SPA Girls Podcast – EP159 – Interview With Kathryn Le Veque
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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 LE VEQUE is a critically acclaimed USA TODAY Bestselling author, a charter Amazon All-Star author, and a #1 bestselling, award-winning, multi-published author in Medieval Historical Romance and Contemporary Romance.
Kathryn was the winner of Uncaged Book Reviews Magazine “Raven Award” for Favorite Medieval Romance (Vestiges of Valor) and Favorite Cover, all Genres (Queen of Lost Stars) for 2017, and she is considered one of the top Indie authors in the world with over a million copies in circulation. Her novels have been translated into several languages.
Kathryn is also the President/CEO of Dragonblade Publishing, a boutique publishing house specializing in Historical Romance, and the President/CEO of DragonMedia Publishing, a publishing house that publishes the Pirates of Britannia Connected World series. She is a strong advocate for Independent Authors everywhere and gives frequent workshops on the subject to new and veteran authors alike.
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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.
Kathryn writes 3,000 to 5,000 words every day in two writing sessions and she tells us how she is able to write that much consistently, how she schedules her writing and business life, and how she has a 5 year plus plan. She also discusses how she’s found success with facebook advertising and her recommended social media platforms.
Against the conventional “self-pubbing wisdom” Kathryn does not have an email newsletter – instead she connects with her readers through social media, her books and her blog.
“Don’t Listen To Rejections” ~ Kathryn LeVeque
Kathryn is a perfect example of throwing off writer doubt and “traditional rejections” and succeeding handsomely through talent, determination and sheer hard work.
Her advice to newbies?
* hone your craft – create a quality product
* understand your genre and your genre’s reader expectations
* network
* launch with three books written – first one up at free or 99c (use that as your business card), subsequent books 2.99 / 3.99 depending on subgenre
Kathryn’s website:
http://kathrynleveque.com/
Kathryn’s publishing company:
http://www.dragonbladepublishing.com/
Marketing services provider used by Kathryn:
https://www.litring.com/
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Episodes 100 – 200 List
200 What we’ve learned so far…
199 Interview with Adam Croft – Mindset and Marketing
198 Find Your Sparkle – with Julie Schooler
197 Hack Your Muse – with Kelly McClymer
196 Public Speaking For Authors – with Alena Van Arendonk
195 The Magic Pill – with Laura Van Arendonk-Baugh
194 A Day In The Life Of A Writer
193 Keep It Simple
192 Interview with Skye Warren: Money Mindset and Facebook Ads
For Authors (Part Two)
191 Interview with Skye Warren: Time Management & Advertising
For Authors (Part One)
190 Dragon Wrangling with Scott Baker: secrets for
Successful dictation
189 Interview with Patricia McLinn: Writing by the seat of
Your pants
188 Interview with Morgana Best: Writing & Marketing
Cozy Mysteries
187 Interview with Geoff Symon: Wounds & Crime Scenes
186 Interview with Natasha Bajema, WMD for Authors
185 The Writer’s Detective with Adam Richardson
183 Facebook Advertising with Maria Luis ~ Part Two
182 Facebook Advertising with Maria Luis ~ Part One
181 Learn dictation with Kilby Blades
180 Interview with Brian Meeks, Mastering Book Descriptions
179 Interview with Tara Cremin, Kobo Writing Life
178 Interview with Larissa Reynolds – Newsletters Part Two
177 Interview with Larissa Reynolds – Newsletters Part One
175 Wrangling Facebook: How To Make It Work For You
174 How To Write A Regency Romance
173 How Do You Identify Your Writing Weaknesses?
172 Interview With Dan Wood, D2D
171 Interview With Serenity Woods
169 5 Goals You Need To Make In 2019
168 Jumpstart Your 2019 Marketing with 31 Quick To Dos for Jan.
167 Scheduling For Writing Success
166 Our 2018 Roundup
165 He Said, She Said: Creating Dazzling Dialogue
164 Interview with Steffanie Holmes: Reverse Harem
163 Interview with YA author Kelly St Clare
160 Amazon Excl v Wide – things to consider and how to market
159 Interview With Kathryn LeVeque
158 Some Like It Hot – Or Not. Heat Levels In Romance
157 Interview With Louisa George
156 The Kindness Factor: Helping You Achieve More and Stress Less
155 Editing
153 Characters: From Cookie Cutter to Kapow
152 Interview with Tina Dietz: Audiobooks
151 Interview with Grace Burrowes
150 Should You Prune Your Mailing List?
149 RWNZ18 Interview with Damon Suede & Geoff Symon
148 Interview with indie superstar, Bella Andre
147 Top Ten Traits for Success
146 Write Better Faster with Becca Syme
145 Newsletter Ninja Tammi LaBrecque
144 Looking After Your Creative Health
143 Interview with Carlyn Robertson from Bookbub
142 Personal Branding For Authors with Lauren Clemett
141 Ten Free Online Tools For Authors
140 Tempting Taglines & Heartstopping Hooks
139 Findaway Voices with Kelly Lytle
138 Get Your Writing Mojo Back
137 Interview with Toni Kenyon: facebook live & serials
136 Dealing with misinformation and change in Sp-ing
134 Interview with Kevin Tumlinson, Draft2Digital
133 Interview with Sara Rosett
132 Organization For Authors – how to keep track of your
research and book details without losing your mind
131 Interview with Ricardo Fayet of Reedsy
130 Critical Care: Leveraging feedback for success
129 Brand You
128 SAS Special: Interview with Johnny B. Truant & Sean Platt
127 Industry Insiders with Damon J. Courtney of Bookfunnel
& Christine Monroe of Kobo
126 SAS Debrief with Jami Albright
125 SAS Special: Interview with Michelle Spiva
124 SAS Special : Interview With Michael Anderle
123 Sports Psychology for Authors – Interview With Nate Vella
122 Using Sub Plots To Amp Up Your Writing
121 Interview with Scott King: Outlining Your Novel
120 Pen-names Pros, Cons and Possibilities
119 Reader Engagement with Nalini Singh
118 Writing the Small Town Setting
117 Handling Negativity and Naysayers
116 Tough Mindset Questions For 2018
115 Interview With Nicola Davidson: Sex and Sensibility
114 Tropealicious
112 Interview With Honoree Corder & Ben Hale: Write Like A Boss
111 Ten Health Hacks For Writers
110 Interview with Kathryn Burnett: Your Writing Audit For Future Success
109 Interview with Melissa Storm: What Readers Want
108 Interview With Zoe Dawson: Writing Across Genres
107 Interview With Dave Chesson, The Keyword King
106 Pros and Cons of Kindle Unlimited
105 Why YOU should do Nanowrimo
104 Ten Truths For New Self Publishers
103 Find 30 Minutes A Day EXTRA!
102 Your Christmas Presence: Maximizing the Holiday Season for Authors
101 The Writing Life: Interview with Katie Cross
100 100 Episodes! Retrospective with funny moments; changing AO title
SPA Girls Podcast – EP414 – Publishing Powerhouse, Kathryn Le Veque
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We’re thrilled to welcome back Kathryn Le Veque to the SPA! Kathryn is a Publishing Powerhouse, with years of experience as a bestselling author, and CEO of Dragonblade Publishing. After first interviewing her back in 2018, we wanted to discuss what industry changes she’s seen in those five plus years, and what she predicts for the future in the wider publishing landscape.
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.
KATHRYN LE VEQUE is a critically acclaimed, USA TODAY Bestselling author (having hit the list over 30 times), an Indie Reader bestseller, a charter Amazon All-Star author, and a #1 bestselling, award-winning, multi-published author in Medieval Historical Romance with over 150 published novels.
In addition to her own published works, Kathryn is the President/CEO of Dragonblade Publishing, Amazon’s #1 ebook publisher of Historical Romance (K-Lytics reporting July 2020). Dragonblade Publishing has become known for its commitment to quality historical romance fiction and has gained a reputation as a trusted source for engaging and well-researched novels. Through her ownership of the publishing house, Kathryn has continued to contribute to the romance genre by nurturing and supporting other authors who share her passion for historical storytelling.
Find Kathryn at: https://kathrynbouseleveque.com/
Dragonblade Publishing: https://www.dragonbladepublishing.com/
Kathryn’s previous appearance on the SPA Girls : https://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep159-interview-with-kathryn-le-veque/
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SPA Girls Podcast – EP326 – How To Find Your Why
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What’s the real reason you’re a writer? We’ve talked about finding your why before on the podcast, and today we’re delving deeper. Inspired by Simon Sinek’s book Start With Why, and Find Your Why, Trudi has us “on the couch” again, which Wendy, in particular, absolutely loves (not)!
Sinek’s book is based on the idea that we’re a sum total of the experiences we’ve had growing up, the lessons we’ve learned and the teachers we’ve had and the things we’ve done.
The process is all about looking for stories from your childhood that resonate with you, or seem important (good or bad) and then looking for themes in your stories, and then using those themes to come up with a why that resonates with you and helps you understand exactly why you’re a writer (or whatever you are).
This process is great for us as writers for two reasons –
1. It’s about mining our past for stories, and I kind of think that’s something we do automatically when we’re writing anyway.
2. And 2. Once you’ve figured out your why, you can then use it to filter through all your decisions about your business. It takes away some of the indecision, because once you know and understand what’s driving you, you can use it to make decisions faster, and to keep you on track when you waver. Knowing why you’re in business, or why you chose writing as a career is a powerful way to keep you motivated and stay on track.
Why statement is written like this:
To ___________ so that ___________.
First part is your contribution, and the second part is the impact your contribution has.
Simon Sinek’s why: To inspire people to do the things that inspire them, so that, together, we can change our world.
We uncover our Whys – have you analysed yours?
Further resources:
We interview LISA CRON
Start with Why by Simon Sinek
https://www.amazon.com/Start-Why-Leaders-Inspire-Everyone/dp/1591846447
Find Your Why by Simon Sinek https://www.amazon.com/Find-Your-Why-Practical-Discovering/dp/0143111728/
TEDxMaastricht – Simon Sinek – “First why and then trust”
💗 Learn to Self-publish with the SPA Girls!
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SPA Girls Podcast – EP200 – What We’ve Learned From Our Amazing Guests
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Here it is. Our 200th Episode! Yay! Who’d have thought that we’d ever make it this far??
First of all, we’d like to say thank you to everyone who listens to the show, we appreciate you all! It’s been an amazing few years, and we’ve loved every minute of it.
This week is a celebration episode, where we look back over those 200 episodes, and talk about the common traits of all the successful self publishers we’ve spoken to.
From the humbleness of Bella Andre and the flexible nature of Serena Woods, to the smart work ethic of Skye Warren and the focus of Kathryn Le Veque, we cover it all.
We will give you the ultimate list of self publishing traits that will help you rise to the top of the Indie pile! Don’t miss it!
Podcast interviews mentioned in the 200th Show
Serenity Woods https://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep171-interview-with-serenity-woods/
Kathryn LeVeque https://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep159-interview-with-kathryn-le-veque/
Skye Warren https://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep191-seven-figure-success-with-skye-warren/
Zoe York https://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep65-interview-with-zoe-york/
Maria Luis https://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep182-facebook-ads-with-maria-luis/
Natasha Bajema https://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep186-what-authors-get-wrong-about-weapons-of-mass-destruction/
