Marketing, Advertising & Sales

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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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 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 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 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 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!
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!
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 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!
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.
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 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 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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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 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.
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 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 ...
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 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 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!
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 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 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 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 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 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.
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.
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 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.
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?
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?
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 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 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 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 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 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 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.
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 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.
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 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."
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...
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 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 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 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 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 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 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.
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 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 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 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 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!
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 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 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 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.
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.
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 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!
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.
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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 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 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.
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 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 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 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!
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.
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. :)
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 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 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. :)
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!!
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.
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?)
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!).
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!)
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 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. :)
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. :)
March 28, 2017Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

SPA Girls Podcast – EP75 – Writing A Kick-Butt Book Blurb with Glenna Mageau

This week we have a very special guest - Glenna Mageau, book blurb coach and writer extraordinaire - who takes us through how to write a blurb that sells more books. Glenna has a proven system she uses to improve her own book blurbs and she's been teaching other authors how to do the same thing as well. This is a fantastic episode - we really enjoyed chatting to Glenna, she's a lovely lady with a wealth of knowledge. We all picked up loads of useful blurb writing tips and we're sure you will too!
March 15, 2017Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

SPA Girls Podcast – EP73 – Zhushing Up Your Amazon Author Page

Publishing your book to Amazon KDP is the first step ... then the second VERY important step is setting up your Amazon Author Central account and optimizing your Amazon Author Page. Too many new self-publishers miss the second step and it's costing them sales! It's easy and it's free, so listen up and we'll share how to ZHUSH up your Amazon Author Page to make it sparkle!
December 21, 2016Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

SPA Girls Podcast – EP61 – Interview with Joanna Penn

This week we had the honour of interviewing the one and only... Joanna Penn! She's a best-selling author, an international speaker, a podcaster, and a trainer, and one of our role models in this industry. We were super-excited to have her on the show, and she didn't disappoint. She gave us a huge amount of self publishing advice in this information-packed episode - making it an episode that you don't want to miss!
October 18, 2016Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

SPA Girls Podcast – EP52 – Interview with Kelly McClymer

This week we're joined by the lovely Kelly McClymer, an indie author who writes in multiple genres, including historical romance, fantasy and cosy mystery. She tells us the story of how she got into self publishing, the kind of marketing and promotion she does for her books, and talks about what she's been doing in the last week or so in an attempt to get her book onto the USA Today Bestseller list, for her historical romance book, The Next Best Bride. This is a fantastic interview with another smart, savvy indie author!
September 10, 2016Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

SPA Girls Podcast – EP48 – Interview with Steffanie Holmes

This week we interview paranormal romance author Steff Green, who writes as Steffanie Holmes and fantasy as SC Green. Steff was a speaker at the recent RWNZ conference and we were keen to get her on the podcast to give us the inside information on her self publishing career. She was a fantastic guest, and talked to us about her journey toward self publishing, and some of the ways that she's been able to make self publishing work for her, including topics like box sets, writing in series, and cliffhangers.
August 15, 2016Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

SPA Girls – EP44 – Conference episode with Leeanna Morgan

This week we bring you a special episode direct from the Romance Writers of New Zealand conference in Auckland, New Zealand. Wendy Vella and Trudi Jaye snuck out of the workshops, grabbed the incredibly talented Leanna Morgan along the way and hid out in one of the conference rooms, making her spill her guts on her self publishing career. And boy, does she deliver. This is a must listen episode for our listeners - Leanna knows what she's talking about. :)
May 11, 2016Marketing, Advertising & Sales

SPA Girls Podcast – EP32 – Getting The Price Right

In this week's episode we tackle the always-changing topic of pricing in self publishing. It's a biggie, and it's sometimes hard to distill this one down, especially because most people who are new to self publishing just want those who are older and wiser (haha) to just say - "You must do it this way!" Unfortunately there is no "one true path" for pricing, especially given the vast array of differing goals and aims of authors, and the constantly changing nature of the industry. What worked two years ago won't necessarily work now. We suggest that you research the price of other books similar to your own (in genre, length etc), and then determine what your overall strategy is for the launch (eg discoverability vs sales), before you decide what to price your book at. The main thing to remember is that you can always change it later if you decide you've done it wrong. That's the best thing about self publishing, you can test and experiment to find out what works best for you!

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