Spa Girls Podcast

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

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

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

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!

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! 

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

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!

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

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.

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!

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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. :) 

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