SPA Girls Podcast – EP163 – Interview With Kelly St Clare
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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!
Kelly can be found at: www.kellystclare.com
In The Wild facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/inthewildtreasurehunt/
Cher’s main takeaway from the interview: For me, Kelly reiterated the fact that new authors must do their research before thinking about publishing a book. Find out what your genre looks like and what it embodies. Where will your readers be hanging out? Create a presence and be authentic, fun, consistent, and interesting.
Trudi’s main takeaway from the interview: I loved how Kelly talked about the “fine line between passion and health”, which was basically how she uses her physiotherapy knowledge to help her stay healthy as an author so that she can perform at optimal levels. I was struck by how she said that by ignoring your health as an author – ie staying crunched over your desk for 12 hours a day for months on end – will have a detrimental effect on your writing. Staying healthy is just another part of your writing career that it is important to maintain.
Shar’s main takeaway from the interview: As well as Kelly’s very smart approach to balancing “working author” lifestyle with health, I loved what she said about focusing on “one craft weakness” when she’s writing each book and really nailing that. Writing, let alone self-publishing, can be overwhelming and the way she spoke about channeling her focus instead of trying to “fix all the things” was a real lightbulb moment for me.
SPA Girls Podcast can be found at www.spagirlspodcast.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/spagirlspodcast, and Twitter at @spagirlspodcast
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 – EP169 – 5 Goals You Need To Make In 2019
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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 the five areas, and talk about the goals that we’re 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.
SHOW NOTES:
Quote from the 12 week year by Bryan Moran “Identify the “Keystone” Action and Focus on It. Once you have an intense desire to accomplish something, you then need to identify the core actions that will produce the result you’re after. Often you can come up with a laundry list of things that you could do, but that just leads to diffusion and discouragement. In most cases there are a few core activities that account for the majority of the result, and in some cases, there is one, perhaps two, primary activities that ultimately produce the result. It is critical that you identify the one or two “Keystone” actions and focus on them.”
What we’re trying to do is (whether over a year or a quarter (ie 12 weeks) is give you five areas to set a goal in, that will serve your long term growth as an author.
This was inspired in part by our podcast with author Kelly St Clare (Podcast #163) who sets ONE craft goal per manuscript she’s working on, rather than trying to fix “All The Things.”
Remember a goal needs a specific timeframe.
You also need to review your goals as you go through the specified timeframe to make sure you’re doing what needs to be done to hit the goal at the end. If you’re not achieving it, look at why, and try to make changes so that you will make the goal.
Craft: (in the next book)
One goal per book for a craft skill that you’re working on.
Sharyn: Learn correct comma usage
Trudi: Do better at characterisation.
Cheryl: Being more descriptive.
Other ideas for craft goals:
- Work on dialogue
- Work on your sentence structure
- Work on eradicating the passive voice in your writing
- Introduce core elements early (setting, conflict, major characters, motivations etc)
Social Media: (To work on in Q1)
One aspect of SM that you’re going to work on.
Cher: Learn more about Facebook ads
Shar: Grow SPA Girls FB likes by 100 peeps, organically.
Trudi: Get more interactive in FB posts. At least 1 interactive post a week.
Other ideas for social media goals:
- Learn a new platform (but research the right one for your genre)
- Create a post schedule and post daily – eg. #MondayMusings #TuesdayTunes #WednesdayExcerpt #ThursdayThrowback #FridayFunFact #SaturdaySilly #SundayBookRec
Marketing: (Work on in Q1)
One aspect of marketing to work on in first quarter.
Shar: Nail Book Bub Ads.
Cheryl: Get the open rates/clicks up on my newsletter.
Trudi: AMS UK ads – sign on and do them.
Other ideas for marketing goals:
- Learn facebook ads – create five new ones each month
- Work on sending your email newsletter sign ups content that will have them opening every email from you! Short stories, deleted scenes etc.
- Amp up your blurbs
- Read more about copywriting
- Write some short stories and other content for your newsletter and other marketing content
Productivity (Work on in Q1)
One thing to amp up your productivity in the next quarter.
Shar: Write 5000 per week on new manuscript. Set aside an hour a day for writing.
Cher: Get up earlier, and work without social media distractions.
Trudi: Lynn Johnston trick – write down everything you do.
Other ideas for productivity goals:
- Spend time learning dictation
- Work out the word count of your next book, and when it needs to be finished by, then work out how many words you need to write each day and set as a daily goal
- Try changing where you write if you are struggling to get the words down. Cafes, or writing in a group situation.
Well Being (One per month)
One new habit per month.
Cher: New exercise regime – Pilates
Shar: Listening to headspace
Trudi: Start doing 10,000 steps every day. Get out in the garden.
Other ideas for goals:
- Set timer on phone and spend ten minutes stretching every day at 2pm.
- Set a timer on your phone and go for a walk every hour for five-ten minutes.
- Drink more water every day
Show Notes & Links
SPA Girls Podcast – Episode 123 – Interview With Nate Vella
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Using Sports Psychology To Help Your Writing
This week we talk with elite sportsman, Nathan Vella, about using tools from sports psychology to help writers. Nate has been a professional rugby player for the last seven years. In that time he has played in both New Zealand and Europe, and has amassed over 100 first class games, winning several championships. His strength besides his physical ability is his mental toughness.
Nate talks with Wendy, Cheryl and Shar about applying what he has learned in the competitive high-performance environment he thrives and works in, specifically:
- Importance of preparation
- The top two inches
- Visualization
- Why is Process the key?
- Dealing positively with negativity when you hit a challenge (or get a bad review!)
- Physical fitness goes alongside mental fitness
- Techniques for getting out of “the red zone” and into the (productive) blue zone
- Standing strong (literally)
- The importance of a great team culture – and how you can build that as a solo indie author
What’s the difference between Rugby Union and American Football? (no, it’s not just that we don’t wear protective gear!) : http://www.americanfootballinternational.com/9-differences-between-rugby-and-the-nfl/
Further reading about Sports Psychology and Business:
https://sportsandthemind.com/business-sport-psychology/
http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/article-details/applying-sports-psychology-to-business
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-superheroes/201107/why-you-may-want-stand-superhero
TED talk with Amy Cuddy: https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are/transcript
SPA Girls Podcast – EP113 – Twelve Top Tips for 2018 – Christmas Episode
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Merry Christmas and a Happy 2018! This week we decided to do a trendy new concept (cause that’s what we are, totally trendy): a reverse advent calendar. Basically instead of getting gifts at Christmas, we wanted to give YOU a gift for each of the 12 days of Christmas.
So…. with this in mind, our Christmas episode is our Twelve Top Tips for 2018. Essentially we’ve compiled our best advice for resources to use, marketing advice to amp up your sales, and our favourite people to get advice from who will give you what you need to succeed in 2018. It’s one of those episodes that’s packed full of advice, as well as that SPA Girls brand of certified crazy that keeps us going in this mixed up world… (Yes, I’m a little tipsy as I write this. Just had the neighbours over for a few Christmas drinks ~ Trudi). If you’re keen for a laugh, and to learn a few things about rocking it in self publishing, join us for our Christmas Special Episode of the SPA Girls Podcast.
Show Recommendations:
Brian Meeks’ Mastering Amazon Ads: An Author’s Guide
Podcast with Roxanne St Claire
Interview with Mark Dawson
Inspiration from Melissa Storm
Fiction Keyword Strategy Article
