. :) 

• September 13, 2017Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP99 – Interview with Arianna Golden

  This week we have authorpreneur and automation expert Arianna Golden. She's great at helping authors set up systems in their business, to amp up their productivity, and enhance their ability to write. She talked to us about some basic automations that are simple for authors to put in place, and gave us some fantastic tips on how to save time.  Automation doesn't have to be a scary word. As Arianna says, think of it as a tool, like a cheese grater. Used correctly, a grater can get you yummy grated cheese to go on top of a baked potato. It's only if you don't use it correctly that you might get into trouble... (I'm scared of graters, but not of automation, so I'm not sure where that leaves me...) It's another fascinating interview, and hopefully a good introduction to automation for people who don't know much about automation. Enjoy! 

• September 6, 2017Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP98 – Top tips from RWA 2017

  This week Shar and Trudi interview Wendy and Cheryl about their trip to Orlando for the Romance Writers of America 2017 conference. They give tips on surviving a conference with 2,000 other people, plus talk about what they learned from meeting self publishing gurus like Mark Dawson, Roxanne St Claire, and Kristen Painter. They also give up the best writing tips, the most-secret self-publishing tricks, and how to network like a ninja just for you. This is another tip packed episode, where Shar and I attempt to get over our abandonment issues by pumping them for as much information as possible...! :) 

• August 30, 2017Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP97 – Interview with Shayne Silvers

  This week we interview best selling urban fantasy author Shayne Silvers, who gives us the inside scoop on his writing processes, his beta reading team, and how he markets his popular Nate Temple series. (Spoiler warning: Shayne works really hard, set everything up to work as it should and has amazing blurbs. ie it's no wonder he's doing so well!) We loved hearing his story, because he had two books up and nothing much was happening, and it was only when he realised that he had to take his writing seriously, and start treating it like a real business instead of a part time hobby, that things started to change for Shayne. These days he's doing rather well, thank you very much. :)  NOTE: His book Beast Master (number 5 in the series) was also recently nominated for a Dragon Award, which is fantastic news for Indie authors everywhere (and also Shayne)! If you've read the book and loved it, be sure to head over to the Dragon Con website and vote for him! 

• August 23, 2017Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP96 – Interview with Christie Craig

  This week we're live from the Romance Writers of New Zealand conference here in New Zealand, and we're talking with New York Times bestselling author Christie Craig. Christie writes humorous romantic suspense under her real name, and young adult paranormal under the pen name CC Hunter. She talks honestly with us about her writing process, the challenges she's had to overcome in her writing career, and gives some amazing craft advice for everyone. The one big take away from this interview? Never give up!  

• August 14, 2017Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP95 – Interview with Brian Meeks

  This week we have a fantastic interview with the delightful Brian Meeks, who talked to us about creating and making money on Amazon Ads. Brian recently published a book on how to master Amazon ads, and runs a very successful Facebook group on the same topic. He was kind enough to break it all down to the simple version for us, and run through the basics of creating and running a successful Amazon ad. If you've never been on the inside of an Amazon ad, this episode will give you enough information to get you clicking over to the Amazon Marketing Services website. If you're a bit more experienced, don't worry, the insights on copywriting and the tips for creating successful ads will be enough to keep you listening. We learned so much from talking to Brian, and we know you will too. :) 

• August 10, 2017Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP94 – Interview with Monica Leonelle

  In this week's interview Shar and Trudi have to soldier on in rainy old New Zealand while Wendy and Cher continue swanning about in Orlando. Happily we managed to score a fantastic interview with the lovely Monica Leonelle who chatted to us about marketing for indie authors, and the lessons she's learned since starting out. Knowing what to write about in your newsletter or on Facebook, or even how to connect with your readers can be a big problem for writers. (I know I struggle with it!) Monica took us through some of the psychological triggers that she's come across over her years as a marketer and copywriter, and explains how you can sprinkle them into your marketing content to make it more compelling and persuasive to the reader.  This interview is filled to the brim with fantastic tips on how to amp up your connection to your readers, find new super-fans, and generally improve your ability to promote your books. Yay!  Note: There is a small echo problem in the first five minutes of this recording - but don't give up, it gets better. And you won't want to miss this content!

• August 3, 2017Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP93 – Interview with Roxanne St. Claire

  Cheryl and Wendy are still at RWA in Orlando, and this time they managed to score an interview with the wonderful Roxanne St. Claire, an uber-successful Indie author who opens up about her writing and how she's been able to create such a successful career. Roxanne started out in traditional publishing, where she learned all about the publishing process, before she made the decision to move into self publishing. These days she's fully self published, with 17 self published books under her belt to add to 30+ traditionally published books. Roxanne talks with Wendy and Cheryl about the benefits of self publishing, how she's been able to use her marketing savvy to move her career ahead, what to think about when creating series that your readers will love, and how to stand out from the crowd. This is another don't-miss episode, with multiple insights to help your writing career.

• August 1, 2017Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls – EP92 – Interview with Mark Dawson

  Before I say anything else, let me get this out of the way... Sqeeeeeee! We interviewed Mark Dawson! OMG! *coughs* Right. Now back to the regularly scheduled blurb about this episode... This week we have a very special episode all the way from the Romance Writers of America conference where Cheryl and Wendy just spent the week schmoozing and mingling with romance writers from all over the world. They were lucky enough to tie down...er...interview a couple of great Indie authors while they were there, and this Mark Dawson interview is the first of our RWA special episodes this week. Mark was, according to Wendy and Cher, a lovely, gracious interviewee, and despite being completely starstruck, they managed to squeeze out a fantastic episode full of great advice, tips and insider information from the great man himself. :)

• July 25, 2017Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity

  SPA Girls – EP91 – How to Keep Your Focus

  This week we talk about the best ways to find and keep your focus. We've talked about it in general terms before, so this time we aimed in on the mental stuff around focus, and how to avoid self sabotage in your writing career. This episode was all about crawling into our brains to understand why we do things that make us lose our focus, take us out of our 'zone' and destroy our productivity.  We talked about self awareness, ie knowing what's going on inside your head that's letting your focus go, as well as the overstimulation and desensitisation that exists in the technological world we live in, and then finally dun...dun...dun...the deathbed test. Listen in to find out what that means... :) 

• July 18, 2017Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls – EP90 – Author Overwhelm Book Launch!

  This week we're launching our brand new book: Kick Author Overwhelm in the B*tt!  Instead of forcing you to listen to our overwhelm stories yet again, we invited three very talented self-published authors to talk to us about their writing careers and how they've faced and overcome Author Overwhelm in their own lives.  This week we're launching our brand new book: Kick Author Overwhelm in the B*tt!  Instead of forcing you to listen to our overwhelm stories yet again (we figured we'd talked that topic to death...), we invited three very talented self-published authors to talk to us about their writing careers and how they've faced and overcome author overwhelm in their lives.  Louisa George, Toni Kenyon and Karina Bliss kindly agreed to join us for this very special episode of the SPA Girls Podcast and opened up to us about their experiences of author overwhelm. They talk honestly about their writing, their cheerleaders, their challenges and the tricks and tips they have for helping to keep their focus on the writing and away from the overwhelm. We had heaps of fun talking to three very funny, smart and accomplished authors, and we're sure you're going to enjoy hearing their stories too. :) 

• July 11, 2017Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP89 – Behind the Scenes with the SPA Girls Podcasters

  This week we decided to go a little bit behind the scenes on the SPA Girls side of things. Instead of talking about our fiction books, we talk about how the SPA Girls came about, what we were trying to achieve when we decided to start the podcast, why we're doing what we're doing and what we were hoping to achieve. We also talk about our branding, our mission statement, and why we decided to publish the Author Overwhelm book, having been podcasting now for 89 episodes! :)

• July 3, 2017Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP88 – What Are Your Core Author Values?

  This week we try to nut out our own personal author values, and try to distill down a mission statement for each of us as authors. We believe that defining your core values as an author will help you make decisions in your author career, keep your focus longer, and keep you sitting down in your chair, writing those books!  We talk about the pros and cons of a mission statement, why Wendy doesn't like them, and why we think they're valuable for you as an author. We talk about what Joanna Penn and Susan Kaye Quinn say about mission statements, and go through the process of creating one for Cheryl that means something to her as an author. 

• June 28, 2017Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP87 – Facing Your Fears

  This week we have a meaty topic for you! We go in-depth and take a look at our fears, the mental stuff that's stopping us from getting ahead.  We all have fears, from the rational ones that motivate us and keep us going, to the irrational fears that keep us awake at night (and me out of the swimming pool - I swear, Jaws could be in there). This episode is about recognising those fears and lessening their power over us as writers, by naming them, and focusing on ways to overcome them.  We look at the fears that have stopped or hindered us in our writing careers, how we got over them and how you can too. We also talk about the fears we still have, and the ones we wish we had!  Wendy hates this kind of episode, so if nothing else, you should listen to it just to hear her squirm... :)

• June 20, 2017Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP86 – Writing in Microsoft Word

  This week we talk about the writing program no one is talking about - Microsoft Word. I'm not sure it's actually a conspiracy (wink, wink) but we thought we'd break the silence and get the word out there. (In actual fact, we think it's probably because Word is so ingrained into everything we do these days, that everyone assumes that there's no point talking about it.) However, we're pretty sure, like us, many of you are still using Word in some part of your writing process, so we decided to go through some of the tools and tips that we know about on Word, to help you upskill yourself in this wonderful, wacky Word program. From track changes to hidden characters, soft returns to right mouse clicks, we go over everything you might need! :) 

• June 13, 2017Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP85 – How to Write Faster

  This week we talked about ways to speed up the production of your books, from getting your head in the right space from the get-go, to planning, scheduling and lastly ways to make sure you plain-old write faster. It's a great episode because it yet again demonstrates how we're all different and things that will work for one, won't necessarily work for another. But what we are able to do is offer a whole bunch of ideas and suggestions for practical ways that you can amp up your writing schedule. You don't have to try them all, but it will give you something to think about as you write your next book. :)

• June 6, 2017Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP84 – Amazon Also Boughts, Algorithms, and Author Rankings

  This week we go through the book page on Amazon, deciphering some of the sections, explaining how each works and how the information gleaned can help you in your Indie career. From explaining the also boughts, to understanding the Amazon algorithms and how they affect you, and looking at the author rankings and understanding what they mean to you, we go through everything we know (and some stuff we realise we didn't know) and pass it on to you... :)

• May 30, 2017Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP83 – Courses For Authors

  This week we run through all the self publishing author courses that we've done between us over the last few years and talk about the ones that we liked and would recommend that you could try if you're looking for a way to upskill your knowledge. As a group, some of the SPA Girls are more into courses than others, so whether you're a super keen course person, or a more reluctant starter, this episode will give the information that you need to know whether the courses are for you.

• May 23, 2017Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP82 – The Black Moment Featuring Author Rachel Bailey

  Australian author and writing tutor, Rachel Bailey, joins us this week to discuss the Black Moment: that point in your story when all hope is lost, when crisis peaks, when things seem bleakest and we start to think the characters won’t be able to find their HEA. We discuss the different types of Black Moment, how to identify which one works best for your story and how to make this crucial element of Story both powerful and believable.

• May 11, 2017Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP81 – Interview with Jami Albright

  This week we interview the delightful Jami Albright, a new author who has just successfully launched her first book. She's done such a fantastic job of it, we wanted to get her on the show to talk about how she got into writing, how she learned to do such a great job of launching a book, and where she goes for inspiration. She's such a fantastic person, we could have chatted to her all day! Hope you enjoy the show, we sure did. :)

• May 11, 2017Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP80 – Busting Self Publishing Myths

  We’re out to lunch today, recording in a café (so enjoy the ambience of the coffee machine in the background!) where we discuss all those myths about writing and publishing. Some we’ve fallen prey to; some we’ve debunked through experience. You need to know everything about your story and characters before you can start writing. There’s a lot more you need to be doing as a self publisher. You’ll never “make it” without a big platform or great contacts. Sound familiar? Yeah, we’ve all heard them. And a lot more besides! But there is more than one path to writing success, and there’s no such thing as a magic bullet or “secret sauce” – so join us in the café and let’s do some mythbusting together!